iBelong: Stories from Saudi Arabia

The three winners were published on the British Council website. You can check the stories here (mine is the second, titled One Cherry).


"You are a wonder to me, but you do not care to visit me: no, you bring a tedious creature here and lavish yourself upon her. It is hateful of you and very wrong." ~ from The Tale of Genji

Games

PS3, coming
I believe that Sony is doing the industry good more than Nintendo with it's Wii. PS3 seems more revolutionary than Wii (previously known as Revolution). Just put the price aside for a moment. A technology that has the potential to live for a decade or current technology with a twisted controller. Either way, even the price point should not be a problem for many of the targeted consumers. People around 20 to 30 put lots of money on technology. The PC I'm using right now cost me about $2400, though I don't use it for games.

PSP, rising
Sony just released World Tour Soccer 06 Playable Demo. (I'm downloading it right now) I hope they keep the demos coming, LocoRoco was a great one.

XBOX 360, confusion
Now for a celebrated disaster called XBOX LIVE. Console gamers (more like Microsoft fans) are fond of this service. Well, I understand why: because it's the only thing available. But when you take a close look at it, it's more like a step backward. Don't get me wrong, but if Sony and Nintendo end up doing the same thing, it'll take the industry ages to recover from this move (the industry have't recovered from Loading Screens yet). Just look at the market place, it's a piece of rushed junk (despite the latest update). More than that, XBOX 360 has mor problems like the interface and Hard Drive management (it's capacity alone is a problem). Resuming download is almost absent. And deleting unfinished download is not an option. Nevertheless, some tries should be honored, like a new arcade game every week. Even demos seem to be heading that direction.

Final Fantasy XII, a welcomed change
E3 downsized, have to wait before judging

Death might be the one gate to immortality.

Gone with the Wind

One of the few books that literally touched my heart. I read it today in one sitting and I couldn't have enough. As far as I can remember, this has to be my favorite book so far. I can't wait to get my hands on the movie.

At one point I decided to quit writing. 'What's the point in writing if you can't beat this?' I asked myself. But you know what, the harder the challenges, the better. To be called a writer among giants is quite an honor that isn't easy to acquire.