Since the day I was lucky enough to receive an early review copy of Guitar Hero III for the 360 I made a decision, I wanted to be a hero, a hero of guitar, a Guitar Hero. I’ve played all the GH games and have always had the most fun while playing on easy, I’d venture into medium then get frustrated and not play for a few weeks. So I decided not to play GHIII on easy at all, I started on medium and stuck with it completing the single player campaign earlier this week. I’m so glad I stuck with it, the sense of achievement* is fantastic!

I’m now replaying the tracks over and over, I want to become at one with ‘Cliffs of Dover’, I want to 100% a track, I want to be a Hero.

My name is Dan, and I have pretty average Guitar Hero skills and I am proud!

* When I say achievement, I mean a personal sense of achievement not the Xbox 360 >plinky< type, this game is tighter than a ducks arse with it’s gamerscore.

Why don’t I ever trade my games in? I don’t stockpile technology; I gave my original XBox to charity, although my PS2 is still in the attic and the only reason I lack the games for it is because I “lent” my old boss all of them when he was off with a shoulder injury and he never made it back to work (I blame SSX).

The reason I don’t trade games in is the same reason I don’t buy used games - the whole concept feels underhand. You’re selling a product in an identical state to that which you purchased it for less money - games seem to lose money faster than cars. Walk a game out of a shop doorway and just like a car it’s lost half its worth. Purchasing used games is also an exercise in Nick Leeson economics, at least if you’re intent on selling them again (or willing to lend them to your boss).

There is another reason to hold onto your old games and it’s one I’ve experienced first hand. A couple of weeks ago on a weeknight no less, I gained 55G on Burnout Revenge. A game released on March 30th 2006 and one I haven’t played in over a year; definitely usual criteria for a trade in. I had a spare couple of hours and whilst deciding whether to risk starting the inevitable late night that is CoD4, I had an almost tangible pang to play Road Rage. Four hours later saw the late night I was originally trying to avoid rewarded with two achievements and a wide grin.

There’s still gameplay and achievements in over half my catalogue; in previous months I’ve reignited Perfect Dark Zero online and even borrowed a friend’s copy of Kameo in exchange for Viva Piñata, a process which didn’t cost me anything (he wasn’t, after all, my old boss).

So rather than squandering hard earned cash, try trading with some of your friends or dipping back into that game you never finished. If Microsoft can see revenue streams in XBox Originals, perhaps you can too.

TinyShaz meets Playstation 3

Yup, I’m a sucker for cash which has trained my ears well to hear the word, “free”. Luckily I found out about 3ROOMS and damn it was time to go bonkers with excitement. 3ROOMS = FREE PS3 gaming + FREE food and unexpectedly, FREE copy of Uncharted : Drakes Fortune… well, actually still waiting for that to come through the post. *taps fingers*

I can say that this event is pretty good for some of us who don’t have PS3’s.

The machine is seen more as an investment; plus its still kind of in it’s infancy; with the host having to mention “playstation 3 updates” to answer most of our questions and to evade our moaning of common technology flaws. Apparently the console has regular updates every month and some MEGA update that happens quarterly? I’m unsure about what to think of “updates”, tedious? or good preparation?

- Oh and with the whole thing about Home… *sigh* They say you’ll be able to someday order your grocery delivery from Tesco’s on it too. Seriously is that the first thing you think about when you log onto your PS3 network? I couldn’t help but think, “Oh god, no one will leave their homes. We’re all going to end up in the Matrix in the future.”