How do you know when you are done with a game? The answer varies depending on the gamer and on the game. Some games have no end, some games end too early and some give you the same thing all over again if you just wait for a year. With the help of JP and his ongoing commentary on the evolution of difficulty in games we have determined there is a big difference between finishing a game and beating a [...]
I give too much power to my backlog of video game titles. I allow it to not only dictate which games I play next, but how I make decisions in the games I’m playing. Sometimes I only want a taste of a game before moving onto the next one that I blow through without taking in the sights that game has to offer. Regardless, I’ve been known to feel a bit guilty when I didn’t complete a game how the [...]
I’m all about achievements, but I rarely go after the multiplayer ones. Most of them require a ridiculous amount of playing time and I just don’t have that much time to commit to a single game. Unlockables rank even lower on my list. I’ve never cared about special skins, or different ways to dress up your character, let alone in a beta. My interests online lie strictly between my boomstick and your face. Somehow Epic managed to change my mind with the Gears [...]
Blizzard has finally gotten around to releasing its official mods for StarCraft 2 and after taking them for a spin earlier today I can safely say that they’re a solid addition to an already great game. Along with the release of Left 2 Die, Aiur Chef and StarJeweled, Blizzard also released accompanying achievements to unlock while playing the mini games. I’ve broken down the games with a short summary in order to help you decide what to pursue and what to [...]
I remember my first Xbox Achievement like it was December 12th, 2006. It was ‘Completed Training’ from Call of Duty 2. What I did not know at the time was the Pavlov’s Dog effect that particular sound and graphic combination would have on some people. Not me. Now I will tell you that at the time of writing this post I have a robust or pathetic (depending on how you look at it) gamerscore of 15,956, but only a 36.54% [...]
Recently, I did something that I hardly ever do. I reached the end of one game without touching another game at all. I focused and pushed through the point where I normally stop and never come back. I always want the game to give me a reason to come back for more. That’s why the end of an adventure game is both thrilling and agonizing: I sat there chewing on the carrot, but the questions that drive me were still [...]
My name is coopopolopolis, and I’m an achievement whore. So I’ll be the first to admit that Microsoft, in my opinion, had a moment of genius with their Achievement/Gamerscore system. Let me back up a bit and explain where I’m coming from. I’ll start by saying I’m a very shallow gamer. I’ve owned almost every game system at some point throughout my life and have never really been a person to play something all the way to the end. I [...]
This week’s REPLY TO ALL focuses on the fact that more and more games are becoming less about winning and more about collecting achievements/trophies. We examine that fact by taking a look at ourselves and how we play the games we buy, rent or Gamefly. This week’s topic was based on this article from Wired: Why Aren’t Games About Winning Anymore? Colefacekilla I feel a certain satisfaction when I finish a game, which is something I haven’t been very successful [...]
The major publishers are focusing their efforts to figure out how to get you to buy their games new. EA recently introduced the Online Pass for their sports games, making it so rentals and used games will have to pay $10 to register their game to play online (new game purchases get the registration code for free). Ubisoft and Activision will be watching the results closely. However, Capcom has a different trick up its sleeve and would rather you just [...]
