Yeah I finished a game! Okay, when I tell you it was Uno are you going to be disappointed that I got your hopes up? That makes four Xbox Live Arcade games that I've finished: Carcassonne, Backgammon, Jewel Quest and now Uno.
Yes, I know there really isn't an "end" to Uno. It's not like you get the great dramatic moment and then you get to see the credits roll. But I've finished the achievements. Now I can play the game without those hanging over my head.
I'm only two achievements short of "finishing" Catan. All I need are 500 Victory points and 1,000 Victory points. I really like that game. Unfortunately my internet connection at my place doesn't. I always lag out of the game. It use to be right after the initial placements then WHAM I'm staring at three AI faces. Now I usually make it a little longer in the game (maybe a round or two) before I lose connection. I had to stop playing it for awhile because my reputation was taking a beating from all the "quitting" feedback I was getting. I went from 98% to 80% in the matter of about a two week period. The funny thing is I can take my system over to my parent's house and play just fine. It's only my internet the game doesn't like.
With Uno there was a time when I didn't think I would ever get those 40 wins. When ever I played a four player game (all humans) it would seem to take forever for anyone to play their cards. Playing a game to 250 points could take two and half hours. I didn't want to invest that much time in something that I would probably lose anyway. When I started hosting matches with a point limit at 100 I thought would speed things up a bit. The problem was I couldn't keep four players in the room. I finally got the achievement for winning 10 four player games when I had 17 total multiplayer wins. I got my 40 win achievement when I had 38 multiplayer wins . . . but then I realized it's 40 total wins and I have some wins for ranked matches.
Now that Uno is complete I'm going to have to pick another Arcade game to work on for achievements. I know it's not as much fun playing for achievements as just playing the game. But when I pick a game I just try to play it normally but I keep in mind what achievements I might be in line to pick up. Kind of like the "don't hit any obstacles through the first 20 levels" in Crystal Quest. I know about the achievement and I try to play the game so I can get it but always around levels 13-15 I run into something and now I can't get the achievement. I could just restart the game and try again but I continue to play to see how far I can get and there might be another achievement I could pick up instead. I like having a goal to work towards. Maybe that's why I never liked Grand Theft Auto III when I owned it (rather briefly I might add).
I've been "auditioning" games for my next big focused attack. They are AstroPop, Bejeweled 2 (although I completely lost my saved game of 33 levels when I got dumped from Xbox Live when the new Call of Duty maps were released), Boogie Bunnies (lost a save on that one but I've since earned it back), Hexic HD & Hexic 2 (can't decide which one I like more), Poker Smash (gets a little boring after playing for a long time), Luxor 2 (I'm finally at a point in the game where it's getting difficult) and Texas Hold 'Em (although last time I made a push to get a $100,000 bankroll I got up to $80,000+ when the leaderboards were reset because of cheaters and I lost everything).
I like having a "go to" game I can play on my own. Something to take the edge off of a bad day. Or maybe just to kill time before I have to really get up and start doing something with my life (as my mother would say). And although I try to play it every day there's no way I'm going to make Brain Challenge the game I grind in. It's taking all my brain power just to get a rating of 19% on the daily tests. If I ever make it to 100% it would be a miracle. So that's one game I won't be finishing anytime soon.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Ikaruga
I just read online that Ikaruga is out for Xbox Live Arcade. I absolutely loved playing this on the Game Cube. Now I've got it on my 360 . . . with achievements. I know what I'll be playing tonight. Whoo Hoo!!!
What's a little competition between friends?
One thing I really like about my Xbox 360 is the Xbox Live Arcade. All you have to do is look at my recently played games to know that. But the reason I like it so much is that it made going to bed so much easier.
Eh?
I loved playing Star Wars Battlefront right up until bed time. Unfortunately when I crawled into bed my adrenaline was pumping and sleep was a long way off. I figured out if I played something like Bust-A-Move or other mindless arcade type game before I went to bed I could calm down enough that getting to sleep wouldn't require a hour or more of tossing and turning. Unfortunately that meant changing from my original Xbox to my PS2 every night. When the 360 came out and I had those type of games on the same machine it made things so much easier.
After a grueling session of Gears of War I could load up Pac Man and try a couple of levels while my heart slowed it's beating to a more normal level. And if Pac Man wouldn't do it for me there were numerous other games I could play. For some reason Jewel Quest seemed the best game for "powering down" late at night. Uno was another good one . . . until recently.
A friend of mine bought a replacement Xbox 360 while his is in the shop and it came with an Xbox Live Arcade compilation disk. Uno is on the of the games on it. So he started playing it. Myself and a couple of other friends would join him in a room and play away. And I have to tell you it's so much more fun (and faster) to play with a full group of friends.
Now Uno doesn't strike me as a competitive game. It certainly wasn't for me. And I didn't think it would be for anyone else. I also didn't think how much my "ultra competitive I'm going to shoot everyone" guys would do in a non-competitive game like Uno. They figured out a way to play the game. They made it competitive. If you stick them with a draw four card suddenly the game is personal. Throw in the stacking of penalty cards and the "draw until you play" option and the game can get pretty heated. Who knew Uno could be an intense battleground for gamers?
The games do get intense. But in a much different way. Instead of adrenaline pumping action it's face grinning, laughing at others action. So much so that sometimes my cheeks hurt . . . and not the ones I sit on. We've laughed at others misfortunes and even laughed at our own. Although we tend to growl first before laughing when the game takes a sudden turn for the worse when you go from one card left to 16 cards all in one hand. This game is no longer the relaxing game I play before going to bed. It is a game we play to win. And hopefully screw the person to our right and left in the mean time. So, what's a little competition between friends anyway? Except now I've got to find a game I can play to calm down from playing Uno.
Eh?
I loved playing Star Wars Battlefront right up until bed time. Unfortunately when I crawled into bed my adrenaline was pumping and sleep was a long way off. I figured out if I played something like Bust-A-Move or other mindless arcade type game before I went to bed I could calm down enough that getting to sleep wouldn't require a hour or more of tossing and turning. Unfortunately that meant changing from my original Xbox to my PS2 every night. When the 360 came out and I had those type of games on the same machine it made things so much easier.
After a grueling session of Gears of War I could load up Pac Man and try a couple of levels while my heart slowed it's beating to a more normal level. And if Pac Man wouldn't do it for me there were numerous other games I could play. For some reason Jewel Quest seemed the best game for "powering down" late at night. Uno was another good one . . . until recently.
A friend of mine bought a replacement Xbox 360 while his is in the shop and it came with an Xbox Live Arcade compilation disk. Uno is on the of the games on it. So he started playing it. Myself and a couple of other friends would join him in a room and play away. And I have to tell you it's so much more fun (and faster) to play with a full group of friends.
Now Uno doesn't strike me as a competitive game. It certainly wasn't for me. And I didn't think it would be for anyone else. I also didn't think how much my "ultra competitive I'm going to shoot everyone" guys would do in a non-competitive game like Uno. They figured out a way to play the game. They made it competitive. If you stick them with a draw four card suddenly the game is personal. Throw in the stacking of penalty cards and the "draw until you play" option and the game can get pretty heated. Who knew Uno could be an intense battleground for gamers?
The games do get intense. But in a much different way. Instead of adrenaline pumping action it's face grinning, laughing at others action. So much so that sometimes my cheeks hurt . . . and not the ones I sit on. We've laughed at others misfortunes and even laughed at our own. Although we tend to growl first before laughing when the game takes a sudden turn for the worse when you go from one card left to 16 cards all in one hand. This game is no longer the relaxing game I play before going to bed. It is a game we play to win. And hopefully screw the person to our right and left in the mean time. So, what's a little competition between friends anyway? Except now I've got to find a game I can play to calm down from playing Uno.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Call of Duty 4 is very bad for Xbox Live
If I were to ask you what game is the best representation of the Xbox 360 console in game play, what the system can do and fan base what would you say? I'm sure a lot of you are thinking Halo 3. Oh sure, it's the easy choice. The original Halo game is what put the original Xbox on the map. And at it's release that game had more hype than a Brittany Spears night on the town.
But you're wrong.
If you ask me the same question I'd have to say Cal of Duty 4. Why? Just look at the facts. There's nothing personal or preferential in my choice. I've played a lot of Call of Duty 4 (mostly multiplayer) and not so much of Halo 3. I haven't played enough of Halo 3 to really get a firm opinion of the game or the franchise. But what I have played I've liked . . . except for most of the people that I've played against. I just want you to know that because my decision is not based on my opinions of the game but what the game has done for Microsoft and their Xbox Live service.
When Halo 3 came out there were stores staying open until midnight to sell the game. And once it was out everybody seemed to be playing the game on Xbox Live. The system was a little slow for that first week but it wasn't disruptive to those not playing Halo 3. Call of Duty 4 on the other had was a whole different story.
The release wasn't so much the media event as Halo 3's was. But at the same time there were just as people playing Call of Duty 4 as there was Halo 3. There was a bit of a slow down in the Xbox Live network for COD4 but once again it wasn't as much Halo 3. What's different about COD4 is that it's audience grew by word of mouth and more and more people bought the game and started playing it. With Halo 3 you were pretty much going to get it at release or you'd wait until the price comes down or you wouldn't get it at all.
The more people who started to play COD 4 the more the Xbox Live network started to have problems. Over the Christmas holiday was the worse. You could feel the slowness of the network in COD4 and it affect not only your gameplay but everyone else's gameplay on the network.
Yesterday a batch of new maps were released for COD4 and things went down hill from there. The market place crashed and you couldn't get to the place where you could download the maps. And some of us were kicked off of Xbox Live altogether while we were playing other games. Yes, that's right. I was logged in but I was playing Begeweled 2 when I heard that lovely little beep. I had thought I unlocked an achievement. Nope. What I got instead was "Pengwen has been disconnected from Xbox Live". Why? Probably because I wasn't really playing a game over Xbox Live and they needed the server space/power for someone else who was. Do I think it's just a coincidence that this happens on the day the COD4 maps are released? I don't think so. So what does that tell us about COD4?
To me, it says that more people want to pay 800 points for 4 new maps for that game. Enough people to overwhelm their network and make it difficult for some of the rest of us to get online. Has this happened with anything for the Halo games? Not that I'm aware of. There's been map packs for previous Halo games and the rush of users trying to download those and play them hasn't tanked the system. So you've got to see that Call of Duty 4 is more the quintessential Xbox 360 game instead of Halo 3. I know the Halo fanboys out there aren't going to like it, but it is what it is. And for some of us it means we won't be able to connect to Xbox Live through our consoles until everyone's had their fill of the new maps and have moved on.
But you're wrong.
If you ask me the same question I'd have to say Cal of Duty 4. Why? Just look at the facts. There's nothing personal or preferential in my choice. I've played a lot of Call of Duty 4 (mostly multiplayer) and not so much of Halo 3. I haven't played enough of Halo 3 to really get a firm opinion of the game or the franchise. But what I have played I've liked . . . except for most of the people that I've played against. I just want you to know that because my decision is not based on my opinions of the game but what the game has done for Microsoft and their Xbox Live service.
When Halo 3 came out there were stores staying open until midnight to sell the game. And once it was out everybody seemed to be playing the game on Xbox Live. The system was a little slow for that first week but it wasn't disruptive to those not playing Halo 3. Call of Duty 4 on the other had was a whole different story.
The release wasn't so much the media event as Halo 3's was. But at the same time there were just as people playing Call of Duty 4 as there was Halo 3. There was a bit of a slow down in the Xbox Live network for COD4 but once again it wasn't as much Halo 3. What's different about COD4 is that it's audience grew by word of mouth and more and more people bought the game and started playing it. With Halo 3 you were pretty much going to get it at release or you'd wait until the price comes down or you wouldn't get it at all.
The more people who started to play COD 4 the more the Xbox Live network started to have problems. Over the Christmas holiday was the worse. You could feel the slowness of the network in COD4 and it affect not only your gameplay but everyone else's gameplay on the network.
Yesterday a batch of new maps were released for COD4 and things went down hill from there. The market place crashed and you couldn't get to the place where you could download the maps. And some of us were kicked off of Xbox Live altogether while we were playing other games. Yes, that's right. I was logged in but I was playing Begeweled 2 when I heard that lovely little beep. I had thought I unlocked an achievement. Nope. What I got instead was "Pengwen has been disconnected from Xbox Live". Why? Probably because I wasn't really playing a game over Xbox Live and they needed the server space/power for someone else who was. Do I think it's just a coincidence that this happens on the day the COD4 maps are released? I don't think so. So what does that tell us about COD4?
To me, it says that more people want to pay 800 points for 4 new maps for that game. Enough people to overwhelm their network and make it difficult for some of the rest of us to get online. Has this happened with anything for the Halo games? Not that I'm aware of. There's been map packs for previous Halo games and the rush of users trying to download those and play them hasn't tanked the system. So you've got to see that Call of Duty 4 is more the quintessential Xbox 360 game instead of Halo 3. I know the Halo fanboys out there aren't going to like it, but it is what it is. And for some of us it means we won't be able to connect to Xbox Live through our consoles until everyone's had their fill of the new maps and have moved on.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
A gamer by any other name . . .
No, I'm not thinking of changing my gamer tag. I kind of like it. At least it's readable and shows some creativity. I can't stand those gamer tags with "xX(insert name here)Xx". Yes, we know you're playing on an Xbox machine. And guess what? We are too, so you can drop all those Xs from your name. It looks stupid.
What I don't like is how people shorten my name. You see I also go by Pengwenn on some writing forums because . . . well . . . I like to write (hence the spelling). A lot of people have figured out what my first name is so they start referring to me as that in the forums. Excuse me? What's the point of having a screen name if nobody's going to use it? Is it that hard to type 3 more characters when you use my name?
Sometimes in online matches someone will refer to me by my given name. It's not like I haven't heard it before, but it always sounds funny coming from guys I haven't met. It's almost as if I want to ask "do I know you?" because to them I'm Pengwenn not that other name. Having an online name is like having a secret identity. When I load up my profile it's like I'm spinning around really fast in my everyday attire and magically change into some spandex superhero gaming outfit complete with flowing cape and magical powers. You know, kind of like Wonder Woman but without the pouffe hair. I can be the me I want to be. But if you use my given name then I'm the person that has laundry piling up in the corner, dirty dishes in the sink and bills on the counter waiting to be paid.
Now I don't mind if someone shortens my name to Pen, Peng, or Pengy. Those names let me keep the spandex outfit on even if I have to turn the cape in. I can live with that. And I'm not immune to shortening someone name either. I often refer to Evil Ric as just Evil (sometimes that name just says it all). And cyberWRAT becomes cyber. Dain Bramage becomes just plain old dain (I know that name sounds like a real name but he's my brother so I know better). And MsvHdWndHrry (Massive Head Wound Harry) or however you spell it, just becomes "massive" to me. That's not because I don't like their names but have you ever tired to say "massive head wound harry to your left" in the heat of a battle? My friend would be dead before I'd even finished saying his name.
Now as much as I want to be recognized by my alter ego online I do have some friends that don't seem to mind using their given names. For Dennis72 I'm not going to call him anything besides Dennis (unless he kills me with the Boomshot while we're on the same team in Gears of War and then I have a few other names I'd like to call him). And then there is Patrick . . . who was called Harold . . . who changed his name to Patrick. I think there was a two week period when we didn't know what to call him expect "hey kid".
As much as I'd like to think of Pengwenn as a seperate identity I think it's becoming more of who I am everyday. So much so that at work yesterday I was sitting at someone's desk when they said my given name and I flinched. Literally. I almost corrected them and told them it was Pengwenn. But I stopped myself in time. I hope that doesn't mean I play games online too much. Or maybe it just means I like the spandex outfit more than I should. But why not? Spandex can be so slimming.
What I don't like is how people shorten my name. You see I also go by Pengwenn on some writing forums because . . . well . . . I like to write (hence the spelling). A lot of people have figured out what my first name is so they start referring to me as that in the forums. Excuse me? What's the point of having a screen name if nobody's going to use it? Is it that hard to type 3 more characters when you use my name?
Sometimes in online matches someone will refer to me by my given name. It's not like I haven't heard it before, but it always sounds funny coming from guys I haven't met. It's almost as if I want to ask "do I know you?" because to them I'm Pengwenn not that other name. Having an online name is like having a secret identity. When I load up my profile it's like I'm spinning around really fast in my everyday attire and magically change into some spandex superhero gaming outfit complete with flowing cape and magical powers. You know, kind of like Wonder Woman but without the pouffe hair. I can be the me I want to be. But if you use my given name then I'm the person that has laundry piling up in the corner, dirty dishes in the sink and bills on the counter waiting to be paid.
Now I don't mind if someone shortens my name to Pen, Peng, or Pengy. Those names let me keep the spandex outfit on even if I have to turn the cape in. I can live with that. And I'm not immune to shortening someone name either. I often refer to Evil Ric as just Evil (sometimes that name just says it all). And cyberWRAT becomes cyber. Dain Bramage becomes just plain old dain (I know that name sounds like a real name but he's my brother so I know better). And MsvHdWndHrry (Massive Head Wound Harry) or however you spell it, just becomes "massive" to me. That's not because I don't like their names but have you ever tired to say "massive head wound harry to your left" in the heat of a battle? My friend would be dead before I'd even finished saying his name.
Now as much as I want to be recognized by my alter ego online I do have some friends that don't seem to mind using their given names. For Dennis72 I'm not going to call him anything besides Dennis (unless he kills me with the Boomshot while we're on the same team in Gears of War and then I have a few other names I'd like to call him). And then there is Patrick . . . who was called Harold . . . who changed his name to Patrick. I think there was a two week period when we didn't know what to call him expect "hey kid".
As much as I'd like to think of Pengwenn as a seperate identity I think it's becoming more of who I am everyday. So much so that at work yesterday I was sitting at someone's desk when they said my given name and I flinched. Literally. I almost corrected them and told them it was Pengwenn. But I stopped myself in time. I hope that doesn't mean I play games online too much. Or maybe it just means I like the spandex outfit more than I should. But why not? Spandex can be so slimming.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
New Poll - Have you gotten the Red Ring of Death?
To me it seems the dreaded Red Ring of Death on the Xbox 360 comes in waves. I'll have several friends get it within a two week time period and then no one for a month or two. Then another wave of failures hits and a couple more friends are faced with the choice of waiting for their system to come back or buying a new one (and using their other one as a back up when it comes back). Vote and feel free to leave a comment here.
Poll Results - A day to play games
Okay, so I asked the question "Have you ever taken a day off of work just to play video games?" Here are the results:
Yes: 3 votes
No: 2 votes
I can't believe some of you haven't taken advantage of a day of vacation to just sit home and play video games. I do it all the time. That might be because I don't have any kids, a spouse or a house to take care of. When I take a day off it's all mine. Mostly.
The last day that I specifically took off to play a game was for the release of Assassin's Creed. Unfortunately I let a few things pile up before that date so when I was off work I spent most of the day running around doing errands. When I had the chance to play I only put the game in briefly before I stopped and just vegetated (which is another acceptable excuse to take time off from work for, in my opinion anyway).
This year I adjusted my work schedule so I get 1 day off every two weeks. This is now "Game Day" for me. I hate going in earlier and working longer hours during the days when I'm at work but it's nice to have a day off every other week without having to dip into my vacation days. But that doesn't mean I won't take a day off here and there to play a video game. I'm even thinking about taking a half day on Friday. That would extend my weekend a little bit and maybe I could get all my errands done that day so when I have my regularly scheduled day off on Monday it will be nothing but gaming. See ya then!
Yes: 3 votes
No: 2 votes
I can't believe some of you haven't taken advantage of a day of vacation to just sit home and play video games. I do it all the time. That might be because I don't have any kids, a spouse or a house to take care of. When I take a day off it's all mine. Mostly.
The last day that I specifically took off to play a game was for the release of Assassin's Creed. Unfortunately I let a few things pile up before that date so when I was off work I spent most of the day running around doing errands. When I had the chance to play I only put the game in briefly before I stopped and just vegetated (which is another acceptable excuse to take time off from work for, in my opinion anyway).
This year I adjusted my work schedule so I get 1 day off every two weeks. This is now "Game Day" for me. I hate going in earlier and working longer hours during the days when I'm at work but it's nice to have a day off every other week without having to dip into my vacation days. But that doesn't mean I won't take a day off here and there to play a video game. I'm even thinking about taking a half day on Friday. That would extend my weekend a little bit and maybe I could get all my errands done that day so when I have my regularly scheduled day off on Monday it will be nothing but gaming. See ya then!
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