Poll Results - How much of a game do you finish?

Wow, guys.  I hadn't realized how long it's been since my last post and poll.  Sorry about that.  Some things in life got in the way.  Hopefully I'll do better from now on.  If not, you can harass me about it.

How much of a game do you finish?

I play out everything 100% = 1 vote

I play to get to the end credits, nothing more = 2 votes

I play until I can't beat a boss/challenge = 1 votes

I play as long as I like the game = 3 votes

It's sad to say that I don't think I voted in my own poll when it was open.  I added my vote now (and a friend's who missed the deadline).

I play out everything 100%
I wish I could say that.  I try to play out everything 100% but sometimes things don't work out that way.  Take Chromehounds for example.  I would have loved to have gotten some of those team achievements/awards but there were always squads online boosting for them so you wouldn't stand a chance unless you boosted too.  With that game you would have to devote 24 hours a day for several days just to make it worth it and even then you might not be the overall winning squad or get the special weapon to come out so you could defeat it.  There were too many achievements and/or aspects of the game that were contingent on what everybody else was doing in the game.  You could have worked all night to set the world up just like you (and your squad) wanted it, only to find out that the Japanese fanboys (and there are lot of them) messed everything up while you were sleeping.  This is one game that was nearly impossible to get all the achievements unless you totally devoted your life to the game and who has that kind of time for a commitment?

I play to get to the end credits, nothing more
If a game has "collectibles" or specific things you need to do in game to get achievements or different ends to the story I'm all up for doing that.  I plunk down good money for games and DLC that if the developer put something into the game specifically for me to play then I'm going to play it.  It just might take me a long time to play it all.  I recently restarted Final Fantasy VII for the last time and another friend restarted as well.  He made a list of all the things he hasn't done or is not going to try to do and I was wondering why.  Why go through the whole experience of a game (especially one that is/can be very long) and not do everything there is to do in the game?  Unless you're planing on setting a world record for the fastest play-through what's the point.  Yes, the shortest lines between two places (start screen and end credits) is a straight line but a game (especially one as good as FFVII) should be savored and enjoyed.  At least that's how I feel.  Now, I don't have a problem playing to the end credits so you can concentrate on the story and then going back to do all the hoopla that's extra.  But to get to the end credits without having experienced the game, and having no desire to play it again to experience those extras, doesn't seem right to me.  I've had several friends tell me that's how they play the game and I just don't get it.

I play until I can't beat a boss/challenge
This was my vote.  I should have also included "until I get bored, or have to go to bed, or have to go to work, or have to whatever" and that would sum up my whole playing experience.  I play a game until I have to stop for whatever reason.  It just might be that I have to go to bed.  By the time I get back to a time where I can play again I might be in the mood for something else.  Yesterday was a cutesy platformer . . . today I might need to blow someone's head off.  And because I've got so many games to choose from it might be awhile before I get back to that cutesy platformer (or shooter).  That's why I have a hard time finishing games.  I  play what my mood inspires me to play.  I am working on focusing on a game or two (or three or four) and working on playing just those.  I've managed to finish Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 even though I haven't played any of the other CoD games.  Now, I'm working on Borderlands and Gears of War on insane and Gears of War 3 on insane.  Gyromancer is the arcade game I throw in there if I'm not interested in shooters.

I play as long as I like the game
I usually know rather quickly if I"m going to like or dislike a game.  There are a few games that I've bought that I've turned back in.  Siphen Filter (or something or other) for the PS, Grand Theft Auto (I can't remember which one) for the PS2 and Ghost Recon for Xbox 360 are all games that I didn't make it through the first 30 minutes of game play before I decided it wasn't for me.  Unfortunately when I sold them back I lost money.  That's why I really like the game demos I can get on Xbox Live.  There are a few that I played and I was glad that I didn't waste any money on.  There's also been others that I've picked up because of the game demo.  Getting halfway through a game and then deciding I don't like it and would rather not have if just isn't me.  By that point I've already invested a lot of time into the game and I want to see my investment pay off.  So even if I don't like it by then I would still play it to get to the end and (hopefully) get my money's worth.  I've been lucky (or maybe careful) because I haven't just gone out and gotten every new games that comes out.  I've picked and chosen my games carefully.  I've done my research and played my demos.  When I started playing video games I didn't have a lot of extra money to spend on them so I had to be choosy.  Now, many years later I think it's payed off.  I don't consider any games that I've purchased to be a waste of my money or time.  I've enjoyed every one of them even if I haven't played them very long.  There are games that I want to get so I can play with my friends but I know that's the only reason why I would get those games and for me it's not worth it.

So, there you have it.  I promise to be more on the ball from now on and post more.  And like I said, feel free to harass me if I'm not.

Choices of the poor house

I remember a time when I could buy any game I wanted. Sometimes that could mean 3 or 4 a month. Money was no object. Time was the only problem. I never seemed to have as much as I wanted to play video games. Now it seems both are in short order.

Ever since I started saving up to buy a house I've taken a closer look at the money I spent on video games. That doesn't mean I curtailed what I did spend . . . it just means I looked more closely at the game and my desires and THEN bought it. There might have been one two I didn't buy, at least right away, instead I waited for the price to come down to a more reasonable level of what I thought the game was worth.

Since I bought my house, and wiped out my saving to do so, my video game purchases have almost dried up completely. I've still bought a game or two here and there by making the sacrifice to my food budget. Or relying on lower electric bills in the winter time. But now that summer is here and my electric bill has doubled in recent months my gaming budget is running in the red. Or at least it would be if I bought everything I wanted to get.

First I couldn't decide between buying Ghostbusters or Red Faction: Guerrilla and then I heard about Sacred 2: Fallen Angel. Now I only had money for one game but there was three of them to buy. I went into research mode and started asking my friends their impressions of the game, read reviews, watched trailers, etc. If I could only afford one (and even that was a stretch) I was going to make sure it was the right one. After a couple of months I finally narrowed my choice down to Sacred 2. But by then I heard of more games coming out that I wanted.

So far the list of games I'm lusting after is thus (in no particular order): 1) Modern Warfare 2, 2) Assassin's Creed 2, 3) Little Big Planet (PSP), 4) Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, 5) Red Faction: Guerrilla, 6) Ultimate Alliance 2, 7) Wolfenstein. All of these are either out already or will be by the end of the year. Back in 2007 I would have had the money to get them all on street date and then some (and I'm sure there are more games out or are coming out that haven't made it onto my radar yet). Unfortunately that isn't the case here in 2009. I know I can squeeze one out of my budget and maybe a second one too. Or I could wait until the price drops and pick it up as a bargain (or used).

But the problem with waiting until the price drops to pick up a game is finding out that the online community for that game has moved on as well. I have several older games that I would love to play online, but I'm not sure if there is anyone playing them any more. Games like: Burnout Revenge, Quake 4, Call of Duty 2 and 3, and co-op in Kameo. If there are achievements tied to online or co-op play and nobody is playing those games anymore how will I get those achievements? Kind of like what's happening to Chromehounds in January.

Metallicorphan gave me a link to an article that says Sega is shutting down the Chromehounds servers on January 6th 2010. After that, no more online play. Although with Chromehounds I've given up on ever getting the online achievements. There is too much boosting going on in the game for anyone to earn those achievements legitimately. If you want 'em you've got to cheat in order to get them. I'm not a cheater. But the thought that I'll have a game that's worthless to play (once I get all the single player achievements) annoys the crap out of me. And what's the point of selling it back since the game will have no resale value. It was a niche game and now that niche is being shut down. So what about other games?

Is is worth it to try and play online matches in the original Gears of War? Or how about Rainbow Six: Vegas? Or Marvel Ultimate Alliance? I have seen several people pick up MUA in anticipation of the sequel coming out, but as for the other two the sequel is already out. And that's not even considering Call of Duty 2 and 3. Those have been eclipsed by 4 and 5.

Should I be spending my time playing those older games while there still might be a chance of enough people playing them online? Or should I just stick with the newer games that I already own where I know there will be people playing online? And what if I do wait to get Wolfenstein or some other game 6 months or a year or two down the line? Won't I be in the same position with that game (or others) that I'm in right now with the ones already listed? Should I just buy a game, play the hell out of it when it first comes out, and then sell it back so I have the money to get the next game on my list? I'm pretty sure several of my friends are doing that. But what happens when new DLC comes out that makes me want to pick it up against, but I've already sold it back? Would I have the money to buy the game all over again AND the DLC? I don't think so.

I miss those days when I could walk into GameStop and buy any game I wanted (and then some). I can't do that now, but not because of the economy. This is of my own choosing. So no matter how bad a day I'm having I will continue to drive by 3 GameStop stores all within 2-3 miles of my house (along with 2 more directly on the way home from work) and not walk in for some retail therapy. I will continue to do my research on the right game for me and hope that when I do eventually buy a game there will still be people playing it online. And if you are one of my few friends that still own any of those older games maybe we can get a match going online sometimes. You never know, we might single handily bring new life to an old game . . . especially for those of us who can't afford the new ones.

My friends are full of surpries!

You guys all surprise me. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes, well, I'm surprised you have any rep left on Xbox Live. I'll get into that more in a later post. I want to talk about good surprises here.

I got a message from a friend of mine Nuklear 1 that said he just finished his first draft of a novel. Eh? I didn't know he wrote. Or, if I did I didn't remember. I'm a moderator on a writing website, did I tell him about us? Why is every writing a novel except me? Oh yeah. I've got to stop playing video games so I'll have the time to write a novel.

And then there was G Sneaka. I was playing Chromehounds with some friends when he joins are party and asks to play. Eh? You have this game? I didn't know that. I got really excited but after spending 20 minutes or so we still couldn't get him in our squad. CyberWrat even jumped off line, loaded up an unused profile and got them to join the squad, but we still couldn't get G Sneaka in. But it shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did when I asked one of them to read the directions on the insert of the game case to see if it had any instructions about joining a squad and I got this response: "Oh, come on Pengwenn, I'm a guy." At first I couldn't figure out what the problem was. Why can't guys read instructions? Oh . . . that's it. Guys DON'T read instructions. I laughed. He told me not to blog about it. But hey, just like my motto says "I'm blogging this". Besides I didn't say which one now did I?

I'm constantly getting surprised by the fact that some of my friends know . . . some of my friends. I'm constantly thinking when I see the "[insert name here] is online" pop up shows up whether or not the friends I'm playing with know that person. There's nothing more annoying than inviting in one of your friends that no one else knows and have that person act like a jerk. That's happened to me. And when the friends I'm playing with suggest getting someone in that just came online when I didn't think they knew him I have to wonder, did they meet because of me? These are nice surprised to have.

Some people don't like surprised. Me? I don't feel either way about them. I'm jealous Nuklear 1 has a first draft of a novel written, but I'm excited for him too. And hearing a friend has the same interests as you, whether writing or an odd game to play, is always a good surprise to hear. I wonder what other surprised will come my way.

Chromehounds Clan Night

My clan in Chromehounds is trying to get everyone together tomorrow night to play some free battle or maybe a mission or two. I think we might have a full clan; twelve people. I'm not sure.

You see it's been awhile since I played that game. I did put it in a week ago but after dain and I finished our first mission when we were going back to the lobby area my screen went black. Nothing happened and I was completely locked up so I had to power down. Once I turned the console back on and put the game in it said it couldn't read the disk. I thought it might be scratched a little bit (this is my second copy of the game since dain scratched my first copy) but unfortunately for me it wasn't scratched but cracked. Twice. There were two cracks radiating out from the center hole of the disk.

I'm sure I could pick up this game used and cheap, but part of me wants to see if I could get a new copy so I wouldn't have to deal with someone's used game. Who knows what condition the disk will be in. Another part of me says "why bother getting the game again at all?"

In Chromehounds a gamerscore of 720 is probably considered complete. There are just too many achievements that are way too hard to get in that game. You either have to play the game every waking moment of every day to get top honors in a war or you have to boost to get them. And there's a lot of clans that boost making it almost impossible for honest clans to have a chance at the Gold achievements. And the Valor achievements for maxing out hound types are some others that will consume your whole life if you try for them.

But the hardest achievement to get in Chromehounds (in my opinion) is the one for defeating a country's super weapon. Why is it so hard? Because the weapon won't come out unless certain criteria are met within a given war. The problem with that is everyone is playing in the war so while one squad might be trying to control one map as a criteria for bringing the super weapon out another squad might be doing the exact opposite. And since there are several battles going on at the same time it's hard to tell exactly when the weapon will come out. And when it does you have to be affiliated with the right country and pick the right map to fight on in order to battle it. If you're lucky. And if you're lucky and get into the battle with the super weapon you've got to make sure you've got the right hound equipped to bring that weapon down. In other words there's just too many conditional "if" that have to be met exactly before you even have the chance to get the achievement. And don't get me started on the fact that you get a lot less points battling bots than you do humans which makes meeting those criteria for the super weapon that much harder . . . and longer to get.

Once my disk was cracked I just figured I would borrow dain's game to pick up those few single player achievements that I'm missing. A couple of days later I got a message of clan night this Thursday. I miss playing with some of those guys so I really want to play, but I'll have to get another copy of the game in order to do so. I once considered taking a couple of days off at the beginning of a war and do nothing but play that game. I kind of want to see how high on the leader boards I can get. The problem is I'm not that good of a player. I haven't built the perfect hound yet. If I play with a hound that has fire power I get beat by someone with speed and vice versa.

Maybe I'll go out today after work and see if I can pick up a copy of the game. Or maybe I'll do it tomorrow. Or maybe not at all. Chromehounds is a game that I didn't think I'd like when I first got it. But after playing it for awhile I really did start to like it. Unfortunately the gaming community that plays Chromehounds makes the game more frustrating than trying to find a house to buy. And you don't want to get me started on that. At least not until the ulcer I'm developing as I look at houses has healed. My HMO will thank you.

My best effort . . . and my worst

I found a site a couple of months ago when I was looking for a way to put my Xbox Live profile graphic on this blog. I still haven't made up my mind about that because I do play other systems besides the Xbox 360. No, really I do.

The site is MyGamerCard.net and it has a really cool feature that I use often. After you sign up you can view a list of all the games you've played. It will show a progress bar for the gamerscore and number of achievements you've earned in that game. It lists your games by "last played" by default (although it might be slow to update some times) but you can switch that to alphabetical A-Z or Z-A. It also has a sorting option to display your games in order of the effort you've put in to them compared to the rest of the registered users of the site. You can sort by Best to Worst or Worst to Best effort.

For instance, if you look at my profile my 'best effort' game is Chromehounds. My gamerscore of 580 out of 1,000 is a 349.06% overachievement above the sites average score of 129.16. Considering how hard this game is to get some of the achievements I can believe that. A score of 720 in Chromehounds is the equivalent of 1,000 in any other game.

Now, let's look at my score in Uno. I've finished the game so I have 200/200 points. But that score is only a 54.97% overachievement above the average (129.06). When they released this option on the site they explained that "finishing" Avatar: Burning Earth and getting those 1,000 gamer points will only give you a 3.75% overachievement score. Why is that? Because everyone is playing that game and getting those easy achievements. Not much effort there.

Hopefully you'll have more games listed with a positive or overachievement rating than games with a negative or underachievement rating. But if you're like me you've dabbled a little bit in a lot of games. I've played a lot of Puzzle Quest recently but my gamerscore of 70 in that game is below the 81.34 average so I have an underachievement rating of 13.94%. And then there's Yaris. A game I've only played 2 or 3 times (hey, it was free) and my gamerscore of 10 points is only just short of the 19.79 average (a 49.47% underachievement).

I do have a lot of games with an underachievement rating of 100% because I haven't scored any achievements in them yet. I've played Bejeweled 2 many times, for long hours, but I still haven't heard that little bleep and seen an achievement pop up. But while my gamerscore of 0 has an underachievement rating of 100% it's not that far below the average score of 25.38.

And then there's Tempest. Based on the fact that no one on the leaderboards has received all the achievements for this game so you can bet this is one game that's hard to get achievements in (whether through gameplay or tough achievements). If you couple the leaderboards with the fact that the average gamerscore for this game from people on the site is only 3.73 points any achievement earned in this game is going to be an overachievement. My score is currently 0 so even if I get just one little 5 point achievement in this game I'll go from 100% underachiever to a 1.34% overachiever. It's not much but my number will go from in the red (underachievement) to green (overachievement).

It's really cool to see what games I'm underachieving in but within an achievement or two or the site's average and then try to play that game in order to get those achievements. I'm only a 1.56% underachiever in Luxor 2 by only .95 gamerpoints. Any achievement there will turn things around. Some of my other marginally underachieving games are Gauntlet, Boom Boom Rocket, Zuma, Joust, Word Puzzle, Tetris Splash, Poker Smash, Ikaruga, and Gears of War. An achievement or two in any of those games would put me on the plus side.

There's a leaderboard where you can look at the leaders overall, by a specific game or by gamerzone (i.e. Pro, recreation, etc.) or other options. You can also check out other people's scores and progress and see what games they've underachieved in and then point that out to them when they start bragging about their game prowess. There's a forum (the only video game forum I can access while at work) and a LiveTracker that lets you see which games registered site users are in at that time. Right now there's 27 in Call of Duty 4, 13 in Gears of War, and 198 in Grand Theft Auto 4 (that's down from the near 400 usually) and a lot of other games.

I picked up 15 points in Solitaire last night and that jumped my overachievement rating from 120.89% to 159.07%. Now you might think I'm crazy and obsessed with achievements or gamerscores . . . okay maybe I am just a little . . . but it's nice to know how my game playing stacks up with everyone else. It use to be the mark of your game playing skills and effort was getting to put three letters in next to your high score at the arcade. Now, it's achievements and gamerscores. And if I'm hoping to break the 10,000 gamerscore point barrier this year knowing where my best efforts are being made is nice. Besides all those negative ratings just make me want to take a day off and turn those negatives into positives. Oh wait, I'm already taking Monday off to play games. Too bad my job can't get me this motivated and productive. Maybe if my job had achievements too.

Beep.

Achievement Unlocked.
Arrived to work on time 5 points

Following in my brother's footsteps

You know when you see something really odd that you just have to stop and check it out. I had that moment a couple of days ago. I saw dain playing Puzzle Quest. And he had achievements in it.

Now I had that game downloaded as a demo and tried to play it once but I just didn't understand it. Was it an RPG or a puzzle game? It was too confusing and I gave up after about 5 minutes. I didn't delete the demo because I thought one day I would take some time to really concentrate on the game and see what it was about before I officially and permanently threw in the towel.

So what's so strange about dain playing Puzzle Quest, and that he had achievements in it? Maybe because I don't think dain is much of a puzzle gamer. I've tried to get him to play Jewel Quest, but he's never seemed interested. He says he's played Hexic, but he seemed reluctant to admit that. Is this a guy thing? I don't think so.

What I do know is that he does like what I'll call "outfitting games". Games where you can change the outfitting of a character or vehicle to fight a certain way in a battle. He loves building hounds in Chromehounds. I can't tell you how many matches we had to sit and wait for him to "tweak" his hound for just a little more speed, or more ammo, or more range. He's got a hound for every occasion but he doesn't keep them for very long because he likes to fiddle with them. Even the ones that work for him. Outfitting a character is the same thing. Every time we start a Rainbow 6 match I have to stop and look at dain to see what he's changed on his character this time. It might only be his weapons, but it usually is his hat, or armor or maybe some new tattoos. It really doesn't surprise me that he likes to do this. As he was growing up he always liked to rearrange his bedroom every couple of months it seemed. He might not have liked to clean it but boy did he like to rearrange it.

Dain's also a thinker. He likes games where he can think and plan. Carcassone and Catan are good Arcade games for that. And the Rainbow 6 games suit him better than Call of Duty type games. He'll sit and wait. Thinking and strategizing about the enemy's moves. Last night I think he was always the last one left alive in our terrorist hunt missions. He's patient. And while he's patient, he's thinking.

So when I saw dain playing Puzzle Quest I thought it was a demo like what I had. When I realized he was earning achievements (I'm not worried about him passing me any time soon - hee hee) I figured there must be something in the game that appealed to him. I figured if he liked it I should give it another try. I played the demo again and it was a little better the second time (partly because I stopped to read the instructions and hints). So I decided to follow in his footstep and download the full game. I was surprised to find it was 1,200 ms points. That's pretty steep. I had points to spare so I unlocked the full game and started playing.

At first I was still hung up on the the 'is it an RPG or puzzle game' that got me the first time. Once I figured out how to battle and plan what I'm going to do instead of just moving same colored shapes around I started to like it. The more I've played it the move I've liked it. The dialogue scenes between missions still annoy me some what because their jarring to the flow of game play. But I can see why dain would like the game.

You have to think about your moves. What's the best one for you? What move would you make that might give your enemy an advantage? What move could hurt him? For me I just want to play. Like I want to run into a room guns a blazin'. Dain, on the other hand, will sit outside the doorway and repeatedly peek into the room picking off anyone he see. He's a sneaky little devil that way. Give him something to think about or outfit for a battle and he's a much better player than I ever could be.

I'm not one of those people who only like a certain type of game and I'm not going to try anything else, thank you very much. I like trying new things, but only if I trust the judgement from the person who recommends it to me. He might not have recommended Puzzle Quest to me personally, but looking through his recently played games and seeing him play it is enough for me. When it comes to trying new games I trust my brother dain. So I'm glad I followed in his footsteps with Puzzle Quest. Now if he'll just trust on on Jewel Quest we can call it even.

Great online games should never die

Don't you just love it when you find a really great game? A game that sucks you in the minute you start playing. And one that will do that all over again even if you haven't played it in months.

I've wanted to play Gears of War again for a long time but I've been having too much fun (even though I suck) playing Call of Duty 4 with my friends. Last night a couple of them were playing Gears so I put the disk in. It took awhile for me to get use to the controlls again. But after I figured out that I needed to hold A down to run instead of the left stick all the old memories came back and it felt good.

There was something comforting about shooting locus hordes and watching their bodies contort themselves in death that just felt good. I remember coming from large teams in Star Wars Battlefront to having only 4 people on a side and thinking that was ridiculous. Last night it seemed right. Four people were plenty enough for me, thank you very much. Matches were short and sweet (or should I say bloody). And it just felt right.

But before I jumped into the match with my friends I did a search for ranked and player matches. I was disappointed in how many matches were available. Only 2 ranked matches showed on my list. And only about 8 player matches. I'd like to think that was because there were already hundreds of other matches being played that were full. But considering how long this game has been out I doubt that. And that makes me sad.

For games that have great online multiplayer game play there should always be lots of matches to choose from. We shouldn't let those games die or be transported to online purgatory. You know, the place where someone hosts a match but nobody joins them. Something needs to be done to save these games and their online lives from becoming extinct. Games like Star Wars Battlefront I and II, Gears of War, Halo 2, Counter Strike, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Burnout Revenge, Chromehounds, Call of Duty 2 & 3, G.R.A.W 1 & 2, Lost Planet, Rainbow 6: Vegas, I could on for awhile, but I think you get the picture.

Every time a new game comes out we set aside the old game and don't play it. Most people probably sell it back in order to afford the new game. But "newest and latest" doesn't always mean better. And even if it did, that doesn't lessen the enjoyment you got out of that "old" game or that you still can't enjoy it again if you played it. It's the game play that matters, not "realistic graphics" or "seamless scene loadings" or "largest weapon selections than any other game out there". If we don't enjoy playing a game, we won't. Funny how that works, isn't it?

So don't give up on older games. You liked them for their game play once so you can still play them for that reason again no matter how "old" and "dated" they may look or feel. If you did sell back your copy of those games you can always pick it back up used. Video games should be played and enjoyed for many years, not just the few months they're the latest thing out there before the next new game come out. And it is okay to buy the latest great game like Rainbow 6: Vegas 2 that's coming out next month, but don't forget to show some lovin' to the older games as well. No one likes to be stuck in purgatory trying to find a match.

Gaming New Year Resolutions?

I made New Year Resolutions in other areas of my life but I haven't made any as far as gaming is concerned. Should I?

I started this blog because I needed a kick in the pants about a deal my brother and I worked out for finishing games. It's been a year and a half since then and we haven't finished any of the ones we chose. Should I make a New Year Resolution to finish a game?

How about ranking up in matches? Should I make A resolution to reach and finish a level or two of prestige in Call of Duty 4 before the year is out? Or to reach the highest rank in Chromehounds?

What about earning achievements and raising my gamer score? What would be a good resolution? Raise it 1,000 points this year? 2,000? My achievement and gamer score points come in fits and spurts. I might only get 20 points for a couple of months but then rake in 200 points in the space of a couple of weeks. And that doesn't have anything to do with playing a new game and getting all those "easy" points. I think I'm around 700 points or so from crossing the 5,000 point barrier so that would be a reasonable achievement, don't you think?

I'm just thinking as I type here and I just might have my resolutions. Feel free to hold me to them . . . or make it frustrating difficult to achieve them.

My New Year's (Gaming) Resolutions:
1. Finish Final Fantasy VII.
2. Reach rank #55 and complete one level of Prestige in Call of Duty 4.
3. Raise my gamer score to 5,500 or more.

I have until December 31st, 2008 to accomplish them. Do you think I can do it? What else do you think I should set as a goal this year? What are yours?

Squad Pride

You already know I'm a member of a squad for the game Chromehounds. If not, well you haven't been reading my blog then. Our squad name is "Dark Matter" and lately we've been tickled pink about something. Out squad leader might try to down play it and say "it's not a huge deal" but I know he's pleased to have the squad finally get some recognition.

No we haven't won any Gold Medals or anything like that. We're too honest to boost for 'em like other squads. We like the satisfaction of EARNING our rewards. What has us all excited is our squad is finally listed on the roster at Asher Crestfallen's Chromehounds web site. We have 12 people in our squad but only 8 of us are regulars or semi-regular players of the game (there's been too many new games that have come out for some of us to be completely regular players for a while).

We've had players join and then leave by their own choice only to come back again. Some players have been booted for having more fun blowing up their teammates instead of the enemy. And some were booted because they sold the game back but didn't bother to tell anyone. And even some who joined but never seemed to play. But us regular players like the game and like playing with each other (as long as we all have our hounds in squad colors). We've even had too many members in the lobby at the same time to have everyone go out on missions.

I've met new friends through the squad and tried out new games so I could play with them somewhere else. It's a great group of guys and now we have a little bit of squad pride at being recognized. We're not as good as some of the 100 top ranked squads also listed on the site but now we've got something to shot for.

Back in the Gaming Habit Again

Okay I'm gaming again . . . finally.

I got the coffin for my Xbox 360 on Thursday of last week. I immediately packed it up and shipped it off that same night. I then went straight to Game Stop and bought an Xbox 360 Arcade system. I wanted to find a Core system but couldn't. Besides this was a better deal. A used refurbished console was $250 and I got a new one (with HDMI connection) for $280.

So I go home and hook everything up. Yeah I'm gaming again! Except I've got to download everything before I play anything. Same hard drive but I guess since I have a different console it thinks I need to unlock everything again. Fine. Whatever. Just let me play some games.

I did. But not for long.

I was still having connection issues and getting dumped from games. I'm about ready to pull my hair out and give up gaming all together. I cool down and plug my PS2 back in for some nice relaxing Final Fantasy VII. I took Friday off from work to just play around and have fun and I did.

I met up with my brother over the weekend and after a lot of trial and error and a trip to Fry's Electronics I found myself the proud owner of a new router and a stable connection to the internet. Bring on the games.

The only problem was when I put in Chromehounds to play it wouldn't work. The last time I played it I asked my brother to put a tray under my Xbox 360 so it wouldn't be directly on the carpet. I had just put the disk in when he moved the system. A loud grinding noise could be heard and the disk was scratched. We cleaned it up as best we could and it worked later that night but it wouldn't work Sunday night.

I traded in a couple of games for store credit and bought another copy of Chromehounds and still had store credit left over. I also had to exchange the controller that came with the new system because the headset port kept registering my headset as active even when it was on mute. Depending on the game or situation you heard either static or me talking. I found that out the hard way in a game of Texas Hold 'Em. It's kind of hard to bluff when everyone can hear you on mute.

So outside of a few hiccups and hang ups I'm finally gaming again on my Xbox 360. And after all that I'm starting to wonder if it's all worth it. I remember when I played games without achievements. The thrill of the game was the discovery and plot twists or beating a tough boss after 4 or 5 attempts. It didn't come from a little pop out message saying I just picked up a skull or I just made X amount of kills with a particular weapon. I played and I explored just for the fun of it instead of looking for that hidden room or treasure for 20 gamer points.

I'll still play video games. I'm too much of an addict to stop now . . . or ever. I just need to find that magic tingling feeling you get when you really get absorbed in a good game. Maybe I'll put in Bioshock tonight. Or maybe I'll just take this little breather until I can play Call of Duty 4, Assassin's Creed, and Mass Effect. If those games don't do it for me than nothing will.

I hate sniper rifles

I hate sniper rifles.

I just had to say that. Because I really do hate them. Hate being killed by them. Hate using them. I've never seemed to master the techniques needed to become proficient using that weapon.

I don't know why but I can't seem to lead someone right when using those long range weapons. I either shoot way behind them or way in front. When I use other weapons (and thus have to get closer to my target) I can lead someone pretty well. But the further away I get the poorer my shots become.

I first started trying to use sniper rifles when I was playing Star Wars Battlefront. On the right map there's plenty of opportunity . . . and safety to just sit there trying to shoot people's heads off. Kashyyyk's docks is a really good map for that. But I couldn't get people to hold still long enough to shoot them. And the lag made people jump around so much you never knew where they were going to be. I much prefer a good blaster at my side, or a rocket launcher for those pesky vehicles.

Since Gears of War has a specific achievement for the Long Shot I thought maybe I should try practicing with it. While I kind of got the hang of it I found that I ended up with tunnel vision. I could never see anyone coming up around me. My friends all thought this was funny so they'd walk up to me and tap me on the shoulder (or bump into me) to get my attention before they'd put a bullet through my head. Geez, thanks guys.

And last night I played some Halo 3 and they swapped out the weapons to only snipers and shot guns. Our starting weapon was the sniper and I had a hard time finding another weapon to swap it out for. I couldn't hit anyone and I always had a hard time getting out of the scope's zoom when I needed to. (Apparently when I get startled I flinch and click on the zoom unintentionally.) I think I died 9 times before I found where I could swap a weapon out. But it wasn't always there when I needed it.

There's only one game that I've learned how to use a sniper rifle (and a sniper cannon) in. And that's Chromehounds. I don't know why but I can lead it so the enemy hound walks right into the shot. I can also still keep a good eye to what's happening around me so no one can sneak up on me. I don't know if it's the view looking through the scope or what but I don't have too many problems in Chromehounds. I just have to build a hound fast enough (and strong enough to carry the load) to get to the good snipping positions on the map.

I hate getting killed by the sniper rifle as well. I prefer a straight face to face fight. No sitting back on the other side of the map just waiting for me to walk into your sites. Come out and fight you little cowards! I'm sure that has something to do with my initiation to fighting with the melee fighting in the Hunter The Reckoning games. I might die a lot but give me close range fighting any day.

I guess it's just a long range thing for me because I don't like bow type weapons either (though not as much as sniper rifles). I just really do hate those sniper rifles.

The Highs and Lows of Finishing a Game

I know I've been working on my favorite games for each system and I promise I'll get back to those lists. I have notes and all the games for the remaining systems but I've been thinking about others things. Maybe I'll do a second post today with a list.

One of the other things I've been thinking about is finishing games. Since that's what started this whole blog I think it's only natural that this topic comes up every now and then. Unfortunately neither my brother or I have finished the agreed upon games. I even had to restart Final Fantasy VII because I accidentally sold a materia that you can only get from one place . . . and I've lost access to that place. And since those Mega Materia (or whatever they're called) are only good if you've mastered all types of the same materia I had to start the game over so I could get . . . and keep . . . that missing materia. So although I haven't finish the designated games I have finished other ones.

Both of the games I've finished have been Xbox Live Arcade games. The first one was Jewel Quest. When I started playing I thought it was a fun game that I would return to every now and then. I certainly wasn't setting out to finish it, come hell or high water. But after playing one particular level and losing about 10 times I was damned if I was going to let a stupid game get the better of me. It became a mission to finish the game. Every time I got stuck on a level and burned through all my lives I screamed as my score was reset to zero. Each achievement unlocked was a thrilling victory for me over the computer. But the payout in the end wasn't as exciting as I would have liked.

About 2 levels from the last one I was burning through lives like crazy. I knew I was close to the end but I couldn't seem to get past this one level. When I finally made it past I figured the last two level would be even harder. The next level only took 2 attempts to get through and then I was faced with the final level. Only one grid stood between me and a finished game. Less than 2 minutes later I was done. I got through the last level on the first attempt and apparently triggered a cascading domino effect that almost cleared the whole board in a single move. Yes, I finished the game and after all my hard work on previous level it seemed a little anticlimactic.

The second game I finished was Hardwood Backgammon. Some of the achievements I unlocked without even knowing what they were. Some I unlocked through the normal course of playing the game and some I had to really work for. The hardest being the "win 10 games in a row." I tried doing this against humans but that was a complete mistake. So I set the AI to easy and tried grinding it out in single player. The problem I had was the longer I played the more careless I got. After winning 7 in a row I'd lose a game and have to start the streak all over again. I finally limited myself to playing only 2 games a night. It took awhile but eventually I got the 10 game and 25 game winning streak achievements.

And while it's great to finish a game, what about those games I won't be able to finish (or at least get all the achievements)? I don't have a vision camera so I can't get the face mapping achievement in Rainbow 6: Vegas. With all the boosting going on in Chromehounds I'll never get any of the Gold medals. And don't remind me that I missed a golden, and tiny, window of opportunity when Sal Kar's Secret Weapon came out. When will I get that chance again? Then there's achievements like "play this game online with someone who has 'the mingler' (or another special designation)" Hell, if I were a person who had it I'd never play that game online again. It's a rare achievement to get so why would I want to pass that along?

It's great finishing a game, but then I'm always reminded of all the ones I haven't finish and some I may never finish. I guess I have to take the highs with the lows when it comes to finishing games.

Should I be insulted?

I can take "constructive criticism" from my mother but when total strangers offer it it's another story.

I was playing Chromehounds with my squad Saturday night when my squad leader says into his mic "I don't want her to go out, she's on my squad." Now if he hadn't mentioned the word squad I would have thought he was talking about someone at his place. His girlfriend . . . or a dog perhaps. But since I was the only "her" that was also a part of the "squad" I figured that he was talking about me with someone. So I asked.

My squad leader's mother was over at his place working on her computer while we were playing games. She asked him if "Pengwenn" was a girl. He said yes. She responded by saying it's Saturday night and "Pengwenn should be out on a date". Now I don't know why this mattered to her or why she felt that this was the right thing for me to be doing at that moment because this woman doesn't know me. We've never met. We've never chatted. We've never crossed paths until this moment.

All I can think of is that she's worried that her son spends too much time with "another woman" and that I'm getting in between him and his girlfriend. For all she knows I could be married and have kids running around the place. But then my squad leader knows I'm single so maybe his mother knows too. I harmlessly flirt every now and then with a lot of guys, but I'm not out to find a man through Xbox Live.

But who is she to give advice as to what I should or shouldn't be doing with my time on a Saturday night? My mother can comment all she wants about my social life. I understand why she does it. She wants more grandbabies. But a gamer's mother who I've never met? Should I be insulted?

Why can't we just get along?

I hope a little misunderstanding hasn't ruined some friendships.

Here's the story.

I'm in a squad in Chromehounds and a couple of my friends (met in Gears of War) have the game and wanted to play with people they know so they joined our squad. One of the them played a lot with the squad and in 2 weeks time passed me in achievements for the game (I've been playing for 2 months). Another one is having trouble taking Gears out of his machine in order to put something else in.

We had a rare night when the 6 most active members were all on at the same time. Our nation was in ruins. And we wanted the Nation Resurrector achievement. We would play with a purpose. We spend some time all together playing a mission or two for that catching up that infrequent friends often have to do before splitting up and running missions individually (thus hopefully winning more overall occupation points). Some split up in teams of 2; others on their own.

I was by myself running missions and destroying bases and hounds like a madman. Unfortunately, the maps were reset before we could revive our nation. All that effort wasted. I called it a night and tucked myself into bed. (Thanks to boosters we got the Nation Resurrector achievement later on.)

When I got on the next night I had a boat load of messages waiting for me. And 2 fewer people in our squad. It seems that after we split up our squad leader was talking to one of the newer members that he's thinking about removing people from the squad that don't play. "Deadwood" was the term he used. The newbie assumed that that included the Gears-addicted newbie (who hasn't played much) that we're all friends with. So he left the squad, got the Gears-addict to leave and sent a very upset message that he's starting his own squad just for "newbies and deadwood who just want to play to have fun".

If this was all there was to it, it could easily be fixed. Unfortunately, the whole situation grew a life of it's own. My brother, also a member of the squad, sent a message that he was considering leaving the squad and limiting the number of members so that our "renown per member" wouldn't be as bad as it is now with all the inactive squadmates we have. This then lead to other members wondering if there was going to be any kind of squad left at all. And led to hurt feelings.

What our squad leader was referring to was a couple of members that haven't played in at least 6 wars (as long as I've been a member) and who no longer have the game. If they don't have the game to play why should they be in the squad? They're "deadwood". Not knowing this was what he was referring to, the newbie took the comments personally and left.

Although several of us have tried to smooth things over that great camaraderie we had is gone. We don't laugh and tease each other as much. We play quietly. We keep to the necessary game communications and go about our business.

If this only affected my Chromehounds play it would be easier, but the tension and hurt feelings can be felt when I join those ex-squad mates in a game of Gears of War. Fortunately we've played Gears for so long and with other people not brought into this messy situation that those feelings are getting back to normal. I know I'd love to have both guys back (and another one that was going to join soon) but I don't think it's going to happen. Our squad leader said we'll just play a match against them sometime and get it all out on the battlefield.

I guess that's better than some other violent alternative, but I have to wonder why we can't just all get along?