I've started playing GTA IV. Or at least, I'm trying to play it, but my PC is hopelessly outdated, meaning: it's 1.5 years old now. The game looks like shit but I'd have to spend at least 300 euro's to get the game to run smoothly, so I'll just leave it like this. Ah, the joys of PC gaming. I have to say that so far I am enjoying GTA San Andreas and Vice City more than GTA IV. IV is just too realistic! What's the fun of playing a game if it's exactly like real life? The cars now respond quite realistically, and it's quite difficult to drive fast anywhere (the fact that my framerate does not go over 20fps helps a lot too...). And what's the point of taking a girl out for bowling in a GAME? Come on people, go do that in real life. In the game I want to drive over as many people as possible and kill them with a machine gun. And then drive over them again. Dating girls, eating food, going jogging, those are all things that I would rather do in real life, because at least there is a real reward. Or, to put it more generically: if the activity that you can do has a reward, go do it in real life. If it has a penalty, or a risk attached, go do it in a game.
Japanese note: I learned a nice saying today: "仏の顔も三度まで" (Hotoke no kao mo sando made). It roughly means that 'even Buddha will get upset if you hit his face three times.
Japanese note 2: to give you an idea of how ridiculous Japanese society can be sometimes, read this article about society's pressure to wear face masks. Even though it's not proven to be effective at all, social pressure is the reason many people wear face masks here...