Microsoft had a file size limit at the begining of the 360s arcade, so 12 achievements, and 200 pts seemed like a reasonable thing...Especially when full titles gave us up to 50 achievements, and 1000 points. But since they raised the file limits and the games we can download are bigger, offer much more in terms of gameplay and variety the 12 achievements and 200 points cap seems a bit outdated.

With titles like Battlefield, Shadow Complex, the Puzzle Quest titles, and BC Rearmed, the need for more is evident. How can a game that offers the online depth of Battlefield have 12 achievements, 10 of which can be gotten within 10 matches? Shadow Complex and BC Rearmed offer up solid campaigns, as well as "proving grounds", that make me want to go back and play more only offer up a small slice of what the game has in store for me?

This is one area that I think PSN has XBLA by the short and curlies...With 20 something trophies for a game like "The Last Guy" (which is fucking sweet), and 30+ for Wipeout HD (even before to the Fury expansion...Which is also fucking sweet, and one of the best bargains on either service)...I get more sense of accomplishment when I have a little more incentive to go back and play a game that I may have beaten, but not fully "completed".

Sure, I'm addicted to achievements and trophies, but I think there's a good reason for that...I think anyone who plays on either console enjoys that little pop-up on the screen telling me I've done something that kicked ass, and I'm being rewarded...But most XBLA games that have a substantial single player game often have a "completed the game" achievement, so that leaves 11 to be as diverse (or bland) as possible. While 12 & 200 might work for PacMan, Dig Dug, and some of the more simple casual games, there is no way that 12 is enough for something as meaty as Puzzle Quest...

Since there is a big difference between how Sony and MS 'score' for the achievement/trophies, I don't think you could go all the way up to 50 & 1000....Sonys trophies count as 1 each, so if they have 20 overall, it's 20 points...So maybe MS could do something like 25 & 500 for games that are larger in scope (like a few of the games I mentioned before)...With games clocking in at around a Gig for Shadow Complex, 560 Megs for Battlefield, and 200+ Megs for BC, PQ Galaxies could automatically qualify for an achievement boost. Sure the original Puzzle Quest is a mere 80 Megs, but the games scope is so huge, you could easily spend 100 hours playing...So there would be exceptions, just like there are for anything worthwhile.

It seems like only a natural progression at this point for MS to make this kind of move. It keeps the devs who put out quality Digital Releases hands tied, and I for one would love to see a little more creativity in there. It just seems like a shame that games like Castlevania SotN, both Banjo & Kazooies, and The Dishwasher have the same number of points and achievements as Missle Command, and Boom Boom Rocket...

Since DTOID will be down, I figured in it's honor (and the fact I'm getting back into the game since I dll'd the map bundle for 12 bucks) maybe we could get some DTOID Killzone 2 action going. If you're up, hit me up on PSN...My tag is OCIFIED (all caps)...Shoot me a FR and we shall induldge....And maybe we can play some Fat Princess since Jimmles is a rotund lover of nobility (prima nocta, not like the good noble though)....

PSN - OCIFIED

I like the show "Penn & Tellers BULLSHIT"...The comedian/magician duo debunk, dispell and fuck with everything ranging from astrology to enviromentalism and now to video game violence.

With a cameo by our old friend Jack Thompson Penn & Teller take on the notion that violence in video games causes kids to become killing machines....Since uploading the episode would infringe on copyright, I will say if you have Showtime check it out...Or you could do a little interweb Matlockery and look for something like (Penn & Teller Bullshit s07e03) on the website of your choosing.

I'm interested to hear what your thoughts are on how they confront this modern day evil...

How is it that in 2009 Capcom can still create a game that doesn't allow the virtual equivalent of chewing gum and walking?!!! I can't shoot a gun while I walk? I can't reload my weapon while I walk? I still have to use a menu for switching items instead of having a quick swap?

What the fuck is wrong with Capcom that they think this kind of control scheme is still viable? I know there are quite a few folks who hold RE 4 as a great game...Me personally? The control issues (which are basically the same thing) lead me to dislike the game. When you play RE 4, or the demo for 5, for all intents and purposes it is no longer a survival horror game so much as it is an action game...Only the action is kind of an oxymoron since action would infer that it is, in fact, action packed as opposed to action impaired.

I would think that there will be some sort of upgrade system included in RE 5 like there was in 4...Maybe they will give that some kind of context in 5, but the gunplay is still as stale...While the hit detection seems far better in the demo than it was in 4, the pistol is just as powerless as it was in 4...At least this time headshots seem to register like they should.

I think at some point people who loved the RE series when it began need to let Capcom know that what they are doing is no longer up to par. Poor controls were a lot easier to deal with when the original dropped because it was new, and delivered thrills. The only thing thrilling about the series lately has been when I turn it off.

I can't help but feel anger, and a huge amount of insult at what happened the other day during a George W Bush press conference in Iraq...A 29 year old man, a reporter for a TV station based in Cairo threw 2 shoes at the President. Mind you, I'm in no way shape or form a supporter of Bush, and am almost always on the opposite side of the spectrum with respect to his policies...But I am an American, and for better or for worse, he is the head of my country...So I would love to know the answer to a very simple question...

Where the fuck were this guys balls when Saddam was in charge? Why wouldn't he have thrown his footwear (a very large insult in the Arab world) at the Iraqi dictator? I know the answer, but would love to hear the bullshit that would come forth from this mans mouth. The answer is fear. Fear that he, his family, his friends, and any person he had ever met would be tortured slowly, maybe in front of him, before he was castrated, and hung out publicly as a show of force and to quell any thoughts of an uprising...



So the "man" who threw a shoe at the President of the US for "the murdered citizens, for the Iraqi orphans, and for a war on the citizens of Iraq" is a stone cold coward, and a liar on top of it. If he had so much outrage, where was it when the dictator was in power? The guy who threw the shoes is nothing but a cunt. Bush is by no means innocent, but the fact that the guy who chucked both his shoes at the leader of the free world is alive, and his relatives and friends are safe after his stunt is something he wouldn't have had before...Hopefully he will realise that....As empty as that is, it's the truth.

I've been playing the new Prince of Persia, and even after a solid few hours, and visits to more than a few 'Fertile Grounds', I can't decide if I love it, or hate it...

Maybe hate is a bit strong, but I can't help but feel belittled by Ubisoft Montreal with how they've Assassins Creed'ed the PoP control scheme and at times I feel like the term 'platforming' isn't actually applicable...And then there are those moments when everything comes together and I look like a fucking genius, and it's beautiful as the Prince pounces from pole-to-wall-to-swing-to-hook...And then there are moments where there are jumps that just go awry and I end up falling until Elikas hand grabs mine and brings me back to ground...The no dying ins't a biggie since it only alleviates a reload screen from popping up...Although if you suck then the hand grab scene may rival the Too Human Valkyrie scene (but not nearly as long).

I'm a big believer in precision platforming, and having to time jumps to the milisecond to get by...And I look forward to dying 1,000 times to get through a section and feel like I was forced to get it right. Is that my masochistic side? Probably...But the fact that there is so much forgivness is a big negative...And then I get sloppy because I feel like the moves that tie together are simple where I don't hit (B) to grab a hook late enough and die...And then I'm pleased...

I love the look of the game. It is beautiful, and the colors scream and pop off the screen...Seeing my colorful (almost gay pride parade colorfull Prince) contrast with the bleak colorless levels is nice, then seeing the world regain its beauty, and having the color saved for Elika and The Prince originally leaked all over the world really makes the simple control worthwhile...But, and there is always a but, the story starts to annoy me just as the simple control set up does...For any real exposition I'm forced to repeatedly hit the LT or LB to talk to her and find out more about the lands I'm saving. It wouldn't be so bad, but I have to hit the button at the minimum 5 times, usually more like 9-10 to get the low down. And the cut-scene this evokes is always from the same 2 angles (having both characters on screen, and swapping The Prince and Elika in the foreground). It would have been nice if they had some cut-scenes that gave me more exposition so I didn't have to stop-hit the button-watch the scene-hit the button-watch another and repeat until I get a corny one-liner that lets me know I have gone as far as I can for the moment. I can't understand the choice to force the player to hit more buttons to get a little hunk of story than the button presses I had to use to get through the area....

Which leads to the combat...Oh the combat...I miss the multi enemy combo-fest (or at least button mash) that was the PoP:SoT...The combat has "combos", but only in the sense that you can hit one button, then another, and another...But as long as you can deflect a strike by the enemy (one at a time) and tell what 'shield' they are using (which cuts down on the notion of a combo by being forced into a opening strike) then combat will cause no issues...The word combo, in gaming terms, implies that timing is an essential element. Timing matters not with the cmbat here...I miss the sweetness of the combo system in Conan...

I get that they want it cinematic, but instead of the combat feeling more focused with solid fights it seems like the combat was an afterthought....a way late afterthought...And I'm upset by that. But OK, playing a PoP game isn't mainly about combat for any fan...It's about the platforming (which has been simplified to almost a fault) but about the puzzles...BUT (again), the puzzles are pretty much MIA. A couple of crank puzzles thus far, which took no time in completing, and unless you have no clue how to approach a puzzle in a videogame shouldn't have much trouble completing quickly, is a travesty. How are puzzles, large and small scale so removed from the series?!? Now to be fair, I've yet to complete the game, but I have visited each area at least once, and completed one of the 4 completely...So I doubt they stuffed a ton of puzzles in the places I have yet to see...

So I'm torn. There is so much promise, and so much that has been underdelivered, and I still can't decide if I reallhy like, or am 'meh' about the game...I can't see how some of the design choices were made. The levels are beautiful, and are well laid out, which is all the more infuriating in one respect because I want to rule over the land....And instead I'm only allowed to be a hall monitor...It just seems unfair....