The Blog for the Sports Gamer

Hope some of you are enjoying the day after Thanksgiving. Our business opened at 7am today and while we aren’t retail (technically), we are very close to retail and my goodness, you’d think people were saving billions of dollars today.

The Target next door was MOBBED. Same with Wal-Mart..and this was at 6.30AM. I read all the circulars and didn’t really see anything that compelling this time around…but I guess some people did.

I heard that at Best Buy there were people camping out a la PS3. I’d love to hear your stories. Around my neck of the woods, there was a lot of Wii discussion. Specifically, GameStop would have them today. They didn’t. Big shocker. How did you do on Black Friday. Do you have any horror or success stories? Post away….

Oh and memo to Wal-Mart and GameStop — if you want my continued business, how about talking to me like a customer and not like someone annoying you. As someone who has dropped probably tens of thousands at GameStop, it’s not like I’m just bugging you for the Wii. Christ, I am still paying for that Atari 7800 on my credit card. Sorry to bother you to see if you have a fucking console. You know, I’m sure it’s annoying answering the same question…may I make a recommendation — how about answering the phone that way instead of saying you can sell your games. I know that. I don’t know if you have the Wii. Welcome to GameStop, we won’t have any Wii’s or PS3’s in Stock until March, how can I help you makes more sense :).

He’s over at Quarter to Three….check out posts #28 and #29 in this thread. Well, kudos to him for defending himself.

Thanks to Hido for the link.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Play your favorite games and post here if you get some sort of Thanksgiving special on the game. Madden 07 for example knows it’s Thanksgiving and wishes you a Happy one. Animal Crossing knows too.

As you may know, there was a “celebration” of Bo Schembechler’s life at Michigan Stadium this week and there’s a great story about the event at TheWolverine.com. Lots of former players, and coaches and such turned out and talked about stories of the old ball coach. There’s some real gems in there.

On other fronts, it’s been a crazy week. My son, Kyle, got sick again Monday night (apparently he wasn’t as “all better” as we thought) and he ended up with a ticket to the hospital after getting way too dehydrated (he was keeping nothing down). For those keeping score at home, this is the second time this year we’ve run through that particular scenario. Nothing but fun from my young’ns I tell ya. Fortunately, spending the day and night on an IV agreed with him so we got to bring him home today and don’t have to spend Turkey day with cold cut sandwiches in a hospital room. That would’ve really sucked. At least I won’t have any trouble coming up with something to be thankful for tomorrow.

On a gaming front, I went out today to pick up a rental of College Hoops from Blockbuster (while I wait for Gamerang to come through) and, of course, they’re not putting it out until Friday. Bummer that. Hopefully when I go back on Friday they’ll have plenty of copies (last year they had one lousy copy).

And finally, I’ve reached down into the depths of my Guitar Hero skills and made significant progress on the Expert level. I’m just three songs removed from finishing the game on expert (Bark at the Moon and Cowboys from Hell, of course; Frankenstein’s also giving me fits). I don’t expect to get past those anytime soon. Maybe by the time the 360 version of GH2 comes out.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving everybody!

I leave you ’til Friday with a review of Neverwinter Nights 2. (This is for you, Todd)

Also, first impression (3 games) of CH2K7 360 is very good. A few missteps in the gameplay which I’ll get to later but it’s certainly a lot of fun so far. Fast breaks work, which already gives it a boost over NBA 2K7.

I dunno what is up with those Gamer Point things. I unlocked like eight items and they didn’t show up. Same with LEGO Star Wars II. Finished the game, no points. If I was anal about those things (Dan) I’d be upset about that. Har Har.

Anyway, eat well tomorrow. And remember the true meaning of Thanksgiving…peace and sharing the harvest with Native Americans before shooting them, or something.

Just eat a lot of turkey and fall sleep watching football. That’s my plan.

Click here.

Those of you enjoying College Hoops may want to get your college team theme, which is now available from the Marketplace (150 points). Lots of top division teams in there.

I just read on Major Nelson that today is the one year anniversary of the Xbox 360. As you know I have been bitching quite a bit lately about the two new consoles and many commenters have noted this.

I just went back in time to last year’s posts and as you can see, I was just as bitchy about the 360. Of course, back then I didn’t know about GamerCrack Score, which is a pretty big incentive for me to finish games. I know Bill and Todd pooh-pooh GamerScore, but if you had a GamerScore of 1200, you’d say it sucked too :). Yes it’s a pissing contest. I was going to say schlong size contest, but then Jonah would post something, and we don’t want to go there.

Maybe November is just a grumpy month for me. Most not get enough action, I guess and I’m not talking about videogames. Heh.

In other news the 360 now has added the videomarketplace. Great idea, crappily executed. Why you ask? Well, I love the idea. My cable DVR is a turd. With only 10 hours of HD recording capacity, there’s not a lot of time for stored shows — also, it can be hit or miss with recording. (If only HD TiVo wasn’t $800 + cable cards)… Anyway XBLVM is a great idea. If you miss a show, you can buy it and download it to your 360 and watch in in HD. Why does it suck? Well aside from the cost, there really aren’t that many shows available. If you missed CSI you are in luck, but if your DVR didn’t record The Unit, tough. When everything is available, I’ll be excited. Edit: Shows available include Studio 60 and the Nine. Shows in HD are $2.99 (240 points), movies are $5.99.)

I also only have one 360 and that’s on my office/work center, not on the main TV…so I gotta cart everything back and forth. Hmmm..if that Core 360 does go for $100 on Amazon tomorrow..maybe I’ll get that :).

Every time I think I’m going to go for the Wii, I hear about how it’s not fun and just a tech demo. I don’t know what to think.

In other news, I did rent Blitz from Gamefly for the 360. I gotta talk to the producer and see what’s new, because I don’t see much. The graphics aren’t great — it seems like you are watching the game through gasoline fumes the way it’s all wavy….and the load times..ugh..I love the concept and the idea though, and I’m very early in the game. Love the ‘virus’ achievement. Great idea!

I played some TDU last night….what a very underrated, fun game that is. I can’t wait for my Wireless Wheel. (Pick it up from Overstock — $25 off!).

Hey, let’s hear it for the Tigers who moved out of the cellar in our blog fantasy competition. With only six playoff spots, eight teams have a legitimate shot. Click here for the standings. And a reminder — there are games on Thursday so get your picks in!

Atari has just released a Test Drive Update. What’s new? A lot:
he fixes and enhancements in ‘Title Update 2’ are as follows:

Enhancements:
• Motorbike handling tuned
• Easier to find your friends in Freeride: select the “friends” filter and click on a player to be automatically dropped in his playing session if session is not full
• Improvements to the management of game sessions in Freeride
• Speed filter added to prevent players from achieving impossible speeds in Speed Trap and Speed challenges
• Replay sequences improved

General:
• Menus: MY COUNTRY filter now fully loads when checking ranking leaderboards in the house
• Various crashes resolved
• Various exploits removed
• Progression no longer lost due to corrupted save games
• Player now always spawns at the correct house after reboot
• Gameplay fix: player can no longer irretrievably lose the current vehicle
• Microfreezes fixed
• Now possible to revert to normal paint after deluxe paint job

Multiplayer:
• E-trade now fully functional
• Clubs: no longer any issues when multiple inter- or intra-club challenges are hosted at the same time in the same club
• Players can now see each other after an Instant Challenge in Free Ride (previously if two users completed an Instant Challenge and returned to Free Ride with no other users in the session, the two users could not see each other in the session)
• Vehicle restriction must now be obeyed when accepting game invite
• Car now always correctly positioned on the starting grid, regardless of how many players enter and exit lobby
• Vehicles of players with low ping rates no longer show erratic behavior and disrupt gameplay
• Intermediate speed shown for speed challenges now always correct
• Host no longer always placed at the rear on starting line
• News messages of club invitations are no longer delayed or lost
• Drive in: limitation of 255 challenges posted removed
• Drive in: going down the first page in the list of challenge no longer makes the details of further custom challenges wrong
• Drive-in: challenges are now listed after completion of a challenge
• Incorrect record speed no longer cited in Speed Trap challenges
• Instant Challenges: Cars now always start at same point
• Gameplay: Player now able to accept Invitation to a Club after being ejected from another
• Multiplayer Races: vehicles now do not lack collision at beginning of race
• Monthly Multiplayer rankings are now based on a monthly frequency
• Users can now switch to Ready when accepting an Invitation from an Extra Challenge
• Time rankings fixed
• Speed rankings fixed
• Various exploits removed
• Police AI issues when disconnected from Xbox Live fixed

Tomorrow will be CH day — at least for me. Expect thoughts in this one (360) as soon as I get a chance to give it a spin. I haven’t been this jazzed for a basketball game in a long, long time.

This MAY have something to do with the fact that Ohio State is like #3 in the polls right now.

Nahh…

Ya know, over the past few months I have been tinkering with the idea of making another non-sports game related blog. I wanted to make one that focused on the accuracy, or inaccuarcy as the case may be, of college football analysts. If you read this blog with any regularity, you know how much I hate the sports media in this country.

Looks like three fellas named Brian, Dan, and Tom beat me to the punch — and how.

Check out Markmaybewrong.com to get a look at how the analysts are doing this year when it comes to playing Nostrodomus.

Herbie…poor Herbie.

Terry Bowden is ON. *golf clap*

“…there is a small percentage of college football “fans” who insist on ruining a good thing. They are sometimes called “journalists” or “television commentators,” “pundits” or “talking heads.” Others may call them “assholes” or “full or shit” or even on rare occasions “a penis.” (See Corso Gameday sign)

They insist on trying to pass off their opinions as facts, their personal feelings cloud their judgment, and they recklessly predict the outcome of every game with no one holding them responsible.

These “professionals” get paid to do what we do for free, and the only repercussions they will get for sucking is . . . well nothing (maybe a promotion). College football is the only sport where the media has a significant say in deciding the National Champion. One need look no further than Auburn in 2004 when they were screwed out of a shot at the National Championship Game because they were held in lower esteem by the media early in the season.

Well, that is where we come in.

Our mission at markmaybewrong is to document, evaluate, and publicize every prediction, statement, or off-handed remark any self-proclaimed college football expert makes in a public forum.”

Good stuff.

Bo. A Michigan loss. A Lions loss (to Arizona, for god’s sake). Vomit everywhere (literally). This was one of those weekends I was happy to wave goodbye to.

After having a couple days to digest the Michigan loss, I haven’t changed my mind about not wanting a rematch. Some co-workers were standing outside my cube (all IU and Purdue guys) saying they thought there should be one and they were pretty shocked when I stuck my head out and said no way. Like I said yesterday. We lost so we need to step out of line and let the next guy have a shot. (Again, as long as the next guy ain’t Notre freak’n Dame.)

Here’s the thing about the game on Saturday from my perspectice. It wasn’t that OSU was oh so much better. Yes, they led most of the way, often by at least two scores. Yes, they racked up an insane amount of total offense. And sure, you can argue OSU kept the Wolverines in it with rare turnovers. But hell, that’s football. If you played that game again, what are the odds Michigan’s D gives up 100+ yards and two TDs on two running plays? Both teams did things that were uncharacteristic of them all season long.

What really separated the two teams in my mind was the Buckeye passing game against Michigan’s secondary. Troy Smith wasn’t having to thread needles all game. Yeah, he made great plays, but he was routinely spreading the ball around, finding guys that were *wide* open. It was nauseating at how easy OSU made it look to pass the ball for 5 to 15 yards at a time. That’s where Michigan really lost the game, and I don’t see where it would be any different on January 2nd or 3rd or whenever the National Championship Game gets played.

Anyway, the pundits can argue all they like. Time for me to move on.

You know, when the Patriots lost to the Colts, Brady was mad, but he didn’t cry about it. I’ve been watching this game vs the Cowboys, and everytime there’s an incomplete pass or something else, Manning is pruning and crying about it. Man up. You were outplayed and you need to deal with it.

In other news, can Phil Simms STFU? What an annoying blabberer. Did you see Late Show on Thursday night — during impressionist week one of the guys was impersonating Madden, Summerall and Michaels. Click here to view it.

If you hear someone say today, “Michigan is still #2 in the BCS! Rematch time”

Ignore them.

After seeing the polls today, it is clear to me that Michigan will need a small miracle to get in the game with OSU.

The ball is now clearly in USC’s court. They are #2 in the coach poll but still #3 in the BCS. The #2 Coach Poll rank is *huge*. They passed Michigan. With a win over ND, who is another top 5 or 6 BCS team, they will leap over Michigan if they win out based on SoS. Top 5 BCS wins earn big BCS points; it’s why the computers have loved UM from the get go. The computers have loved Michigan all year, in fact they were rated #1 before Saturday so it’s not a shock they didn’t fall to #3.

If USC wins out — they’re in. This is almost a slam dunk because they are #2 in the USA Today poll.

If they lose and Florida wins out by beating Arkansas, Florida is most likely in, especially if Arkansas beats LSU. If you don’t want a rematch, pull for Arkansas to beat the Tigers on Friday.

It’s too early to predict a rematch. A LOT of poll shifting is going to go down over the next week or so. Every 1-loss team with a shot plays another top 5 team which is going to do wonders for their BCS rank. I don’t think Michigan has a shot unless all sorts of bizarre stuff goes down.

Being #2 at his moment is meaningless, there is a lot of KEY games left to play.

I think UM is Rose Bowl Bound.