Some Type of Accomplishment

I was dumb enough to re-subscribe to Gamefly in the midst of the holiday rush. My Q was topped off with some big hits like Fable 2, Dead Space, Far Cry 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and more. However, I ended up getting item number 12 on my list, Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Burning Earth. More commonly known as the easiest 1000 achievement points in a game. As exciting as it was to finally overtake a few people on my friends list, it was a hollow victory because I was really hoping for something worthwhile.

I’m still awaiting a coupon from Best Buy until I buy Fallout 3, so that should be happening soon. However, time does not really permit it as I have quite a bit due in the next few weeks. I’ve got papers and projects left and right, with all intentions to finish up my big paper on games and submit that one for publishing.

To pass the time, I’ve been playing a lot of Xbox Live Arcade games. I got 200/200G in Portal: Still Alive, which required me to play through the game yet again, which I didn’t mind since I love the story of that game so much. I also read the recent Gamasutra article on the game, which is very interesting.

I fully intend to make a well thought out blog post with a bit of substance once time permits.

Also, I’m looking to expand this blog and maybe add another writer or two. Another student into gaming would be ideal, and I know there’s plenty of those out there. I’ve got ideas for things to do around here. We’ll see how this pans out, won’t we?

A Sad State of Affairs

One of the drawbacks, actually, THE drawback to being a student and a gamer is that midterms fall the same time all the big holiday-shipping games start to hit. It's bad when the only experience I got to have with gaming was a few battles in Final Fantasy IV or a couple of rounds of Lock's Quest.
Luckily, the biggest of my assignments, the first half of my paper on studying narratives in videogames, was due this past Monday. To reward myself, I dropped some MSP on Wednesday and bought Portal: Still Alive. With the thoughts of my paper fresh in my head, I was thinking about the story behind Portal, and how much I enjoy it. It's one of the few games I've finished multiple times, and although the length is one factor, the story is the real driving force. The simplistic brilliance of the story, and the way it unfolds as you progress, is totally worth the game's price tag. I never purchased The Orange Box, only rented it for the sole purpose of Portal.
If I'm going to play through any game multiple times, I want it to have a story that can engage me just as much with each successive playthrough. I've played through Resident Evil 4 multiple times because I enjoy the story. Granted, I enjoyed the gameplay more, but the story was good enough so that I didn't mind playing through multiple times. RE4 brings me to my current rental, Dead Space. That game is a whole new level of creepy. I'll probably mention more as I get through it, since I'm still in the first chapter, but I'm already enjoying it and I'm sure I will enjoy the rest of it if the reviews are any indication.
So I've got that on my plate, with intentions of checking out Fable II soon. Next week the cascade begins with Fallout 3, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and C&C: Red Alert 3. If Legendary is ever released I'd really like to check that out. November brings Call of Duty: World at War, Mirror's Edge, Left 4 Dead and the GTAIV episodes. Everything is moot however once November 25th rolls around, however, as I devote my time to Chrono Trigger on DS, and play through that for the 851st time.
I wanted this post to have a point, but it seems it never ended up that way. Maybe next time.