So prior to my purchase of the Xbox 360 I kept hearing this word...achievement. I had a vauge idea of what they were and how one could aquire them, but didn't really think that I would be the type of person who would really care to "aquire" them. I thought to myself when I first got my 360, "oh sure...I'll get them every so often...but I won't get addicted."

What the hell was I thinking?! :shock: Now whenever I play a game I wonder to myself what marvelous action, what secret and magnificent requirements will I have to meet/discover to hear that lovely little "bleep" sound and see it flash before my lower screen? It's a sickness that has plauged many a 360 owner and I fear I've caught the Achievement fever!

But not to say that's completely a bad thing. Something else that has been crossing my mind with increasing regularity is the "need to know" what I have to do to get my achievements. But I've been trying to keep that thought out as much as possible. You see, as much as it's nice to know before you play the game just what it is you'll have to do to unlock the achievement, it's more rewarding (in my opinion) when I'm just naturally playing the game and happen to discover them. I'm sure that's the case most of the time with other gamers. Besides, most of us don't buy/rent games just for the achievement points now do we? ;)

Now what I don't want is exactly that way of thinking: that whole "I gotta' play every single game to get MORE!" type of mentality. For one thing...I'm not as hardcore as I used to be. In fact I don't even like using that term. It think it's kind of silly to me. But whatever. I'm rambling now.

Anyway, so yeah...I can see the reason why they're so saught after and the attraction to getting as many as you possibly can. Besides the whole "gotta' catch em' all" type of mentality, It's nice to know that someone out there will get a chance to see what kind of gamer you are. And I think for me that's the most important/cool thing about Live and having a gamercard to begin with. It gives a brief window of what kind of a gamer they are...and for what reason they play what they play. ;)

I suppose it's difficult to accurately determine what others like just based soley on their gamercard and what IT says they're playing. I mean if they're anything like I am, I switch games so often it makes me wonder sometimes if I'll ever finish some of my older games. I'm an ADD gamer. If and when I play a game that has an element that will remind me of another game I have lying on my shelf...I have a tendancy to switch out and start playing that one. Or if I get a nice shiny new game and say I'm in the last stages of a certain Bungie type shooter and put a stop on kicking things in the face with awesome bullet type behaviour to, oh..I don't know..raise pinatas...then sometimes it's just hard to get myself in the mood to kill aliens and big heaping piles of off-worldism when I've been romancing worms for an hour and a half. :shock:

All in all though, regardless of what kind of games I decide to pick up in the future, I can say that I haven't been this pleased in a colsole purchase since I got my DS Lite last year. I'm happy with my new toy and I will be even happier this saturday when "the cable man commeth" to my house to allow me some XboxLive goodness!

Now if you'll excuse me...I have some...work to do. Yeah..that's it...work.

:shock:

First of all let me start by saying that I am a huge Half-Life fan...always have been. In fact...I shamefully admit (don't do this in real life guys...the ladies don't appreciat it) I almost missed my first date with my girlfriend in college because my friend introduced me to this realy cool PC game called Half-Life way back in 1999 and I got sucked into it SO much! She forgave me for it in the end ;)

Anyway, so yeah...I can't really gather my thoughts clearly enough to express how excited I was to receive my game in the mail yesterday. I mean..I was right smack in the middle of playing some awesome Halo 3 goodness...and I stopped...got to the next checkpoint...saved and imediately pulled it out and put in The Orange Box. I will say that due to my lack of HD TV goodness..I won't really be able to take advantage of the 1080i just yet. But it still looks so good on a standard def TV! Anyway...I didn't hesitate...I went STRAIGHT to Portal. I've been waiting for this moment for months!

And it's everything I wanted it to be and so much more! Of course...the moment I got the ability to make my own in and out portals...I did the usual thing that EVERYONE will most likely do...the infinity drop :D I did that for about 10 minues...just making portals...hurling myself through them and flopping out in strange ways. The theory and concept behind this speaks to me greatly! I love puzzle games..and I love trying to figure things out. It just feeds my lil' brain to overflowing!

So I basically played straight through all the "experiments". And...I'd love to tell you what happens when y ou get through all of that...but I don't want to spoil it for anyone. Let's just say (and this is my opinion of course) that I had not been that surprised and giddy since playing the original HL (not to say I don't love HL2). I was amazed :)

Anyway...thank you Valve...you are teh l337. :P

So life is nice right now :) The weather outside is crisp and clean making way for autum's long overdue cool weather. Down here in the South we take any cool days we can get. I've lived in Texas lone enough to know that the weather can change at the drop of a hat. But seeing how I've just now gotten back to my old familiar gaming ways, things couldn't be better :D

But...yes indeed...there's a but...my 360 doesn't seem to like my PC. I don't think it trusts it quite yet. I've tried coaxing it into submission by allowing it to see it will be sharing lots of shiny digital goodies such as music and videos and loads of pictures. But so far it hasn't taken the bait. I feel like I'm living Viva Pinata in real life and I have to meet some obscure Microsoft requirements for my 360 and PC to do the "romance dance" and procreate some lovely digital online streaming goodness.

But, I've also gotten some help (if you can call it that) from some semi-reliable sources online that will hopefully give me the edge I need in merging my two lovely toys together. I just want to be able to play some Halo 3 multiplayer on Live whist listening to some awesome digital goodness. What more could anyone ask for? ;)

Anyway...the above image is what I keep getting from my 360 in response to me trying to want it to play nicely with my PC. I've taken every step I know so far and hopefully after tonight, will be able to get it all working. The annoying problem is that I don't currently have internet at my house (long story) and even though I signed up for it online and they claim that they will get in touch with me soon to get the details and get it all set up soon, I've not heard a peep from them.

So when inconveniences like this pop up I'm not able to quickly just hop online and trouble shoot my way out of it. Oh well...let's just hope I can get it all taken care of by the end of the week. I wanna' play on Live dang it! Is that too much to ask? ;)

Just a quick tid-bit here :) Last night I go to Wal-Mart to wander around. I end up picking up Viva Pinata because I feel it will take over my free time like there's no tomorrow...I'm an Animal Crossing fiend. I love that game...my DS and I have personal time every day just to run around, harvest fruit, shake trees, and write letters to idiotic, but cute little animals. So why not pinatas right? :)

Anyway, I go to the counter earlier on to do a price check on the game as it was just lying in a huge bin of death. There were 3 employees at the counter just chatting away. The one lady took the game, scanned it and told me the price. Then...the guy next to her...probably in his late teens or early twenties took a good hard look at me, and just very honestly and abruptly asked me, "is that for one of your neices or something?"

My first reaction was that of the usual gamer-snob...you know...the kind of person that would just completely start on a rant on how just because the game is supposedly targeted towards kids doesn't mean that the art and gameplay in it isn't genius...that he should wake up and smell the coffee...that there are far more greater games out there and more unique games to play than HALO 3 AND HE SHOULD SHUT HIS FILTHY MOUTH! That was my first internal reaction :) (nothing against Halo 3 though ;) )

The lady next to him vindicated me by saying that it was a fun game. Now, not sure if she herself had ever played it...but clearly...she saw some odd charm in a grown man buying a game that...frankly...looks like a box of breakfast cereal. I cracked a smile and "laughed" and said, "No..it's for me."

The guy looked at me as if my head had opened up and the olsen twins spewed out of it. Needless to say...I don't think I'll be swapping colorful candy filled animals with him over Xbox Live anytime. ;)

*grumbles to himself at the fact that he can't embed video into the blog*

Zero Punctuation Halo 3 Review

So about 7 months ago, I had decided I was done with gaming. I had spent well more on it than my other "true" passion wish is Music. I hadn't really invested my time in much else outside of some volunteer musical events that I won't bother going into detail about right now. So...months later...I'm doing pretty good. I had just fitted the thought into my head that I woulnd't get back into it...and promised myself (I have to laugh at this now) that I would never buy another video game console...ever.

So, that's all down the toilet now as I prepare to buy my Xbox 360 (hopefully this weekend). Not only will I buy my 360, I've already purchased a game for it. A game...that I might add, I said I would probably never play. So what the hell is wrong with me?! Yesterday I had the hard realization that I wished I hadn't sold my old consoles and games. Sure I didn't play them much after a while...and at that time, an emergency had come up and I needed the cash. (my lack of saving money hit me hard...and I had to reliquish my consoles and all my games)

I was very tempted to go an get a Gamecube again...and just go back and get the few games that were important to me. But then I also could say the same thing of the Xbox and PS2. So I decided to reason with myself. I will not go back and try to reclaim my former gaming glory. It's just too much of a hassle, and it would cost much more than I would be willing to invest right now. Besides...I don't game quite as much as I did before. It's just a shame that I missed out on a good handful of titles that I was so close to playing.

So anyway, what I've decided to do is just go forward as far as consoles are concerned. I will get a Wii and I will get a PS3. With the backwards compatability on all three current consoles, I'll be able to at least play the major titles from the last 8 years or so. There are a ton of PS2 games I'm sure I'd enjoy. The bargain bin is my friend ;)

And my Gamecube games can find a home in the Wii...as well as the VC games...which I will try to stay away from :P

Anyway...yeah...so...I could have saved myself a lot of trouble by 1, saving money for emergencies and 2, keeping track of my bank account on those months when I know things will be tight. I could have still had all my old games...but...such is the way of things :)

So last night I pre-ordered my Halo 3 Legendary Edition. :shock: I'm excited :) Although...one thing has been left undone...and some people may think I'm silly for doing this...I now have my chance to get TEH lovely cat helmet...and the halo 3 goodness of this version...but I haz no 360 yet! :P

I'll have to work on that next ;) I wanted to get the Legendary before they sold out though...so...it'll be sitting on my shelf winking at me until I get ma' 360 ;)

Okay, so the time has come (took me long enough) to get a 360. I could list the reasons I've avoided getting one, but meh...doesn't really matter. The question I have is, which system should I get? I want to play on LIVE so obviously the Core system is out of the question. But there are 3 systems currently out and I'm not quite sure which to get. The one that has the most probability for me not to get only because it's a little more expensive is the Halo 3 Limited Edition. But it would be cool to have one seeing as they'll be...well..Limited. :)

The other choice outside of the Pro console is the Elite. But, I don't have an HD TV so having the HDMI port won't really do me much good...plus...I'm not sure if having the 120 Gig HD is all that important. I'm not one to download huge amounts of data and keep it on my HD. I'm constantly clearing off my computer's HD to begin with anyway.

So what would you guys suggest? Should I just get the pro system and be done with it? Or should I get the Elite and ensure my HD goodness for the future? Or should I get the Halo 3 console and go for the whole collector's route? I'm so confused! :cry:

:D

:shock: I just received my issue of this month's EGM...on the cover...Silent Hill 5.

OMG:!: This game looks gorgeous! I promised myself I wouldn't spend money on getting any new consoles...that I was done...finished...over. This, plus Bioshock (although I can get that for the PC) along with other great looking titles like Heavenly Sword are making my resolve float away :D