Let's face it. This isn't about games anymore.

A few days back, somebody mentioned that they played GTA on the PS2 for a while, but gave it up because it was really difficult. At the time, I kinda shrugged it off, thinking that, yeah, it is pretty difficult. If I wasn't such a total fanboy for the game, I might have done the same thing.



But here's the weird thing. I can’t quite explain it, but I’m finding the Xbox version much easier to play than the PS2. At first, I thought it was because of the crisp visuals (that certainly makes it easier to spot gang tags, and it makes it easier to see oncoming traffic at a distance). Or maybe it’s because I’ve already played the game through completely twice already. Whatever it is, I’ve been able to beat most of the minigames on my first try.



I remember the first time I played the 8-Track mission (the stadium race that unlocks the stockcar and the monster truck). I spent two days working on it, honing my skills, learning how to zoom and fade without hitting any of the other cars, perfecting the PIT maneuver, and generally playing the mission over and over. I lost about a dozen times because my car blew up, and a dozen more because I just didn’t place.



This time, playing the Xbox version, I won the mission first time through. And it wasn’t that difficult. Sure, I still remember some of the strategies I used in the previous game, and I can argue that I still have the skills from all those months ago. But somehow, it just seemed eerily easy.



The others were the same way. I beat the firefighter levels on the first try, I beat the BMX ring gathering mission the first time I tried. Pimping was a cynch, and the Taxi Driving one was so easy, I just started having fun instead of looking at the time, until it surprised me by telling me I’d won.



Oddly, I can’t seem to win the Paramedic missions. Just one of those things I guess.