The Blog for the Sports Gamer

I’ll try to get some NFL Draft thoughts posted later in the day. Very fun first day of the draft and lots to talk about. Just not much time this weekend.

As an aside, my HoMMV preview is up at GSpy, just check the sidebar.

Wii. The “new” name for the Nintendo Revolution. I’m kinda baffled by the new handle but…whatever.

This sounds very unique though.

Gimmick or “revolution”

We’ll see. Wii.

For those who are interested in this stuff, Ars Technica has another bit up today on the Senate’s latest assualt on Fair Use: the Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music Act of 2006 (PERFORM; oh that’s witty). The bill even has bi-partisan support, having been put forth by two republicans and a democrat, once again proving that hackery knows no philosophical boundries. Don’t these trained chimps have anything better to do with our tax dollars?

I’m still getting in at least two MLB 06 games a day (night, actually) and I have no plans of quitting anytime soon. Really dig this game.

That said, GameShark is giving me the green light to review boardgames, which I think is a great idea because today’s boardgames (and card games) are relevant. A lot of people that play PC and console games also play boardgames so I think it’s a good fit for a “gaming” website. I also feel that pen and paer RPGs fit into this category but that’s just me. It’s also a great idea because I like getting freelance assignments. I’m greedy that way, I guess.

In my pipeline are:

• Runebound and the Midnight “expansion” (it’s not really an add on, but a new game using the pieces from the original)
• Ticket to Ride, which is an older game (2004) but also a very popular one that I feel is a fantastic family game but also hardcore enough for serious boardgamers.
• Railroad Tycoon - Pretty map. Have notplayed.
• World of WarCraft - Holy shit this game is HUGE. It has like a gabillion pieces, cards, and dice. Doesn’t look like a game you can play in a couple of hours…pretty map, though.

This is basically to get the section up and running as I want to do newer stuff ASAP. These do tend to take a lot of time, though, so I dunno how quickly I get get through them as I have to rely on my buddies to help me out. These aren’t really condusive to solo play (Runebound is, sorta.) Should be fun, though.

Okay, I may be late to the party on this one, but just in case this is new, I must share. We have a reasonably open network at work, but they block all AOL-affiliated sites, which evidently includes the Go Network; in other words, ESPN.com is blocked. Not being an ESPN guy, I can live with that, but occasionally there’s a link there that I want to read and it’s annoying when I can’t.

Enter the coolest new tool I’ve seen in a long time: Browse At Work

Go the page, enter your URL of choice and just like that you’re in. I just showed it to a Packer-crazy buddy of mine at work, using the ESPN example and the first thing he saw on ESPN’s page was a link to Favre’s intention to play again this season. Needless to say, he’s now a fan of this tool.

There’s more information on this and similar tools at the site, BlockAvoid.

Come and partake of these sweet waters my web-oppressed brethren. Rise up and free yourself from the chains of workplace oppression! There shall be much rejoicing and partaking of the lambs, and the sheep and breakfast cereals! And it shall be good!

…or something like that.

I was going to write up something on this, but why say poorly here what is already said, oh-so eloquently at The M Zone. You see, Michigan wants to add luxury boxes to Michigan Stadium…

My reaction: Fine, whatever.
Psycho Purist Reaction: [assorted, unintelligible, hysterical babbling]

It’s a football stadium you troglodytes; it’s not the Church of the Nativity.

Among the many things in this world that I hate, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is certainly among them. I’m not a backer of unlimited, unregulated copyright infringement for the masses, but I do think the entire copyright system is horribly screwed up and the DMCA is its posterchild. Let’s face it, as it exists today, copyright is not designed to protect content creators, it’s there to protect the publishers and their distribution channels. The DMCA is just a way re-inforce all that. But like the Emperor tells Vader in The Empire Strikes Back, “We have a new enemy.”

As reported at Ars Technica, Wisconsin’s Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner Jr. has a follow-up act in the works that makes the DMCA look downright consumer-friendly: the Intellectual Property Protection Act; and yes, it’s just as bad as it sounds. If this is the first you’ve heard of it, you really should read the entire piece, but here’s a few snippets:

…a toughening of the DMCA which would make attempting to infringe on copyright illegal. In addition, no one would be allowed to “make, import, export, obtain control of, or possess” hardware or software that could be used to circumvent copy-protection mechanisms.

Criminal enforcement of copyright violations will be extended to cover works not registered with the US Copyright Office at the time of the violation. Also, asset forfeiture will be used as a weapon against those infringing on copyright… Other criminal penalties for infringement would be toughened, including up to 10 years in prison for posting copyrighted material online if its value exceeds US$1,000.

You can read the current draft resolution here. Draw your own inclusions, but I think it goes beyond offensive to consumers (like the DMCA), into a whole new realm of creepy.

Now it’s true that crazy-ass legislation that doesn’t see the light of day goes through Congress all the time, and usually I just read about this stuff with a skeptical eye, knowing it probably won’t go anywhere. But this one, which has the support of the Bush administration (surprise, surprise, surprise), seems likely to see the House floor for a vote and that’s a scary thought.

Here’s my quick Q&A with Gary Gorski, designer of Total Pro Golf. I hope this ends up being as good as it sounds on paper.

The Tigers are now 10-2 on the road this year, and with a sweep of the Mariners this weekend they’ve started their second 5-game road winning streak of the season. That’s something we Tiger fans have not seen in a long while. In fact, this is their best road start since 1984, in which they opened the season 35-5 overall. At 12-7 there no
telling where they’ll go from here, but right now they’re tied with Boston for the second best record in the AL; they’re behind only the White Sox.

I spent the weekend up in Michigan/Ohio and I finally had access to Fox Sports Detroit for a couple days and was able to see the team play a bit. On Saturday night I was hanging out with some old buddies I haven’t seen for years at an “Irish” pub in Westland (near as I can figure, the only thing Irish about it was the name and the Guinness), and in between ogling the most impressive collection of waitresses I’ve ever seen in my life and watching three guys take down a “tower” of Guinness in record time, we watched the last half of the Tigers’ 2-0 win. I have to say there
is one thing right now that impresses me the most about Jim Leyland’s managing of that club; he shows complete faith in the ability of his players in tight game situations and they’re responding to him. It’s such an amazing 180 from the last two years of the Trammell era.

While that is a knock on Alan Trammell, understand it’s not a mean-spirited one. I love Trammell and I still think the clubhouse lacked any decency last year the way they bailed on him. Also, Tram absolutely was the right guy for the job three years ago during the Tigers unbelievably abysmal 119-loss season. Nobody could’ve won with those players and the fact that nobody mutinied that year is indicative of the steadying hand he provided. But as the Tigers started to put legitimate major league talent together the past two years I don’t think he adjusted to that and consequently he mishandled them on the field and in the locker room. Leyland just seems to know the pulse of this roster in ways that Trammell obviously didn’t.

All that said, it’s still a young Tiger team and I’m not convinced they can play consistent ball for a full season. Right now, however, they’ve only failed to win two series: a sweep at the hands of the White Sox and a four-game split with the Indians. They have capable hitters all the way through the lineup with only one regular hitting under .250 (Craig Monroe, who has hit two home runs the last two games). Their starters have been unbelievable on the road so far (they only allowed one run in the entire Seattle series), and there’s a ton of talent in that bullpen.

This team isn’t ready for the White Sox yet, but I think they’ll hang in there with both the Twins and Indians, finish over .500 for the first time since 1993, and factor into the wild card chase in September. It’s hard to remember a time when sports fanaticism in Detroit didn’t go into hibernation for the summer, but as the number of Tiger hats and jerseys I saw in Michigan this weekend can attest, that’s finally changing.

Uh..you know I want to like this game. I like the swing model. It just feels like I’m playing on a field of molasses. I can’t stand the pitching model at all.

Now I feel better.

I forgot how much of a turd this game is. The animations are just horrid. I think it poisoned my Xbox 360 console. No sir, I don’t like it. At all.

I thought I’d give it another chance. Stupid thinking on my part. I can’t tell you how much I hate this game. I’m referring to MLB 2K6 for the 360. Ugh.

Anyone see Kevin Millar on the MLB 2K6 roster for the 360? I don’t see him. WTF?

I actually liked that movie, BTW. (The Pledge)

Anyway, been thinking a bit about Todd’s post re: NCAA 07 and the marketing buzz words surrounding the press release. I really, really, really want to like NCAA 07. I miss that game so very much. I think we played a 7 year multi-player NCAA 04 Dynasty (I took UTEP to the promised land!) hot-seat style over the course of 5 months. I can’t express just how much I enjoyed that game. Playing the game with buddies, recruiting against them, battling out each game…one of the best gaming experiences of my life. Then came NCAA 05 and NCAA 06 which I still contend were vastly inferior products, poorly produced, under developed, and generally unpleasant.

But the past is the past.

It’s a series that I want to see get good again.

I’ve read a lot of thoughts about the IGN preview and the released screen shots and I gotta admit — I don’t care that the game looks like NCAA 05 and 06 (based on those screens anyway).

Here’s all I want from the game:

• Fix the silly QB stats (some INTs, please?)
• Fix the inexcusable deep ball problems
• Make the Discipline system either optional or stop suspending my lone placekicker for missing Bio.
• Make underneath crossing patterns a viable play, as this seemed to be the pattern that caused WRs to drop balls when wide open, regardless of catching ability. Thing is, I want drops in the game. I don’t want ten, all of which to open targets. If my WRs all have catching skills in the 70s, I can see a lot of drops, but shouldn’t good WRs catch open passes most of the time? When Braylon Edwards dropped that 4th down play against the Bucks that would have given them a first down back in 2004, it was a stunning play. He was wide open. In NCAA 05/06, it would have been no big surprise.
• Tone down Impact Players just a smidge
• Fix the money play running game. There was a play, (4 WR set, 1 back, and run the ISO off left or right guard) that the CPU simply could not stop. The fix was to just not call that play, but I’d think any ISO run should be fair game. This isn’t a flea flicker we’re talking about.

If these things alone are fixed, and if EA doesn’t break anything that already works (which they are very prone to do) I swear to you all that I’ll be happy with the game. That’s how much I want to like NC AA 07. It would be nothing more than a glorified patch. I’d play it and I’d enjoy it.

I’d be downright giddy if they programmed better CPU coaching/playcalling AI. For instance, I can play a prevent defense in NCAA 06 — I can call a dime package every single play and the CPU will not alter its playcalling. It should, obviously. I don’t expect that, but boy thad’ be nice to see the CPU audible to a running play if it sees I’m just sitting in a Cover 4 and it’s 1st and 10 and not desparation time.

So I’m not getting all worked up about playbooks, animations, fight songs, play by play, uniforms, trick plays, test taking, or a lack of smaller schools on the 360. I just want my college football fix back.

Played another game in my Reds franchise last night against the Marlins. I won 13-2. I really loved it, though. Here’s why: I’ve played a lot of games and never have I teed off on a pitcher like this. I don’t think it’s a matter of me getting too good at hitting, I think it was more the fact that the Marlins starter was throwing pumpkin balls to me. It was 10-0 after the 2nd. Griff, Dunn, and even Freel went yard, Junior’s being a grand slam. After the Marlins went to the pen, my hitting cooled off considerably. It was just one of those games. The starter has no stuff that day — at all.

A few complaints are popping up that I hope can be addressed next year or for the PS3 version. The CPU is pretty flakey about pulling its pitchers. Sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason to it. I also think at times the strikezone is called too literally. If a ball nicks a corner of the plate it’s a strike, and at times it’s impossible to determine. It leads to more K’s, but man..sometimes the ball looks very low and it’s called a strike. I’d also like a pitcher control slider for the CPU rather than the nebulous Pitch Count thing.

Oh, as for HoMMV — good stuff so far. It’s very pretty in an Etherlords sorta way. It plays a lot like HoMM3, but in 3D with some new rules thrown in. I’m not convinced that the 3D overland map adds much to th egameplay other than just “being 3D” but the combat portion is super cool looking. It seems to have retained the charm of the series, which is vital to keeping it a HoMM game.

It’s September 12th. Make your bets, but in the meantime, check out the IGN in-depth (joke) article here.