friends and readers definitely know that i like to geek it up here and there. despite my sleek, attractive, ultra-hip exterior, there’s a nerdy teenager still inside me somewhere that’s never going to leave. this is the part of me that gets really really excited about video games, comic books, and star wars no matter what the ramifications on my image to women or the adult world.

it’s this part of me that is already looking forward to the next playstation mega-blockbuster coming this october 19th, grand theft auto: san andreas — which i had suspected was the next installment, only this time los angeles themed. but today i was reading an early report in a yet-to-be-released issue of game informer that contained this quote from the game’s head honcho…

“san andreas is not a city — it’s a state. probably the most interesting thing you need to think about for a second is that we’re not setting the game in a version of los angeles or san francisco or las vegas, but all three — with the countryside in between … each of these cities is relatively the size of vice city, and will be fully open to the player” … all in all, houser estimates that the entire game area is four to six times as large as the entirety of either of the previous entries in the series.

and here i am scooping my jaw up off my desk, because look at it this way: you know when you’re just dying to see a big movie you just know is going to be great? and you finally see it, and it’s spectacular, and for those two hours you’re sitting there tingling, just high on entertainment? yeah, i’m probably looking forward to a couple films this year that way too. maybe spider-man, maybe the new michael moore movie.

but with a video game that size, we’re talking maybe fifty, sixty hours of that feeling of purely perfect captivation. seriously, my geek-pleasure levels overload at the thought of something like this. i have to sit down and drink a glass of water.

essentially, this is a warning not to expect me to hang out with you october 20th because i will be stuck in front of my TV not unlike the guy from the ring, only much happier and not dead.