The Blog for the Sports Gamer

Wow, that was a pretty good game, with a late comeback attempt by the Pats. They played pretty crappy in the beginning, but tried to play catch up but ran out of time.

We already know it’s not in the cards for another World Championship given the injuries, but it’s nice to see them playing hard even being down 28-3.

1. Because of the American Family Association, I’m more convinced than ever to buy my daughter every American Girl doll that ever came out. Apparently they are going to boycott the company because they send contributions to a company called Girls Inc, which “promotes abortion and lesbianism.” Hey, why don’t they spend their time upset about things that matter, like you know, hurricanes.

2. No one won Powerball — so hello $340,000,000 on Wednesday. Might as well not buy a ticket because I know I’ll win.

3. Those Comcast commercials where they do the $20,000 pyramid are hysterical. It’s Comcastic!

4. Watching hockey in HD is just awesome.

5. Madden for PSP has an EA footprint all over it. Their games are notoriously slow on the PSP and Madden is no exception. I heard that Tiger 06 is much faster, I’ll have to check that out. Anyway Madden PSP is one you can skip.

6. I guess Furburger isn’t starting today, which means I have to pick Dante “I love boat sex” Culpepper. Why doesn’t the American Family Association boycott this guy for his shitty play and shittier sex life?

7. Today’s Woot is a wireless joystick for $24.99

8. Tedi Bruschi is coming back? Bill Simmons mentioned this many weeks ago…if it works he’d come back against…wait for it…Indianapolis. Hey Kevin, aren’t you glad you picked the Jets instead of Indy? His comments were “oh, that’s a Monday Night Game and I may have to work.” Folks I think this is the same sort of argument significant others use for sex (ie I have to get up early). I believe article 9 of the offiical guy code prohibits this sort of argument if you have fantastic tickets to a sporting event. Oh well. At least we can make fun of Ty Law in December.

Well, tonight I finally wrapped up Draft 1 of the 2006 Gamer’s Bible. 283 pages of games. I am tired. I’m not technically done with the book as I now have to go through thre Author Review process (this is the part when I get feedback from the editors.) So I still have to rewrite some stuff and tweak things here and there.

Looking back, there are a few games from 2006 that I didn’t include in the book that I think I should have, but hey, just so you know: essays on We Love Katamari, FIFA 06, the Mortal Kombat Monks game and March Madness are not in the book. Sorry.

Oh yeah, OSU won today and looked bad doing it. Ohio State will never win a championship with Troy Smith or Justin Zwick. Very upsetting. Ah well. I need to sleep.

If you’re a Patriot fan, you often wonder why Pete Caroll can do so well with USC when he sucked so bad with the Patriots. I really wanted Charlie Weis and ND to beat USC, but it was not to be. Dammit. What a Saturday for football, I flipped between that game and the Michigan/Penn State game….TD with 1 second left….

Mohegan Sun sucked for me. Dropped way too much money..and what’s with the table minimums at $10? No roulette for $5…they said that gets rid of the riff raff on the weekend. Yeah, becuase people who pay $200 a night for a room and $8.95 for a beer want to drop $10 per spin. Fuckers.

I was just curious — has anyone tried any of the online casinos? Do you recommend one over the other? Let me know.

Despite the crashing I continue to try and play Tiger 2006 (PC). I suppose its a testament to the gameplay that I’ll put up with (on average) 3-6 crashes during 18 holes of play rather than wait for the next nVidia driver refresh (due around 10/17), which is supposed to fix the problems (hopefully).

I just about had a seizure on Wednesday. I was playing a 9-hole “hack” event and was doing rather well (for me). I think I had par’d the first three holes at Kapalua. On the fourth hole (or so), I had a decent drive on a Par 4 that left me about 150 yards or so from the pin. I pulled out an iron (8, I think) and adjusted my stance for a high-arcing shot and let fly. I had a nice pure swing with a bit of a fade on it and the ball dropped at the front edge of the green to the right of the pin. It then rolled left. A little further left and I’m looking at it going, “Hey, this has a chance.” And clunk. Right in the hole. My first eagle in the 2006 version. Arms still in the air I watch the replay. It was a damn fine shot. I’m hooting, and hollering, the whole pathetic nine yards and then as the ball starts to drop in the hole on the replay the game crashes and my PC reboots. I went from an eagle 2 to a double-bogey 6 after having to re-do the hole.

Go ahead, pick and expletive. Any expletive. I guarantee you I used it that night.

On to NBA2k6…

Although I’ve only played about three games of NBA2k6 I can tell this will likely be my primary hoops game for the year, barring a stunning revolution in control and stability in College Hoops. Right now I’m just waiting on a roster update before starting an Assocation to really dig into the game. The rosters look pretty solid overall, but the Pistons are missing two of their three rookies (at least one of whom will surely make the team) and I’m sure the same is true across the board. I don’t suppose anyone has hear if there will be a roster update before the season actually starts?

In terms of gameplay the control, I think, still needs a little more work. It’s light years ahead of the last versions I played, but there are still a few animations that are long enough that you can’t help but feel stuck in them. So far this seems to happen more on defense than offense. I like to play D with my point guard and frequenly the other team’s PG will move to a corner and run along the baseline to open himself up for pass on the other side of the court. That’s all gravy. But very often when chasing him across the floor my player will get close enough to a forward or center that it seems to think I want to guard him instead. He’ll then lock into a defensive animation that takes a couple seconds to break out of. By that time the other PG is open for a pass and gets a nice fat look at the hoop to boot. Not cool.

That’s really my only big complaint, though. While it’s still early, right now I love the way this game plays basketball. There’s nice ball movement around the floor, some fantastic animation and it’s by far the best presenation of the I’ve yet seen from a hoops game. At one point I was trailing the Spurs by 20 and the Palace had gone dead silent. I got on a nice run and the crowd noise was slowly building with each hoop. I came down the floor down 11, threaded a pass to Tayshaun Prince who I then took to the hoop for a dunk and the place flat out exploded. The Spurs took a time out, regrouped and eventually beat me by about 10. But that moment when Prince got the dunk the crowd erupted is as fine a basketball gaming moment as I’ve ever experienced.

Well, I’m getting ready to leave to go to Mohegan Sun. It’s a work conference by day and festival of gambling by night. Feel free to give me any tips because I really need to make back the cash for my speeding ticket :).

Just in book crunch mode. Regularly scheduled time wasting will return next week.

Anyone buying March Madness 06 btw?

As Dan alluded to below, my updates this week will probably be more sporadic than usual as I’m getting crushed at work (usually I do my write-ups during lunch). Some random stuff to -hopefully- elaborate on later:

- The Wings, 3-0 with a nice win over Calgary. My hopes remain high.
- U of M. Honestly, I don’t find 3-3 all that surprising. I said they were overrated at #3 in the nation. I just didn’t know they were that overrated. Yikes. But fans need to ease off the panic button. Even the best schools have down years. If Michigan ends up with four or five losses then we need to live with it and have faith that next year will be dramatically better (I believe it will). Besides, at least OSU lost to Penn St.
- The Lions. They got robbed (I guess) in Tampa and got a couple gifts versus Baltimore. It’s the circle of life. Plus, Baltimore deserved pretty much every one of their crucial penalties so whose fault is that? That said, how the Lions put up 35 points with just 97 yards passing is bizarre. Kevin Jones had 58 yeards rushing and like 30 of them came on a play when everyone else thought the whistle had blown. That’s Lions football for you.
- I cannot stop Tiger Woods 2006 (PC) from crashing. I found some references to crashes in the game and nVidia cards that will be resolved with a (approx.) 10/17 driver refresh. I can only hope because the golf is top notch.
- I picked up NBA2k6 at lunch. Can’t wait to dig into it. I really loved what little I was able to see at E3 and am thrilled that it seems to have carried over to the final product. Woot!

Till next time!

Boy I would’ve thought I’d heard from Todd about Detroit’s win or something from Bill about the Browns, but instead you have to hear me talk about the Patriots. Honestly I don’t know how they do it, but they keep winning. The problem is up two touchdowns, the game should not have been that close, but the issue is there’s no secondary. It’s kind of like playing Madden on the default level and bombs away.

Speaking of Madden, I continue my undefeated Patriot franchise. I’m playing the default level, and either I’m that frigging good or this game is that frigging easy on that level. Thoughts?

Anyone watch Rome last night? Nothing to lose your head over. LOL.

I need some gambling tips. I need to make back my cash from the speeding ticket, and I’m headed to a conference at Mohegan Sun. What should I play and why?

Finally, some of the hardcore bloggers have emailed me personally about the floods, knowing where I live…I can say that I live in the part of the state that although was soaked, we didn’t have nearly the problems others did, and I’m thankful for that.

Tara, the hottest PR lady ever (how’s that for objective journalism) just let me know via saucy email that Total Extreme Wrestling 2005 has been released. A press release snippet? Sure:

“Total Extreme Wrestling 2005 Released
Phoenix, AZ October 6, 2005 – Grey Dog Software, a Phoenix based developer of sports management simulation software for personal computers, is pleased to announce the release of its highly anticipated wrestling simulation, Total Extreme Wrestling 2005, a sequel to the critically acclaimed TEW 2004. Total Extreme Wrestling 2005 is available for digital download exclusively through Grey Dog Software”

If you’re interested and would like to purchase, visit this site. By all means, let Tara know that you found out about it from us. If enough of you buy it, I can already taste the Mr. Pibb that will be sent out to me…..

2K Sports sent over both NBA 2K6 and NHL 2K6 for the Xbox for my gaming enjoyment. Congrats to them for having a top 10 title for the PS2. Personally, I have to say NHL 2K6 doesn’t really give me any gaming enjoyment. After the second game I won 9-0, I just really didn’t feel it with this one. I think the play by play is bland — almost EA-ish.

I have not had a chance to play online yet, but the AI hasn’t made me excited.

Switching over to NBA 2K6 is another story. Basketball isn’t my favorite sport, but this game keeps me coming back to it. I’m very impressed. This is by far the first game in a long time that as soon as I dug into the game I gave it a ‘Holy shit this game is good” style comment. I don’t think I’ve done one of those since a Dreamcast NFL 2K game.

I would definitely say that NBA 2K6 is a game to get even if you’re a fringe basketball fan.

I have not tried either EA game and I doubt I will..so sorry you won’t get any compare/contrast from me on this.

Blitz The League — the jury is still out on this one if you ask me. I’m going to wait until the final code to make a decision. I like the idea of the game, the implementation of it was not as I expected and the fact that it seems to use old Blitz code doesn’t make me jump up and down with joy. That being said, I’m still playing it and I haven’t played Madden since Week 1, so there’s that.

My PSP Has been getting a lot of usage with the Burnout Title. The only problem is that if you’ve played the new Burnout on the Xbox, going to the PSP is difficult because the PSP version, you crash into traffic going with you — there’s no bumping allowed.

Alrighty, thats my Todd-esque post for you. Enjoy!

I don’t know if you’ve tried Yahoo Music Unlimited but I give it very high marks. You pay one fee, about $60 a year and get unlimited music from any PC. You can also load it on your subscription permitted MP3 player, like an IRiver H10 or T10. No you can’t burn CDs unless you fork up more cash and you have to keep your subscription in order to have the music but if you like music, it’s a no-brainer.

The great thing about it is if I hear a song on XM or a video on VH1 Classic, I can just go to YMU and listen to it. For example, last night on VH1 Classic/Current, they showed Paul McCartney’s newest song, “Fine Line.” There’s no way I’d even consider buying that song, but since I already have it “free” with YMU, I grabbed the entire album. I mean it’s typical Paul McCartney solo, but it’s not bad. I discovered it because I had YMU.

Today, the heavens have opened up so I just tooled around YMU, and listened to one of U2 B-sides, Lady With the Spinning Head. It’s one of my favorite B sides, but I haven’t played it in a while and I was too lazy to rip it. So anyway, after 13 years, it just dawned on me that this song seems to be the ‘draft’ of UltraViolet, one of my favorite U2 songs. I’d love to know why they never play this song live. If they did, I would be extremely happy. Personally, you can only hear Sunday Bloody Sunday so many times…..

Waiting to see Napoleon Dynamite on SNL tonight. Don’t really give a shit about Ashlee…and btw, who did she blow exactly to get a second chance on that show? Give me ripping up the Pope’s picture anyday over someone as fake as Ashlee.

While I do feel bad for Red Sox nation, I have to say, it’s kinda nice not to have to hear about how great the team is. I guess it must be how Patriots haters feel about now. Only difference is the Patriots are good but have 2/3 of the team injured. Red Sox just got lucky this year to get into the playoffs. Hint: 23 games against Tampa and Baltimore do anyone wonders…..

In other news I put on GeekTV (aka G4). It was the Tokyo Game Show. And apparently Adam Sessler had “it” move when he used the Revolution controller. I know you may think I’m resistent to change, but seriously this is Nintendo we are talking about here. Touching is good? And I don’t see the reason for a hard on about a controller when you have no games to play it with. This is yet another reason why this industry is second rate journalism. It’s all fan boy, no news. I mean seroiusly, this show makes Fox News look objective. Yeah, whatever. It was funny to see a guy I went to my first E3 with now running a cable TV interview with the head of Nintendo. Even though it’s cable tv, good for him.

Not much else to say. Think I’ll catch up on some TV. Been tivo’ing my name is earl, haven’t seen it yet but I hear there’s some cute HD only gag. I think I’m officially done with Prison Break. I really, really like House, MD though. Lost is still a WTF show. Gotta still watch week 2 of Alias.

Alright, I was caught via radar going 53 in a 40, but the nice policeman changed it to 50 in a 40. All heart. BTW, the fine is $50. Doesn’t even seem worth contesting, does it? Tell me otherwise..

How about that Buckeresque play last night. Wow. That sure sucks.

Haven’t watched LOST yet. Don’t tell me anything.

I can see the finish line. The 2006 Gamer’s Bible (the new, marketing-tastic name of the book) is almost done. Of the nearly 300 self-assigned essays, I have about 25 left to do.

This has been an enlightening experience to say the least. Win, lose, or draw the fact that I will have a book to my credit is admittedly kinda cool. I have learned a lot over the past six months:

1) It is impossible to write a book on gaming and cover everything that you want to cover. As I finalize the book schedule, I am still adding and removing games from the essay list. Gone is the Breeders’ Cup entry because the game isn’t very good. Added to the roster is the Trauma Center DS game and 2006/2007 RPG Blue Dragon. The schedule has been a living, breathing, entity.

2) Writing a book on gaming the same year that three new major consoles are released is a PAIN IN THE ASS. Every day new info comes out that makes what I wrote last week obsolete, so I go back and re-edit the stuff. STOP WITH THE GAME CONVENTIONS ALREADY! Don’t these people know my deadline is Oct. 15th?

3) Even though I consider myself a fairly hardcore gamer, I have learned about more games over the past 6 months than I ever dreamed possible. Nearly every day, I discovered something cool about a game that I knew very little about before doing this. I hope this rings true with the people that read it. And hopefully more than 5 people decide to read it..ahem.

4) I learned that I can stick to a schedule. Working from home, and getting stuff done, takes discipline. Even though I have been working from home in a t-shirt and shorts since around 1996, this was a whole new ballgame. Every day that I didn’t stick to my schedule, I fell behind and had to do more the next day. I can see now why some books get delayed. All it takes is a week of not working to fall hopelessly behind.

I’ll talk more about the book when it’s finished and sent off to print. For now, I have a preview of Age of Conan to finish. See? Discipline!