Despite me not wanting so spend anything more on computer games for a little while, on Friday I ended up forking out $40 for a new joystick.

I ended up buying a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro (pictured), which was probably my only choice within my budget and wanted set of features. I could've gone for this one, but it is a little out of my price range.

I needed a new joystick because my new computer doesn't have the old game port for our old joystick (our trusty old Sidewinder 3D Pro), as I've been wanting to replay the old space-flight sims that I loved in the late 1990s.

It's quite sad that they haven't made any good new space flight-sim games, but i've already covered the death of that genre and the joystick on PC recently.

So i've installed and played a bit of the Wing Commander series (I have all of them: from I through to IV (Prophecy)), X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter, but moreso of X-Wing Alliance because it's the game that is more suited to a more modern computer. It's so great playing these games again, they're really what I grew up playing.

What's also cool is this utility that lets you watch the movie cut-scenes from the Wing Commander games without having to actually play through the game.