I bought a Nintendo Wii.

It was in early January that we had our neighbours over for a visit and they were telling us how they had played a  Wii at their friends house and had a great time.   After they left, my wife said to me, “maybe we should get a Wii.”  My gaming obsessed mind interpreted my wife’s casual comment as, “we must get a Wii at all costs and I mean yesterday!”  Since that day, I’ve been on the hunt.  You see, it’s not everyday that my wife actually encourages a gaming-related purchase; she’s much too sensible.  This was a window of opportunity that I had to seize before she came to her senses and shut that window!

As luck would have it, I had saved up about $230 worth of PC Points from the Real Canadian Superstore.  While most people might use those points towards groceries and other necessities, I typically save them up to get gaming stuff.  It’s how I got Rock Band, along with other games throughout the years.  It’s such a great feeling using these points for unnecessary things such as games because, even though I know we’ve spent a bunch of money earning these points, it still feels like I’m getting this stuff for free.  Having $230 worth of these points meant that I was now going to be able to get our family a Wii for sort of free.

The only problem was actually finding the dang console.  I checked the store at least once a week, often times more than that, since January, but was always told that they hadn’t received any stock from Nintendo since Christmas, and they didn’t know when they’d get any.  It was the same story almost everywhere else.  If any store had actually received stock, they’d sell out almost instantly.  I knew the Wii was popular, but this was crazy.

Just the other day I was coming home after picking up our new dishwasher (it doesn’t play games) when I decided I’d stop in at the Superstore to check the Wii situation yet again.  I walked into the electronics section and headed towards the Wii area fully expecting to see that familiar shelf sitting there empty again, but *gasp* there on that shelf was a single lonely Wii!  I scooped it up, along with an extra controller with Wii Motion Plus, EA Sports Active, and Super Mario Galaxy.  I plunked down all my PC Points and walked out of there with my bounty.  It only took two months too!

When I got back home and walked in the door, I held the Wii box above my head in victory and showed my wife.  ”Check it out!!!”, I exclaimed.  Her reply?  ”You bought a Wii?  What for?”

I haven’t been doing much gaming lately.  For the past two weeks I have been quite hooked on the Winter Olympics (Yay Canada!) and haven’t really been interested in gaming.  With the games closing this past Sunday however, I was back to the PC to get some gaming on.

I turned on the PC and soon after I heard a grinding noise.  I recognized the noise instantly, and knew it was my video card.  A few weeks after getting the card, the grinding noise would appear now and then.  It sounded like something was hitting the fan.  I took the card out and checked for any obstructions, but saw nothing.  I then did what any sensible person would do and blew on the card, put it back in the system, and powered back on.  The noise disappeared for about a month, until I heard it again the other night.

Once again, I took out the card, checked for obstructions, saw nothing, and put it back in the PC.  This time, after turning the PC back on, the noise was worse than ever.  It’s now a constant grinding noise which begins at system start up, and doesn’t stop.  I’m not going to lie, there was much cursing that ensued.  I just wanted to play a quick game, my chances to do so having become ever so rare, and my video card decided to annoy me.

That now leaves my gaming PC out of commission for however long it takes the RMA process to occur on the video card.  Sometimes I really hate computers.