Xbox Countdown Sale

This is billed as the biggest Xbox sale ever.  Note: not the best sale, just the biggest (meaning most stuff on "sale" during the prescribed period).  I guess the second week (starting around December 28th could be better).  So far I am thoroughly underwhelmed by the sale.  I picked up some point cards for this too...

I was looking for possible savings on (savings on most of these would need to be in the 50% off range)... 
* Kinect Sports Rivals,
* ScreamRide (won't happen because they introduced a bundle with Zoo Tycoon),
* The Wolf Among Us (Xbox One),
* Fallout 4 (I know 33% off at most - $40ish and I would probably get it), 
* Overlord Fellowship of Evil
* Shovel Knight. 
* A few LEGO games if they were cheap enough (360)
* South Park: The Stick of Truth (though I hate the abortion mini game)
* Torchlight

I will not buy "arcade" games for $20, I am not really a fan of $15 either. So far not so good.  I have only picked up Forza Horizon 2 DLC Storm Island and Kings Quest Episode 1 (because it was $1.50, $0.99 on the 360).   

For a list of stuff on sale look at the link below (if it decides to be linky, if not, copy and paste). 

http://majornelson.com/2015/12/21/the-official-list-of-deals-on-xbox-stores-countdown-the-biggest-sale-ever/

2015 Backlog: Xbox One

Another year.  A bunch of games I didn't finish (or in some cases start).  Yes, it is another list post.  What games (well, there may be more depending on backwards compatibility and the Countdown sale) have I still not beaten?  Should I be getting nervous that I am approaching the under 1 TB mark?  I should have Gold through at least October, so there will be more games added next year.  This is just stuff on my Xbox One hard drive (and 2TB external) as of December 19, 2015.

- not played
* not beaten (and probably never will be)
^ Games with Gold (will eventually lose these)
(BC) Backwards compatible title

2015 Backlog: Xbox 360

Another list post (hold your applause until the end)... So, what is on my list of games that I haven't beaten.  Scratch that, what is on my list of games purchased but not played (not beaten may make a comeback) that still exist on my 360 or Xbox One? 

This is not all the games, I have 1.8GB left on my 360 and had to delete many other games. I may add some games during the Countdown sale (and some games will go to the Xbox One when they are backwards compatible).   

The answer below:

Xbox Year in Review Email

On December 18th, I got an email from Xbox detailing  some stats in 2015 (since January).  So, how much time did I spend, how many achievements did I get, etc?  Why did they release these stats as of sometime around December 18th rather than waiting until the end of the year?  I don't know that one.  I probably have a few achievements on each account that don't show up in the stats. 

Can I do it again in 2016 (unlikely)?  I do have a sizable backlog of Xbox 360 and Xbox One games (however Games with Gold are going to eventually "give" games that I already own).  I also have a few games waiting for Winter Solstice and one for Xmas (I would guess). 

Video Game Resolutions 2016

Well, another year is almost over (mercifully).  What are my "gaming" resolutions for 2016?  Probably mostly 720-1080 P.  Not that type of resolution?

Gamerscore:
* Increase to 125,000 (primary account), 67,000 (secondary account)
    - currently (110,927 and 52,090 respectively).
* Xbox 360 gamerscore: increase to 80,000 (currently 75,000 ish.  100K would be cool, but is probably too much) - primary account

Other:
* Beat at least one game (see credits)
* Do not buy any game at $49.99 or higher
* Neverwinter: hit level 70 with at least one character
* Placeholder for anything i forgot

A Guy Walks Into a Target

So, a guy walks into a Target.  Why would anyone do such a thing, you might ask?  Well, they are currently having a buy 2 get 1 free sale on all video games (until Sunday November 15, 2015).

This guy figures "what the heck" it is Friday the 13th (awesome).  He says he will get the deal if he can find a third title (though he could probably just add a third title and return it - but that would involve talking to people, yuck).  He thinks, i wish i wouldn't have bought Forza 6 already. Unfortunately, the Target website "inventory tracker" wasn't working so he couldn't tell what was in stock before going.  He found Fallout 4 and Rise of the Tomb Raider, but another $60 title was not appealing (never mind their crap selection of games).  Sure they had Halo 5, but Halo 5 isn't worth $40 as a single player title.  

So now he will have to wait to see if he can get a decent deal on Black Friday (for newer games probably not), though Best Buy and/or Amazon.com will likely have a buy 2 get 1 free promotion in the not too distant future.

As an aside, the Target website kind of sucks.  They changed the weekly ad format to make it much worse, now you can't even zoom in on the small text in the ad (and the links are frequently wrong).

NXE and Backwards Compatibility Has Landed

The New Xbox Experience launched today.  i'm not sure if this has any performance enhancements over the stock Xbox One OS.  However, aesthetically, i much prefer the old method.  Sure you can still do the same, but i liked the original Home area - now i have to scroll down to find what i want (under My Stuff), stuff like games and achievements.

Xbox 360 backwards compatibility has landed with the first 104 games.  Not surprisingly, i had a few of these.  Hopefully i can free up some GB on my 360.  This is going to take a lot of time to download.  Strangely enough, these games seem to come with a little more overhead (or percentage wise on some XBLA games, significant overhead).  That is to say that Xbox 360 backward compatible titles have a larger file size on the Xbox One.  i didn't have some games installed on the 360, so i don't know the file sizes.  These are digital games only

Forza 6's Case is Almost Still Alive and My New Controller

Another who knows how long it has been since my last post.  Anyway, i semi-recently bought Forza 6 and a newer controller.  i strongly suspect that i can get Forza 6 for $5-$15 less than i paid for it during Black Friday, but oh well.  

Forza 6 was the display case one so i opened it up right outside the store to make sure the game was in it.  However, the inner case wrap got tangled (or at least mixed up by me) with the outer shrink wrap.  the result

Now for my newer controller.  Why would i "need" a newer controller, you may not ask.  Well, my controller that i was using developed an annoying habit of left stick drifting up (making it hard to use on menus and such and constantly making me move forward with no input).  So i traded it in to Game Stop for credit (i would have felt guilty about trading in a controller that i knew had a problem if they didn't put batteries in and test it) and picked up the following...

October's 2015 Games With Gold

Well the disappointing Games with Gold have been announced.

For the Xbox One, it is Valiant Hearts and later The Walking Dead Season 1
Xbox 360: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and later The Walking Dead Season 1

Why are they so disappointing to me?  Repeats.  In my mind, if something has been released as a Game With Gold (GWG) on one platform, it should not be released as a GWG on the other (though contractually it is probably easier for MSFT).  This has happened twice so far and will happen 2X next month: Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and The Walking Dead Season 1.

Xbox One Games on My Hard Drive as of September 24, 2015

Are you ready for a list post (since everyone loves those unless they don't).  This is what is currently on my Xbox One as of September 24, 2015 (like the nice title says). i've broken them down into categories.  i'm sure Blogger will mess up any formatting i attempt, yet again. Oh well, here goes....
* = haven't actually started up or played

Lunar: Eternal Blue on Japanese PSN?

Ok, so this is an out of character post... i was browsing NeoGaf as i sometimes do and came upon a post that said that Lunar: Eternal Blue was spotted on the Japanese PSN (or something like that, it probably isn't up for purchase).

Lunar: Eternal Blue is one of my favorite games of all time.  If the PS1 version of this game makes it to the US PlayStation Network i may end up buying a PS3 - assuming i can find a new one in a store (and they actually go for less than $200). They don't have PS1 classics on the PS4, right?

i'm far more interested in the PS1 classics than new titles anyway (and the PS1 i used at "home" is developing severe display problems).  The PS1 generation was my favorite for RPGs (after the PS1, i went to the Xbox side).  

Retail Video Games for the Rest of the Year (2015)

It is time again to look at which video game titles that i may want to pick up for the rest of the year.  Of course, i won't be getting any of these until the Black Friday shopping season.  There are an abnormal amount of Blu-Rays coming out during that time that i'm interested in anyway.  i would like to spend a maximum of $100 for the rest of the year (hoping for 3 retail games - including already released).  If i don't spend it maybe i can save a little for next year (ReCore, Quantum Break and Scalebound).

Some of these might have "Game of the Year Edition" versions coming later anyway.  This is, of course, assuming i don't win the lottery between now and then - how i hope that is a flawed assumption.

Xbox Ultimate Game Sale

Well, the Xbox "Ultimate" game sale started on July 7th (actually some were a day earlier).  It is slated to end around July 13th.   


I found this to be a disappointing sale.  Enough with the up to 50-60% off stuff.  Just say "20% or more off".  Overall, there wasn't really much that I wanted.  The big disappointment for me was that Ori and the Blind Forest was only 25% off with gold (not much of a sale is it?).  I refuse to pay $20 for an XBLA game (no, I will never think of these "indie" games as anything other than XBLA games) - that's why I was waiting for a sale. 


So, there wasn't much there that I really wanted.  Does that mean I didn't purchase anything?  No.


I ended up getting: Lego Batman 3, Tales from the Borderlands (telltale), Game of Thrones (Telltale, though I can't stand the boring show) and Ori and the Blind Forest.  The only game that feels like it was a decent deal was Lego Batman 3.  I could probably get the other games toward the end of the year for less (I could probably get Lego Batman a little cheaper too).  The one game that was a little tempting that I didn't pick up was Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition for $15 (maybe that will be cheaper later too) and I already beat it on the 360. 


So, why did I get these games now (when these weren't great deals)?  It is the way I do budgeting.  This was using cash from a previous period now so I still have my allotted amount to spend from now until next June.  I know it sounds crazy, but that is how I do things.   

Gamerscore: 101,001

101001, I wonder what that means (it seems like it should mean something). 


Well I finally broke the 6 figure Gamerscore mark (a couple of weeks ago) - more on that if I ever get around to it.  It is kind of strange having a Gamerscore ending in a 1.  I would like to thank a lack of a life, Games With Gold, Deals With Gold and increased Gamerscore for previously "Xbox Live Arcade" type games for helping me expedite this task (about a year sooner than I expected). 


Maybe i'll have a post breaking it all down in the future if I feel like it (not a sure thing)


I guess those hours spent on Neverwinter paid off (though I'm not really a fan of the game).  It isn't going to stay there for long (since they added some really easy achievements to Project Spark - especially since I still have Premium for another month).     

Game Room: The Final Leaderboard Post (i mean it this time)

i decided to take another look at the Game Room leaderboards.  I think these should be final since Game Room is no longer listed (I had to go to my download history to re-download it and the game packs).  I'm positive more games were sold than are suggested by the leaderboards (stupid leaderboard tiers - 10/100/1,000/10,000).  Taken on March 29, 2015. 

List of Games that i Will Never Beat (unless i do)

I decided, for no good reason, to post a list of games on my Xbox 360 and Xbox One (maybe someday my original Xbox) that for some reason I've given up hope on ever beating.  I define beating a game as beating story mode and seeing the credits (except for a few oddball games like Minecraft)


i'll try and include a "reason"/excuse) why (hint: too hard will likely appear often, all games should have an easy/casual setting - and some are even too hard at Easy).  There are a bunch of Games with Gold games (or at least deals with gold) that I started once then forgot about - or just never revisited. 

i Suck at Video Games... Let Me Count the Ways

Ever since i first started playing video games all those unspecified years ago i have had kind of a like/frustrated as hell relationship with them.  Yes, i have broken at least one controller by spiking it into the ground.  

It seems i have limitations that maybe i didn't used to.  i wonder how people look fondly on video game difficulty.  Difficulty = frustration, frustration does not equal fun (and i have a low tolerance for frustration).  i get no net satisfaction from lingering on a tough section - if i finally overcome it.  i hate the trend of masochistic games (Dark Souls and the like).  Every game should have an Easy/Casual mode (no, there is no such thing as "too easy").

List of Xbox One ID@Xbox games that seem remotely interesting to me

Now that GDC has come and gone, there have been some new ID@Xbox games that were announced.  There are some previously announced games that I hadn't looked into. I'm sure most of these will be out of my desired price range (why bother buying games at launch when they will be at least 20% cheaper in 3 months?).  i wouldn't go $20 for any game on this list (and these games will probably be too hard for me anyway).  I don't know enough about most of these.  Some of these will probably show up as Games With Gold

Project Spark: Content Packs

As a challenge grinder (and not much of a creator), these are the packs i feel are somewhat worthwhile.  Just for fun, i'll add how many challenges it would take for the pack to pay for itself without Spark Premium (thanks to challenges and Treasure Trove, it doesn't have to).  In alphabetical order..

Project Spark: Challenge Grinding: Champion

In Project Spark there are 5 daily Champion Challenges.  Do you want to know more about that?

First off, some of the moves can only be unlocked at certain levels (since i'm not sure which, i'll ignore that).  So what are some tips to level up you champion - whether it is the included 2 (Karlsnor and Scarlett) or if you just purchased the other 3?  The number in parenthesis by the character is estimated cost, the three other champions are available in bundles which may cost less - it did for me.  It is still going to take a while....

Project Spark: Challenge Grinding

Daily challenges are one of the primary sources of in-game currency in Project Spark (the other is creating games, which i suck at).

Keep in mind that it takes a while to get enough credits in daily challenges to purchase content packs.

Project Spark Premium: All in a Day

Well, i recently started up Project Spark with my alternate Gamertag to see how much of an impact Spark Premium made.

i posited that it could make a great deal of difference in the beginning as most of the goals and milestones would be unlocked early at double the credits and XP.

So what did i find/do?
- Credits: 50,110
- XP: 33,390
- Level: 18 (yes, i gained 18 Spark Levels in one day. There are only 50).  To put that into a little context, i've been playing Project Spark (on an account) since October and i'm level 43.

Champions "maxed": Karlsnor and Scarlett

Project Spark Experiment - New User

Project Spark is a "game creator" game on the Xbox One and Windows 8.1.  It is essentially a much more realized version of Kodu Game Lab.  Unlike Kodu game lab however, you can share levels and there are built in game modes included: Crossroads and Champion's Quest (though if you want to play past 1-1, you're going to have to purchase it).

What Have i Been Up to December 2014 - February 2015

So what have i been up to in the video game world since i last posted about it?  Let's see...

My Year With Gold: December 2014 - Febraury 2015

Well, it's been a while since my last post... what did i get from gold between December 1, 2014 and Febraury 28, 2015 - let me look it up.  i got a bonus month of Gold from the Halo Master Chief Collection.

List of Games Beaten in 2015 - through March

Well, somehow it is another year.  This is my post for games beaten in 2015.  The game just has to be completed (usually credits) in this year.  Episodic content counts individually (like Telltale games) on my list unless there was a disc/digital release (and i had it).

I decided to include some DLC on a case by case basis (especially if it has credits)

Hopefully it won't screw up my simple formatting in the post (like it always does, especially with returns/spacing)