I've lost my way

I've had a really hard time recording games lately.  And it hasn't been fun.  There's one game where I can't get past a boss even though I've filmed 3 sessions attempting to do so. 

There's another game where I exhausted all my lives before even finishing the first level.  After restarting and refilming getting through a couple of levels I exited the game thinking it would save at the end of the level.  Turns out it doesn't.  If you want to save you have to pay gold to do so.  So when I came back to play and film more I found out I didn't have ANY save file.  So I restarted . . . again . . . and filmed the first couple of levels again and got to the point where I could save, but I really couldn't.  It costs 100 gold to save and I had 98 coins and no way to get more.  I wasn't in the mood to play any more, and it was very late, so I just shut the game down and deleted the film.  That was no longer a game I wanted to play.

I tried another game but after 30 minutes of tram and elevator rides with nothing happening I was bored.  And if I'm bored anyone watching would be bored too.  Not good either.

I was so upset after messing around with these games for a couple of weeks I found myself with absolutely no desire to play video games.  At this point I had burned through my backlog of videos and had nothing left to post.  I felt like I had lost my way and I needed something to get me wanting to play again.  I needed something I would love to play and it would put in a good mood. 

I knew the perfect game.

There is one game that I love and always put me in a good mood.  I've wanted to play and finish this game for so long but I've had other games in the works.  The game is Final Fantasy IX.  I love that game.  Whenever I feel stressed out I like to watch Twitch streams of this game and it always make me feel better.  I was less than 10 hours away from finishing this game before my stuff was stolen and I would love to see it through to the end.  Maybe now was the best to restart the game.  So I did.

It did not go well.

At the first moment you get control of the character and start the kidnapping of the Princess (about 5 minutes in) my screen froze.  No big deal.  I'll just restart.  I did.  It froze again and then changed to a screen full of pixilated colors in a funky grid.  Okay, maybe my disk is dirty.  So I took it out and cleaned it off . . . and tried again.  Third times the charm, right?

Nope.

The same thing happened.  My game disk was fucked up and there was no way to get around that.  I talked to my brother to ask him if we knew where his FFIX game was so I could borrow it.  He wasn't sure and I wouldn't be able to borrow it (if he found it) for a couple of days.  Damn.

So now I'm out of videos to post and have no desire to play a video game ever again.  Now you might think I'm over reacting but there's a lot of other life stuff that was contributing to this feeling.  So what was I going to do?

After a good night's sleep I remembered that I started my YouTube channel to help me finish the games I want to play.  It's not about playing games that are current or topical or trendy or whatever.  I post games on my channel to make a commitment that I'm going to see that game through to the end.  Games that I want to play.  Games that I want to finish.  So I've decided to take a break.

I might not be posting regularly for the next while.  How long?  I don't know.  I need to find my gaming mojo again and I don't know how long that will take.  What does that mean for the games I currently have in progress?  I'll still post videos when I can but I'm having issues with those games too.

For Dark Cloud I'm still bummed about my supped up sword breaking.  I've got a replacement and I'm currently grinding to get it back up to an acceptable level.  Once I'm happy with what I have I'll get back to actually playing the story and filming more videos.  As for Summoner, I got really frustrated with getting lost in that game and hated having to keep referring to my strategy guide to find out what I needed to do and where I needed to go.  I know that's what a strategy guide is for but I really prefer discovering things on my own and only using it in an emergency.  I hope the whole game isn't an "emergency" for me.

I might make some "What I'm playing" videos so you can see that I'm actually playing.  I can tell you that I've played a little bit already in Fallout Shelter, Gems of War and Slime Rancher.  I might branch out and play some other games, but for right now those games or all I can muster at the moment.

If you lose the urge to play games what video game gets you back in the mood?  Any suggestions for me?  I might be fumbling around while I've lost my way but I'll find my way back and really start playing games again.  I always do.

1 minute Dragon game

So I’ve got another “1 minute” game for you.  This time, here there be dragons.  Yep.  Those big winged flapping lizard-like creatures.  You have 1 minute to list as many video games that have dragons in them.  Be they bosses, pets, or just in cut scenes.  It should be easy, right?  So . . .

On your mark . . . .

Get set . . . .

Go . . .

You got started off really fast.

You’ve named a couple but are you sure they really have dragons in them?

Oops, is that a duplicate?

Come on keep going.

You’ve run out of ideas already?

Okay . . . and time’s up.

How many did you get?  Here’s my list.  I have a few maybes on it and I’ll have to explain those.

 

My list:

Legend of Dragoon

Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy VII

Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age 2

Skyrim

Spyro the Dragon

Spyro the Dragon: Ripto’s Rage

Sypro the Dragon: Enter the Dragonfly

Blue Dragon

My maybes:

Dark Stone

Balder’s Gate

Champions of Norath

Summoner

Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade

Gauntlet

So I got 10 that I know of for sure that have dragons.  I could have probably listed all of the Final Fantasy games but I wasn’t sure if they all had a dragon in them.  I’m not even totally sure with FF7 but I’m hedging my bet that it does.  And I'm know there are more Spyro games that what I have listed but I can't remember any more than what I put down.

As to the maybes I have various excuses or doubts about including them.  I might have to do some research to see if I’m just imagining things with these games or I got it right.  Unless someone wants to do it for me and put it in the comment’s section. 

It’s been a very long time since I played Dark Stone and then I didn’t even get very far in the game.  I’ve been meaning to go back and what I remember of the game it’s perfect to have a dragon.

It’s also been a very long time since I’ve played both Balder’s Gate and Champions of Norath.  They are also a couple of games that have got to have a dragon or two.  I’m pretty sure that my brother dain and I have finished both of those games but nothing comes to mind specifically about dragons.  Even if not a boss but just something terrifying to look at in a cut scene.

Summoner is the game dain and I are supposed to be finishing for the PS2.  When I think of “summoners” I think of magic and summoning dragons.  So there’s got to be a dragon in that game right?

Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade is a game I’ve been playing on the PSP.  It’s another game that I’m not very far in but seems perfect to having a dragon in the game.  If not a boss, then some eye candy instead.  There’s another game in the Untold Legends series that I have but I can’t remember the name so I didn’t count it.  Warrior’s Code.  Or maybe, Warrior’s Guild.  Or something like that.  Since I can’t remember what it’s called, I’m not counting it.  Even as a maybe.

Gauntlet is a game my brother dain and I have finished a couple of times.  On the N64.  On the PS.  And on the GameCube.  And maybe more systems and versions of the game.  I can’t remember if there are any dragons in the game.  If there are they’re probably fought while on the ground.  At least I don’t remember any aerial combat battles in any of those games.  And since I can’t remember any subtitles for any of those versions I’m only counting them as one game.  And that’s only a maybe too.

Personally I’m disappointed with myself.  I thought I would have done better than that.  Especially since one of my favorite genres of video games is RPGs and those are usually fantasy games.  And aren’t dragons, in one form or another, a requirement in fantasy games?  Maybe if I played more of those games . . . or at least played more IN all of those games that I have I could have done better.  How well did you do?  Leave your results in the comments.  And if you’ve got some ideas for more “1 minute” game ideas leave those in the comments as well.  I’ve got a few more ideas I want to explore but it won’t hurt to have more.

Same old question

So I took a moment today and looked through some of my older posts in this blog and was surprised at some of my insights into gaming.  My typing could use some improvement though no matter how brilliant I seemed to me.  My search of previous posts led me to the very one I made.  How hard is it to finish a game?  I looked at the date I made that post and it was March 2nd, 2007.  Just over 7 years.  Wow!

Have I changed as a gamer?  Definitely.  For better and worse.  Have I played a lot of games since then?  A tremendous amount.  Have I finished those games that started this all?

Well . . . .

I'm ashamed to admit that even after 7 years I still haven't finished any of those games.  But on the bright side neither has my brother.

In Final Fantasy VII I'm not even back to the spot where I was before my stuff was stolen in 2009.  And I'm even further behind in Mario Sunshine than where I was in that gamer pre thievery.  I'm so stuck in Jedi Outcast that I can't even find out where I am in the strategy guide to help me get out of whatever room I'm stuck in.  And in Summoner I've just barely made it to the first town.  I haven't even gotten back in the sewers.

I've played FFVII and made some progress but I'm taking it slow and stead about leveling characters up and making sure I have enough money to buy everything I want before I go into a town for the first time. 

With Jedi Outcast it's just a pain to disconnect the 360 and change the cords, system and controls out to just play that one game.  Changing to the GameCube for Mario isn't a whole lot better either.  It's been awhile but I think Jedi Outcast is a backward compatible game and I think I might have even tried playing it on the 360.  But that meant I started over . . . again.  Of course that would also mean I'm not stuck any more.

Needless to say I've had problems sticking to this goal to finish in a year.  Hey, it's been 7 years and I'm actually further behind in all games than where I was pre-thievery.  With all the great games that are coming out it's really hard to stay focused and finish these older games. 

I tried making Sunday night "Retro Night".  A night each week where I pull games on older system (or the oldest games on current system) and play those.  It worked for awhile but what I ended up playing was Pikmin (1 and 2).  Those are great games so who can blame me.  Maybe what I need to do is go to some far away hotel and take just one system and lock myself in the room for the weekend and play nothing but one of those older games.  Maybe that's something I can do with my tax refund.

At the very least, after 7 years I'm still consistent.  I'm making lists of all the games I want to play . . . . only to play something else.  But most importantly: I'm still playing video games.  The question might be the same but I'm okay with that.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that and whole lot of boredom

I've been playing a bunch of things lately.  I got bored trying to learn things in FFTactics so I switched to Final Fantasy II.  I finished the first one on the PSP but I honestly can't remember anything about the game.  FF2 is different and I'm having a hard time getting the hang of it.  If you attack physically those stats go up (but magical stats go down) and the reverse is true.  My problem is I get into dungeons and I don't want to use up my magic points because Ether is so damn expensive so I use a lot of physical attacks.  I know I'm going to be screwed later on in the game when I need that powerful mage and I don't have one.

I also dusted off the old Xbox system and hooked it up for awhile.  I restarted Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast.  It was one of the games dain and I decided to "finished" a long time ago.  Actually since 7/16/2006 to be exact.  I could have played it on the 360 but I didn't want to.  I know the exact date that started all this because I printed the email and apparently I've been using it as a page marker for the strategy guide.  I stopped playing because I got lost in the game and the guide was no help.  Strategy guides have come a long way since then.  I figured the best thing to do was start over (with the cheat code BUBBLE entered - - I don't take any damage).  I played for awhile . . . and got bored.

So, I reconnected my PS2 and put in Summoner.  That's another one of those "let's finish them this year [2006] games.  This time the guide helped and I feel better about how to play the game.  But I got bored because I'm just replaying the stuff I had already done since my stuff was stolen.

So, I went back to my 360.  I tired some zombies in the Dr. Ned DLC for Borderlands since I've finished the game (I'll do a review of it later).  But the zombies don't make any noises when they come up on you and I got tired of being jumped when I'm trying to do something.  Although those flying things are more annoying.

So, I decided to play some online stuff by myself.  It's really hard to find friends to play with these days.  But that's okay I play better without them.  It's true.  It doesn't matter what game we play but when I play with friends I end up sub 500 on my kill/death ratio.  I'll die 2x at least for every kill I get.  I don't know why this happens but it does.  Because I've been playing solo mostly (except when Natra sends me an invite) I've noticed that my skills are getting better.  I've only had one match with a 1/2 kill/death ratio; everything else has been much better than that.  I've even gone positive once or twice.  I'll usually finish with about 10 kills to 12 deaths or something like that.  Just over this weekend alone my kill/death ratio went from .551 to .571.  Not bad considering I've got a lot of deaths under my belt in that game.  I'm also finding the game more fun to play now that I'm doing better.  I don't get frustrated as much and I don't let a death discourage me.  I do have moments of panic when I'm under that .500 threshold but I always seem to find a way to do better before the match is over.  And I'm finally getting some of those maps.  I guess I now need to try playing with friends to see if I can translate this success when I play with them.  Any volunteers?

So that's about it.   A little PSP, Xbox, PS2, and 360 gaming all in the same week or two.  I've even been tempted to pull out my GameCube to work on that "let's finish" game (Super Mario Sunshine).  And I've got an itch to play my old N64 as well.  I've either got too little of an attention span or too much boredom.  You decide.

Old....but still true

I've just been flipping back through older enteries seeing if my style has changed and if I'm actually getting better as a writer when I came across this one:

How hard is it to finish a game?

I was sitting around with nothing better to do (obviously I was at work) when I had an epiphany. I own a lot of video games, but I haven't finished very many of them. Okay, I had only finished 3 (Legend of Dragoon, Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance). And I wondered why I hadn't finished more. I sat and stared out into space, pondering this dilemma when I had another epiphany. I'm a video game addict.

I play video games a lot. And I own a lot of video games. But there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to play them all . . . especially when new ones keep being released. I'd buy a game, play it for several hours, then have to put it aside so I could play the next great game I just bought. When I finally make it back to that first game I'm so lost I don't have a clue what to do next so I just start the game over. I've probably played the first 5-10 hours of ALL my games at least twice. And some of them more than halfway through.

It's great to have a lot of games. I enjoy them all. But I want to enjoy the fact that I've finished them. Not finishing some games meant I couldn't talk to some of my friends because THEY'VE finished the game and they don't want to spoil anything for me. It's annoying when you're not in on the secrets. So I devised a plan:

Pick one game for each console and don't play anything else until you've finished those games.

Since I own several systems (SNES, N64, GameCube, PS, PS2, Xbox, GBA SP, PSP and a PC of course) I figured I could pick several different types of games to play to suit my every changing mood (I am a girl after all). But how was I to "stay on target"? I could enlist my gaming brother. After all, he's the "dealer" that got me hooked on video games.

When I told him of my plan, he liked it, since he's having the same problem as me (with a lot more games to agonize over). He wanted in. We put our heads together and made a list of games that we both own (for the same console). We'd be each other's support system and help network when we got stuck in a game and can't find that damn hidden treasure. ARGH! Since it was my idea, I let him pick the games. He picked: Final Fantasy VII (PS), Summoner (PS2), Star Wars: Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast (Xbox) and Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube).

I had dabbled in all of them (had 10+ hours in FF7) but I was ready to start over and play them to the end. We started out with a bang, all gung-ho and everything, but that didn't last long for either of us. I found out I have another video game addiction. Xbox Live. There's something about beating another player and knowing their human and not AI (though for some it's hard to tell the difference). I laugh gleefully (some call it a cackle) but I enjoy myself. Especially when they find out they've been beaten by a girl. Then my gaming brother opened the flood gates and got me hooked on something else. Xbox 360.

We both exercise a lot of restraint not buying new console when they first come out. Let other players work out all the bugs and kinks in the new systems, we'll wait for a later release. But my brother couldn't wait anymore. He bought a 360 before Christmas. We met up each week and I had to sit there and drool while he played Gears of War and played around on the dashboard. I couldn't take it anymore. I caved. I bought a 360 in an after Christmas sale. And now I'm hooked. Achievements? I'm all for them. Gamerscore? I'll show you mine if you show me yours. Now it's not just another new game that I want to play, but a whole new system.

It's been 6 months since we started our little pact. Neither one of us have finished a game he picked out. We're getting closer, but at this rate it'll take us 3 years to finish them all. And think of all the games we're NOT playing (or trying not to play) during that time. On second thought, I don't think I want to.

I laughed at out loud at the last paragraph. It's been more than three years since then and I don't think neither dain or I are any closer to finishing those games than we were back in March of 2007 when I posted this. I have an excuse . . . my game saves were robbed. I don't know what dain's excuse is other than the fact that there are so many more games out there that he owns but hasn't played. Oh wait, that's my excuse too.

Pity the failure that I am

So I didn't make it. I was 234 points away from breaking the 10,000 point barrier with my gamer score. Yet another New Years Resolution I didn't achieve. And to think I was one boss battle from picking up 125 points in Lost Odyssey. So close, and yet so far.

I not only failed at getting the score but I failed at playing Lost Odyssey. I got into an area that I couldn't handle. The regular enemy encounters were killing me . . . literally. I fled like the little coward that I am. I love that game, but it got to a point where all I wanted to do was rip the disk from the drive and chuck it out the window. Maybe this weekend I'll take some time to focus on the game and strategies to help me survive instead of rushing through it to get points. Besides, if I finish the game then I can go back to Blue Dragon.

When my attempt to get gamer points from Lost Odyssey failed I started playing Gears of War on insane. I figured if I could get achievements for finishing chapters on insane I would also get the achievements for hardcore as well. Doubling up is always nice. It didn't work out that way so the clock turned over past midnight and I was at the same gamer score I had the night before.

Now if I had spent some time playing those games earlier in the week instead of playing Gears of War 2 with my friends I might have met my goal and finally cross one resolution off my list. But you see, I like playing with my friends. As crazy and emotional as they sometimes tend to get, they're a bunch of real stand up guys. So I blame my failure on them. Yeah, that's it. It's all their fault. If they would just act like jerks so I wouldn't want to play with them then maybe I'd actually achieve a goal I set for myself. I'd like to try and see them be a jerk . . . without laughing about it either.

There are a lot of other New Year Resolutions that I didn't achieve either. I still haven't finished Final Fantasy VII, Mario Sunshine, Summoner or Jedi Outcast like I've been trying to do as a challenge with my brother dain. I guess those should be on my resolution list this year as well. Oh well. I guess my resolution of world peace didn't quite work out either.

With all the house/moving stuff that's been my life the last couple of months I haven't given it any thought about what my 2009 resolutions should be. When I get a chance I'll review where I came up short with my 2008 ones and see what dreams/goals I want to complete this year. Does anyone have any Prozac they could share?

How hard is it to finish a game?

I was sitting around with nothing better to do (obviously I was at work) when I had an epiphany. I own a lot of video games, but I haven't finished very many of them. Okay, I had only finished 3 (Legend of Dragoon, Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance). And I wondered why I hadn't finished more. I sat and stared out into space, pondering this dilemma when I had another epiphany. I'm a video game addict.

I play video games a lot. And I own a lot of video games. But there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to play them all . . . especially when new ones keep being released. I'd buy a game, play it for several hours, then have to put it aside so I could play the next great game I just bought. When I finally make it back to that first game I'm so lost I don't have a clue what to do next so I just start the game over. I've probably played the first 5-10 hours of ALL my games at least twice. And some of them more than halfway through.

It's great to have a lot of games. I enjoy them all. But I want to enjoy the fact that I've finished them. Not finishing some games meant I couldn't talk to some of my friends because THEY'VE finished the game and they don't want to spoil anything for me. It's annoying when you're not in on the secrets. So I devised a plan:

Pick one game for each console and don't play anything else until you've finished those games.

Since I own several systems (SNES, N64, GameCube, PS, PS2, Xbox, GBA SP, PSP and a PC of course) I figured I could pick several different types of games to play to suit my every changing mood (I am a girl after all). But how was I to "stay on target"? I could enlist my gaming brother. After all, he's the "dealer" that got me hooked on video games.

When I told him of my plan, he liked it, since he's having the same problem as me (with a lot more games to agonize over). He wanted in. We put our heads together and made a list of games that we both own (for the same console). We'd be each other's support system and help network when we got stuck in a game and can't find that damn hidden treasure. ARGH! Since it was my idea, I let him pick the games. He picked: Final Fantasy VII (PS), Summoner (PS2), Star Wars: Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast (Xbox) and Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube).

I had dabbled in all of them (had 10+ hours in FF7) but I was ready to start over and play them to the end. We started out with a bang, all gung-ho and everything, but that didn't last long for either of us. I found out I have another video game addiction. Xbox Live. There's something about beating another player and knowing their human and not AI (though for some it's hard to tell the difference). I laugh gleefully (some call it a cackle) but I enjoy myself. Especially when they find out they've been beaten by a girl. Then my gaming brother opened the flood gates and got me hooked on something else. Xbox 360.

We both exercise a lot of restraint not buying new console when they first come out. Let other players work out all the bugs and kinks in the new systems, we'll wait for a later release. But my brother couldn't wait anymore. He bought a 360 before Christmas. We met up each week and I had to sit there and drool while he played Gears of War and played around on the dashboard. I couldn't take it anymore. I caved. I bought a 360 in an after Christmas sale. And now I'm hooked. Achievements? I'm all for them. Gamerscore? I'll show you mine if you show me yours. Now it's not just another new game that I want to play, but a whole new system.

It's been 6 months since we started our little pact. Neither one of us have finished a game he picked out. We're getting closer, but at this rate it'll take us 3 years to finish them all. And think of all the games we're NOT playing (or trying not to play) during that time. On second thought, I don't think I want to.