Category: Diary

Today’s animal-wot-is-trying-to-leave is Kabuki. Again. He-she seems much more resolved to go this time, however, leaving no suggestion of staying even after multiple attempts at persuading him/her otherwise. It was also a flea market day today. I went round a few animals’ houses, but with Kabuki all packed to go and most of my other animals outside (and Bluebear refusing to sell me anything) all I picked up was a bed, which I suspect I already have in my catalogue. …

Hmm. As I cheered the fact I’d completed the last Snatch mission, I realised that, in fact, there was another location to do with 8 more Snatch missions. Pah. Set about doing some other stuff instead – a couple more Mayhem missions, hunted for some more CDs and tag locations (I found none), and generally just explored a bit more.

Oh lord. I thought the Sonic demo was bad enough. This is even worse. It’s jerky, it lurches all over the place like grandad after he’s been on the Guinness, and the handling is just all wrong. In Circuit Mode you can barely steer at all – it’s like you push the left stick as hard as it will go and it just about registers as slightly off-centre, and in Drift Mode it’s like you’re on ice and a slight …

Hurrah! Or at least, “Hurrah to some extent!”. I managed to get past stage 5, finally. That’s the sort of scrolly maze thing which requires pixel perfect ship maneuvering. As a result, I reached the Base Stage, but didn’t really know what I was supposed to do until I realised there was a thing I needed to shoot. I then remembered you could collide with the base, and you’d win (but not lose as life), so few at it, and …

Gngh! Too hard! I’m trying to work my way through all the Snatch missions, and although I’ve finished the Rollerz one already, the Vice Kings one, on level 8, is just too hard. There’s not even anything specifically difficult about it – I just can’t do it. Usually my car gets blown up by a molotov, or I have to swap car and then my bloke just stands there instead of entering the car I’m standing right next to. I’ve …

Played more games with my wife this evening. Found a version of Dominos which seems most “normal” (“Block”, in case you’re wondering), as well as many games of Spit! and several goes on Hasami Shogi. Played plenty of others too, though.

Another somewhat lax day in Cheese. Did my usual stuff of buying things I didn’t already have, and chatted briefly with my animals, as well as a load of weeding (which seems pointless now as it comes back with a vengance each day). Also gave three of my animals some clothes. Do I look like a walking branch of Oxfam or something?

Hurrah! I broke 100,000 points! Sadly, this did not gain me any achievements, nor did it get me to the top of the in-game high score table. And I managed it by only getting to wave 7. This game is too hard. FACT.

Played this with my wife for quite a while this evening. The Balance game got quite ridiculous as we had about ten blocks stacked up, lengthways, up the middle of the see-saw. I lost horribly at Bowling, Dominos confused us with it’s silly “5 Up” rules, and the battleships “clone” was OK, but the one-square-big “ships” were rubbish.

Well, Purrl didn’t move out, so perhaps my animals do like me. Having said that, they’re not all that interested in talking to me today. Redd was about, and I bought a merry-go-round from him for the alarmingly cheap price of 1,800 bells (or so). Maybe he was ill, or something. And weeds! What’s with them? Billions of them again today.

Strangely, and rather like many of the Xbox 360 games I’ve completed this year, this game’s last few levels seemed to get shorter and shorter (and the bosses easier and easier) until quite soon I’d done the final three stages and it was complete. It was quite fun, but ultimately pretty repetitive. I did unlock a fish I could stroke though. Which was nice.

Played this some more, mainly in two player download play mode with my wife. It’s really quite good in this mode, although I’ve found some of the rules to the games to be a little bit strange. It’s probably because they’re different variations than I’m used to, I suppose. Also did the first three games on Stamp Mode.

Don’t my animals like me any more? I mean, I know I hate most of them and would gladly push some of them under a bus, but they have no reason to hate me, surely? Purrl was trying to escape Cheese today, you see, and I’ve lost a fair few animals over the last couple of weeks already. Rubbish. Something exciting did happen today, though – Autumn came! And with it, slightly browner ground, and billions of weeds. Why doesn’t …

This arrived today. I played lots of different games, including a couple online, and so far it’s pretty good. Bowling is too bloody hard though – I keep flicking the ball into the gutter with the last bit of the throw stroke. Bah.

Went back and did the Zenith thing, and then managed to get the other car needed too, completing all the Chop Shop stuff. I then went and shot down some more helicopters, took enough hostages to get me the 50 Hostages achievement (which got me 10 gamerpoints), and borrowed a load of money from the lone shark (to get another 10 points).