Monday, June 21, 2010

The Pile of Shame

So here it is the actual pile of shame! So it's about 10 less cases than actual games on the pile of shame. That is because some of the games are anthologies and I have a few Games on Demand and Steam games. Last year I was almost vehemently opposed to "digital downloads" replacing physical media, but I have done a complete 180 on that. It may not look like a lot of games in a neat pile, but is taking up a significant amount of space that those Steam and Games on Demand games aren't.

There are still advantages to physical copies of games though. I like having the manuals and being able to quickly look at all my games in one place. I am much more likely to actually play a game if it is someplace I can see.

No big update this week, I haven't made any progress on my pile of shame, but I hope to plug away some more next week. I did get Warioware D.I.Y. from Gamefly this week. I was initially taken by the possibilities and glad that they spelled things out explicitly. But now I've become frustrated with the many limitations. The plan is this week to finish up some achievements in NBA 2K10 and UFC Undisputed 2010 and then try to plug away at Rock Band 2. Oh yeah, and enjoy some more Super Mario Galaxy 2 if I have time.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Where you at?

So, where have I been for the past few weeks? I haven't been meaningfully neglected this blog, but too many other things have gotten in the way such as work and life. I haven't chipped away much at the ol' pile of shame at all lately.

I have been steadily attacking Rock Band 2, slowly but surely. That campaign seems a lot longer than the original's or maybe its my lack of four hour play sessions.  As excited as I was for Green Day Rock Band I believe I may know wait until 2 is polished off.

I have completed a few games since the last post, which is keeping them off of the pile of shame if not helping to decrease its overall size. I got really caught up in Mass Effect 2 and burned through that pretty quickly. And I completed every single loyalty quest. To be honest, I'm sort of itching to 100% that game but there's just no way I'd have time for that. That whole world, it's characters, settings, and history is fascinating to me. Its world is quite possibly much more drawn out than the Star Wars Universe.

I also managed to complete New Super Mario Bros. Wii literally the night before Super Mario Galaxy 2 came out. That last dungeon is brutal. That whole game is extremely enjoyable. It felt more like an original game with original game mechanics than New Super Mario Bros on DS which I found a little soulless.

I've only played through about 15 stars of Galaxy 2. I think I'm a bit letdown because I may have let the hype get to me. The first Galaxy is in all serious my favorite game of all time. Galaxy 2 feels more polished and adds a ton of new gameplay elements, but I don't know if I've really reached a stage that wowed me as much as the first game. It may be a case of it feeling a bit like a re-tread. That being said, the more I play it the more I like it and the more it seems to open up. My opinion is likely to change drastically.

I've also been playing UFC Undisputed 2010 almost non-stop since I bought it last weekend. I'd just like to get good at, but that seems like a lost cause. Its fighting system is incredibly deep which is both good and bad. I get my ass kicked every time I go online but I don't get tired of the fighting like I do in wrestling and boxing games.

This week the name of the game is polish off a few achievements in NBA 2K10 and put that one to bed and continue drudging forward on Rock Band 2. With the World Cup going on I'll likely also be spending some time trying to finish off FIFA 10 as well.

That's it for this update. I'll return to a regular schedule and start giving some more frequent updates.