Just found out that ZP gives out code to embed the reviews that he gives. Thus, let the embedding commence! (Also, NSFW). May require removing NoScript or Adblock to view.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Zero Punctuation
What is Zero Punctuation?
Imaginearambleaboutagamewheretheamountofpauses
betweenwordsnolongerexistanditturnsintoafourminute
rambleofoneoftheweeksgamereleases.
Well, he's a British born, Australian writer who, since August, has been producing reviews on new games since August. He's 'well known' for slating games in such a sadistic and profanic way, with cartoons that it really funny. Now I'm not one to enjoy reviews that continually condemn games, but Ben 'Yahtzee' Croshaw does it with such zeal that I'll be adding his RSS feed to my iGoogle and a link on this blog to it. I can't really explain much apart from giving you a link and you watching them for yourself.
Warning, NSFW or children < 18.
List of reviews:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/
Guitar Hero 3
Mass Effect
Jericho
Assassins Creed
Medal of Honour: Airbourne
The Orange Box
Halo 3
Bioshock
Imaginearambleaboutagamewheretheamountofpauses
betweenwordsnolongerexistanditturnsintoafourminute
rambleofoneoftheweeksgamereleases.
Well, he's a British born, Australian writer who, since August, has been producing reviews on new games since August. He's 'well known' for slating games in such a sadistic and profanic way, with cartoons that it really funny. Now I'm not one to enjoy reviews that continually condemn games, but Ben 'Yahtzee' Croshaw does it with such zeal that I'll be adding his RSS feed to my iGoogle and a link on this blog to it. I can't really explain much apart from giving you a link and you watching them for yourself.
Warning, NSFW or children < 18.
List of reviews:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/
Guitar Hero 3
Mass Effect
Jericho
Assassins Creed
Medal of Honour: Airbourne
The Orange Box
Halo 3
Bioshock
28th December: Christmas GS Update
Seasons wishes to everyone! If you're celebration includes gift giving, then I hope you got/gave what you wanted!
My Christmas was particularly uneventful (the way I like it =D) but now I'm back on the 360 and doing some serious gaming yet again.
I turned my 360voice off while I was away, but here's what the first blog back had to say about me:
The wonderful developers of Beautiful Katamari released the 'final' batch of Downloadable Content (DLC) required to get the final achievements over the festive period - while I was away. Thus the first game I played when I got back home ended up being BK with the extra DLC. The new levels are great - more BK goodies =D I've been able to complete all the DLC achieves (100% Presents/Cousins, 1.5million km Katamari) and also done a few of the original achieves (100 Requests, 50 online matches). Thus the only ones I have left are 50/100 hrs playtime, 200 requests, and 100% collection completion. The playtime and requests should not be a bother, and I'm 98% on the completion, but its a case of finding the right level for the right stuff I'm missing. At some point I'll go troll a few forums to get the ones missing, and get my first 1250 in a game :)
I received Scene It for christmas. Its a good game, but I'm not a film buff, so it's pure luck I've got some achievements. In a nutshell, the achievements for this game are getting X amount of questions right in each section, with X points needed or X questions correct in a row. Thus I'm hoping I get a lot of repeated questions, such that I can just answer the ones I remember :) Overall, its a fun game with friends, good after a film night. After an hour at a time though, it gets a bit boring.
I now have a hate/hate relationship with MLB2k7. I imported it for my US 360, given that it seems an easy 1000GS. However, I bought a preowned copy, and its a bit scratched. As a result, it sometimes corrupts all MLB2k7 saves, thus I can't get achievements as it wont save properly. I'll need another copy to get my GS. Damn.
On a US 360 spree, I also pulled out NCAA 07 to get the final few achievements for it. The ones I have left are pretty hard - 60 seasons in dynasty mode being the big one, also 8 5* recruits at the end of a season, and winning 3 seasons back to back being the other. All rather time consuming, all requiring a good portion of time (60 seasons is ~8hrs according to guides online). I was able to get a couple of achievements though - '#1 recruit class' and 'win a championship game'.
On my way through GH3, it was going to be required that I complete a difficulty on lefty. And I did - Easy difficulty - but the lefty achievement didnt unlock. Damnit. Got the achievement for doing easy though.
I played a couple of games of E4, but the GS change I have above is the result of missing the game off my list on the relevant update. I still cant find a decent guide online for this game to help me get the rest (they're not too clear).
I had the chance over christmas to play Tiger 07. I prefer Tiger 08, mainly because of the clicky way of hitting the ball, and the quality of graphics. I didnt get to play 07 much though, but its like an improved version of 06. It has quite long loading times as well, which is a downside.
I was able to start a co-op game with my brother Roquey of Arkadian Warriors, and we both got the two dungeon co-op achievements :) The rest of the achievements I need to get will require some grinding however.
I was lucky enough to buy a copy of Project Sylpheed cheap before I left. This game is typical Square-Enix greatness, and has a well deserved place on my shelf. I was able to participate in one mission before I left, and improved my level score by 10x for mission 2 =D Thankfully there are quite a few guides now online to help me get the full 1000GS.
Along with Sylpheed, I also bought Brian Lara ICC 07. The achievements I have left for this game require lots of one day internationals and 5 day test matches with all teams, but I was abe to get King Pair achievement - get one batter out in his first ball in both innings. With some deft saving, and awesome bowling skills in which I got 5 wickets in 5 balls in the first innings, I was able to get this achievement first time without any reloading. Awesome.
One of my final 'free' rentals was Ace Combat 6. I was exceptionally busy those couple of days, and only had time to play it 30 minutes before I had to give it back. I wish I'd played it more - the first mission was an absolute blast. I'm having a rekindled fondness for flying games, and AC6 felt like one of the best I've ever played. Must play more....
My other final 'free' rental was Tomb Raider: Anniversary. Now I haven't technically done any in Legend, neither have I been a fan of the series (unlike my Grandfather who has his PC pre-order in the day of announcing the next one). But Anniversary seemed fairly polished - not the best graphics *cough*Bioshock*cough* but challenging gameplay nonetheless. I cant really comment - didnt play it for that long and not a fan of the series.
Aha - now LMA Manager is a game that has been on my shelf for quite a while. It's loomed over me with the 'easy 1000GS' tag thanks to several of the people on my friends list having the full GS. And it is easy - thanks to the relatively quick save/load system. If I lose, I reload. Simple as. The achievements basically revolve around winning 8 different leagues in 8 different countries, and as long as you pick a strong country then a nice win streak is a good as yours. I have 5 leagues left (3 leagues = 500 GS when you get the European cups) and hopefully they're the small leagues.
GS: 64,082 -> 65,392
My Christmas was particularly uneventful (the way I like it =D) but now I'm back on the 360 and doing some serious gaming yet again.
I turned my 360voice off while I was away, but here's what the first blog back had to say about me:
Consoles are for playing! I am glad borandi picked up on that yesterday... Gamerscore is a respectful 65,217 points. That is a boost of 470 points over last time! That was enough to cross the 65,000 mark! Good stuff! He made some progress on Guitar Hero III, Beautiful Katamari gaining 5 achievements, NCAA® Football 07 acquiring 2 achievements, MLB 2K7, DDR/DS Universe, and then he had to stop because we both couldn't take it anymore... we were spent.I did game over the festive season - mostly on a 360 without an internet connection byt was able to continue the gamerscore goodness throughout.
640 -> 970 of 1250  36 of 40 Achievements | |
| 0 -> 280 of 1000 14 of 42 Achievements | |
| 0 of 1000 0 of 33 Achievements | |
| 790 -> 825 of 1000 46 of 50 Achievements | |
| 270 -> 275 of 1000 29 of 59 Achievements | |
| 35 -> 80 of 200 6 of 12 Achievements | |
| 0 -> 60 of 1000 6 of 27 Achievements | |
| 60 -> 70 of 200 7 of 12 Achievements | |
| 460 of 1000 15 of 24 Achievements | |
| 480 -> 530 of 1000 15 of 20 Achievements | |
| 0 -> 10 of 1000 1 of 49 Achievements | |
| 0 of 1000 0 of 32 Achievements | |
| 0 -> 535 of 1000 10 of 22 Achievements |
I received Scene It for christmas. Its a good game, but I'm not a film buff, so it's pure luck I've got some achievements. In a nutshell, the achievements for this game are getting X amount of questions right in each section, with X points needed or X questions correct in a row. Thus I'm hoping I get a lot of repeated questions, such that I can just answer the ones I remember :) Overall, its a fun game with friends, good after a film night. After an hour at a time though, it gets a bit boring.
I now have a hate/hate relationship with MLB2k7. I imported it for my US 360, given that it seems an easy 1000GS. However, I bought a preowned copy, and its a bit scratched. As a result, it sometimes corrupts all MLB2k7 saves, thus I can't get achievements as it wont save properly. I'll need another copy to get my GS. Damn.
On a US 360 spree, I also pulled out NCAA 07 to get the final few achievements for it. The ones I have left are pretty hard - 60 seasons in dynasty mode being the big one, also 8 5* recruits at the end of a season, and winning 3 seasons back to back being the other. All rather time consuming, all requiring a good portion of time (60 seasons is ~8hrs according to guides online). I was able to get a couple of achievements though - '#1 recruit class' and 'win a championship game'.
On my way through GH3, it was going to be required that I complete a difficulty on lefty. And I did - Easy difficulty - but the lefty achievement didnt unlock. Damnit. Got the achievement for doing easy though.
I played a couple of games of E4, but the GS change I have above is the result of missing the game off my list on the relevant update. I still cant find a decent guide online for this game to help me get the rest (they're not too clear).
I had the chance over christmas to play Tiger 07. I prefer Tiger 08, mainly because of the clicky way of hitting the ball, and the quality of graphics. I didnt get to play 07 much though, but its like an improved version of 06. It has quite long loading times as well, which is a downside.
I was able to start a co-op game with my brother Roquey of Arkadian Warriors, and we both got the two dungeon co-op achievements :) The rest of the achievements I need to get will require some grinding however.
I was lucky enough to buy a copy of Project Sylpheed cheap before I left. This game is typical Square-Enix greatness, and has a well deserved place on my shelf. I was able to participate in one mission before I left, and improved my level score by 10x for mission 2 =D Thankfully there are quite a few guides now online to help me get the full 1000GS.
Along with Sylpheed, I also bought Brian Lara ICC 07. The achievements I have left for this game require lots of one day internationals and 5 day test matches with all teams, but I was abe to get King Pair achievement - get one batter out in his first ball in both innings. With some deft saving, and awesome bowling skills in which I got 5 wickets in 5 balls in the first innings, I was able to get this achievement first time without any reloading. Awesome.
One of my final 'free' rentals was Ace Combat 6. I was exceptionally busy those couple of days, and only had time to play it 30 minutes before I had to give it back. I wish I'd played it more - the first mission was an absolute blast. I'm having a rekindled fondness for flying games, and AC6 felt like one of the best I've ever played. Must play more....
My other final 'free' rental was Tomb Raider: Anniversary. Now I haven't technically done any in Legend, neither have I been a fan of the series (unlike my Grandfather who has his PC pre-order in the day of announcing the next one). But Anniversary seemed fairly polished - not the best graphics *cough*Bioshock*cough* but challenging gameplay nonetheless. I cant really comment - didnt play it for that long and not a fan of the series.
Aha - now LMA Manager is a game that has been on my shelf for quite a while. It's loomed over me with the 'easy 1000GS' tag thanks to several of the people on my friends list having the full GS. And it is easy - thanks to the relatively quick save/load system. If I lose, I reload. Simple as. The achievements basically revolve around winning 8 different leagues in 8 different countries, and as long as you pick a strong country then a nice win streak is a good as yours. I have 5 leagues left (3 leagues = 500 GS when you get the European cups) and hopefully they're the small leagues.
GS: 64,082 -> 65,392
| Completed XBLA: | 15 / 39 |
| Completed Retail: | 29 / 153 |
| GS Completion %: | 38.77% |
| GS % (Non-Demo): | 41.03% |
| Country Rank: | 146 |
| World Rank: | 1,010 |
Sunday, December 16, 2007
16th December: GS Update
It's been a mass weekend of gaming. I've finished my deadlines for the year, so its back on the 360 for some serious gaming!
Here it is as I was setting it up, with a good Eddie Izzard on the set. I have noticed some motion blur on it (as quoted in some reviews), but generally it is, in general, better than the 19" LCD I had.
As for the games this week, most of them being on Friday/Saturday:
So I've spent the best part of Sunday, and part of the night on Saturday, still pursuing Blue Dragon achievements. Armed with my trusty guide (after spending 30 hours without one, I restarted with it), I'm now happily 18 hours into the first disc, having just arrived in Jibral. On that merry journey, I've picked up one of the hardest achievements in the game - Wagon stage complete. In order to do this achievement, you basically have to train from your first hour to get it, then memorise a pattern, and execute it successfully. Having tried ~30 times previously, I was able to do it in 3 attempts on this new save. 30GS coming my way - beautiful!
I rented some Blazing Angels 2 this week (because next week I no longer get free rentals D=). I enjoyed the first game somewhat, even though it got repetitive. BA2 is roughly the same - just with easier controls and more stuff to do in each mission. I got the first two missions done and picked up a couple achievements just to get the feel of the game. Overall, it's a nice WW2 flight sim - if you like those sorts of games.
I also continually got hold of some GH3 - this time in search for some Lefty Flip achievements. On completing Easy on lefty, no achievement popped up (apart from the complete easy one) - so I was a bit annoyed~! I have plans so go through it again (in search of the 5* easy achievement), so hopefully it'll unlock then.
In an attempt to actually play all the games I have, I busted out my copy of Armored Core 4. This game is quite 'rare' in the UK - I've only seen a few copies, but I managed to pick this up pre-owned for 20 quid at Gamestation. Unfortunately, I went into Game and they had it for 20 quid brand new :( But on the whole, Armored Core 4 is fun. It's like a cross between Chromehounds and Earth Defence Force. You build your mecha/'NEXT' with bits you buy/unlock, then shoot the crap out of everything that moves in a mission style based game. Good fun all round! Overall, achievements seem ok - complete the game on easy then hard nets most of them.
I also returned to some Amped 3. Last time I got an achievement in Amped 3 was in March, well before I started this blog. Well I liked the game then - it required skill and persistence to get the achievements. This time round, I went purely for completion of story mode, which I was able to do in about 90 mins (after being half way through already) to net 290 GS. The rest of the achievements require me to participate in all the challenges, and to show my skillz in each mountain. After completing the game, I'd done around 80 challenges - the game has 240, so technically I'm only 33% into those achievements. Ouchies =P
Arkadian Warriors is an XBLA game released this week (with Gripshift). I'll quote what I said on the 10kclub forums after playing the demo:
I rented the Outfit again, this time to focus on the story mode. I've only done the first couple of missions (each takes ~20mins) in single player and it's a lot like the last time I played it. Just keep shooting and spawning stuff as you go through the map until you win. Ultimately more fun in co-op though.
Pro Evolution Soccer 6 is FINALLY COMPLETE!!! I spent a good deal of Friday and Saturday playing over 100 games to get the final three leagues complete on this game. It's a fun game, don't get me wrong, but the achievements for completing each league took the biscuit. At 40 games a league, you seriously just have to sit there and grind through the games (whilst watching a show on your laptop). Well I can put this on the shelf, and work on PES2008 now =D Game Complete!
I rented out WWE 08 again this week, for the main purpose of getting most of the online achievements. This was successful (the only online achievement I still need is the 'defend a title 5 times against 5 different gamertags in 24hrs') while boosting with Rican Ninja89, and I got a few more single player achievements too. Another rental (and a successful streak online) should see this game complete.
Same goes with Viva Pinata: Party Animals. All I'm missing are single player achievements, which I could probably grind in 5 hours or less, but that involves playing around 10-16 games offline which will take a while. Fun game, fun achievements, low replayability. Though it's a fun game for 5-10 year olds.
GS: 63,012 -> 64,082
A note about Christmas blog postings: As usual over Christmas, one goes to see their extended family over this period. I will have access to 360 gaming, but possible not teh interweb for posting. I may wait and do an extended post. You'll just have to wait and see.
My power supply almost exploded! borandi turned on the juice and we did some serious gaming! 64,052 points of total gamerscore is pretty good. Admit it. That is an increase of 490 points over last time! Another day, another milestone. The 64,000 barrier has fallen! He rocked out to Pro Evolution Soccer 6 winning 1 achievement to finish the game, The Outfit gaining 2 achievements, Arkadian Warriors, Amped 3 adding 3 achievements, ARMORED CORE4 picking up 3 achievements, Guitar Hero III finishing 1 achievement, Blazing Angels 2 adding 4 achievements, Blue Dragon, and borandi won't admit this, but I had to force him to stop.Hahaha lots of gamage. It also goes hand in hand with my new Christmas present I got this week. So far in my 360 career, I used a 13" CRT (which sucked trying to read text on Dead Rising/PGR3), then moved to a 'HD Ready' 19" LCD. Now, however, I have the pleasure of playing on a beautiful 32" LCD screen, complete with 1080i compatibility. Everything is bigger, and better:
Here it is as I was setting it up, with a good Eddie Izzard on the set. I have noticed some motion blur on it (as quoted in some reviews), but generally it is, in general, better than the 19" LCD I had.
As for the games this week, most of them being on Friday/Saturday:
| 50 -> 80 of 1000 7 of 43 Achievements | |
| 0 -> 50 of 1000 4 of 50 Achievements | |
| 270 -> 275 of 1000 29 of 59 Achievements | |
| 0 -> 80 of 1000 3 of 39 Achievements | |
| 340 -> 530 of 1000 8 of 15 Achievements | |
| 0 -> 60 of 200 6 of 12 Achievements | |
| 15 -> 40 of 1000 3 of 41 Achievements | |
| 880 -> 1000 of 1000 23 of 23 Achievements | |
| 510 -> 865 of 1000 22 of 26 Achievements | |
| 665 -> 720 of 1000 41 of 50 Achievements |
I rented some Blazing Angels 2 this week (because next week I no longer get free rentals D=). I enjoyed the first game somewhat, even though it got repetitive. BA2 is roughly the same - just with easier controls and more stuff to do in each mission. I got the first two missions done and picked up a couple achievements just to get the feel of the game. Overall, it's a nice WW2 flight sim - if you like those sorts of games.
I also continually got hold of some GH3 - this time in search for some Lefty Flip achievements. On completing Easy on lefty, no achievement popped up (apart from the complete easy one) - so I was a bit annoyed~! I have plans so go through it again (in search of the 5* easy achievement), so hopefully it'll unlock then.
In an attempt to actually play all the games I have, I busted out my copy of Armored Core 4. This game is quite 'rare' in the UK - I've only seen a few copies, but I managed to pick this up pre-owned for 20 quid at Gamestation. Unfortunately, I went into Game and they had it for 20 quid brand new :( But on the whole, Armored Core 4 is fun. It's like a cross between Chromehounds and Earth Defence Force. You build your mecha/'NEXT' with bits you buy/unlock, then shoot the crap out of everything that moves in a mission style based game. Good fun all round! Overall, achievements seem ok - complete the game on easy then hard nets most of them.
I also returned to some Amped 3. Last time I got an achievement in Amped 3 was in March, well before I started this blog. Well I liked the game then - it required skill and persistence to get the achievements. This time round, I went purely for completion of story mode, which I was able to do in about 90 mins (after being half way through already) to net 290 GS. The rest of the achievements require me to participate in all the challenges, and to show my skillz in each mountain. After completing the game, I'd done around 80 challenges - the game has 240, so technically I'm only 33% into those achievements. Ouchies =P
Arkadian Warriors is an XBLA game released this week (with Gripshift). I'll quote what I said on the 10kclub forums after playing the demo:
To me this game (or what I saw of the demo) looks like a random dungeon generator placed within a storyline. Pick up quests (main storyline or just random), go into a randomly generated dungeon or two, get the quest items/kills, back to town.I did buy it, and currently about 33% through Story mode. Hack, Slash, Hack, Slash, New Dungeon, Repeat. That's all it is, and its mindless fun. Most of the achievements can be got going through the game, so I'll be working on that. It has a cool co-op mode, but I haven't tried it yet.
Its basically an RPG with the level design effort taken out. like Ehrgeiz for the PSX, or Eternal Quest for the PS2 - neither of which did well, but neither had a story line.
There isnt much graphically you can cram into these XBLA games, especially when trying to create individual 3D environments for RPGs - its easier to create a racing game or puzzle game. I reckon they just tried to create a 30hr RPG within the space constraint, and as a result had to stick in the random dungeon generator and scale down the polygons.
I rented the Outfit again, this time to focus on the story mode. I've only done the first couple of missions (each takes ~20mins) in single player and it's a lot like the last time I played it. Just keep shooting and spawning stuff as you go through the map until you win. Ultimately more fun in co-op though.
Pro Evolution Soccer 6 is FINALLY COMPLETE!!! I spent a good deal of Friday and Saturday playing over 100 games to get the final three leagues complete on this game. It's a fun game, don't get me wrong, but the achievements for completing each league took the biscuit. At 40 games a league, you seriously just have to sit there and grind through the games (whilst watching a show on your laptop). Well I can put this on the shelf, and work on PES2008 now =D Game Complete!
I rented out WWE 08 again this week, for the main purpose of getting most of the online achievements. This was successful (the only online achievement I still need is the 'defend a title 5 times against 5 different gamertags in 24hrs') while boosting with Rican Ninja89, and I got a few more single player achievements too. Another rental (and a successful streak online) should see this game complete.
Same goes with Viva Pinata: Party Animals. All I'm missing are single player achievements, which I could probably grind in 5 hours or less, but that involves playing around 10-16 games offline which will take a while. Fun game, fun achievements, low replayability. Though it's a fun game for 5-10 year olds.
GS: 63,012 -> 64,082
| Completed XBLA: | 15 / 39 |
| Completed Retail: | 29 / 149 |
| GS Completion %: | 38.92% |
| GS % (Non-Demo): | 41.24% |
| Country Rank: | 143 |
Sunday, December 09, 2007
9th December: GS Update
Lots of older games this week, along with the Dashboard update!
As usual, some more GH3. Still 3 away from completing hard, though I completed medium all with 5 stars, and some more boosting online. Starting to go through easy with lefty flip, and did a little more on expert.
I pulled out Forza 2 after a while, and finally moved up to level 50, and completed all the races. Now it's a case of getting the achievements for all the cars, and the million credits online. There's been some free download packs and some pay-for-DLC as well since I last played this, but I'm not one to buy extra cars.
My girlfriend bought Lego Star Wars: TCS, and I've been watching her play through it. It seems like the first three episodes are a lot shorter than those from Lego Star Wars II. Also the achievements are more amenable - I was able to get the 200 dodges and the 20 perfect lightsaber attacks. Most of the other achievements are for completing levels and getting all the collectables.
I also pulled out Test Drive Unlimited. I remember the last time I played this - I did the 120 mile around the island challenge in 40 miles (average ~180 around Hawaii, how cool is that). Now it's a case of doing the rest of the challenges. I did about 10 to 20 races, and I'm also having to start to buy cars specifically for races (e.g. an Audi, Saleen, etc.). The achievements I got this time around were '40 gold cups' and 'own 3 bikes'.
I'm also getting back into the rhythm with Saints Row, in preparation for GTA4 when it comes out next year. Rican Ninja89 and I went through a couple of online stages for achievements, and I was also able to complete Los Carnales storyline - which in itself was a b*tch. Anyone who has done this will know - every time you fail the mission you have to drive a couple more miles to restart it, and then you're confronted with people with rockets while driving akimbo trying to shoot down a plane. *fun*
Everyone loves Crackdown - its great fun. I just put it in to have a go at some of the orb collection achievements, but instead I finished the rooftop races achievement. I should get on with the racing achievements, but they're a bit boring.
I rented NFS ProStreet, and it's a bit naff. I thought that racing games would see what Forza 2 and DiRT have done, and capitalise it. ProStreet takes a step backwards - the gameplay isnt that fun, the story line is a bit poor, and it gets boring fast. In other words, it feels like Juiced 2.
Also, Beowulf is a crap game. Linear, bad graphics, bad storyline. Games of films usually go bad, but this one is so special, it could throw stones at the floor and miss. Its not worth a purchase, probably an extended rental if you love the film. Most of the game (when I played it) seemed to centre around a sort of beat-boxing system designed to increase the morale of your troops, most of which die in the battles you fight. Great fun. *sarcasm*
After seeing a couple of people on my friends list have the full 1000 in Jericho, I rented it again. I got a few levels further into the game, though I missed a couple of achievements by dying during a level, but when I get this game again I just need to grind a little to complete it.
GS: 62,131 -> 63,012
borandi needed a friend like me yesterday... I could see it in his eyes. I am there for you brother. Remember that. Gamer score is 62,806. That is an increase of 160 points over last time! He rocked out to Saints Row picking up 1 achievement, Guitar Hero III adding 2 achievements, Pro Evolution Soccer 6, Test Drive Unlimited, LEGO Star Wars: TCS picking up 3 achievements, Forza Motorsport 2 winning 1 achievement, and did it while marvelling at the framerates and stellar particle effects. In the now-you-know department, I really thought that gaming 20 days in a row would hurt... but it actually felt good... it felt warm... like butter straight out of the microwave. If I understand the rules, I think we are getting a streak badge...The dashboard update was alright, I guess. Some good bits, some bad:
Like: See motto in the friends listAnd the games:
Friends of Friends
Bio
Xbox Live Originals
Dislike: Arcade games are now deeper in the menus
The dashboard is still sloooooooooooow
Combination of friends and messages
My favourite bit of the market place, 'Featured Downloads', where that was a fun small list to look through, was removed - the new 'Spotlight' button is too thick and chunky.
Xbox.com seems a lot slower after the update
Overall:
I enjoy the added functionality, but they need to focus more on efficiency once in a while.
Ideas for the future:
Like the auto-download feature for XBLA games, have an auto-download feature for all free themes and gamerpics.
Have a small 'download' bar in the corner when you are downloading something
A customisable blade - you can choose the links on it, kind of like an iGoogle homepage (or even adaptable to RSS feeds)
An option to turn down the font size. I can read size pt.12 fine, rather than everything in size pt.30.
Increase speed of Xbox.com!!!!!
| 215 -> 270 of 1000 28 of 59 Achievements | |
| 409 -> 665 of 1000 32 of 44 Achievements | |
| 40 -> 100 of 1000 5 of 42 Achievements | |
| 590 -> 630 of 1000 34 of 46 Achievements | |
| 130 -> 200 of 1000 14 of 43 Achievements | |
| 780 -> 810 of 1250 42 of 50 Achievements | |
| 0 -> 165 of 1000 10 of 48 Achievements | |
| 0 -> 90 of 1000 3 of 31 Achievements | |
| 110 -> 225 of 1000 13 of 42 Achievements |
I pulled out Forza 2 after a while, and finally moved up to level 50, and completed all the races. Now it's a case of getting the achievements for all the cars, and the million credits online. There's been some free download packs and some pay-for-DLC as well since I last played this, but I'm not one to buy extra cars.
My girlfriend bought Lego Star Wars: TCS, and I've been watching her play through it. It seems like the first three episodes are a lot shorter than those from Lego Star Wars II. Also the achievements are more amenable - I was able to get the 200 dodges and the 20 perfect lightsaber attacks. Most of the other achievements are for completing levels and getting all the collectables.
I also pulled out Test Drive Unlimited. I remember the last time I played this - I did the 120 mile around the island challenge in 40 miles (average ~180 around Hawaii, how cool is that). Now it's a case of doing the rest of the challenges. I did about 10 to 20 races, and I'm also having to start to buy cars specifically for races (e.g. an Audi, Saleen, etc.). The achievements I got this time around were '40 gold cups' and 'own 3 bikes'.
I'm also getting back into the rhythm with Saints Row, in preparation for GTA4 when it comes out next year. Rican Ninja89 and I went through a couple of online stages for achievements, and I was also able to complete Los Carnales storyline - which in itself was a b*tch. Anyone who has done this will know - every time you fail the mission you have to drive a couple more miles to restart it, and then you're confronted with people with rockets while driving akimbo trying to shoot down a plane. *fun*
Everyone loves Crackdown - its great fun. I just put it in to have a go at some of the orb collection achievements, but instead I finished the rooftop races achievement. I should get on with the racing achievements, but they're a bit boring.
I rented NFS ProStreet, and it's a bit naff. I thought that racing games would see what Forza 2 and DiRT have done, and capitalise it. ProStreet takes a step backwards - the gameplay isnt that fun, the story line is a bit poor, and it gets boring fast. In other words, it feels like Juiced 2.
Also, Beowulf is a crap game. Linear, bad graphics, bad storyline. Games of films usually go bad, but this one is so special, it could throw stones at the floor and miss. Its not worth a purchase, probably an extended rental if you love the film. Most of the game (when I played it) seemed to centre around a sort of beat-boxing system designed to increase the morale of your troops, most of which die in the battles you fight. Great fun. *sarcasm*
After seeing a couple of people on my friends list have the full 1000 in Jericho, I rented it again. I got a few levels further into the game, though I missed a couple of achievements by dying during a level, but when I get this game again I just need to grind a little to complete it.
GS: 62,131 -> 63,012
| Completed XBLA: | 15 / 38 |
| Completed Retail: | 28 / 146 |
| GS Completion %: | 39.02% |
| GS % (Non-Demo): | 41.40% |
| Country Rank: | 154 |
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