Mini Shepard and Liara

Last week I purchased 2 x Mass Effect USB sticks. The bad news is that they won't be sent to me until November. The good news is that by then I will have forgotten that I ordered them and it will be like a clone of me has been ordering very COOL stuff for me on the internet.

Of course, it's also likely that USB technology may be entirely defunct by November... still, they're very cute (16GB - limited edition of 2000 each).

The Liara one

The Commander Shepard one

Bioware store: http://biowarestore.com/commander-shepard-16gb-mimobot-flash-drive.html

Go, go, go!

Ordinarily I'd get stressed out if you told me to go, go, go! But when I'm sat in a rocket-propelled boat, it's a whole other story. I've been swooshing around on Hydro Thunder Hurricane at every opportunity for the last coupe of days... exploring weird and wonderful tracks, oohing and ahhing over brightly-coloured boats etc.

And I've been happily collecting achievements. Well, I was until I realised what one of them involved:

Humans Gooood - Play a 4 way local Multiplayer race in which all the humans beat all the AI.

Seriously? Who's going to be able to get this? Not only do I have to get three people to come over to my house, they have to bring a controller with them AND be good at racing games. Possibly THE most annoying achievment I've ever come across. It almost makes me want to switch my Hydro Thunder Avatar t-shirt to something else. But then I remember the level with the giant Viking, and the epic jumps over canal boats... Hydro Thunder Avatar t-shirt stays.

1GOAL - 1 very cool avatar t-shirt

The World Cup may be almost over, and England may have done even worse than usual, but one thing I've enjoyed over the last few weeks, is wearing my 1GOAL t-shirt.

I often struggle to know what to dress my avatar in (I'd been wearing the pink Depeche Mode, Gnome Chomski t-shirt for approximately 6 months), so when I found out there was a t-shirt I could download that could also help children worldwide get access to education, I was over the moon.

Every download of the t-shirt counts as a signature on 1GOAL's petition, urging world leaders to provide education for 72 million children who are denied the chance to go to school. This weekend is your last chance to download the t-shirt, oh, and did I mention it's FREE -

Male 1GOAL t-shirt here: http://bit.ly/bZRoAL
Female 1GOAL t-shirt here: http://bit.ly/ddat90

Talking to Strangers

I'm enjoying Red Dead Redemption, but I find the cut-scenes way too long. I've been skipping them so much that I no longer have any grasp of the story. I'm a bloke on a horse with lots of things to do. That's it. I still have a lot of fun, but it's not the same as being gripped by the story AND enjoying the gameplay.

I started to think about games where I haven't skipped the cut-scenes at all, and realised that they were few and far between. And so begins another set of themed posts - my top three games with show-stopping cut-scenes. In no particular order...

#1



Oddworld Stranger's Wrath was THE game that got me back into gaming. The story totally drew me in and I was so invested in the character of Stranger, that it just wasn't possible to skip even a second of a cut-scene. I laughed. I cried. And when I wasn't talking to townsfolk, who just happened to be chickens, I was hoping there was another cut-scene around the next corner.

Horseplay #2

A little while ago I had a traumatic experience while playing Red Dead Redemption. Actually, I haven't played since. It involved an attempted good deed, a stolen horse and a very steep drop. Perhaps I should start from the beginning... 

I'd been playing poker for some time and needed something to take my mind off the fact that I'd lost all of my money. Something to do... Something to do... As luck would have it there was a guy outside the saloon who'd just had his horse stolen that very second. I was happy to help and galloped after the horse thief.

By the time I'd caught up with the thief and dispatched of him, I was miles from town and had a long ride ahead of me to return the horse to its rightful owner. A shortcut was clearly in order and I decided to return to town as the crow flies and ignore the designated path. Big mistake.

Next thing I know, the horse and I are flying off the edge of a cliff. You may not be able to lead a horse to water and make it drink, but if you lead a horse to a cliff edge, it will totally just carry on galloping.

I survived the fall relatively unscathed, but the rescued horse lay in a crumpled heap on the floor. I felt terrible and walked over to the horse in the vain hope that maybe he was okay. And that's when the terrible thing happened... I accidentally skinned my horse. In my shocked state I pressed the Y-button to get back on, but ended up SKINNING it. The horror.

I am possibly the worst good samaritan in the world.

It's taken me a little while to come to terms with what happened that day. But I think I'm ready to go back now. Those of you who read my earlier blog post may remember that this isn't the first time I've had a bad horse experience. Hopefully, I'll still be allowed to have a horse in light of my previous history. If not, look out for me - I'll be the cowgirl power walking everywhere.