Game Diary - May 18, 2009: It's Monday and Cloudy

On the subject of the weekend past there was a severe lack of gaming to be had. It was not that I didn't fancy playing, I just never got to the point where I felt the need to wrap my hands around the controller.

I think that this is partially because I know what is in store for me in the coming level in COD4 (I have to disarm the nukes and I am timed and it is close quarters vicious combat) and I am really fighting not to move onto replays of other games until I finish this feat of impossibility.

I also haven't touched my DS, and in turn The World Ends With You, in just over a week so there is nothing to report on that front.

The only thing remotely game like that I have been playing is Peggle for iPhone and I just finished the Adventure mode on the train/bus ride home last night.

Hopefully there will be more gaming in the coming week and more game news at that.

Game Diary - May 12, 2009: Pegs Part Duex

When I have been playing on the 360 I have been giving my attention primarily to COD4 on Veteran. I have most recently completed 'The Shot' achievement which for those who do not know involves waiting an extremely long period of time for a helicopter while and endless wave of hostiles would like nothing more than to shoot you to pieces try to do just that. After the helicopter actually comes you have to fight your way across the field in order to pick up your partner who got injured earlier in the mission and then carry him to the helicopter. It sucks and it was pretty hard. I am impressed with myself for completing it and today I will further my progress through another level that seems like it will never end. It is another level where you have to fight your way down a ridge in order to get to another helicopter while another boat load of guys that would love nothing more than to shoot you limb from limb, again, try to do just that. You are timed once again and you only have a limited number of "Close Air strike" that you can use. That one should take most if not all of whatever playtime I have today so I won't being playing much of anything else today or so it would seem.

Peggle for iPhone came out today and anyone in their right mind would not buy the same game for two different platforms, right? Wrong. I purchased it or Cindy's (my wife) iTunes gift card purchased it for me and I have been playing it on and off all morning. It eats my battery though so I'll have to watch myself if I plan on using my phone as a phone.

In terms of news that I have wanted to post about there has not been much other than this Modern Warfare 2 video that teases another MW2 video or this Duke Nukem Forever video that just makes me more sad that the game probably will never come out. That is all I have for you today. So sorry I know that you expect more from me.

Game Diary - May 5, 2009: Pegs Unite!

For the past few days I have been a "casual" gamer. What happens in these instances is that I tell myself that I do not have enough time to play anything like COD4 or The Dishwasher and I convince myself that it is okay to play some Peggle instead. [Ed note: One should note that it is never a good idea to talk yourself into playing Peggle as a good idea.] As a result I usually end up spending more time playing Peggle than I would have played the other two aforementioned games. Last night alone I played for at least an hour and a half. By casual gaming standards that is a long time to be spent on one game.

So for the past few days I have been trying to get the 'Cool Clear' achievement and I have not had a lot of luck. It seems like a relatively easy acheivement to get (hit the last orange peg and then the last blue on one ball), especially when playing one of the earlier stages but it was escaping me for several days.

I say 'was' because I finally got it last night, on accident, but I got it nonetheless. I was actually expecting to fail as I had been doing but the ball bounced in such a way that I got it on a stroke of luck (now wishing that I had that instant replay). I now plan to work my way through all of the challenge levels but I know that it will take a while so I will do that "casually" over the coming months.

The only other thing that I have been playing is The World Ends With You. I have been "stuck" on Day 5 of the second week for about a week now because I have decided to really "grind" and level up my character and all of his pins (I would go into explaining all of this but I really think that if you looked it up for yourself you would be better served). That is going well and I hope that as a result of doing this it will make the games harder bosses easier to beat (probably not).

I also think it is time for me to return to Fallout 3 soon because the Broken Steel DLC has finally come out and I can now play all of that DLC I bought and gain some new levels for it.

Lastly, and more as a side note, I watched Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog and that was fantastic. If you are as much as a geek as I am, you will love it.

Game Diary - April 28, 2009: Where We Go From Here

Yesterday I was privy to an experience that I do not often have anymore. I wrapped my hands around my 360 controller and I played COD4 on Veteran. I progressed myself far enough to net myself another achievement and though it is slow going I think I am going to make it through [the game on Veteran]. The only level I am worried about is the one following 'All Ghillied Up' because I know waiting for that Heli is going to be shit. I know that some people find it torturous to play these hard difficulties and a lot of time I agree with those folks but when it comes to shooters - most of the time - I feel that the challenge makes the experience more enjoyable. I know that when I was talking to Jarvis on one of our more recent podcasts he said he hates it and I know that Kara (Mercy Medical (we will get to that)) probably does not fancy it either. What is your opinion folks (seriously, drop a comment, I know your reading, where are your comments)?

Other than that I continued playing The World Ends With You on my train ride yesterday, that was, until my DS died.

But what I have been playing is really taking an aside to the other things that I have been working on regarding this blog. Matt, the author that steals news posts from me as of late (kidding of course), has been updating. As a result, more updates equals more site traffic. It is an obvious direct correlation but nonetheless I am happy about it. As a result I am adding a PC centric author: Kara (Mercy Medical), another author who can steal all of my delicious glory (again, kidding). I am enthusiastic about branching out and I think it will only mean future growth for this blog.

Lastly, I have been thinking about the site's design and the lack of an iconic logo and if there are any volunteers out there please feel free to contact myself using any way you know how. I can write the blog but I do not have the tech side of it down.

That's all for now, be sure to check back often or subscribe to our RSS feed so that you may enjoy this site on what I can only hope will be a daily basis.

Game Diary - April 27, 2009: The World Ends With Me

In terms of news as of late there is not a lot going on other than this awesome Ghostbusters intro video. Why have intro videos become the new thing? I look forward to seeing them for the first time when I first boot up the game but I cannot resist watching them if I am anticipating the game. Faults of the internet perhaps?

Anyway I have not been playing much on the 360 lately other than some Peggle here and there but I have been playing The World Ends With You (DS) on my commute. For people who follow this blog, you know that I have been playing this game for over a month (and I have had it longer than that). It is an awesome game though it is beginning to get really difficult. One can control the level of difficulty but truthfully if you do not play on the harder difficulty levels you are doing your character a disservice. The story is finally starting to make sense and I really am looking forward to seeing where it is going. It is bad in a way - that I am looking forward to seeing the direction of the story - because you have to devote a certain amount of time to 'grinding' and you have to know that it is not a good idea to rush through the combat to see the story parts.

I think that I have talked about the unique combat so I will talk about what I have been wondering. When you save the game you have a rating for everything in the game. As of the time of this entry my ratings aren't all that great and it has me wondering how good my ratings are going to be at the end of the game. I hope that if they aren't that great I will be able to go back to parts of the game and change that for myself.

That is all for now, I think I am going to go play some COD4 on Veteran.

GDC (The One and Only Update... The Only One Necessary)

The most interesting thing to come out of GDC for me is the Modern Warfare 2 trailer. It doesn't excite me in any other way other than the fact that is coming out. Jarvis and I talked about it on his podcast which you will get to hear in a couple of days but basically I haven't completed the first one so I will have to get to that. Here is that trailer:



The only only other thing that I wanted to mention is the OnLive platform. Everyone (Joystiq, Jarvis, etc.) has high hopes for it but I am sure but without an insane amount of money it doesn't look like it will ever become profitable let alone get off of the ground. Maybe I am being shortsighted on this one but I like my physical console and I do not think that everyone is ready to give that up just yet. I will give it a shot but I think it might just be a fourth console and not the end all be all of gaming. It is gaming from the cloud like we have been talking about. Let us just see if we are there yet.

An honorable mention of GDC is Zelda: Spirit Tracks, which looks like it used all of the assets from Phantom Hourglass and added a choo-choo train.

Off the top of my head that is all I can think of. I think I have a hankering to play COD4: MW now... funny how that works.