Still Alive

Four months. That's how long it's been since I've blogged about anything on here. No, I'm not dead, I am in fact still very much alive. I've been busy between church, work, and my newest son and haven't had much time to do a lot of gaming let alone write about it. Of course that doesn't mean I haven't been gaming at all! I just don't get to as often as I would like to.

Minecraft

I still continue to play Minecraft (PC) and have been working on my own world quite a bit. I finally discovered my first Stronghold and defeated the Enderdragon which was exciting. The Stronghold itself is an amazing structure. It's smashed together with an abandoned mineshaft and a ravine. Very cool. I'm in the process of "cleaning" the structure up by replacing all the cracked and mossy stone brick with regular stone bricks. I also have gotten in the habit of widening the mineshaft tunnels by 1 block on each side so I'm doing that as well. Really opens things up and makes the place look cool.

In my Hyrule map, I've finished Zora's Domain and Lake Hylia. With that, the entire eastern side of the Light World is complete. I've moved along the southern side into the swamp area and it's about half complete.

I guess the Xbox Edition has received a nice update recently. I find it hard to go back to that version after spending so much time on the PC. It's a shame too. I finally completed my underground pyramid and don't even feel up to doing anything with it to enjoy it.

Going Back In Time

Here recently, I've taken a step back a few console generations and have been playing PS2 games. What makes it special is the fact that I'm playing them on my laptop thanks to the pcsx2 emulator. I'm also able to use my ps3 controller to play them thanks to MotionJoy. Right now I'm working through Kingdom Hearts II. Been a long time since I have played the game and I had forgotten just how much fun it is. I don't know if I'll play any other PS2 games after I complete KH2. It's just fun to do for the time being and it's nice to be able to put a show/movie on for the kids and still play something without watching My Little Pony or Magic Schoolbus for the millionth time...

Borderlands 2

On the Xbox 360, the last time I even turned it on was several weeks ago. I got online and ran around Borderlands 2 for a while finally completing my first Headhunter Pack. That game is still a ton of fun. I need to finish up True Vault Hunter Mode, especially since I discovered the "Loot The World" app on Android. I've sent some sweet equipment to my game and need to get back on and collect them.

Fable 3

Since my last blog, I've finished up a few Xbox games. I finally made it all the way through Fable 3. Truly a fun game to play. I played a good character (and have the angel wings to prove it). I think I'll try an evil character if I ever start a new game and see how much of a difference that makes. I've been tempted to pick up a copy of the Anniversary Edition of the original Fable, but that will have to wait.

Bioshock: Infinite

I also finished up Bioshock Infinite. All of the Bioshock games have been absolutely amazing and Infinite is no exception. It took me a while to fully grasp the ending (I had to go through it again) but once I did, it was a true "Bioshock Moment". Not quite the same impact of the twist in the first, but good nonetheless.

SOCOM

Switching over to the PlayStation 3, we said goodbye a few months ago to the game that was the original reason for me getting the system: SOCOM: Confrontation. Now that the PS4 is out, Sony is slowly shutting down servers for PS3 games and this was one of the ones that got the axe. What's even more unfortunate is that the game is online only so now I basically have a nice coaster. Once the major launch issues were worked out, this game was a lot of fun and we make sure to play it as much as possible in the final weeks to properly say goodbye.

Gran Turismo

Also on PS3, I put Gran Turismo 5 back in and have been doing a lot of racing. I'm about 80% through the A-Spec races, but I'm to the point where each race is either a 30+ minute race or a championship that takes well over 90 minutes to complete. Beyond that are the Endurance races that start at 4 hours and go up to 24 hours of racing. And yes, that is literally 24 real world hours of racing! I hate to say this, but I think I'm done with it. I might move on to GT6 in the future, but I don't plan on it as of now.

Friday Night Gamimg - Killzone

For our Friday Night Game Night on PS3, we're currently playing multiplayer on Killzone 2. Quite a few of us picked up the Trilogy a while back and this has been the game of choice after SOCOM went kaput. We're basically learning the levels and trying to play without bots as much as possible to help us rank up and get better weapons. Last Friday, I finally unlocked the shotgun. The other guys didn't like that...

I played part of the campaign for the first Killzone, but it's too much of a "PS2 shooter" that I had a hard time getting into it. Instead, I went to YouTube and watched all the cut-scenes for the basic story so I could move on. I haven't played any of the campaigns yet for 2 or 3, so those are on the ever growing to-do list.

Ratchet & Clank

One last thing I completed on PS3 was the complete Ratchet & Clank HD Trilogy as well as Deadlocked. That was 3 easy platinum trophies (I'm missing the one for the first R&C game because I don't want to spend that many hours grinding bolts for the RYNO...) Aside from Final Fantasy, this has got to be one of my favorite gaming series. I'm thinking of getting Into The Nexus once the price comes down a bit. It will be a sad day when Insomniac announces the next R&C game is PS4 exclusive.

Moving to Next Gen?

One thing my friends keep asking me is if I'll make the switch to next gen and if so, which one. My honest answer is not yet and I don't know. PlayStation 4 was my first choice a long time ago and I'm still leaning that direction. We don't have cable or satellite (we barely watch broadcast TV even), so the One doesn't appeal to me on that front. Either way, that's a ton of money to save up for something I wouldn't be able to use and enjoy nearly as much as I would like to.

For right now, I'm saving my money for 2 things: Diablo 3 (Xbox 360) and a Homebrew Kit so I can make my own beer. ;-)


Until next time!

Ratchet & Clank Collection - 2 Down, 1 To Go

Almost a year ago, I bought and started playing the Ratchet & Clank HD Collection on PS3. I stopped playing it, not because it wasn't "fun", but because I started playing other games in its place, namely Borderlands 2 and, of course, Minecraft. But, within the past few weeks, I picked it back up and continued playing through Going Commando. I finished it last night to 100% and got my Platinum Trophy.

New Game Acquisitions and Playing

Yes, I do play other games than Minecraft. I know it's a little hard to believe, but that is the truth.

In fact, I've almost finished the first Ratchet & Clank game in the Ratchet & Clank Collection. I'm to the point where I'm battling Chairman Drek, but I've been going back bolt collecting to buy the RYNO. This game is still a ton of fun, but I want to finish it off as much as possible first before moving on to the next games in the trilogy which I enjoy more.

I have also had a chance to play some Borderlands 2 on the Xbox 360. That was a ton of fun and I love the humor and style of it. This is definitely a game I will be getting in the future, but probably after Christmas unless someone buys it for me as a Christmas gift *cough*blackfriday*cough*...

In the meantime, a good friend of mine lent me his copy of the first Borderlands game on the Xbox 360, so I do have something Borderlands to keep me occupied. I know the very general story from what my brother has said, but am still looking forward to experiencing it myself.

While said friend was over, he brought his newly acquired copy of Halo 4 with him and we played co-op through the campaign. I have been playing Halo games for a while now, but this one just blew me away with its beauty. We were watching the opening cutscene and it took me a long time to realize it was CG and not live-action. I knew they had done a lot of live-action promotional videos and thought they had continued it into the game. Amazingly beautiful. I'm really liking the new enemies and characters too. It mixes it up a little and brings some new life into the game. He left before we could finish the campaign, so now I'm left hanging until I can get it myself. Unfortunately, that's probably going to be sometime next year.

For my latest acquisition, which just happened this week, I finally picked up a copy of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier for the PS3. I'm looking forward to our first Friday Game Night to get into the game and play. So far, all I've done is download the update and do the data install.

In Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition, the 1.8.2 bug fix update just came out and added several new fixes, the best of which is the option to turn the void fog off. I miss the particle effects, but am glad it's gone! It's nice to be able to see my creations once again. Since the patch, I have also expanded my underground wheat garden to a second room with pumpkins growing in it. I now have an unlimited supply of Jack-o-Lanterns.

I also created a new world and have been playing it from scratch on Easy. Luckily, there was a village nearby so the first night's shelter was taken care of. It's a desert village that is almost secure from monsters. There are still a few dark corners that they can come from, but that will be taken care of once I find more coal. I secured my village by surrounding it by a wall of Cacti all the way around it. It's a much larger challenge to start off with monsters on and get a base setup than I thought. I'm enjoying the challenge though. Once I get my base secure, it's off to the mines in hunt of diamond and other resources.

So that's what's been going on recently. Lots of fun and more to come.

Ratchet & Clank Collection so far

Since the game came out this past Tuesday, I've been playing the Ratchet & Clank Collection on the Playstation 3. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I already have these three original games on the Playstation 2, so why would I want them again? Three reasons. First, it's in High Definition. Second, it now has trophies. Third, they're awesome games!