My Xbox Live Arcade Heroes
B, (an Xbox team member) who has more than 10 million points in Hexic marathon mode.
Daoness, who has over a million points in Zuma and has the achievement earned by playing for 24 hours.
Striker (another Xbox-er), who is the master of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved and has 11 of the 12 achievements.
All those who help each other out with tips and encouragement in the Xbox Live Arcade forum.
How an Underground Girl got Hooked on Xbox Live Arcade
GamerSpeak!
Tell us about your favorite Xbox Live Arcade games. Are you addicted? Do you have a rivalry going? What's the arcade achievement you're most proud of? Drop me an email at xlmail@microsoft.com. Use the subject "GamerSpeak Arcade".
Hello. My name is TriXie, and I'm an arcade addict. I had a small problem years ago with Atari®. Pitfall was my drug of choice. But I got over it.
Then there were a few dark months when I discovered Bejeweled on MSN Games. I got it under control, but was tempted with the special themed Bejeweled games like the holiday one (oh so cute!) and even the Cat in the Hat theme, which was way better than the movie. I was particularly hard hit by Bejeweled 2. The hyper cube rocks my world.
When Xbox Live® Arcade came out on Xbox®, I immediately downloaded Bejeweled and Super Collapse II. When I realized that the red jewels were a little too red I finally upgraded my 12-year-old TV.
The Games
Now that Xbox 360™ is here, the trouble has begun again. I have completely fallen off the wagon. I started with my old pal Bejeweled 2, and have logged more hours in Hexic® HD than I have working. My coworkers dammy and Chupathingy are constantly playing Zuma in their office. I can't compete with their skills, but I have learned a lot watching Chupa fire off impressive gap shots and dammy knows exactly what each of power ball does.
I like Zuma so much that when I'm not on my Xbox 360 I play Tumblebugs on the PC to keep my skills up. Chupa recently decreed that the spherical objects in Zuma shall henceforth be referred to as 'marbles' instead of 'balls.' Apparently dammy and I were making him, uh, nuts with the jokes.
The Pressure
The games are fun; there's no question about that. But what really compels me to stay up until three in the morning playing Zuma? It's the competition. Nano551 and I have a Hexic rivalry going on that has led to many nasty voice messages, text messages, and IMs. The dude totally blew past my high score. I told him "If I didn't have a job, I would be owning your ass!" and he just laughed at me.
Nano's big brother Godfree told me that one night he was fast asleep when Nano woke him up "screaming about three black stones or something." Yeah, those would be black pearls. You make them in Hexic by forming a circle of starflowers, which you form by making circles of hexes. It's all very complex and it particularly chafes because I have yet to make a black pearl and earn the Oyster-meister achievement.
DirtyDiva was way ahead of both Nano and I until Nano made Hexic his vocation and pulled way ahead. Then I made a discovery: Nano and I play on Normal while Diva kicks Hex on Hard. She doesn't even brag about it. That's class, kids.
No Talkie
I guess my addiction is nothing to be ashamed of, really; a gamer is a gamer whether you're making head-shots or bank shots, right? What I would like to point out to those on my friends list is that please don't think I'm a big ol' beeyotch if I decline your game or chat invites. When I'm getting my Hexic on, I'm not doing anything else.
Oh, and here's a lesson that one gamer recently had to learn: If you send me a friend request and you've got an offensive gamertag or motto that has somehow slipped by the filter … I'm gonna bust you for it. You've been warned. By the way, if you know petali0, the high scorer in Hexic survival mode, tell him/her to send me a friend req. I need some tutoring. See you in the arcade!
