I will have no fingers by the age of 30

I want Rock Band 3. However, I will likely not get the version of Rock Band 3 that I want. If I do, then I will destroy my fingers playing it!

Today, after completing my Christmas shopping with my girlfriend, I stopped off at the local EBGames store, having heard that they "exclusively" stocked the Rock Band 3 pro instruments. These instruments are utterly insane - a drumkit with a couple of extra pads (meh), a keyboard/keytar (cool), and a pro guitar, with approximately 140 buttons, and the ability to be plugged into a MIDI converter and be used as an actual freakin' guitar!

I want this guitar.

So I stopped off at EB, dodged the people who were asking what the difference was between Starcraft and Warcraft (Really? Can't you people read the box like a creature with some sort of intellect instead of wasting the serving peoples' time like some kind of zombie?). When I finally got to ask the attendant, she asked me if that was the "fancy controller". After I nod, she proceeds to inform me that they were on "special order" only.

I ask to put in one of these so called "special orders". She said that they don't do it any more.

Um... why tell me it was special order only if you don't actually do it anymore? This seems rather redundant, but whatever. So EBGames has failed me yet again. Remembering that I had seen a GamesMen brochure advertising the controller in question, I made a mad dash over to Hurstville on the way home to try and acquire it.

Due to getting lost on the way (I rarely drive around the Northern beaches, it's completely foreign to me), and then being caught behind an accident on the main road back (seriously, don't people know how to drive anymore?), I found the shop... closed.

Upon reaching home, I did some research. Turns out the shop closed at 4pm (so I would have NEVER made it, leaving the Northern Beaches at around 3.30pm). So I turned to the typical online shopping options.

PlayAsia has none in stock. The GamesMen has the controller on its own for $250. That's a LOT of money just for a controller. Even if it doubles as an actual guitar. Which it does.

Ebay has about the same prices. Amazon has it for $150 US. Considering the current state of the Aussie dollar compared to the US one, I figured that's the way to go.

Except that Amazon are being racist and not actually shipping these controller to Australia, for some inexplicable reason. I would be perfectly fine to pay extra shipping charges due to it being a large item, and that was the only real caveat I could find about shipping to Australia.

So my options appear to be to spend half a week's pay on a game and the corresponding epic controller for it (which, to be completely honest, I find a little difficult to justify right now), not bother and hope somebody reads this and gets me it for Christmas (highly doubtful, since the people who would spend such ludicrous amounts of money on me have already finished their Christmas shopping), or give up entirely.

It appears I am unlikely to be able to destroy my fingers and self-esteem on a pro-guitar after all.