The Console Monster Gamerscore competition is now in full swing, and as of this date I and my fellow CM teammate Wriggy are doing... poorly. This is typically the point where I get out my almighty pointing finger and direct it at Wriggy, with a barrage of teases and mild insults. Unfortunately that cannot be the case (yet) as I am letting the team down. :)

The reason for this?... Many!

• Manning a full time job puts me at a dam disadvantage against you students :P
• Manning a full time wife, house, cat and baby-to-be consumes more time than a full time job. :P
• Risen, is destroying my soul with its teasing me. I earn an achievement, and do not get it. Oh woe is me.

I will not give up so easy though! I will have to step up my game, and neglect the more important things in life (totally joking Xbox, don’t leave me!) and will get in the game. If only so that I can ridicule Wriggy for being behind me... when I pass him. GAME ON!

I have been trotting through the landscapes of Risen for a good majority of my daily hours recently, and I continue to do so after the review has been complete and is awaiting editing. The game has caused me much frustration, anger and difficulty as of late with one of the many apparent bugs causing me to be unable to achieve an achievement; which is simply the worst crime to nature.

One quest has me need speak to an area full of NPC’s in order to discover a murderer in which is hidden amongst us. Unfortunately I hit a brick wall when it turns out that at least half of the ‘suspects’ will not speak to me, in any form, for any reason, ANYTHING. I have not stolen from anyone, I have not hit anyone, I have not killed anyone – but I am completely unable to progress this large side quest any further due to the ignorance of these NPC’s. Oh the anger.

So a word of warning to anyone picking up Risen, be warned you WILL encounter bugs and you may, like me, encounter bugs which will prevent you from getting your much deserved achievements. This goes especially for the ‘pick 50 pockets’ achievement, of which at 150 pocket picks has still not unlocked. :(

After my somewhat interesting week, a bit of good news comes out of it all with my Xbox 360 having been brought back to life!

The trick that is all over the interwebs seems to hold truth, in that wrapping your Xbox 360 in towels and turning it on for half an hour seems to have a positive effect, somehow. The console has been living for several hours and has had no issues thus far. I don’t expect it to last very long though, so it is looking like the new Super Elite console will be mine in the coming weeks.

My next months wage packet is going to take some assault, given that I plan to purchase a Super Elite Xbox 360 at some point, and a PS3 (if payment is accepted) which will likely also be a 'super' PS3 Slim (250gig). If you put that alongside the games I am wanting in the same pay slip...

Brutal Legend - Oct
Borderlands - Oct
GTA IV: Episodes - Oct
Dragon Age - Nov
Modern Warfare 2 - Nov
Ass Creed 2 - Nov
Left 4 Dead 2 - Nov

... it adds up quite nicely. Oh how I adore end of year gaming joy, and how my wallet hates it.

Whilst on the topic of my now thankfully working Xbox 360, anyone that has a like for gamerscore, gaming or competitions should make sure to check out the Console Monster Gamerscore Competition, GS09. The prizes are plenty and hopefully it will be a good bit of fun so join on in!

You can sign up for the competition on the following page: www.consolemonster.com/gsc.php

Well the week has certainly been an interesting one, full of unfortunate occurrences...

The unfortunate events began after I had purchased a PS3 slim online. Eagerly awaiting to get my hands on the less-overly expensive console I was surprised to see no email or delivery a week after purchase. The funds had even left my bank... After a little investigation it would turn out that my payment had been declined, yet taken, likely having been halted by my bank. This resulted in me being £300 out of pocket until my bank could rectify the issue (of which I had only assumed, as the bank refused to tell me over the phone and my working hours don’t allow me to visit a branch).

Already a poor start to the week I decided to enjoy my beloved Xbox 360 some more before I finally get my payment back, and can purchase a PS3 again (for real this time, hopefully). At which point, mid game enjoyment, my Xbox 360 decided to red-ring itself. Calm that I am still inside my warranty I quickly made my way to the service section of their website. Turns out that my last red-ring wasn’t a ‘general’ red-ring, so my warranty did not get extended and as my console is (was) a living breathing launch console; the warranty had long gone. ‘Okay’ I thought to myself, I’ll pay the service fee. £80?! Outrageous! I could get an entire second hand console for that price.

After having lost both next generation my week certainly couldn’t get any worse, so I go to sleep happy that the worst is over. Upon awakening the next day, fresh for a long working day I get ready, get out and start the cycle to work (where I live bikes outnumber cars) only to be stopped in a sudden jolt by a car driving directly into me from the side. Flying through the air like a superhero, and landing on a comfortable nearby curb, I feel like someone up in the sky is out to get me this week...

June has been the month of E3, and with most years that means that June has been a pretty great month for gaming – 2009 is no exception. Whilst I did not get to visit E3 like our fellow Anthony, I did enjoy coverage of the entire event live. The highlight of the show was simply the games on show.

Whilst Project Natal did wow me with the leaps in technology, the idea of having developers make games with such a control scheme in mind has me worried. The only way I would support developers doing so would be for very minor gameplay additions such as being able to move your head to alter your first-person shooter perspective slightly. I highly doubt developers will benefit gaming in this way though, and will likely instead jump on the bandwagon for waggle gaming. One can hope.

Gaming wish Alan Wake was a large surprise, with what I would say stole the show for me. The game has not been very high up on my anticipation list, yet the trailer was a surprise success in now achieving certain purchase in my little gaming word. Game which are very high up on this anticipation list such as Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Assassins Creeds 2 obviously blew me away, and the news of Crackdown 2 put a large beaming smile on my face – oh orbs are back!

Outside of E3 I have focused my attention on getting all the gamerscore completion ratio I can, from a range of both appalling and fantastic games alike. Mirrors Edge, Prince of Persia, Prototype are all getting close to 100% (including the DLC’s) and Fallout 3 amazingly saw full completion with all DLC’s. My 360 has certainly seen a lot of use this past month, and I only expect it to rise as the year goes on. I cannot wait for October to roll around!