READ MY LIPS... Guide! The Best Way to Unlock 1750/1750.

When it comes to gamerscore it just doesn't get any more labyrinthine than Lips, and now that I'm finally close to completing the game I figured I'd create what I wished was out there in the first place: a comprehensive guide to tell me what the heck was going on here. So I've taken the most useful advice and techniques I found on the net (credit where credit is due) and combined it with what I've personally found works best and put together this guide - how sad is that!

First, as with any game, I'd recommend having your fun with it. It's a decent karaoke, party game worth a lot of fun, especially if you have a friend to enjoy it with. Long past that point, however, you'll notice you're still missing quite a bit of achievements, and you may even notice how much grinding you'd have to do to finally unlock them all, namely those that require earning 200,000 stars ("Let's Get it STAR-ted" - 40G) and 1,500 medals ("Heavy Medal" - 30G). Then you'd go online and have a hard time even figuring out what you need to get all 1750G. Then you'd take a nap. Then you'd rather play any other game for several years. Then you'd finally sit down and figure it out! Then you'd write about it all in 2nd person for no discernible reason. Then you'd stop, fearing you'd taken the joke way too far already.

What You Need

• Lips (Original Game) - Most (not all) of this game's achievements can be earned with any of the DLC discs, but also having the original will end up saving you a lot of time in the long run (earn double the medals for singing co-op!).
  
• Lips: I Love the 80s (retail disc) - This disc was only released in the UK, but luckily it was made region free so any copy will work on any Xbox. Also, take note that the corresponding "I Love the 80s" DLC pack that was released in the the US cannot be used to unlock any achievements - you need the disc.
  
• Lips: Party Classics (retail disc) - Again you'll need the disc itself to unlock these achievements, especially those that mention Party Classics specifically.
  
• 2 Wireless Microphones - The original Lips game will not recognize USB mics, so you'll need 2 wireless ones for co-op if you want to save all that time I mentioned earlier (keep reading).
  
• 1 Wired USB Microphone (if possible) - One from any game, any console will usually work (as long as there's a USB connection you're good to go), this will help with earning stars later as Party Classics and I Love the 80s do recognize USB mics.
• 1 Wired Controller (if possible) - Not too necessary, just nice if you don't want to have to worry about your wireless controller shutting off automatically while you grind out some of the later achievements.
  
• Large-ish Headphones (if possible) - If you can afford to lose some friends, roommates, and/or wives then you can just use any speakers loud enough for the mics to pick up (including those of your TV), otherwise invest in some of these.
  

That's right, don't even bother getting the Number One Hits disc, it doesn't have any specific achievements like I Love the 80s or Party Classics does, so you can just use either of those 2 discs to unlock all of the ach from Number One Hits. There are still bundles for sale out there that include 2 wireless mics and the original game, or you can spring for the mics separately for around $15 - $20 a piece. Technically you could do all 1750G with just 1 wireless mic and the 3 game discs (Lips, I Love the 80s, and Party Classics), but spending the extra 20 bucks or so for the additional mic(s) could end up saving you a lot of effort and many, many hours - well worth it.

What You Should Know

• The original Lips is only good for unlocking the original 1000G, but your I Love the 80s or Party Classics disc will unlock any ach from any disc (although achievements that call for a specific disc won't unlock with any other disc, obviously).
• The original Lips does allows your main account to earn double the medals while singing in co-op, whereas the DLC discs will attribute those medals to either your co-op partner (if signed in) or just discard them entirely (you'll notice your partner's medals, stars, and score are grayed out on the final screen).
• The original Lips disc does not let you earn stars while singing in "freestyle" mode, but the DLC discs do.
• Despite all those cans and can'ts, you can still play any song using any disc: just hit Y (sort) and/or X (view) on the song selection screen (depending on which disc you have in) until you see the songs from all discs on the screen, then choose whichever song you like. The game will ask you to swap discs if needed, but the gameplay will remain the same as whichever disc was inserted first. This will come in handy where songs and/or gameplay from one disc help to better unlock achievements on the other.
• You can always check how many medals and stars you have by selecting "My Lips" from the main menu of any disc, but the original Lips disc will only show what you've earned using that game. Using "My Lips" from any of the DLC discs, however, will show you your combined totals - everything you've earned while playing with any disc.
  

What You Should Do

Most of the achievements are pretty easy and straightforward so I'll just mention the ones that seem to be the hardest and/or most time consuming of the bunch.

Let's Get it STAR-ted - 40G - Gained 200,000 total stars.
Unlock every other achievement in the game and you'll be closer to 50,000 stars rather than 200,000, so I'd recommend picking up the rest using this guy's technique. Essentially, you'll use Party Classics or I Love the 80s to play a specific song of his in Freestyle mode while playing back the same song into the microphone. Using a wired controller will keep it from shutting off every 15 minutes, and using a USB mic will trigger your star power automatically once your meter is full. For the song you can either network your PC, put it on a "removable device" (Zune, USB stick, etc), or burn it to a CD then rip it to your HDD (what I did). For playback you can use your own TV speakers, a pair of headphones plugged into your TV or surround system, or headphones plugged into any other device that will play the song back - just make sure the mic volume on the game is turned down (LT) and the song volume is loud enough for the mic to pick it up. Keep an eye on how fast the stars accumulate when you first start the song, and if they've slowed down for whatever reason (as inexplicably happened to me after a song or two sometimes) then just restart the song, that should fix it.

Heavy Medal - 30G - Earn 1,500 total medals.
Another you likely won't even be halfway done with by time you unlock the others, but the fix isn't quite as "hands-off" unfortunately. Whenever possible sing any song you have to do with the original Lips game in co-op (sing into both mics yourself if needed), as any medals your partner earns will also go to you. Another thing you can do that is a little more "hands-off" is play Young MC's "Bust a Move" while feeding the sound back into the mic (again using headphones or speakers and turn the mic volume down with left trigger). Doing just that will get you about 6 or 7 medals a song, and pressing X and/or shaking the mics to the beat for a minute or so each song will get you 4 more on top of that. Like I mentioned above, you'll need 2 wireless mics for co-op as the original Lips doesn't support USB mics, and earning double the medals in co-op does not work on the DLC discs.

The Great Ball of Fire - 40G - Get 200 combos.
Combos are just how many "notes" you sing correctly in a row, a gameplay feature that only exists on the DLC discs. The easiest song I found, however, is on the original Lips disc: Young MC's "Bust a Move" (again). So here's where you'll want to use Party Classics or I Love the 80s to play a song from the original disc, just change the sort and/or view at the song selection screen until you can easily select "Bust a Move". After switching discs when the game asks you to, just sing "Na Na Na Na Na" into the mic at eventually you'll hit a point where that's enough to get your combos all the way to 200.

Defending Champion - 25G - Got 20 challenge wins.
Best thing I can tell you is that you don't have to be a gold account to challenge someone. Just create your a new (free) silver account on your own console if you have to and send easy challenges to yourself.


Legendary Performer - 40G - Earn a Bronze Cup or better on 20 songs.
Despite being a dreaded leaderboard achievement, this is actually a lot easier than it sounds - I got it just by naturally playing co-op through I Love the 80s. If you get close enough you'll see your progress pop up on the screen during the song, then just get that number under 1000 and you'll get the trophy. Always sing co-op (less people on that leaderboard), play songs from the original Lips through Party Classics or I Love the 80s, and (last resort) download some DLC songs if you have to.

Two Cool - 30G - Get "Cool" in every page for a song in co-op mode.
This was one of the achievements that gave me the most trouble. This was the guide I used, and I didn't want to pay for any extra songs so I got it with Sheryl Crow's "Soak Up the Sun" (again by playing it through either of the DLC discs). I also got pretty close by downloading the free track "Party Classics Song Medley" and singing into both mics myself, but YMCA was giving me some problems so I switched. Or you can pick any song you know really well, just make sure there aren't any harmony parts if you're alone singing into both mics.

Tech & Shout ('80s disc) - 20G - Earn a Technique medal in the song "Shout".
And this was the other one that gave me the most trouble. I found some helpful suggestions here, like lightly hitting your chest, shaking one leg, or singing "nananana" during the long notes. I also got a vibrato once by singing with my left hand while bouncing my right on the couch where I sat. Try not to play it with anyone else in the room during this or their laughter AT you will drown out all the music.

Relax Explosion ('80s disc) - 20G - Earn a Big Bang rating in the song "Relax".
Sing in co-op ("duet") and aim for 1.4 million points by gaining all the medals you can and stars that you can (hit all your gestures and timed noisemakers and trigger the x2 star bonus by lifting both mics at the same time whenever possible). The hard part: you're going to have to learn the song here.

I'm Kind Of a Big Deal - 40G - Achieved the rank of "Infinity".
Looks like this is attached to getting "cool" on every page and earning all 6 (or 12 if you're in co-op) medals, and achieving whatever score you'd normally need for a "Big Bang" ranking in the song. If you have a song you know really well you can probably do this, if not then it's back to "Bust a Move" yet again! Just feed the audio back into the mic somehow (TV speakers, headphones) or sing "nanananana" to the beat and don't forget to shake the mics for the party and performance medals. If you do it in co-op then the x2 star bonus for activating your star power at the same time is a must!

Call Me Superstar - 40G - Achieved a Grand Ranking of "Superstar."
You'll need at least 50,000 stars and 100 of each medal. Not that hard, really, except by the time I was done with the other achievements I only had around 80 technique medals (couple hundred each of the rest). Best way I found to quickly earn the rest of the technique medals I needed was by playing Ultravox's "Vienna" through the original Lips disc (again hit X at song selection until you see "All"). The song has several long notes easy to get vibrato bonuses on, and playing co-op through the original Lips disc will let you earn twice the medals for every song.

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That's it, but if you have any problems or questions with achievements I haven't listed just hit "comment" and ask away!

Tips - Shadow Complex - "Serious Complex" (Level 50) (Video)

Tips - Paperboy - "Easy Week" (Video)

Finally finished Paperboy. I bought the game a good 4 years ago and have been sitting on it ever since getting hung up on the last - and hardest - achievement: Easy Week. Funny thing is, even though I've had the game for 4 years, it's only about 4 hours total that I've spent trying to unlock the achievement. Something about the simplicity of the old-school makes it twice as aggravating - all I have are two stupid buttons to worry about.

Well, my latest self-imposed lull between games eventually led me to plant myself on the couch a couple days ago and resolve to finally unlock the stupid achievement. Day 1 produced the normal sputtering burst of an attempt before rage-quitting at 1AM, but Day 2 ended in success (albeit just as sputtering). Here are the tips:

• Deliver Your Papers! - Not only that, but go for Perfect Delivery for at least 2 days out of the week (Monday/Tuesday are the easiest, obviously, but Wednesday/Thursday are also very possible). This will 1) give you great points and 2) nullify some threats!
• More Points! - Combined with perfect/near perfect deliveries, breaking non-subscriber (red) houses and taking the obstacle course slow enough to hit some hoops and make some jumps will lead to 2 - sometimes 3 - extra lives that you will absolutely need to win.
• Don't Die! - Seriously, if you die on Monday or Tuesday, just restart. In fact, I'd recommend saving all your men until Friday, which is where things really get hard. At that point, choose your battles. If there's a spot that's especially hard for you, and you can't formulate a reusable strategy to avoid the obstacle, just plan to die there - you'll respawn in the clear. Win in part by calculated attrition if you have to!
• Specifics - watch the video.
  

There you have it, Paperbeard out.

Marvel vs. Capcom vs. Beard: The Fate of Not Much, Really

So this was a surprise in every way possible. I hardly ever buy new games, and I buy fighting games even less often than that (renting DOA4 was the closest I've ever come on the 360, and we all know how that turned out). Combine that with the fact that I was actually aware of how difficult a 1K could be here, and you get one big WTFBeardmobile.

What can I say, I guess my passing impression with all those killer character trailers belied a deeper interest in pressing down-forward-B more than a hundred times a day.

But you probably didn't come to AchievementBeard.com to hear me wax smarmy about graphics or gameplay, in fact, I'm pretty sure you're here because you misspelled "AchievementBears" into your browser bar. Well, the joke's on you! Because while you're busy wondering and/or seeing if that site actually exists, I'm going to talk about my first 400G for Marvel vs. Capcom!

Like I said, I don't get many fighting games. Street Fighter II on my SNES was amazing, of course, but that was back when "combos" were just something the AI did to make you angry, back before "button mashing" even had a name. It's a narrowly defined genre to begin with that has only gotten more complicated over time, so it's entirely understandable that the achievements for such games have largely catered to enthusiasts, i.e are hard.

Which is why I was excited when the first three achievements I popped for Marvel vs. Capcom were some that I originally thought might give me the most trouble: "Land a Viewtiful/Incredible/Uncanny (31/65/91 hit) Combo." In fact, by the end of that first 1.5 hour session I was at 155G, and I've since unlocked "Herculean Task" (beat arcade mode on very hard) and "Saving My Quarters" (beat arcade mode without continues) - 2 others that sounded harder than they actually were (again, fighting game n00b here). Even the ach for reaching the rank of 1st Class online is semi-viral - all you have to do is play (not even beat) someone that has gained the rank and you'll unlock it. The rest (online and off) might seem grindy at times, but overall I'd say there are numerous important concessions that make the achievements (not to mention the game) very accessible to everyone, not just the genre geniuses.

The one exception is "A New Avenger" (40G), of course, for which you have to clear 320 out of 360 "missions", the exclusion of which would also keep you from unlocking "Master of Fate" (50G) - because somebody out there still thinks achievements for unlocking achievements is a good idea (they're already meta people!). However, if Capcom decides to get off their duff and release more characters instead of costumes this time around (are you really all that concerned with dressing up all your Street Fighter sprites?), every entry would give us 10 more missions each, making 1K very, very possible.

So what do you say Capcom? We know you've already done most of the work on Frank West, and at least thought about Doc Oc at some point - let's see what you got!

Autistic Interest

We achievement hunters don't just have OCD, we can do autism too!

I came upon an article this morning about an 11-year-old autistic kid that received the whole "gamerscore-reset-cheater-label" treatment by Micorsoft. The story sparked my interest if only for the questions it provoked: did he understand what "cheating" was? That others consider it "wrong"? That there were risks involved? For many kids with autism the answer would be "no" to all of the above, plain and simple - so is that still cheating? As philosophical as that might sound, Microsoft's Terms of Service that we all "sign" upon joining Xbox Live unequivocally says: yes, still cheating. Furthermore, the possibility that savant-like skill supplanted cheating in this instance has since been disproved - but at least it made for an interesting headline while it lasted!

Which was one of the reasons I typed up a little article myself, as I love doing for TrueAchievements from time to time. Unfortunately, for reasons completely within my control (my own stupidity), the article will not be printed there. So where can orphaned articles go to die? Why, AchievementBeard.com of course!

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According to bad writers that work for Seattle's Q13 Fox News, autistic 11-year-old Julias Jackson was "socked in the stomach by Xbox Online" when he booted up his Xbox last week and found the label "Cheater" in place of 1500 deleted achievements that he had racked up over the course of about 200 days. Understandably upset, Julias's mother phoned Xbox Live and was immediately connected with people who had no idea what she was talking about, but was finally able to elicit this response later on via email:

The only actions that we take are to correct the player's current Gamerscore, and to label the player as a "cheater." This label can be observed on Xbox.com and through the player's view of their Gamercard on a console or computer that is connected to Xbox LIVE. The player can still legitimately gain future achievements. The player's experience does not change in any other way.

Julias's mother maintains, however, that her son's achievements were legitimate, due only to "his hard work and hours logged online", and that he can "master games in three to four days." In any event, she added that Xbox Live is "pretty much his only outlet and his only friend, because of autism", and that he was correspondingly devastated by the event.

Microsoft hasn't backed down though, and subsequently issued this response to Kotaku's inquiries:

Gamerscore resets are done when cheating is detected to keep LIVE fun, fair and safe for everyone. We only do them when we are 100% confident that cheating has occurred, and they are not something that can be appealed. Details can be found here - http://www.xbox.com/Live/Cheating.

Likewise, Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live, confirmed via Twitter that "this wasn't a 'he played too good' situation at all," and that the details regarding young Julias's "cheated achievements" have since been given to his mother.