The Gaming Diary: Chapter 3

[MetalFRO]

Star Wars: Battlefront II (PSP) - Starting Galactic Conquest with the Imperial army. Time to crush them Rebel scum!

Nice!  I only have Renegade Squadron, but I'd be curious to know how this one plays on the PSP, as compared to its console brethren.

[Link41]

Star Wars: Battlefront II (PSP) - Starting Galactic Conquest with the Imperial army. Time to crush them Rebel scum!

Nice!  I only have Renegade Squadron, but I'd be curious to know how this one plays on the PSP, as compared to its console brethren.

It was interesting getting used to having to use face buttons in conjunction with the analog stick. Overall the game is just ok, the PS2 version is clearly superior in every aspect. There is no story mode in this one, just Instant Action and Galactic Conquest. The frame rate stutters at times but holds its own. There was never any online which hurt the longevity of this version back in the day. Overall this version is just average, the sequel improved on this in every way.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Battlefront II had online? I played it a week after launch, and the online was dead.

[Boshamp]

Sonic 4: Episode 1 (XBLA) - Boosted myself up to 99 lives for an achievement tied to my head-to-head competition.

Rockstar Table Tennis (X360) - Boosted online wins with an individual for 4 achievements, one of which was tied to the competition.

Kinect: Disneyland Adventures (X360) - Took a picture with my son and Mickey for another H2H achievement. Also got another two achievements not tied to the competition.

Wik: Fable of Souls (XBLA) - Played for a bit trying to get 60 points in the looping bonus game, but my Internet kept dropping and I didn't feel like risking an achievement pop happening when disconnected, so I called it a night. It looks like my 12 year old gateway is finally calling it quits and I probably need a new one.

[Link41]

Battlefront II had online? I played it a week after launch, and the online was dead.

Really? according to wikipedia, Battlefront II was one of the most played online games on Xbox.

[Boshamp]

Head-to-Head achievement competition update: My opponent and I are tied 4-4, but my copy of Rock Band isn't reading...so it is looking like this will be one easy achievement my opponent has that I likely will not match in time. I found a copy on Gamestop.com in a location a couple miles away, but Denver is in lockdown due to the blizzard and I don't think I feel brave enough to break the law and drive there since I don't have a vehicle with 4-wheel drive or chains to attach to my Grand Am. We will see what the roads are like once the snow stops in the next couple of days...maybe I could snag it at the end of the matchup if I get lucky enough. Then again, the deeper I go into this, the more likely it becomes that I get matched with someone that doesn't have a job...or a wife...or kids...but does have all of the time in the world to play games.

Wik: Fable of Souls (X360) - Snagged the "Acrobatic Master" achievement while working towards the "Loop Master" achievement for my head-to-head competition this week, but I just cannot seem to make it work for me. My high score is 49 (I need 60) and I am not sure if I should keep trying for this one, or if I should move on to another achievement on the list. I will probably work harder at this one, since I don't feel like spending all of my time finishing Final Fantasy XIII, or beating Devil May Cry 4 or Marathon: Durandal from start to finish.

[techwizard]

Battlefront II had online? I played it a week after launch, and the online was dead.

Really? according to wikipedia, Battlefront II was one of the most played online games on Xbox.

the PC version had a really strong online community for quite a long time, at least a good 2 or 3 years after the game came out...last i checked there was still a handful of servers up a couple years ago, but i don't know if the online is still functional or not.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I was on PS2 at the time.

[Link41]

Pokémon Blue Version (GB) - I now remember why Charmander is a bad starter in this game.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I always went with Charmander, and had to do the initial grind.

[Link41]

I always went with Charmander, and had to do the initial grind.

I got passed Brock just fine, Misty is just destroying me right now.

[techwizard]

Harley's Humongous Adventure - SNES - Felt an itch to play a retro platformer last night so I decided to pop this in. i made it quite far last night but not far enough to finish it, but this morning i jumped right back in and beat it on the first attempt without using a continue. it's a really solid platformer, not too difficult but still challenging at times. the controls are pretty good, though attacking while jumping can be awkward. luckily you can fire straight up, making most flying enemies easy enough.

[Boshamp]

Wik: Fable of Souls (XBLA) - Snagged the Loop Master achievement I needed after a little more practice and called it good on this title.

Rock Band (X360) - Beat a single song on Expert without missing a note as the bassist using only up-strums for an achievement related to my head to head matchup and was done with this game.

Terraria (XBLA) - Dug down to the bottom of the map for the "Rock Bottom" achievement with my little brother. I had to convince him to start the game and wouldn't you know it?, he immediately fell in love with it and kept playing solo while I moved on to another game. Ha ha

Charlie Murder (XBLA) - Started a campaign with a new character, unlocked his signature move, and used it to kill 7 enemies for another achievement related to my matchup. Stopped playing after that.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (X360) - Glitched the achievement I needed for my matchup while still online and without clearing my cache. My opponent also got this achievement, but he did it offline after clearing his cache, so it didn't count towards the matchup for him. I lucked out on this one, but now the score is 9-5 in my favor, so I think I will win even if his achievement did count properly.

[Link41]

Star Wars: Battlefront II (PSP) - Crushed the Rebels, time to play as Clone troopers in the Republic.

[Boshamp]

Mortal Kombat (X360) - My objective was to purchase 50% of the Krypt for the achievement tied to my matchup; I played through the story mode and a little bit of the challenge ladder to gain enough koins to complete the task. Even on beginner, I struggled with a lot of the matches, and couldn't finish the storyline. I gave up on beating Shao Khan with Raiden after about 15 attempts, but getting to that point earned me enough koins to buy what I needed, so it worked out. I really enjoyed it though, Smoke was definitely my favorite character to use, and Liu Kang was my least preferred.

Heavy Weapon (XBLA) - Broke out some extra controllers and hair-ties and survived for well over the 12 minutes I needed for the achievement. Also got 12 enemies with a single nuke for another achievement as a little bonus. I forgot how entertaining this title is.

Score is now 11-8 with one day left to earn more. Looking at the list, I think I have him beat, but with a boosting partner, he could catch me with about two hours of gameplay, so we will see what he does.

EDIT: I received a concession message from my opponent this evening thanking me for my competitiveness. 11-8 looks like it will be the final score, which is good because I need to catch up on a little sleep, and since my wife has the night off, I will actually be able to lay in the same bed at the same time with her for the first time in a couple weeks.

Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles (WP) - Jumped back into this one to clear it off of my phone; got through the second and third chapters and a little ways through the fourth. I am not enjoying it as much as I thought I would, though...the controls are terrible, which is to be expected from a DS title being ported onto a phone.