Back with a vengeance

So, after a few months away, I'm back in Liberty City with a vengeance. Both in GTA IV: The Lost and Damned, and now in Chinatown Wars on the DS. The Lost and Damned feels better than the main GTAIV storyline, which I still can't be arsed with, and Chinatown Wars has the same map but looks and feels like a cross between GTA 2 and III.

I think Saints Row and GTA can co-exist quite happily. They used some idea from Saints Row in GTAIV and Saints Row 2 used some ideas from GTAIV, so if the franchises keep going and feeding from each other, both can benefit. GTA for the more serious stuff and Saints Row for the ludicrous over the top action.

With all the shovelware crap on the DS, it's easy to forget that it's a capable little system. Probably the most impressive game I saw on it before I sold my DS Lite was Metroid Prime Hunters. But GTA comes quite close. It has it's own look and feel, and somehow feels more 'right' than the PSP games. One thing that has become clear is that the Phat DS is far superior to the Lite. It's bigger, easier to hold, and it has a far superior D-pad that actually lets you hit diagnonals. I just wish there was some way to retrofit a Phat DS with Lite screens.

I actually tried to cook something this evening, a sort of pasta bake thing that came out unexpectedly well. It had a cheese topping made from the wonderful caramelised onion cheddar that Morrisons is selling at the moment.