My pinky finger is killing me.

I don't even use my pinky for Gitaroo-Man.

I think it's just freaked out. It sees the brutality that I put my thumb through mashing on buttons and zipping from Circle to X to Circle so fast that it is afraid it might be next. The thumb, though, is a total pro by now, having earned it's bruises years ago on games like Contra.

Gitaroo-Man has stressed my pinky into injury.

But that's not enough for this programmed Mephistopheles, no it needs to strike again. This time it has killed.

My original Dual Shock 2 is kaput. As I was attacked Kira on stage 9 the thing get stuck pointing northwestern. It wouldn't budge, like some sort of insta-analog rigimortis. A quick reset of the machine revived the controller... only for it to lock up in the same direction after a few moments of j-rocking.

Poor controller. We had much fun together. We beat all three GTAs, rescued Yorda, played through the good and bad times of Metal Gear Solid, captured fleeing monkeys, chained fireworks, sucked blood, felled mountains, collected eco, drew monsters, drove, fought, ran, jumped, rocked and rolled.

Oh well. I have a new (extra tactile) replacement.