LuchaDeerFear

Things have changed brothers. I'm a different person than I was a few years ago. College is over and I've been working a full time job as a paramedic for over 2 years. I know everybody says that college is the best time of your life but goddamn! Being a real adult is worse than I imagined. Sometimes I feel like I sold my soul for a steady paycheck. I've gone through periods where I've been like "fuck games" and I take them all out of my room, thinking they're just a waste of time. But I've always relapsed; usually with a bender of a gaming weekend.

Young adulthood sure is a hard transitional period. I feel like I'm stagnating, yet when I get free time on the weekends, instead of pushing myself forward I often delve into a make believe world of video games in favor of improving my reality. Of course this isn't helped by the fact that I've been consuming a fair amount of alcohol....

Do you guys ever get the urge to drop video games entirely, with the hope that in doing so your reality will improve? I find it odd that I probably spend more time listening to gaming podcasts than I do actually gaming. Gaming podcasts are valuable to me because they make me feel less lonely and they make my commute more bearable. But sometimes I feel like they may be doing more harm than good. Maybe it's bad to often have voices in your head yet not be able to participate in the conversation? Maybe podcasts are making me even more introverted? Maybe I should just sit in silence and contemplate more often?

I don't know guys. Is anybody picking up what I'm putting down? Anyway.... Stay frosty fellow young adults!

It sure is, but I appreciate achievements when they make replays even more fun then they normally would be. And I avoid achievements if they're bound to be annoying or frustrating.

Last weekend while I was playing Resident Evil 5, the desire to collect achievements struck me for the first time since I've had a 360, which has been over two years now. It was lazy Sunday afternoon, and I was working on my second play through of the game on veteran, nearing the end. I really enjoyed this game, and I didn't want to stop playing, so I looked at it's achievement list. Happily, many of them looked well thought out, fun, and not cheap. I got to "work" on what looked like the easiest achievement that I'd missed, and worked my way up, unlocking a bunch.

This is when the awesomeness of achievements first struck me personally. They're great for going back into games that you've already beaten but still haven't gotten sick of, and are looking for more to do. Even better, many well implemented achievements will help point out gameplay elements that you might have missed the first time around. When I went back to Dead Space, I was enticed to try a few of the guns that I had never touched, and they were all fun and new (except for the flamethrower which sucks).

Achievement points serve as a sweet meta-game to make great games even richer, plus its also satisfying to unlock one in a not so great game, strangely making your time spent playing it seem more valuable. Plus that "ding" noise that plays after unlocking one is frickin sweet!

ahaha, is that image from Arc the Lad PS2? Sweet.

The movie and the book were sick as hell!

On the contrary I think a lot of games are getting shorter and easier. Also, these guys jobs are to play games, and they're girlfriends and wives usually seem to understand this.

I usually listen while at work doing some menial-ass task. Or while walking somewhere.

The Bombcast makes work on Wednesdays much better.

Most polished game of last year, for sure.

I recall RE4 being surprisingly long. I think I clocked in over 15 hours.