OMG OMG OMG….
I always enjoy getting up in the morning and chatting to my UK buddies.
Back in March of 2004, I joined up to the M2 Forums. That time of my life when I was just looking for a change. Something new, something different to what I’d been doing. Anything different. In February I had ordered the MINI and I was looking for an outlet where I could use this new, expensive little toy when it arrived. I found that in the MINI community.
Without a doubt, it was the single-most welcoming experience I’ve ever had to a group of people - people that would become good friends over the coming months and years.
No questions, no qualms. They saw an enthusiastic poster who was soon to be taking delivery of a car they also loved - and they adopted me as part of the group.
The MINI community is undoubtedly the most welcoming, friendliest car community I know.
While some feelings have been diluted over the past twelve months or so; Standing issues and slanging matches somewhat disparaging within what I always felt was a rock-solid foundation, unwelcome surprises I guess - it still feels the same when I get behind the wheel, still feels the same when I get together with good trustworthy friends and it still feels the same when I wake up every morning, log onto the website and chat to my buddies from all over the World.
Shortly after joining, I ventured into ‘OTB’. The dark land. The underworld. The grub sanctuary. The boob haven.
Little did I know this minute-long foray would become an ongoing obsession, completely consuming most of my spare (and un-spare) time. Looking back, what I know now is it has easily become one of the most enjoyable phases of my twenty-four years.
Someone is always there; To bounce an idea off, to discuss something, to vent, to stir, to joke, to banter, to admire the female form with. Each character an integral part of the whole network - each with their own quirks, their own personalities. We have all made the place tick, its all become a huge global network of people from all walks of life, brought together, united all because of the like-minded view that the MINI is an awesomely fun car.
It’s incredible really.
So for the past 3 odd years, I’ve logged on regularly and I’ve forged friendships with people from Newcastle, Australia - to Newcastle, UK. People I’d otherwise have never met.
This morning was no exception. I logged on as usual, toothbrush in mouth, empty bowl of cereal at the desk, already running late for work thanks to a power out that meant we couldn’t get the garage door up (thank heavens for those UPS backups for my computer..). I received a pager from my Brother from another Mother, MM - to tell me that GT5 Prologue was on the cards. He was about to post details.
Excellent.
A gadget freak, and avid gamer like me, MM is the Sony enthusiast - so much Sony enthusiast, that everything from gaming rigs to surround-sound systems must be Sony. It all has to fit. Stands to reason then that he owns (much to my chagrin) a PS3 bought at the release date and has been playing F1 and GTHD ever since. And constantly reminds me that he is, can and will do too.
Appallingly, Sony have raped the Australian gaming community by charging a cool thousand dollars for the Playstation 3 gaming console. Sure, its loaded with a Blu-Ray drive and is state-of-the-art graphics gaming, but when you consider the unit costs 49980 yen (~$470 AUD) to the Japanese or $599 USD (~$690 AUD) to the Americans, it makes our $1000 asking price look incredibly bloated and frankly, very hard to stomach. Especially since price-drops are rumoured for the US - and their deals include remote control and an additional 6 (yes, that’s six) Blu-Ray movie titles (which retail here for around the $40 mark each).
*sigh*
But enough of the complaining. I had decided to hold off on the PS3 purchase. Christmas I said.
But GT5: Prologue is due in October.
- A new in-car driving view has been added.
- It will support 16 cars on track at once.
- The “enemy” AI has been greatly improved.
- Every car actually sounds correct this time.
- It will be released this October via PSN.
And it looks like this:
So immediately, you understand my dilemma. How can I live for ~2 months knowing that such a game exists, available for play, when I don’t own the console to play it?
And can I survive two months of MM telling me just hooooooooow good it is? 
Link: Video
