Deactivate my PS3? Since when is that a thing?

Well, I learned something new today.

I'm on my 4th PS3 now.   I started out with a backward compatible 80GB deals waaaay back when.   But right when The Force Unleashed II came out, my system died.   So, I packaged it up, sent it to Sony and swapped it for a PS3 Slim.    I had that for several more years until it started to show it's age and was making alot of noise:

Since I had swapped the 120GB HDD awhile ago for a 1TB drive, I really didn't need anything fancy, so I decided to sell this one and then replace with a PS3 Super Slim 12GB version that Wal-Mart was unloading for $150.   So I did, but then I ended up with with this (you can fast forward to the 1:10 min mark to hear it really kick in, and excuse my mess, I was pulling cords and moving stuff around to see if there was some other issue)

So I ended swapping this one out as well and now I have a good PS3.   So last night I attempted to download some games that are tied to my account but unfortunately, PSN only lets you authorize two PS3s to run your digital content, I was unable to do so.   The nice message lets me know that it's easy to resolve, I simply need to deauthorize my old PS3s.  Easy right? 

Not so much.   The only way to deauthorize yourself is to do it from the actual PS3 itself, but I couldn't do that since I didn't have the PS3 anymore.

As it turns out, it wasn't too hard to resolve.  15 min on chat with PlayStation support and I was back in business.   My downloads work now and my new PS3 so super quiet.

Back to more Assassin's Creed...

This Month in Collecting: Last 3 months edition...

Crap, I've been a slacker so it's time to get updated.    I kept thinking that I've not picked up much over the last little bit, and perhaps relative to previous years that is correct, but still over the last 3 months, I did pick up a decent amount so I'll get this all updated.  I'm listing everything in the order in which it was purchased.

As always, click the pics for larger images.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

I've been needing to get a copy of this for a long time.   I kept thinking that I'd eventually pick it up and then I noticed that Nintendo had started releasing the game without the red case and the collector in me freaked out.   Had to find a complete copy, with the red case and in good condition.   And here it is:

This Month in Collecting: May 2014

It's time again for: This Month in Collecting: May 2014 edition.  Not sure why but for some reason, I was able to use a little restraint.  Only two titles in total this month (though, I did pick up the 3 DLC missions for Gravity Rush) so this post will be short.

Click the pics for larger images.

Borderlands 2

Originally, I wasn't planning on getting this but I got a bit fired up with the reviews for this game and decided to show my support for the Vita and get this title.  Specifically, I read these comments over on NeoGAF and decided that Borderlands should be a game that any sane Vita owner should purchase so we can show that we do want quality games on our Vita

This Month in Collecting: April 2014

Another month has come and gone and so, I close this month with my This Month in Collecting: April 2014 edition.  Again, trying to get back into the swing of things so here goes.

Below is everything I picked up in the month of April.  Clicky the pics for larger images!

Ragnarok Odyssey ACE

I already have this on the Vita, so when they re-released it and ported to the PS3 with additional content I opted for that version.   The Vita re-release was a nice box set with a soundtrack but I already have that from the initial release so I decided to go for the big boy version.   Total impulse buy as well.   I dig the cover art and that the manual cover art isn't just the cover regurgitated.

Final Fantasy - The Quest for Completion

I recently started replaying both Final Fantasy I, Origins edition.   After I played it years ago, I told myself, that one day, I would replay it and complete it.

What does this mean for Final Fantasy I?  Well, I'm playing the Origins PS1 version which had two difficulty settings Easy and Normal.   Easy allowed you to collect a ton of spell points (up to 99 for the lower levels), less XP was required to level up and everything cost more.   That's the version I have beaten, so to go for the Completion I decided to a few things:

1. Play the game on Normal which follows the NES 'rules' (without the annoying 'missed' when you target and enemy and it dies before you hit it).
2. Fill the Items list to 100%
3. Fill the Bestiary to 100%  This will likely prove the hardest to do as it requires me to run into Warmech which in my various playthroughs prior to this, I never have.

So only three requirements, not too bad.  Anyone out there fight Warmech before?   Is he hard?  Should I add Lv 99 as a completion requirement?  Any other requirement I missed?

Far too long...

Oh boy, it's been far too long since I posted here, so I'm doing a recap for Q1 of 2014.

I have not, as of yet, taken the plunge into the next gen (or I guess at this point I should say current gen) as I feel like the PS3/X360/Wii era is going strong.

There's a still quite a few titles that I need to pick up as well as several game still to come.

So what HAS happened for Q1?  So far I've beat the following:

Ratchet and Clank
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Day
Dead Space 2
La Pucelle Tactics
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Batman: Arkham Origin

Yes, I started the year off with yet another replay of Ratchet & Clank, this time back on the original PS2 and ran through with no cheats, no glitches to get to the all the weapons (including the Gold Weapons), Skill Points, and Gold Bolts.

I finished off Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (I started way back in August).   I actually ended up doing a 180 on the game and I really liked it.  The gameplay was pretty solid, had a great story and the leveling and abilities method was unique and fun

Dead Space 2 was next and unfortunately I was not nearly impressed with the game as I was with the original Dead Space.   Never been a fan of the mob rush style of games and this one seemed to do that alot more than the first one which was used slow mobs with limited ammo to ratchet the tension which I felt worked better.

La Pucelle Tactics was next and I decided to give this a roll after playing Disgaea last year.   I liked Disgaea but I think I enjoyed La Pucelle better.   While the gameplay was similar, it was a bit more straightforward than it's successor (in the states La Pucelle released after Disgaea even thought it was developed first).

And then I went right into the final chapter of the much maligned Final Fantasy XIII series, Lightning Returns.   I actually enjoyed the first two games; they are far from perfect but I still enjoyed them.   Lightning Returns was a totally different take on the series going for a more open world\quest based approach than it's two predecessors, and letting you roll solo for the vast majority of the game. I really enjoyed it and it was a nice wrap up to the series.

And the last game for Q1 2014 was Batman: Arkham Origins, which, I believe is possibly one of the best of the Arkham games so far.   For the record, I never once ran into a problem with game despite the hoopla about game breaking bugs and such.   Anyway I really enjoyed the game and now I'm looking forward to Arkham Knight.

So in total for Q1 I beat 5 games and completed 1.

As for acquisitions, I've added 23 new physical games to my collection:

The Witch and the Hundred Knight  (PS3)
Batman: Arkham Origins  (PS3)
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward  (PSVita)
Valhalla Knights 2  (PSP)
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster  (PS3)
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster  (PSVita)
Dark Souls II: Black Armor Edition  (PS3)
Ridge Racer  (PSP)
Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky  (PS3)
LEGO The Lord of the Rings  (PS3)
Tales of Symphonia Chronicles  (PS3)
Remember Me  (PS3)
Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified  (PSVita)
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII  (PS3)
Bravely Default Collector's Edition  (3DS)
Samurai Warriors 3  (Wii)
Army of Two: The 40th Day  (PS3)
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon  (Wii)
Two World II  (PS3)
Battlefield 3  (PS3)
Borderlands 2: Game of the Year Edition  (PS3)
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2  (PS3)
LittleBigPlanet 2: Special Edition  (PS3)

And a couple of digital ones:

Torchlight  (Steam)
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition  (DSiW)

That kinda wraps up my Q1 gameplay and collecting efforts.

I'll try to post more frequently.   We'll see how that goes...

Collecting: Oct 1, 2013

Well I picked up just a few titles yesterday, two retail and one digital.   I am generally against digital copies of games and will strive to get the retail copy whenever possible but in this situation I couldn't really justify not getting the digital copy.   With the release of Valhalla Knights 3 on the PlayStation Vita coming up, XSEED has been kind enough to allow anyone to download the PSN copy of the first Valhalla Knights for the PSP for free.   Yup that's right, free.   I can't really argue with that price so I now have that.

In addition I picked up a couple of other titles:

Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl

The latest entry in this series and:

Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds

The only Hot Shots Golf title that I was missing.   Last week I found a complete copy of Hot Shots Golf 2 so it was really nice to find a complete copy (and in really good shape).   Now my Hot Shots Golf collection is complete, at least until they release another one.

Collecting: Sep 25, 2013

Me updating this blog is long overdue so now's a good a time as any.

I spend some time up in Franklin, TN this week and on my way back I stopped off at a Play 'n' Trade in Murfreesboro as I was heading back to GA.   It was a pretty solid store and I was able to find a few titles that I've been so far unable to find.   While I was there I picked up:

Hot Shots Golf 2 - PlayStation
Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice - PSP
Max Payne - Xbox
Medal of Honor: European Assault - PS2
Call of Duty: Finest Hour - PS2
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One - PS2

A decent set of acquisitions, especially since all of them were eligible for buy 2 get 1 free so I got 6 titles for the price of 4.  Everything was in great shape with original artwork and manuals except the jewel case for Hot Shots Golf 2 was really banged up (not a big deal as I've got several spares lying around) and while the Max Payne case was the original non-platinum hits version, they only had a platinum hits disc.  At some point I'll have to replace that.

Anyway, it was nice to pick these up, especially Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice and Hot Shots Golf 2 as they have been titles I've been looking to get but can never find.   MoH:EA was a nice pickup as well as it replaced the copy I currently had which had the MoH triple pack cover art, manual and disc which is slightly different than the original release.

Overall, I'd say a successful trip.  Hopefully I'll have need to get up in that direction in a couple of months so I can pop in there again.

My issues with Xbox One

It's been far too long since I posted something up here in my blog so I figured I'd better get back to it.   I thought I'd write a bit about the Xbox One and why I won't be looking to get one in the near future.

Xbox One has taken a lot of heat in the last few weeks over their DRM/Always On (well not always on but frequently connected)/Lend the disc once/etc policy.   I'm not a real big fan of that but I want to be clear on the reason that I'm not going to get this console in the near future.   And they aren't handling the messaging very well:

As a collector, I tend to take a long term view of a game/console.   When investing, I want to know that I will have access to a particular game and the content long term.

For example, with games like Borderlands, Fallout 3, Batman Arkham City, Skyrim and many others, I always get the GOTY editions that have all the DLC on the disc.   In 5 or 10 or 20 years when I am on my 4 console for that generation, I will still be able to play those games with all the additional content.   When PSN/XBL have gone away (or if they just don't have the content online anymore) I will still be able to play those games.

And that is my biggest issue with Xbox One.   What happens in 20-30 years?  Will all the games I've purchased be available?   There's no way to guarantee that service will still be available for me to authenticate my game with.   I would have a $500 dollar paperweight with discs on the self that I can't play because there is no way to authenticate to a server because it no longer exists.

For that reason and that reason alone, the XBox One will need to be steeply discounted before I buy the console (or they need a policy change) and I would never pay full retail value for an Xbox One game.

As of right now, the only home consoles I will be looking to get are the PS4 and the WiiU.

2012: The totals

Wow, another year has gone.   It's time for my yearly wrap-up!

So this year was considerably different from 2011.   In 2011, I made a huge push to beat a massive amount of games.   And I did.  I beat a total 59 games in 2011 and this year wasn't even half of that.   However, the first half of the year was focused solely on RPGs (well not 100% but nearly) so it was considerably different make up in the type of games beat this year.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.  First off, the final tally from a collection standpoint.