Tag Archives: gold

XBL Gold vs. PS+

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Posted by Rob on July 8, 2011 – 7:13 am
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I received an e-mail from Microsoft this morning notifying me that my XBL Gold account would be expiring next month, which makes sense since I got a 360 last August. However, now I had to pose myself a question…do I want to spend the $50 to renew my Gold account? Not only do I rarely play 360 games online, but at the same time I’m paying for a PS+ account. Thing is, my PS+ account will be coming due soon too. Seeing how I’m currently unemployed and times are hard, I don’t want to be spending money I don’t have on things I really don’t need right now. So I got to thinking about the perks of both, and whether they were worth the price of admission or not.

What I get with a XBL Gold Account:

  • The ability to play online. This is arguably the best perk to having a Gold account, simply because you cannot play online without it.
  • Superior online experience. The 360 does offer a better online experience than the PS3, from the awesome and comfortable headset that plugs in right to your controller to the ability to have cross-game chat. I do believe there are more 360 players than PS3 players as well, so it’s easier to find a game to play online with the 360
  • Exclusive content. Gold members do get access to exclusive betas and demos before the general public.

What I get with a PS+ Account:

  • Free games. On average, PS+ users get one free game PSN game a week. It’s not just lame shovelware games either; I’ve gotten some pretty great games like Magic the Gathering, Sonic the Hedgehog, Streets of Rage II and others.
  • Discounted games. This is the biggest advantage to PS+, as I can buy games over PSN for less money than it costs on XBLA. Often times, many games are discounted from 33-50% off, particularly in the first week of release. I’ve gotten a ton of games on the cheap from PS+, and it has paid for itself many times over.
  • Exclusive content. I received early access to betas for DC Universe, Uncharted 2, and Uncharted 3, as well as early access to demos and other PS-exclusive content. Read More »

PSN Review: Hoard

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Posted by Rob on February 17, 2011 – 4:51 pm
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Who doesn’t love the simplicity of top-down stick shooters? Now take that genre, and replace the gun-toting hero with a flying dragon, and you have Hoard. Hoard is a really easy to learn, challenging to master downloadable game that lets one to four players take control of a dragon and rain fire down on villages, castles, knights, and other dragons as well.

As the title suggests, one of the main goals of Hoard is to collect as much gold as possible. Using your fire breath (and a few different power-ups), you fly about the map and burn down structures for gold. You can burn down fields, towns, castles, human enemies, carts of goods, and more that all drop gold. You then pick up all the gold you can and fly it back to your lair, where you can safely deposit it to add it to your score (and regain any lost health), and then head out and get some more.  As your score increases, you gain xp which can be used to upgrade your speed, fire breath, maximum amount of gold to be carried, and armor. Your stats start at the very beginning each match, so there is no need to worry if you assign xp to a stat you didn’t want. There are a few different modes, and each one is a little different, so it will probably be best to go over each one separately.

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PS3 First Impressions: Prince of Persia

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Posted by Rob on March 29, 2010 – 11:59 pm
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prince-of-persia

I got Prince of Persia in from Gamefly today, and decided to leave God of War III alone tonight so that I could check it out. I had tried the game about a year ago (had actually earned 6% of the trophies playing for about an hour when Steve brought it over), and I remember liking it, so it’s been on my queue waiting for a shot. While the game looks and feels good, I still have some early complaints.

One of the first things I noticed is the awesome look of the game. The characters are done in cell shading (a la Borderlands) and are very crisp, clean, and look like they came out of an awesome comic book. So the game is all about navigating the world, obtaining energy orbs. To do so requires the Prince to be extremely acrobatic as he leaps between ledges, up walls, and across roofs. There is little combat, but that’s not my biggest complaint. The story is good, and the gameplay further develops the story as you go (by talking to your partner Elika), so the basics of the game I like.

pop-_prince_and_elika1 prince-of-persia-1

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Top Reasons Why I Hate “Cindy” Crosby

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Posted by Rob on February 28, 2010 – 8:47 pm
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So I’ve never made it a secret that I hate Crosby, as I have complained about him in the past. However, after my last post about him winning the gold medal, I realized he never made my Shit List. Well, I just remedied that. So in writing that last post, I really had a blast finding awesome images on Crosby online, and I decided to devote this post to the various reasons I hate him. Mind you, some of these images will be repetitive from past posts, but most will be new.

  • He’s a baby- probably my most-used pic of him. I just love his stupid little face as he is probably whining because someone just called him Cindy, or because someone pushed him a little too hard, and he skinned his widdle knee

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But here is a new pic of him being a baby:

crosbythecrybaby crosbycries-shirt4469_90289722117_87767672117_1895197_2663169_s

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Canada Wins 2010 Olympic Hockey Gold Medal…Crosby’s Massive Ego Grows

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Posted by Rob on February 28, 2010 – 8:05 pm
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There were only 24 seconds remaining in the third period. Team Canada was in the lead by 2-1, and they were certain that victory had been achieved. Suddenly, to the shock of all, Zach Parise comes out and nets himself the tie-breaking goal, allowing the game to move into overtime. It was something out of a movie, with a team coming back with seconds to spare, and tying the game up so that there would be a chance to win in overtime. Unfortunately, this would have been a messed-up movie, because the evil antagonist prevailed. He’s the guy you love to hate, ugly, arrogant, egotistical, over-rated…it’s Baby Crosby. And he was the one who scored the game-winning goal for Canada, making him a national hero.

cryingcrosby

While I was obviously rooting for the U.S. team to win, I would not have been upset if it had been anyone else but Crosby who scored the winning goal. I have nothing against team Canada, and I will attest to the skills of all the players. It’s just that I hate Crosby, and the fact that he is the reason Canada won is why I am taking this so hard. Crosby didn’t need this to inflate his ego any more…I’m in shock that his head didn’t explode when they placed the gold medal around his ugly neck.

He’s been an over-rated player for years. Sure, he has some skills, but people who say he is “the best in the NHL” are sorely mistaken. Also, as the above picture states, he is a big baby. He is always complaining about how the other teams attack him. Of course they are…being the “superstar” that you are makes you a target. He’s also not beneath taking a ridiculously over-the-top fall and hamming it up just to get his team a measly two-minute power play. So take his “legend”, and add the fact that he was the youngest captain in the NHL, was the youngest captain to win a Stanley Cup, and now throw a gold medal into the mix, and you have yourself one hell of an egotistical moron. If the above doesn’t prove it, then this magazine article will:

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And hey, if you don’t see it yet, at least this guy does:

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I congratulate Canada for a great game, and a job well done. It was a really good game, and both teams were in excellent form. It’s just a shame that Canada owes more to its precious Baby Crosby than it did before today…

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My Wedding Band

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Posted by Rob on January 17, 2010 – 7:16 pm
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Shell and I picked up our wedding bands today at the mall. I snagged mine from Kay Jewelers, and Shell ordered her from Belkin.

I ended up picking out this:

my-wedding-band-004-small my-wedding-band-001-small

I know the pics are not the best quality. I blame the camera.

Anywho, I wanted the very best quality ring possible. Shell would not let me get The One Ring, and  unfortunately the jeweler did not have any adamantium or unobtainium in stock. Thus I went with the next best thing, being titanium. Its basically a black ring with a thin silver border. I have never worn rings before, and I did not want to get a “girly” gold ring, so I wanted something manly. I think this fits the bill pretty well, and Im pretty happy with my choice.

Just One More to Go To Get My Sacred Platinum

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Posted by Rob on September 5, 2009 – 11:26 am
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Yup, this morning not only did I find Amantin’s Legplates (giving me the entire set), but I also finished my gold campaign, and started the platinum difficulty campaign (my Shadow Warrior is currently level 71). So now all I have to do is rock through platinum, complete it, and then start a niobium difficulty campaign, and I will have myself my second Platinum trophy.

Man, Im such a trophy whore…

Almost There…

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Posted by Rob on September 3, 2009 – 7:58 pm
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If you read my other post, then you know of the hardship I endured attempting to get the “Survival” trophy for Sacred 2. Well, I got it last night. I think my problem the last time was that I concentrated too much on combat art regen. This time, I took the hit for slower regen, in exchange for better defensive armor. Also, when facing the four Guardians, I fought them one at a time after drawing them into the hallway, and they fell pretty easily.

Anywho, Im pretty close to snagging the Platinum trophy in the game. Just a few more trophies I have to get. The three annoying ones will be the ones in which I have to visit all the towns, visit all the Temples of the Gods, and acquire a complete armor set. So far Im pretty close, only missing one piece for Armitin, and two of each for Denderan and Lucretia.

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Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection is my First Platinum!

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Posted by Rob on August 28, 2009 – 12:57 pm
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Yes, its official. As of this afternoon, I have achieved my first platinum trophy for my PS3. As you can see, the game was Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection. While Im glad I finally achieved this, it was a rough road.

Many of the trophies were time-consuming. I had to play each game for about a minute, then exit out and go on to the next one, to get a trophy. I had to go into each game and look at the original game and cartridge art to get a trophy. However, the toughest challenge for me was getting the Yatta! trophy, which is gotten by beating Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, clearly the hardest game in the collection.

I spent well over an hour trying to beat the final level. Eventually I went online, and several people suggested that you play it on the hardest difficulty, making the pieces fall down faster, and just randomly place stuff and hope that the AI messes up. Well I probably did this for about 20 minutes, and eventually it happened. I started a new game, and was dropping my pieces, and I look over at the AI screen, and he has this huge stack going to the top. Suddenly, he hits the top, dies, and I win the game, and get my precious trophy! I literally beat him within ten seconds that round. It was great!

So the Genesis Collection is my first platinum trophy. I hope to get another one soon for Sacred 2, but otherwise I dont know about any others. My other games are either too challenging to get platinum in, or dont support trophies at all. We shall see.

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Finally Beat Sacred 2…on Silver…

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Posted by Rob on August 13, 2009 – 2:42 pm
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So it is done. What I thought I would never do I did. I completed the story for the silver difficulty on Sacred 2.

It was a blast. The last boss battle was ridiculous.

But I am nowhere near through yet.There are still oh so many trophies to be had. Plus Im going to take my character through the gold difficulty now for ever more XP goodness.