This is BULLSHIT.

Last night my boyfriend was watching me play Fallout 3, the new love of our lives. I was in my shabby little Megaton house when all of a sudden the graphics became extremely distorted. We looked at each other in surprise and thought maybe it was just my house.

But when I stepped out the door, it was the same way. So I thought maybe it was just the game and went back to the Dashboard. The hair on my avatar was glittering in white spots! Worried, I thought restarting the console would fix the problem.

But it was just the beginning of many more.

One Red Light

When we turned it back on, we faced a dooming red light. We looked at each other in shock and disbelief. We had just bought it eight months ago!

Even though it was extremely disappointing that the new 360 would fail on us, we felt safe because we had bought a warranty for it when we first purchased it at Circuit City. So today, we drove out to Poughkeepsie to swap it for a new one. A few months ago, I had gone with my younger brother to Best Buy to swap his broken 360 and they had done it at the store with no problem. So Circuit City would do the same, right?

No. They told us at the store that their warranty will cover it, however we would need to ship it to a testing center.

Bullshit assholes, when we first bought the console you told us you could swap it in the store!

So reading through the Terms & Conditions, if it’s determined that the product is defective they will send us a remanufactured replacement, not a new one. And if they can’t do so because of changes in technology (i.e 20 GB 360’s are no longer made) they will send us a Circuit City gift card to cover how much we paid for it. And after we receive the new(old) one, or gift card, the protection plan is covered, completed and no more. That’s a complete waste of $76.

I’m so upset! Now I’m stuck with no 360 and my only option is send away for a new one which will take a few weeks (and the asshole at the store said it will only take one).

So to sum everything up, I will never do business with Circuit City again. Best Buy is the best way to go.

My Fable II Item Giveaway! – CLOSED

Thumbs Up!

Unfortunately, due to my previous Xbox 360 getting the Red Ring display error and my shitty Circuit City warranty, I no longer have my 20GB hard drive with my Fable 2 saved game.  All my items are gone! =(

When (and if) Circuit City sends me a replacement, I seriously doubt it will be with my old hard drive.

New Gamertag, Just For Fun!

I was at my brother’s house the other day and wanted to jump on his 360 for a few hours before going to work. I didn’t feel like downloading my gamertag so I decided to create a new one. I was stumped on what to name myself, so for inspiration I looked at my brother’s. He’s always been quite a creative one, and his tag is nerd witta gun. He also created the tag nun witta gun, which my little sister took… so you know I had to jump on the bandwagon!

Coming Soon: My nephew has a “witta gun” tag lined up. He knows exactly what he wants, he just needs people to file complaints against his gamertag so he can change it.

Fallout 3 Tip: Tesla Armor and Easy Caps

So it’s 1:45 a.m and my boyfriend calls me to tell me how he’s found a way to get loads of Tesla Armor and caps in Fallout 3.  Mind you, I’m very far from where he is in the game but he never stops trying to give me tips to help me progress (love him to death for that).  So here is his information, as he posted on GameSpot:

Millennium_King wrote:

If you fast travel to Alexandria Arms (around the corner from the Citadel) and go to your right you’ll see three Enclave soldiers fighting two Raiders in a bombed out building. Simply kill the soldiers but let the raiders live. It’s quite easy because the raiders are on the top floor of the building and once you enter, the soldiers will immediately engage you. The Raiders will not come downstairs. These Enclave soldiers always wear Tesla Armor and always carry plasma rifles. Once you loot everything, fast travel to your home and sleep for three days. Now fast travel back to Alexandria Arms. The Enclave have returned because the Raiders are still alive. Rinse and repeat. The plasma rifles can be sold for anywhere between 150 and 300 caps depending on condition. You can sell the Tesla as well if that’s not your thing, but I think it looks badass. Enjoy!

Meet My Hero, The Chosen One

I had a blast with Fable II the past couple weeks and I think I’ve just about run out of stuff to do. All that’s left is to buy out tons of property, take up a couple Slave Rescue and Bounty Hunter jobs, and make babies. So I’d like to introduce my Hero to everyone! Here she is, The Chosen One with her companion, Pegasus.

The Chosen One & Pegasus

My Hero is show here modeling the Long haircut, dyed in Liquid Gold. A gorgeous halo sits above her head because she’s 100% good and pure. She’s wearing a corset and Noble Lady Skirt, both dyed in Swarthy Revenge Indigo. She has Blue & Pink makeup and is carrying two Legendary Weapons – The Daichi and The Enforcer. Pegasus, her faithful companion, is wearing the Collar of Regality.

I’d also like to add that my Hero did not always look like this. Before recently, she was extremely buff because her physique level was 4, and she had tons of will power running through her veins because of all the magic knowledge she possessed. I decided to tone down her look and settle down with a family.

Fable II: You Have to Live With Your Choices – or Not!

A Guide to Changing Your Fable II Hero’s Alignment, by Angela Alvarez

Introduction

You toss and turn during your sleep because your body feels restless, and your mind is racing. Your life is burdened with routine and no excitement, nothing new. You’re bombarded with choices everyday, but even though the situation is always different, your decision is always the same. You behave morally, or you act evil. Your choice of lifestyle has even left physical impressions on your body; everyday you wake to that same face, the one with the horns or the one with the big bright eyes and golden flowing hair.

Horns? Yes! Does your Fable II character crave change? Do you want to lose that extra belly fat, those horns, and that disgusting reputation as a whore? Or maybe you’re tired of going home to the same family and tofu dinners every night, getting up at the crack of dawn to slave away over a hot anvil, and avoiding the local pubs. If you’re lost and you feel you need a change in your life, have no fear for there is a guide for you! With this guide* you’ll learn helpful tips to effectively changing your character’s alignment. So wake up, smell the Crunchy Chick. You CAN make a change.

*This guide also applies to those who want bigger horns, bright green eyes with evil, or more heavenly clearer skin with a golden-haired dog.

From a Corrupt Soul to a Model of Purity

The amount of change you need to make in your hero’s life depends on how far along you are on the Purity/Corruption meter. Here are some of life’s pleasures you’ll have to live without if you want to gain Purity points.

How to Lose Weight

1. Stop drinking all wines and beers, and hands off all the pies and meats. None except the very rare are good for you. All they do is put on the pounds* and lead to a gluttonous lifestyle. Instead, drink Well and Spring Water as an alternative, and eat as much celery as you can. Celery is very effective in shedding beer bellies, and Tofu is very helpful at gaining purity points.

*Note: If you eat tons of celery and never touch the harmful foods, and notice you’re still very big, check your physique level. The higher the level, the more naturally muscular and thicker your hero will be become. To lose your physique, simply discard your levels but remember, your hero will become weaker.

How to Gain Respect from Townspeople

2. Eating healthy foods is a great start, but they won’t make much difference unless you make more crucial changes in the way you behave as a businessperson. If you own lots of property and it’s all rented out, adjust the prices of shops and the rent for homes at least -20%. No one has respect for a slumlord. And if you currently have a huge wallet, buy out towns and keep the rent rates low. That way, large groups of people will appreciate you. The best place to start is the Gypsy Camp in Bower Lake.

How to Treat Your Body Like a Temple

3. Have a healthy sexual lifestyle. If you want to marry, marry only once and treat your spouse with love and respect. Move them into a lovely home (my personal favorite is Serenity Farm), decorate it nicely and make sure you shower her with intimate gifts. Give her a hefty daily allowance, and if you have children, make sure they are happy as well.

Or, if you find it entertaining to have multiple spouses, keep them on opposite sides of the map. Bigamy earns you achievement points, not purity points.

On the other hand, if you don’t want to marry and you fancy a quick romp with a prostitute or villager, make sure the relations are protected. Stock up on condoms at almost any General Goods shop and you’ll treat your body like the temple it is!

How to Stop Being Lazy

4. Stop sleeping so much. Sleep is a very easy to way to make time go by faster, but sleeping for days at a time can be harmful. Keep busy, do sidequests (ones that help the good people), or take up a shift or two at the local Blacksmith shop. You’ll earn some extra gold for your pocket while working toward that pure lifestyle!

How to Avoid Five-Finger Discounts

5. Stop stealing! Everything can be bought and only the really interesting items can be found through quests. If you find that you’re always stealing because you have to pinch every penny, wait for sales. You will always be alerted when there’s a new sale because the dollar sign will appear at the lower left corner of your screen on the d-pad.

Two Heroes - Image from GameSpot

From Pretty and Pure to Unchaste and Unsightly

Really, going from pure to corrupt is much more fun rather than the process vice versa. The Seven Deadly Sins are your new friends!

How to Gain Weight

1. You’re probably used to relying on potions to replenish your health when it’s low, but food is a much cheaper and tastier alternative. If you think your hero could use a few more love handles then keep pies and meats handy. When your health is low, the food will appear on the d-pad so extra weight is just a press away! And after a hard day of slaying balverines, don’t you think you deserve a tall cold one at the local tavern? Stop by the pubs and ask the barman for beer and wine. It’s cool, it’s refreshing, it’ll make you a little sick but it’ll warm your soul.

How to Freak Out

2. You’ve got your adoring little spouse and darling little children, but you’ll need to slip away from them in the middle of the night to get your corruption rate, and your heart rate, up. Travel to Bloodstone as soon as you unlock it and enjoy the company of as many whores as you can. Leave no prostitute unturned, and if you don’t mind, enjoy the company of tarts the same gender as you. Bloodstone is not the only place to find prostitutes, but they run most rampant in that area. If you’re propositioned for sex by random villagers, give them the thumbs up and accept!

And leave the condoms at home. Your wife counts them when you’re not looking.

How to Be a Slumlord and Make Huge Profits

3. Once you have a decent amount of gold, purchase property, rent it out and jack up the adjusted percentage. Don’t think about whether or not your tenants can afford it. Sure, the villagers won’t take a liking to you, but perhaps they’ll change their minds once they see the money they give you for rent goes right back to their tavern.

Unless, you own the tavern. In that case it’s all good for you.

How to Be Rude, Crude and Lewd

4. Forget all the positive social and fun expressions. Any time you’re in a town, use rude and scary expressions on the villagers. If you don’t have that many, you can find books that will teach you some new ones. And your companion canine can get in on the fun – point and laugh at someone, and your dog will urinate on them.

You’ll also earn an achievement, The Menace to Society, for performing a lewd act in public. I got this achievement by stripping naked in the Temple of Light and and vulgar thrusting toward a monk. But be creative and do it your own way!

How to Not Take Shit

5. The more corrupt you become, the more villagers will insult you and your lifestyle. You can simply slap people for opening their mouths, or you can take your longsword to their necks! Beware though, guards will run up to you and order you to either pay up, do community service or fight for your life. Murder charges are worth 500 gold a piece. A small price to pay for keeping your pride.

Perhaps I Hate Too Human Too Much?

“To get through all we’re gettin’ through without a scratch on us, and then to die to a handful of explosive enemies… just makes me so angry.”

As I lay in the bedroom with the pillow over my head trying to sleep and drown out all the noise from the living room, all I could hear was the conversation my boyfriend was making to his Too Human co-op partner. He had been playing for a few hours already, so I just fell asleep – something I’m notorious for whenever he plays. When I came back out into the living room, my boyfriend was the same way I had left him, sitting propped up on the couch in his dark blue shorts.

“What was that? I just fell for no reason, I didn’t see an explosion. I tripped over my cybernetic shoelace.”

I decided to take a closer look at him, to see why he enjoys the game that received mediocre to bad reviews. And as he’s playing, I notice it’s a glitchy piece of crap – he and his partner boarded the same elevator but apparently only his partner is able to leave the elevator.

“Hey the boss is shooting me and I’m not even there.”

But my boyfriend doesn’t seem upset at all. He just keeps jumping around the elevator, fighting random groups of enemies that fall from above. I notice that he sometimes moves the toes on his right foot in sync with the hits he delivers to the elves. I miss their reunion because my boyfriend asked me to serve him a cup of Sunkist.

“I can’t see the boss! It looks like you’re fighting nobody [laughs].”

I can’t help but laugh and scream what the fuck at the television because it looks like my boyfriend and his partner are fighting air. The boss is completely invisible but they manage to defeat him as a team anyway.

My boyfriend is addicted to the loot, the combat and the co-op play. As unappealing as the game is to me, it makes him happy. And while I’ll never touch it, I’m happy it’s there because it’ll keep him busy until something better, a lot better, comes out.

Save in Progress: Lost Odyssey

Far too often, I walk away from a game highly satisfied, yet unchanged. I’ve been tested on the limits of my brutality toward other beings, been given a chance to reflect my secret aspirations onto a customizable character, and have been allowed to be as creative as I want in building towns, homes, and people. But still, I continue my life unaffected. “Save in Progress” will be one of my features that focuses on games that do manage to spill over into my reality, and make a change for the better in my life, proving that games can do more than just entertain. They can save lives.

I’ve never believed life was something special; merely a cycle, a passage of time and physical deterioration. The heartbeat, the breath and the state of consciousness never stirred any sense of value in me.

I have never known someone who has died. I always felt I was the wrong person to talk to when death affected the lives of people I knew. All I could ever muster was, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Yet something is different about me now. I have been forced to think about the value of life and the pain of death, by a simple game. Lost Odyssey for the Xbox 360 relies on life and death as key drivers of story and plot.

The story is centered on several different characters, four of which are immortal. They’ve lived for 1000 years and have witnessed everything. After losing their memories, they set off to reclaim them and along the way bond with mortals. Their unique relationships with the mortals emphasize the pain of dying, as well as living forever.

The most touching parts of Lost Odyssey were the recollection of dreams of Kaim, an immortal. After experiencing certain situations, he recalls a memory. These memories are told as simple text, still images, and music. I cried after reading almost all of them, but one of them rang clear to me and made me look at my own beloved one.

“Don’t Forget Me Now, You Hear?”

YouTube Video By TyndeIM

My grandmother, who just turned 96, means everything to me. And up until recently, I have done nothing but treat her as any other person in my life. I didn’t show her how special she was to me. I didn’t take care of her.

The other day, she had an accident in her bedroom. She blacked out, fell, and her fan hit her on the head. She was bleeding so much and I wasn’t there to help her. I came home to see her and she was walking with a cane, something she never needed before. And all she could tell me was that she still loved me.

I made a promise to her that I would be there to take care of her, just as she did for me when I was a child. I realize that she won’t be around forever, so I need to make her last days as happy as possible.

Lost Odyssey’s story makes you think about the value of your relationships with people and how your life changes after they’re gone. All you have left of them are memories, but these are powerful as long as you keep them. Just don’t forget them now, you hear?

Achievement Tip: Ninja Gaiden 2 + "Feat of a Hundred Slashes"

When I first saw the achievement list of Ninja Gaiden 2, I thought there was no way I could ever get a 100-hit combo. I watched my boyfriend do it real easy just now.

In Chapter 6, you’ll come across a large area with mounds and mounds of bones for your quick little ninja feet to run on. A dozen skeletal creatures will appear and will chase you around. Run away from them and jump, while throwing your Shuriken at them. Make sure your hit counter remains on the screen and that you never get hit. You’ll only need to throw them about 25 times before you get the achievement.

Release Date Better Not Be a Fable

So yes, after a whole month of nothing new here I’m back and ready to write again. I’ve just been addicted to My Life as a King on the Wii, and caught up with other bothersome activities like work.

Today my boyfriend and I went to GameStop to pick up Lost Planet: Extreme Condition – Colonies Edition. The original LP is his favorite game on the 360 so we just had to get this version. While we were waiting for the guy to ring up our purchase, we browsed the list of upcoming games for the 360 and their release dates.

And what did I see on the list but my most anticipated game this year? FABLE 2! I asked if the date before my eyes was the official release date and the guy confirmed it. Fable 2’s official release date is October 1st, 2008. He also asked if we wanted to reserve it along with Ninja Gaiden 2, and we said yes.

While my boyfriend and I were walking out, we realized the guy didn’t even sign us up for the Fable 2 preorder but we just kept walking, happy enough to know when the game is coming out. I really hope that that’s the day and we won’t have to wait a day past that!

No Longer ‘Lost’ About This Game

After playing countless shooters on the 360, I was craving something new. An RPG, an action-adventure… anything! Devil May Cry 4 was good, but didn’t have me hooked, Eternal Sonata was visually beautiful but I found the battles oddly irritating, and I had played Mass Effect into the ground. Then, Lost Odyssey was released and I was happy – finally, another RPG on the 360 that I could try to enjoy!

But then reviews for the game nudged me away from it. GameSpot gave it a 7.5, IGN gave it an 8.2 and commented that loading screens never seemed to stop. For weeks I told my boyfriend that I didn’t want Lost Odyssey because I didn’t want to deal with excessive loading times.

Recently, it’s been reported that the loading times the writers experienced were far more lengthy and frequent than on retail discs. I feel I’ve been completely mislead by these reviews and could have been playing Lost Odyssey this whole time.

My boyfriend and I bought it last week. It has made me cry at least 3 times and I like the turn-based fighting. It’s got wonderful graphics, and damn near no loading times.

So, I’ve been taught a lesson: never completely trust a review. Become an active gamer and experience everything for yourself.