Released March 5th 2013, The Tomb Raider Re-Boot is a very fun and great game. I thoroughly enjoyed both of my two play throughs (once on the Definitive version on the Xbox One), and look forward to playing Rise of the Tomb Raider, which I have yet to pickup.
I remember when I went to pre-order this game, I was still shopping at Gamestop at the time, and they had a pre-order bonus of an extra Tomb to raid. I go into my local Gamestop and go to the counter and ask to pre-order this game and the cashier asks "did you want the Regular or Collectors Edition?"
I thought to myself, collectors edition, what collectors edition? I didn't even know there was a collector's edition for this game. I looked at the cashier and said "Collectors Edition Please" The cashier stated that because the collectors edition was $100.00, that I had to put $25.00 down instead of the standard $5.00. I said "No Problem", and handed her the cash. Now at the time I was working 50-55 hours a week, making $15.00 and hour, with every minute over 40 being overtime, so could just blow a hundred bucks without much of a second thought. I miss those days............
Anyway, after I get back home, I had to hop online and see what the collectors edition included. So here we are, What's In The Box?
Slip cover off
Open the lid
And after removing the game tray
Came with an action figure with a couple extra hands and different weapons from the game.
Some patches
A poster, with a map of the island on the back side
A cool lithoigraph
And the soundtrack
There were a few store exclusives that I was able to procure, which I keep in my collectors edition.
A Steelbook from Target and a Comic Tomb Raider The Beginning from Best Buy
And all put back together with the steelbook in place of the standard case
I apparently don't learn. I had some money in my PayPal account, and was chasing after an original Xbox exclusive first person shooter, and decided to pull the trigger on eBay. And, yet again, I got screwed around.
I found a reasonably priced copy of a game I was looking for, from a seller with 100% Positive feedback. All they had for pictures were of the front and back of the case, the description stated disc was in good shape. There was nothing showing or noting about the manual, so I sent the seller a question asking if the manual was included.
Now, in the past this has been a fair waste of time, as most eBay sellers are apparently too good to answer questions from us pleebs, you know, their customers? However, this seller got back to me the same night stating the manual was included and in good shape as well. So I immediately placed a bid.
I ended up being the only one that bid on the item, and won it for $1.51 with $2.63 Shipping. So for $4.14 Total. I looked forward to getting and trying out the game.
2 Weeks pass, and I have yet to receive the game. I filed a claim with eBay for an item not received. eBay gives the seller a few days to respond. 2 days later the seller gets back to me with some story that the post office "messed up" and delivered it back to him, Yeah Right........ AND, if that were really the case, why wouldn't he have sent me a message to let me know? Or was he just hoping I would forget, so he could keep a whole four dollars? Is that what a persons reputation, decency, dignity and conscience are worth these days, four dollars?
Sooo, yet another 7 days go by, and I still haven't received the item, or communication from the seller. I escalate the claim to eBay. Then the next day (today as I write this) I finally receive the item.
And here it is
Chicago Enforcer
Complete and in good shape
However, the seller failed to show or disclose that the actual artwork had a sticker on the spine. WHY do places do this? WHY put a sticker, price tag, whatever on the actual artwork, WHY?
UGH!
If removing this damages the artwork, I have 2 reasons to give the seller his first Negative.
Came off ok, a quick swipe with some Goo Gone, and it was all good.
Disc looked good, barely any scratches at all, Booted right up.
I am going to have to think about using eBay less, is it really worth the hassle? I have recently stated, I have had more problems on eBay the last 6 months, than I have had in the entire previous 18 years. I attribute it to the decline of society. Decent people are few and far between, with scammers and general scum more prevalent.
Oct 12th 5:25pm EDIT: I was re-reading this blog at work (Yes I am a fan of my own work) and realized #1 - I didn't use any foul language? If you have read my past blogs, especially the eBay ones, I tend to be a little foul mouthed. and most importantly #2 - I forgot to Name Shame the eBay seller who screwed me around this time, The winner is:
thewrestlingconnection (83) from somewhere in Oregon
97.8% positive feedback
He HAD 100% Feedback, coulda kept it too if he hadn't screwed me around
Forza Motorsport is one of my favorite game series, and of course when Forza Motorsport 7 was annouced, I knew I had to have it. I ordered the Ultimate Edition (Unboxing Blog HERE) and I thought I would share a few of my thoughts, and a few suggestions for Turn 10, and a few complaints as well.
Loading screen
There was a 64 GB install, have I mentioned how much I dislike modern consoles? Anyway, as the game loads, we are greeted with this beautiful Porsche 911 Picture. If I could afford to blow money on any one car, it would be a 911 GT2RS.
I received the game from Amazon on Friday September 29th, as I pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition. I spent roughly 15-20 hours playing Friday through Monday, and am very happy with my purchase. The graphics looks great, the game plays very well.
Of the tracks I have raced on so far, I really like the new Dubai track and am especially excited that they brought back Maple Valley Raceway. I had been playing Forza Motorsport 3 and 4 recently, and realized how much I had missed ripping around that track. They also made a few changes to a couple of the tracks, Brands Hatch and Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, with the addition of Barriers on a couple spots I used to cut corners and get ahead of other racers, but that's cool with me.
The newest addition to the game series this iteration, is the Driver suits. I was skeptical about this feature as I stated in my unboxing. I wasn't really sure how this would work in the game as 98% of the time, all you see is the car unless you are racing a convertible or open cockpit race car, However I reserved judgement until I actually had played the game.
You see your driver on the pre and post race screens as well as the winners podium after a race series has been completed. Of course during the race you also see your driver through the windows if you use the camera views to see them.
Pre Race
Post Race
I do like how they show the front of the car pre race, and the rear of the car post race.
Podiums at the conclusion of a race series.
And, I guess this is where the driver avatars would be the most wanted for a multiplayer game, I personally don't really find it necessary for single player. I don't play multiplayer in the Forza games, as there are just way too many assholes online than normal, decent, competitive players. For every one great person to play and race against, there are 50 that are not, and just not worth my time. I would hope they don't add the showboating and trash gesturing that can be found in Call of Duty, Doom, Etc.. But since I don't play online, I guess I don't really care.
Here is how far I made it, in the time I played from Friday to Monday night
Another thing that was upgraded in this game, is the weather. Forza Motorsport 6 brought us racing in the rain, and I actually really enjoyed that. The puddles on the track pulling the car one way or the other, or making the car hydroplane off the track. In Forza Motorsport 7, there is now " dynamic weather" Which means the weather changes while you are racing. It can be a nice clear day, then the clouds roll in and then it is raining. I like the addition of thunderstorms, with thunder and lightning included. I found myself racing a night race, and while racing the weather slowly changed to dawn with a sunrise, very cool.
On to a few complaints
While on the subject of weather and rain, I have the same complaint I had with 6. When you are racing with the in cockpit view, and you look in the rear view mirror, or behind you, there is no rain in the rear view? They did a great job with the rain animations on the windshield, but seem to have not followed through with it rear view mirror, or on the back or side windows.
One of the cars I was happy to see return from Forza Motorsport 4, is the 1986 Dodge Shelby Omni GLHS. My father is a Turbo Dodge man, and owns a GLHS, his is the 87 2 door model (Which I prefer myself), so of course I am going to buy and race this car all that I can. However, the same issue is still present from Forza Motorsport 4 as well. When you go into the paintshop to tint the windows, all the decals disappear? I like to tint the windows on all my cars (Including my real life cars) and want a factory paint appearing GLHS to race with tinted windows. but, alas I still cannot.
The 1987 Pontiac Trans Am GTA. I have owned a Third Generation (1982 -1992) Firebird for the last 28 years. My first car was a 1983 Trans Am, and my current version is a 1990 Firebird Formula (Blog HERE) I have for Autocrossing and Road Racing, I also had a couple of V6 daily drivers, an 84 and 87 Firebird. So of course the GTA is my favorite car in Forza. I do wish it was a Formula, but hey, at least I have a Thirdgen Firebird to use.
Here is a quickie paint job I threw together for this game
One thing that I have noticed, is the Taillights have gotten progressively better and better looking since the GTA's introduction in Forza Motorsport 3. I swapped a set of 85-90 Trans Am/GTA taillights into my Formula, so am very familiar with these particular lights, and it is nice to see them get better looking over the newest incarnations of the games. It was one thing that bothered me in Forza Motorsport 3.
However, I noticed while playing last night with the in cockpit view, which reminds me another addition in this game is of a 2nd in cockpit view, it moves closer to the windshield, you can still see the top of the speedometer, but not the rearview mirror, steering wheel or drivers hands. Anyway back to the GTA, there is no odometer or trip odometer on the speedometer, when was this removed? and why?
And a few things I have wanted to see come to Forza
While in the cockpit view, when you look out the sides or the rear, you currently just see a screen of the track. Forza has modeled the interiors of the cars included, just go into the Vista mode and you can look all around the interior. I would like to see the top of the door panel and the door frame out the sides, and the rear window and some of the surrounding trim when looking out the rear. I think this would be a nice detail, not make or break, but just would be neat.
Windshield Banners. Just a strip across the top of the windshield, with the dimensions pre-set by Turn 10, so that someone couldn't cover the while windshield, we want some realism here.. I see people who replicate some real world race cars, and they end up putting what would be on the windshield banner, and put it up on the leading edge of the roof. Just a thought.
I have lots more ideas for Forza Motorsport and Horizon, if someone from Turn 10 wants to hit me up? Maybe they can bring me out for a week and go over a few ideas? How awesome would that be!
That's what I got for now. Maybe I will do an updated review after playing more, but for now, after the first weekend, these are my thoughts. I also made a couple videos for my YouTube channel
It's here, THE game I have been waiting for this year, Forza motorsport 7.
Of course I got the Ultimate Edition
I pre-ordered the Forza Motorsport 7 Ultimate Edition last weekend (that's when I had the Hundred Bucks) assuming I would get this next week, on the official launch date of Tuesday October 3rd. There was a notice on the Xbox Home screen that pre-orders get the game 4 days early, Friday September 29th.
I assumed that was only for the digital editions, as they just send them to your Xbox/account digitally. I was quite surprised to get a notice from Amazon yesterday that my order for Forza Motorsport 7 had shipped? Well, apparently the early access applies to the physical versions of the Ultimate Editions as well. Whoo Hoo!
The Ultimate Edition includes the game (of course) and download codes for the VIP membership, a Day One Car Pack which was revealed as 8 cars from the Fate of the Furious (that Plymouth GTX is Bad Ass) on Forzamotorsport.net, the Hoonigan car pack and the Car Pass which means I get all the monthly DLC car packs for free.
Got home from work today, and waiting for me in my mailbox was my shiny new game.
Enough talk, lets take a look at this thing!
Remove the slip cover and......
I love steelbooks!
Game and DLC Code Card
Very Nice Artwork inside the Steelbook
Also for ordering form Amazon I got the Amazon exclusive Driver Suit and Helmet DLC. Now I am a little skeptical on the addition of the customizable drivers feature. Really, 98% of the time you only see the car, or out from the cockpit of the car when playing (unless racing a convertible or open cockpit race car), so I am unsure why Turn 10 thought this was a needed feature, But....
I have not yet played the game (Damn 60GB install) so cannot give a yay or nay to the decision, until Sunday, as I am going to be playing this bad boy all weekend!
I am going to record some gameplay for my YouTube channel, and will report back here Sunday with my impressions of the newest entry into the best video game racing game series available.
I was perusing Craigslist and came across an Original Xbox Lot of 10 games. They were asking $20.00, I saw Star Wars Battlefront II in the lot, and knew I could flip that and recoup my money for the entire lot.
I mulled it over for a few days, Emailed the person and they still had them, so I went to the cash machine, and drove over to their house, which was ten or so minutes from mine and picked them up. There was one game I really wanted, another I kept just cause it was complete and in nice shape.
First the fluff
Some Misc Sports Games
Couple Decent Titles
Nice complete copy of Battlefront II
And the two I kept for my collection.
I mainly wanted The Simpsons Road Rage, But the Lord of the Rings game was in beautiful condition, complete and I did not have it so, I decided to keep it.
After swapping out the nice Original Green cases to use as replacement spares, I ended up putting up the 7 games I was not interested in back on Craigslist for $20.00 and a few days later, they sold. So I had recouped my initial investment of $20.00, and had 2 games for my collection, and another yet to sell.
I started the auction at .01, with free shipping and it sold tonight for $22.02. After shipping should be about $19.00 in my pocket. Not bad for a little work.
In my continued quest for a good condition map for my Brothers in Arms Road to Hill 30 game, I have had to overcome a few hurdles.
Note to eBay Sellers:Answer Questions Sent By Potential Buyers!
So before pulling the trigger on another game off eBay, I had sent a few sellers a question, using the ask a seller a question feature on eBay.
A seller had a PS2 version of the game listed as complete, I did not see the map in the pictures, so I asked if it included the map, never heard from them. I also asked the other 4 sellers if the map was included.
And after 4 days 1 out of the 5 sellers bothered to answer my question, That it did not include a map.
Here is the Map I got with that shitty copy from that seller that listed the game as Very Good Condition (You can see that blog HERE ) Since I was refunded and told to keep the item, I figured I couldn't really destroy the map any worse than it already was, and broke out my roll of packaging tape.
I taped all along the outer edges and across the middle seams
This now resides in the case of my PS2 copy of the game
Onto another copy I received today, I paid $4.94 shipped. It was listed as good condition, and that it included the map, which I could make out as behind the manual in the pictures.
This is in GREAT Condition! It might even be better than the copy I currently have in my collection.
And onto the most important part of this purchase, the Map:
Wow this Map in Crisp and Clean, Very Nice!
My Brothers in Arms Road to Hill 30 Map Quest has finally come to an end, after a few trials and tribulations with a very nice clean, crisp map, now onto something else to obsess and chase after,
So, After getting that garbage copy of Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 (Blog HERE), I am still on a quest to get a good map to complete my Xbox copy.
So, I am perusing eBay, looking to spend some money and get a good copy, and find a seller that has a complete copy, with good pictures, and the item looks pretty good, Nice Manual, Map, Case, Etc... and listed as item condition as:
Good
“professionally cleaned - guaranteed working”
They have the item listed at $4.79, but also have the make an offer option,. So I sent the seller an offer of $4.00. The seller responds with a counter offer of............. $4.75, Stating "lowest I can go". FUCKIN REALLY?!?!? Four Fucking Cents off, Why the Fuck do they even have a make an offer option on there! Four Fucking Cents...... Fuck You!
So just for fun I decide to go check out the sellers feedback, and wow WHAT A FUCKING ASSHOLE! Glad I didn't just Buy it Now from this amazing piece of Human Fucking Garbage.
Garbage has a Name: britad1 ( 28149)
Here are some highlights from the Negatives:
Bought Rock Band for the PS2 and when it came, the disc wont read.
Buyer:
During past 6 months
Reply by britad1 (Jul-29-17 13:49):
Thats because your old PS2 will not read gold colored discs anymore. Enjoy
There was a big packaging mistake. Don't use those thin rectangles on the disc.
Buyer:
During past year
Reply by britad1 (Jan-30-17 07:24):The guy put packing material in his system...lol why?? Lol
NEVER DID GET IT :/ WHAT A SCAM....! (DO NOT BUY FROM THIS SELLER)
Buyer:
During past 6 months
Reply by britad1 (Apr-11-17 20:14):
This guy lol.. I pray no other eBay seller ever comes in contact with this buyer
Not accurate at all doesn't match not even close
Buyer:
During past year
Reply by britad1 (Jan-21-17 08:19):
I told this guy to be a man and start a return..apparently he is a girl.
Seller shipped without tracking number then would not respond to emails. AVOID!!
Buyer:
During past year
Reply by britad1 (Nov-30-16 15:44):
I just have one question... actually nevermind you wouldn't get it..
Got the game and stopped working after third level. disappointing.
Buyer:
During past 6 months
Reply by britad1 (May-13-17 11:45):
Thanks for letting me know sport
product was faulty but he did refund
Buyer:
During past year
Reply by britad1 (Feb-12-17 16:03):
So then why a neutral....thanks for helping sellers hate buyers even more.
Wasn't willing to Negotiate a little more. To much for an old game.
Buyer:
During past year
Reply by britad1 (Jan-16-17 19:46):
I'm sorry....what?!! YOU chose to buy the game. Sellers take cover from dumba$$!
Wow, Just Wow, What an Asshole!
So I ended up with getting another one from a different seller for $4.98. I figure the extra 24 cents was worth not dealing with, or giving any money to this Amazing Piece of Human Garbage.
) 
