NorthernFredz

Got to agree with The Great Guero. VIce City's soundtrack is almost perfect. I love the golden oldies in Fallout 3 and Bioshock but they are starting to get used a little too often and neither of these games had a massive selection.

Think your best bet is to just follow him on here. I'm sure he spends plenty of time politely ignoring people's requests on Facebook because he doesn't really know them.

I just thought it was interesting to think about the notion of blurring the lines between video games and reality and look at the role reversal. I'll agree with Video Game King that it has little to nothing to do with the majority of video games but that is why I specifically compared it to one, Call of Duty 4. I could have also compared it to the film Black Hawk Down but I thought more about it with relation to video games and thought it was interesting. That and in the UK, little has been said about it in the news so it is relatively fresh.
 
Abyssfull, saying "can we move on" is a little disrespectful, irrespective of whether there is another thread, and doesn't really add much to the blog. I just hope that your 3,187 forum posts carry a little more thought and depth.

  When completing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare you take on the role of an AC130 Spectre gunner tasked with clearing the way for allied ground troops in the level 'Death From Above'. It was always one of my favourite levels as it broke up the ground running and gunning of the rest of the game and I appreciated how understated a piece it was. The dialogue throughout didn't feel forced and it sounded like the characters we thinking about what they were saying and having a conversation. I was given the impression that  this was just another day in the life of  this particular soldier as opposed to the heroics we so often see video game characters involved in. Overall, I think I enjoyed this level because it seemed to carry a certain realistic weight to it; the kind of weight which is so often sort after in video games. People often speak of the future of videogames, imagining games which feel so realistic you struggle to distinguish between them and real life.
 
Today I saw a reversal of this. Video game reality. Wikileaks posted a video showing US Apache pilots killing what they then believed to be insurgents carrying weapons but in fact turned out to be war reporters carrying cameras. This is a horrific tragedy but sadly a costly mistake which happens in war. I watched the video and felt horrified to see innocent reporters crawl away wounded but feel that if it had been insurgents I would still have been left with a similarly sickened feeling. The over-zealous nature of the pilot's cries to hurry up so he can engage a van arriving to help the wounded made me cringe. It felt like a video game in which each gunner was competing with the other in order to set a high score. I am not in the military and have no idea what it must be like to lose friends on the battlefield. If I did have military training as I must imagine the US military thought the targets they were shooting at had, I'm sure the last thing I would do is risk my military trained men by sending them to pick up fellow wounded soldiers whilst there is an Apache flying above. The driving of a van by someone who is clearly unaware of where the danger is (above) is the driving of someone who is not trained but wishing to help someone who they perceive to be innocent. This naivety is clear when you learn that children were in the van and I cannot believe that someone aware of the overhead danger would risk the lives of children who could easily be left away from the danger zone if the threat was recognized. 
 

 

" @cap123 said:

" i got to 100 wins recently after a whole lot of effort, only to find that when people quit it doesn't count. what the hell is up with that. i'd be surprised if i've got more than 40 wins where people haven't left in the last few minutes. what an awful decision by ea not to include those wins towards the achievement.  edit: also i am chelsea by default, because i support them. i will gladly straight away swap to whatever league or level of team the other guy is on as soon as it shows me what their default is. It is far more fun playing as lesser teams too, as skill actually comes into it and you rarely get drogba or  ibrahimovic - like 30 yarders out of nowhere for the lesser side. "

 Oh really? That sucks. I was actually going for the 100 wins achievement myself and I'm about 55 wins deep at the moment and a lot of the games (especially the earlier ones) the other player has quit out on me due to me being 4 or 5 up. "

The other week I began my attempt to get the Fifa 10 achievement "Ton Up". It's a pretty simple achievement- Win 100 ranked online games. It's worth a 100g but it's not the point value that I am particularly interested in; more the challenge. It seemed a good one to get especially since my chances of getting the 50g achievement "Time for a Testimonial" took a pretty substantial hit after my virtual pro was deleted by myself last week as I tried to rectify a local mulitplayer issue.
 
 I have started by setting myself the manageable target of two wins a day everyday- more if I can be bothered playing. Finding the time hasn't been a problem as I really do like FIfa 10 and the way, in general, the franchise has separated itself from my former lover Pro Evo over the last two editions. In fact I probably wouldn't even be writing this had Pro Evo not treated me like the wife of an abusive husband and kicked me around its metaphorical kitchen for the last three years. Eventually last year I said enough is enough and I went out, black eye and all, and bought myself a copy of Fifa 09 for cheap and had a really good time with it. It had issues, but they paled in comparison to the dinosaur that is Pro Evo. It felt fluid and snappy and provided hours of entertainment whilst my bundled copy of Pro Evo sat (and still remains seated) in my cupboard unable to the sold but now kept as a trophy and reminder to any of my other loved series that if you push me around too much I will eventually snap.
 
The implementation of the 360 control in Fifa 10 really does an a new dimension to the play and I think the AI is clever than years past. It has rectified the problem of advantage from last year but my still major grudge against the Fifa series is how easy it is to score. Most games end 5 goals plus whereas I really loved grinding out a 1-0 win in Pro Evo. However, I am willing to swallow this small pill and see Fifa 10 as probably one of, if not the most, complete sports games ever made to this point. I should point out that I do like a lot of other sports games. I have slowly warmed to Madden 10 after proclaiming it to be god awful a game into my experience with it. I think the changes made to that series, however small this year, have really made great leaps in terms of gameplay and realism, however Peyton Manning can still throw a 50 yard smart-bomb down the field whilst running backwards. I think in the coming years that series could push Fifa tight for realistic gameplay in the sense of passes being affected by player's footing and positions.
 
I also have a lot of time for the NHL franchise which I believe to be the most consistent of all the sport's franchises. I can't say too much about the NBA series' as I have only a little experience with them including my recent 1000g of NBA Live 07 (RIP). I also join fans either side of the pond waiting for a good baseball or rugby game. In fact I think I would take any rugby game at this moment in time. Honorary shout out to MMA games which look to have a bright future.
 
Anyway back to my challenge- 100 wins, 2 wins a day. Simple enough. Or so I thought. There was a certain expectation of frustration that came with this challenge but nothing compared to the levels I am reaching. I'll admit that I am a pretty aggressive gamer, in the sense that when stuff isn't going my way I get annoyed. Not turn off my console annoyed, more sit there screaming through clenched teeth. I guess my problem lies mainly with the former kind of annoyed people who find it quite alright to switch off mid-game or five minutes from the end when I put my sixth goal past them. Why goal 1-5 didn't rattle their cage I'm not sure but number six pissed them off. Worst off is when I get thrashed 6-1 or something, get challenged to a rematch and when I go ahead in the second game they quit on me. I feel my act of common courtesy should be repaid but clearly I am wrong.
 
I'm feel myself getting more and more disheartened with the lack of variety in opponent's teams. I'd be quite happy never to see the Chelsea, Inter, Barcelona or Real Madrid logos never again. I really thought there would be more people out there choosing different teams. I've been mainly playing with Aston Villa as I like the strength of the team mixed with the pace of Young and Agbonlahor. It seems I am one of a rare few who venture out of the 5 star team range but even I am picking a four and a half star team just so I am able to compete. I look forward to the day someone challenges me to a League One or Serie B game but I feel that I will have completed this challenge many times over before that day comes.
 
Some of my frustration must also be vented at EA for the ease in which players can get away with leaving the game early. I think on games similar to Fifa the option should not even be on the menu. If you want to quit then you must turn off your console to do so and put up with the game's excessively long intro. Also, whilst Fifa records peoples' DNF stats, it does not post them in the lobby screen. In fact, you only really get to see them on the leaderboard after they have quit on you making them as useful as a chocolate teapot.
 
All in all I hope I remain sane long enough to complete this challenge. I've won just over 30 so far so am I good course and only hope that as I progress higher and higher in the level system, the players around me, although better, do not feel the urge to quit on me quite so much. 
 
Also if Siik SKiilZz from my earlier game of Fifa on the 360 reads this- My threat of finding you and gutting you like a fish still stands you Barcelona, rage quitting bastard.

You're not Brad.

As a relative newcomer to the Steam store page, I was amazed this Christmas at the deals that were available. Come 5pm GMT I would be refreshing the store homepage like a madman dying to see what the deals would be for the next 24hrs. I picked up over 15 games and it would have been more had I not hit the financial wall. As the days clocked over I became more and more aware of the fact that the deals were eventually going to end. These kind of things don't hang around forever but I, probably in  a vain attempt to keep it together, convinced myself that Steam would still throw a few deals my way a week. How wrong I was. 
 
Now at this point I feel I need to state the fact that I think that Steam, as a whole, provides an excellent service with many of its titles being offered at good, reasonable prices. It is far superior to all the other download clients out there, not that this is a particularly mean feat what with EA and GFWL both treating you like you were born yesterday. Anyway. I think this weekend's deal of Dirt 2 for £14.99 is a corker especially as it has achievements but I WANT MORE. I run the risk of sounding like Veruca Salt but god damn it I want deals all the time. 
 
I feel like a crackwhore needing my next fix. My conditioning, mindlessly leading me back to the Steam homepage everyday. Like putty in Valve's hands I wait to be shaped by whatever deal they throw my way. Clearly, I don't need a metaphor game. Although, if you are reading this people of Steam, I would not complain if you were to put a game based on or requiring the use of metaphors as a deal. I just don't understand why they don't just put Bioshock down to £3.49 forever. In fact, if they did it forever, I probably wouldn't buy it because I would be too worried that it might get put as a deal and heaven forbid I buy a game at its normal already discounted but not sale price. Stung by the fiery tale of a discounted Torchlight at £7.49 only to see it further reduced to £3.49 days later, my lesson has been learnt cruel Steam Gods.
 
 So, how is everyone else coping? Also, does Steam do any other holiday deals? I know Burn's Night is only just around the corner. That's a pretty major holiday right? Anyway, hopefully most of you are coping better than me and if you a seasoned vet at Steam let me know if this painful withdrawal gets any easier as the months go by.
 
Freddie

" I never understood achievements whores - what are you people trying to prove and to whom? Cant you just play games for nice experience? I would recommend you PC version because it is better.   "