Banner Entries / Month in Review

After losing the original post showing the entries, I've been very lazy about remaking it, but here we are. The banner contest pitted Silva against a friend of mine, Tim Keller. Silva is your winner of the contest; his banner is currently up at the top. Now Tim's efforts will at last receive their fair recongition.

CLICK IMAGES TO SEE THEM FULL SIZE.



This first one here is my favorite of Tim's banners, with a beautiful simplicity to it. I love the star destroyer blueprint background, and the color transition in the letters around Thrawn. This one will certainly see some use.



I'm a poor art critic, but I like to see a different Thrawn pic is in use here, and the shadow effect on the text.



I like the scrolled-back look to the text, like the opening scrolls of Star Wars movies. I'm not so much a fan of the way Thrawn was integrated into this pic though.
The fade effect against the black background doesn't look too good.

I'd like to thank Tim for his hard work. These will find their way into the rotation of blog banners as well. Of course, their can only be one winner, and Silva's a wizard at this stuff. Great looking text, flawlessly integrated Thrawn, and the colors just pop out. Well done sir.

Month in Review: September

I finally hopped on my 3 on, 3 off work schedule, which has been nice so far. Since my store had to wrap up our remodel, I ended up putting in some long hours, including a 70 hour work week. I squeezed in gaming as much as I could, getting a lot done in ODST, and worked some reviews. The rule of four made a comeback, and will remain in effect until the GSL starts.

Reviews Written:
Wolfenstein
Section 8
Darkest of Days

Special Topics:
None for the second month in a row... I need to get back on those.

Completed Games:
Darkest of Days

Gamerscore Progression:
Sept. Start: 106,094
Sept. End: 109,649
Change: 3,555... not too shabby.

Banner Deadline and Month in Review

REMINDER! The Banner contest's deadline is FRIDAY AT NOON. Remember, 1600 MSP is up for grabs. Click here for the rules.

So far, I have yet to receive a single entry! Come on you procrastinators! =P I know a few of you out there were planning on submitting something, so don't forget LOL.

August was a month where gaming was very much on the backburner. While finishing job training, starting in my store for real, and moving into my new apartment, I had too much going on to game very much. The only new game added to my card was Wolfenstein, the review for which I should be wrapping up pretty soon. I made some progress in Lost Odyssey, and played a little Gears and Splosion Man, but that's about it. Nothing too earth shattering.

In September, I finally switch to my 3 days on, 3 days off schedule, which will make it easier to both game more and have a social life while still making a living. I'll probably pick up Halo ODST, but I'm not that excited about it. It's more of a "because everyone else will be getting it" purchase. The plan is to spend this weekend playing a ton of Gears once I finally have Live access (double XP), and work on more Wolfenstein and Lost Odyssey.

Reviews Written:
Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta

Special Topics:
none... was too busy.

Completed Games:
Fallout 3 (1550) <--- It's finally complete!

Gamerscore Progression:
August start: 105,264
August end: 106,094
Change: 830... one of my slow months.

TrueAchievements has my completion percentage at 62.78%... still well away from anointing myself an Operation Jedi survivor.

Month in Review: July 2009

It's been a long time since I had a month where I played so little. Due to the demands of job training, and being away at a Holiday Inn where I couldn't get on Live, I wasn't commonly seen on Xbox Live that month. I also spent a fair portion of the month combating a general gaming burnout, which I'm happy to say I'm over.

Due to work demands, gaming burnout, and technical difficulties, there wasn't much of note going on in this blog, either. I'll try to get a little more going on this month, but the blog won't be fully on track until the middle of september, when my 3-on, 3-off scheduling starts, and I have a lot more time to both game and write. In the mean time, I shall make every effort to preserve the quality you've come to expect here.

Reviews Written:
Tiger Woods '10

Blog Special Topics:
Tough Critic or a Softie?

Games Completed:
None.... =(

Gamerscore Progression:
July Start Score: 104,624
July End Score: 105,264
Change: 640 (that's actually not too bad considering how much time I spent playing Lost Odyssey)

So yeah, it wasn't an extremely impressive month, but settling into post-college life was naturally a nigher priority. This month promises to be more interesting, and I'm looking forward to the releases of Batman and Wolfenstein. Hopefully both will be excellent.

Month in Review: May 09

What a crazy month it was, with a relationship break-up (which I'm quite happy about), my graduation from college, the return to my parents house, initiation of The Job Hunt (which may be nearing an end already if Walmart wants me in management), and so much more. Things are starting to get into a more comfortable routine, which is nice. Besides the Job Hunt, I've begun working on a couple personal goals, which I'll reveal and discuss more once they come closer to completion. All I will say so far is that progress is good.

In the midst of all this craziness, special topics fell to the wayside, despite my intentions to return to them. To those who lamented the no-show of the Jurassic Park post, fear not! It's coming! I wrote three pages of it yesterday, but I have some things I need to do, so it'll be a few days before it's ready to post. Be ready for a long (but hopefully entertaining) read.

On the gaming front, I suffered the misfortune of losing over 400,000 XP in Gears of War 2, and all my interest in the game vanished with it. I've been on an RPG fling, spending lots of time in Infinite Undiscovery and Sacred 2, though I have taken a little time off to work on some arcade titles.

Looking ahead, I expect June to be a month of mostly RPG work, but I may need to branch out a bit and hit other corners of my back catalogue. Valleyfair is looking to bring me back to fill in at the IMAX for a couple weeks, so I should have some extra cash coming in (and a little variety to my days) which will be nice, and I'm going to try to get out and be social. I'm one of those people who swings from not wanting to hang out with anyone for a couple weeks, to wanting to hang out a bunch for a couple weeks, and back and forth.

Reviews Written:
Fallout 3: Broken Steel
Velvet Assassin

Reviews coming in June:
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel
Fallout 3: Point Lookout

Blog Special Topics:
Superhumans in the Real World, Part I: A God Among Mortals
Meaningful and Most Wanted 1000s

COmpleted Games:
Penny Arcade Episode 2

Gamerscore Progression:
May start score: 100,120
May End score: 103,015
Change: 2,895

Month in Review: April 09

As the last full month of my college career, it was a wild month... and by wild, I mean busy as all hell. The next two weeks will be similar, then things will cool down a little, while I get epicly serious about finding a job... the only friends of mine graduating who have had any success finding jobs are my friends in the nursing program... so THAT should be fun...

I simply couldn't resist, and had to pull an April fool's prank, hoping to convince people I had been hacked, and several people fell for it. Don't worry folks, I won't play that joke twice.

In April, I finally completed my research on MMOs and presented it at student research day, where it received a pretty positive reception. The GSL ended, and I've therefore changed up how I approach playing games, introducing Operation Excellence and J-Quest, which I haven't really worked much on yet, but I hope to in the not-so-distant future. (Well, lvl 100 in Gears 2 would be a part of Operation Excellence, I guess, as is everything I can get from PDZ). In a further effort to find a way to maintain my interest in games all the way to the end, and hopefully complete more of them overall, I developed the rule of four, which seems to be working well so far, but it's much too soon to say if it'll work over the long run. I had one unfortunate misunderstanding with someone that led me to believe I should spell out why I decline most XBL friend requests. Last, but not least, I hit the 100k milestone on the dot which means I beat Ducky Dan in our race by about 16,000 points. What a crazy, crazy month.

Reviews Written:

Resident Evil 5 Versus Mode
Monsters vs. Aliens

Blog Special Topics:
House Rules Horde Variants

Games Completed
My Horse and Me 2 (I know... I know...)
The Maw (250)
Silent Hill Homecoming
Penny Arcade Episode 1

Gamerscore Progression:
April Start Score: 93,215
April End Score: 100,120
Change: 6,905

I'm not posting Operation Jedi numbers... because right now, I just don't want to know. Let's just say that I need almost 24,000 points without ever playing a new game to hit the goal. Yikes! Operation Jedi is clearly a long-term goal... and I need to lay off the GSLs or it'll never happen.

Month in Review: March

March was a hugely significant month, in both good ways and bad. The good news in my gamerscore shot up by leaps and bounds... the bad news is I did such a number on my completion percentage that I've set Operation Jedi back so much that it'll take months to undo the damage (no joke...). I participated in a 30-day 360voice challenge over March, where I finished 3rd in a field of 72 people (and I rode the bench one of those weeks). Not too shabby, I think.

There wasn't too much movement up or down for the Hand of Thawn, as we're holding steady in 5th. With 2 weeks left, the goal is to try to shoot up to third. We'll see if it can happen.

April will have a fast start like March did, as I'm playing in weeks 7 and 8 of the league. However, I'm slowing way down as soon as the GSL ends. I have research to finish, an English capstone to complete, jobs to hunt for, and a thousand other things that require my attention. I've been pretty good at getting my work done, but I'll need to go into an overdrive the last half of April. I'm going to go back to playing games for fun and casually trying to get the points for a while. I don't expect the serious work of Operation Jedi to begin until at least June or July.

Reviews Written:
Resident Evil 5
Stoked
Fallout 3: The Pitt

Reviews in April:
Monsters vs. Aliens
...no others known at this time.

Blog Special Topics in March:
Resident Evil 5 SUPERPOST (It was a slow month for special topics, as I was busy going point-crazy. April will see more of them.)

Games Completed:
Sonic's UGC
Rapala Fishing Frenzy
The Maw (230)

...not nearly as many as I'd hoped for. =(

Gamerscore Progression:
March Start score: 77, 870
March end score: 93,215
Change: 15,345 (Total S rank for that, at least)

Completion % change: + 0.06% (from 60.95 to 61.10). So, technically, I inched millimeters closer to the goal, but in reality, I'm much worse off now, as the next stat will show.

Distance from Op. Jedi goal: 21,299 points (the gap has grown 3,399 points in the last 30 days. THAT is the damage I've been talking about. It'll take time to clear that up. As you can see, a lot of the quest for 200k will be cleaning up the mess I made hunting the first 100k)

Lead over x Ducky Dan x in race to 100k: 14,786 points at time of posting. (I've outscored him by 6,895 since my last M.I.R. posting). There's no doubt I'll win this race. Ducky has already admitted defeat. All that's left to do is cross the finish line to make it official.

Month in Review: February 09

It's that time again, the end of the month, and a look back at what happened. It was a pretty busy month, with lots of research and writing to do, as well as prepare for the GSL and get a team together. I was able to get a couple of my buddies from the last GSL, as well as some cool new people, together to form the Hand of Thrawn. So far, it's been a good time. We appear to have the #6 spot on lockdown for now, and must next begin the long, hard climb into the top 5.

February started off slow for points, but picked up considerably once the GSL started, as I scored a respectable 4,210 points the first week. Some of the stats will be listed below. In March the action will continue to heat up, and I expect to see three of my friends (Silva, Derek, and Bishop) cross the 100k line by the end of the month.

Reviews Written:
Afro Samurai
Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad

Next Month:
The Pitt (Fallout 3)
Don't know of anything else ATM... Resi 5? =P

Blog Special Topics:
Gamerscore Inflation: How More Points may be Bad for Us All
How Playing Bad Games can be Fun
Halo Wars Demo Impressions
Prima's Achievement Book Reviewed
Pants is my Hero
Three Authors You Should Read

Games Completed:
Oblivion (1250)
Puzzle Quest (250)
The Maw (215)

It was a rather slow month for completions...

Achievement Progress:

February start score: 72,930
February end score: 77,860
Change: +4,930 (Almost all from GSL week 1)

Completion percentage change: +0.27% (from 60.68 to 60.95)
Pretty pathetic month for Operation Jedi, wasn't it?

Distance from Op. Jedi goal: 17,900
(Percentage went up, but the distance from goal went up a lot more...)

Lead over x Ducky Dan x in race to 100k: 7,891 (+985 this month)

Month in Review: January '09

January, the first full month of this blog, will also be the first month to have its own "Month in Review" post. These posts will be monthly posts on the last day of the month, detailing significant events, and my thoughts on how things went. The structure you see below is how things will run in these posts. All objects in the "Reviews Written" and "Blog Special Topics" categories are links, so simply clicking on them will bring you to that review or blog post, making it easy to go back and check out any content you may have missed.


Overall, January was a good month of gaming. I started out almost 2k behind my pace for 100k by the end of the year, but did a great job scoring points on games I already owned, making significant progress on Operation Jedi, and moving slightly ahead of pace. Quite a bit of progress was made on my grant research, while I wrote two reviews and 7 special topics. Near the end of the month, I slowed down to work on more challenging fare, and I don't want to go point-crazy when I need to get ready for a GSL (prep consists of getting the team ready, and doing non-gaming tasks like homework and getting ahead on research so I physically have the time to play).

Looking ahead: February will be an even busier month, with the GSL starting, increasing academic obligations, and a lot more reviews on my plate. It looks like I'll be reviewing at least 4 games in February, including:

Afro Samurai (confirmed)
Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad (probable)
Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (probable)
The Pitt [Fallout 3 DLC] (confirmed)

I'll do my best to have at least 1 special topic a week posted, despite my busy schedule. Writing those things is a fun break from the other writing I do (I write at least of 3-4 pages of material, single spaced, every single day. Blog posts are included in that total). The first special topic of February will be an editorial, discussing the concept of Gamerscore Inflation, which seems to me like a budding subject for debate. Stay tuned for that.

Reviews Written:
Rise of the Argonauts
Operation Anchorage (Fallout 3 DLC)

Blog Special Topics:
What co-op play means to me
Thrawn Predicts the Future: Episode II
The Thrawn Experiment (on purchasing games)
How I Write Reviews
Best 3 Albums Ever
My Perfect Xbox 360 Game
Three Sequels I Crave

Games Completed:
Prey
Condemned 2
Alone in the Dark
The Maw
Uno
Operation Anchorage
Warriors Orochi 2


Achievement Progress (These stats may be edited after posting to maintain maximum accuracy):

January start score: 68,395
End score: 72,930
Change: +4,535

Completion percentage change: +6.68% (from 54 to 60.68%)
Distance from Op. Jedi goal: 16,984 points

Lead over x Ducky Dan x to 100k: 6,906