I fell asleep again playing Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

I had a dream that I was in a bus, being towed home while on cross-country skis until the kindly bus driver had an aneurysm and collapsed on the steering wheel, crashing said bus and causing quite a winter roadside spectacle.

I don't know how this Paper Mario provoked such a dream but regardless, I hate backtracking, which this game has in spades and seemingly provoked my little bout with unconsciousness.

The last time I fell asleep during a game was while playing Syberia 1, around July, although most recently unitdaisy and myself almost fell asleep simultaneously while playing Syberia 2. Backtracking coupled with a languid, soft-spoken soundtrack is one hell of an insomniac cure.

Sadly, I have a lot to say about the aforementioned games but it's hard to justify writing about these games that consistently put me to sleep. And it's not as if I'm particularly tired while playing them, or even prone to nodding off often - I'm not a 'nap' kind of guy. But so it goes.

Let's move on towards more pleasant subjects. For instance, if you don't check out our forum you may have missed that Nullsleep, Covox and Bit Shifter are on tour right now. These are all exceptional bands that represent the very best of the chiptune scene. If you're at all in the area when they're playing, if you're not attending their show you're committing a crime against your ears. Most obviously, I'll be at their Chicago show. In fact, my fingernails will count the days down, down to the raw nerves of each nail's cuticle.