Whilst playing some LMA Manager 2007, my UK 360 decided to RRoD again. I say 'again', however this current console was a replacement for my last one that I had to send back for RRoD. This new one was built two days before HDMI became standard in Pro machines (so, late August). That makes it 4 months old on RRoD time. A bad deal if you ask me. However, if I get a new one back, fingers crossed it comes with a HDMI port (for my new TV) and is further updated. Incidentally, it was almost a year to the day since I bought my first 360, so I'd be on the wire with regards the original warranty (but if you remember, Microsoft extended the RRoD to a 3 year warranty, so I'm safe).
This has significantly resigned me to my US 360, for which I've been reluctant to play in case that RRoD. But, I spoke to a nice lady called Katrina when I phoned up about my UK 360 - she was really helpful and also mentioned that the UK centre will soon deal with US systems. By 'soon', she explained that probably meant '12 months'. Unfortunately I didnt get any compensation this time. Also, the call centre was outsourced to Germany, rather than the stereotypical India.
But as mentioned, I'm on my US 360. That cuts most of the possible games I can play - all the Racing games, all 2K sports games, and various others. But it allows me to focus on certain other games, like Beautiful Katamari, which I've been demolishing this week.
I thought borandi just wanted to listen to music or watch a DVD. Turns out he was there to game. With a gamer score of 65,507, I should have known that was the case. That is a gain of 80 points over last time! He played Metal Slug 3 gaining 4 achievements, Marble Blast Ultra finishing 3 achievements, Beautiful Katamari, and almost cried with joy. I have that effect on people.And teh games:
10 -> 20 of 200  2 of 12 Achievements | |
| 150 -> 195 of 1000 9 of 26 Achievements | |
| 970 -> 1090 of 1250 38 of 40 Achievements | |
| 0 -> 30 of 200 3 of 12 Achievements | |
| 0 -> 60 of 200 5 of 12 Achievements | |
| 205 -> 275 of 1100 24 of 51 Achievements | |
| 535 of 1000 10 of 22 Achievements | |
| 810 -> 820 of 1250 43 of 50 Achievements | |
| 70 -> 95 of 200 8 of 12 Achievements |
With all the hype over CoD4, I got out the CoD3. For me, it never made the series feel brilliant - it was just 'another' WW2 clone. However, I got over this step, and continued with my single player (which I last left on 4th August). Within 10 minutes I had two more achievements, and it seems relatively straight forward. I might work some more on this later.
Now to the 'Game of the Week' - Beautiful Katamari. I've had some laughs, some tears. I've trolled forum after forum, looking for those elusive items to get my 100% completion. There were several problems, though. Some forums were diabolical and didnt help at all. After downloading the DLC, it puts the extra items in the middle of all the other collection items, however are not required for the achievement - certain people online had the DLC, others didnt, thus some locations were different and some items were not needed for the achievement. After around 10 hours of searching, asking questions online, and often doing a whole stage just for one item, I got my 100%! w00t! Also, along the way, I got the 50 hours playing achievement. That leaves two left - 200 requests completed, and 100 hours. It'll be a case of quickly doing the requests, and leaving the console on an eternal mode for the hours. Each worth 80pts, totalling 1250. Watch this space!
In the december update, MS lowered the prices on certain XBLA games. One of them was Marble Blast Ultra - a game which I'd played the demo of and quite liked. Thus, at 400MSPs, it was a steal. Upon purchase, I raced through the easy stages all under par for those achievements, then got a couple of stages into intermediates. The main downside to this game is that it's not entirely intuitive - repeated plays of the same level start to be required to get through the level. Also, the achievements on offer yield quite little for a lot of work. At least its a pick up and play game.
Metal Slug 3 - the new game on XBLA this week. While 'new' to XBLA, its an arcade classic, one that all gamers that have been around for the past 10 years should have played. Its your typical platformer/shooter with big a$$ guns and explosions. I snapped it up at 800 points, and decided to complete it for once. 45 minutes on hard mode with infinite continues yielded most of my achievements, with a quick burst on easy to get another. This game is a great arcade title - still as good (or bad) as it was when it was released. Admittedly, its easy to get killed, and most of the achievements rely on not dying in a level, but its quick, easy, and fun. Well worth it (even if you stay at < 100GS).
I'm quite ashamed to have neglected Bioshock for so long. I last played it in September when I rented it, then I traded 3 games (TMNT, Gun and Open Season) for it off a friend who didnt want it. It's sat on my shelf for over a month now, and I only put it in my console this week. After having to relearn the controls (and the storyline), I got another chapter into the game, saved a few little sisters, and took a few photographs of splicers. Some quick and easy achievements, now I'm upto 'Cohen's Masterpiece'.
LMA Manager - the RRoD culprit. I was just into a new Italian league - about 20 games in. It should be an easy 1000GS, as long as it doesnt break anything.
Crackdown! I did the online collection achievement (100 markers in 2:30) with time to spare, then was told of a brilliant website for the other achievements - http://candiedskull.com. Thus I got half of the stunt markers in the game, with the other half to get when I put the game in again. That website also gives some hints to the racing achievements, which to be honest, aren't that fun.
A little more Arkadian Warriors too. Upto stage 11 now, and got the 100 items sold/bought achievement. More grinding on this should net the full 200GS.
GS: 65,392 -> 65,762
| Completed XBLA: | 15 / 41 |
| Completed Retail: | 29 / 153 |
| GS Completion %: | 38.94% |
| GS % (Non-Demo): | 41.16% |
| Country Rank: | 152 |
| World Rank: | 1,022 |
