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Rock Band was the first game that I started on my profile. I remember picking up the guitar and game bundle from the shop at which I now work. It wasn’t until I got a drum kit though that I became addicted to the game. The discovery of free DLC led to an initial obsession over increasing the size of my music library. However, points didn’t come that often (I was unemployed) and full price songs were expensive, so the obsession soon wore off. I kept an eye on the new releases each week but just made a hit list for when the odd track pack would come on sale and I could pick it off for a cheaper price.

Fast forward nearly three years and four months to the day. Harmonix is celebrating the release of the latest game in the franchise, Rock Band Blitz. They decided that they’re going to discount all of the DLC released prior to the cut-off point where songs were no longer back compatible with Rock Band and Rock Band 2. That’s over 1,200 pieces of DLC. My hit list included 126 songs from this sale, totalling 9,920 MSP at sale price. While this seems like a hell of a lot of MSP (nearly £83 in real money), the cost of the DLC at full price was 19,480 MSP (just over £162). I couldn’t let this sale pass me by.



I had 1,080 points sat in my account before the sale started. I spent this on the first 13 songs on my list leaving 40 MSP spare. Needing more points quickly, I went to my local GAME store. I bought 4200 MSP and went home to redeem it. Here is where I hit a snag. The code wouldn’t redeem. Despite the receipt confirming that the code had been activated successfully, all attempts to redeem it on the console resulted in an error message stating that “the content could not be retrieved from the marketplace”, error code 801613C9. Attempts via Xbox.com brought up a slightly different error message, but the result was the same. The Xbox.com forums suggested that I recover my gamertag, but this didn’t solve anything. Xbox Support was my only option.

The support page on Xbox.com gave me three options. Now, no offence to the Xbox Ambassadors out there, but I knew that this was a problem that they wouldn’t be able to help with, so I ignored that option. The second option was a web chat with a member of the Microsoft Support team with a waiting time of 25 minutes. The third option was to request a call from Support; with a waiting time of less than a minute, there are no prizes for guessing where I went. Fair play, they phoned back within 30 seconds.



I’ve heard several bad things said about Xbox support, but the guy (whose name I can’t remember) on the other end of the phone couldn’t have been more helpful. He confirmed that the code had not been redeemed on my account but, although he took all of the relevant details including the actual code, place and date of purchase etc. he had to ‘escalate’ the problem as there was nothing that he could do. I faced a maximum three day wait for my points, meaning that the sale would be nearly over before I could spend that money. I wasn’t pleased but there wasn’t much that I could do. Later that day, I bought another 2100 MSP card. Bearing in mind that I needed these points anyway, it meant that I could just get on with downloading the songs so that I hit my daily target and didn’t end up downloading 60 or so songs on the last day of the sale.

The next morning I had an email from Support. Unfortunately, the tech who had taken my case obviously hadn’t read any of the report sent to him by the guy on the phone. I didn’t want a refund for the points that I redeemed at the start of the month and had now spent. I wanted my points that I couldn’t redeem. Cue a slightly blunter reply to this e-mail complete with code (again), purchase date (again) and a request to ignore the previous code that had been redeemed on the account. Two more 2100 MSP codes were purchased and the downloading continued, although I was starting to get a horrible feeling that my wayward points would not arrive in time for the end of the sale.



Finally, yesterday evening I had another reply by e-mail. Microsoft had decided to replace my code. Two days before the end of the sale, I now had the full 4200 MSP that I had purchased two days previously. Without the initial mixup, Microsoft would only have taken 24 hours to sort out my problem, but I can’t complain about the turnaround. My mission to spend over £80 of points was successful. Today, I have spent a couple of hours playing some of my new acquisitions, once Rock Band had taken several minutes to load my additional content. I may even be able to interest my fiancé in playing the game too. I don’t think I’ll be buying anything else for a little while yet though.

Back in May, I reviewed the first episode of The Walking Dead. Two months later, the second episode was released onto Xbox LIVE Arcade and I reviewed that too. The third episode was released during the second week of my holiday, but due to a mix-up at Telltale’s end with review codes, I finally got my hands on the game on the Monday after my return. I’ve now reviewed the third episode for Gamin’ Girl – here are my thoughts.

Having just hit its intended August release window, the third episode of Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead shuffled into gamers’ hands. Although we’ve seen a top notch storyline from the developer over the last two episodes, many were disappointed with the framerate and sound issues that were encountered in “Episode 2”. Has “Episode 3” got what it takes to win back the hearts of players?

Follow the winding road

“Episode 3: Long Road Ahead” rejoins the survivors at the motel, where the camp is just about holding out. However, supplies are still running low. Lee and Kenny have to make the perilous trek into Macon for the meagre supplies left at the drugstore. On their return, Lily reveals that there is a traitor in the camp – somebody is stealing supplies. This discovery sets off a chain of events from which there is no return. As the episode title and in-game graphic suggests, the survivors finally leave the motel in the search for a new safe place, but the road ahead is far from smooth.



Prepare yourselves for a rollercoaster ride. If you thought that the decisions you had made so far were tough, then you’ll get a shock with this episode. Things get much crazier and Lee will find himself in many volatile and emotionally-charged situations. Without giving too much away, your opinions on your fellow survivors will change as it becomes apparent that not everybody can be trusted. You will find yourself becoming more suspicious of any newcomers. Your reactions will change too. Whereas I played the moral high ground in “Episode 1” and “Episode 2” to a certain extent, I now found myself doing what I needed to do for Lee and Clem to survive. If this meant breaking the rules then so be it. It is every man for themselves.

The one thing that is becoming more apparent though is that the story is heading in a single direction. Telltale has a story that they want to tell and none of the player decisions will affect the path that must be followed. Don’t get me wrong, your decisions will still affect the way that some of the characters react to you, but the episode will end the same way regardless of the decisions that you make. While this will upset some people, I feel that this is probably for the best and allows for a much more coherent storyline. This is the only episode of the three that I haven’t felt the need to replay because of a decision (or two) that I wasn’t happy with – I’ll stick it out and see where the game takes me.



Exploring your surroundings

While the tough decisions remain, “Episode 3” allows for a lot more player exploration than experienced in the previous two episodes. In between the emotional cutscenes are chapters where the player can unwind with some casual puzzle solving. This is where the more traditional point-and-click element of the game kicks in. Players must collect items or look for clues in the surrounding environment and use them to progress further. The puzzles are far from challenging, but the change in pace is welcome and you feel in a better state of mind to be able to face the next tough situation.

The action sequences and quicktime events also reappear, but they are in far fewer numbers here. Unfortunately, these sequences need to have near-perfect timing if players are to succeed. In one particular zombie encounter, the zombies have to be picked off in a particular order with only one or two missed shots allowed, otherwise Lee will be attacked and players will have to restart from the last autosave. This makes these sequences seem a little out of sorts with the rest of the game, which allows more of a hit or miss approach to getting things right.



What about the issues from the last episode?

The two months that have passed since “Episode 2” have seen Telltale working hard to improve on the technical issues and, to some extent, they have succeeded. The sound issues have gone. There is no stuttering and the lip syncing is as good as can be expected with cartoony graphics. As for the framerate issues, these are also much improved but they haven’t gone altogether. There is a little stuttering in the cutscenes, especially at the start of the game. This does get better as the episode progresses though, to the point where players will fail to notice anything as time goes on. However, I do recommend turning off console notifications as the first achievement unlock and all friend notifications have a habit of completely obscuring any conversation options that are on screen at the time.

The third episode continues the trend of 2-3 hour episodes, although this one seems longer due to the amount of opportunities that players have for puzzle solving. With the previous problems all but disappeared, the wait for the “Episode 4” will be hard for some, especially if the montage of “what happens next” scenes at the end of the game is anything to go by. By my calculations, we’ll only have to wait until October. Bring it on.

Forgive me TA for I have sinned. I failed to listen to my inner resolve and succumbed to temptation. For ten months I resisted the urge to buy little fantasy figures, each with their own little microchip to save statistical data. Then one fateful day last month, I was forced to work for ten days while my boss went on holiday. I was too proud and I felt that I deserved a reward. Together with a magic portal and a game disc, three tiny fantasy figures came home with me for a weekend’s holiday full of treasure collecting, hat wearing and vanquishing dark forces.



Once Monday came along, our friendship was too strong. I couldn’t abandon my new friends to the loneliness of the shop shelf. After all, I had made them wear moose antlers, halos and cossacks in the hunt for treasure, so it was only right that I offered them permanent refuge in my house. That same week, I even bought them a new friend so that they didn’t get lonely. However I selfishly resolved to only find a total of eight little figures, one from each element, so that they would always be useful in our journey through the far-away mythical Skylands.



My resolve held out and only three more figures joined my little group. During my summer trip to visit family, I acquired the final figure for my team. The group was complete, or so I thought. Then I became complacent and I dropped my guard. I bought four more adventure packs so that they would have further lands to explore, but then realised that I had also bought four more figures. One of them was identical to one that I already owned. Would they fight? I honestly couldn’t be sure, so I had to be really mean and place him in solitary confinement until I could find him another welcoming home.



I felt really horrible about what had happened to my recent acquisition and he looked really lonely, so when I saw a group of three figures looking equally lonely in a glass cabinet in a store, I fetched those to keep him company. Before I knew it I had a total of 15 figures, although one was due to be relocated. Even bearing this in mind, this was still six more than I had intended to house in my humble abode. What was I to do? The conundrum continued even as I returned home ready to start work on the following Monday. Then things got worse.



My return to work was greeted with the sight of 25 figures all baying for a new caring home. Their previous friend had grown bored and had decided to sell them. I was weak and I felt sorry for them. I couldn’t risk having any fights on my hands, so I only took the 18 figures to which I hadn’t already given shelter. So that he had company, I left my duplicate in good hands with the remaining seven. He’ll find a new home soon. Unfortunately, my home has now been taken over by a small army.



I’ve had to divide the group into four teams ready to tackle the game in relays. This means four playthroughs. I’m even considering buying the 3DS version of the game so that at least one of my teams will have a different adventure, but that would be greedy. O TA, I am heartily sorry for having sinned, because now my living room is filled with plastic figures. But, most of all, I have offended my fiancé, who is now holding my Skylanders to ransom.



I firmly resolve with the help of the community, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. No, they’re not for sale.

I’m back home now after my two week holiday. As mentioned two weeks ago, my fiancé and I had been staying with my parents just to have a break and recharge our batteries. Due to a road accident nearly three months ago my fiancé can’t do a lot of walking, so we didn’t even bother hiring a car. Instead we decided that we’d go to the few sightseeing locations that my parents would want to visit too and then the plan was to have a few days with other family members. Things didn’t quite go according to plan.

Over a year ago now, I did a community interview. In that interview, I revealed that my fiancé and I are both keen gamers and that we were avid collectors. Having missed much of the previous generations of gaming, I wanted to fill in the gaps in my history knowledge. As such, we began a collection of the older consoles. In the interview we already had a Playstation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast and Mega Drive. Since then, we’ve also acquired a MegaCD and a NES. I still have pangs of guilt over getting rid of my Master System and I’d made up my mind to get another one to relive my childhood gaming memories. My fiancé also wants an Atari 2600 for his childhood memories. There is still one glaring omission from the above list though: a SNES. Our old setup:



Even though I work in a gaming shop that deals in the retro games and consoles, I have never seen a NES, a SNES, a Master System or an Atari come through the shop in twelve months of employment. I’ve only ever seen one Dreamcast. Our search for the consoles would have to be taken elsewhere. Although the SNES was our primary target, the Atari and the Master System would be happy alternatives. I know of a few places near my parents that could stock all of the three targets, so the search began in earnest. Forget the relaxing holiday, we were after the consoles.

I hadn’t been to Northampton for at least seven years. I had no idea what there was there in the way of gaming shops, but it was worth a look. To cut a long story short we found a few gaming shops, but nothing that sold anything earlier than the Playstation. Things weren’t all that bad though. We did acquire Blackwater and Hex from Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure at a much cheaper price than anywhere else, including online. Being an Undead Skylander, Hex was the last element that I needed to complete my squad of eight.



Leicester was our main hope for the consoles. I knew of two market stalls that sold retro consoles and further research yielded a shop too. We arrived in the city just after 9AM and headed straight for the nearby market. We were too early; both stalls were still setting up. However, both stallholders informed us that they didn’t have any of the three in stock. They suffered from the same problem that afflicts my employment. Both my shop and the market stalls are set up in university towns. Not only are the students willing buyers, but when they’re short of money or are having to leave accommodation for the holidays, they are the main source of stock too. Two weeks into the long summer break, most of that stock has been sold and there is very little chance of replenishing it until they return towards the end of September. We’d chosen the wrong time to try and find these consoles.

We decided to look around the rest of the market and the surrounding charity shops before returning to stock up on some of the retro games. Unsurprisingly, Mario and Zelda were nowhere to be seen. Instead, I acquired Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? for the Mega Drive and our NES collection increased four-fold with the addition of Disney Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, The Bugs Bunny Blowout and BoulderDash. The latter is a blast from the past. I remember playing the game on our long-defunct Acorn. When a remake, http://www.trueachievements.com/Boulder-DashXL-xbox-360.htm, was announced for XBLA back in March 2011 I was fairly excited. When I tried the demo on its release four months later, I was disappointed. Although there was a Retro Mode, the remake just didn’t have the charm of the original. The NES version is definitely different to the Acorn version, but there’s more nostalgia here than I felt from the remake.



We carried on past a retro toy shop (didn’t sell consoles) and several more charity shops until we reached Game World. Unfortunately, he had a Mega Drive and an N-Gage, but that was it for retro consoles. We were extremely disappointed, but I added Another World to the Mega Drive collection as consolation. I also added three of the four Skylanders expansion packs for £14.99 each – a price that I wasn’t going to turn down. The last ditch attempt fell at the nearby Cash Generators, who didn’t sell anything earlier than the last generation. I did pick up Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper (EU Ver) for £5 though.

We weren’t too optimistic about Rugby. I knew that there weren’t really any retro shops there. I did pick up three more Skylanders for my collection as GameStation were combining pre-owned figures for £15. However, we got chatting with the employee in CEX, who informed us that nearby Nuneaton was good for retro gaming. I hadn’t been to Nuneaton for about ten years. However, a little research located the Entertainment Exchange on the outskirts of the town centre. Our final chance of locating a SNES, Atari and Master System was mapped out for the following day.



The next day, we arrived in Nuneaton. We decided to visit all of the charity shops first on the way towards The Entertainment Exchange. As it was a little way out of town, we asked at the last one to make sure that the shop was still open. After being told that it was still there, we headed up the road, only to be met with one of the most disheartening sights. Even from across the other side of the junction, we could see that the shutters were down and that the building was empty. We crossed over anyway and decided to have a look at the Cash Converters store next door. We noticed their console section, but the oldest one that they seemed to have in stock was a Nintendo 64. My fiancé asked about a SNES, but was told that all of the consoles were in the cabinet. A SNES they definitely didn’t have.

Then, right at the back of the cabinet, I spotted the distinctive red and white lettering of the SEGA Master System II. It was mine, even though it didn’t come with any cartridges. I had a feeling that the console would come preloaded with a game, but which one was a mystery until I got it home. While waiting for the leads for the console, we got some better news. They had a SNES in the back room with two controllers and Super Mario Kart. Even though it had a Samsung power lead and a SEGA aerial lead, we took that too. As the shop assistant had no idea what an Atari 2600 looked like, we gave up with that one. We’d just had the most successful day in one of the most unlikely places.



We hooked up both consoles to the small TV in my bedroom at my parents’ house. After a bit of TV tuning, the instantly recognisable main menu to Sonic the Hedgehog popped up. I already have this game on the Mega Drive, but Sonic the Hedgehog was a completely different game on each console. I’ll be keeping both. My fiancé and I also duked out two rounds on Super Mario Kart. He won both. I’ll let him gloat for a while and then gently remind him of the mess that he made of his face when he walked into a door five days ago.

Our retro collection is nearly complete. My Skylanders collection isn’t doing too badly either...

I wasn’t going to write a blog this week as I’m actually staying at my parents for two weeks. After my fiancé had a road accident ten weeks ago, we decided to take a break away from home to recharge our batteries. We decided to have a gentle two weeks in Leicestershire to see my family and perhaps do a bit of casual sightseeing too. I wasn’t going to bore you with my continuing disappointment with Avatar FameStar (you know those weekly challenges? They’re the same as last week). However, I read something in a magazine today that just warranted a comment.

The article was titled “Bring Back the Free-Range Summer”. The whole gist was that children aren’t allowed any freedom during the holidays. Activities are carefully structured and are planned in advance. Concerns over safety mean that children are rarely allowed outside unsupervised to come up with their own entertainment. The final point was that some parents rely too much on the “electronic babysitter” (TV, phones, video games) to keep their children quiet and that this can have affects on their general wellbeing.

I agreed with the majority of the article. As the author waxed lyrical about his own childhood holidays, I was taken back to mine. All of the neighbourhood children would play together. We’d climb trees and set up our own rope swings. We’d play football while using trees as goalposts. We’d play hide and seek in the surrounding streets; if we needed more hiding places, we’d use bicycles as transport and spread into the nearby fields. We’d create dens out of tree branches and grass cuttings. If it rained, my sister and I had books, cheap art materials, board games, jigsaws and other toys that we knew exactly how to use without supervision.

Now, I’ve been writing and reading video game news for long enough to know that the wider audience views gaming as the spawn of the devil. I can only assume that this attitude is what spawned this nugget from the article:

[Psychologist Oliver] James cautions against leaving children entirely alone with paints and paper or a dressing-up box because, initially, they might not know what to do with them. A generation reared on screens needs to be gently reminded there are other ways to have funReally??!! You’re trying to tell me that a child would be too stupid not to know what to do with paints and paper? I’ll concede that very young children may attempt to eat the paints (yes, I’ve seen it happen) and paint may have found its way onto several other surfaces, but this statement is ridiculous. My mother worked at a playgroup for over 20 years. Not once did she ever meet a child who didn’t know what to do with paints and a piece of paper. The quality of the artwork varied, but fun was always had.

The dressing up box also met with a similar response. The costumes ranged from proper pirate get-ups to my old bridesmaid dress that got ruined at the dry-cleaners (another story). Not only did the kids know how to put them on themselves, they could make up their own stories using their imagination. To come up with the ridiculous idea that TV screens and games leave children with no imagination and little intelligence is, quite frankly, insulting and an extremely lame excuse.

I read a lot of bullshit about games in the media, but even my mother, who has no knowledge of modern gaming, completely ridiculed this idea. I just hope that the majority of society can also see through the moronic and misinformed opinions spouted in these so-called lifestyle magazines. The witch hunt against video games really is unbelievable.