My 360 has been on the verge of death lately.  Its sounds like a washing machine and recently one of the USB ports decided to stop working.  Finally, naught but a few minutes ago, it decided to never turn on again.  It's totally not under warranty so maybe I can get the hot MW2 360 for Christmas.  That'll also upgrade my 20G hard drive significantly.  But not all is lost, because I can finally spend some much needed time with my PS3, and maybe I'll pick up Uncharted!

  I've been trying to get into the "older" games that I've missed over the years due to being too young, not having the system, etc.  I haven't been having much luck with this as I'm super busy, but for a long time I've wanted to get into the MGS games, and the Peacewalker QL spurred m interest again.  I have a PS3 and PSP,  and I was wondering a few things.  Firstly, should I start with Metal Gear Solid (which I got off the PSP store because I'll play it eventually), and go in game order, or get MGS3 and play chronologically?  Alternatively, I could look up the plot on Wikipedia or something (because I know its ridiculous), and play whatever game is best to get into first.  My worry with that method is spoilers though.
 
Thanks for being such a helpful community, GiantBomb!

I just wanted to put this up, I don't know why...  But for the past, I don't know, 50 episodes as the ER neared its finale, I held on to a little hope in my heart that Vinny or Jeff would end it all by saying, "So thanks for watching this Quick Look of Persona 4, look for a full review up on the site next week."  It would have been the best thing ever.

Knowing my luck this same info will be up on the site in some form within a minute of this blog.  In a possible explanation of Jeff's "cold", Kotaku reports that PAX was home to a confirmed case of H1N1.  I myself have it without even going to PAX.  Okay then.

  I preface this post by saying that my promised first achievement update probably won't happen today, because I have the flu and don't feel up to spending all that time and effort recording those achievements (and I got more than expected).  What GB needs is a way to save blog posts as drafts.
   Anyway, I thought I'd put out this much shorter post.  If you look around the interwebs many people complain about achievements because of their point imbalance.  For example, if you survive 50 waves of Horde mode in Gears 2, you only get thirty points.  To that I say that it's not really the points that matter, its the fact that you did manage to do it and the achievement proves it.
  My problem is a personal one, and some may not agree.  I am lying around sick without anything to do.  I could play any of my many game systems, from the 360 to PS3 to Wii to handhelds.  I have been having a hankering to play LittleBigPlanet for a while now, which I got when it came out but barely have played.  The reason for that is that there are no achievement points in it.  There are trophies, yes, but most of my friends play 360 anyway and trophies are much less substantial, not showing the total GamerPoints you have to the world as obviously.  And with handhelds (and the Wii), there are no achievements whatsoever.
  My friend got a new 360 after his old one broke and due to some sort of complication had to get a new Gamertag.  He climbed to 15,000 before I even reached 8,000.  Obviously I raced to catch up to him and eventually got to 10,000, but I still feel the pangs of envy when I look at his or other crazy gamer's score (some above 100,000).  I know this is all my fault, but I feel like I'm playing for achievements rather than for fun.  I even rented that Avatar game to help me get a quick boost.  I did a lot of boring things to get achievements that were not fun.  And of course he chides me about my score all the time.
  I even feel annoyed when in games like Burnout Paradise Bikes, you get challenges that are like achievements but don't add to your GamerScore.  The same feeling gets me when I play Call of Duty 4 multiplayer.  I feel like I'm wasting my time not earning achievements.
  It's true that I'd probably have more fun playing LBP, and I probably will play it after finishing this post.  But I can't help but succumb to this deep-seated desire to be getting achievement points, even if it's not really fun.  And yes, I admit, the feeling is all my fault.
  Note: I guess one way to solve this selfish problem would be to award achievements for accomplishing difficult taks, but not assigning points to them.  This would also stop people from playing games like Avatar just for achievements.  Also, the achievements would have to increase in challenge instead of "Completed the Tutorial".