2032, that is the number of days to finally rack up 100,000 gamescore.

That's a fairly ridiculous amount in my opinion, yet it pales in comparison to many achievers out there. From what I understand, some have eclipsed the 1/2 million mark. I don't think I'll ever get there, hell it took me over 5 years to finally see 6 digits.

I still remember earning my first achievement. I thought nothing of it at the time, mainly because the achievement system was foreign to me. For the longest time I thought achievements were redeemable for MS points, which I could then use to buy arcade games. As it turns out, they have no value in real life or the virtual world.

Yet I still find the system fascinating and have continued to have some connection to it for as long as I have owned my 360. Various things have fueled my fire for getting points. Personal satisfaction, one upping a friend, and most importantly the community aspect of it all. GB's personal tracking system has made the achievement system significantly better. I always seem to think to myself, 'well if that one is common then I should have it'. Or 'damn, that one is rare...I bet I could do it even if less than 10% couldn't'. Other sites like 360voice and a360p also contributed to the whole community aspect of earning achievements. Jeff also played a role in getting me involved with achievements. Back in the GS days, he had a video blog dedicated to what he had been playing and the point he had accumulated from it.

I know there is a stigma attached to people who care about gamerscore, hell I'm sure some of you think writing a blog about it is already ridiculous. Have I played bad games for achievements? Yeah. Have I spent too much time collecting skulls or thermoses? Certainly. One thing I can say though is that I have never let personal scores take over my enjoyment of playing games.

So with all that out of the way, a few odds and ends:

• 5 years, 6 months, 23 days from 0 to 100,000
• 289 games played
• 4664 achievements unlocked
• 29 retail games completed
• 10 arcade games completed
• Most common achievement (according to GB): It's more of this at 98.9% (YDKJ)
• Rarest (according to GB): Ammo Hog at 0.9% (F.E.A.R.)
• Largest achievement: Treasure Hunt - 490 GS (Band Hero)
• Twelve "0" point achievements
• First one: Prison Breakout (Gears, January 2nd 2007)
• The one to push me to 100 K: First Strike (Risk Factions)
• Most memorable: Seriously...or Best of the Best
• Most difficult: War Hardened (CoD 2)

What are your thoughts on achievements? Do you try to get them or disregard the whole thing altogether? Do you want to see them evolve next generation or perhaps even completely scrap them? Feel free to discuss any service's achievement system - be it Live, PSN, or Steam.

Nope not an advertisement - just a personal tale.

I have been collecting games for about eight years now. Over this time I have amassed over five hundred video games for a multitude of platforms. Over the past couple of months I have just completely lost interest in collecting them. My library stocks all of the current generation games so it has been a long time since I have purchased anything new, let alone any retro games. As part of a spring cleaning effort I have even started to sell some of my more valuable games.

Today I made my first sale - I'm using half.com because it ensures I get the money I want rather than what the buyer wants (in no way am I in some of desperation mode to make some quick cash so I am selling all of these on my own terms). It certainly will be a weird moment when I drop it in the mailbox tomorrow. Overall though, I don't feel a sense of loss even if it is my first game than I am parting with.

Do you regularly sell games or perhaps are you thinking about parting with some?

About 2 weeks ago, Best Buy was honoring Toy's R US Buy 2 get 1 free deal. I picked up 3 new games; Demon's Souls, Infamous, and Uncharted 2. On chapter 24 in Uncharted 2. Absolutely amazing game, loving both the SP and MP(level 10, hit me up on PSN. I am always looking for people to play with. Yes, I have a mic). Played a little bit of Demon's Souls, but got frustrated real quick though. Yet to open Infamous, but want to try it out soon.
 

I was loving TMNT remake on XBL, then I got to the last level. Wow I can't believe they changed the ending level and ending boss. Now I want a straight port of TMNT 4: Turtles in Time with none of the BS!

Well as of now I know I'll be getting RE5, Killzone 2, and MLB: 09 the Show in Quarter 1. The Fallout 3 and GTA expansions are also on my list. In the later part of the year, Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, and Infamous. Assuming they come out, Starcraft 2 and Alan Wake are on my list.