Did you know Hamsters can have strokes?

I didn't but my wife found out they could. Didn't have any clue that is what was wrong with out hamster.

About a week ago, something happened and my daughter was crying all day because she thought our hamster (Rexy) was going to die. It's head was turned sideways and couldn't walk straight. It was just barely breathing. We thought for sure it would die that day.

Two days later, Rexy is still going. So we start feeding it water and trying to get it some food. It seems to perk up and try to move around but can't get her direction straight at all.

So as I said at the beginning, my wife found out about the stroke and come to find out, if we keep up with the water and food, Rexy can get back to normal. We do have to take the wheel out of the cage though. It says to not let them run around on it anymore after that.

So our heart break day is turning into sort of miracle with some information from the internet. YEAH!

UPDATE 10/5/2010: The hamster died yesterday. 8(

Alan Wake DLC Part 1

I got my free download of the Alan Wake DLC Part 1 yesterday. The email with my code didn't show up until 3:30 pm. I was starting to get worried that I had gotten screwed over but thankfully not.

The DLC takes the game to the next level of crazy but helps make more sense of the end of the game with the words showing up in the last level. It actually gives it more purpose to me now as I didn't like that part at all in the game.

Alan seems to have lost his memory but regains it as he is running around. It's interesting how they are using the original game and slightly changing the atmosphere to give it a different feel. I had read an article that they went away from the story and did more on gameplay. The story is there to me but they reason they are saying that is because it does jump from parts of the original story to the next really quickly as Alan is regaining his memory.

It took me about an hour to finish the DLC. I picked up and remembered the controls pretty quickly. I think I found half the posters and about 2/3 of the clocks for the collectibles for just barely looking around. So they did put stuff in places that you would really have to look around to find them. I did die once as I wasn't ready for this massive on slaught of guys. I'll definitly not die on my next run through.

I haven't played the game since I beat it but it was so enjoyable to play it again. This is one of the best games I've ever played. I hope the next DLC comes out soon. Mainly because I want o play it before a good trade in deal shows up at Gamestop or I'll be trading it in. It'll be hard to part with this game though.

Update 7/29/2010

I did a 2nd run in the game last night and I missed 1 card board cut out and 2 clocks. Some how my cardboard character achievement popped on the first one in the game. I was sure I read that but it popped, so I actually found them all on the first run through.

Now the 2 clocks I missed. One was out on a dock that I just didn't walk out on for some reason. The 2nd one I missed was in the light pole area where the taken keep spawning in. That was rough stuff. Don't plan on finding it without dieing. That was rough finding where it was located at.

A good tip, hold onto 4-5 flare gun shots until you get to the end with the TV's. You'll finish it off so fast by shooting your flare gun you'll laugh.

Update 7/30/2010

Last update because I've had this happen to me a few times. So wanted to warn you.

When you beat the DLC and the end movie starts playing. Don't hit B to skip it. It has frozen up on me every time I've tried to skip it. Luckily when I reloaded it back up after going to the dashboard, it popped my 50 point achievement for beating it without dieing.

Lithium WorxGT™ 2-in-1 Trimmer/Edger

This is off topic but hey, it's my blog, I can post up what I want. 8)

So been needing a weedeater for a bit now and finally broke down and got one. Got a Worx GT 2 in 1 Lithium Electric Weed Trimmer.

http://www.worxpowertools.com/lithium-cordless/weed-trimmer-edger.html

I didn't want to do the oil and gas combo if I could avoid it. The 4 stroke engines for unleaded only cost more but they would have been worth it. Saw this on TV and thought, "That's really all I need." So I ordered it from Amazon and I'm thinking that I can just recharge a battery to save money in the long run without having to buy gas all the time? That's the way I'm looking at it anyway.

So it arrives in the mail on Friday and I get up to use it first thing on Saturday morning. Now granted I've let my weeds grow up pretty tall and they've needed cutting for a few weeks now. Plus the ground is wet from a late shower and the morning dew. I cut around the swing set in the backyard so the kids can play without all the grass sprouting out from around it. Headed over to do beside the fence where it's really thick.

This is where you see the difference between gas and battery. It took a slow and repeat cutting to get the tall weeds cut down. With a gas powered one you could cut right through and keep on going. That power difference is definitely noticeable when dealing with thick weeds. So I get a little ways along the fence and the battery dies on me. I plug it up to charge and look at the bottom of the weedeater. the weeds were wrapped around the top of the core that spins around. I'm thinking it might have caused the battery to drain faster causing resistants. So I spend some time with a knife and my fingers trying to get it out. Got pulled away for a little bit and then came back to work on it some more. The weeds had dried up some so they started coming off easier.

So the battery finally finishes charging and I decided, lets see how this edger is going to work on it. Go out to the front and start working on my walkway to the front door. It's doing good but it doesn't dig down into the dirt like I'm use to doing. It's right on the edge but never really gets into the dirt all that much. I even ended up tilting it sideways some because at one point the string didn't seem to want to come out from the little it lost. So I do all that and start working on the driveway. Decided to cut around the air conditioner and after I get one side of the driveway done. Then the battery dies again. So it gets plugged back up for charging. Which by now the kids are outside with me playing, so I'm playing with them while it's charging.

When you're waiting and watching, it seems to take forever to charge something up. I'm guessing it took about 40 minutes or so to actually charge up. Didn't actually time it though.

When it gets done charging I finish edgeing the driveway and go down the outside edge of the fence. The grass is drying up and it's not as thick this time so it's going a little faster. I then go to cut around some bushes, telephone pole, mail box, fire hydrant and it dies on me again.
It's lunch time by now and it's getting hot. So I didn't even finish cutting the rest of the front yard and still got most of the backyard fence to cut. Needless to say, that was the end of weedeating for the day.

One nice feature is a metal piece that sticks out show you how far out your string will go so when I'm cutting the fence, I can put the weedeater up to the spot and it doesn't wear out my string really fast as it keeps it off the fence.

I'm also still using the spool that came with it and I have 2 more replacements after it. I don't think I used but maybe 1/5 that line. It hardly got ran down at all. With a gas powered one I Would have probably already replaced the line by now from doing all that I did. One nice thing is once my spools do run out, I can order them from the site to get more spools and it only cost me shipping. So you don't pay for the spools and I think you get 6 when you order them. Not bad if it's going to last a while like it looks like it's going too.

I don't like the fact that when you set it down and it won't set up right without falling over. Can't tell ya how many times that happened and when I was working on it being on the cement. The handle on both side is all scruffed up like I've already been using it for a couple months.

Overall, I like it and once I get all the big weeds down, I just need to keep them down and I'll be able to cut more faster the next time around. If you have thick weeds, stay away from this as you need a gas powered weedeater and not a battery operated one. I do suggest you buy a second battery from the start as I plan to get one now. About the time you get done cutting the other battery should be close to being done charging. So if you have a big yard like I do (half acre), you'll need a longer span of battery time to cut it all. If you have a small quarter acre lot, you might not need it and this will be perfect for you.

Picross 3D

The first Picross game was a blast to play and the new Picross 3D doesn't disappoint. Instead of looking down and trying to figure out a flat picture, you now chip away at blocks to create objects. You can basically say you're creating a sculpture but it's all squares. They do a good job of making the blocks resemble the real deal so you know what you created. Make sure to watch all the animations after you finish them as some are funny to watch. Others are a quick bore and you'll know to just click and go onto the next.

The game does give you a range from easy to hard difficulities on the puzzles. wouldn't be a challenge otherwise right? I only ever really got stuck on one puzzle that just kept getting me. That's the very last puzzle you'll do in the entire game. Which is puzzle 369. Yep, 369 puzzles to complete the game if you plan to do every puzzle in the game. So it will take you some time to finish it. Now that's not to say I didn't have to redo a bunch puzzles to get it finished. So expect to try a few times on quite a few to get through the puzzle.

As you're going through you will keep unlocking levels per easy, normal and hard. In between those you will run across Timed Challenges, Construction challenges, and One-Chance Challenges.

• The Timed Challeges gives you a short amount of time but after you knock away and mark so much, you get more time. If you don't finish before you hit the red section, you'll lose.
• The Construction Challenges are a bunch of puzzles you'll finish and when all are done, it puts them all together to create something. Which is kinda neat to see.
• The One-Chance Challenges means you can't miss anything. You break a block that should not be broken, you lose and have to start over.

They add a nice little aspect to the game outside of just finishing the puzzles. After you finish the Tutorial or maybe it's the Easy mode puzzles, you'll unlock a Random mode. That lets you pick a range of what you want to do and it just randomly picks a puzzle for you to work on that you've already finished before.

You can actually build your own puzzles if you want. It takes a little bit to get use to working it but you'll figure it out and be moving right along making your own puzzles.

You can also hook up via DS communication and wi-fi for some more action. You can recieve and send your puzzles via the DS communication. Plus send the demo of the game to another DS. I didn't really explore the wi-fi portion that much. You can download more puzzles and upload your own puzzles you created. They host challenges for you to create puzzles according to themes they pick to see who can come up with the best idea. Kinda like the Mii creater on the Wii for people that they do now. That's about it for the wi-fi section. Sorry for not really digging more into it but I just wanted to finish the puzzles since I enjoyed the first one so much.

If you like puzzle type games and enjoyed the first Picross game. You're going to love Picross 3D and it's a must buy.

Blur for $20

So do you want a copy of Blur for $20. This is the week to do it as at the end of this week you won't be able to get this deal any more.

Best Buy has marked the game down to $40 right now. Which is $20 off the $60 price range.

Now you just need to go this website you're about to see and print off a $20 coupon.

Hard to beat a $20 game, no matter who you are.

So enjoy and thanks for stopping by. 8)

http://www.blurgamepromotion.com

Alan Wake

Alan Wake is a fantastic game. I ended up playing through the game 3 times since I bought it. I ran through the first time just playing to enjoy the game. Ran through it again to collect all of the collectibles that I had missed, and the third time was to play it on Nightmare. The second run through was probably the most tedious, but I never got bored with the game. If you decide to use a guide to get all of the collectibles on your first run through, I’ll let you know now, it won’t ruin the game. It’s rare to find a game that you don’t wear out on too quickly. I’m talking half way through a game and you feel like you’re just grinding stuff out to finish it off to be done with it. I never once got that feeling with this game.

The main reason I got this game was because I was able to get it real cheap and it was part of the bonus scenario for the STEI. It also helped that my wife had expressed an interest in it and wanted to experience the game with me. That’s a huge bonus for me as that’s rare. The reason why is even though I’m playing a game, the game is pretty much like a book or mini series. It is delivered in well portioned episodes. The story in this game is great. It’s what pulls you in and makes you want more. . You just can’t put it down. That’s how this game will be when you start playing it. So whether you are the one playing or watching, it’s still enjoyable. My kids were getting into it as well, telling me which way to go, watch out for the bad guys, and just enjoying it as well since I was doing what they said to do.

The Story

The main character is a writer in the game and an accident happens to his wife in which the real story begins and you dive into the darkness of the game. You will jump from present to past, to light then dark, from accidents to dreams, and be trying to figure out the story for yourself as you’re going through the game. It’s very intriguing and at one point, I started thinking it was going to be like the Shutter Island movie. If you’ve seen that movie and liked the twist, you’ll enjoy this game even more. As you’re going through, you’ll be collecting manuscripts of a book written by your character, but have no recollection of writing. The story presented in these manuscripts immerses you even more into the game if you read them all. I’m sure some will just collect the manuscripts to get the achievement and move on. You don’t have to worry as it will not take away what the game offers in the least. The manuscripts just help add more to the story to the game.

Game Play

The game play is pretty intriguing as light is your weapon. You use a flash light to drain the darkness off your enemies and then at that point you can use your weapons to take them out. Throughout the game, you’ll get to use a revolver, shotgun, double barrel shotgun, hunting rifle, flare gun, flares and flash bangs to kill the enemies. The flash bangs can really come in handy and you’ll actually run through a section where that’s all you have for a weapon. You’ll also go through some spots where you don’t have a flash light to help you out. The game does a really good job mixing it up the game play tactics. Also, at the beginning of each chapter in the game, you’ll lose everything you had from the previous chapter. So when playing normal mode, you’re going to have plenty of left over ammo. Your nightmare run however, you’re going to pray you have enough to even make it to the end of each chapter.

Difficulty

Normal mode isn’t that hard but you do hit hard spots, it does progressively get harder and you will more than likely die a few times. The spots you find that are hard on the normal run, becomes even harder on nightmare and getting through those sections is not going to be easy. I will give you a tip though: No matter what, if you know a safe haven light is semi close by, flare it up, flash the enemy with the flash light if needed and run. Most of the sections I got through on nightmare I literally flared it up, did not even fire a shot and ran through the massive amount of enemies just to get to the safe haven light. Once you reach the light, they all go away and you will regain any lost health. It is your biggest life saver in the game on nightmare. A good practice run before you start nightmare would be when you do that 30 min run achievement. You literally just run through the board as fast as you can which involves a lot of running and not fighting if possible. That would be a good place to get into a routine before your nightmare run.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics of the game are done very well. They do a wonderful job setting a mood and atmosphere with the stark contrast between the daylight and nighttime settings. They daytime is bright and colorful, but not blinding. The night is dark and gloomy, but not washed out from the overkill of black. The characters themselves looked good, but could have been rendered better. The sound turned out really good and they did a great job on that. The wind howls in just the right way for a horror setting. The rustling of the trees is just enough to hear it in the background, but not screechingly annoying. The voices and voice-overs sounded great, but they really missed the mark on the lip sync. It is rather jarring to be really submersed into the story, just to be thrown back by bad lip sync.

The End

Just like a book, there is always an end but there are already two DLC’s scheduled to come out for this game. The first one isn’t too far off in the future but no date on the second one at all.
For the most part, I was satisfied with the ending of the game. I do however wish they left out one section that was kind of cheesy to me. You can tell me your own opinion when you get to that point.

Overall I think everyone that plays this game, except a few who might critique anything off in a game, are going to really enjoy this game. It is well worth the purchase and I don’t expect anyone to be disappointed.

Wolf Of The Battlefield: Commando 3

So, do you like shoot'em up games, dodging bullets from every angle possible in a limited amount of space? You do! Then you should enjoy playing WOTB:C3. It's a nice simple Xbox Live Arcade game that was a blast to play through. Even though there isn't much of a story to it. It's so small that I can't even remember if it had a story anymore.

THE GAME

There are 3 characters in the game: Wolf, Coyote, and Fox. Each characters stats are a little different either giving you more health, more fire power, or more grenades. If you’re not any good at dodging bullets though, I would avoid using Fox as her health is really low and only takes about 2-3 hits to die. However, Fox is really fast compared to Wolf and Coyote. I would recommend Wolf or Coyote while running through the game unless you're glutton for punishment. The game does allow for co-op play and you can run through the game with all 3 players at once. Actually, you have to play with all 3 in order to get the "name of achievement” achievement in the game. Plus you need to finish it with a friend for the "name of achievement" achievement as well.

Depending on the difficulty and the amount of people playing the game will determine the amount of lives you have that is shared among the group. So if you solo the game on suicide, you only get 2 lives but if you are playing with 2 friends on the cakewalk difficulty, you will get 15 lives.

Overall the game has a clean 3D render with the drawn out characters showing their faces at different points in the game. I don’t really remember any music in the game from all the firing and explosions going on, so I don’t think you’ll notice if it is there.

THE BOSSES

TANK 1

At the end of the first board, you will fight a tank. It has 2 front gun turrets that shoot bullets at you in a straight line that you can take out easily with your grenades. A massive cannon swings back and forth on top of the tank as you expect. It will also shoot rockets down on you from the back of the tank. Just stick to the bottom right or left corner and avoid everything while shooting it.

TANK 2

The second boss is at the end of board three and is the same tank with 3 additions. The first addition is they painted it red. The second addition is they added flame throwers around the tank. So it will spew out flames either straight ahead or to the sides but it's the same spots, so stick to the corners again to avoid them. The third addition is the tank will throw out mines before it launches the missiles. Just avoid them and use your MK's if you get scared.

Structure

It’s hard to really describe what this is as it’s surrounded by some shields with wires coming down, so it’s like a computer brain in a way. At the end of the level you’ll know when you get there as you have to destroy 2 base facilities with guard towers beside them and a cement wall behind them. Once you destroy all that, be sure to destroy the middle 3 of 5 walls so you can shoot up at a better angle while walking in. What you want to do is go up and to the right to take out the gunner. Once he’s gone, go left and take out the second gunner. Keep going left and down to destroy generator #1. Go back the way you came and go up and to the left to find generator #2 to destroy. Go back the way you came and go straight across to the right but be careful to take out a third gunner. Once he’s gone head right and go up to find generator #3 to destroy. Now go back out the way you came in and go down and to the right. Once you start walking into the corridor, you run into some big guys, use your MK as soon as you see them to take them all out easily. Keep going to find generator #4 to destroy. Now that all four generators are destroyed, go back to middle where the structure is and the shields around it should be gone. Stay to the bottom middle of it to avoid most of the guys coming down. Use your MK’s when the big guys show up and just shoot the structure until it blows up.

Final Boss

The final boss is a robot at the end of board 5 that stays at the top of the screen. It will shoot a rocket from his mouth at you, it sprays bullets out all over the screen, it will shoot missiles out at you, it will shoot out 4 flame walls to restrict your movement and every now and then, slam the ground with its fist. As long as you keep moving left to right and don't stop moving except for the spray of bullets, you can easily beat him.

HELPFUL INFO

There are also hidden secrets on each board and POWs in cages that you have to rescue. Some of the POWs are actually hidden in the secret areas as well. Actually finding everything in the game can be a little tricky as you have to find all the Secrets and POWs in one run through without missing any of them for the achievements to pop. As many times as I played it through, it became apparent that playing online with friends will glitch out the POWs. So you will have to actually run through the game solo in order to get that achievement accomplished.

If you're having problems finding all the secrets and POWs, DO NOT FRET. Fafhrdd recorded me and him playing through the game and here are some video's on where everything can be found in the game.

Sorry but the video's will be up once Fafhrdd finishes them. Looks like one messed up and will have to redo it. So once it's complete, I will get them up.

I do suggest you run through the game solo on the Black Ops and Suicide difficulty. Once you get into a good rhythm on the game, learn how everything works on each board, and realize you don't need to collect everything in the game as you're going through it. Just run through it and avoid what you can. It actually makes it easier running through with that strategy versus trying to find and collect everything. Stick with and use only the main gun you start with. Grab all the POW boxes to keep upgrading the gun for the wider shot and farther range. All your grenades and MK's reset on each board, so use them when you need them. Especially the MK's in parts that you know are hard to get through. The MK's also clear out all the bullets on the screen so it can save your life as well. Plus if you die and didn't use it, you just wasted them all.

CONCLUSION

If you enjoy SHUMP games, you should enjoy this game and be able to get all the achievements with just a little bit of work. It’s worth picking up as I enjoyed playing this game a bunch. If you stink at this type of game, avoid it like the plague.