The Shiny Side

Believe it or not, aside from work I haven’t actually spent much time at a computer over the last couple of weeks. Sure, I’ve sat down and rummaged through some emails, but I’ve gamed very very little on my reliable box of awesome. Why is that?

Really, it just comes down to what I affectionately call my gaming ADD. I go through some pretty serious swings in what I feel like playing sometimes. Case in point: both my CoH and WoW accounts have officially run their course. Well, I don’t want to be called a liar - I think my WoW account expires in two days. But I’ll be out of town… so it might as well be gone already!

It isn’t that I regret paying and playing the games. I don’t, not one bit. But my tastes change and so do my gaming habits.

I love the social aspect that comes with MMOs. Some of my best friends (heck, both of my roomates!) were met through online gaming. Most of these friendships have continued, even without the game as a backdrop. Let’s face it, MMOs are a far better option than eHarmony! *grin*

I’m getting off topic here. Ah, well. My blog, my rules? Nah, let’s get back to why I started this post…

Console gaming. It’s always something I like to do here-and-there. Well, probably more than that, considering what my game collection looks like.* Nevertheless, sometimes it just strikes me that I need to put a dent in my backlog of games and I just start going to town on ‘em.

First up on my conquest was:

Well, no. Okay, it wasn’t Bunnies Creed II. But it WAS Assassin’s Creed II. I just couldn’t turn down the chance to post that picture. Seriously, how cute is that?!

For my birthday at the end of November, Rose got me Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. I was SUPER excited and was eager to throw it right in and give it a spin. Then a horrific realization struck me.

I hadn’t finished Assassin’s Creed 2. Egads!

So off I went. As it turns out, I get my best console gaming done early in the morning (yeah yeah, bachelor pad, yadda yadda) before I go to work. I’m the only one awake, the flat is quiet, and there is nothing to do but snuggle on the couch with my kitties with a controller in my hands.

Looking back, it actually didn’t take me very long to burn through AC2. I just ate up the story, I loved the city-rebuilding mini-game (completed it early and was super rich by the end of the game!) In fact, the only trophies that I didn’t have by the time I finished were some specific weapon-based ones, and a glitched trophy (I have the “use all the lookout points” trophy but not the “use your first lookout point” trophy? Really, game?)

So I finished it. It was epic, and so I immediately put in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood as a reward… or that’s what you would have figured. But I am not always logical in the “typical” sense!

Check back soon to see what I got sucked into next!

*My collection isn’t that bad. Well, okay, so I have about 20 games for each of the current-gen systems, which if you figure average in cost to about $40 each (with sales and BOGOs, etc) then that only comes out to be about… two… um… thousand four hundred dollars.

I think I need to sit down.

Apparently, GameFly is doing a daily deal where they will heavily discount one or two video games and offer free shipping. Today’s deal is Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on the three home console systems.

Oh, and just in case you were worried, GameFly’s used games always come with a case and manual. And they’re guaranteed. Nothing wrong with that!

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Wii) $19.99

The PS3 and XBox360 versions are already sold out, as of this posting. Sorry!

(Thanks, CheapAssGamer!)

Looks like it’s that time again. Square-Enix has decided that its numbers are slipping a bit too much, so they’ve reinstated the “Return Home to Vana’diel Campaign.” Used to play, but moved on for whatever reason? Now’s your chance to get back into the action right where you left off! Deleted characters, cancelled accounts, lost PlayOnline ID? No problems, they’ve got you covered. The program has expanded greatly this year to include characters that have gone the wayside and were previously unavailable. Long gone are the days of only being able to bring back your last deleted character!

The event started yesterday (December 18) and will continue until 1:00 PDT on April 15. As a bonus, once again, they are offering an Anniversary Ring to any character that is returned to the lands via the campaign. This is a good way to catch up if you still have some friends in-game that have outlevelled your job of choice.

For all the juicy details that go with a program such as this, make sure you head over to PlayOnline.