ah-ah-ah-I Work Ouuuutt

Moving and shaking!

Despite my lack of blogging, I have been playing a surprising amount of Xbox lately, and knocking some achievos out of the park.  I'm pretty happy with this, and my gamerscore is soaring.  What whaaat!

I have been working on my fitness with Dance Central 2, inspired hugely by the new Xbox app Kinect FitPlay.  It is a free app, and it has achievements.  Read: free achievements.  But you definitely have to work for them.  It has been inspiring for me though, because you get achievements for logging in and burning calories for having a streak of 2, 4, 7 and 10 days.  At the same time you get achievements for burning specific numbers of calories, and for you and your friends total calories burned.  It is super fun and inspiring to see the streak of days you've exercised go up.  For the first 10 days I was super dedicated until I got that achievement, then I lagged off, but now I'm trying to get back into it for the calorie achievements.  It's nice to get these bonus achievements for games I'm already playing and enjoying.

The hubby photo bombed this finishing move.

The downside is that there are only like, 8 supported games right now.  Dance Central 2 is on there though, but not DC1, go figure...  Supposedly there will be more games added on, and I certainly hope so.  Once Upon a Monster is on there, but from everything I've read online and from my own experience, it is not working.  No one seems to be getting any calorie tracking from it.  Hopefully the app has an update and rectifies this situation.

However you spin it though, I can't complain.  It is a fun app, it's got me (and my family) up and exercising, and it's free.  Go download it.  And then add me as a friend so that we can burn calories together!!

Idling

So there is an achievement for Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 called "Idling", where you have to sit during gameplay with no controller input for 5 minutes.  This seems appropriate for me and my gaming life right now, as I have little to no time for it, and when I do play it seems like I'm spending more time distracted from it than engaged in it.  I'm sure you've noticed the silence around the blog.  Debbie has been moving across the country, starting a new job, and exploring her new town.  I still can't seem to figure out how to fit gaming into a life with three kids.  I'm not saying the blog is going away by a long shot, just asking you to hang in there with us while our game time idles.

The one thing I have been doing?  Playing on my new iPod Touch.  Man, I am so obsessed with this thing, you'd think I was the first person on the planet to have one (not the last.)  But Draw Something is everything I dreamed it would be.  And Bejeweled Blitz is on there, and it's free!  You know I love me some Bejeweled.  So, in my spare moments, I have been playing around on there.  3-5 minute gaming sessions are perfect for me right now, as sad as that is.

Gamer Fuel?

Seriously people... I am addicted to the Lego games.  I have recently been knocking out some achievos on Lego Pirates of the Caribbean.  I got this game a while back and played a little, just enough, in fact, to make my gamerscore odd.  There is an achievement for 12 points - "Welcome to the Caribbean" - that you get right off the bat, and having that odd number on my GS was driving me bananas.  But the achievement to balance it out - "Pieces of Eight" - required me to have 888,888,888 studs total.  Talk about a time sink.  But I am proud to say I did it and my score is nice and even again.  :-)

Source: mimiandeunice.com

So why did I tell you that story, other than to illustrate my O.C.D. tendencies when it comes to gaming?  Because the thing that got me back into Pirates was popping that achievement.  It is fun, but it wasn't on the top of my list to play at the time, and yet it got a good week of my game time.  And it isn't the only one.  Bejeweled 2 has twelve achievements - I have popped one and spent countless hours on the others to no avail.  But I keep returning, keep trying, keep avoiding other awesome games (Mass Effect 2 I swear I will return to you) just to try and get a stupid 5 or 10 pt achievement!!  Also, in my defense, Bejeweled is pretty fun.

And this achievement need culminated in a conversation on the Achievement/Trophy Hunters group this morning.  Someone told someone else to avoid a game because it didn't have trophies associated with it.  That game?  Oblivion.  I feel like that was gaming sacrilege.   That game is amazing and deserves your time whether you're getting achievements or trophies or free kittens or any other arbitrary rewards system.

Ok, this would be pretty tempting.

All this said: What games have you played only to pop achievements?  What games have you avoided because of the lack of achievements?  I didn't re-play the first Fable when we got our 360 because there weren't achievements.  Instead I moved right on to Fable II.  I have considered XBLA games that I have decided not to buy simply based on their achievement list.

Hi, my name is Linz, and I have an achievement problem.

Rolling in the 'Cheevs

So we got our Xbox in 2008 (I think in June?  I'm not entirely sure, and it would require more research than I can put in right now to find out...)  And on Novermber 10, 2011 I hit 10,000 Gamerscore, which means it took me a little over 3 years to get 10k.  It is now May 2012, and I'm edging in on 15,000 (currently 14,282).  That means that I have done as much in 6 months as I did in approximately a year and a half before.

I hit 10,000, and ever since I have been rolling in the 'cheevs.

I feel like this...but better.

I am on such a roll that today I turned on SSX, and the mere act of turning it on gave me 15 gs.  Talk about boss mode, right?  (If you're wondering, I got the achievement for having all the bronze explore badges, the final one I had needed required a rival to lose to my challenge which happened when I was not playing the game.)

My roll was increased on May 2 when I 100%-ed Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4, and May 10 when I got the 100% on Kingdom for Keflings.  I had been sitting on a couple multiplayer achievos on Keflings that just needed time and effort to knock out, and I am glad to have them done.  I found help on the Achievement/Trophy Hunter Facebook group that Debbie mentioned in her blog about having the best multi-player experience possible.  It is great to have a group to go to for achievement help, instead of just shooting in the dark on the hope you find someone tolerable and, more rarely, actually helpful.

The much bigger deal for me was the completion on Lego Harry Potter, because it is my first "real" 100%, my first 1,000 gs on a single game.  It feels amazing!!  And it has inspired me to try and get more 100%'s knocked out.  I returned to Borderlands to get the achievements for playing a character of each class.  I took down a few achievos from Carnival Games, and even dominated Bejeweled Blitz Live.  Now I'm re-entering the world of Mass Effect (2, so I can get to 3 and know what all this controversy is about!)

It is definitely a great time for me and my gamerscore, and I am proud!  Hopefully this particular blog inspires you to go out and 100% something.. Leave a comment and let me know which game you're going to work on.

You Are The Wind Beneath My AC-130's Wings

So you and your friends are amped about a brand new game coming out and best of all, there's co-op.  You both coordinate your schedules to maximize your playing time together.  Once you put in the disc, you quickly realize that maybe it's better to just stay friends.  Here is a short guide to helping you find the ultimate partner in gaming.

It's always best to know your own gaming habits first.  Are you someone that only plays for 30 minutes or an hour at a time, or do you insist on powering through in one ten hour session?  Do you take frequent take breaks for food, phone calls, and socializing, or are you able to stay focused on the goal ?  Are you a talker or are you stickly business ?  Its important to understand what your gaming habits are so you can chose a co-op partner accordingly.

Something else to take into consideration is that it's usually much easier to run a co-op campaign from beginning to end with the same person.  Stopping in the middle and picking up with someone new can mean possibly missing parts of the mission or struggling to latch onto someone's very different play style.  If you find yourself playing with someone and it's not working out quite as well as you hoped, cut them loose sooner rather than later.  Getting off on the right foot with the right person might mean starting the campaign over from the beginning, so if you wait too long, you could be stuck with a junky playthrough or be replaying a huge portion of the game.

Not only is play style important, but make sure that your goals match up.  It's no secret that I like me some achievements, so I always try to find a partner in crime that wants the same thing.  If you happen to be looking for fellow achievement hunters, you can try www.Xbox360Achievements.org or over at the Facebook group Achievement/Trophy Hunters which services both the Xbox and PS3 players. 

No matter what your end goal is, make sure that you have fun.  If the other player(s) or even the game itself just isn't doing it for you, there's no reason to tough it out and no shame in walking away.  Its better to keep your friends than win the game.

Never Gonna Give You Up

Gaming can be a really expensive hobby.  I developed the habit early of trading in old games towards the purchase of newer ones.  Unfortunately my craving for achievements is keeping me from getting my extra dough.
I have a number of games that are unbelievably close to 100% completion.  In Fallout: New Vegas, I am only missing seven achievements out of the 75.  They are all attainable, just really, really time consuming.  I am only missing three achievements on L.A. Noire.  Again, totally reachable goals for all three, but I still don't have the time it takes to get them.  I am only missing six on Portal 2, four on Modern Warfare, and the list goes on. 

When I am sooooooo close to getting 100%, I refuse to trade or sell.  I have had most of these games for so long now, that even if I did cave and trade them in, I wouldn't get anything reasonable for them.  Most of them would go for $5 or less.  I just can't part with the potentially gigantic victory. 

So I guess the moral of my story is that it is wiser to tough it out and get the time consuming achievements when you are playing the game the first time.  I am trying to force myself to dig back in and its much harder than I thought it would be.

Walk me through this...

So I finished the Fable 3 main story-line a few weeks ago.  Hurray!  But then I realized I had 8 gazillion collection quests to complete.  I've put in an hour or two here and there trying to get'em done, but it's slow going.  And I'm torn... Do I go to a walkthrough to tell me exactly where to go for the 30 books, 50 flowers, 50 weapons, 30 items of clothing, 50 gnomes, 50 keys....(Do you see how this is a scosh on the overwhelming side??)  Admittedly, in just playing through the game I have gotten halfway through most of the collecting, but that almost makes it worse.  Now I don't know which ones I've found and which ones I haven't if I do end up consulting a walkthrough.

Collection quests: teaching gamers how to become hoarders one gnome at a time.

So, in the end, I have two issues with these quests.

1) To use or not to use a walkthrough


I teased Debbie just a couple days ago about being a Cheater McCheaterson for using a walkthrough on L.A. Noire to five star the missions for an achievement.  But really, when the games are so huge and extensive that you can easily miss something that will cost you precious time later (replaying the same quests/areas over and over and over...), does that justify using the walkthrough?  Obviously this is only an issue if you are an achievo addict like us, because if you don't care if you get the achievement you won't have to worry as much about collecting/100% completion.


2) What is the point?

I'm doing these collection quests just for the achievements... but I wonder, while whiling away my hours searching for digital flowers, why do the game developers even put these things in there?  Especially the way they are handled in Fable 3..  In this game I have to wander areas that are confusing and maze-like just to find a single piece.  I wouldn't be in the area other than to get the item because that's the only reason it is there.  So it's cyclical.  If they didn't create the collection quest, they wouldn't have to create the area - and vice-versa.  If they want to create a huge game world, I feel like the collection quests are just a superficial addition, and the areas just end up feeling really pointless to me.  Especially because Fable 3 has the WORST map system ever, so I can't even easily tell what areas I've been in or where I'm at at any given time, and I end up wandering the same hallways and caves repeatedly.  It's infuriating.

It's the classic question of what came first? The chicken or the egg?  But in this case the chicken is the collection quest and the egg is the space that houses the collection item  What do you think?  And do you spend your time finishing up the collections for the achievos, or do you just let go and move on?

I suppose if you try hard enough to read this,
it could contain spoilers?

P.S. - This game and its myriad collections have my OCD flying at an all time high.  I have a 3 sheet spreadsheet, one for weapons/books/clothes, so I can check off what I've got and what I don't for ease of finding and finishing the collections.  It's beautiful and was time consuming to make, but oh-so-satisfying.  If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it up right.  Mama likes checklists.

Aaaaaaaand Here We Go

After a lengthy, relaxing, and joyous holiday, Linz and I are back in action here at Achievos.  During our break, we spent time with family, devoured some delicious holiday eats, and played all the new games left for us under the tree.  Starting off a brand new year, I had some major gaming victories.

First, my gamerscore broke 30,000.  Keeping in line with Lindsey's trend of blasting past milestones, I have added over 400 points to my score in the eight days since it happened.  While reaching that high number felt nice, it definitely didn't feel as amazing as I thought it would.  Hitting the 5,000 mark was fun and reaching double digits with 10,000 was great.  And I remember losing my mind when I hit 25,000; it felt like such a big deal.  But 30,000 just hasn't done it for me.  I took pictures, I let out a little brag, but I mostly just kept playing.

One of the major gaming events that did rock my world was reaching the final level in Age of Empires Online.  My Greek civilization final hit level 40 unlocking 100 glorious points.  Of those who know me, or better yet, have me on their Xbox friends list, can easily see that a huge amount of my 2011 was spent playing AoE.  I might be playing less in 2012, but it will still be on my to-do list.  I have already started my Egyptian civ and so far I'm sitting pretty at level 7.

The best was yet to come.  On January 1, 2012, the very first day of what is destined to be a wicked awesome year, I completed Skyrim.  I didn't just finish the main story line, I earned every single achievement that game has to offer.  The only other time I have felt this proud was when I completed the last Elder Scrolls game, and Fallout 3.  All of these were made by gaming behemoth Bethesda Software, and all three of the titles clocked me in at over 100 hours of gameplay.  There should be an achievement alone for dedicating 300+ hours of your life to one developer.

This is my 105 hour victory

All that being said, we have major things in the works for our personal lives, our gaming lives, Achievos, and for you.  Be on the lookout for more blogs, more misheard titles, and more free stuff !  We found a hidden cache of leftover PAX goodies and an OnLive console that are just dying to be shipped to a deserving reader.  With that, we here at Achievos wish you all the gaming best in the new year !

Age of Empires Online Blows Minds and Wallets

Growing up, a lot of people broke their PC gaming cherry on the game Age of Empires.  So when it was announced that there would be a new release for the franchise, it was kind of a big deal.  Despite the excitement, the game took a quiet roll out of the starting gate without much fan fare.  But now that the buzz surrounding this title is growing, its time to break it all down.

Age of Empires Online is a single player game with a co-op option.  The core objective of the game remains the same as its predecessor.  Build an empire through resource management in an RTS setting and completing quests along the way.  Instead of slowly building one giant empire, you are tasked to managed your capitol city while constantly going out and rebuilding small areas from scratch over and over again with different goals each time.

This game has an Xbox party function that allows you to chat with players while in co-op mode or otherwise.  It says that there is a voice chat but no one I have encountered has knows how to turn it on.  There is an option to type in an open stream but there are too many people to really keep up with any discernible conversation.  Starting parties to a restricted stream is pretty easy, but that's about it.

The real discussion point is the price.  As of right now, Age of Empires Online is free as part of a pay-to-play setup.  The first several levels and numerous quests are free, but there comes a point where progressing will cost you.  Players are asked to pay to access other civilizations, weapons, armor, and additional quests.  Booster packs are about ten dollars, quest packs are about twenty dollars, and a Season One pass is a full blown one hundred dollars.  The Season Pass does include all of the currently available content and probably any content release over the next couple months.  But I am curious about how soon Season One will end Season Two will begin.  And I assume that when Season Two starts, there will be an exorbitant amount of money that I will be expected to pay all over again.

Right now the game is free and a lot of fun.  It has achievements that link to Xbox LIVE accounts and allows you to play with friends.  While I am on the fence about how much content I'm willing to pay for, the game is still worth checking out.

This Needs Achievements

Ok, I was just playing Hexic (yes, you read that right, Hexic.  A game that, according to my timeline on the dashboard, I hadn't played since approximately 2008)... And I had a great thought.  Netflix needs achievements.

Now you might say: "How did you think of such an awesome idea?!"  Well...clearly my greatest ideas come to me when I am zoning out playing a puzzle game instead of sleeping.  Duh.  What can I say?  Those little colored hexagons hypnotize me.

So the second thing you might say to me is: "Isn't achievements for Netflix taking it a little too far?"  And for that I'd say, No.  The possibilities are endless, and hilarious!

Achievement unlocked!  10 gamerscore: You have watched 30 Tom Hanks/Tom Cruise/Bruce Willis movies!

Achievement unlocked!  5 gamerscore: You have watched 24 hours worth of 1980's television sitcoms

Secret Achievement unlocked!  50 gamerscore: You have watched (insert your favorite cult classic) every day for 30 days!

What achievements would you unlock on Netflix?

Also: While searching for thing link for Hexic I just learned that the game is FREE.  So get on Xbox and download it.  You can even use that link I posted earlier, heck, I'll even post it again here, and go to Xboxlive.com and put it in your queue.  If you like Tetris, you'll like Hexic.  It's super fun.

Unbelievable Achievements

Ok...I'll preface this by saying I'm not proud*... but I did use my 3 year old daughter, K,  to get an achievement on an XBLA game.

 Yes, it was Feeding Frenzy.  And not even the second one...the original.  We downloaded this game probably 2 years ago, and it has since been one of my daughter's favorites.  She loves it.  I can't say that I haven't logged some time playing it too - it's great for mindlessly passing the time.  But it's only great for that for about...10 minutes.  Then it's boring.  The game is exactly the same, over and over, for about 40 levels.  I'd say at your speediest you could beat each level in 1-2 minutes, but that would be pretty impressive.  So, this game, all together, could rate about 2 hours out of your life to beat it in it's entirety.

SO of course it makes sense that two of the achievements are Play for 10 Hours and 40,000 Fish in the Fish Bank.  After years of K playing this game fairly regularly, we finally finally hit the 10 hour mark.  I could not believe it.  That is how exciting this game is: after just an hour you feel like you probably deserve the 10 hour achievement, but you won't get it...you won't get it until 2 years later.  And on top of that - our fish bank only has 21,000 or so fish in it.  So you're telling me this game wants another 10 hours of my life!?  For 10 gamerscore!? This is just too much to bear. 

I'd like to know how developers decide the requirements for their achievements, and the amount of GS you are awarded for getting it.  I really don't think a game that cost me 400 Microsoft Points and is pretty boring should ask for 20 hours of my life to 100%.  And yes, I really am complaining about this because I want to be a completionist and finish this thing.  Good thing I have K around to help me through the time grind.  And when she's bored with it, the 1 year old should be about ready to log in her hours.  :-D


*Note: I actually am kind of proud.

Gratuitous Violence: I Heart You

Click to watch Debbie's walk-through on Youtube

A significant number of video games are violent. There is nothing wrong with it and no one should really be surprised anymore. But even by today's low standards, there are some pretty shocking/awesome things out there to see.

Classic examples of video game bad behavior are found in Grand Theft Auto and Duke Nukem. You can steal a car and kill police officers. Maybe you want to shoot a stripper and take her hard earned cash. There are also first person shooters where you have to kill people with head shots, hunting knives, and grenades as part of normal game play. But we have all come to expect gore and violence in these games. It is not only expected, but its probably the reason some people bought these games in the first place.

I'm talking about games where you might not expect to see something so wild. A game may be a standard RPG or action game and adds a random element of extreme violence. This whole idea came to mind because my game of the moment is Red Dead Redemption. Sure there is shooting and killing, and it is really fun. But if you get tired of your beloved horse, feel free to kill and skin it, complete with blood spatters on your screen. Or maybe you should check out the Dastardly achievement. Just kidnap a female, hogtie her, and dump her body on a set of train tracks. All that is left is to stand back and enjoy the massive blood spray as the train runs her over.

Maybe something a little more sneaky is your style. Try out the Psychotic Prankster achievement on Fallout 3 (the title says it all). This is where you sneak up on an innocent bystander and plant a live grenade in their pocket. You get to relax and enjoy as they explode with post-apocalyptic glory right in front of your eyes.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood shouldn't shock anyone with its violence. The main character is an assassin, so blood and guts are normal. You can also expect a little boost in your gamerscore if you take the time to use a broom. That's right, you can beat someone to death with an ultra-stealthy broom.

In Dante's Inferno, you can look for the ultimate bleep-bloop when you kill twenty babies. Sure they are demonic babies, and its all in self-defense. But I think we all know the developers were giggling at least little when they transformed the average consumer into a baby-killer.

It makes me wonder what comes next. While playing Dragon Age II, am I going to have to randomly shoot puppies ? Perhaps Red Faction will want me to bomb enemy camps and abortion clinics. Games may have ratings for violence, but I don't think any sticker on a game can prepare people for some of the gratuitous and amazing things out there to do !

I should've had it!

I have a couple of game reviews, and something hilarious just waiting for you.. but I can't post that now because I am so full of rage that I have to blog about it to you, my willing public.


I have spent the last two days.  TWO DAYS.  working towards Ace of Adventure - a Peggle achievement where you get 20,000,000 points in a single play through of adventure mode.  And Adventure mode is like, 55 levels.

Why have I spent two days doing this?  Because I have gotten through it and gotten a 18,800,000 (fill in the 0's with random numbers, because I can't remember exactly) -- and not the 20 I needed.  That's right, I've missed it, twice, by a little over one million points.  I could seriously commit a crime.  I bit my Xbox controller.

 

I am going to punch this bird in the face.

So I am feeling incredibly gipped.  I understand that I haven't reached the achievement level yet, but darnit, shouldn't I get something for my days of effort other than a rage induced headache?  Achievements like this one are so frustrating.  It's for like, 30 gamerscore and it is so time intensive.  Admittedly it's not as annoying as achievements for games like Mass Effect or Fable II that require entire game play throughs...but it's kind of right there, and Peggle, although fun, is certainly not on the same caliber as a game like ME - therefore not warranting these hours of my life.  And yet here I sit, night after night.  I just want to 100% this game, but I am so over it right now.  Peggle, you're going back on the shelf for a while.

Sidebar: we're changing the web address of the blog.  It'll still be a blogspot, but no longer lucysdiamondsky.blogspot.com. You will soon need to set your bookmark to achievos.blogspot.com - so you might just want to make an extra bookmark now so you don't miss out on any of our awesomeness.

My Name is Debbie, and I'm a Compulsive Gamer.

Ever feel like you have to reach the highest level ? Collect all the trophies ? Have the most mind-blowing score ? Me too. But my "want" has turned into an "need" and its time for me a turn it down a notch.

As previously discussed several times before, I have an addiction to crappy social games like Mafia Wars and My Tribe. Even though I had stopped having fun almost immediately, the urge to push forward took over. I had to level up. I had to harvest my cotton farms. There were totally fictional wars to be fought every single day. It got to the point where I was getting up 30 minutes early every morning just so I could do maintenance on my games before work. I use the word "maintenance" because it clearly was not "playing" anymore.

I finally broke the habit but it was painful to walk away. Every once in awhile I think about my little tribe members. Are they okay ? Have they starved to death ? Maybe they need more moonberries. But its time to move on. They aren't real and it isn't fun to stress and worry about a game.

Then the game Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood came along. On my quest for multi-player achievements, I realized "this just isn't fun". But I kept going. The servers for that game are usually pretty empty so I would have to dig through online forums to find people that were on the game or willing to play. Then we would spend hours and hours playing in order to try to reach the next level. Even though it seemed impossible and was well beyond fun, my obsession kept me from quitting.

Finally, I peaked when I spent no less than four hours on XBL discussing the best strategy for assigning skill spheres and other abilities in Final Fantasy X and other games in the series. We looked up notes on our laptops and downloaded pictures of the the skill grids. One only person in the four man discussion was even playing a Final Fantasy game.

So with that in mind, I don't think there is much I can do about my compulsion. I can only hope that my friends will step forward when they see me getting sucked into a truly worthless campaign. When I begin to ramble on about strategy, I pray that they will walk away and not encourage my ridiculous behavior. And those that don't endorse the game playing at all, well i keep my fingers crossed that they will see the light or fade away.

Sometimes, I Hate Achievements. There, I Said It.

I usually love achievements. They are like a virtual pat on the back complete with adorable sound effects. But sometimes, the achievements seem less like goals and more like punishment. Here are a few that make me roll my eyes.

If I'm not playing a racing game, you can take your time trails and shove it. Making already complex puzzle games or RPGs into a test of speed is annoying. Playing games like that are nice due to the fact that they are based on the thought process and strategy. Rushing through makes my heart race and sucks all the fun out for me. Alas, I am close to being alone on this. There are many out there that would disagree using examples like speed chess or those guys who can do the Rubik Cube really fast. But making me beat the clock in something like Final Fantasy is just uncalled for.

When playing multiplayer games, my level of entertainment is directly reliant on which game type I am playing. So if I have to spend hours or even days trying to bust open an achievo on Lone Wolf, I'm not going to do it. That goes for a lot of Halo 3 achievements. Telling me that I have to be on a specific map with a specific weapon and only on one game type is frustrating. What you end up with is a lobby full of grumpy people that are only there for the points. They should open these up to other game types or at least more maps.

"Hey there, did you have fun playing this incredibly long game ? Well if you want all the points, you better go to the bathroom and grab another beverage because you have to do it all over again". Forcing me to play a single player game more than once is just rude. There are games that can completely change when you play through as a good or bad guy. And if people don't have the motivation of an achievement, they might never see the hard, creative work that went into the other side. But if there are no major changes or you only get to keep your upgrades, then the second go around is clearly a waste of time. Its just plain boring.

A controversial one is achievements that come attached to DLC. I actually like achievos with DLC, but its easy to see why they are unfair. Many people go through the effort of flipping a game because they love to be 100% done. Just as they have finished celebrating the victory, DLC comes out and drops the percentage back to less than complete. In order to show their work, they have to fork out up to twelve dollars for one single piece of DLC just to keep their rank intact. Its not right. But still, if I put in work that you didn't, it should be reflected. And sometimes, I might not even buy DLC unless it has achievements attached to it. This one is definitely a double edge sword.

The last achievement up for discussion is brought on by greedy developers and publishers. There are some amazing solo games out there. As discussed last time, Bioshock and AC2 were hella awesome. But when most people have finished playing, the games are traded in which slows and eventually stops new sales. But if there is a multiplayer tossed in, players are more likely to hold onto their games for longer and even pay for things like new maps. Unfortunately, rock solid games like Bioshock and Assassin's Creed don't translate well into multiplayer. So now gamers have to suffer through some poorly thought out online play just to keep their percentages in tact. To me this is unforgivable.

With all this being said, I realize that achievements aren't there because they are easy. They are meant to reflect challenges and goals that will show a players skill and dedication. But if Mass Effect comes out with multiplayer, I'm gonna cut a bitch.

Your Job Here is Done

100% complete.   The illusive 100%...  Xbox even promotes it now by having games that you've 100%-ed on the first page of your achievements page.  Mine?  Sadly blank.  I have shame face.  You can pry see it from there.

Debbie just texted me earlier this week that she got every achievement on Fable 3.  (This was part of the reason she replayed it as the 'bad guy' character, which she blogged about here.)  I am crazy jealous.  I went back and looked through the list of games I've played and how far I am on the achievements... I find that I am not very far, even though I am an admitted achievement lover!  I live for them!  I strive for them!  I work towards the most awkward, ridiculous, time consuming achievements!  And yet I am hovering around, or at less than 50% complete on the majority of my games.  Unless they're arcade, they I am usually only lacking one or two..  But that even made me think: do I want my first 100% to be on a game with twelve total achievements?

I have spent an obnoxious amount of time on games like Lego Star Wars trying to find every red brick or other super time consuming achievements.  And a lot of my game history is Guitar Hero/Rock Band and, again, it's a time thing.  I just haven't played every difficulty as every instrument.  Honestly, I probably never will.  Or there's Halo 3 - the game that claimed my life for like a year... and I'm still not 100% on that because a lot of the achive-o's are crazy events that may or may not happen in a vs. match.  Siiiigh.

I love achievements.  I really do...  Someday, I wanna catch 'em all.  How about you guys?  How many games have you 100%-ed?  And how many games do you have that you feel like you never will 100%, no matter how hard you try?

~Linz

Is it Cheating or Self-Help ?

While socializing with friends on XBL, I began to talk about how close I was to unlocking every achievement in a game. I had completed most of the challenges naturally including finding every single collectible item without using the internet like I usually do. Then, to my complete shock, someone in the party had the nerve to say "Of course you found them naturally, otherwise you would be a cheater". ..... Ouch.

What exactly constitutes cheating in a video game ? Its a really hard to break it all down. There are different types of "cheating". Players have access to strategy guides, codes, and forums. They kind of remind me of that excuse you used in high school when you told a teacher you were "utilizing my resources" as code for everyone copying each others' homework. There are so many ways to make it through a game, but what is considered legit?

First, is a cheat code actually cheating ? If a code is intentionally built into software, then someone on the design team obviously intends people to use it. And if it is suppose to be used, how can that be cheating ? I understand that playing a game from beginning to end in God mode is less difficult than playing it without the code. But I equate it with playing a game on Rookie versus Hardcore difficulty settings. Playing with infinite health or endless ammo is just another level of play.

Strategy guides and walkthroughs are actually sold by publishers. I'm sure they do it as another avenue to make money. But they are so prevalent, it is again expected that they are used. This is pretty close to cheat codes in that using this provides a special aspect of game play. But I only use strategy guides for when I get stuck in a game or if I don't understand something. Especially RPG games like Fallout and Final Fantasy have such intricate menus and leveling system that it can be intimidating and confusing for gamers new to the genre. Guides can help with that.

There are other ways to cheat like boosting and mods, but cheating or altering the play in a public lobby is a whole different beast. But as far as single player games go, I think it is up to the individual player. You might risk losing a few of your bragging rights if you use these extra aides, but I feel like the integrity of the gamer remains intact. How much do you use "outside resources"?

Secrets Don't Make Friends...

Guess what?  I am going to blog about achievements again.  Why?  Why you ask?  Because I am completely and totally obsessed.

The current phraseology is "achievement whore."  While this may sound horrible, it's not completely untrue.  Myself and my other whorish brethren are willing to do darn near anything for that satisfying little blip on the screen:  you've achieved something.  It may be awesome, like defeating a mega-boss, or it may be ridiculous, like farming 100,000 crops (and, subsequently, accepting the fact that you spent 30 hours farming said crops.)  But it was for a larger purpose, right?  Now your GamerScore is 12,450 instead of a measly 12,440.

That entire diatribe is a build-up to this: I love achievements.  They are so much fun.  But, that said, I am consistently irritated by the way they run.  It's a love-hate relationship, I guess.  My current beef?  Secret achievements.

Xbox is notorious for the secret achievements.  Secret achievements are those that say "secret" instead of giving you a direct assignment or at least a hint as to what will get you those achievements.  You can't even see them on your friend's list unless you've unlocked it yourself.  Some games have almost their entire lists blocked out as 'secret'.  Some only offer a few.  Either way, they irritate me.  I mean, generally a secret achievement is something you wouldn't do anyways in a game, or finding some random Easter egg, so why make it a secret??  It's almost like they don't want anyone to do it, ever.  "Ever" being until they look online and find out what the achievement is.  I'm not entirely sure, because I never use them, but are the secret achievements spelled out in the guidebooks you can buy for games?

I just fail to understand what the purpose is behind the Secret.  I mean, just give it to us, or at least give us a vague hint.  That blank screen, that empty secret...it just kills me.  And it just gets me off Xbox and on the computer so I can figure out how to fill that need.  That need to achieve.