The most exciting thing that happened was that I had an interview at the Sony store in Manhattan.  It went really well!  I first interviewed with the  store manager, and then she liked me so much she gave me a second interview five minutes later with the operations manager.  He really liked me too and said they were definitely going to call me back.  However, that was over a week ago =(  I called and checked to see if the position had been filled and it hadn’t so there’s still a little hope left.

I started playing the Fallout 3 DLC, “Broken Steel,” earlier tonight.  After less than an hour of playing, I grew tired.  What’s wrong with me?

Topic: Gaming with your significant other

Picture this:  a gathering of formally dressed adults and children in lovely seats wait in a beautiful garden, with their eyes pinned to an entrance way.  A priest stands at one end of the aisle, awaiting a couple longing to be wed.  The band begins to play the bittersweet “Dearly Beloved” from Kingdom Hearts II.  One by one members of the bridal party appear followed by the handsome groom and the bride dressed in a Yunaesque wedding gown.  They are ready to vow to be co-op partners for life.

That’s exactly how I dream about my future wedding with my boyfriend.  He and I have always taken games seriously, from simply wanting to own games on release days or wanting to name our children after characters.  Just this morning we talked about the best and worst video game titles before drifting off to sleep (because he was up gaming all night).

If you had asked me three weeks ago what I most use our Xbox 360 for, I would have said gaming.  However, all that’s changed.  Something else has stepped into my life and has consumed it.  They call it… Netflix.

I haven’t had the desire to sit down and play any of the new games my boyfriend’s bought.  It doesn’t matter if he tells me they’re fantastic because all I can think about is the next Heroes episode I have to watch. I miss the days when I couldn’t wait to get home so I could complete another Fallout 3 quest.

Ironically, it was his idea to sign up for Netflix.  There has been a small slip in our connection because I’m addicted to it.  My boyfriend noticed the change in me.  He said he misses the gaming geek that I used to be!

All I have to do is run through 10 more episodes of Heroes before I’m fully caught up on the third season.  And then I can finally return to my normal gaming life with my love because I miss him too.

Other participants! Gaming with my wife, You could be doubling alone, Next Gen Killed Our Gaming Relationship, Forced Perspective, Playing With My Toys,  My Lady and Gaming, Gaming with your significant other, Gaming Together, Maybe?, Girl Gamers = Hawt, Gaming with my significant other, Move Over Hott Boy, I Want to Play, Valentine’s Day is for Gamers, Frag the Girlfriend!!, ‘Til Mongoose Do Us Part

Many aspects of the game are getting a makeover, including Kratos who is jumping from a design of 5,000 polygons to 20,000.  There will be more dynamic interaction with the Titans and Kratos will be pit against up to 50 enemies at once.  Enemies will also build strategies when fighting, responding to a leader or sometimes jumping Kratos all at once which can be countered by a wiggle of the analog stick.

Of course if the enemies are getting rebuilt, so is Kratos.  He’ll be carrying new weapons including the Cestus Gauntlets which look like two great animal heads on his hands.  Each new weapon will serve as a great difference form the Blades of Chaos, will have more purpose and allow the player more options.

There’s no release date yet for the end of the trilogy, but the anticipation is building!  Game director Stig Asmussen told Game Informer, “We want this to be the game that shows people what the PS3 can do.”

To see the awesome video posted on Eurogamer TV, click here.

[Source: Eurogamer.net]

Posted in PlayStation 3 Tagged: God of War III, PlayStation 3, Sony ]]> http://saveinprogress.wordpress.com/2009/02/13/new-details-on-god-of-war-iii/feed/ 2 Angela [Feralis Dawn] coversection11 http://saveinprogress.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/game-damage/ http://saveinprogress.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/game-damage/#comments Mon, 09 Feb 2009 03:02:02 +0000 Angela [Feralis Dawn] http://saveinprogress.com/?p=384 ]]> While browsing The Escapist looking for some hilarious Zero Punctuation videos to watch, I found my way onto Yahtzee‘s personal site.  There I saw his announcement that GameDamage.Net and its pilot episode is up.

GameDamage is a half-hour program starring Yug and Matt (the creators of Australian Gamer), with the devilishly funny Yahtzee.  These guys are distinctly different, giving them an awesome chemistry when they’re together.

The program is all about videogames which is so refreshing after one of the best channels dedicated to games, GamePlay HD, has been canceled and G4 has gone to shit.

Now GameDamage isn’t 100% perfect, it does have a couple minor flaws.  In between their discussion time they show skits.  They’re funny, but one skit wanted to make me rip my head off.  They act as Duke Nukem Forever devs who can’t come up with anything for the game.  It was funny the first time, but not the second nor the third.  The same goes for their Metal Gear Solid skit.

But put that aside and what you have is a really decent show hosted by people you can tell actually care about games.  They each have their own few minutes to rant or preview a game, and even though you have three extremely personable hosts, not every thing they say is meant to be taken funny or lightly and most of it is actually intellectual discussion.  Besides needing just a bit polish and a set script to follow so there’s no friction between the hosts, the show is an enjoyment to watch.

Uploaded by AustralianGamer

Posted in Gaming Sites Tagged: Australian Gamer, GameDamage, Yahtzee ]]> http://saveinprogress.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/game-damage/feed/ 1 Angela [Feralis Dawn] http://saveinprogress.wordpress.com/2009/01/31/dont-play-with-fire/ http://saveinprogress.wordpress.com/2009/01/31/dont-play-with-fire/#comments Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:55:31 +0000 Angela [Feralis Dawn] http://saveinprogress.com/?p=377 ]]> While playing the Resident Evil 5 demo tonight, I got a message from a buddy of mine warning me not to join Playfire, as it is being investigated for violating Xbox’s TOS.  They ask users as they are registering for sensitive Xbox and email related information, and people usually don’t think twice about handing that out for social networking sites.  I certainly didn’t.

Now, I regret joining that site and warn others not to bother with it.  Keep your information private!

If you’ve already joined it like I have, go through your Playfire profile and remove your gamertag, take out your email address in the Settings section and change your password to something that doesn’t even relate to any others you have.  As for your Windows Live information, change your password immediately (I did it through hotmail) as well as your secret question.

So please if anyone out there sees this and is willing to be interviewed, just leave your name and email address.  I will get back to you asap!

I’m majoring in journalism and for my reporting classes I was planning on covering video games.  Sadly, my professor has already stated in the syllabus that video games is a beat we cannot cover (insert frown here).  So I’m going to broaden it to technology and pitch it to him.  Hopefully he’ll accept.

I’m also taking a required music class.  For our first assignment, the professor wants us to bring in a song that we like and represents our music taste.  I’m going to bring in the main theme to BioShock, “The Ocean on His Shoulders.”  It’s such a beautiful song and I can’t wait to present it.

Uploaded by frynsesmadrer

1. Learn to Barter

Whenever you level up, you should always put points into Barter because this skill is crucial for getting ammo and Stimpaks for as few caps as possible.  And you will not survive out there without ammo and Stimpaks!  As for the actual transactions you do with sellers, the first thing you always want to check is how many caps the person has.  This number is in the upper right-hand corner.  Now you want to sell them everything you can, without going over their cap  limit.  Then, check and see if they have any armor, ammo or Stimpaks you may want (and you should always want ammo & aid).  This will decrease the number of caps that the person owes you.  From here you can sell more items that you may have but if you don’t have anything else to sell, you can complete the transaction.

The key to bartering effectively is to remember what the word “barter” itself actually means.  It’s an exchange of goods rather than involving money.

2.  Learn to Repair

While you’re out there in the Wasteland scavenging, you’ll come across a few different items of the same type.  Whether it’s weapons or armor, repairing them the right way will reduce your encumbrance by a larger amount, and make the item itself in better condition therefore fetching you more caps for it.

As for the actual repairing process, choose one of the items and the repair option.  From here you’ll see the item and beneath it the other items that you have that can be used to repair the one chosen.  Start from the bottom of the list and work your way up.  As you go up, you’re using the items in the worst condition first.  Using three poor items versus a single good one helps your encumbrance and will leave the items that are worth more caps.

3.  Learn to Level Up

Oh, how I love to hear those drums.

At the beginning of the game, you are asked to put points into your S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats.  From here you need to figure out what kind of character you want to have.  However, no matter what kind of character you want to have, it is extremely necessary to have points in Luck, Perception, Agility and Intelligence. These will unlock the best perks and Intelligence will grant you more skill points as you level up.  If you want your character to focus on Speech, you do not even need to waste any points on Charisma so keep that at one.  You should have your Strength at about six, Luck and Intelligence near 10, and Endurance, Agility and Perception ranging between five and seven. It should look something like this:

Strength: 6

Perception: 6

Endurance: 5

Charisma: 1

Intelligence: 8

Agility: 6

Luck:8

Of course you won’t be able to max out each of these S.P.E.C.I.A.L attributes right away.  Focus first on Intelligence and Luck.  Along your journey, grab the Agility bobblehead and complete the Those! quest (and choose Ant Sight).

And as you level up and raise your skills, remember that there are books, Bobbleheads, quests and especially perks that are very effective at raising your skills and attributes.  The first perk you want to use first is Intense Training, and you’ll use this to max out your Luck and Intelligence.  Also use it to raise your Agility, Endurance and Perception to seven each.

Other really useful perks include Action Boy/Girl, Gun Nut, Better Criticals, Commando, Educated, Grim Reaper’s Sprint, Size Matters, Strong Back and Tag!

4. Learn to Fight

Fallout 3 is an FPS, but don’t play it entirely like an FPS.  You really need to use the V.A.T.S system in order to conserve ammo and take advantage of perks you have.

If you can’t hit the broadside of a barn, don’t aim on your own.  If you can shoot, you can shoot freely but be sure to hit them dead on and in critical areas like the head.  Remember, certain enemies are only vulnerable in one area.

Now, Fallout 3′s got several weapons that are worth the time and trouble obtaining.  My personal favorites, being that I major in Small Guns, are the Xuanlong Assault Rifle, Lincoln’s Repeater and The Terrible Shotgun.

And while this may be obvious, use rifles for enemies that are at a long distance, shotguns for enemies wielding melee weapons or who are at a short distance, and assault rifles for when you are running toward an enemy.

5. Learn to Save and Reload

It’s a cheap move, but you’ve got to save your resources!  Before you attempt to hack a computer, pick a lock, or win a speech challenge, save your game.  That way if you fail the first time you can just reload your save.  Doing so will help you conserve bobby pins, earn XP and avoid getting locked out of terminals.

))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Fallout 3 is an extremely fun game, but it’s easy to get discouraged by its massiveness.  Taking one step at a time and having the patience to learn everything will ensure a fun experience.

So with all the holiday spirit I can muster, here are 2008′s Most Tearful Videogame Moments.

4. The Ending of Braid

This ending isn’t tearful as much as it is thought-provoking and depressing.  There are a few different interpretations of it as well, but for blog’s sake I’ll say that Tim believed the whole time he was trying to save the Princess when in reality, she was trying to escape him.

3. Dom & Maria’s Reunion in Gears of War 2

Maria is the only reason why I even bothered finishing the GoW2 campaign.  I had to destroy the Locust for her!  Dom’s desperate search for his beautiful wife was so touching.  When he finally found her my controller was dripping wet from the tears falling from my face.

Uploaded by ProjectSAGE

2. The Ending of Metal Gear Solid 4

An extremely epic conclusion for an extremely epic series.  This entire ending had my heart at attention.  My personal favorite is the scene between Raiden, Rosemary and John.  Or is it the scene with Snake in the cemetery alone with a gun in his mouth?  I just can’t decide, they’re all so sad!

Uploaded by Elite3xtreme

1. About 75% of Lost Odyssey

Almost all of the Dreams in Lost Odyssey are tearjerkers, there are about five different sad cutscenes throughout the game and the ending is full of sacrifice, love and departure.  *sniffles*

Uploaded by TheCockCrew

Topic: If you could ask for one thing this year from the gaming industry as a whole, what would it be and why?

While playing Fallout 3 a couple nights ago, I got an invite from my nephew to play Gears of War 2.  I just rolled my eyes and ignored it.  I’m so tired of multiplayer games because they’re not intriguing anymore.  The only one that caught my attention this year is Left 4 Dead.

Yes, it’s fun to play with friends cooperatively to reach the same goal.  It’s fun playing against people you know and chatting with them, instead of unresponsive A.I.  But enough is enough!

I’m tired of games where the multiplayer aspect is so hyped everyone gets disgustedly excited about it.  I’m tired of games that release with just a multiplayer option and no single-player campaign.  When a game relies too much on multiplayer to make it good, it’s an automatic loss.  In my opinion, the best games that released this year are games you played alone (MGS4, Fable 2, Fallout 3).  I should not have to play with someone else in order to enjoy a game.

So this year, I’m asking for more solid single-player campaigns: great storylines, characters, music and battle systems.  I want less invites in my inbox, and more “Is dat game n e good?” messages.  It would be great to have less headset wearing and more controller charging.  I’m asking the industry for less multiplayer!

P.S – Got a new 360!

Other Participants!

What I want in 2009, The “Roxanne” Edition, Dear Gaming Industry, if the industry gave us all presents this Christmas, Demands for the industry, All I Want for Christmas Is…, My Wish for the Year, Crossing Over, Checkpoint Unobtained. errr., Loading Requests, LISTEN BITCH!!!, One Wish, Dear Video Game Industry, More games like Portal and Braid, Imagine, Dear Video Game Industry, A Wish for 2009!

This one just speaks for itself so instead of going the political route with it I’ll just take it down to personal relationships. When one person is angry at another it just seems so natural to take the violent path against them (pacifists might not agree). Whether it’s being jumped after school, shot for a misunderstood glance, or slapped for a cold dinner, violence is an option so often used yet it doesn’t prove anything but our own levels of inhumanity.