Challenge Accepted! : An Introduction

We have big plans for the new year over here at Infinity Feed: Video based content; Webcomics; more Top 5s and reviews; and a couple secret projects in the works...  One other thing we have all decided to do is this column: Challenge Accepted!  This is where we will be taking on quests suggested by each other (and possibly readers if we get a good suggestion!) of varying difficulty.  Some may be simple, but others will be bordering on the torturous...  We will be writing weekly/monthly updates to these challenges - whichever is more suitable - and taking on side-quests along the way.  Read on after the jump to find out what challenges Shep and I (the lucky first two to receive challenges) will be tackling!

Dish
Challenge Accepted: Pokemon Master
Ten to twelve years ago Pokemon was the biggest entertainment franchise in the world, with videogames, a hit TV show, popular movies, trading cards, toys and much more.  Then the bubble burst - nothing happened particularly, just an over-saturated market, and kids ready for the next big thing.  But amongst gamers, this series has kept a special place in our hearts - with compelling and addictive gameplay, cute characters and simple game mechanics, the Pokemon games have continued to be massive sellers, long after their late-nineties heyday.
This/my continued love of this series is why I have chosen my first challenge to be......to catch every Pokemon. Yes, kinda nuts.
I have no idea how easy or difficult this is going to be but, starting January 1st, I will be giving myself one year to catch every current Pokemon.
I have set myself a couple rules to guide my quest to become to ultimate Pokemon trainer:

1. All Pokemon must have been owned at one point or another on a single game cart - i will be buying a new copy of Pokemon Black to do this on - but do not have to be owned all at the same time.
2. To prevent disruption of my challenge, no new Pokemon announced in games released after January 1st will be included (especially since remakes of Ruby/Emerald/Sapphire are heavily rumoured)
3. I can acquire the Pokemon in any method the games allow - i.e. catching, leveling and trading (locally and on the Global Network), I am also allowing glitches/exploits, but no cheats such as with Game Shark devices.
4. Pokemon I have currently in other games can be traded over, as i see no point in frustrating myself needlessly - this really only boils down to me not wanting to catch the damn wandering Pokemon in Soul Silver again..

If I hear any good suggestions for rules or think any up myself I will add them to this list, but i think those four are fair enough.  Now, before i pass you over to Shep, there is one last thing i gotta do...

Shep

Challenge Accepted: Big Boss

Let me take you back to 1998, the PlayStation is toe to toe with the Nintendo 64 in a console battle. Both sides have their big hitters; the Sony has Crash Bandicoot, Final Fantasy VII and Resident Evil in their corner, Nintendo has Super Mario 64, Star Fox 64 and GoldenEye 007 in theirs, and then one game came along and changed the landscape of videogames forever: Metal Gear Solid.

Metal Gear Solid was the first videogame story ever to be told in the style of a movie, with deep, intricate storylines, fascinating characters and giant set pieces for you to survive, with the epic theme tune playing in the background, as the FoxHound operative only known by the code name Solid Snake. 

The series may have lost its way in the sequels that followed, moving more into an anime-like universe rather than one closer rooted in real life, but fans still lapped up the subsequent entries and delved deeper into the story.

I personally am a huge Metal Gear Solid fan but there is one thing I have never done: achieve a Big Boss rank on any of the games, so that is my challenge: achieve the level of Big Boss, or the equivalent rank of FoxHound in Metal Gear Solid 3, on all the numbered entries in the series (Metal Gear Solid, 2, 3 & 4) and like Dish, I have rules:

1) I only have to achieve the minimum requirement to gain a Big Boss/Foxhound rank. If I am permitted to use the special items unlocked in a previous play through and still be eligible for the rank of Big Boss in game then the choice of using said items is at my discretion.

2) I am not a sadist so the use of auto or rapid fire controllers is permitted but only for the button mashing sections. I have completed the games previously on the extreme difficulties and nearly destroyed my hands in the process. I have a “proper job” (other than writing for InfinityFeed) that requires the full use of my hands on a daily basis, if my hands are unable to work then so am I.

3) I can play the games in any order. I may choose to play them numerically, chronologically or randomly. The only thing that matters is that I achieve the Big Boss rank.

4) The version of the game I play is also at my discretion. Should I choose to play the Subsistence version of Metal Gear Solid 3 over the Snake Eater version it is permitted.

5) I shall endeavour to stick to the one year deadline BUT, due to me being in the final year of a university course much of my time is required for study, as I shall be losing 4 weeks of the year for revision (where no videogames shall be played) I reserve the right to claim those weeks back during January 2013 if required. We’ll just call it study leave.

The requirements for the Big Boss rank:

Metal Gear Solid

• Beat the game in Extreme mode.
• Finish the game in 3 hours or less.
• Use no continues.
• Use one or no rations.
• Kill 25 or less.
• Found 4 times or less.
• Save 80 or less times.

Metal Gear Solid 2

• Mode: Extreme.
• Time: Under 3 hours.
• Damage: Less than 10 Health bars.
• Shots: Under 700.
• Alerts: 3.
• Clear caution modes: 0.
• Kills: 0.
• Mech destruction: Under 60.
• Continue: 0.
• Rations: 0.
• Saves: 8 or less.
• Radar: Off.
• Special Items: Off.

Metal Gear Solid 3

• Under 5 hours completion time.
• 25 saves maximum.
• 0 alerts.
• 0 humans killed.
• 0 continues.
• 0 life medicines.
• No special items used.
• 5 health bars worth of damage maximum.
• Extreme or European Extreme difficulty.
• Seriously injured 20 times.

Metal Gear Solid 4

• Under 5 hours of play time.
• No alerts.
• No humans killed.
• No Continues used.
• No Healing items used.
• The Boss Extreme Difficulty.
• No Special Items Used.

Like Dish, I am obligated to try and get this theme tune stuck in your head.