More car trouble, and so less gaming, contrary to what might be expected. I game at MK's place, and if it's hard to get there - takes me an hour by bus -, I don't game. But I got a mostly full day in and actually finished a game for once. Read on.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta (PSN on PS3) - I managed to finish this in a day. Probably about 7 hours total on easy. Easy difficulty in this game is a bit too easy, unlike the rest of the games in the series which deliver a challenge even on easy mode. But, it was enough of a battle that I enjoyed it quite a lot. I'm ready for a replay on a higher difficulty with the special items I found, only usable after you beat the game. Another time though. It's pretty amazing how well they maintained the quality of the GoW games for PSP like this and Chains of Olympus. They are no reduction, except maybe slightly in graphical resolution, from the then current God of War 3.

I'd like to talk about the story because it seemed to link up well at the end with what starts the first game in the series, but it exhausts me to try and understand it. For some reason, I can be interested in a series of novels and their details, but a game series story just doesn't. I think this and the first PSP game are prequels to the first game, but I'm not sure. In any case, basically, Ghost of Sparta is about Kratos trying to free his brother Deimos from Death. You flash back to when Kratos was a child sparring with Deimos. As and adult, he battles the gods while trying to understand why Daemos was abducted by Athena (I still don't get it). Kratos' mother tells him who his father is, but you never find out. I imagine it was already revealed in a previous game, but I don't remember. I'm mostly concerned with the fighting in this series. It's really good.

One note about cinematics. This game does the camera better than any other, and I don't know why everyone hasn't copied it. The view always takes the perfect angle you need to clearly see what you need to see, and always enhances the feeling of a scene and the sense of scale and proportion. Sometimes I wished I could move the camera view around myself, but it was never really necessary. Cut-scenes are also masterfully done. I could watch this game as a theater film and enjoy it. I often wondered why a movie has taken so long to get made, either animated or live action. I've been told one is in the works, but it seems way past due, and by now, I'm less interested in one.

Music too is excellent. I was humming the themes as I was playing. It's always placed well in a scene and during the action. Voice work is great as well.

And that ends my run of GoW games on PS3, all the ones on the GoW: Saga Collection I have (1-3, 2PSP). I will say that getting the Saga Collection used is only worth it for the first three games. The PSP games have to be downloaded with a code from a new copy. I had to buy those separately for $10.

And that's my week in gaming.

As an aside. I worry about my unused consoles and handhelds right now as I spend a lot of time on PS3 and upcoming retro systems. Systems like DS, 3DS and Switch, which use rechargable batteries, have me concerned. I'm looking for reasons to power them up to keep them healthy. Any ideas?