PS3 | The Recycle Bin

Mel B – Hat Trick Time

I haven’t rolled in the hay with Mel B this week, so Sunday morning I wanted to get in a couple of 15 minute quickie workouts.

The exercise is actually good for me; between the previous weeks with Mel B and helping to run soccer practices, I am actually feeling rather sprightly for old dad gamer rapidly closing in on 41. Ouch. As an added bonus, going with two 15 minute workouts continues to push me forward towards the various Bronze 20 minute workout Trophies.

Besides knocking off ~225 calories, I was pleasantly surprised after the Silver ‘Hat Trick’ Trophy popped (Trophy Ding!!!) for reaching Step Level 80. Nice! Too bad after my Fitness workout, I am still stuck with a Fitness Level of 55.

I am now at 56% complete, and I think within the next 4-6 workouts, the Silver ‘25 Levels Up’ (Raised any category’s Fitness Level by 25) and Silver ‘Professional’ (Reach level 90 in any category) are real possibilities for the next unlocks.

I have no idea how far I am from the 1000 rep Trophies for sit-ups and push-ups. I’ll probably get those at some point, but since Mel B does not keep up with individual reps, I am really not sure when these buggers will pop.

Random Gaming Nonsense

Saturday brings us face-to-face with some random gaming nonsense. In other words, not predictable, something less than wholesome, and somewhat troublesome.

Ricky Bobby: Well let me just quote the late-great Colonel Sanders, who said…”I’m too drunk to taste this chicken.”

It’s actually been a great week gaming; just not a lot of variety.

Altered Beast
Recently received this one as part of the September PS+ update. It may be a classic, but goodness gracious does it not hold up well. Poor controls, dated graphics, and uninspiring (dare I say frustrating) gameplay does not do much to entice me to burn my limited free gaming time with this one.

Besides, I typically migrate to classics, but only those that I actually played and was fond of playing. Altered Beast does not fall into this category. I doubt that I will spend much time attempting to get past the poor controls in this dated game whore-ing the Trophies.

Thank goodness this run of PS+ Sega games is over!

Ferrari Challenge
Ferrari Challenge is a game I keep coming back to; on and off love affair for the last two years. While it is a mediocre racing game, and does have some merits, I’m really just in it for the sex … err … Trophies. I’m currently sitting at 40% following this guide / roadmap. I’m about to start a long ‘Trofeo’ Trophy Mode grind, which should net me 20+ Bronze Trophies. Sadistic when you consider that each one of these will take 30+ minutes.

I received my first Ferrari Challenge Trophy 2+ years ago, so it is fair to say that Trophies due add value to a game. Without the add-on Trophy support, I would have bailed on this one a long time ago.

Mel B
Haven’t fiddled with her all week. Hope I don’t turn into a fat ass for lack of effort. Maybe I’ll get in a quickie with her later today, but that is really going to be hard with the kids having a couple of soccer games today. Plus the Georgia game. Richmond race. No fiddling today …

Kung Fu Rider
Still doing the needful with this one; partly because my nine year-old son rates this one 4 out of 5 stars, but mostly because I am determined to get another couple of Trophies.

Back Catalog Goes Ever Longer
I picked up Pure on the Amazon discount rack for $9.80; can of beans not included. This weekend Pure has hit the sub $9 mark. One of these days I should get around to opening it and seeing what a great game it is and what sort of wonderful shiny Trophies are on offer.

I also picked up Hunted: The Demon’s Forge … no idea why other than it was on the cheap and sometimes I like some mindless hack and slash fun.

Interestingly enough, I picked Demon’s Forge when it hit $18.99 on Amazon (I believe last Sunday or Monday night). Within hours after placing my order, the price was further reduced to $16.99. I went online, chatted with someone halfway across the word, and convinced him to do the needful. Refund of $2; every buck matters.

JRPGs …
Really feeling like I need to open up one of my titles and site in for the long haul. More on this later …

Kung Fu Rider – Falls Flat

I knew what I was getting into when I order Kung Fu Rider from Amazon on the cheap a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to try to the game when it was originally released; seemed like an original and innovative gaming experience. Move support was a bonus.

Unfortunately the game was panned. When you see a Metritic score of 36 (45 Critic Reviews) you know there are some issues with a game. Not only was Kung Fu Rider considered awful, it was considered an extremely poor use of the Move controller, which was sort of the point.

You may be asking yourself, WTF is wrong with me? Why did this poor bloke pick up such a piece of shit for a game? Well, I have never been one to have my opinion formed by the pundits, and I go back to that previously mentioned original and innovative gaming experience. I like different games. Not necessarily different games that suck, but in this case the price point was low enough that I figured I would see if I could get some enjoyment from Kung Fu Riders with the kids.

Let’s get this out of the way – the concept is brilliant; however the execution with the Move controller is extremely poor. The game is repetitive (a real grind if you are after some of the Trophies). The graphics are best described as on par with the Dreamcast. In fact, I would say Kung Fu Rider is akin to Crazy Taxi or even Space Channel 5 (Dreamcast – i.e. Kung Fu Rider is very much off the beaten path).

Some of the motion controls with the Move are a pain in the ass to pull off, mostly because of button placement and unresponsiveness. Collection detection is poor; I would say more than 50% of my crashes are due to WTF experiences, leaving me scratching my head wondering what I did wrong.

Except for the language, this play-through video series (I think there are 11) was similar to my experience playing with two of my three boys. The oldest refuses to play – not sure if he has decided the game is too cartoonish (he likes Crazy Taxi so maybe that is not it) or he looked those Metacritic scores and decided to let the score form his opinion (too bad; need to break him of that).

Trophies
The Trophy list is one of the worst I can remember seeing in a game. Some of the Trophies feel like outright luck, while some of the others are going to require a ton grinding.

I’m currently sitting at 47% complete, with four Trophies left.

CHAIRMASTER (hidden – Gold): Attain S rank on all missions. I’m currently going for this one using the co-op mode with my 9 year old son. My 4.5 year old also ‘plays’ but not really; as long as he is having fun, and he is, that is sort of the point.

I’m flabbergasted there is not a Trophy for completing all the levels. My guess is that we will give up on this one before we manage S ranks in all the levels. Really depends on how long I can refrain from cussing, and how long it takes for my boys to give up on the game, moving along to something else more interesting.

BUSINESS NUISANCE (Silver): Destroy 100 red signs. Major grind. I think I have somewhere between 25-35; have not bothered to check my records.

MEDAL COLLECTOR (Silver): Obtain all collectible medals. To me this one is going to be a major grind, and maybe not worth the effort. On the first bonus level, there is a medal on top of a van. Only problem is that for me, it looks impossible to reach. I have wasted at least 20-30 minutes of my life trying to get that 20th medal. Then there are the other bonus medal levels to tackle. I hear ‘screw that’ in my head as I am writing this article.

CHAIN MASTER (Bronze): Achieve a 30 chain. I may be able to eventually get this one, but the controls are so frustrating and the collision detection is so substandard, that it feels like it will take a minor miracle to earn this one. Due to all the issues with the game, this one could have easily have been a Silver.

Summary
Is the game as poor as the ratings indicate? Yes. Is it a hopeless cause? Nope; if you can get past some of the issues, you may be able to find some enjoyment. As I said, the kids are having fun, which is the real point to me.

Kung Fu Rider should have been a PSN title, not a full retail rump. If you pick it up, expect the worst, hope for the best, and look for it as cheap as possible. I actually ‘completed’ the game (i.e. received Rank D or higher in all the main levels) at the 3 hour and 11 minute mark, and that was probably after spending 30-45 minutes in the medal free play levels.

Mel B – Week 5

Today I completed 5 weeks with Get Fit with Mel B. It’s hard for me to believe that I have accomplished 4-5 pounds of weight loss just for ‘playing’ a game. Would this work for everyone? Probably not. Will I stick to it? Good question – I’m in deep and would like to earn a few more Trophies vs. throwing Mel B to the curb.

Data, Accomplishments, Fitness Level to Date:

27 Workouts
8,592 Reps
193 Fitness Minutes
522 Aerobic Minutes
94% Best Rated Workout
6,375 Stars Earned
5,020 Calories Burned – Thanks Mel B!
53% Trophies Earned
Fitness Level 55
Step Level 75
Dance Level 80
Combat Level 75
Cardio Level 75
Advance Cardio Level 55
Bump ‘n’ Tone Level 85

At this point I don’t plan to write regular Mel B updates. I will sum this up by saying that I do feel a sense of pride that I knocked off 5K calories that otherwise would have turned into fat. I mean, maybe not the full 5K, but a large chunk would have settled around my belly.

Day 35
After ‘date night’ and the upsetting UGA defeat to Boise St., I really needed a strong workout, but really wasn’t in the mood. I pressed forward …

I did a 20 minute Advanced Cardio workout good for 140 calories. More importantly (to the Trophy whore in me) the workout was a solid 92%, which gave my Cardio a small increase to Level 55%.

I started feeling ‘it’ a little bit (not sure what ‘it’ is other than the mood to go after it a few more minutes), so I followed up with a 15 minute Step workout. This was another solid 92% workout, which was good for burning ~130 calories. I also received a small bump to Level 75.

Not too bad; 270 calories on the day and a couple of 5% bumps.

Day 34
Total was ‘Dance’ Challenge day; oh how I hate dancing in Mel B. Sucks for me because I have to get a gold medal, do at least 20 Dance workouts, and continue to improve my Dance Fitness level. Well, at least I have to if I want to eventually earn the Platinum Trophy.

After 155 calories spent dancing like a drunken monkey (not a pretty sight), thankfully I managed a 92% gold medal. I was a little worried because I got a 79%; my other low scores were 86% and 87% … I managed enough scores in the 90s to compensate. Trophy ding as the Silver ‘Full House’ went pop. Thank God!

I followed up with another custom Fitness workout, once again concentrating on crunches and press-ups (to use the British vernacular). I hate not knowing how many reps have been completed. I assume these 1000 rep Trophies will eventually pop.

Now to start grinding (in a good way – I am losing weight and getting fit) to earn some of the 20 workout Bronze Trophies.

Day 33
I went after the ‘Dance’ Challenge, but came up just short at 89%. The only good news is that in the process of just missing the gold medal for this challenge, I did burn ~140 calories for my efforts. I have to get a little better; two really low exercises of 66% and 77% set me back.

Next up, I decided to do the ‘Cardio Test’ Challenge, and totally kicked its ass, earning a gold medal. I had one poorly rated exercise of 73%, but obviously mastered the rest. This Challenge was worth ~45 calories, which seems low, but the Challenge was pretty short. This makes me wonder if the Challenges are based on your current Fitness level. If this is the case, anyone that happens upon this article and is trying to Trophy hunt the game needs to tackle the Challenges first before their Fitness level increases.

Just too really add in an extra calorie boost, I did a 15 minute fitness workout, which was good for 135 calories. I concentrated on sit-ups and push-ups in order to help tackle my belly fat, man boobs, and to keep grinding towards the 1000 sit-up and 1000 push-up Trophies. These should be lifetime achievement awards (i.e. Silver or Gold, not Bronze).

After burning ~320 calories, I was spent. In a good way. I have Sat, Sun, and Labor Day to see if I can finally get the Silver ‘Full House’ Trophy for getting gold medals in all the Challenges. Dancing sucks …

Day 29
After last week’s tracking mishap on the Abs Attack Challenge, I did a quick practice run and then stomped the test, earning 99%, 98%, and 94% on the three exercises, which burned ~35 calories and earned me a gold medal.

Next up, I took the Legs of Steel Challenge, taking this one easily to earn another gold medal, and racking up ~32 calories in the process.

I only need the Cardio Test and Dance Challenges to knock off the remaining test Challenges.

I finished up my workout session by setting up a custom Fitness run of 15 minutes. I did manage to knock off ~129 calories, which means I did close to 200 calories on the morning. Nice.

Speaking of nice, I clipped the 4K calorie mark this morning. I think that is pretty cool, but I still wish the game tracked number of individual exercise reps instead of overall reps. After all, how am I to know how many more push-ups (I guess press-ups in the UK) and crunches are required to earn those 1K rep Bronze Trophies?

Madden 12 – Not So ‘Easy’ Trophy Bug

When I put Madden 12 in for the first time, and entered Ultimate Team Mode (MUT), I was presented with a message about my super, awesome, ultimate, top-shelf, Hall of Fame edition surprise pack of all 99 rated past Madden cover athletes. Good stuff all around because all this was mine, just for ponying up extra duckets for the Hall of Fame edition of Madden 12.

For my troubles, and by troubles I really mean doing absolutely jack shit, I got an immediate Trophy ding earning ‘This One is Hard’ because my MUT team was over the 80+ rating threshold.

Gold Trophy goodness, but I feel a little dirty. Not to worry because the good folks at EA felt compelled to automatically import my MUT from yesteryear – my Madden 10 GA TX Falcons. Ah how I forgot all about you, but not for long.

It seems that EA has included a nice little bug that prevents prior MUT owners from earning the Bronze ‘This One is Easy’ Trophy for creating a MUT team.

So let’s get this out in the open. I played Madden 10 MUT, but I did not play MUT in Madden 11 because I did not want to be tempted to spend money on ‘virtual’ football cards. I love the concept of MUT, but that is an entirely different article, so before I start digressing, let’s move back to the situation at hand.

After entering MUT for the first time, and getting the before mentioned Trophy ding I noticed that I didn’t get a second Trophy ding for creating a MUT. So I exited out of MUT back to the main menu, and entered MUT again.

This time I was prompted with some info about how grateful EA was that I was returning to MUT. For my loyalty I was awarded some coins, maybe even a card or two, and I was given three free cards for playing the Madden 12 demo. More importantly, I was told that my previous MUT team was being imported, and because EA is so great, they were going to include some BS about when my MUT was established. Thanks, but WTF is my ‘This One is Easy’ Trophy?

I do not see a way to create a new team, delete my old team, start over, or any other nonsense. I’m not about to dick around deleting profiles, trying to establish a new EA ID or create an alternate PSN account just to work out EA’s fucking laziness and lack of accountability when it comes to quality control and customer service.

And why should I at this point just because EA felt compelled to import my previous MUT team without warning me that I was going to be up shit creek when it comes to getting a Platinum Trophy.

Everything I have read indicates that this is a problem with the PS3 and 360 – so it is not as if EA has some random issue that only a few users will encounter. Instead of awarding loyal EA customers, and prior MUT players, EA has decided to bend us over and ram a rod up our collective rears. Of course the good folks at the EA help desk will not acknowledge the issue.

I could go on, but why bother? Just another reason that EA needs some real NFL competition – can’t wait for their exclusive license to expire.

The Return of Happy Madden Day?

In the not too distant past, Madden Day was a big deal, but these days, not so much. Seriously, I have not overheard one tidbit about Madden in the office. Maybe I am just out of the loop. Maybe I don’t hang out in the right online spaces. Maybe it is just a sign that I am becoming (or dare I say have become) an old fart and everyone that use to play Madden has moved on to ‘real life’ matters – family being the primarily extracurricular time sinkhole (err … if you are a gaming mom or dad, you know what I mean).

So the Madden 12 Hall of Fame Edition is set to show up on my door today thanks to release day shipping from Amazon. For my extra money ($89 vs. $59 for the ‘standard’ edition) I am not sure that I am actually getting extra value unless I spend a lot of time with Madden Ultimate Team (MUT). Or maybe I will get that super rare, limited edition 18k gold Faulk card. Probably not, but I do get a $20 Amazon promotional credit, so it is almost as if I paid $10 for the super-premium extra special platinum’ish MUT pack, a (not 18k gold) exclusive Faulk card, and whatever else Amazon threw in for my pre-order dollars.

Soccer practice tonight and tomorrow night, so that is that family time thing I was referencing above. Thankfully this is a long weekend (Happy early Labor Day) so I should get in a little Madden 12 love later this week.

If you are a believer, Happy Madden Day!

Videogame Overload – It’s Raining Games

My wife is probably going to look at me a little squirrely – Amazon has just shipped backorders of NIER and the Tomb Raider Trilogy, and has also informed me that Captain America will be arriving by Wednesday. Let’s not forget that Madden Day is tomorrow with the ‘official’ release of Madden 12.

When I explain that two of the games (NIER and TR Trilogy) were heavily discounted, and that the Captain America game was purchased at its first significant price drop, she is going to look at the stack of backlog games I have just waiting for some TLC. Yep, I’m fucked. It doesn’t really matter that Captain America will most likely be tucked away until Christmas for my little guy.

It doesn’t help my cause that Iron Man 2 (sort of, kind of, purchased for the younger guys), and another Cabela game (Cabela’s North American Adventures), along with Kung Fu Rider showed up last week.

It’s great to stock up on hours and hours of future gaming action, but … there is really no justification for the onslaught of games raining on my front porch. I think survival is going to require a couple of these are going to have to team up with Captain America is the ‘Christmas’ box.

Mel B – Week 4

As I move into week four with my Mel B workout routine, things have sort of fallen off the rails. While my weight is still down, which was part of the reason for this adventure in the first place, finding time to commit to daily jaunts with Mel B is proving difficult.

I only worked out two days last week (Sunday and Friday), which means Days 23-26 and Day 28 saw me lazy as Daisy. Thankfully I am managing a couple of non-Mel B workouts by coaching soccer. Yes, I actually run with the nine and ten year old boys.

I committed to making it until the end of August, so expect at least one more update followed by some periodic news; still working out, Trophies earned, calories burned, lbs dropped, etc.

Day 27
Today I decided to go after some medals; have not attempted any of the fitness tests yet and at some point I need to earn the Silver ‘Full House’ Trophy for getting gold medals in all the fitness tests.

Abs of Steel Test – silver medal. First and second reps of 32 were rated over 90%, but the last rep hit in the 50s because of poor camera + Move tracking. I’ll have to practice in order to see what is tracking in correctly. I don’t remember the final calorie count, however my stomach will vouch that it received a decent workout.

Fighting Fit Test – gold medal. I had one really subpar exercise because of tracking issues; however the others were obviously rated high enough to earn a coveted gold medal. This test was actually good enough to burn 230+ calories, so that was a nice bonus.

Day 22
Today I decided to go Trophy whoring. I signed up for a 40 minute Dance Aerobics workout in order to go after ‘Flash Dancer’ (collect over 350 Stars in a Dance Aerobics workout).

Two things of note. First, this was my first 40 minute Mel B workout. Second, I was not sure how much time I would need to hit the 351 mark. In the back of my mind I kept wondering (in a concerned sort of manner) if I would actually make my goal. It would suck in a big way if I came up a few Stars short.

For those keeping score at home, Mel B awards Stars based on your performance during each exercise. Score higher and you are awarded more Stars. While Get Fit tracks total Stars earned, I am not really sure what purpose they serve other than being required for the ‘Flash Dancer’ Trophy. The Stars could play a part in how fitness levels are earned, but I have not done enough research and experimenting to confirm.

For my efforts, I earned 411 Stars (Trophy ding), burned 240 calories, and got a small bump to Dance Aerobics Level 80.

I am now at 50% complete Trophy total. Happy days!

Now Playing – The Random Trophy Stuff Edition

I continue on my no longer so torrid tour of Mel B, but with the kids’ soccer I am only hitting one or two workouts a week.

While Mel B may not be the best Move implementation (there are a handful of exercises that will not register correctly with the camera + Move), Sports Champions seems to be really solid. After putting this one aside for a long time, I returned to it in order to get more Move satisfaction. Pretty decent game, enjoyable by the whole family; Trophies are a complete grind.

I finished up Sam and Max (episodes 4 and 5) this week. Mostly because they were sitting on my HDD waiting to be played, partially because I may let my PS+ subscription expire in a few months, sort of because the series is less stress and semi-entertaining. And I would be lying to you if I did not say the Trophies were an easy bonus. Sam and Max episodes 1 – 5 were free earlier this year for PS+ subscribers.

Pixiljunk Shooter – First one; highly addicting, fun shooter + puzzle combo. In this case I have to say that the Trophies add to the overall ‘experience’ – I could just blow through the game, but how would that be fun? I had to get some help for the ‘Coin Collector Trophy’ – for me it was much more luck than skill.

Not to digress too much, but I think Trophies are kind of like those collection JRPG games. You either are into them or you are not. When Trophies were first introduced, I could care less; however now I am card carrying Trophy whore. To me they add a little extra excitement, as in the case of Pixiljunk Shooter; these are actually fun to try to unlock. For other games, some of the Trophies are just meat grinders. These types I can pass on, and typically do.

Just got the Platinum Trophy for Madden 2011 this morning. Yes, I’m still playing the current (old) one. I have become a certified Trophy whore. I decided to ‘finish’ up the game before the new version is release on Tuesday. Technically Madden 2012 is already out for those that spent the extra cash on the EA Season Ticket crap; obviously I did not.

Speaking of those Trophies, the ‘Pick Up 6’ Trophy, which requires you to win a ‘Fight for the Fumble’ in the end zone was a major PITA. It was not going to happen for me during the course of normal games, and while I attempted some ‘cheats’ to make it easier, I just could not close off this final Trophy until I stumbled across this video. Using this technique it only took me two attempts to close off my third Platinum Trophy.

Looking Forward …
Georgia takes on Boise St. September 3 in the Georgia Dome, so I really need to jump back into NCAA Football 2012. It has been years since I was successful at getting some decent value for my money out of two football titles. With three kids plus work, I bet I am screwed.

I have several games on pre-order including the before mentioned Madden 12, F1 2011, FIFA 12, and the ICO Collection. September is awfully full.

I am also considering looking at WKC II, although I have no earthly idea why because I never got very far into WKC:I. I guess I got distracted doing the needful.

We will wrap up with Kung Fu Rider. I think this one will suck, although I hope to get a few hours of family fun out of it for my efforts.

Best Crap Money Can Buy

OK, maybe they are not all crap, not by a long shot. I did do the needful and stock up on several hundred hours of gaming pleasure (and maybe pain and suffering). Why?

Cabela’s North American Adventures ($25.45): I’m a sucker for these hunting games. I probably over paid. OK, I did. I should have waited until this one hit the sub $20 mark, but in the back of my mind I was thinking that there will probably be a new Cabela title this fall, and I may miss out on this one. Doubt that would happen, but you never know.
NIER ($14.99): Backordered 2-4 weeks. Not sure what to say about this action RPG, except that it looks interesting.
Captain America: Super Soldier ($29.99): Backordered 2-3 weeks. My youngest son loves Captain America (and in general, super heroes). This one may be too hard for him, but I’m sure there will be some points where he can just button mash the heck out of the bad guys.
Iron Man 2 ($14.99): Certifiable crap. See Captain America comments. I did read that for my efforts there are some easy Trophies, so there is that thrown in for good measure.
Kung Fu Rider ($12.80): Certifiable crap; however Kung Fu rider is something for the Move and something that the kids can enjoy. This one is one of the first Move games; it was panned – highest score on Metacritic is 65. Ouch.
Majin And The Forsaken Kingdom ($14.99): I’ve always been a little interested in this one, but not for MSRP. For a tick under $15, I’m happy.
Tomb Raider Trilogy ($19.99): Backordered 2-4 weeks. I wanted to get in some Laura before the re-boot hits.
PS3 Eye Camera Mounting Clip ($6.68): For good measure, I picked up one of these mounting clips. Not really sure why as I have lived without one since the Move was released.

With the exception of Captain America, I am not sure if I will actually get any of the titles on backorder. Maybe Amazon has a slow boat to China (or elsewhere) where these older discounted titles are being pressed for a fresh batch of suckers.

My gaming needs are stocked for the foreseeable future. Well, at least until all my stuff on pre-order is released, but that is another article.

White Knight Chronicles II

I gave up on White Knight Chronicles: International (WKC:I) a long time ago. To be honest, I forget why. Too many other games at the time? Got bored with the back story and the game mechanics? Something else? I really don’t remember …

Am I interested in the sequel? Sort of, but only because I am a semi-JRPG junkie. With that said, I can’t see purchasing White Knight Chronicles II (which interestingly enough includes WKC:I) until I actually finish WKC:I or at least make a concerted try to progress the story.

Trophy whores need not apply. If White Knight Chronicles II is anything like WKC:I, Trophies are few and far between and extremely time consuming.

Mel B – Week 3 Update (Slacker)

I’ll hit the summary first; I only managed bookend workouts this week. I am now at 3400 calories burned via Get Fit, and I dropped another 1-2 pounds this week. So that is 4-5 since I started three weeks ago, although this week adding in two soccer practices certainly did not hurt my cause.

Day 15
I started week three by changing my goals. I selected Lifestyle, keeping up with the kids, and Shape, pecs to die for; selected a 50/50 split for my workouts. Mel B. then put me through the paces of a 30 minute Pump ‘N’ Tone workout, which burned a very satisfying 220 calories. Along the way two Trophies popped: ‘Pumped’ (lifted the equivalent of an SUV) and ‘Bring It On’ (raised any category’s fitness level by 10).

I was impressed (I am easily amused) to see my Pump ‘N’ Tone level now sits at 85.

It may be a while before I see any more Trophies. I know I keep saying that, but there is very little in the way of low hanging fruit out there for me to whore. ‘Abs Of Steel’ (1000 long-arm crunches) and ‘Drop And Give Me 1000’ (1000 press-ups on toes); not any time soon. Maybe ‘Flash Dancer’ (collected over 350 Stars in a Dance Aerobics Workout), although Dancing is just not my thing. And so on and so forth – challenges, repetition, and increases in leveling are the only things standing in front of me an another elusive Platinum.

Day 16
And on the 16th day, I rested …

Seriously, I decided it was time to take a break. Kids soccer starts tomorrow with practices Tue (9 year-old), Wed (4.5 year-old), and Thur (9 year-old). I am co-coaching my 9 year-old, so I figured a day off was in order before hitting the pitch three days in a row.

Day 17
Two for two; although I did have soccer practice to help run, and we did run around a lot with the kids.

Day 18
Three in a row …

Day 19
Four days in a row without Mel B. I would say I suck, but I helped run another soccer practice. Maybe tomorrow I will hit Mel B with vengeance. To be honest, I am starting to miss my old regular routine. That’s right; I’m longing for some Mel B. Done; I’ll check out Mel B tomorrow, I promise.

Day 20
It’s Friday; bite me … I promise I will have a date with Mel B tomorrow. Really, I mean it this time.

Then again, we are having a b-day party for my oldest son who becomes a teenager Monday, August 22.

Day 21
So I finally found some time to spend with Mel B. I was expecting some sort of “… where have you been? I missed you …” type message, but no such luck.

Mel B gave me a 30 minute Fitness workout, which was good for 230+ calories. I thought I did a great job, but apparently this workout was only good for 89%. I did get a +5 Fit bump to Level 55. It is going to be slow going raising my fitness, which is strange because I feel pretty darn fit.

The problem is that a few of the exercises will not register properly no matter what. To advance, I will probably have to go into Practice mode, and figure out how to ‘game’ a few of the exercises to make sure the Move + camera tracks me properly.

I have learned that low light settings seem to work much better than bright lights. The chandelier is a definite no-no; it must be off. Natural lighting works best, but the Move cannot be anywhere near direct lighting sources (windows, lamps, etc.).

F1 2011

I have been closely watching F1 2011, which looks incredible on multiple fronts – graphics, dynamic weather, key technical changes for 2001, AI improvements, and then some. Love this Q&A segment over at the EU official’ish blog.

This time, is there going to be the facility to save the game midway through a race?
There is no mid-race saves in 2011 but with the all new handling you will go so much faster, you’ll not want to save!

In this day and age, any sports or racing game should include an easily accessible in-game save feature.

I decided to do my usual Amazon pre-order thing; September 20th release date.

PS3 HD Collections …

So far I have really enjoyed The Sly Collection; currently in the swamp on Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racoonus. Getting past Muggshot to continue the game and earn the Silver “Giving The Dog A Bone” Trophy had to be one of the most frustrating gaming experience I can recall. Or maybe I am just getting too damn old for platforming games.

At any rate, I have to decide it I am going to double dip on the God of War Origins Collection which feature the two best games on the PSP – Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta. Seeing these two titles in HD, with the added bonus of Trophies, may tempt me … maybe. If you have a PSP and you have never played these titles, for shame!

Rounding out the collection list is the Ico and Shadow of Colossus Collection; the official’ish Sony Blog just released some of the bonus content (videos and two dynamic themes) along with the Trophy list. I have had this on one pre-order since Thanksgiving weekend last year, so I am really looking forward to seeing this one arrive in late September.

While it is not a PS2 HD re-release collection, I thought I would add in one random PlayStation LifeStyle link. Pretty good article and strong reader comments on what XSeed will do with the PSP Ledgend of Heroes series. Me? At this point I am firmly committed to not purchase any more UMDs, although my 9 year-old a PSP … he is not into RPGs, much less JRPGs so I will probably miss out unless these somehow port to the PS3 or get a Vita release.

Mel B – Week 2 Update (Driven)

Wow. I have actually exercised 14 days in a row; first time in my 40 years of existence that I can remember accomplishing that feat. Certainly for the first time in my adult life!

It is not that I am Daisy, a girl who is fat and lazy; or anything like that … I’m not one to hit the gym or work the weight room. I run when my pants start feeling a little too snug because with running I am typically able to drop a few pounds fairly quickly.

I wanted to give Mel B a go to see if I could actually lose weight from the comfort of my living room instead of braving the 95+ degree temperatures encountered when running around the park. In other words, screw the heat and bring on Mel B!

After another week of getting fit with Mel B, I am holding fast at 175 lbs., which is OK, because to be honest, my diet sucked in week two. That’s right, too much beer and too many chips; my gluttonous weakness. Add in the bad eating at the Falcons game Friday night, a really nasty (in a good sort of way) breakfast at the Marriott Saturday morning, and Mellow Mushroom pizza washed down by some not so light cold ones Saturday night, and I’m actually happy I’m holding even. If I could ever put down the beer and salty chip snacks, I would certainly be well on my way, but that would not be very fun.

Of note, I only ran once in the last week (afternoon of Day 8), which means that all calories burned and no weight gained are attributed to Mel B.

Going forward, I may just follow up with an update of calories burned to date and Trophies gained (nice benefit to Mel B – get fit and gain Trophies). I do plan to keep with Mel be for the rest of the month, but I doubt I will do religious daily workouts, then again, I am now actually in a routine and am looking forward to seeing some progress.

Day 9
I did a 15 minute Pump ‘N’ Tone workout which was good for 106 calories. Yes, I did the needful and purchased a 2lb set of wrist weights (1lb per cuff) and a set of 3lb ankle weights (1.5lb per cuff). Holy crap; I would have never expected pain and suffering from 1lb weights. I was thinking about going with a 3lb and 5lb set; while I could have handled more weight on my ankles, not so much on my wrists. I can definitely see Mel B getting me toned; if my arms do not fall off first!

Get Fit could really be improved by showing how much extra calories were burned, tracking how much you lift by day, etc. All that extra resistance has to be good for more calories, right?

Research shows that the use of extra weight on the arms or legs while walking (no studies on running could be located) can add to the calorie expenditure. In one study of walking with walking sticks, calorie expenditure increased by an average of 23% compared to walking without the sticks. In a similar study where subjects walked on a treadmill with arm levers, calorie expenditure increased by 55% above walking without the levers.

Although opinions seem to be mixed on using weights, with plenty of articles warning not to add in ankle and wrist weights to workout sessions; I have no desire to add them to my runs.

I followed up my Pump ‘N’ Tone workout with a 15 minute Combat session, which was good for 102 calories. Of all the exercises Get Fit offers, I really like Combat the best.

Day 10
Today I added in Step fitness (purchased ‘The Step F1011W Original Health Club Step’); call me ‘all in’ with losing weight with Mel B. 20 minutes; 143 calories.

I believe that Get Fit could be significantly improved if the game tracked and showed overall step count. For that matter, it would be nice to see reps and calories by all exercise types.

After my Step workout, I added a 15 minute Pump ‘N’ Tone workout, which according to Mel B, was good for 113 calorie expenditure. It was also good for spaghetti arms!

Day 11
Today started with a 15 minute Dance workout; 97 calories burned. I really don’t like the Dance stuff; besides looking stupid (as previously noted in past Mel B updates) I know I am not coordinated (or graceful) enough to pull off the moves correctly. The camera + Move does not seem to care. In some cases, just coming close enough makes Mel B happy; for some of the routines there is never any satisfying Mel B.

After dancing like a dumb ass, I took up a 15 minute Advance Cardo session, which burned 95 calories.

At this point the Trophies are becoming increasingly scarce; many of the remaining Trophies are repetition based. For full disclosure, I have to admit that I have “cheated” twice – there are two hidden Trophies that require you to work out between 12AM – 2AM (dance aerobics), and 5AM – 7AM (fitness). F that noise; I did the needful and manipulated the PS3 clock in order to make my workouts trigger these Trophies. I rule. All other Trophies have been earned the right way – with my own sweat and suffering.

Day 12
Today I did a 20 minute Step workout, which was good for 158 calories, and interesting enough the Step Trophy ‘Going up?’ for climbing the equivalent of the Empire State Building? Probably. I thought this one would come much later. Turns out Mel B has counted more than 1,860 steps from yours truly. Shocker!

How many steps are there to the top of the Empire State Building?

There are 1,860 from street level to 102nd floor.

After Stepping, I was brave enough to add in a 20 minute Pump ‘N’ Tone session, which besides making my arms burn, was good for 153 calories. I also hit Step Level 80, who knew I could Step like a mofo – I earned the ‘Semi Professional’ Trophy. I am at Level 75 on the other workouts, except for Advance Cardo and Fitness, both of which are tracking at Level 50. I am not sure if I can improve these with more repetition, or if due to a few camera + Move tracking issues, in-game improvement will never be credited.

After Day 11 I mentioned that the Trophies are starting to get scarce; this time I mean it. Most of the ones left are based on completing 20 workouts of a certain type or based on fitness level increases. Still going for the ‘Driven’ Trophy (exercised every day for two weeks) just to prove a point with Mel B.

Day 13
Since I was heading up to ATL in the early afternoon for the Falcons first preseason game, I did a quickie 20 minute Fitness workout around lunch, which burned 153 calories, and also earned the ‘Pizza’ Trophy at ~2700 calories. I thought this Trophy was awarded around 5K calories, but I will take what I can get.

On a personal note, I really needed to burn 500 calories to make up for all the bad food and beer I am about to consume! The good news is my overall fitness level does seem to be improving; I could have easily put in another 20 minute workout.

Day 14
During my 30 minute Pump ‘N’ Tone workout, the Silver ‘Driven’ Trophy popped! This was one of my main goals when I started – be ‘Driven’ enough to workout two solid weeks. I also burned 221 calories, which was a nice bonus for being brave enough to take on a 30 minute Pump ‘N’ Tone session.

Looking Forward …
My next workout will put me over 3K calories burned with Mel B. Who would have guessed that I would burn in excess of 3K calories with this game? I am now at 46% complete (29 Bronze and 1 Silver Trophies) for my efforts, which is a nice haul since I needed to exercise anyway.

I mentioned several times that Trophies should be few and far between now that most of the basic ones are out of the way. I think I am actually inclined to go Trophy whoring – not cheating mind you – really trying to get good enough to earn some of the remaining goodies that are yet to be earned.

Now that ‘Driven’ is out of the way, I will probably start trying to tackle Fitness to see if I can get my level to increase; I want to be fit, that is the goal. I will also try some of the challenges, which I have not attempted yet – Combat first because that one is fun and rewarding.