X3F Achievements 101: The Return [update 1]

After a small hiatus following the craziness that is E3, X3F Achievements 101 is back with a variety of subjects worth covering. In case some of you have forgotten how this column works, this a space devoted to Achievement Whores around the world, and gives me the opportunity to chronicle my continuing conquest of Gamerscore, on a daily basis. This week, we cover a little bit of a backlog, as there's the survival of my Achievement streak during E3, my hitting of a couple Gamerscore Milestones, and the completion of a couple more 1000 GS rentals, TMNT and Cars.

So, while I was ecstatic to get an invite to E3 down in Santa Monica this year, I was slightly concerned about how this could jeopardize my Achievement Streak if I was unable to connect to Xbox Live down in Santa Monica, especially considering that the day after the summit was day 600. I left Monday morning, and already had gotten a couple Achievements in Carcassonne before heading down to my flight. So there were no worries for the 9th and I had time to test the hotel's internet for Live compatibility. Unfortunately, the WiFi was sketchy at best with our laptops, and was not compatible with Xbox Live.

On Tuesday, as we went to pick up our E3 passes and arrive at the Microsoft Press Briefing, I decided I needed to bring my Xbox 360 with me in hopes of finding a compatible connection. I got a hold of Tony from Gamerscoreblog and Godfree from GTR asking if their hotel's internet was Live friendly, and after some testing on their end, unfortunately neither worked. Things were getting a little hairy and it was only a few scant hours before we were going to head to Santa Monica High School to watch the briefing. We stopped at a pub where the "Not an E3 Party" party was taking place, and my eyes lit up when I saw that there was free Wi-Fi and a slew of HDTVs mounted, even some not in use.

After some negotiating with one of the managers, she went to get the WiFi security password while I hooked everything up to a spare wall mounted HDTV. Alas, the password they had was wrong, and even Joystiq's Alexander Sliwinski confirmed this when his laptop could detect the network, but the password got rejected. So close, and yet so far. Fortunately my antics at the pub did prove to be a blessing in disguise, even though the internet was not accessible.

While setting up, a couple of guys were watching and asked what I was doing. I told them who I was, and why I was commandeering the TV. Surprisingly, they knew of "the guy who gets Achievements everyday", and better yet, had an Xbox 360, Live, Shadowrun, and lived but a scant 5 miles away. Being the gentlemen I am, I asked if I utilize this opportunity to unlock an Achievement at his humble abode, to which he obliged.

Rick & Brian from Alchemic, Rick enjoying the beer he got as thanks.

It turns out these two are the pair behind Alchemic Productions, and are responsible for bringing Clive Barker's Jericho IP to the 360, which is badass. After doing the bot match for Training Chapter 1, they offered to lend their services if I need them over the course of the week, but I didn't want to impose. Fortunately, the Fairmont Hotel had a press room with no firewalls, so I just lugged my 360 around for the rest of the summit and got my remaining three days there. That being said, I extend my gratitude to Alchemic for their generosity and hospitality, and can't wait to hear about their next project.

Upon my return home with my streak intact, I picked up TMNT, for two reasons: First, it has been recommended by you readers as an easy 1000, and secondly, the value of the Achievements allowed me to get my cumulative Gamerscore to end in a 4, in time for me to hit 44,444, and then find an opportunity to even in out close to 45,000. As you may already know, the Achievements are pretty much handed to you each level, and the only one that requires you to play after beating the final boss is collecting a coin, which you can do on any level you beat with an A ranking.

This past week I've been playing Cars and it too is a relatively straightforward, though it's been recommended to do "Postcard Hunt" last, since it's only twenty, and you can do it all in one fell swoop. I also just found a nice YouTube video of the Postcard locations that I just used to get all 20, and embedded it below. That being said, that game has actually been rather entertaining, and playing it makes me want to see the movie again, which I really enjoyed.



Anyway, that'll do it for this week on catching up on Achievements 101, and as always you can contact me with me your comments, questions, and game suggestions. Right now I'm looking for a group to do some private matches in Shadowrun, to get some of the lingering ones, including the 100 Sniper Kills Achievement. To change things up and keep this slightly more organized, I'm going to keep my contact information at the bottom so you guys can get a hold of me.

Email: david [at] xbox360fanboy [dot] com | Subject: Achievements
MSN: knuckles_dawson@hotmail.com | AIM: Knuckles Dawson
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Update: Added YouTube video of Postcard locations