110k Crossed and Gaming Ramblings

Yesterday was my first of 3 straight days off, and I enjoyed it by sacking out and playing a lot of video games. Since there's about two inches of fresh snow on the ground, and we're not even half way through October yet, I've lost all motivation to go out and will probably just be doing a lot more gaming today. I really hate winter. Isn't Fall supposed to come first? We skipped right passed that one. But I digress...

While I watched the Vikings cruise to 5-0 against the Rams, I was slowly picking up wins in Magic: The Gathering, so I need about 25 more to have every card for every deck. That's a nice improvement form the over-40 that it was a week ago. I also made some progress in Banjo-Tooie, though I did not gain any new achievements.

Later in the afternoon, with Silva and my bro online, we got together to do some Horde action in Gears 2. Silva pretty much has all the Dark Corners horde achievements already, but was kind enough to roll with us. We completed the horde objectives on 5 of 7 maps, with only the 40 and 50 wave tasks remaining. Say what you will about Gears, I still enjoy Horde, particularly with friends. When Sabre logged on for the first time in what seems a year, we brought him in and continued the good times. Silva rambled on how much he hates Facebook and Twitter, Bionik Kommando racked up half the kills between the 4 of us, and I struggled to hit anything while watching Secret Girlfriend on Comedy Central on the second screen. That show is just... I don't even know what to say.

The Horde achievements put me above 110k, marking my first 10k on the road to 200. Based on statements of many who've hit these marks before me, I expected it to not really seem like much, but I'm not to that point yet. True, 110k isn't a significant overall number in itself, but I still enjoy hitting 10,000 point marks, especially since this 10,000 was all done outside of a GSL and done without easy trash (except Darkest of Days, which was played to review, not explicitly for points).

When my bro and I have time, we're continuing to boost the RE5 multiplayer stuff that can be done with just 2 people. I really hate these MP achievements, as winning 30 games takes forever. Eventually we'll need two dedicated partners to go through the team stuff, but I'm not looking into that seriously yet.

If you're still with me, can I ask if I'm the only one not horribly excited for this holiday season's games? I've never seen a holiday season so stripped of things I actually want to play. I'm picking up Borderlands, and I'll eventually get Modern Warfare 2 and Dragon Age, but that's it. Assassins Creed 2 is a rental for some other time. Most of what is coming out over the next few months is liscenced or budget junk, and I'm sure I'll do my part for God and Country by reviewing the lion's share of it. So, if you see things like reviews for "Ben 10" going up alongside "Modern Warfare 2," you'll know which one I probably wrote lol. If it sounds like I'm complaining, I'm really not. The points will be rolling, and it's due Karma for snagging a pre-release Dead Space, and getting to review AAA games like Gears 2 and Fallout 3 last year.

Really, 2009 is mostly the buffer year between the excellence of 2008 and the Mind-Shattering Awesomeness that will be 2010. I'll be playing Alpha Protocol, Aliens vs. Predator, Bioshock 2, Lost Planet 2, FRONT MISSION EVOLVED (OMG Yes!!!), Mass Effect 2, and possibly Final Fantasy XIII next year. That lineup beats the stuffing out of everything this year's produced. RE5 and Batman are ths highlights of what has come out thus far in 2009. I really haven't purchased many new games this year, but I can tell you I'm budgeting like mad for next year, because all the games I listed are shaping up to be Day 1 purchases.

But until that mass of great games arrives, I have a GSL to pass the time...