Skyrim, You Have Stolen My Life...

Ever since Skyrim came out. I have been engrossed in it. I got it nearly a week early because of a retailer being stupid and breaking street date without realizing it. Gotta love people who don't normally work in the electronics departments getting thrust into it and not reading the large red/yellow tape that says do not display until (insert printed date here).

I gotta say I only kinda liked Oblivion, and it took me a long time to come around to it. When I started it I couldn't get into it. This was NOT the case with Skyrim. I loved it from the moment I first loaded it up.

I have 720/1000G done on this time sucking game of awesome. It is mostly just main storyline stuff left too. I have fallen prey to the Markarth Forsworn glitch(I have yet to fix it by sneaking to the temple of talos) I have had Hagravens fall out of the sky on me at random locations, I have seen dragons fly backwards, and watched their bones randomly animate and walk around the map. I have even watched my game freeze frustratingly at inconvenient places. And yet I still love this game.

I got my smithing to 100 pretty early on, I just made loads and loads of iron daggers, and leather bracers. I would bow hunt and soul trap deer, elk etc and take their pelts to make into leather and leather strips, and I mined my own iron ore and smelted it down for ingots. Not only did my smithing rise but so did my archery, and enchanting skills(the constant recharging of the bow and having all those soul gems filled really helped out and still helps me out now).

I also discovered that I could just get a non-killable npc to just keep hitting me to up my heavy armor and block. You can constantly follow the guards around at night and sneak behind them on their set paths to raise sneak(equip the muffle illusion spell and cast it as soon as magicka permits every time to raise that skill at the same time).

I used the mannequin glitch by accident when I discovered it. I accidentally put my legendary dragon armor on the mannequin and took it off before closing the screen out and noticed next time I came back to my house I had multiplied it. This is awesome for getting the achievement for having 100,000 gold on you at one time.

I noticed you could re-clear dungeons after a certain period of time, as well as redo some of the dragon wall locations(along with the chests that went with them) to get the Delver achievement.

That is just a taste of what I have learned and discovered while roaming Skyrim. I stand at well over 200 locations discovered and I have yet to even partially fill in the map...this game is massive and epic all at the same time.

I won't lie I will be a little sad when I finally 1000 this, but then again there is also DLC to look forward to, I mean have you seen how much further the line of sight is into Morrowind and Cyrodiil....it has to be there for a reason right????

Time will tell. Thank you Bethesda for creating my personal GOTY for 2011(and nearly everyone else's) and for creating an adventure that truly has kept me engrossed long after most RPGs have already started collecting dust on my shelf.

Long Time, No Post....Oh Damn It's 2012

It's 2012 and the busy Thanksgiving/Jesusmas holidays are now behind me. New Years is down and the next big holiday is a couple of months away. I can finally exhale and get back to focusing on gaming instead of family get togethers and whether or not someone is going to like the blender or whatever we bought for them.

My little cousin got a 360 this year and I set it up for her. She hasn't stopped playing. The bug is finally spreading through the family.

I finally hit 50k, and am nearly to 55k. I haven't spent much time with most games on my backlog mostly because of Skyrim. I have 700/1000G for it and it is mostly the main quests that I have left.

It is 2012 and I'm back....to gaming and to posting. Now if I could hurry and finish Skyrim I could work on that backlog issue over my head....Off to kill dragons...

New Game Tuesday

Another tuesday has now come and gone. I picked up a few new games over the past 2 weeks(I have indeed been putting this post off for quite sometime). Among them are Skylanders, kinect Sports: Season 2, Family Game Night 4: The Gameshow, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Sonic Generations, the new LOTR games and Battlefield 3. There are more do not fret....

I haven't sat down and poured alot of time into any of these games particularly, in fact I won't lie some I have not even played yet(I'm a horrible whore I know)...but the ones I have spent time with will be highlighted in today's post.

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is a cool idea. With the toys you purchase for the game storing their levels and experience inside of them so you can easily play and level up at a friends without needing to lug everything with you. The only downside is purchasing the toys themselves at 7.99 or 19.99 a 3 pack. Some people have been playing with the toys still in package and returning them when done but I'm not condoning or saying you should do that. I actually enjoy this game, it is a fun timewaster. It isn't too hard and it is just east enough to sit down and just play without fear of dying or having a mental breakdown trying to beat a section. Some of the puzzles can be challenging if you are zoning out and just playing(and by challenging I mean you skip over them entirely because you aren't paying attention). Overall I only have 150/1000G on this game and have only really played all of 2 levels fully. I have set aside some time to really put time into the game this coming week. Mostly because I love my little figurines and they miss me....

Kinect Sports: Season 2 is a good game but alas it is kinect and sometimes the tracking is off, but it happens far less than any of the other kinect games I have played. The sports are a little weird but a nice change of pace from the 1st game. You can get nearly all the skiing achievements in 1 playthrough of a course. Some of the football achievements are a pain as dodging can be tedious. The Darts require you to magically become a sniper and learn tactical breathing so you don't accidentally miss but sometimes the target on screen will actually hone in and you are guaranteed to hit that spot on the board which is amazing! I have only gotten 235/1000G but I'm plugging away at it sprained ankles and all...

Battlefield 3 was a rental so I only got to play the campaign and it was fairly short only taking about 6 hours on normal with a couple level mopups to get the missing achievements. I didn't have an online pass and did not want to purchase one so I missed out on the co-op campaign and on the online experience. Which from what I have heard is amazing! I got 390 out of the base 1000G during this playthrough so it wasn't bad...

The new LOTR games is an adventure/RPG game. Earning experience and having a inventory and the like are a must in this game. I have only played a little but it reminds me a little of a more closed version of dragon age with less intensity(at least so far because I'm still in the intro this thing is hellllllllla long so far). And the most pathetic at only 30G/1000G

Family Game Night 4 I busted 420/1000G in only about 30 minutes tonight...it is indeed just like the first one only with less purchasing and being a pain in my asss.

I have also finally hit 225 in my played games...now to finish more than the 17 completions I already have...

In entirely other news, Target is currently having a buy 2 get 1 free sale on video games that lasts until the 5th of this month. It applies to all games 9.99-79.99 and includes new releases as well as pc  games along with the normal console fair. Check it out, you can pick up 2 60 dollar games and get 1 free. That is indeed an epic win(you were gonna buy it eventually anyway right?!?!?!)

RAGE!!!!!!!!!!

Alright, picked up RAGE on tuesday, and I have not put it down for a second. At first I didn't think I was going to enjoy this game, but I am highly addicted to it!

The fallout like feel mixed with the mission system and the amount of unlockable/buyable/buildable items in the game makes this game shine.

Now, as I am playing through getting my achievements I have noticed one thing, areas tend to lock up after you complete the missions associated with them, so if there are any collectibles or schematics/recipes in the area make sure to get them before leaving as you will not be able to get them again.

The JACKPOT! achievement for getting 4 target symbols in the first round of Tombstones is entirely pure luck, it only took me about 45 minutes of spamming the a button to get the achievement to pop(while i got 4 targets during every other round making me want to pull my hair out) but have been reading on the forums about how others spent hours or have yet to get it. Luck is all it is, skills got nothin' to do with it.

Now, I have been farming the hell out of the MUTANT BASH TV, after completing it in the campaign you have the option of playing it again and again and again. Excellent for farming money and ammo from it. You can literally sit down for about 30 or so minutes and easily walk out with enough to fill all your ammo up and buy recipes/schematics plus ingredients to build them.

For the TINKERER and ARTS AND CRAFTS achievements you can easily buy 50 of both the cloth bandages and antiseptic(available at both the Outfitters in Wellspring or at Hagars) and choose the build all option, after exiting the build screen give it a couple seconds and it will pop both or just one for you depending on if you had ARTS AND CRAFTS or not when you started. These will come in handy throughout your playthrough and be a lifesaver in a pinch.

For the achievements PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE, THREE BIRDS ONE BOMB CAR, KEEP 'EM COMING, and MECHANOCIDE you can easily build a whole bunch of sentry bots, turrets, and rc bomb cars and use them during your spamming of MUTANT BASH TV and eventually you will get them. I got the first 3 the very first time attempting to get them on the first stage of the tv show. MECHANOCIDE will take you slightly longer being at 100 kills combined on all 3 methods but if dedicated it will only take you a couple hours if that.

I have 19 achievements so far from this game and can easily see myself finishing this up fairly quickly at this pace.

I won't spoil it but the IT'S GOOD achievement will make you chuckle during it, I actually got my ATV stuck on a siderail and threw a grenade to try to dislodge it and wound up disintegrating  it and having to call for a tow in order to get it back shiny and new. Best to do this achievement on Sunday during halftime...

Just some tips and tricks I have discovered along the way, more to come as I play through.

Shane Syndrome over and out going back to my angry Cuprino and its homing missiles....

It's new game tuesday!

So got up this morning and remembered that it is indeed tuesday, which means it is time to hit the stores and pick up the new stuff for the week.

This week I picked up Rage and the new Spiderman Game, Edge of Time. I have just started Rage and so far it feels like a Red Faction game, but time will tell if it truly winds up being that way. It seems like a mix of fallout type backdrops(no shock thanks to bethesda) and your typical homefront/call of duty/red faction 1st person shooter. Being set in the future really isn't a new premise or concept among war games as of late, especially with homefront being as recent as it is, we shall see if they do it well enough to keep my attention for more than 5 or so minutes.

I'm actually kind of  excited for the spiderman game, I have been going back lately and playing them. I didn't care for shattered dimensions, but found myself getting sucked into web of shadows, I like that I could hop around the city and just find collectibles if i wanted to. I didn't have to do crap for anyone. I really enjoy being your lazy neighborhood spiderman who doesn't give a damn about helping you clean up your city because there are spider symbols to be found! The fact that I could choose what missions to do was pretty nice also, I have really been digging on open world games so it was awesome to just sit down and have fun with. I will be popping Edge of Time in later today and time will tell if it turns into a shattered dimensions game or web of shadows or maybe even a mix of both would be acceptable.

Ima kick some assssss and take some names!

So here goes nothing...I have been on a massive gaming spree for about 3 weeks now. I have been crazy motivated and despite everything going on I am making headway. Not only am I finding time to go back and start finishing up games that I have long let sit in my "I'll finish it eventually pile" I am starting new things and finding myself getting sucked in for more than 5 minutes at a time. '

Two games I have started finishing back up is Fable III, and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. I put fable away shortly after it came out because I got burnt out, I could not keep playing it, but I had been on a massive playing spree of fable 2 in the weeks before it came out and i think it finally wore me out. Oblivion I could not get into for the life of me when I first got my xbox, I have the dlc and everything i just couldn't make myself play past the sewer at the beginning, I think it was far too much like fallout which I had just finished on the pc and was trying to start on 360(something I have yet to finish or even think about). Oblivion is a relatively easy game to complete and get the full 1250 on. It was just finding the right time to do it and now is the time!!!!!

I only have to finish up the fighters guild(got fucked out of champion thank god for having 2 save files) the mages guild, shivering isles, and then the main story. Not bad considering I despised this game at first.

I picked up Child of Eden and all I can say is fucking wow! The game is so visually stunning it nearly hurts. I could only play 1 level before having to put it down, I played with kinect instead of a controller and it was sheer amazing, no lag or anything. The game will give you seizures if you happen to be epileptic and will give you a massive headache if you don't because of how much there is to look at on screen. But the premise and gameplay is nearly flawless other than hurting your eyes. The story is refreshing, new and intriguing enough to keep you playing.

I picked up the new X-Men game X-Men: Destiny and it is a typical action adventure with options on what you do. The game is easy and annoying all at the same time and really just makes you want to shank yourself with its cartoony story and annoying camera angles. For 60 dollars this game is a loser, for 20 or less this is an entertaining day or so.

I broke a rule of mine that is long withstanding and played the new Madden. I haven't truly played a madden game since 98, I have 06 on my card but that was mostly sim from franchise mode and some easy unentertaining crap with a friend for about an hour. I actually kind of enjoyed this game, shockingly enough. I was able to easily remember how to play from my knowledge of 98 and the achievements were actually kind of fun, i mean come on kicking a 60+ yard field goal is fucking hilarious to try to accomplish, and rushing for over 231+ yards with one player was a fun challenge. I played about 2 games in exhibition and started a Superstar. This game was a rental and was worth the 2 bucks. I will one day rent it again to finish it up, I only got 365G before shipping it back to Blockbuster.

I have spent alot of time with Fruit Ninja Kinect lately. It came as a download out of my copy of The Gunstringer(which I haven't played yet but willllll very sooon). I completed the WP7 version in February  and I have to say I love this version. I bought 1 dlc pack so far and will more than likely purchase the other 2 also. There is something therapeutic about hacking and slashing fruit especially if you imagine someones head on the screen....oh wait that is a different game, anyhow...

Dead Island is a soul sucker, sheer and simple. Soul. Sucker. I spent days just running around on the island not doing shit. Which was fun but was horrible for my gamerscore. I got 80G from my headless running but this is a game for another time with me, I'm burnt on the zombie craze.

I have been into Age of Empires online, if anyone else out there is playing send me a friend request, we can get some achievements together and do some co-op.

Those are the big time suckers of right now, I'm busy compiling a list of achievements and such that have been earned since my last true post in may....and working on a youtube channel to be launching sometime before christmas hopefully.

Here goes nothing, wish me luck all,

Shane Syndrome (your friendly neighborhood female gamerscore whore)

Eeeeeek, I forgot to remember I had a life outside of work....

Alright so it has officially been 4 months since my last post...my job got freaking hectic, I moved into a new place, and finally got my gaming PC back up and running so Windows Live games are finally back into my gaming options. I bought a ton of retro games and new stuff alike. Still tracking down Harvest Moon on SNES but hey, can't win them all.

Last time I posted I was sitting somewhere around 30 to 31k. A couple days ago I broke 40k and am busting it out and might actually reach 50k within the next month or so. It appears that I have finally fallen into a groove, which isn't really hard considering the amount of games that recently came out and the games that will be coming out within the next couple months. I have collector's editions of Arkham City and Forza 4 already put down but can't seem to get into some of the other big name releases as of yet. I know I will play them I just don't want to throw hundreds of dollars out there until I make my to be played list and my mop up list a little shorter. I have fallen into this habit of picking a game up for an hour or so popping about 60 to 200g worth of achievements on it and then shoving it in a dark corner to rot in my game library.

I have been going back and playing older war games mostly due to their cheapness and abundance. I mean come on, I can walk out of gamestop with 7 or 8 games for like 50 bucks and not feel horrible especially considering I can always return them....

All in all the past few months were a little bit of a grind but things seem to be smooth sailing as of now and I'm feeling alright. Bring it on quarter 4 I'm ready for all you have to throw at me.