The Blog for the Sports Gamer

A few thoughts after the weekend of Father’s Day:

* How about that US Open? It was probably the first golf tournament I watched on TV — it was like watching NASCAR for the car crashes as everyone wrecked on the 7th hole. We also saw NASCAR like rule changes on the fly — hmm, everyone double bogeys 7, so we’ll add water during the middle of the round. Sure, if it rains, that’s ok, but to do something like that just to make it easier for some players after a bunch have already played, that doesn’t seem right to me.

* I started watching “Miracle” on DVD last night. Interesting so far, but there’s one thing about DVDs that annoy me. As much as I enjoy progressive scan and 5.1 stereo sound, I despise that THX badge at the front of the movie. It’s like LucasArts said “hmm, we need to make this really loud and annoying just to show them that all 5 speakers work and so we can wake up the neighbors.” It’s sooo damn annoying.

* I wish Links had the US Open course on it. I did find it for Tiger PC, but I want it for Links, dammit.

Okay, I could write more, but it’s time to go to work.

The Front Office Football league that I run has a few slots open. If you want to play in the league, drop me an email.

The league website can be found here.

We use fictional teams and fictional players, FYI. For a list of franchise names, check this page out.

Teams available include the Grand Junction Mavericks, Cascadia Argonauts, Schaumburg Black Knights, and the Saratoga Stars.

You need a copy of FoF to play. Let me know if you want in.

-bill

I know, it’s proably a blog record for today, but hey, might as well write while I think of it.

Yesterday, Atari (of all companies) announced that they are bringing Top Spin to the PC. The same development team will be involved and it’s pretty much going to be a port (hmm, will Xbox Live work on the PC, this will be very interesting)….

What strikes me as incredibly odd is that Microsoft, the company that published the game for the Xbox, passed on the PC rights. Microsoft, the company that tries to push “Games for Windows” passed on a a “Game for Windows.” I don’t know if the disaster that was Halo PC got to them, or what, but this is, in my opinion the official word that PC gaming is just about dead. Sure, Doom 3 will sell tons (maybe), but just in case you didn’t already know, PC gaming is about as much of a niche as people who still play their Dreamcast. Of course, I’m doing both, but hey, you know me, right?

Back in the days of Direct X 2 and 3, Microsoft was at the forefront of games for Windows. Who couldn’t remember Monster Truck Madness, Motocross Madness and the original Midtown Madness? Remember the oh-my-gawd-I’m-racing-online feeling over that 28.8 modem? Damn, those were good times.

My son is a big fan of Monster Trucks, so after we went to a show earlier this year, I dug out Monster Truck Madness 2. Boy, it really has an incredible frame rate on a GeForce 4 (especially considering it was designed back in the days of Rendition and Voodoo 1’s). It’s still a fun game, albeit ugly even at full 640×480 resolution and everything turned on. Do you ever play games from last century? Tell me about your experiences, I’d love to know.

Just in case you’re interested, I have three (count ‘em, three) Google Gmail invites to give out to loyal blog readers — even the ones that like George Bush ;). If you want to get in on the beta before the rest of the world does, drop me a line. First three people to email will get invites. Don’t buy it on ebay, get it for free from the Sports Gamers. :).

Oh, almost forgot. GameSpy should run a preview/interview I did on Chaos League in the next few days. I’ll make sure to post the link when it goes live. I know I keep pimping this game, but I tell ya…it’s a blast. There isn’t a set release date here in the States (it’s made by a French based outfit) but it’ll be available in Europe in July and hopefully you’ll be able to get it shipped over here or it’ll be made available here in the US shortly thereafter. I may start a Chaoe League..erm..league when it comes out. The game will suppport Multiplayer but it doesn’t have any built in league functions for online play. So we’ll see how it goes.

Things are so slow right now on the sports game front that we’re back to Dan talking politics. So, so, sorry guys.

Anyway let’s get to some really EXCITING stuff. Like my ankle injury! We’re approaching the 2 month anniversary and I’m on my feet, walking without too much pain. I think I’m still several weeks from being able to play basketball, and it’s killing me. Still, the fact that I can walk around without the big ass ankle boot is pretty nice. The physical therapy is definately helping, but my insurance is about to run out on that. So…guess we’ll see.

Anyway, we’re in the slow season as far as sports games go. Chances are, you’re either still getting mileage out of this year’s baseball games or you’re in hold mode for the football season. I’m in hold mode for football season. I’m still hammering away in my FoF 2004 and OOTP 6 leagues, but I’m obviously waiting for NCAA 2005 like many of you. The previews that I’m reading pretty much suck, so I’m just sitting and hoping it’s as good as I think it’ll be. I don’t get too excited about “new” games anymore, but there’s just something about the NCAA series that causes me to act like a 10 year old on Christmas Eve. EA and Sega could stop making their pro games and I really wouldn’t lose much sleep. But NCAA is special.

As for what I’m playing…let’s see. Title Bout, a text based boxing sim from the same guys that made the old Title Bout board game. Too soon to say much about it, but I’m a big boxing fan, so I’ll keep you posted. (Did De la Hoya get his ass kicked or what?) I’m replaying Knights of the Old Republic, this time as a Dark Jedi. What a great game. Oh, and I was just assigned a RTS game called Perimeter. No clue what it’s about. How’s that for journalism?

Well, there were a lot of comments on yesterday’s blog. Nothing starts some great debate like politics — isn’t it really a game, in a way? I mean there’s a lot of ’survivor’ elements and ‘league’ elements in politics, don’t you think?

Now that being said, if a blow job can get a guy impeached, I think completely being dishonest about a war and lying every step of the way to do something for daddy should also be a reason to be impeached. That’s all I’m saying. It appears obvious that the “hey, our intelligence was bad” excuse is a crock. It was “intelligence” that seems pretty much faked to acheive self serving goals, in my opinion. (yes, that was a total generalization, get over it right-wingers, after all, it’s not like right-wingers ever do the same thing, right)?

Okay, so much for being a sports gaming blog, right? But you can bet on the election, so it is a sport — so there. LOL. I will tell you I’m glad about the feedback we’re getting. Most of it is hatred in my email, but you know what? If everyone votes, and a guy I dislike wins (by majority as well as electorally), I can live with that. I won’t be happy, but at least it was decided fair. But when so many people don’t turn out to vote, it simply boggles the mind. It’s up to everyone in this country to get people to vote — even if it’s for someone I totally disagree with.

Getting back to gaming, I’ve been playing some non-sports titles of late — Full Spectrum Warrior and Chronicles of Riddick to be exact. Both games are well worth checking out. Some people have asked if I’ve tried the Pandora Tomorrow download. I’m not a huge fan of the stealth games (Thief 3 for PC notwithstanding), so I’ll probably refrain from poning up the $5.00 for that one, unless someone really, really tells me to grab it.

On that note, I’m off to play real golf for the weekend. I’ve been taking more lessons and hitting the ball a little better. My goal is to really get some loft with the 3W. If I can do that regularly, I have promised myself a new set of Ping clubs. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Okay, this is a good one. Read this article. (link) The bullshit detector is now on non-stop. The sad part is this guy probably believes what he’s saying. This comment reminds me of Vanilla Ice saying how he didn’t sample Under Pressure for Ice Ice Baby, “no, it’s different.” Whatever.

Now, time for the sports. I had a chance to play Colin McCrae Rally for the Xbox a little more. If you enjoy rally games, you need to pick this one up. Oh, did I mention it’s only $19.99 new? Yeah, that’s right — Codemasters released this one at a bargain price point even though it’s a new release. I prefer Rallisport Challenge 2 over CMR, mainly because of the Xbox Live component, but still Colin has always been a great game, and this one is the best yet, and the price can’t be beat!

I’m getting pretty excited for World Cup Qualifiers — this time around in CONCACAF it’s a little more crazy with the first series — the US plays against Grenada on Sunday. Kudos to ESPN for covering the game live. I’m sure they are going to use the crappy Granada feed and it won’t be in HDTV, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Speaking of footy, if you have Winning Eleven 7 for PC (and if you don’t, you need it), this guy, The Wolf has gone crazy with some amazing patches that really overhaul the game, brings accurate kits (uniforms with boots (shoes)) and rosters and makes the game even better than before. Grab it here: http://browse.files.filefront.com/684094. PS it’s a HUGE download, but well worth it.

Why play yet another version of Madden when instead you can raise money with Bono? The former president of EA has become a partner in a venture capitalist firm with Bono of U2. Click here for the full news item.

Anyone watch that show? That season finale was good….too bad we have to wait until 2005 to check it out.

Boy, sports gaming is in a lull right now, that’s ok, I’m still playing Links…more later.

* Those of you that buy games and have a Sam Goody locally, may I recommend their “Replay” plan? It’s one of the best “frequent buyer” programs I’ve ever come across. Sure their movie and music prices are usually retail (ugh), but their game prices are the same as EB and the rest of them. For $8, you get an immediate $5 off coupon, and then you earn points for each cent you spend. There are a ton of ‘triple points’ days and you really rake in the dough. For example, I’ve had my membership for a year. I probably buy more games than the average person, but I don’t buy everything. Buy purchasing on the special points days, I’ve received coupons totalling $90 off in one year. The coupons are good at Goody, Suncoast, Media Play and On-Cue. It’s a wicked good deal, just fyi. (I’m not getting a referral or anything for this, just trying to help out).

* Those of you that prefer your shopping online and who use GoGamer.com or GameStop.com may want to check out Simple Rebates. I’ve been using it for 2 years and have collected about $125 in rebates. The best part is they send you cash via paypal pretty darn quickly. The drawback is that you have to wait to get paid until you’ve accumulated $10 in your account. That being said, you can get 3-5% in rebates on videogames, and bigger bonuses at stores like Overstock, Columbia House, NetFlix, and more. They also give you rebates at Circuit City and Best Buy. If you sign up, they give you $2.00 immediately, so it’s worth checking out — click the link above.

* Now that Reagan nostalgia is over, it’s time for Clinton nostalgia, with his new book coming out. Now that should be an interesting book, don’t you think? The funny thing is that Kerry says he’s part of the Clinton legacy, but last I checked one thing you can definitely say about Clinton is that he is not boring, which Kerry most certainly is. Hey don’t get me wrong, if this gigantic ant that’s crawling across my floor were running against Bush, I’d vote for the ant, but man, Kerry is no Clinton. Whether that’s good or not, I guess all of us will decide in November.

* Bill’s post about NFL 2K5 is something I agree with. The majority of the population will buy Madden no matter what, just like everyone bought a PS2 over Xbox, when I think you’ll agree the Xbox is a much, much better gaming machine. It never makes sense, but that happens a lot. The marketing strategy is sound for Sega, but unless they get some prime shelf space at Wally-World, I doubt it’s going to work. Instead, the Wally World clerk will throw it in the bargain bin next to Gallop Racer 2001 and less people will buy it. On the bright side, when you sell it on eBay, you won’t take the massive hit that you used to take on sports games, eh?

I’m going to go try to play some ‘real’ golf today. Ttyl.

Yes, thew blog is still active and yes I plan on posting regularly again soon. Figured I’d check in with a few quips before I put Ashley to bed.

– This new BCS extra game thing is just plain asinine. When I first heard about it I thought it was an extra game between the winner of two of the Bowls or something like that. But noooooo, it’s just another game. This. Fixes. Nothing. As much as I love college football, I hate college football.

– My beloved Alma Mater is back in the news again with the firing of basketball coach Jim O’Brien. Can Ohio State stay off the front page of ESPN for a MONTH!? Please? This whole thing just disgusts me. Never, I say, NEVER will I rag on another school for being in trouble with the NCAA. Lesson friggin’ learned. I think an OSU alum made a deal with the devil for us to win the National Title in 2002. Ever since then, the wheels have fell off.

– You can take Bob Huggins off the list of potential OSU basketball coach replacements. There was a buzz that Huggins had at least passing interest in being interviewed but after his DUI. Um, I don’t see that happenin’. I’m happy. I don’t want him anywhere near Ohio State. Personally, I’d like to see George Karl get a shot at the job.

– I pre-oreded my ESPN Football for $19.99 with an in store pick up price of $21. I have to buy my console games just like you guys, so I was just as happy to pay 1/2 price. I can’t wait to see what EA Sports does now. Will they care? Will they find it amusing or will they actually get worried? Personally, I think EA Sports wins this fight even if Sega makes the game $10 with an option for a street hooker escort for the evening of your choice. But that’s just me. And it has nothing to do with the quality of the game.

– The Browns 2nd round pick, safety Sean Jones from Georgia, is out for the year with a knee injury. It just wouldn’t be summer without a pre-camp Browns injury. Bah.

– On the game front, I’m currently previewing Chaos League, the fantasy football game I mentioned a while back. Mucho fun. Seriously, try the demo.

As you know, today is a day of mourning and most gov’t employees have the day off mourning. Well, at least they are supposed to be mourning. I want my mail, dammit. No one seems to care that I’m waiting for my GameFly game.

Most of the phone calls all week at the day job have been “are you open?” Yes, we’re open. What a total mess it’s been as far as that goes. Kudos to State and Federal Governments for totally contradicting one another. (Ok, so that’s my next hint in the real job: it’s regulated by the Government but I’m not a Government employee. Figure it out yet?)

The season finale of Deadwood is this weekend, that should be interesting.

I also took to the driving range. A funny story: a few weeks back, I took part in a local Chamber of Commerce golf tournament. I sucked. I sucked hard. I barely got the ball off the tee. We’re talking 10 yards maybe if I’m lucky. We’re talking close to the red tees, if I really did well. I was so pissed off that I decided to get some lessons at the same course. I’m telling the guys how much I suck — they even enjoyed my email about not hitting the ball off the tee.

So after explaining how much I suck at golf, he tells me to get out my 9I and show him how I hit. Of course, I nail the f’ing ball. I mean nail it. He says to me, um, why do you need lessons again? Every club, I hit the ball, I’m on fire. I never EVER do this. I still opt to go with the series of lessons and resolve to be better. I don’t need to be Tiger, but I’d be thrilled with a 200 yd drive. Hell at this point a 150 yd drive would be great.

Anyhoo, the next day, I go to the range. I get the 9I out for starters. Do very well. Move to the 7I, a few good, a few not so good. The 5I comes out and it’s a suck fest. I then go to the 3W and couldn’t hit one to save me. Where’s my trainer now, huh? Dammit.

I went again, and have the same problems. I’m so frustrated. I wish I just sucked all the way around and could to it right. It just really, really blows. Anyone have any tips — and playing Links doesn’t count!

Okay, this isn’t a misprint: Both EBGames.com and GameStop are taking pre-orders for ESPN NFL 2K5 for $20. That’s $30 less than Madden. Can you believe this?

Not a bad deal, maybe the whole Take Two thing will work after all. Interesting…

Every year, I promise I will not get sucked into the hype of a new football game. Every year, I still do.

Things were great back in my glory days of sports writing — rather then having to drool over ‘EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK,’ I was the first look. Unfortunately for me, that’s no longer the case, so I have to rely on the other sites to give me the information. I know, you don’t care, I’m a commoner now, etc, but it still burns.

Anyway, check out IGN for this ESPN NFL update. How can reading that not make you want this game now? I do have to say, for hyperbole sports writing, they did a very good job making me want this game. You know what I mean? Take a look at the recent OXM mag — every ‘preview’ is a MUST HAVE GAME OF THE YEAR. The recent GamePro (which is pretty much regarded as the #1 gaming magazine by subscriptions but the shittest one for quality writing) has probably the worst preview I’ve ever seen on a game. In their ESPN NFL preview, the first paragraph says something to the effect of, ‘between show and go, this game is more about the show.’ Not exactly sure WTF that means, I’m guessing someone read the press sheet, or something.

GameSpot also has an article, but with 2 paragraphs dedicated to the crib, I actually prefer the IGN write up this time. (Never thought I’d say that either).

The GS article mentions tackle breaking is easy, but refers to what they have as an ‘early’ build. Well, if the ship date is August, it’s not that early. The game would have to go gold in late July if it’s going to match with Madden, and it’s June now. Do the math, right? Gah!