The Loyalty Of The Thief And The Mercenary

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Mass Effect 2 was focused on every not associated with the main story of the game, as we went to nearly every system we could and put in a good deal of time on things associated with the game's DLC. I'll get the Firewalker content out of the way first, I'm not a fan of the Hammerhead vehicle, but having played Mass Effect 2 enough times I can basically tear though its missions rather quickly to get it out of the way.

Zaaed's mission of revenge is probably the one where I can easily flip flop on saving the refinery workers or just getting Zaaed to Santiago so that he can have some closure. Granted the later has the awesome sight of Zaaed walking away from an explosion like a total bad ass.Which was the choice we made.

Kasumi's mission is probably a lot more convoluted than it needed to be, it certain has a lot more combat than Zaaed's by a large margin, and is more difficult because instead of having a squad of three, it's you as Shepard and Kasumi. The issue of the Gray Box is certainly debatable when it comes to choosing to destroy it or let Kasumi keep it. We went with letting her keep it.

Beyond that, we found a couple of side missions. located the Normandy crash site and just held off on picking up Jack, Grunt and Morden. Way I figure by picking up Jack and Grunt first, then Morden, that should allow me to deal with Project: Overlord before Horizon colony. At least that's the theory I have based on how I am looking to pace things out.

Mass Effect 2 Achievements

• Merciless: Make 20 enemies scream as they fall or are set on fire
• Head Hunter: Perform 30 headshot kills with any weapon on humanoid targets
• Agent: Complete 5 missions discovered by scanning unexplored worlds
• Broke, Blind and Bedlam: Gain the loyalty of the thief
• Revenge!: Gain the loyalty of the mercenary

Twitch Clip Links

1. This Is Mandatory
2. Shepard Meets The Press 
3. Head Hunter
   

For the raid, we dropped in on Redneck_23 who was doing things with Farming Simulator 22 over at twitch.tv/redneck_23!   

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Biceps Shape Focus Combo, Triple Combo #2 and Intermediate Combo #1. Also set a new personal best by scoring a perfect on Advanced Combo #2 set on Low.

I'm not surprised at all with how lackluster Sony's updated PlayStation Plus service is going to be in comparison to what folks get with Xbox's GamePass... this is because of Sony's attitude towards older content. Just remember, Sony is the company who had a CEO who insulted those who like to go back and play older games.

So when checking out games, I  checked Enter Digiton: Heart of Corruption, which is one of the many Indy-developed platformer that has a bit of Metroid approach to it. While it only took 30 minutes to get all the achievements, I can safely say it is very buggy, as any time I paused or pressed the central button on the controller to check my progress. I can safely say this is a game that is not worth featuring on stream with the issues I had with it.

Enter Digiton: Heart of Corruption Achievements

• Opener I: Open 1 door with a key
• Cleaner I: Destroy 25 obstacles
• Hunter I: Kill 6 enemies
• Cleaner II: Destroy 75 obstacles
• Opener II: Open 2 doors with a key
• Clearer I: Die 6 times
• Clearer II: Die 12 times
• Hunter II: Kill 24 enemies
• Cleaner III: Destroy 200 obstacles
• Clearer III: Die 24 times
• Hunter III: Kill 48 enemies
• Opener III: Open 5 doors with a key

For tonight's stream we're going to do something different, we're going to check out Fallout 76.. ad game's whose initial launch was... troubled. But it's been around for a while, which means there was plenty of time for patches and fixes to be applied to it by its developers.

So on that note, we'll see you over on twitch.tv/fredcasden later tonight!

Today's Notes 5/5/21

Good morning everybody,

Lost power twice yesterday, one at a little 2:30 PM and the second at about 4:15-4:20 PM, which was related to the original power outage. That's two weeks in a row on a Tuesday this has happened, makes me wonder what is going on with PSE&G.

Last night's stream featured MLB The Show 21 on the Xbox Series S console, and we did a little bit of everything last night, an online match against another player which I lost, a couple of Road to the Show games, one March to October Segment, some home run derbies, Retro Mode... even tried the franchise mode. And man, the franchise mode is way to in-depth for a console game, because what's involved with managing the team would work better on PC games. Did managed to unlock some achievements which were the following:

1. Pitch Collector: During any plate appearance, see ten or more pitches (Excludes local multiplayer and practice).
2. All About Hustle: Collect four hits or more within a game with a single player (Excludes local multiplayer, practice). 
3. Free Ticket To 1st: Draw a walk with the first batter of an inning (Excludes local multiplayer, franchise and practice).
   

All three of these were done through retro mode which has that old score arcade style of gameplay!

Twitch Clip: First Major League Hit

Twitch Clip: I got caught in a run down....

Twitch Clip: I told him not to swing

Now last night's stream wasn't without incident, as the Xbox Series S mysteriously shut down randomly with the light on the controller flashing, and I wasn't able to determine the reason why. Maybe it over heated but  it has clear space for all three vents, and the thing is, the console hasn't seen heavy use, in fact it was quite a few days since it was last in use. This is why I haven't gotten read of the Xbox One S.

After the stream I finally started messing around with Mortal Kombat 11, and gameplay wise, it's fine, but boy did they micro-transactioned the hell out of it in terms of the Krypt, which makes chasing some achievements damn near impossible to do. Still with it now installed, it means we'll be streaming the story mode at some point in the near future. Also unlocked a handful of achievements for it last night as well.

1. Thank You For Being A Fan: Reach The Kredits
2. Klassic: Komplete a Novice, Warrior, or Champion Klassic Tower once
3. Enough Already: Hit the Gong in the Krypt

Today's Fitness Boxing session was about 30 minutes, nothing to intense other than me still not feeling comfortable performing right weaves from the orthodox stance. Didn't have any misses, but the timing of some of my punches that were just 'okay' could've been better.

 

Tonight we'll be focused on the Division, as I'll first be starting with finding collectables in the area of the map Iceman and I covered last week, before moving on to deal with missions in the next 'designated area'. Iceman may probably join in on the fun as well, so it could get pretty silly. 

 

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

 

 

Today's Notes 3/27/21

 Good afternoon everybody,

Yesterday afternoon we had wins so strong it caused three power flickers as a result of branches touching power lines in my neighborhood... I know this because I could literally hear it happen. This is the result of some of my neighbors neglecting to maintain the trees on their property and the lower power utility, PSE&G not enforcing penalties on those customers who refuse to comply with regulations. It's as simple as that.

Anyway, last night stream was kind of random in that I selected Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury to start things off with, just to try and... it's fun little game. Those who remember my play through of Super Mario Odyssey know when it comes to 3D plat-former games, they are not something I'm good at, so combine that with the mechanics of the point of view switching back and forth from a 2D-view to an isometric view, and it's a whole new world of trouble for me. That said I stumbled and bumbled by way to the end of the third world before a new viewer named Benny asked if they could play as well, which gave me the opportunity to try and the online co-op (which can be for up to four players, local and online) and man did that get nuts as here I ended up trying to keep up with someone who knows the game inside and out. I spent more time falling behind, falling into pits and just not being useful at all. Still with their help made it to the end of the 5th world. So maybe on a random night we'll go back to Super Mario 3D world to see to if can be added to the finished games list.

Off stream last night, we set up the Xbox Series S console, replacing a busted tape deck that has been sitting on a shelf for ten years. Now with it's smaller storage space of 512 GB, it can't fully replace my Xbox One S, but the way I figure I''l use the One S for older games and things that aren't cross-generation, and the Series S for newer games and things optimized for it. The first game we put on it was Forza Horizon 4, which is a gorgeous racing game... and the load times are pretty fucking quick. 

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 session was pretty solid, with a few odd misses, but nothing notable. In addition to the daily workout, we did a couple of bonus exercises (Front-Back Step and Double Combos) just to put in a little extra, since we did two real short daily sessions this week.

The Offical Ghostbusters YouTube channel added the Real Ghostbusters episode When Halloween Was Forever, and here's an episode that has some real notorious production errors involving Peter and Egon. That said, Samhain's debut was really awesome and it's the only episode of the series that actually had a follow up years later. Also, a gag in this episode of telling Slimer a cupcake / candy is in someone's socks to get them to do something I believe starts with this episode and it is something that i know is used again in the 1989 Halloween Special.

For tonight's stream we'll be back to Zero Escape Zero Time Dilemma, with our focus being on either Team D or Team Q. Wonder what SAW like death penalties we'll see this time.

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Today's Notes 3/26/21

 

Good morning everybody,

Well we got an announcement right off the bat as we've officially added the Xbox Series S to my stable of consoles. Now why the Series S and not the Series X you may ask. Well first off, the Series X version is probably going to be impossible to find for the better part of the next year, with the simple fact any that are manufactured and shipped off to retailers are selling out within seconds. Also, to justify having a Series X, I would need to get a new monitor to get the most out of it, and 98% of my Xbox library is digital anyway. So the Series S makes more sense

That out of the way, last night's stream of Star Trek Online saw a lot of changes. One a deleted six of my characters because getting them all caught up will be impossible, so I've kept Zagreus and Sorra as main characters representing the Starfleet and the Klingon Defense Force, plus my two 'recruit characters' which are needed to unlock some account perks and such. We also ran into a lot of people sabotaging game play when it comes to Task Force Operations, where they either go AFK for the majority of the time or intentionally do something that makes completing the objectives impossible. This is why the developers put in a Buyout option when it comes to events that often involve dealing with a TFO, because they know it's a real problem. It got so bad last night I ended the stream early

So since I had extra time, I decided to start working on getting PlayStation Network Trophies, using games that I've played before on other platforms... and the first was Saints Row The Third, and boy was I not expecting the controls when it comes to the bumper and trigger buttons to be backward. L1 is to shoot, L2 is to toss a grenade....when on the PC and Xbox versions, it's reversed, R2 and R1 are also reversed as well for whatever reason. What were the developers thinking

Today's Ftiness Boxing 2 session was a solid 30 minutes (factoring in stretching) and was more for me to get loose today, as it's starting to heat up and getting a good sweat going is a hell of a lot easier when it's warm than when it's cold.

We've added Heavy Rain: Director's Cut  for the Playstation 3 to our collection, and so another acclaimed game that we'll eventually feature on Twitch.

Not completely sure what will be on tonight's agenda, probably some things involving the Nintendo Switch, but not completely sure.

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

How Sony Killed My Interest In Console Gaming For 6 Years

For many, their first video game console was a Nintendo Entertainment System in the 1980s, for me, however the first time I ever played a video game was on an IMB Tandy 1000 from Radio Shack and I didn't get my first console until 1994, when my father got me and my younger bother a Sega Genesis. We had a few games, things like Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Ghostbusters, Mortal Kombat 3, Alien 3, Street Fighter II (the one with Cammy, Fei Long, T-Hawk and DeeJay). Now I was always more of a Computer gamer, as I had the mentioned Tandy 1000, and then was given a Compaq in 1992/3 so I could play Star Trek 25th Anniversary and a lot of the Lucas Film Games... but there was something cool about console gaming that I liked, where I didn't have to be sitting at my desk to play games, I could be in front of the TV which had a bigger screen than my computer at the time.

So fast forward a few years, my PC gaming was upgraded to an IBM PC with Windows 95 and there were plenty of Sega ports of games for it that I could play, so it wasn't until 1998/9 when I was given PlayStation to replace my Sega Genesis which developed a bad fault. The PlayStation was awesome, I didn't have to worry about my PC being able to run games and there were a lot of stuff on the original PlayStation that appealed to me, like Grandia, Chrono Cross, WWF Attitude, Rival Schools and others. When the PlayStation 2 was announced, I was like whoa, a whole new system that could also play my old games. I didn't waste time, hell I was in the middle of my failed military career and got a PlayStation in the Fall of 2001, making it the first time I bought a console on my own. Again the great appeal was being able to get the new games while still being able to use my old ones. This was really damn cool to me.

And I stood with the PS2 all the way up until 2008, two years after the initial release of the PS3 which I in the summer of that year, primarily because I was really into the WWE at the time, and the PS2 version of SmackDown vs RAW 2008 was a little... underwhelming. A big reason why I was so hesitant of getting a PS3 at the time was because I could use my PS2 games with it... unless I basically bought them again from the PlayStation Network Store (such was the case with Beyond Good and Evil), this was really a kick in the crotch for me. The only saving grace was that the PS3 could still run the PS1 era games that I had so there was that... but man, My PS3 lasted until October of 2013, one month before the release of the PlayStation 4...

Which was when I basically said fuck console gaming. You see I saw the news that the PS4 would not be backwards compatible with any games from the previous three eras of the system. We went from having the best way to do things with the PS2... to the disappointment of the PS3... and now the PS4 wouldn't have any way to play the games I purchased. No what Sony basically did was selling HD remasters of PS2 games.. which people bought and that carried over into how the planned to do things with the PS4. You want to play your favorite games from the previous three generations... well now you'll have to purchase them AGAIN. Now I have no problem buying multiple versions, but what I am against is being exploited as a consumer... and Sony basically was giving the big fuck you to loyal customers.

Obviously Microsoft responded to this by selling games digitally from its catalog to have them be backwards compatible, so folks could play Original Xbox on their Xbox 360, and of course games from both systems on on their Xbox One's.. or if they still had the disc they could (what a shock) insert the disc into their system and a re-license of the game was assigned so someone didn't have to buy the game again. But since I was not an Xbox gamer, this didn't appeal to me at the time... because well Sony pissed me off that much.

So what brought me back to console gaming... well I have to credit the likes of Iceman7667 and Lunar_Princess for that. Iceman who has been apart of the my Wednesday night streams over the past several months, wanted me to join in playing The Division 2 was a big reason why I went with the Xbox One. And Lunar_Princess has teased me about just playing PC games and missing out on all the stuff that was on console only. Microsoft's backward compatible library also was a huge factor for me as well, Now will I give Sony another chance with the PS5... well only if it can match what Microsoft does with allowing for players to use their existing PS1/2/3 disc to get the latest version of the older games other than that I'm just not seeing that in my future....

But what about Nintendo... well... as a Streamer I'm always looking for ways to Switch things up and added to my lineup. The biggest drawback with Nintendo is that all the games I would want to play are basically the first party in house developed games. But maybe we'll address that at some point in the future.