One long week

It seems I've missed quite a few days without updates so I have a lot to get around to.

Weighing heavily on my mind is the Superbowl... It was really a great, great game. Most sports analysts are calling it one of, if not the best Superbowl ever. It's a little hard to swallow my team losing, especially after the season they had, and the level of effort they put into the game. So strange to see Matt Light get dominated, and to see Brady not be able to pull off the final game-winning drive. I'm bummed that the Pats lost, but I think it was a lot more expectable than most of the points spreads indicated.

Metroid Prime 2 update: Got the Spider Ball! W00t! It was a really clever boss fight to get it, too: all Ball battle. Took me quite a few tries to actually pull it off, stupid platform that I didn't notice until my second attempt. The section I'm in is so thematically different from the rest of the game that it is a little off-putting, even though I love the look of the place. I'm still having fun with it, but I've getting very ready to finish it. I have 80% of the scans, so I might ease off the scanning, and just focus on getting the game plot finished, instead of hoping for 90+% scans.

I think I decided that Psychonauts will be the next game on my list. I was growing tired of it before, despite the clever humor and general good gameplay. I think that the darker themed platformer, coupled with the shooter elements just rubs me the wrong way. I'll definitely give it another shot, I think I was stuck on a "funky camera" boss battle the last time I played, so I don't want to be too harsh, loads of games have boss battles I dislike.

I made some progress on Guitar Hero 3 achievements. Such a silly thing to focus on, but I was able to get the "Meet your maker", for 20 points, then I decided to get some of the potentially other low-hanging fruit: Tone Deaf, Easy Career, and Hendrix Reborn. That last one took the use of a mirror to un-Lefty mode playing in Lefty mode. Maybe it's cheating, but I think I'm just being clever. I also got the Jet unlocked in my one-man Rock Band band. I had to notch it down to medium/medium to get past "Train Kept Rollin'", but even though I really got no fans, I got the jet, opening a slew of new cities and venues. I was able to squeak by "The Hand That Feeds" on Hard Vocals, Expert Guitar: it was actually the Guitar that almost killed me! I'm maybe halfway through Expert Solo Guitar Career, but I still can't finish Hard Career in Guitar Hero 3...

I got to spend a little bit of time with Zak & Wiki, mostly because Metroid isn't the best spectator game. Archer was flipping out every time I did something that would result in my death; which was about once per level, twice for a couple of them. So, so funny when you get killed, they have some really great, inventive ways to kill you in the game. It's already up at a decent level of challenge, which is slightly scary, since I'm maybe 4 rooms into it. I look forward to playing this one straight through. For the same reasons (playing for a crowd) I was able to spend more time in Super Mario Galaxy. That game is so amazing. It manages to stay true to the Mario formula, but feel completely fresh and interesting. The challenge is a little light, but I'm at around 30 stars, and I think you need 60 to get the end, with a total of 120 stars out there. I know I'll be getting all 120 eventually. That reminds me, I never did figure out how to get the final star in the DS New Super Mario Bros. game. I finished every level, and got all of the Dino coins... I think there is one alt-route that I'm missing. I should really try to find that one.

In a moment of weakness I re-downloaded the Burnout Paradise demo again. It still makes the 360 freeze up, so I guess it is consistent. I worry about the full game, especially since I think I want to buy it, but at the same time, I got skate. in the mail from Gamefly, and it is basically the skateboarding version of Burnout Paradise. I never made the connection from the skate. demo, but it is an open world, with different challenges scattered about the city, and different events in which to partake. Thing is, I am almost already done with skate., and might just send it back to Gamefly really soon. I'd love to nail some Achievements for it first, but the open world is a little annoying when it takes so long to get up a hill, just so that I can go down it quickly. This just makes me worry about getting BP, and hitting the same bored wall so quickly, that and the "kill the 360" thing.