Top Ten Things To Do June 16

Published June 15, 2009

Q: What the heck am I going to do for 24 hours if I can't troll the forums, pwn my rivals, download stuff on Marketplace and video chat with my friends?

A: We're glad you asked. We hereby submit our Top Ten Things to Do on June 16, 2009:

1.    Beef up your Gamerscore. That's right; you can still earn achievements when you're offline. Your achievements will be uploaded to the Xbox LIVE service when it becomes available.

2.    Play some of the amazing single-player games in your games library: Fallout® 3, Fable® II, Assassin's Creed™, BioShock and Mass Effect™ are some of the best.

Maybe break out a single-player masterpiece June 16.

3.    Nominate a friend for the Gamer Spotlight. Trixie360's email will still be working, so drop her a line at xlmail@microsoft.com and tell her who you think needs some attention on Xbox.com.

4.    Catch up on your gaming podcast listening: We suggest Xbox 360 Fancast, Sarcastic Gamer Pink, Loading Reality, Unscripted 360, GameHounds, and The Married Gamers to name just a few.

5.    Study up on June 16 history. Here are some examples of momentous events that occurred on 6/16:

1. 1858 - Abraham Lincoln gave his "House Divided" speech.
2. 1963 - Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.
3. 1980 - The movie "The Blues Brothers" opened in Chicago, IL.

6.    June 16 is also the birthday of Geronimo, Joyce Carol Oates, and Stan Laurel. So watch Geronimo: A Living Legend, read Oates' short story "Where are you Going, Where Have you Been?" or screen some Laurel and Hardy short films.

7.    Holiday anyone? Hoist a glass in honor of Bloomsday in Dublin and Youth Day in South Africa.

8.    Talk to your significant other. Maybe even your children. How old are they now?

9.    Shop for Dad. Father's Day is next Sunday, June 21! If he's a gamer, you know exactly what to get him!

10. Check out what some folks from the Xbox LIVE Twitter community will be up to:

I'll be playing Ghostbusters™: The Video Game single player campaign!!!
—Turtle502

Ghostbusters ships June 16.

I'll be finally doing my laundry and food shopping, HAHA.
—mrfusiononcar

Read previews/reviews on games from the Web, or go to the bookstore and pick up gaming magazines.
—Koolaye

Play [PROTOTYPE]™.
—SwirlingAether

Sleep and dream about playing Project Natal w/ some hot girl.
—Tehis

I'll still be playing Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10. Lotsa achievements to get!
—DUMastaChief

I shall be playing The Sims 3 on my PC.
—Jessibaby1986

See the sun? I mean we only get like four weeks of summer here in the Seattle area, we better enjoy it.
—flatrabbit

Play Scrabble!
—DarkFaerie129

Stack controllers and game boxes around my Xbox to build the Eiffel Tower, then knock it down as XBOXZilla.
—UnderTaker

I'll try to beat Mega Man™ 9 for the 1,000th time.
—coldermilk

Halo® 2 LANs and customs!
—Luck n Hype

I'm going to check out www.gamingangels.com, and then go to a staff meeting.
—GamergirlSB

Baby proof the house with bubblewrap. Both safe and fun to play with!
—KaneTheJester

Clean up the cables behind my entertainment center.
—DjDATZ

Maybe finally finish CoD4 on veteran, also finish off some other SP campaigns on other games. :)
—MORITE OGGI

Crawl up in the fetal position and scream for Mommy while crying in a dark closet!
—aimzb

Knit a scarf.
—Nathan Vernon

Probably redo campaign for some of my old games and work on some achievements.
—H2O Pk is 1337

Some people might play Lips.

Downtime equals playing games you are too embarrassed to have your friends see you play. It's Lips™ for me.
—Pantless Steve

Create an orbital array of kittens to begin my evil plan of world domination.
—BahamutZaero

I actually plan on catching up on some TV time with the wife.
—Scrambler1

Tweet! Or work :[ ! Or work on projects like PAXTweetup!
—Iolslayer

Play Guitar Hero® Smash Hits (June 16 is the release date)!
—Crazyspartan678

Hassle Xbox staff about "when it'll be fixed" on Twitter :)
—MartyTno1

Play Dungeons and Dragons.
—Jeepster

Destroy everything on Mars in Red Faction®: Guerrilla™!
—Wanyal

Finally enjoy a night off from my 1 vs 100 addiction.
—wolvie75 VwR

I'm going to be playing some games offline and probably catch up on chores. Can't keep a gamer down!
—Azrane1

Finally organize the game cases that have taken over my house.
—III ULTRA III

Get some sleep and catch Slimer as Ghostbusters comes out that day.
—ExtremeGamer

While Xbox LIVE is down how about checking all of the big E3 announcements again? It was crazy, a lot can be forgotten.
—I Th3 Rock I

Move all furniture out of living room in anticipation of Project Natal.
—Freelancer

Chat with @trixie360 on Twitter.
—TapOutJunkie

Find out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop.
—ruiner02970

Playing tough single-player games on hard difficulty is a good challenge for the day.

I will attempt to finish COD:WaW in the single player campaign on veteran.
—logfan 10k

Maybe remove the inch thick layer of dust off my PS3 and actually use it for once?
—sc00termcg33

I plan to clean up remaining single player achievements! Most likely: Fable II, Burnout™ Paradise.
—porcelein4hed

Read Pride and Prejudice and zombies.
—Mrs Leftybrown

I'm going to earn the achievement for leaving the house! Ha!
—tennapop

I will be hacking my G1 phone.
—abteer

I think my wife must have had something to do with picking that date since it's the same day as our anniversary.
—snoopyspy007

With no XBL Tues … my condo=spotless.
—SkeletalRaider

I'm going to try and finish Lost Odyssey™ and have an early night.
—hybrid 666

While LIVE is down. I'd go outside and enjoy real life, I heard the graphics are great but the gameplay is crap!
—strybe

LIVE downtime? Guess I will have to perfect several songs in Rock Band solo.
—Saiko Sakura

During down time: Go shopping for gifts for Baby Trixie. ;)
—Frag Monger

Get your super soakers out and have a Halo 3 reenactment at your local industrial park!
—Aikorenne

Think I'm gonna finish Dan Brown's Deception Point book, and play some offline MP with wifey later on.
—madnizz

Play Mass Effect or BioShock. Both are great non-LIVE games or flail around my room pretending I have Natal.
—Willian Vessana

I'll be attempting the endless set list on Rock Band. The key word is "attempting."
—Sdawg36

Walk outside and realize there is an outside world, and it's not as cool as Gears of War® 2!
—DarqFlare

Probably will be working on my XNA game. And maybe learning what this "sun" is.
—ThrallMind