May the Christmas be with you!

    So, Christmas has arrived. This month has been tough, in my shop. Despite the business does not shine because of the general crisis that harass Italy, keep open every day is stressful and demanding. I 'm looking forward to spending a few days in total relaxation!

    With the start of the new year, my new apartment will be ready, and I will then proceed to move in. I hope such operation will be quick and painless. I will also need a trip to Ikea to buy some furniture to fill the new rooms, as the new house is much bigger than previous one :D!

    The PS4 is proving to be a great console: quick and agile, although you can clearly see that it is still raw in the operating system, and plagued by some major technical problems. For example, I have not received two trophies for what I have met the requirements: I'll be forced to replay a large piece of the related game in order to conquer my 34th Platinum :/ .

    Assassin 's Creed 4 is really an impressive title, both from the technical point of view and for the fun it provides. The pirate's life is a dream, and the game manages to well convey the feeling of piloting a ship and boarding others! Now I really want to see inFamous: Second Son!

    I managed to convince my family to have a vegetarian Christmas (if not vegan), and tomorrow will be a pleasure to eat at a table not laden with pieces of the corpses of creatures born and lived in suffering! Truly a wonderful gift!

    Well , I hope to publish soon something more interesting than this post: I have in mind an article for additional tips on how to defeat the Legendary Ships of AC4 ( the official guide does not help enough, imho) and a new hook story for Star Wars - Edge of the Empire: Star Wars and the Raiders of the Lost Ark!

    Well, May the Christmas Be With You and Han Claus brings you a Millenium Falcon full of beautiful gifts : D!

    Oh, by the way, Chuck wanna wish you the best of things, too ;) (see the video!).

Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag - Black Chest Edition, part. 1

    AC4 Black Chest Edition just arrived! Guys, it's much bigger than I thought! Ennoia too is quite iterested in it, as you can see from the photo ^_^ !

    I peeked inside the chest, but I'm going to open it up later, calmly. Finding a place to expose the whole box will be a problem, as my AC-dedicated cabinet is already full of stuff!!

    Cool. Now I just need Amazon to send me my PS4 to play this game -.-'

Tree Ninja trophy for AC3: Liberation

    Most people farm this trophy during Sequence 3, Mission 3. I think I founded a better place to grind the kills you need: have a look to the embeeded video to discover my super-pro strategy :)!!!

UbiSoft store vs Origin store!

    So two days ago I pre-ordered the BLACK CHEST Edition of Assassin's Creed 4. I decided to pre-order directly from the UbiSoft site, but unfortunately I made a mistake, buying the game for PS4 instead for PS3 (damn, similar logos! :) ). I intend to buy the new Sony console as soon as it is available (already preordained on Amazon), but I have contacted Ubi customer service immediately, asking if it was possible to CHANGE my order from PS3 to PS4, in order to be able to play AC4 as soon as possible. First thing, Ubi customer service is not contactable by telephone, but only through a system of "tickets" which can be accessed from the site. I was told, one day after my request, I have to DELETE the order, not CHANGE it, you kidding?!? No, absolutely not: the order must be deleted, remade and the deposit of € 9.99 is lost.

    Now, I certainly do not know the complex mechanisms behind UbiSHop e-commerce, but I worked with databases and web-software in the past, and my experience tells me that it is not a too complex action to change a database record. So, if the customer service of UbiSoft can not do such a thing, it simply means they're are more interested in protecting the company rather than customers.

    Some time ago I had a similar problem with the online shop of Origin (EA), regarding Battlefield 3, so I found myself contacting their customer service. First of all, I could call them by phone, talking to a sympathetic and helpful guy in the flesh, not with an operator hiding behind the fictitious name "qqfghhthh." Second, the problem was solved in a completely satisfactory way, allowing me to manage the money tied to the transaction in the way I preferred (refund, redirection to other products), with the only clause to decide by the 18:00 of next two days. I have even been made an offer for a new product a few more money than those I spent with a discount of 15%.
All trading moves, of course, aimed to make me buy something at the Origin store anyway (maybe even spending some € more than the budgeted), but done in a much more polite, correct, helpful and concrete way, respect to UbiSoft customer service.

    So what? So thanks Origin, thanks EA and F**k O*f UbiSoft! You're just lucky I'm a big fan of Assassin's Creed franchise, otherwise you would have just lost a customer, even if a corporation like you don't care less!!

AC Shrine - Detail 1

    First detail of the AC Shrine. Here you can see a zoom of AC Bloodlines for PSP, AC 3: Liberation for PSVita and the rare Black Edition of AC 2!

[Note: Right click on the picture and choose "Open on a new tab" to wath it at full size!]

Climber trophy for Assassin's Creed III: Liberation

    Here's a quick way to get the "Climber" trophy for Assassin's Creed III: Liberation!

    First of all look for a wall without footholds: one that can not be scaled by Aveline. Trying to climb a wall of this type (by pressing Forward + R), you will be credited with 1.5 meters of "climbing".

    Found such a suitable wall, get two rubber bands and something with which they can be secured after crossing the two holes at the sides, bottom, on your PSVita. I found very functional the metal straps covered with plastic / rubber that are used to keep bags closed. At this point, position the rubber bands as in the picture, by passing them below both lever and around the back of the console, pulling them throught the two holes I mentioned earlier. Lock them in that position.

    The left rubber band (looking at the PSVita) need only hold the lever in the "Forward" position, while the right one has to be positioned so as the "R" button is constantly pressed.

    Leave the console turned on in this state and you will get the trophy easily!

    I am forced to give it a look every 10 minutes or so, because on the wall I use, Aveline tends to slide to the left, so I must put her back in place!

    Maybe you will find a better wall than mine ;)!

[Note: Right click on the picture and choose "Open on a new tab" to wath it at full size!]

Assassin's Creed Shrine Overview!

    Here is a picture of my complete collection of the Assassin's Creed franchise.

    Collector Editions of AC 2, Brotherhood, Revelations and 3. AC Bloodlines for PSP and Liberation for PSVita.

    Official guides for AC Brotherhood, Revelations and 3.

    Four AC Books and all the comics available in Italy so far (DESMOND, ACCIPITER, AQUILUS, THE CHAIN, THE FALL)

    I don't own any special Assassin's Creed first game edition, so I can display only the normal version. I hope to be soon able to buy the rare Assassin's Creed Collector Edition.

    A big overview of my "shrine" ;)!

[Note: Right click on the picture and choose "Open on a new tab" to wath it at full size!]