So at 8:00 AM on March 1, the new ICandee, You Game will launch. 

And there is a prize in it for you for visiting, you lucky gamer you. 

Here's my forwarding address:

ICandee, You Game

See you there!

OK well it's not my birthday but today is officially...*drumroll*

Not being able to play much Fable 2 lately, I've been focusing on Animal Crossing: City Folk on the Wii.  I've played all 3 versions on this game and although a lot of things have changed for the better (easier letter writing and instant fossil identification for starters), I still see so much more potential for this franchise. 

Don't get me wrong, I have still put hours and hours into Animal Crossing: City Folk and will continue to do so.  And if they never change anything, I'll probably still spend hours catching the same old bugs and fish and running from the same old bees in future installments.  However, there's one thing I really miss from the GameCube AC and that's the music.  Don't ask me why because I don't have a clue.  I remember first starting AC: Wild World and being disappointed that the music wasn't there.  With City Folk, I was hoping they would combine the GameCube music with the DS music but instead we just got the DS music again.  They have expanded how much interaction you can have with your villagers (including being able to complain about them at Town Hall) and luckily the holidays are back, but how much change should a franchise get with each new addition?  Does Animal Crossing need an entire overhaul or (like the Katamari series) if it ain't broke, don't fix it?

Playing Fable 2 the other day, I noticed that I was inching closer and closer to the 10,000 gamerscore mark.  This being a major landmark in my gaming career, my mind began racing with thoughts of how I could earn those final few points to finally break 10k.  Fable 2 has a multitude of easily attainable achievements so obviously this was my first choice to get those final points. 

I just got married so I could have a child...but I'm not ready to be tied down with children in Albion yet so I could finish up the part of the main quest I'm currently on but I'm having too much fun buying up every available bit of property so nuts to that idea...I could shoot the weapons out of a Hollowman's hands then shoot...blah blah blah...nah nah nah...hmmmm...

Long story short, I finally broke 10,000 gamerscore by getting married again and attaining the "Bigamy" achievement...Woo hoo!  In your face monogamy!

My favorite game developers are those that "get it".  They not only make great games but there's something about them that tells you they would be cool to hang out with after the gaming is over.  One prime example is Tim Schafer and the staff of Double Fine (creators of Psychonauts, which if you haven't played...shame on you!), whose humor and "get it-ness" is almost the best part of the game.  It's when you find glimpses of inside jokes, culture spoofs and references (done with a light hand of course) that really make you think, "These guys are cool, they get me!"

I guess my point is this:  As if I needed another reason to love Fable II, I found a beer called "Hoptimus Prime" and a perfume made from the musk of balverines which include these fine words in the description: "60% of the time, it works everytime"...Thanks for getting it Lionhead...



P.S.-If you don't get the musk joke, slap yourself full across the face and then go watch Anchorman...

I've decided that cool people need two blogs, a MySpace page they never update, a Facebook page and Twitter updates to be really cool in this country...What a time we live in!  USA! USA! USA!

Because I live such a fascinating life outside of gaming, I've decided to make a new blog where I can share my various witty remarks on everything from being a mother to TV to cooking, etc and so forth.  I'll still maintain my adventures in gaming here because I can't bear to leave ICandee, You Game behind but just in case you'd like to check out my other life, here it is: Katamommy Damacy.

In other news, Puzzle Arcade is fun!  Although I can't help feeling like the humans in Wall*E, riding around on my chair, letting a robot play tennis for me...

Say what you will about download costs and how they just want more of our money for something that should have shipped with the game originally, but the new Fable II Knothole Island content is really good!  (Can't find my thesaurus so "really good" will have to suffice)  I like the idea of Albion expanding into new areas and I hope that they keep adding to it.  So far, I've been very happy with my Fable II experience.  I know before the game came out and after it initially did I was very excited and happy to see Albion again.  Now that I have played through a decent portion of it, that opinion overall has not changed.  I admit that I'm not all that charged with the way the co-op aspect works.  (RuFfNeCk and I might as well have been arguing over whether or not to stop and ask for directions)  But I don't play Fable for co-op anyway so that's a little gripe in my estimation. 

The bottom line for Fable II is that my bottom line is littered with Microsoft points so keeping giving me more content...

I love gaming...

I admit it, I've become a reality TV junkie...What's more exciting than people falling in love with people they'll never see again or the spittle that streams through every single VH1 show?  But I was always a little sad that my love for reality TV and my adoration for gaming never came together...

http://www.wcgultimategamer.com/

Thanks Sci-Fi!

Now that ICandee Jr is here, I can't help but to play my favorite games with a more critical eye.  Will I let her to play this when she's older?  What is the content?  Too scary, too violent, too stupid...etc etc...???  Games that are just bad in general she will obviously never play (I'm looking at you Perfect Dark Zero!) but since the topic of gaming is bound to come up once she's old enough to know what they are, I decided I might as well decide what games she'll be allowed to play now and save myself the headache later.

First on the list: the Katamari Damacy games.  I love them: I think they're fun, colorful and quirky.  Just like my baby...

Second, the Animal Crossing games.  Might as well teach her what a mortgage is now...

RuFfNeCk has added the original Mario games to the list.  What other games would you suggest for my child's early gaming education?

My first post of 2009, yahoo! 

Since I spent most of 2008 pregnant (read: tired and hungry) and then most of 10/9/08 in labor before ICandee Jr was born on 10/10, I didn't have much time for games but I have high hopes for 2009. I got off on the right foot as I waited for the clock to hit midnight in Animal Crossing rather than watching the ball drop in New York.  Very cool experience as fireworks were going off and my villagers were quite excited for the new year.  I've invested in Lips, primarily because I wanted to sing "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas".  (And I admit, "Every Little Step" by Bobby Brown...)

This year is bound to be a great year as I attempt to balance child rearing and gaming...Let the good games roll!

Well RuFfNeCk must have loved my last entry because he bought me the Prince of Persia game guide for Christmas...very funny!  This Christmas was filled with good homemade food, our new baby of course, my all my non-gaming friends getting the Wii (go Nintendo) and my newest favorite game: SingStar ABBA.  Rock on!!!!!  As for other gaming, I've been playing a little Beautiful Katamari, wishing they would make another one for the 360 and fix the controls since we can't expect a Katamari game for the PS3 because they don't make games for it anymore (new name: Blu-Ray3 hahahahahaha).  I'm also watering turnips and whatnot in Animal Crossing: City Folk while I wait for RuFfNeCk to play co-op with me in Fable II and Halo 3. 

The baby is growing like a weed and most people are surprised that I haven't been taking a slew of pictures, posing her with the 360 and so forth.  Being the geek that I am, I'm sure I'll get around to it...maybe in 2009...

I'm convinced that there are two types of gamers in terms of how they play games:  the Sophisticate and the Lumberjack. 

There are those gamers that like to leap before they look, that live for a machine gun, some grenades and a flame thrower.  They dread sniper or escort missions because these missions slow down what they've come to do: kill in large numbers as fast as humanly possible.  No time for blocking, typically the Lumberjack likes to hit as many buttons on the controller at once, a "button masher" if you will, and has no time for dilly dally, such as enjoying fine looking scenery or listening to entire conversations before hitting the A button.   Kill!  Kill!  Kill!

Then you have the Sophisticate.  They like to make plans before a mission.  Getting their weapons nicely loaded, making sure their health is at full capacity and always check out surroundings through the scope on their sniper rifle before moving in for the kill.  They prefer to attack from afar and will learn every combo in existence in order to maximize enemy damage when they do come into close combat.  They thrill at the knowledge that they must use cunning and hit a button to block enemy strikes. They love the dance of combat: block-two-three, hack-two-three, block-two-three, slash-two-three...

Neither style is wrong mind you, as long as the gamer enjoys the game, it makes no difference how the game is played.

My point is this: the new Prince of Persia game is pretty, has great humor and a good story but I don't dig the combat.  I am a  Lumberjack and proud of it...

ICandee SMASH!!!

With my 360 due back possibly today, RuFfNeCk showed me the NetFlix feature on the new dashboard.  After seeing it, I decided to take matters into my own hands and throw in some truly great cinema with the horrible crap he had added to our instant queue.  I wasn't sure that this NetFlix thing was going to be any good and I admit to being somewhat bitter since my 360 commited suicide but all was forgiven when I discovered a gem on NetFlix.  A beautiful piece of cinematography that no one should be without.  That's right:  today RuFfNeCk's 360 will be playing  Xanadu.  Woo hoo!  Go 360!

Since my 360 has betrayed me, I decided to try out Animal Crossing: City Folk on the Wii.  With the exception of being exactly like Animal Crossing and Animal Crossing: Wild World respectively, this is a great game.  It's enough like the original Game Cube version to bring back fond memories of many many hours wasted (or used wisely as I like to call it) and enough like the DS version with it's welcomed improvements, that I can see wisely wasting valuable hours on this one as well.  After all, it's the only game that keeping us from trading in the Wii anyway...It's all on you Animal Crossing! 

P.S.-Insult to injury: RuFfNeCk got in on the new Dashboard beta...UGH!

The night of the 360's launch was horrible...at least in terms of the weather.  It was pouring so hard that I saw the Ark go by at one point and even Noah couldn't find a 360 anywhere.  I was one of the lucky ones, having pre-ordered my 360 at a store where I was known by the employees, so it was a night of hanging out with other gamers and enjoying the excitement of my very first midnight console launch.  I bought two games that night: Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero (oh how far we have come).  I couldn't join Live that night (due to router issues which was fine since that paved the way for me to meet my husband, RuFfNeCk) but once I hit Xbox Live I was hooked and have been loving my 360 and the Xbox community ever since.

Once we got married, RuFfNeCk was worried that I wouldn't play games anymore (I think he equated it with the whole "no sex after marriage" scenario and I tend to believe he'd be much more upset about the "no games after marriage" than the other...)  Then when I got pregnant, he got even more worried because with children come more things to get done and I have to admit that games have been definitely relegated to the "when I get to it" section of my life since ICandee Jr was born a month ago.  Even the lure of Fable II (though hard to resist) was no match for my beautiful newborn daughter.  Until she finally decided to sleep that is and then it was on!  I even tricked RuFfNeCk into taking her a couple times so I could get some gaming in...life was good....

Until, one sad day, I learned my 360's true feelings for the change in my life status.  No longer could my 360 stand being pushed aside for another...no more could he take the insult of being passed by without acknowledgement...so almost 3 years to the day, I found this in my living room:



That's right my friends, my day one launch system has left this world for another.  I am heartbroken and gameless...(well, I mean I still have the PS3, Wii and DS to play but whatever it still stings...)  I feel like the Bumpus' dogs just ran in and tore my Christmas turkey to pieces...

I have never felt so betrayed...so alone...crap now the baby's crying.  You better be glad I have a new baby to occupy my time right now Microsoft!  I, your biggest supporter!  I, your biggest defender!  How could you do this to me?!  ME?!  Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! 

Jumping catfish, no blog since August?!?! Whoops! Well, luckily I have a good excuse...I ended up trying to push a baby out for 2 and a half hours on top of the 15 and a half previous hours of uncomfortable-ness so I figure I get a freebie on not blogging for a while. :)

In other news, Fable 2 is awesome! There's some major changes from the first game but it's still Fable...I can't help but remember the first one fondly since it was my first Xbox game ever.

Anyhoo, here's what you really came to see: the most beautiful baby in the world!

RuFfNeCk's friends from NY came down this weekend for our rocking baby shower and in the down time all we've been doing is playing video games. You'd think that it would get old after a while but therein lies the beauty of video games...they never do...

Mario Kart Wii, Fable II Pub Games, Geometry Wars 2, Rock Band, SingStar, even Boogie Bunnies for pete's sake have all made an appearance over the course of the weekend and I couldn't be happier! It's always fun to settle in with a good video game but there's just something about playing with friends that makes it even better.

Viva la video games!

Some husbands bring home gifts for their wives: jewelry, flowers, tickets to a show they've been wanting to see. Men seem to be encouraged to do this even more when their wife is pregnant (9 weeks until our gamer girl is here!). Now I love all of those things, but I love even more how well my husband knows me: last night he brought home to me the pre-order code for my free Xbox Live Fable 2 pub games.

Oh yes, there will be gold and items to be won on Wednesday...I can't wait! I want to start Fable 2 with as much cash as possible. Gimme gimme gimme Muwahahahahahahaha! And apparently my limited edition comes with a hobbes figurine (one of the enemies from the game, not the imaginary/real tiger...although that would be cool too)

Between working full time and the baby beating the bongos on every organ in my body, I have not been able to play games all that much.  Although I did get Go Go Break Steady yesterday.  (Or as I like to call it, "Boom Boom Zuma")  If you like rhythm-y, puzzle-y games, definitely pick this one up (Man, I love the Arcade!).  It has a fun multiplayer aspect as well.  Other than that, we've been getting ready for our gamer girl's arrival (almost 10 weeks to go!). 

Since this blog is so very interesting today, here's a picture of RuFfNeCk's Mighty Muggs collection (that I started for him anyway):

I am not a big sports fan. I don't have a team I root for, I don't watch draft picks or stay glued to the TV for an entire season. I don't get all fired up and yell at the TV when my team does something bad (or good). I've never really even experience that feeling of "one more point, don't choke don't choke don't choke" Until now...