Due to lack of work I try & stay within £10 limit for my games like recently downloaded Assassin's Creed: Rogue ( £9.99 ) part of Ubisoft sale on Xbox Live. Over the months have picked up many a past game bargain. Resulting in a purchase of external drive for my Xbox 360. On delaying purchase of a XBoxOne console mainly cos of games prices - still look at them in disbelief.

I enjoy XBox Live monthly free game many I am struggling, other I'm not interested meanwhile others trying to maintain interest. Got Battlefield: Hardlines for under £10 and still not hooked, still to finish story episodes & dipping in & out of multi-player. Still hop back & forth between consoles tried backward compatibility that mean more use of decreasing storage drive so due to game GB sizes that's another external drive for future. The XBoxOne console came with the Halo games - slow download, again still to finish ?

So this old gamer keeps rolling on .. now up to 41k in Achievements so he not that bad !

Made it to Legend level ( 25k) some months ago ( hurray ! ) nearing 30k now but frustrated just as I reach the summit they introduce Master level at 100k !! More chance at my age of being in a different kind of box than reaching this !

Game on !

Update: Thanks to forum members it's 75k but it's a long way to ...

Tried to get there before year end but finally broke the 20k barrier ten days later. Sorry for pun but for an old timer like moi that's some achievement.

My next goal is 25k probably 2015 or 16 or ...;) that's when XBox Live class you in 'Legend' bracket !

Meanwhile up to level 14 here, a Ring King or reekin' after a few drinks.

Cheers !

S

Just a quickie, brought a new XBox a month ago and didn't buy the official transfer lead and brought an import via Amazon.

Newer box didn't recognise my 60GB for transfer, ended up reformatting and losing all my saves. At least I kept my achievements. Also giving me a chance to re-discover my old games and get some missed achievements.

Meanwhile my new(er) games in waiting will have to wait.

Mug I am ...

S

Must admit despite buying newer games later online I still get a buzz of unwrapping them.

I mentioned in my previous post a problem with my Crackdown disc, I popped into a local games store last week and picked up by chance my 1st pre-owned version of the game at a bargain £2.98. Initially I had the same freeze menu problems but freed up some space on my XBox and downloaded the usual XBox Live update ( what do they do ? ) and hey presto it finally works but still having to start again. Now made further story progress & extra achievements - hurray !

On the subject of pre-owned discs, I was worried about disc usage/scratches but it seems to be ok as proved today I brought another one cheaper at £1.98 of Project Gotham 3 which I've neverplayed despite enjoying PGR4 as one of my favourite racing games.

With a lack of cash it's now a new avenue of purchase.

Game on !

S

As an older player I admit to taking longer to complete game stories. No work but my vice is picking up an online bargain. Still have 2 games to unwrap - Bulletstorm & Deus Ex.

Thought I missed F1 2010 before Xmas for £9.99 but just picked up a copy for £6.99 from an online sale. Immediately started playing and so far appreciation of concentration needed if tackling longer races. Still low achievements to date.

On achievements I'm half a Sectoid here, god knows what level 6 has in store for me !

Am I the only one with Tom Clancy game issues, got stuck early on Hawx 2 & S C: Conviction still can't get into.

Went back one Sunday afternoon/evening had a great time playing Crackdown - trying to improve my achievements - no luck. I have a disc problem the following day as the game freezes on intro page as game profile loads up ? Looking for another copy.

Gone back to Gears of War - never finished the story due to RAAM & his bats on that train, so restarted story at next level to get some points. Then dug of Gears of War 2 to discover only completed on level 1 so trying the level 2 the normal level.

So a case of "let's do this !" again.

Cheers !

S

My plan for Xmas was to play my new budget games, started on Xmas Day with Forza 3 and boy the achievements are better. Found the rewind feature a little bit of a cheat on Forza 3 should have been limited and credits deducted when used. The next day tried Splinter Cell Conviction but found not as engrossing as hoped.

Strange having returned to Assassin's Creed Brotherhood as a time filler, having completed the story. A few days back returned to Assassin's Creed II after previous wall climb problems. Managed to overcome & progress, much to my surprise & enjoyment I hadn't reached the end as previously thought. So I have been hooked again to complete over numerous hours which I did last night to score my highest achievement of 840 ! For someone who doesn't multi-play I'm a happy bunny ! Now thinking of finishing first A C story.

Achieve on !

Happy New Year !

S

Living alone I like to get a few Xmas treats for myself including video games. So I search online before the big event for any sale bargains under a tenner. Last year it was Batman: AA & Assassin Creed II, this year I have surpassed myself with 4 - based on Gamespot recommendations: Forza 3, Halo: Reach, Deus Ex: HR & Splinter Cell Conviction.

So I think I'm gonna be busy.

My few personal awards go to ...

Best Played This Year: Just Cause 2 ( massive landscape & so addictive )

Worst Played: GoldenEye 007 or Reloaded ( hurts as a Bond fan but the story ending and 5 achievements !! )

Finally nice to see my Fuse Level is now 7 a bit more respectable for this old dog.

Happy Xmas gaming into the New Year !

Regards

S

Must admit not a multi-player so my Xbox achievements will always be on the low side. Just finished AC Brotherhood story - first time in the AC franchise ! Still have subplots to return to but really enjoyable with achievements along the way.

Last weekend tried to run through GoldenEye 007: Reloaded on the XBox after getting stuck on the Wii end story. Yes no problem running through some improved graphics but stuck again on the same end story point trying to protect the 3 consoles with Natalya shouting "They're shooting at the console !" repeatedly. The game's achievements are so bad that despite near story end I achieved [?] my all-time low score of 5 yes FIVE !!

Games especially at the bottom level should be playable for everyone of all ages and that includes the first Gears of War -the train battle with that big batty guy ! I've heard cries of "Let's do this !" so many times.

Till the next one, happy achieving !

S

You may not know but I'm a big 007 fan ( see user name ), yesterday was the PR Day for the next Bond movie Skyfall in London. Today was the release of the 007 game GoldenEye: Reloaded which is an update of the Wii version released last year.I have to admit after purchasing a Wii console I was more impressed with Wii Sports than the 007 game which I'm still to finish despite reaching the near end. I found the pointing for gun aim really annoying and just purchased a game controller to help finish.

Meanwhile I'm trying to finish Deaver's new 007 book Carte Blanche by Thursday.

Find more about my Bond interest at my fan site ... 007 Bond Supplement.

Game on ...

S