When I bought my Playstation 3 a couple of months ago it was solely because of the release of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. I love my video games, but have really only played racing sims and WWII shoot 'em ups. I've even struggled with getting up to pace of Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare on the 360. Too modern for me.

The only PS3 I could get my hands on was a Grand Theft Auto IV pack that included said game. I dropped it in the pile and loaded GT5 Prologue. What a piece of shit! I love the PS3 and Blu-Ray was high on my list of things I wanted, but GT5 is a shitter. Disappointed I went back to the 360 and Forza 2, completing the whole game for the second time. Loved it.

A couple of weeks ago, bored, I gave GT5 another go. Nope, still a dud. God, I hope the full version next year is better. Almost as an afterthought I chucked GTA IV in. Not really my cup of tea, I didn't expect much at all. But thought I'd give it a go.

Holy hell! Two weeks later and I finished the final mission yesterday afternoon. The earliest I've gotten to bed is around 2am and I've still been up a couple of times, furiously fighting it out with the mafia and the cops, when the sun and the kids have gotten up for school.

I loved it! What a blast. A huge city based on New York to wander around at will. Doing whatever the hell I wanted. Towards the end I've just concentrated on the main storyline and saved some of the side missions (stealing cars, assassinations and drug running) for future plays.

I've also scored a part-time job. Back to graphic design, but a brilliant compromise. Giving me time to still drop off and pick up the kids and with a firm that puts quality first and cuts out all the bullshit. I'd thought about retraining and even applied for a couple of other jobs (including Meat Inspector at a freezing works - and that's a whole other journal). I guess I'm lazy, so I'm sticking with what I know. At least I don't have to go back to the newspapers. That would have sucked (eh, Missfab? When are you due back?).

BTW. I chose 'Revenge'. Kate was a pain in the arse and I REALLY wanted to get that bastard Dimitri Rascalov.