Bush Mackel

I think you’ve heard me say before that I LOVE achievements.

Achievements give me something to shoot for in games besides just completing which in recent years has just become too easy for console games. But like an itch that I just HAVE to scratch, I’m finding that I’m having a hard time putting down games trying to get all the achievements out of them that I can!

Which in itself - Isn’t really a problem.

This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race
The real problem is that SOMEWHERE along the way, all my friends that I hang out with decided that they cared about Gamerscore, and specifically about beating mine. A while ago before the new kid came, I had built up a sizeable lead on them but now being saddled with two kids - My lead has significantly diminished. Well you know - It’s not even really that that has made me slow down because I’m still finding time to play. Care to guess what the problem is?

Ninja Gaiden is the Problem
I’m trying to make this game my first 1000 pt game (which is easier said than done because the game is unbelievably hard at the higher difficulties) but outside of that - There are like 7 achievements that you get for beating the game using only one weapon at a time. They only give you 5 achievement points, but in the end, they make up those 1000 pts needed for the game. And as you may have guessed, playing through Ninja Gaiden II, (7 or so times), can take up a lot of time. Surprisingly though, it doesn’t feel like a chore as the game still feels fresh and fun even with me now playing through it for my 4th time! Who would’ve guessed?!

So any spare time I have these days, I’m spending in my man cave playing Ninja Gaiden. Thankfully my addiction/fear/whatever you want to call it isn’t that bad that I’m just playing games I hate just for achievements but on the flipside of things, I think my friends are going to kill each other soon because of this bloodfeud we have apparently started over our respective Gamerscores. I’m telling you, the e-mails we pass between us everyday while at work are getting BITTER. I’ve always said that if something ever happens to me to blame the wife. But now I might be changing that story.