PPR 9

So I think I should also mention that our blog & also any major update is also pretty late as well & I apologize for that, as with all the other shit that we mentioned went down with the last couple of weeks, but we have been on the up & up. We'll soon be on Zune & with some changes in the works, First off we'll be having a new segment on the show know as Press Pause Radio which will be our Review segment known as Quarter Circle Forward, our Review segment to where we would take turns every other episode. We'll be starting off with Toast as he will be reviewing Brutal Legend released by EA & the latest & greatest software developed by Double Fine. The Quarter Circle Forward segment or QCF as we will be calling it will be going to down like this, as Andrew will be reviewing Brutal Legend, in future episodes he will be reviewing all current Console & PC releases for the Xbox 360, Wii, PC & soon hopefully the Playstation 3 when he picks one up hahaha. Paco's QCF will be focused on all portable gaming for the Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, & the Apple iphone & as for yours truly, I'll be doing the QCF for everything & anything retro. So Quarter Circle Forward aside I feel it's time we get down to the nitty gritty of topic. Oh & I will also be updating the Top 5 as well with it's own small blurb being as it was Paco's choice this Episode hahaha.

With the release of the Microsoft Xbox 360, among all of the new features that came with it aside Built in wireless connectivity, cutting edge Graphics, & a a whole different interface & experience with Xbox Live, the new feature that seemed to be ridiculous when mentioned, it was the Achievement. Every game that would be released on the Xbox 360 would have hidden objectives related to direct gameplay of the game for a number of different categories whether it would be time invested, a specific action performed or a collected objects or collection of objects. Achievements could be unlock for any number of reasons the developer intended & then there would be a score attached to them which would be permanently display on your Xbox live user name & account for pure bragging rights, now when this was first announced, I have to admit that I myself was among the few but now, I honestly can't get enough of them.

I do respect the ignition of re interest that the achievements have spurred in me to play through my games & do thing I never thought I would be doing to earn the digital badges of honor, I'd like to address the dark side to it as well. though most gamers aren't ashamed to admit & especially us older gamers that playing strictly to earn the highest score that you can in the game, achievements & trophies are the neo high scores of modern gaming & though this could some sort of re birthed yet reincarnated argument of what the real reason should behind playing the game. The point of thinking is with progress in a game that you would make, the though of simply making this progress in order to increase gamer score or trophy count for your digital ego to get all the much bigger, but does this take away from the experience intended by the developer?Also bear in mind that with the success of Achievements, that early in it's conception with the beginning of our modern generation of console gaming that other competitors have also already implemented their own pseudo rewards system, with Sony having the Trophy system that work similar & yet completely but still different enough to be considered fresh with comparisons with achievements on the 360 & another point that we also completely missed is Steam.

Steam also has their own achievement system implemented with all of their games available in their service for PC gamers, which with the concept going for the last couple of years has now separated it from just being another fad within gaming but a new Staple in which we could only await new enhancements or even something completely different. With Achievements & Trophies being at the core of all major online gaming communities, has it helped strengthen the relationships that we produce with other gamers online or has it hampered negatively with unnecessary aggression & animosity in friendly online play amongst us? Also another point that we briefly touched is with Valve including achievements on Steam & Microsoft & Sony already on the band wagon, how long is it going to be before we see a similar system done with Nintendo? We'll dive into the topic with much more intensity.

So please take the time to give the new episode a listen & also if you were interested about the results of the Press Pause Radio Sega Dreamcast Giveaway alsogive the new episode a listen, hell I think you guys should give us a listen anyway. So we want to thank everyone who reads & listens to our blogs, please also take the time & review us on itunes so we can spread the word of Press Pause Radio! thank you all again & here's the episode!

PPR Episode 9