The Blog for the Sports Gamer

I’m not sure if it’s luck, a good rep, or some combination of both, but the axeman came to town for at least the fourth time since I’ve been employed here and somehow I remain gainfully employed for the forseeable future.

I hate days like this, though. Whether you’re in or out it’s just surreal being in an office when a mass-layoff happens. Everyone’s looking around to see who is in the “good” meeting and who is missing. Nobody’s really working so much as they’re milling about trying to get a sense of when and how it’s going to happen. Whispers of who’s out and what kind of deals are being offered. One guy in our “good” meeting had the audacity to say “this is the happiest I’ve been in weeks” (knowing he wasn’t out). Dont’ get me wrong, I understand the notion, but you just don’t say that kind of thing out loud in an environment where nearly everyone around you has at least one good friend that’s auspiciously absent. Of course, those of us who know the guy only found the remark surprising because his very presence meant he still has a job too. Obviously the selection committee wasn’t making decisions based solely on merit.

Anyway, to celebrate still having a paycheck my plan is to go ahead and pick up Fight Night today (maybe tomorrow). I was only going to buy it if I got canned, but I’ve tried multiple Blockbusters for a rental and it’s consistently either out or not even on the shelf.

The opening impressions at The Digital Sportspage and Operation Sports are largely very favorable. Sounds like the gameplay tweaks have improved the quality of the fights immensely, but that the career mode didn’t see much innovation beyond some superficial and relatively minor changes. For now, I’m sure I’ll be happy just to get the Fight Night 2 experience in an Xbox 360 package.

Congrats, btw, to the Michigan men’s hoops team. Injuries have once again decimated that squad and it was starting to look like their current losing streak would cost them a tourney birth, but senior PG Daniel Horton absolutely put the team on his back last night against Illinois. I didn’t even bother to check to see if the game was on TV, so sure was I that it would be another notch in the loss column. The papers this morning indicated Horton put up 39 points and was something like five of six from three-point range while just dominating the court last night. Certainly the win takes some of the sting off the losses to Iowa, OSU and Purdue. It also guarantees at least a .500 record in the Big Ten which -this year- should be enough to eek them into the dance for the first time in what feels like an eon. Be gone ghosts of Fisher and Ellerbe! Let your foul taint of corruption be cleansed!!!

Of course, nothing is decided yet and certainly Michigan could certainly help themselves out by winning one more game before the conference tourney. If only they could get some of their impact players healthy. (I think Horton is the only starter not to be affected or miss games due to injury this year, unlike Chris Hunter, Deion Harris and Lester Abram.)

I’m not proud of this, so I don’t really bring it up much, but I’m a Windows junkie. Been using it since Windows 3.0. I’ve messed special boot configuration in Windows ‘95 to make my DOS games run. I’ve developed about two dozen different books on various versions of the OS from beginner stuff, right on through to advanced command scripting texts. And I’ve dealt with more obsucre Blue Screen of Death errors than I care to think about. Despite all the warts, put me in the camp that thinks Windows, Windows XP in particular, is a solid and underrated OS.

So you might have noticed that yesterday Microsoft finally released package information for the next Windows OS (Vista). Most of the references just listed the titles and a very small amount of baseline info, but for those who might be interested, there’s a slightly deeper look at Paul Thurrot’s Windows Super Site (there’s also a ton of Vista screenshots at Thurrot’s site if you poke around a bit).

We’ve got a beta version of Vista here at work and I’m editing a book being written on the feature set and functionality in the beta versions. I’m not sure if it’s as big a leap as from Windows 9x to Windows 2000/XP, but it’s certainly close. A lot of the improvements are under the hood or seem like little things and I think the initial response may be a bit ho-hum from the peanut gallery, but I think this is a legit and thorough upgrade that shouldn’t be overlooked just because the UI doesn’t look completely revamped at first glance. This is more than Windows XP with a different color scheme.

Some of the stuff that comes to mind includes:

• Better user account security options (you no longer have to choose between running a crippled limited account or a “let a hacker do anything he wants because I’m logged in as a full admin” account). For example, if you’re logged in on a regular user account and you want to execute a protected action (maybe install a new program), instead of having to log out and log back in as an admin you’re simply prompted to provide an admin password in order to process that action. An extra step maybe, but it also ensures that other programs can’t take similar actions on your PC without your knowledge. (I don’t know if this would block stuff like the infamous Sony rootkit, but it would certainly be nice if it did.)
• You can attach all sorts of metadeta (like MP3 tags) to virtually every kind of file, which makes searching for said files both easier and faster (searching in general is *much* improved).
• I think (I’m not 100% positive) the built-in firewall now monitors inbound and outbound traffic, which is a huge shortcoming in the existing Windows XP Firewall.
• Hovering over taskbar buttons for active applications pulls up a small thumbnail showing a live image of that app. Alt+Tab is similar, but opens all windows in a 3D cascade view allowing you to scroll through each window via the mouse wheel to find the active app to which you want to switch. I always have a ton of open windows at work and at home and getting thumbnail previews without having to open the windows is immensly useful.
• Internet Explorer only gives web content access to the Temporary Internet Files folder, making it much harder for malicious sites to muck up your system.
• Tons of “real” parental controls that allow you to restrict your children’s access to the PC. Usually parental controls, in my mind, are completely and utterly useless, but I like what MS is doing in Vista. You can easily set permissions for what apps specific users can run, times and days of the week they’re allowed or not allowed to be logged in, etc. So if I don’t want little Ana playing Half-Life 2 I can simply deny her access to that specific application. Does she want to play hooky from school to stay home and play Lego Star Wars? Too bad she’s not allowed to be logged in Mon through Friday from 8am to 5pm. Granted, my kids aren’t to an age yet where this is a concern, but I still really like this feature.
• There’s some gaming-specific features added in, but it’s not clear to me yet how much these will improve Windows as an operating system for games.
• Graphically, it’s more Mac-like than ever (take that for what it’s worth, but I think it looks great). Hovering your mouse over a button causes said button to glow, so you really know what you’re going to click (I’m always clicking the wrong button when trying to minimize/maximize/close a window, for example). The title bar for apps is transparent (the extent of which is customizable) and moving windows around, opening and closing them, etc. all have unobtrusive, but visually appealing animations. Again, there’s just a lot of little things that added together just improve the experience of working in the user interface.

There’s actually a ton more (a new Calendar app, a replacement for Outlook Express, etc.), but I’m just going off the top of my head. I’m just generally very impressed with what I’ve seen of Vista so far and the announcement of the various editions in which it will be available gives me an opportunity to riff on it here for a bit. I do, however, tremble at the notion of how expensive the Vista Uber Edition (or whatever it’s called) might be. In the past I’ve managed to fenagle a free copy via one (legal) means or another, but I’m not sure this time around. If I’m spending hard-earned cash I may have to settle for the Home Premium Edition (which includes full Media Center functionality).

After years of coasting I think MS is finally really trying to innovate with their operating system again (and yes, also steal from the MacOS; as if Apple never stole a concept from anyone) , while also addressing existing shortcomings (particularly with regards to its many security problems). Windows XP was a good start after the Windows Me debacle (haven’t seen a hunk of junk like that since the tack-on app MS Bob), and I think Vista will take a few more big steps forward. Hopefully it’ll also improve the PC gaming experience and give that part of the industry some kind of shot in the arm, though I’m not holding my breath for that. (There is a new DirectX and some game profiling functionality, but I’ve seen nothing that makes it clear just how much better a gaming platform it will be. We’ll see)

until I beat this guy.

OMG, it’s not true, is it? Well duh, of course it’s true — this article hints that the PS3 may be delayed between 6-12 months from it’s “Spring 2006″ release date.

Anyone else not shocked?

Anyone know of a good program that can convert a Power Point Presentation to a DVD format? I mean you can play it off a DVD player like a video.

We have this new plasma screen at work, but it doesn’t have a VGA port. (It’s a nice panasonic ED plasma that I want to use for marketing purposes). SO since I can’t buy a laptop and have it run that way I thought there should be some program out there that would turn a slideshow into a movie?

Any ideas? TIA.

It was quite a delegation visiting case del Todd this weekend. My father-in-law’s birthday is next weekend so he and his wife (Angie’s step-mom), her sister, her sister’s husband and her brother all made the trek down from Michigan. I used this event as an excuse to rent Project Gotham Racing 3 and pick up an extra 360 game controller (one of the corded ones that will also work in Windows). Some thoughts:

Once you get used to a wireless controller, wired ones suck eggs. (I just really wanted a controller I could also use in Windows should I try that MVP 05 PC mod that Dan linked to last week.)

PGR3 is indeed gorgeous. I suck at racing games, but it was fun to sit down and alternate races with my two brothers-in-law. There is a certain amount of comedic effect in the notion that you can run a car past 200 mph on a straightaway in this game and run headlong into a brick wall but do no appreciable damage to the car. I know this isn’t really a racing “sim,” but damn, if all cars could take this kind of punishment there would be no need for auto insurance. The game also locked up once on me, which means I’ve now gotten the “dirty or scratched” disc error in two different games (it happens in half my NBA2k6 games). I’m starting to wonder if I should be worried about that.

The real treat though was the Fight Night Round 3 demo. I downloaded that last month and enjoyed it for a night, but since you can only use the same two boxers in a single 4-round bout there’s only so much fun you can have with it in single-player. Going head-to-head with family, though, now that was a treat.

I think EA did well to select Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. for the two boxers to use in the demo. I’m not in any way a dedicated fan of the so-called sweet science, but it was obvious the extent to which Hopkins is a power-puncher and Jones Jr. is all about duck, dodge and counter. From a gameplay standpoint the boxing in this demo isn’t a whole lot different from FN Round 2, but on the 360 the graphical improvement is just astonishing, especially when projected onto a 90+” screen.

We started out just trying to beat the snot out of each other and every time the guy controlling Hopkins was the big winner. As we alternated controlling each fighter it didn’t take long to realize it was 100% mandatory to completely change your strategy depending on which boxer you used. When we (more accurately, “I”) started to get more stealthy when using Roy Jones Jr. it became damn near impossible for Hopkins to land a punch. And with every miss Jones could doll out a couple of counter-jabs and hooks that consistently took their toll. Yeah, I know, that’s boxing 101, but of the three of us I was the only one who had played the game before so it was a faster adjustment for me. They did catch on though and that’s when it really got to be a lot of fun.

In fact, this was by far the most fun I’ve had with my 360 and I’ve gone from being merely interested in the final release of FN Rnd3 to absolutely craving the point at which I have some spare cash to pick it up. (I think it started to hit some shelves last Friday.) Maybe at the end of the week I’ll have some cash to put towards it. Then again, if I get canned before that I may just say f#$@ it and buy the damn thing. Sort of like in the pilot episode of Friends (the first season is good, the rest is crap) when Rachel says about having bought new boots instead of finding a job, “These are my I don’t need a job, I don’t need my family, I’ve got great boots, boots.” Except, you know, instead of boots it’s a video game with loads of fake blood and a bunch of beat-downs.

Because my email address is in the web, I get a lot of spam. Most of it centers around Corel Draw, OEM software, penis enlargment, Viagra, ‘our store is your cureall’ and my favorite Spermmax.

The come ons in the Spermmax email are hysterical. “Drown her c?ck-pit with c?m” reads one (without the question marks). Never heard of it called a pit before. Interesting. But seriously, is this what people want? Do women constantly say to you when you orgasm, “Gee I wish you had more spunk?”

I think this is for those infertile types who want to increase the count, but why not sell it like that? Can’t get her preggers — try Spermmax. See, that would make sense to me.

Well none of that spam mail makes sense actually…spam to me is like caller ID with “OUT OF AREA”..I ignore the call/email, but just by reading the caller id/subject, I get pissed off.

While trying to do some research on the damn charge n play kit, I came across this blog put together by the Xbox 360 team. There’s some great stuff on there — for example did you know that even if the console is off, your controller will charge with the charge and play kit? Me neither.

How do you get the mode setup so when you’re watching a DVD on your 360, you don’t need to be bothered with stupid notifications? Switch to busy! Yeah, I didn’t know that either. Click here for this very helpful blog.

You may also want to check out the Gamerscore blog –very good stuff.

FYI:

Matrix Games www.matrixgames.com and Wintervalley Software www.wintervalley.com are proud to announce the second sports title in the Matrix Games line, Maximum-Football, has gone gold and is expected to release early next week as the first 3D sports strategy game of the 21^st Century.

Primarily a coaching and management game, Maximum-Football is a robust North American Football game where you can change nearly every single aspect of the rules and features. Use Indoor, outdoor, Canadian, or American rules, or any combination thereof. Utilize the robust play editing system to create your own playbook specifically tailored for the team you drafted and trained in the pre-season. Compete in player run leagues and discover if you have what it takes for a championship ring.

It isn’t just managing every aspect of a team though, Maximum-Football also features fully functional coaching and arcade mode where you can watch the action or take the controls to run, pass, block, and tackle in true 3D. The feature list for Maximum-Football is tremendous, but here is a peek at just some of the key items on the list. For the complete list, please visit the Matrix Games Maximum-Football forum at www.matrixgames.com.

Maximum-Football Feature List:

*Multiple rules styles. Play Canadian, American Pro, American Amateur, or Indoor styles of football, all with a single game.

*Ability to mix and match some rules to create your own league with your own rules.

*Fully DirectX based with full 3D game play environment. This is not a text based game.

* The Play Development System. The most advanced play design system available for any football title on any platform. A point and draw system allows you to draw the player routes and assign scripted actions to the player along those routes. Most plays imaginable can be created with the PDS. Works with all rules styles.

*A full practice mode allows you to take to the full 3D practice field and run your newly created plays with or without a defense.

*Open source team artwork allows for simple addition of user created artwork for team uniforms and field artwork.

*Basic career mode allows for drafting players from a free agent pool, developing their skills through a training camp system, and watching them perform on the field until they eventually retire.

Discover the ultimate gridiron game! Maximum-Football will be available next week from the Matrix Games store at www.matrixgames.com.

—-

Sounds good on paper, but so did Ishtar. We’ll see about this one.

34 years old today. Yep. It’s as exciting as it sounds.

Well after four years to the day, my power supply on my Gateway 750XL died tonight. This is my main PC, and of course, as Craig said when I annoyed him with my phone call, I bought this PC during the 10 minutes that RAMBUS technology was all the rage. That and the fact that I have the world’s goofiest motherboard, with a 6 pin auxillary power connector.

Craig, my volunteer IT guy (heh), recommended I head down to Best Buy or CC and pick up a new one; however apparently no one has this particular type of power supply locally. I will have to do the mail order thing, so I am PC-less for a week at home. Well not really, I’m using my wife’s laptop, my work PC, and there’s always my Blackberry if I’m really desperate — but my really good stuff isn’t going to be available. Just letting you know. LOL

OTOH, if there’s anyone that works at a BB/CC out there and knows if any of their power supplies have that silly 6 pin aux connector, please let me know (Note: this is NOT the 6pin PCI-E connector)!!

Decisions, decisions.

Sorry for the lack of posts from me, yet again this week. I’ll just leave at this: there’s a bad moon rising where I work and most of my time has gone to quietly burying my head near my computer and diving under the desk whenever I hear too many footsteps heading in the vicinity of my cube.

At home I’m still pretty much in Civ4 mode, exclusively. After cruising to an easy space race victory on the Noble level using, hmm… I think it was Egypt, I bumped it up to Prince for my next game (using Mali). This is the first level where the AI is given research and production advantages that human players don’t get and I finished that Wednesday night, losing a narrow space race victory to the Americans. I thought I was going to cruise in this one too, but the Americans snuck up on me in the tech race while I was kicking the crap out of Germany (our “close borders sparked tentions”). Despite my best attempts to slow Washington down using spies to sabotage his ship production, along with a couple nukes, he was able to beat me to space by about a half-dozen or so turns.

So last night I started up yet another new game and have gotten off to a middling start. It’s really easy to build a culturally dominant Civ in this game (especially if you can found two or three religions), but it’s much more difficult to build a strong military without sacrificing city development. I’ve been able to take over or get near the top of the list for most of the production/commerce categories, but I haven’t been able to match the AI’s advantage in researching technologies. Right now two other civs have opened sizable tech leads on me and I’m stuck having to build enough infrastructure for me to raise my rate of research, when what I really want to do is take a boatload of elephants, catapults and crossbow units over to Caeser’s palace and host a wine-tasting party using his severed head to serve the drinks. Is that so wrong?

Well, fans of XM probably aren’t happy today, especially if they bought stock at–gulp–$27. Not that I’m referring to anyone in particular. (Oh well NFLX at $8 was a good deal)…

Anyway, one of the board members at XM quit, making it sound like the second coming of Take Two. Not good. Although I can’t believe that XM is anywhere near Take Two. No one has said XM’s books are bad, for example.

Oh well. Golf was fun. It was 60 today here where I live. Hint: I live in a place mentioned in Steven King’s new book. There, that will keep you busy.

is the day of the Woot off! Dammit. Also, Midnight Box has a used Nintendo DS for $68.95. Just thought you’d like to know.

I’m ‘working’ at the golf course this morning. Yes, you’re thinking golf in February in New England…but it’s an indoor simulator…heh.

Just curious. Of course, I’m having trouble following the game. With all the terminology…free guard zone? Hog Line? Tow Line? Stones, Rocks? Which is it?

In other news, anyone watching 24? Always fun to watch. There’s also the Shield which I only wish was in HD…there’s no FX HD, but there is TNT HD…so what’s up with that?