40,000!!!

Finally.

After a week of grinding through various games, I hit my secondary goal of 40,000 points on December 28, 2010 with the achievement "Mask-O'-Raider" (Completed all Quests in the game) from Costume Quest. It was worth 25 points.

While it is still a stark contrast from the original goal of 75,000 I'd set for myself, it does feel good to accomplish it. It has been a long and tiring year, full of heartache and pain, but it's over now. An old year ends just so a new one can begin.

Bring it on, 2011!!!

Happy hunting.

Update #51

This is the final proper update of 2010!!

So, here is this week's update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 12/27/10): 39,910
Increase: +15,635
Weekly Increase: +900
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 35,090

It was an eventful week, one of my better earning weeks in recent memory, too!

Anyways, expect one final update on New Year's Eve and that'll be it.

Update #50 - 8 days left

Yeah, yeah. I'm two days late. Sorry about that. I've been sick and haven't even wanted to look at a computer.

Anyways, my update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 12/22/10): 39,010
Increase: +14,705
Weekly Increase: +525
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 36,020

I'm a mere 990 points from my secondary goal of 40,000 points to start 2011 off in style. With 8 days left in 2010, I'll have to earn roughly 123.75 points per day. Time to get to earnin' I guess!

Happy hunting, everyone.

Update #49 - Disappointment

Well, I caved. The reasoning behind the lack of achievement gathering this week was due to joining World of Warcraft. I promise, I'll make it up next week!!!

The update:


Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 12/13/10): 38,485
Increase: +14,180
Weekly Increase: +50
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 36,545

Update #48

Four weeks left of the year, uh? Well, that really sucks.

Oh well.

The last week was spent mopping up achievements in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (though still need to finish the single-player story mode) and trying to clean up some XBox Live Arcade game achievements, most notably Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Decade Duel. Needless to say, it was a lack luster week for achievement hunting.

Anyways, the update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 12/06/10): 38,405
Increase: +14,130
Weekly Increase: +140
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 36,595

Correction on the "Increase": Evidently, my math sucks. I was about 600 points off of what my actual yearly increase has been. It has since been corrected.

A lame increase, for sure. However, the 40,000 threshold is still very doable by the end of the year. Right now I am 1,595 points from that goal. With four weeks left, I need to average 398.75 points to get there. We'll round up to 399. Time to update the "Hit List"!

Hit List (12/6/10):

1.) Lego Batman: 665 points
2.) Alan Wake: 500 points
3.) Enslaved: 400 points
4.) Fable III: 275 points
5.) Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions: 220 points


Those five games alone, if I earned all those points, would be a total of 2.060 points. That would be more than enough to put me into the 40K club. Alan Wake and Fable III will, without a doubt, be the most time consuming of the bunch, but all good things are worth the work. Right?

Happy hunting!

Update #47

Thank god that week is over. I swear, working retail on Black Friday is hell. Plus, it leaves me with so little time to game since I get to work 32 hours in three days.

Oh well.

Like I said, not much gaming was accomplished. I finished a little mopping up on Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. I spent most of the time hunting feathers and flags, since I want to move on once I complete the story mode. Aside from that, nothing else. So I guess it's time for the numbers, then:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 11/29/10): 38,265
Increase: +13,515
Weekly Increase: +240
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 36,735

As far as hitting 40K by the end of the year, I'm a mere 1,735 points from that. I should be able to hit it, I think. I've still got five weeks left in the gaming year.

Happy hunting.

Update #46

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood accounted for most of the achievements earned this last week, as well as mopping up a few odd-and-end campaign achievements in Call of Duty Black Ops.

So, here's the update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 11/22/10): 38,025
Increase: +13,2750
Weekly Increase: +515
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 36,975

I'm only needing a total of 1,975 points to knock myself into the 40K zone. That should be accomplished by the end of the year.

Anyways, happy hunting!

40K is possible!

In my last post, I humored the concept of at least hitting 40,000 Gamerscore by the end of the year. Today, I by-passed 38,000. That means I need a mere 2,000 in 5 weeks. Totally doable.

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood should offer around 400 more points without much hassle, not to mention the couple hundred left in Fable III. I need to map this out and use my time wisely!

Update #45

I finally did it!

All year long, I've had a black cloud hanging over my head for having played Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth. It wasn't that I played it that has bothered me, hell it was an easy 1,000 points! It was the fact that it has been my biggest single week gain ever! I've never gotten close to that and it's driven me nuts. However, that is all over now!

Fable III and Call of Duty: Black Ops sealed the deal for me, netting a whopping 1,045 points! Though, to be fair, 10 points were scored from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Decade Duels. Still, that is a nice bulk total. Still falling short of my projected weekly goals, but every achievement counts!

In other news, my weekly updates have been off considerably. Somewhere along the line I've missed counted and my net growth totals for the year have been off by about 1,400 points. So the new update has been retro-acted to reflect the actual totals.

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 11/15/10): 37,510
Increase: +13,235
Weekly Increase: +1,045
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 37,490

I'm finally at the half-way marker of my 2010 goal of 75,000 gamerscore. Sadly, with only a few weeks left in the year, I don't see me hitting that goal. I would like to at least break 40,000 by the end of the year, though. Going into 2011 with a higher end score would definitely get me off to a good start. Plus, I'd only be 60 retail games from that elusive 100,000 points.

Oh well. Happy hunting, guys and gals!

Update #44

Holy shit.

Are there really only eight more weeks in this year? I honestly can't believe it. It feels like only yesterday we celebrated the new year for 2010. That's the fast paced world of retail for you. You never have time to enjoy life or the holidays.

Oh well, right? This isn't about that! This blog is about gaming and the joys of getting to knock out achievements!!

This week saw a few things. First, finished my first play-through of Star Wars: The Forced Unleashed 2. For everyone's negative reviews, I thoroughly enjoyed this game! I was able to finally get to the half-way point on Fable 3. Unfortunately, work and everything else has kept me from devoting the time that game rightfully deserves. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Decade's Duels finally launched this past week on Xbox Live. I was big into the card game back in school (carried my deck every where!) and I still enjoy collecting the cards every now and then, so I was excited for this title. Unfortunately, it was a mixed bag. I'm actually writing a review on it, so look forward to seeing that soon.

Anyways, lets get to the update, shall we?

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 11/08/10): 36,465
Increase: +11,190
Weekly Increase: +545
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 38,535

Though, score wise, this wasn't my best week (it does rank in the Top 10 of the Year, however) it was more about quality over quanity. Going into the final stretch of 2010, we only have two more major titles that'll be releasing and finding their way into my console. The first is this Tuesday's "blockbuster", Call of Duty: Black Ops. Then the following week will see Assassin's Creed Brotherhood finally sneak onto store shelves. I'm not too sure about either of them, especially Brotherhood, but they both look too cool to pass up.

Anyways, this was an earlier posting than I normally do, but that is because I'll be working the midnight launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops at work and won't have time to post it tonight. Besides, at 1:45 in the morning, what else should I be doing? Sleeping?

Happy hunting.

Update #43 - Fall Dashboard Edition

Evening, gents and ladies.

Well, it's that time of year again. That's right, time for a new Xbox 360 dashboard. Honestly, I do not mind it all that much. It's a little plain for me, but all in all, it is rather nice. My only issue is that some of my Avatar Awards (namely the ones from Comic Jumper and Costume Quest) seem to be glitched/broken now. Hopefully a fix is in the works as I seem to not be the only one experiencing the problems.

In achievement/gaming news, Fable 3 and Star Wars: The Forced Unleashed 2 compile the bulk of the achievements earned in the last 7 days. Hydro Thunder also gets a little love, too.

The Forced Unleashed 2 offers some incredibly easy achievements with little-to-no work what so ever. I had unlocked nearly 200 points within an hour. If it wasn't for enjoying the story and watching the cut scenes, I'd have the game completed an 75% of the achievements already unlocked. Fable 3, alas, requires a little work. Not a complaint, mind you, considering that they are far easier than some of Fable 2's achievements.

Anyways, onto the weekly update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 11/01/10): 35,920
Increase: +11,645
Weekly Increase: +575
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 39,080

Update #42

Okay, so admittedly, I fell extremely short of my original desired weekly goal of 4,000 points. Unfortunately, working retail during the holidays full time doesn't warrant a lot of free time. Combine the early morning shifts, long hours and working with a few people you cannot stand on a daily basis, you find yourself too tired to even turn on a console for a few minutes let alone several hours.

But I digress. I was still a semi-productive week. I finished the single player campaign of Red Dead Redemption and finished a rather annoying achievement in Comic Jumper. If they'd release the damned patch, I'd actually be able to complete it to perfection.

Anyways, this week's update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 10/25/10): 35,345
Increase: +11,070
Weekly Increase: +290
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 39,655

Update #41

So, we're back on track. In good time, I suppose. The next few weeks see the launch of some major games so I need to be on the ball.

Sadly, I have merely 11 weeks left to obtain my goal of 75,000. I'm just under 40,000 away from hitting that goal. 4,000 points a week doesn't seem that impossible...if I didn't have a full time job to attend with. Well, I guess I need to stop writing and get to gaming.

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 10/19/10): 35,055
Increase: +10,780
Weekly Increase: +115
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 39,945

Update #39 + #40

Hey, gang.

Been awhile, uh? Yeah, I was out of town last week and forgot to post an update early. My bad.

Anyways, lots of updates/reviews coming, but for now I'll just leave you with this week's update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 10/11/10): 34,940
Increase: +10,665
Weekly Increase: +275
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 40,060

Update #38

Evening, boys and girls.

Well, we're officially two weeks out from the launch of Halo: Reach. Honestly, I was so worried the game wouldn't live up to the hype. I figured it'd turn out to be another game I got excited for this year and just gave up on. Nope. I love it! I'm four achievements shy of hitting the 1000K marker with it. Which is a good thing since Bungie let it slip that there is new DLC on the way with 10 new achievements worth 250 points. Woot.

That's not to say I only played Halo this week. I did take a small killing spree break to play some Red Dead Redemption. As the year's end is approaching, I'd like to attempt having as many games from this year completed as possible. I've already knocked out Bioshock 2 and Bayonetta.

Up to bat this week is Dead Rising 2 which promises to be a game that needs multiple play throughs. Oh joy!

Anyways, onto this week's update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 9/20/10): 34,665
Increase: +10,390
Weekly Increase: +205
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 40,335

Update #37 - Killing Spree!

Damn it...Halo lives up to the hype!

Plus I finally broke 10K! Another woot!

Anyways, update time and now back to Halo!

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 9/20/10): 34,460
Increase: +10,185
Weekly Increase: +690
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 40,540

Update #36- The Calm Before the Storm

So, tonight is the night. Tonight the calm breaks and we begin the mad tilde wave of games launching for the Fall/Holiday seasons. Of course, the first game crushing onto the shore is the fabled Halo: Reach. A title that lacks any need of an explanation, Reach has been something of a media tank...nay...juggernaut for the gaming industry.

For the last year, we have been bombarded by previews, betas, live action commercials, and general hype for what is being described as Bungie's "swan song" for Microsoft. I was able to get in on the beta back in May and I was impressed with what the game, at the time, had to offer. Was I blown away and left speechless? By no means. At it's heart and core, it is still just a First-Person Shooter. Still, as the months pressed on, I have felt my anticipation for the title grow steadily to the point where I am absolutely ecstatic for the tonight's midnight release. I think the last game I was this excited for was Bayonetta, and we all know how that turned out for me, uh?

Anyways, onto this week's update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 9/13/10): 33,770
Increase: +9,495
Weekly Increase: +555
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 41,230

This last week was spent on Dead Rising: Case 0 and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Dead Rising: Case 0 was completed to 100% making it my 4th perfected titled (2nd Xbox Live Arcade Game completed to 100%). Spidey's new game is somewhat a mixed bag for me. As a Spider-Man fan, I absolutely love it and think it is probably his best outing on any console since the old games on the first Playstation. Though, Maximum Carnage on the Super NES was an amazing title! Still, I find myself comparing it (or at least being asked to) to Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Both games are amazing in their own right, but being part of the superhero genre, they have to be compared. Batman requires more thought and patience, with every level and boss uniquely their own. Visually, Arkham Asylum is more realistic, looking as though it was a controllable version of the Chris Nolan films. Shattered Dimension, however, looks like a comic brought to life, with every chapter playing out like it's own issue. The only complaint I'd have with the game would be that the bosses are "pattern bosses". Even though they can be hard, and down right annoying, they each have a pattern you must discover. After discovering their pattern, you merely play the waiting game.

Still, I'd give Shattered Dimensions a solid 4 out of 5. Is it perfect? No. Is it a fun game that keeps you hooked until the end? Most definitely. Plus, if you thought collecting little green orbs in Crackdown was addicting, you haven't experienced anything until you start hunting spiders.

Well, until next time. Happy gaming.

Update #35- An Arcady (is that a word?) Week

Yeah, so this was a semi-productive week. I was able to knock out the primary play through for Bioshock 2, just some odd and ends to clean up, as well as knock out Shank and Dead Rising: Case 0. Though in all honesty, Dead Rising: Case 0 pissed me off a little.

You are able to carry off your level and combo/scratch cards, but the time limit kills a lot of the fun. A game like this just begs to be explored and treated like a fun little amusement park of slaughter and fun. After all, you can't spell slaughter without laughter. Yes, I know that the argument could be made that the time limit just encourages multiple play-throughs. That is true, but with every week providing a AAA-title or the like starting on September 14th, there is just so much time in a day or week. Oh well, guess you just don't play them all at once...heh.

As I said, I was able to knock out the primary campaign play through of Bioshock 2. I've updated my Hit List to reflect the current five titles and their gamerscore output potential (1,635 points).

Anyways, onto the weekly update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 9/06/10): 33,215
Increase: +8,940
Weekly Increase: +420
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 41,785

Update #34

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 8/30/10): 32,795
Increase: +8,520
Weekly Increase: +65
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 42,205

Update #33

Evening, everyone!

So, I'm back from almost a week in Chicago. I was up there attending Wizard World Chicago Comic Con. Not much going on video game wise there, but I was able to attend the official release party of Mafia II and pick up some nice sway. Also got a chance to play some Metroid: Other M. If I have time between Halo: Reach and art, I may have to pick it up, honestly.

Anyways, to the update!

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 8/23/10): 32,730
Increase: +8,455
Weekly Increase: +95
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 42,270

All 95 points were from Bioshock 2 before I went on vacation. Not the best week, mind you, but achievements are achievements! Now that I can get back to my gaming, expect big things in the pipeline!

Happy gaming.

Update #32

Another wasted week of gaming. The next week won't be any better since I'll be in Chicago Thursday through Sunday.

Anyways...

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 8/16/10): 32,635
Increase: +8,360
Weekly Increase: +125
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 42,365

Update #31

Shit...I didn't even realize I'd forgotten to update. Oh well...

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 8/09/10): 32,510
Increase: +8,235
Weekly Increase: +40
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 42,490

Well, I guess +40 points is better than nothing, right?

Anyways, we're in a dry spell gaming wise. Unless you're into sport games. Trying to catch up on everything before Halo: Reach drops in a month. Alas, I have a major convention coming up, so they have me working constantly to make up for the days I'll be missing. Yay me.

Oh well.

Happy gaming!

Update #30

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 8/02/10): 32,470
Increase: +8,195
Weekly Increase: +110
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 42,530

Update #29 - Post Comic-Con Edition

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 7/26/10): 32,360
Increase: +8,085
Weekly Increase: +0
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 42,640

Yeah, needlessly to say I failed at any attempt of gaming this week. I was unfortunately too busy with work and art to get caught up in the achievement hunting. Hey, I've still got 5 months! That's less than 10,000 points a month. It's doable...right?

O_o

Happy gaming...

Update #28

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 7/19/10): 32,360
Increase: +8,085
Weekly Increase: +310
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 42,640

Update #27

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 7/12/10): 32,050
Increase: +7,775
Weekly Increase: +240
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 42,950

Not bad considering I only played Crackdown 2. Picked up Singularity today, so lets see how this week rolls.

Happy gaming.

Update #26

Morning, gents.

Just getting the weekly update out of the way:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore 7/05(on 10): 31,810
Increase: +7,535
Weekly Increase: +295
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 43,190

Update #25

Afternoon, boys and girls.

It's that time of the week again. It's time to look back on the previous week and see rather or not it was a good week of gaming. This week, honestly, has been one of the better weeks in a while.


Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 6/28/10): 31,515
Increase: +7,240
Weekly Increase: +435
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 43,485

Really, only two games were played this week: Transformers: War for Cybertron and Bayonetta. Honestly, the most important part of my gaming this week happened yesterday by knocking out the "Infinite Climax" difficulty in Bayonetta. I needed to knock it out a long time ago. Now all that is left to do in that game is a couple combat achievements and the mini-mission games. Those can wait, though. I've got Naughty Bear this week, along with wanting to catch up on my Mass Effect 2 achievements.

Anyways, that's all for today. Happy gaming!

More than Meets the Eye!

So, I've spent the last few days shooting things up in Transformers: War For Cybertron. Short campaign aside, its a well crafted love letter to the fans of the original series. So much so, that its credit theme is a newly reworked Transformers theme by the man himself, Stan Bush. Sadly, it isn't the best game if you want 1000 points. While the multiplayer achievements are easy to obtain (they just take forever to get to so be prepared for a lot of grinding), you will find out that there are only about 2000 people online at any given time. That doesn't bid well for a game who's primary attraction is the well crafted multiplayer that is as though Gears of War and Unreal Tournament had a love child.

That aside, I finally managed to put a scratch into my fabled "Hit List". Threw Bayonetta into the ol` 360 yesterday and finished out the "Infinite Climax" mode. It wasn't hard since the "Bird Flute Glitch" makes it easy to eradicate most of the lesser bosses. Hey, before you judge me, I completed the game fairly on Normal without cheating. Besides, it is an exploitable issue in the game. It's not like I'm gamesaving my way to 100% or some noob shit like that.

Anyways, playing through it again solidified my resolve that Bayonetta is still my official "Game of the Year". I know that is crazy talk considering this is the year that gave us Mass Effect 2 and Red Dead Redemption, two equally fascinating and extraordinary games. But that is the point! They met every last expectation people had about those games. Bayonetta, on the other hand, had low expectations surrounding it. Everyone was expecting a generic hack-and-slash with a story that takes itself too seriously, a clone of Devil May Cry. Oddly enough, it turned out to be one of the best reviewed games of the year, as well as one of the best selling new I.P (intellectual properties) titles to launch this year.

Anyways, just felt like talking a little gaming. See you all tomorrow for the weekly update.

Happy gaming!

Update #24

Yeah, so gaming this week was in the far, far backseat of priorities. Don't even get me started on my whole "Hit List" idea from last week. Didn't get a chance to touch a single one of them. It is kind of embarrassing.

Anyways, onto this week's "update"...:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 6/21/10): 31,080
Increase: +6,805
Weekly Increase: +115
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 43,920

Last week, I had a chance to pick up Crackdown from Gamestop while I was on "vacation". I popped it in for a couple hours today and have to admit it is still as fun today as it was 3 years ago. The Crackdown 2 demo went live today and I don't mind the graphic change. Over all, it plays exactly like the original just with a new cell shaded graphic engine that is like a comic book version of Borderlands.

Anyways, happy gaming.

Update #23 - E3 Edition + Hit List

Wow. Lack luster start to E3, folks. "Project Natal" was renamed "Kinect". Still not interested. A new Xbox 360 was showcased, this time with built in Wifi, for $299.99. Somewhat interested in that, honestly. No new games were revealed or showcased that made my jaw drop. Though, some trailers for previously announced titles were amazing. Bioware, where were you when Lucas decided to make those god awful prequels?!

Anyways, you don't care about my opinions on E3. You just want the update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 6/14/10): 30,965
Increase: +6,690
Weekly Increase: +170
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 44,035

Not much gaming has happened in the last week. All the time gaming was spent picking up a couple loose achievements in Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption. I've got a week before the next game of interest rears it's ugly little head, Transformers: War for Cyberton. That means a week to play mop up some achievements in the following games. Ladies and gents, allow me to introduce a new feature at my blog....The Hit List!

Every week, I'll update the hit list to cover a particular goal. Most of the time it'll be to just play clean up, others to 100% a game, or maybe try and achieve a hard achievement. Due to the fact of an ever fluctuating work schedule (I work retail and try to publish my own monthly comic book series), I'll only be starting out with a small list of 5 titles. So, without further a due, the first in a long line of "Hit Lists":

- Bayonetta : Goal - Finish the "Infinate Climax" mode for a smooth 100 achievement points.
- Bioshock 2/Darksiders: Goal - Finish campaigns for undetermined amount of points. To be frank, I lost track of where I was in both games so I couldn't imagine how many points are left. I'd estimate at least 200.
- Mass Effect 2: Goal - Complete the "Missing Memory"/Kasumi DLC for 15 points. It may not seem like a lot, but every little bit helps.
- Lego Batman: Goal - Complete the "Villain" story mode for an estimated 300 points.

Total points potentially achievable: 615

Well, that's it for tonight.

Happy gaming!

Update #22 - A day late

Yeah, sorry about that. Looks like my streak has again had the rest button hit.

Anyways, the update will still reflect yesterday's numbers and not today's:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 6/07/10): 30,795
Increase: +6,520
Weekly Increase: +300
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 44,205

A bigger week than I've had in the recent past, all thanks to finally taking the time to knock out Alan Wake. I was playing on Hard, so that was 80 points since the difficulties stack. I'm going to put off the "Nightmare" difficulty play through and the collectibles until a later date. I've got a couple weeks before another game comes out that I honestly want, which is Transformers: War for Cybertron. Until then, I want to try and finish as many games as possible that I haven't even beaten a single play through of yet (like Bioshock 2 and Darksiders).

Well, enough small talk. Happy gaming!

Collectibles in Video Games

Okay, time for a little bitty rant for the night.: Collectibles in Video Games!

Currently, I'm playing through (back and forth, mind you) two really good games: Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption. They are both fantastic games in their respective genres and are well worth the time it takes to complete them. While they are great, they are two totally different games. 'Alan Wake' is survival thriller title that is rather linear and short. 'Red Dead Redemption' is a open-world western in vain of Grand Theft Auto. They are also games that take their collectible hunting (with achievements around them, mind you) in different ways that are on the total opposite ends of the spectrum.

'Red Dead Redemption' offers collectibles in forms of "challenges" that you complete to level up, earning fame and money. In the end, upon finishing all the challenges, you are awarded with an amazing outfit for your character to wear that affects the game. These challenges are not tedious in the least. They vary from collecting gold bars of a lost treasure to various hunting challenges. These keep things interesting and fun for a game that can last 30+ hours.

'Alan Wake', on the other hand, does not offer this. They offer 6 different collectibles: manuscript pages, coffee thermoses, chests, pyramids made of coke cans, televisions and radios. There are 12 pyramids, but you only need 5 of them for the achievement. Not a big deal. There are 11 radios and 14 televisions, easily found without much hunting required. Again, not a big deal. Now, there are 30 chests that must be sought after, many occasions forcing you into a corner with no ammo and half a dozen Taken (the enemies in the game) surrounding you. Then the final two! There are 100 coffee thermoses to be found and 106 manuscript pages. 15 of those manuscript pages cannot be found until you play "Nightmare Mode", a mode that cannot be unlocked until first completing the game on Hard.

The television and radio shows offer a somewhat entertaining distraction to the game, but some of the songs and videos are so cheesy and campy that they break up the mood initially set by being chased through the moonlit wilderness by demonically possessed town folk. The manuscript pages add more depth to the story, but ultimate give spoilers to events that are about to happen. The rest? Tedious and over-bearing work that is an obvious attempt to lengthen what was a short game to begin with by a couple hours.

Where am I going with this, you ask? Honestly, I didn't know myself until trying to race through my first play through of 'Alan Wake' this afternoon. I'm racing to this coal mine in Episode 4, listening to another narration of Alan discussing how the world is out to get him, and I see a thermos on the side of the road. I stopped and got it, grinding my teeth to the fact that this game suffers from the same symptoms the first Assassin's Creed did. The symptom is in the form of collectibles ranking up in the 200+ range, stemming from a disease known as "Lazy Developers".

Now, I'm not saying having collectibles in a game is a bad thing. Far, far from it! Hell, in Assassin's Creed II, I couldn't stop my constant searching for those elusive feathers. Every new feather put me one step closer to a special cape for Ezio. I felt a sense of accomplishment as I scaled the tallest structures in search for those ivory feathers. It primarily stemmed from the game's gorgeous environment giving me a reason to want to explore, to see every lush detail the designers had given us. The same goes for 'Red Dead Redemption'. The west never looked so grand in digital form before. I could spend hours just galloping along on my trusty steed, watching as the sun set and rose over a land and time long forgotten.

'Alan Wake', to my dismay, offers none of that. It throws you into a horror story in which you have little to no means of defending yourself. Believable given the fact that, if you were placed in the same situation, the likelihood of finding a small armory in a backwaters town is slim to none. However, given the fact that this game places you in that situation with little means to defend yourself and still ask you to hunt down 200+ relics that do absolutely nothing for you save boost your gamerscore is rather insulting. It's like dangling a piece of angel food cake in front of a starving person covered in raw meat while surrounding them with a dozen starved tigers. It's cruel, unusual and harsh.

Now, you're probably thinking, "Well, no one is forcing you to hunt them down." That is true! No one is. I just want to get my money's worth in my games. If that means trying to get all the collectibles or achievements (or trophies for my PS3 titles), so be it. However, I refuse to accept the fact that game developers constantly use collectibles in such a manner instead of actual game content. It's disgusting and immoral, the saddest fact being that collectibles like this are becoming more common placed in DLC.

I'm sorry. I know that this seems like such a tiny, tiny thing to complain about in a generation full of game delays, technical bugs in retail games, full games being released incompletely with the original content coming out as post-launch DLC. Just chalk it up to another late night gaming rant.

Until next time, happy gaming.

Update #21- 5 months down!

Wow. Today is the last day of May and, as we find ourselves about to enter another month, I can't help but wonder where are the time went to!

Heh...anyways, the update!

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 5/31/10): 30,495
Increase: +6,220
Weekly Increase: +110
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 44,505

Not much to say tonight. Work has been a killer so maybe I'll update later this week with a better posting.

Happy gaming and happy Memorial Day!

Update #20- New week and a correction

Woot! 20 weeks into our 2010 challenge. It's definitely been one hell of a ride this year. With so many amazing games launching, like Red Dead Redemption and Bayonetta, it isn't hard to see why this year is shaping up to be far better than last year.

But today isn't about my "insight" into the gaming world, it's about the weekly update:


Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,275
Current Gamerscore (on 5/17/10): 30,385
Increase: +6,110
Weekly Increase: +320
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 44,615

Correction: I've been operating my chart based on having started the year at 24,250. Evidently, I read my chart on www.360voice.com the wrong way. 24,250 is what I had on the start of 12/31/09 and not the end. On the start of 01/01/10, I had 24,275.

My data above now reflects the said error. I was considering updating the previous 19 entries, but that seemed like a lot of work for a difference of merely 25 points.


Anyways, thank you all for your time as usual. Happy gaming!

Update #19

Told you that you would all get the new update on time! Well, an hour to go and it'd have been late. Oh well, still on the same day.

Anyways, onto the update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 5/17/10): 30,065
Increase: +5,815
Weekly Increase: +155
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 44,935

That is all working out some Splinter Cell: Conviction and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. Hopefully this week will be devoted to Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption.

Well, happy gaming!

It's over 30,000!!!!

Well, actually, it's right at 30,000.

Thanks to a long jam session of Splinter Cell: Conviction, I landed right on top of 30,000 this week. The achievement to get me there was Hunter Master, worth a wopping 50 points!

Big thanks goes out to RaverZombie69 for helping me achieve it!

Happy gaming!

Update #18 - Past due

Wow. I went 17 straight weeks into this year's challenge and I hadn't missed an update. Week 18 hits, and I'm two days late. How did I let that happen? Shit, I must be getting old.

Anyways, this week's update will be retroactive to Monday May 10th, the day I should have updated. Next week's update will be returned to it's regularly scheduled time slot:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 5/10/10): 29,910
Increase: +5,660
Weekly Increase: +0
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 45,090

Obviously, if you saw my placement on the official blog's chart, I earned no points last week. This week, however, I'm shaping up fairly well, even breaking into the 30K area! More on that in my next entry, though.

For now, however, happy gaming!

Update #17 - 4 months down, 8 to go

Afternoon, boys and girls.

So, this past week saw little to no gaming, mostly due in part for preparing for Free Comic Book Day 2010. All in all, it was a fun event as usual. Sold some books and did some sketches. It was a good time.

Anyways, the update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 5/03/10): 29,910
Increase: +5,660
Weekly Increase: +90
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 45,090

This update also marks the end of the 4 month of updates as we go into May, 5th month of our competition. For the month of April, I was able to accumulate a grand total of +1,120 points. Not to shabby but is definitely a distance from the 5,000 per month I originally set out to accomplish. Oh well, life happens I guess.

Though, interestingly enough, I am trending +305 points over what I did this time last year. It doesn't feel like I've done more gaming this year more so than last year, so I guess it's a good thing I've decided to attempt to raise my completion percentage up as well as my gamerscore.

Well, here's hoping to doing better next week!

Happy gaming.

Late night/early morning ramblings

Yeah, so, I'm not really in the "sleeping" mood (it's only 4:15am and I have to be getting ready for work in 4 hours...yay retail!) so I was looking and comparing my progress this year. For those that aren't aware, and shame on you if you aren't, this is the second year of the 100K for Child's Play achievement marathon. Essentially, we raise money and awareness for the Penny Arcade Child's Play charity by playing games and earning achievements. Hey, it's no different than having a sponsor for Relay for Life or any of those other charity fund raising events. The only difference is we chose to relax indoors as opposed to sweating outside.

Anyways, some interesting stats:

Last Year (2009) -

01/01/2009 - 12/31/2009: 12,015 points earned. This is a low number considering I was trying for 100,000.

04/27/2009 - Gamerscore: 17,570, +5,335. I had earned 5000+ points in 4 months, coming out to an average of +1,333.75 points per month.

Current Year (2010) -

01/01/2010 - 04/27/2010 (current): 5,570 points earned thus far. That is just under half of all of last year's earning.

04/27/2010 - Gamerscore: 29,829, +5,570. Compared to this same date, one year ago, I am trending up +335 points, averaging a total of +1,392.5 points per month.

++

Personally, I consider this a victory. Yes, I am again trending away from my projected goal. To reach my more realistic goal of reaching a gamerscore of 75,000 this year, I would have had to be earning +4,230 points per month. Going into the month of May, I'll actually need to up my earnings to +5,647.5 points per month to just hit my goal.

Optimistically, that is possible. Given that I am only at 29,820 out of a possible 80,000+ gamerscore, simply going back and 100% past games would allow me to earn that and then some. Realistically, however, given my working schedule (again, yay retail!) and schedule for my self-publishing, I am forecasting that I'll be lucky to hit my goal. I'm not saying it is impossible, just improbable at this moment in time. Though, I'm not giving up! 100,000 gamerscore will be mine, damn it!

Then again, maybe it's just the lack of sleep talking.

Anyways, happy gaming!

Update #16

Ok, so depending on how you look at it, I'm late on the update. Technically it's 2am on Tuesday where I live, but it's still Monday on the west coast. So, for the sake of keeping my record in tact, I'm saying it is still Monday. It's my blog, so I'll say it if I wanna.

Anyways, I've only played two games this past week (Lego Batman and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2). So lets get to the update, shall we?

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 4/26/10): 29,820
Increase: +5,570
Weekly Increase: +345
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 45,180

I need to finish Lego Batman this week, along with the "Realistic" difficulty on Splinter Cell: Conviction. That's nearly 1K in points alone between those two games and I'll need them. Next Monday is the start of the Halo: Reach beta and I have a feeling that'll be sucking up nearly all of my gaming time for the foreseeable future.

Well, that is it for today. As always, thanks for stopping by and happy gaming!

Update #15

Evening, everyone.

Finally in the 29K zone. Hopefully next week's update will find me basking in the glow of the 30K club lights!

Needless to say, Splinter Cell: Conviction took up that last week. I have to say, the single-player story mode is rather short but the co-op and multiplayer based aspects are fantastic. Needless to say, however, it is highly advised to play with someone you know. Like most co-op games, I played with my brother. We've been gaming for so long together that we can almost instinctively know what the other is thinking without speaking. And in this game, that is the kind of gamer you need to play with.

Anyways, the weekly update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 4/19/10): 29,475
Increase: +5,225
Weekly Increase: +500
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 45,525

Happy gaming!

Update #14

Not a whole lot to say other than I beat Afro Samurai and am uber excited for Splinter Cell: Conviction tomorrow. It's nice to see my XBox 360 getting some mad love again.

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 4/12/10): 28,975
Increase: +4,725
Weekly Increase: +185
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 46,025

Happy gaming!

Update #13 - Three months down, nine to go

Evening, everyone.

So, it is the 5th of April. That puts us 13 weeks into our second annual "100K for Child's Play" event. I'd bore you with a bunch of useless statistics, like how many new games vs. old games I've played (damn you, Avatar: The Last Airbender!!), but here is all that matters:

Anyways, another week means another update. So here we go...

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 4/05/10): 28,790
Increase: +4,540
Weekly Increase: +275
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 46,210

Given that we have nine months left, I have a chance of hitting my goal if I pick up the pace. If I can just manage +5,135 points per month, I'll hit it. The bad thing is that the silly Playstation 3 has to have so many good games come out the last couple months, plus Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver launching.

Oh well, time to get my game on!

Happy gaming.

Correction

Evening, everyone.

Not really an update per say, I just felt the need to make a correction. In my last post, I'd stated that I'd been doing better this year at this time with +4,265. However, last year on April 3rd, I had a yearly total of +4,755. That's a horrid difference of -490.

Like I said, not really an update, nor is it really important, but I just wanted to correct an error in my reporting.

That's all.

Happy gaming.

Update #12

How's everyone doing tonight? Good, I hope!

Anyways, another week means another update. So here we go...

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 3/29/10): 28,515
Increase: +4,265
Weekly Increase: +95
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 46,485

Those +95 points are only thanks to picking up Afro Samurai this afternoon from GameStop. They had it for $10 new as a part of their "Game Days of Summer" sales event. I only got in a couple hours but I'm enjoying it. I loved the anime series and movie, and I regretted not buying it when it was newly released, so it is nice to play it.

Anyways, hopefully I'll get in some serious gaming sometime soon. It's just really weird trying to balance seven thousand different things at once. Though, to be fair, I am doing a million times (well, maybe not a million, but it is a lot) better than I did last year. 3 months in, last year, I had maybe 1,000+ points.

Well, enough with the rambling.

Happy gaming!

Update #11

New week, new update.

Alas, God of War 3 and Final Fantasy XIII have hindered my gamerscore gain as of late. Luckily, I finished God of War this evening. I can now focus on going on to finishing up some of the Xbox 360 games that are piling up.

Anyways, the update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 3/23/10): 28,420
Increase: +4,170
Weekly Increase: +0
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 46,580

Happy gaming!

Barely made my weekly posting!

Anyways, the boring stuff:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 3/16/10): 28,420
Increase: +4,170
Weekly Increase: +1,000
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 46,580

Yeah, so I finally got a copy of Avatar: The Last Airbender. That was the only reason I earned an extra thousand points.

I'm officially a score whore.

Happy gaming

I'm officially a whore

Today, I finally broke down. Even though I'm enthralled but the wonderful beauty known simply as Final Fantasy XII I finally bought a copy of Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth. A local electronic store had a used copy for $12, has a wonderful return policy, and the fact I haven't earned a single achievement in 2 weeks made me snap. So, here in a few minutes, I'll make up for the lack of 2 weeks of gaming in 5 minutes.

May the Heavens forgive me...

Update #9

Well, I might not be adding any achievement points at the moment, but at least I'm constantly updating!

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 3/08/10): 27,420
Increase: +3,170
Weekly Increase: +0
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 47,580

Yeah, so, my bad. Alas, the last couple weeks offered more playtime from my Playstation 3 than my Xbox 360. It doesn't seem to be letting up any either. The best I'll be able to do is go back and actually finish Bioshock 2 and Darksiders. Final Fantasy XIII comes out tomorrow, but I'm getting that on the PS3. Then God of War 3 is next week.

...I actually feel sad for my little green machine....

Well, happy gaming!

Update #8 - Two Months Down

Well, this is a sorrowful update. A whole week with ZERO increases. I blame it on my rekindled fascination with Poke`mon and the PS3 exclusive Heavy Rain.

Anyways, the stats per usual:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 3/01/10): 27,420
Increase: +3,170
Weekly Increase: +0
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 47,580

Well, that's it. Happy gaming!

Update #7

Bet you all thought I forgot, uh? Ha! Nope.

Time for the weekly update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 2/22/10): 27,420
Increase: +3,170
Weekly Increase: +315
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 47,580

Again, another week of decent gain, but not what I was really hoping for. My personal goal has been to average between 100-200 points per day, averaging at 700-1,400 per week. Right now, I've been lucky to keep my head above the +300 point range. My problem is that, at the moment, I'm trying to focus my attention on completing one game at a time.

God, I'm so close to the 30K marker. I guess I just need to finish Bioshock 2 and Darksiders so I can get prepared for the onslaught of PS3 titles dropping, as well as new Pokemon games!

Happy gaming!

DLC: Achievements vs. For the Fun of the Game (Mild Spoilers)

Yesterday it was announced by Ubisoft that the next installment of the Assassin Creed II DLC would drop earlier than expected, coming out tomorrow (Feb. 18th). It'll be available for a mere 400 Microsoft Points. There will be NO achievements in this DLC as was with the first one last month.

Let me start this conversation off by stating that, when it comes to choosing my games, achievements (and trophies to a lesser extent) have absolutely no baring on if I purchase a game or not. Yes, they are nice and are an active goal at all times for my gaming, but only as an extension. For the most part, I value achievements (and, again, trophies) as an incentive for actually completing a game or a reason to go back and play a game over and over that would normally have no replay value (I'm looking at you, Bourne Conspiracy!).

By default, that logic extends to DLC (down-loadable content) as well. If the content is worth the extra money, such as new levels/chapters/missions or maps for multiplayer, then by all means I'll buy it. I mean, if I love a game enough, why not buy something to expand the experience by as much as possible? Achievements or not, if it is worth it, I'll do it.

In my personal opinion, these two chapter packs are not. And on this one, it is because of the lack of achievements.

Let me explain.

As much of a backtracking statement as that was, I have a valid reason. I apologize if you haven't finished the game, but to defend myself I must offer some mild spoilers. Both DLC chapters are "lost" memories from the game. There are two memory core segments (#12 and #13) that are unplayable in the initial release due to the memories being "corrupted". From the day I, or anyone else for that matter, came to that moment in the game, I knew what was going to happen. They would be made as additional expansions later down the line. Sweet, right? Unfortunately not.

Both "chapters" offer an additional hour, maybe two if you take your sweet time, of gameplay. Neither offer new locations, characters, gameplay mechanics. Nothing. They are the exact same thing we did a dozen times over the first time through, with the exception of using Davinci's "Flying Machine". You only had one shot at that fun little toy in the first game. You get to use it a couple more times starting tomorrow. These "expansions" feel as though they were deliberately yanked from the game in prerelease. Being that these two do absolutely nothing to expand on the initial story line, it seems that they were removed to be DLC on purpose.

If this is indeed the case, which many are citing, then it begs the question as to why one should buy it? They might be fun little diversions, but why pay an additional $10 for content that you should have already been allowed? This is where the achievement factor comes into play. At least with achievements, I'd feel some sort of desire to to play through it all over again. As it stands, even with my immense love of the game (first retail game I completed to 100%), why bother? Ubisoft gave me no reason, only a sickening feeling that I was cheated out of content.

Update # 6

Wow.

I'm actually at Week 6 of the challenge and I haven't missed an update. Color me impressed. One of my 'New Year's Resolutions' was to stay more on task, while another was to have a sort of "return to form" for how I used to be. The former being that the challenge and getting my art done would be a top priority, while the latter was just to be more of a nerd like I was at one point. That means more games!!

Anyways, time for the update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 2/15/10): 27,105
Increase: +2,855
Weekly Increase: +340
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 47,895

It wasn't my best week ever, but it is far, far from the worst. I think the problem for the lack of gain this week was due to bouncing between games too much. I bought Bioshock 2 on the 9th, playing it off and on until Friday when I picked up Darksiders. Eh...I wasn't going to, but Gamestop had it on sale for $39.99. Not a bad deal considering it had the code for the free copy of Red Faction: Guerrilla. So, technically two good games for $20 a piece.

I actually have a clearing coming up now that I can use to finish games and earn some achievements while nothing launches on the Xbox 360 that is of pressing concern for me over the next month or so. My Playstation 3, on the other hand, will be seeing a major workout until April. Heavy Rain comes pouring in at the end of the month while both Final Fantasy XIII and God of War 3 land early next month. I've been hearing a lot of conflicting reports concerning the newest installment of Final Fantasy, as to rather the Xbox or Playstation versions are better. Frankly, I don't care. Final Fantasy XIII was one of my 5 reasons for wanting a Playstation 3 and it still is.

Well, that's all for now.

Happy Gaming!

Update #5

Evening, everyone.

Update is a few hours late. Oh well, right? Anyways, here is this week's update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 2/08/10): 26,765
Increase: +2,515
Weekly Increase: +755
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 48,235

Not too bad of a week, really. It's primarily from Mass Effect 2 and finishing the first play through. Bioshock 2 is out now, or tomorrow (depending on where you live), so here's to another good week.

Happy gaming!

No one left behind...

Finished Mass Effect 2 tonight. I picked up +415 points from it. I'm at 900/1015 (47 out of 51 achievements) with it, mainly needing the "Power Gamer" (reach lv. 30) and Insanity difficulty achievements. I'm looking at these as being "life-time achievements", ones to come back to later when I have more time. After all, there are only 2 more days until Bioshock 2 drops.

Happy gaming.

Crazy little rambling...

I don't know why I found this funny, but last night I had my gamerscore at 26,300. That is a +310 increase in the 24 hours since my update on Feb. 1st. I know that is a realively low increase compared to most major achievement farming marathons, but damn, that was 310 in one day versus the 155 from the entire of last week.

Heh...sorry. Random rambles....

Happy gaming.

Update #4

Evening, everyone.

Today's update has the pleasure of being not only a weekly update, but also our first monthly update of 2010. While my month was relatively...bountiful, the last week was not so much. I earned a few achievements, but I spent the weekend with my girlfriend, so gaming was not an issue.

Anyways, here is the obligatory update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 2/01/10): 25,990
Increase: +1,740
Weekly Increase: +155
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 49,010

As one might suspect, the 155 points are purely from Mass Effect 2. The game is a more perfected game compared to it's first installment, so the achievements don't feel like a mindless, relentlessly unending grind-fest. The biggest issue I had with the first game was the Alley achievements. You were required to play the game at least 3 times to get all 6 of them as you could only acquire 2 a play through. The new one merely requires you to play a single mission to gain their loyalty. Works for me!

In other gaming related news, my good pal M0taku over at our 100K Challenge blog has come up with a great system for using/tracking Trophies so that we might extend a hand to our Playstation 3 friends. Many thanks go out to him on that!

Well, that's all for now.

Happy gaming!

Update #3

Sorry for the late update, but here we go!

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 1/25/10): 25,835
Increase: +1,585
Weekly Increase: +615
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 49,165

Yeah, I've had a busy week. The main reason for such a large gain is the "Pennicle Station" DLC for Mass Effect (Easy 150 points for a Lv. 60 character) and picking up another 425 points thanks to Bayonetta.

I'm glad I just finished the main portions of Bayonetta. All that is left is "Infinite Climax Mode" and a few odd achievements. They'll have to sit for now as Mass Effect 2 lands tomorrow.

Happy gaming!

Don't Fuck with a Witch!

At like 3:30 this morning, I finally got through my first play through of Bayonetta. Not only adding another solid 115 points to my score, but solidifying my belief that that Bayonetta is indeed one of the finest action games made in the past decade. Everything from the opening minutes of the game until the sultry dance scene at the end of everything makes this game a must own. What can one expect, though, from the creator of the original "Devil May Cry".

Now, to just run through it on the other difficulties and play clean up on the achievements.

FINALLY!!

After 60+ hours of Mass Effect, I have a maxed out Lv. 60 character + those two damned Alley achievements that were annoying the hell out of me. I wanted to throw down the game on "Insanity" for that achievement, but it was getting way too long and the new version comes out on Tuesday. I have a game save on Insanity, so I'll go back to it once a drought hits.

That's all really. I just wanted to scream out about those Alley achievements (for Garrius and Wrex respectively) that have driven me nuts for three play throughs.

Happy gaming.

Update #2

Evening, boys and girls.

New update:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,250
Current Gamerscore (on 1/12/10): 25,220
Increase: +970
Weekly Increase: +135
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 49,780

It wasn't a very productive week, I know. Yet, with Mass Effect 2 just days away, it felt it. My main goal to hit Level 60 and beat the game on Insanity and Hardcore (all three were worth 125 points). I managed to get level 60 and beat the game on Hardcore. Insanity has taken a bit out of me. Without being able to level up any further, it makes it feel like I'm grinding for nothing. Thus taking all the fun out of the game.

I broke away from Mass Effect to dive into Bayonetta again. Yet another game kicking my butt. I spent an afternoon just item/halo farming, making no attempts to advance the storyline. Sadly, that resulted in only 1 achievement worth a measly 5 points. Now that I'm through with Mass Effect for the time being, I think I'll finish up it before Mass Effect 2 lands on Tuesday.

In other news, we've been hard at work trying to redo our "100K for Child's Play" blog. The chart and tracking systems are being given completely new overhauls in attempts to make things easier on our end. We're also really trying to figure out a way to include the Playstation 3's Trophy support into our event. Sadly, we have had no luck in that.

Well, I believe that's all for tonight. Told you all I'd be updating regularly from here on in, didn't I?

Happy gaming!

Semi-update

Afternoon, everyone.

This isn't really a Gamerscore update, but more of an update about the blog. I just wanted to point out a couple things about the new update/look:

• First, the new header. Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be revamping the overall look of the blog. Up til now, it was fine. But as I go into my second year of trying to get the 100K, and support our gamer challenge for Child's Play, I feel I need to start making this place feel more like me. So, yeah, it's purely cosmetic, but I think it'll be worth it in the end.
• Secondly, to the right (under my profile), you'll notice a Top 10 list. As a new game comes out I'll update the list. This is solely for the Xbox 360, even though I am an active Playstation 3 user.

Okay, so that's it for the day. A semi-update, one that is extra small at that!

Anyways, happy gaming.

Mass Effect...a Massive Headache

Ok. So, this is so much an update as it is a rant.

Currently I'm about to go through my third play-through of Mass Effect, and don't get me wrong, I love the game completely. It's a bloody brilliant game. I hate it that it took the second one coming out to get my ass to complete it, at least once anyways. However, I've never had so much issues with a set of achievements before.

I'll admit on my first play through (done on Normal), I didn't think about the X-Ally achievements and was solely focused on finishing it. I studied up for my second play-through (this time on Hard), yet I still didn't get the achievement for using Wrex and Garrius the entire run. I about wanted to throw my controller through the wall. An entire play-through, one of three needed to get 120 points/6 achievements.

The only reason I'm running through the third play-through is so I can max my character to Lv. 60 for the next game, and to get the "Insanity" achievement. I honestly don't think I can do anymore with this game after that. I'll probably come back to it during a gaming drought, but I can't with so many other fantastic titles to focus on.

Ok...end of rant/observation. Back to achievements!

Happy gaming!

12 days into the new year...

So we're officially almost 2 weeks into the new year, and I've been trying to start it off with a bang. The two primary titles being played are Bayonetta and Mass Effect.

Let's start with the basics:

Starting Gamerscore (on 1/01/10): 24,25o
Current Gamerscore (on 1/12/10): 25,085
Increase: +835
Gamerscore Goal for 2010: 75,000
Distance from Goal: 49,915

My plans our to update this blog on a weekly basis, depending on my work schedule and the like. I'd prefer to update daily, but until things settle down at work, I don't see myself doing a lot of gaming on a daily basis. Or I should say, I don't see myself earning enough achievements to warrant a daily update.

I am considering picking up Darksiders this weekend, but between trying to max out my character in Mass Effect to Level 60 and all the other games I haven't opened...I'm wondering the logic of adding yet another game to my list. Plus, it's like two weeks until Mass Effect 2 and four weeks until Bioshock 2.

Well, that's all, folks. Happy gaming!

Guilty Pleasure

Wow.

Has it really been nearly 3 months since my last post? *Shakes head* Well, that's the crazy world of holiday retail for you.

Anyway, as much as I'd love to make this a great big "coming home" style entry, full of sweet details and what not, I cannot. This is just a simple entry to state that the 2nd Annual 100K for Child's Play is in full swing and I'm kicking things off with my new favorite action game, Bayonetta. To say it is a guilty pleasure would be selling the game short. Everyone must play this game, and no...this isn't a repeat of Onichanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad, either. It is actually a great game getting great reviews (IGN gave it a 9.5 and Famitsu gave it a perfect 40).

Again, no major updates aside from I'm back.

Happy gaming.