24th May: GS Update

This past couple of weeks has experienced plenty of gaming, with a lot of work fro my Degree in the middle (priority was probably in that order, it probably shouldn't have been!) but here we are for another GS update.

Go ahead... call me a wussy... but I almost started crying when borandi turned me on yesterday. 96,089 points of raw gamer score are making you jealous! That is a profit of 175 points over last time! That puts us above 96,000 points! He rallied Hexic 2, Civil War finishing 3 achievements, Guitar Hero II, Army of Two™ winning 4 achievements, KUF: Circle of Doom, Jewel Quest acquiring 4 achievements, GTA IV, and afterwards, there were some awkward stares and silence... you know how it is.

Oh and it is time for a gamerscore challenge update... listen up... Here is the link: check it. 4 other people are throwing down in this challenge. If I do the math correctly, it means that 4 players X 5 days means a whole lot of trash talk! That doesn't matter though because borandi is beating them all! Number one baby! It's good to be in the lead, but there's still 2 days left in the challenge and 4 challengers looking to eclipse our achievements with some of their own.
There have been two major targets this week: the application of my new turbo controller, and going after some more 360 badges.

Well my Hori Turbo pad arrived, and my general impression is that it's quite good. The turbo features are such that you can set each of the ABXY to either 13 or 26 button presses per second when you hold the respective button. Also, the D-Pad is infinitely better than the normal 360 pad. The analog sticks are looser, which make it a bit difficult in aiming in FPS games. The LT+RT buttons are smaller, so easier to press in games which just require pressing, but a bit worse for driving games, as you don't have the range of pressures you do with the normal 360 pad. Also, every so often the controller disconnects from the 360 (even though it's wired), and when chatting online, the 360 wired headset doesn't stay connected to the controller. So overall, it's good for games that either require the turbo buttons or offline gaming, and not on FPS or driving gaming. Saying that, I've applied it to DDR Universe and Track and Field (despite having 200/200, but I broke most of my records).

With respect to 360voice, I've started posting on the forums over there. Good bunch of people for the most part - the odd idiot who doesnt read or engage brain, but you get those everywhere (and they will be removed soon, mwhahahaha!). On the badge front, I got my 50 watchers badge thats to some posting in the 'watch me' forum. Thanks to the Turbo Pad, I got my 1* Music badge (along with completing GH3 on hard) and I also got the 1* FPS badge with some Army of Two. I'm still going after the 1* Sandbox badge with GTA4.

So what about the games?

Bionicle Heroes 900 -> 940 of 1000 47 of 49 Achievements Well I'm almost at the end of this game. I completed the story mode, so now I can go after 100%. On the way, I got enough money to unlock the 3rd special stage, and get a couple of 'Destroy X' achievements. All that's left is the '100%' achievement, and the 'Collect 5million' money achievement.

Jewel Quest 0 -> 60 of 200 6 of 12 Achievements Looking at my badge calculator over at 360voice, I noticed I was only 220 GS away from my 1* Puzzle badge. After looking at all the games for the badge, I compiled the list of best games to buy in order to get the badge depending on it's average GS earned/player according to MGC. Jewel Quest came top, so I bought it. It's essentially like Bejeweled and Puzzle Quest, though you have to clear items from every square of the board at least once. For the full achievement set, you have to go through the story 5 times - each playthrough being more difficult than the last. I'm almost at the end of my first time through, about 7 stages from the end.

Guitar Hero III 400 -> 430 of 1000 39 of 59 Achievements Well, as mentioned above, I managed to complete Hard on GH3 - a monumental achievement in my eyes. After having so much trouble with One and Raining Blood, I managed to do both in the same day, leaving only Lou's final battle left. And that final battle takes the biscuit. Lou gets all the power ups before you do, and the song is difficult enough that anything like Whammy or Double Notes totally screws you over. I tried well over 50 times, then managed to get it by getting two boosts that I don't normally get. General consensus is that the best way to beat Lou is to use a Whammy on his green note streak.

GTA IV 375 -> 540 of 1000 33 of 50 Achievements I'm now 70% into the game from the 100% completion statistic. Achievements wise, I got the 500k money achieve, deliver 30 cars by text, explode 10 vehicles in 10 seconds (use a long vehicle, block a bridge, wait for lots of cars, shoot in the air to get people out of their cars, arrange them if necessary, then launch a grenade in the middle, then wait with the rocket launcher to pick off a couple more), killed 20 criminals via the police computer, and a couple of story achievements.

Army of Two™ 225 -> 340 of 1100 14 of 41 Achievements Thanks to DDR Universe, I had my US 360 out, so I decided to go for my 1* FPS badge on 360voice. Also, I've been neglecting the Army of Two story, so I marched through to Stage 5 (out of 6) and it was rather fun. Nothing much else to say.

Civil War 525 -> 545 of 1000 30 of 50 Achievements I initially started on Civil War to get my FPS badge, hoping that the achievement for '750 kills' would unlock. So I finished the story (I was only 2 stages from the end), then redid the stage where I got most of the kills. Amazingly, I only got 10 more - it seems that I need 750 kills, only counting the highest kills on each stage. Thats a balls achievement. It's a balls game as well - being shot through shrubbery from 2000 ft with a pistol by the AI on easy is pointless.

Lost Via Domus 0 -> 125 of 1000 6 of 30 Achievements I got LOST from LoveFilm this week. Word is that it's an easy 1000. I only did the first couple of stages, and with an online guide, it is fairly easy. A bit of a stupid game though. Imagine CSI, but less fun and more frustrating.

DDR/DS Universe 400 -> 900 of 1000 27 of 32 Achievements Aha - the gold mine for the Turbo pad! Beforehand I got to the final area boss, and he was kicking my arse. So I pull out the turbo pad, and after some initial working out how to use it, I finished the story mode. Using the pad, and some online help, I was also able to unlock all the extra tracks, and do the 3rd, 4th and 5th set of challenges for achievements. With hindsight, I could have made 840GS without it given enough time - all it requires is a lot of the quest mode items. But now, according to MGC, I'm in the top 50 in the world...? Chances are I won't ever get the full 1000GS as it's bloody hard from here on out.

Lost Odyssey 235 -> 360 of 1100 6 of 42 Achievements Using my guide, I'm now onto the 3rd disc (it approached unexpectedly, I must say), having played just over 20hrs. It's still an awesome game, I recommend it to everyone!

Test Drive Unlimited 630 -> 670 of 1000 35 of 46 Achievements After watching lots of Top Gear (A very popular car show) again, and watching my favourite ever car on some tests - the Koenigsegg CCXR - it was time to break out a game which has the car. Well TDU has a couple of Koenigsegg cars, and I bought one in it a while ago. So I decided to lots of A-rank races with it. On the way, I got the '60 gold cups' achievement.

FIFA Street 3 0 -> 1250 of 1250 32 of 32 Achievements I got Fifa Street 3 from LoveFilm this past week. Online, it was rated as 5-12 hours completion, and the DLC is only 300MSPs. Well I got most of the offline ones fairly easily, then finished the game with Undefy, Haly x3h and Sofa King 10k. The game is ok, better than NBA Ballers, but worse than NBA Street Homecourt. The achievements are very easy - the one that takes the time is the 25 online ranked wins, each win takes 5 minutes = 2hrs per person. Other than that, Game Complete!

The Club 465 -> 535 of 1000 31 of 50 Achievements I got out The Club due to mingo21 getting it. I haven't actually played it since the weekend it came out. It's a shame really - I would have played it more if it had some better online modes - they dont really cater for players that aren't that good =D Well we boosted a few online achievements - Win a DM without dying, Capture 25 flags, Kill 25 foxes. There's a few others we can boost as well.

Stranglehold 235 -> 400 of 1250 23 of 55 Achievements I've been seeing Stranglehold near the bottom of my 'games with 1250GS' list for a while now, so I took it out of it's shrink wrap (my last play on it was a rental) and completed the main story. ZachSP8 10k is going to help me boost the online stuff when we get time. I will also need to complete it on the hardest difficulty to get the GS. The DLC is majorly overpriced, at 1200MSPs for a few maps. 300MSPs like Fifa Street 3 would get them a sale from me. 1200MSPs is stupid. You hear me? STUPID!

Ridge Racer 6 5 -> 17 of 1000 3 of 36 Achievements A game I've been neglecting, I did a few races offline and then boosted some online with ZachSp8 10k. It's basically a drifting game (so far), and I'm winning most of my offline races.

======================
(Note the following is 3 weeks difference, as MGC was playing up last GS Update:

GamerScore:	91442 -> 96139
Zone:	Pro

Completed XBLA:	23 / 56
Completed Retail:	44 -> 46 / 199
GS Completion %:	43.78% -> 45.28%

Country Rank:	88 -> 73
World Rank:	601 -> 534
Completion Rank:	1,319 -> 1,072

9th December: GS Update

Lots of older games this week, along with the Dashboard update!

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 list
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!!!!!

And the games:

Guitar Hero III	215 -> 270 of 1000 28 of 59 Achievements
Forza Motorsport 2	409 -> 665 of 1000 32 of 44 Achievements
LEGO Star Wars: TCS	40 -> 100 of 1000 5 of 42 Achievements
Test Drive Unlimited	590 -> 630 of 1000 34 of 46 Achievements
Saints Row	130 -> 200 of 1000 14 of 43 Achievements
Crackdown	780 -> 810 of 1250 42 of 50 Achievements
NFS ProStreet	0 -> 165 of 1000 10 of 48 Achievements
Beowulf	0 -> 90 of 1000 3 of 31 Achievements
Clive Barker's Jericho	110 -> 225 of 1000 13 of 42 Achievements

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

Completed XBLA:	15 / 38
Completed Retail:	28 / 146
GS Completion %:	39.02%
GS % (Non-Demo):	41.40%

Country Rank:

154

23rd September: GS Update

I didn't think I would see him yesterday, but borandi was back and ready for action. Total gamer score is 48,689 points. That is an increase of 215 points over last time! He rocked out to Blazing Angels, Marvel Ult. Alliance finishing an amazing 7 achievements, Guitar Hero II, EarthDefenseForce 2017, Carcassonne, Burnout Revenge winning an amazing 6 achievements, Smackdown vs RAW 2007 gaining 2 achievements, and then borandi went to get some food. I told him to bring me back something but I got seriously dissed.

Hmmm... I just realized... borandi must not have anything major going on in his life right now because we have gamed 30 days in a row! Can you believe it? Give us the badge for streaking! w00t!

Smackdown vs RAW 2007	860 -> 970 of 1000 27 of 29 Achievements
Burnout Revenge	0 -> 55 of 1000 6 of 36 Achievements
EarthDefenseForce 2017	0 of 1000 0 of 6 Achievements
Guitar Hero II	480 of 1000 32 of 50 Achievements
Marvel Ult. Alliance	120 -> 230 of 1250 18 of 58 Achievements
Test Drive Unlimited	360 -> 590 of 1000 32 of 46 Achievements
Pro Evolution Soccer 6	840 of 1000 19 of 23 Achievements
G.R.A.W.	145 -> 245 of 1000 10 of 43 Achievements
Aegis Wing	45 -> 75 of 200 6 of 12 Achievements
BOMBERMAN Act:Zero	250 -> 350 of 1000 20 of 50 Achievements
2006 FIFA World Cup™	500 of 1000 4 of 5 Achievements
PGR 3	35 -> 175 of 1000 7 of 25 Achievements
Chromehounds	120 -> 140 of 1000 6 of 49 Achievements
DEAD RISING	80 -> 140 of 1000 7 of 50 Achievements
DiRT™	370 -> 420 of 1000 24 of 49 Achievements

It's been retro game week this week. I looked through my played games list, and went through my list backwards a few for the games that I own.

Last time I played WWE 07 I had got to the point where I had to finish the last couple of belts by doing the challenges in the PC. I was having a lot of trouble - but I changed the settings so there was no ring-out or DQs, so I could get weapons out the side of the ring. That made most of the challenges easy, apart from the 2vs2 matches, as my partner would often get pinned in the first couple of minutes. The Kahli vs. woman match at the end was actually quite easy - I was able to keep doing grapples from behind to damage his head so it went red, then put him on the floor and kept damaging his legs till they were red, then it was an easy pin. I also went through the roster pinning everyone on hard mode, to get that achievement. Though I did it by choosing one wrestler to pin the next and so on, I should have got the 'win with every wrestler' achievement, but it didnt unlock (some sort of glitch). That hard mode achievement took around 3 hours to do though, so I might wait until next week to do the equivalent Legend mode achievement.

I took Burnout Revenge off my 'still to play' shelf and started to go through it. NickHarkkonen and I took turns in career mode, and I also did some online mode - which was very fun to play when I wasn't hitting random trees. EA have shut down all their sports '06 games servers, so I'm surprised they haven't shut down their Burnout servers yet. All the achievements in this game require a lot of playing, hence why I've only got a few easy ones atm.

Nick and I are on lvl 33 of EDF - another 20 to go until we finish easy mode. Health around 700 and it's very easy - we've even been doing some levels on the difficulty above easy to get some better weapons.

We also cranked out some GHII, with Nick starting his career mode on Easy. I did a couple of songs on Hard (I still can't get passed that one song, but I'm able to do the rest in that section) and one on expert.

Nick and I also did some Marvel Ultimate Alliance - a game I think is a lot better in co-op mode than single player. We've just been grinding through the main story - we've just started Act 2. It's a fun game, just a bit boring.

I got out some Test Drive Unlimited which I haven't touched in a while. My goal was just to get some easy achievements, but I also did the Island Tour race in my Koenigsegg CC8S - 118miles took only 44 minutes (I was doing 260mph in the straights) - which gave me 30GS. I was able to reach Champion level (needed 450GS) which unlocked a very easy speed race which gave $75k per win (so about $150k/minute). All that money has given me most of the collection achievements.

I'm now 20 games into Serie A on PES6. It's a long hard grind, but now only about 140 games to go until 1000GS.

I also played some GRAW which I haven't touched in a while. I was told of some cheats available for infinite HP, so I did the first 4 levels on hard :) Though there are still quite a few levels to go.

I played some Aegis Wing - using 2 controllers I got the 'combine with a friend' achievement, as well as the 'dont shoot for a level' one. I have 4 controllers, so I guess I can do the 4 ship formation achievement too.

Bomberman Act Zero is an annoying game, but I got a few of the Secret Panels now that there is a guide for them :)

Fifa 06 is an odd game - an easy 500GS and a very tough 500GS. The tough part is to do some challenges, and I was able to do another 5 this week. The hard ones are still to come though.

I've never played PGR3 seriously, so I went someway though career mode this week. I was able to get a platinum medal on manual for 60GS using the fastest car on the first speed track.

Also did some online with Chromehounds online, getting the '50 shots fired' achievement (i.e. 50 HOUNDs destroyed.

I haven't played Dead Rising since January 2nd - 5 days after I got my first 360. That was on a 13" SCART CRT, so now I'm using a 19" HDTV, it looks LOADS better. I'm able to actually do parts of the story - but I prefer mindlessly going around killing zombies :) I got to the gun shop with the psycho, but he killed me :(

I also did the online achieves for DiRT while I was still renting it.

GS: 47,769 -> 48,789

Completed XBLA:	11 / 28
Completed Retail:	21 / 104
GS Completion %:	41.89%
GS % (Non-Demo):	45.18%

Country Rank:	266/212000
World Rank:	1677/1543243