A Pain in the Neck

Some people aren't good at sports, others are terrible in the kitchen ... I'm just crap at PSP games. Despite my addiction to the Dissidia titles and, most recently, The 3rd Birthday (see earlier posts) I now realise my brain is simply NOT wired to handling controls (it surprises me even today I have a driver's licence). My fingers are not fast enough and reflex is too slow. In the crucial moment of (virtual) life and death, I plunge into confusion and die. I mean, do not be deceived by the handheld's simple layout. 

Though on the face of it, there are only, like, 11 buttons to press/move -- 4 directional keys on the left + scroll; the iconic triangle, circle, cross and square buttons on the right; plus the L and R triggers at the top -- but to execute a combo move, you'd need to hit a combination of those bits and bobs (hence "combo") to set off an action (shoot) ... so do the maths, there can be some 121 combinations; and if you have several game titles on the go at the same time, it can be very, very, very confusing.

So playing the PSP can be an extremely (IN)TENSE experience for me. The other afternoon, I was just seconds away from killing a boss in The 3rd Birthday but I was also down on life points so my brain was screaming I MUST, MUST, MUST KILL THE BASTARD NOW OR I'LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS FRIGGING NIGHTMARE AGAIN ... WHY DOESN'T IT DIE?!?!? Well, I did kill it (thank god) but not without a price: my left index finger went numb after pressing it too hard on the left trigger! Worse, during a Yin class that eveing, I couldn't turn my neck to the left without my left shoulder pulling up because of the pain in my neck that stretches all the way down to my upper back(!!!)

I have a PSP injury! I think because I was SO intense/nervous/highly-strung/other synonyms when playing the game I torn my neck muscle, or something.

So now I am just resting. I still have TWO more chapters to go in The 3rd Birthday but I won't be playing them very soon (I'll just have to watch the walkthorough on YouTube in the meantime to quench the urge). And guess what, I am still on the EASY mode. I cannot imagine what the NORMAL (let alone the GENOCIDE) mode is going to be like. And I'm not going to find out ... unless I want a heart attack.