The Blog for the Sports Gamer

As you probably know, GameStop is doing a buy 2 get 1 free sale on all games and accessories. Accessories include everything—even HDDVD players. So you can buy 2 HDDVD players and get 1 free, bringing the cost down to $93.

Anyone want to go in 1/3 each?

So, I’ve spent a bit more time working on translating part of the PYS4 and have made some headway now that I’ve found a nice Kanji translation site. The problem is that each symbol will take me as much as 5 minutes. The biggest issue of late is the fact that I have to just have the game on sitting at one screen while I’m looking up the radicals for each of the Kanji symbols, so my wife questions why I bought a game that I’m not even playing. It’s a fair question, but I’d rather spend the bit of extra time now and try and actually learn what some of the screens mean rather than guessing at everything that is going on. Also, I know that I’ll be helping some other people that might pick up the game in the future.

The Brewers grabbed another win today and have opened up a 3.5 game lead in the Central. The thing to note today was the fact that this was the first time since Minute Maid Park opened in Houston that the Brewers won a series there. It’s been a sensational April for the Brewers and they’re doing it all without Sheets. Oh, and ask any Texas Rangers fan if they’re happy that they traded Francisco Cordero to the Brewers as part of the Carlos Lee deal last year. He’s only got 10 saves and a 0.00 ERA this year. I can live with that.

As for the draft, I’m officially tired of most of the Packers sportswriters. The Packers drafted two players from Virginia Tech and half of their conference calls were dedicated to the shootings there two weeks ago. Where were you? Did you know anyone there? How do you think the shootings will shape your life?

I understand that the whole event was a tragedy but are these the people to be asking about it? I hope that after the initial stories are done being written they can drop that angle on these players because I’m sure they’d like to just play football and not have to answer any more questions about it.

I think the Packers had a decent draft, filling a few needs, but as with any draft, it’s a wait and see business. There will always be people that say that they shouldn’t have picked this person and they should have picked that person instead. Oh and Peter King thinks their first round pick wasn’t a good one, but he thought that the Packers should have made Mike Tice their head coach after he was fired by the Vikings… so you know how smart Peter King is.

As Bill said before… I’m sick of the draft now. Back to gaming…

While I really like what the Browns have done, the 2007 Draft has made me physically ill. Seriously — queasy.

Basically the general response has been “Dan, you’re an idiot”..but seriously, if you’re going to buy the 120 GB Hard drive..the difference between getting the 120 hard drive or the elite with a trade in at EB is $50. Might as well go all out if you’re already going to drop $180, right?

Anyway here are some thoughts:
1. I thought the power brick, A/V cables and ethernet would also be black. They are the same color as the original 360 (gray). Bummer.
2. The controller is actually black on top and bottom, but on the side where you would connect the communicator, it is gray. Weird two tone action going on there.
3. HDMI video looks great. Better than component. i thought about getting VGA and seeing if there’s any difference there.
4. New to the package (in addition to the HDMI cable) is a castrated A/V cable which allows you to connect audio to your receiver if your TV can’t do audio out. If you do have an audio out on your TV, the HDMI cable works just fine (HDMI is already great as that’s two less cables you have to worry about).
5. The HD transfer was painless, despite getting a message that files were corrupted and deleted. It seems like it restored all the old demos I deleted. Whatever.
6. My 360 Elite came with a Toshiba DVD drive, not the BenQ quiet drive that others have mentioned. I will say that it still does seem quieter. It doesn’t feel as hot as the other one either. Maybe I’m just making shit up, I don’t know…just giving impressions.
7. The black color is very nice on the console itself.
8. Overall, like I said, if you’re going to get the drive, you might as well get the Elite. Yes there are transfer issues and so forth, but what Microsoft hasn’t said is that if you’re on your 4th/5th console already (like me) you already have that problem, so it’s not really a big deal.

In a stunning move today, the Patriots traded one of their fourth round draft picks for Randy Moss. The Patriots have an A+ caliber of free agents this year. I mean if you’re a Pats fan, how can you not be excited right now?

Now, if they could just get UNH’s David Ball, I’d be very happy.

Well, in a shocking development, I went and traded in my old 360 for the elite. I know you are surprised. I have it hooked up via HDMI — which looks MUCH better (I’m not just saying that because I spend $220), and transferring my data over. I did buy a 120 GB drive a few days ago so I took that cable out. I hope I can ebay it. Anyone want a 120GB drive cheap? Well by cheap I mean less than retail, but i want to make most of my $$ back . Of course I also picked up the PRP which even though is $60 is well worth it given the crud of a warranty MS gets you — yes it’s one year but it takes forever to get a new console…when you get the ring of death, you want a new one now not in 2 weeks.

So it’s going to take 1 hr 20 mins to transfer from the 20GB to the 120GB…which seems like a long time to me if you’re going via USB…I mean you’re only transferring 20GB of data…does it really take that long?

Anyway I lost all the ‘preinstalled’ stuff on the Elite..which wasn’t anything worth getting excited about anyway…

Now I have two HDMI consoles (PS3 and 360) but only 1 HDMI in on my TV. I could go with VGA on the 360, but that would defeat the purpose of getting the Elite, no?

Why can’t they make a cheap A/B HDMI switch? Is it that hard?

Of course as you know even though the past week has bummed me out as an Orioles fan, I still continue to watch on MLB.tv.

Tonight was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen, and I’m counting Jeff-f’n-Meier. The Orioles got a run three innings after they scored it. It was absolutely, positively the right call, as the original call was blown big time, but I’ve never seen them go back and say in the sixth inning, oops they scored a run in the third, so fix that. Our bad!

But it happened tonight!

Cleveland is crying about it, but if they didn’t score that run, it’s a clear violation of the rules. I mean there is zero doubt the run should have counted. It’s not a “his foot was on home plate just as the ball got to first” — it was more of a “the guy on 3rd was already in the clubhouse when the out at 1st was made” sort of thing…..

Wacky stuff!

As everyone knows, tomorrow MS unleashes the 360 Elite. Microsoft is doing everything they can to discourage current 360 owners from buying the Elite (putting it on their website that we should just upgrade the HD, not putting the transfer cable in the nwe box, etc), but the difference between getting the HD alone and getting the Elite is $50, making it kinda stupid to just buy the HD, especially if you want HDMI and a tasty black case.

I did get my name on one along with a black controller and the black charge n play (after all using a white charge and play on a black controller is so wrong)…but I’m still debating whether to do it.

I need your advice..would you do it? Also, let me know if you’re getting the Elite as a trade up from your existing 360 or as a new purchase. Thanks!

Yes it’s the Glen and Dan “buy Japanese baseball” show. Unlike Uncle Jerry, I got another game in. Glen also directed me to the fact you can install the game to the hard drive for faster loading times. I asked him how he translated this, and he told me it’s the big button that says “install” in English. Sometimes you miss the obvious, I guess. LOL.

I’m still finding the game hard, I was able to get a whopping 5 hits last night, but lost 7-0. The game is a challenge, but in a fun way, not in a this game sux way. Although I’m only playing exhibition and minigames, it’s the most fun I’ve had with the PS3.

The box scores are more in depth of any game I’ve played. Although I can’t really read them, they do a nice job of showing the at bats for each player. On one side they show an inning by inning summary…if I am reading it right, it also goes across so you can see it play by player as well. I’m probably not explaining it well, but it makes sense when you look at it. For example, I think I now know the Japanese symbols for “groundout” and to what base I did, so you’ll see 2nd base ground out as the summry…kinda neat. I don’t see the ab/h/r/rbi columns that we’re used to , but again, there is a language barrier here.

I’d like to thank Sony for going region free on the PS3. I also wish Konami would convert this to a US release. This would be a great game in America.

The only time that I spent with Pro Baseball Spirits 4 today was only to try and translate a few of the menus.

To let you know how much time I’m putting into this game right now, I’ll give you an idea as to what I’m doing right now.

Using both www.kanjisite.com and this Japanese to English dictionary site, I’m doing the following…

- Converting the hiragana and katakana to romaji (the english version of the symbols)
- Using the dictionary site, I’m translating the romaji to english words.
- Then taking that engrish sentence and translating, as best I can, it to the actual english sentence.

This works for some of the words and phrases that I’ve seen in the game, but the Japanese language also uses Kanji symbols which are no where near as easy to convert as the hiragana and katakana symbols are with the pages that I’ve found. Because of that I have to make some guesses as to what the sentences are meant to mean.

I’m hopeful that I can get through some more of the in game menus tonight so that Dan and I will have a bit better understand of what’s going on in the game. Also, I’m planning on sharing this info with the owner of the FAQ that I’ve posted before in order to help him out a bit. The real challenge will be working with things like the 5 year Pennant and MVP modes, but I’m going to do the best I can.

It’s not just a baseball game… it’s a language learning tool.

Also today, Gametrailers posted a new MLB07: The Show video showing actual in game play. Here is the standard resolution link and here is the high resolution link. Let me just say that I’m not impressed. The crowd interaction looks horrible. It looks like they only have 5 or 6 fan models in the stands and they all act as a group. So, when the guy in the black shirt is standing, all of the guys in the black shirt are standing.

You can see an outfielder make a nice easy throw from to the pitchers mound without any real effort. Ugh.

This game is looking more and more like a rental, especially after my time with PYS4.

First off, my only experience with Japanese League baseball is via the movie ‘Mr. Baseball’ starring Tom Selleck. So, when I sat down with the game tonight, I was a complete virgin to the Japanese game. Not that it’s Blurn Ball or anything, but it’s got it’s differences.

Graphically the game is incredibly impressive. The animations are very, very smooth and the player models are incredibly detailed. It’s also cool to see players not trying to break up a double play (Something that is apparently frowned upon in Japanese Baseball.) Also, I’ve seen a passed ball and an error for the Short Stop when they air mailed a throw over the first baseman.

The ball physics that I’ve seen thus far are very good and there have been a few times already where I’m getting into the game and I’m twisting my shoulders to try and keep the ball in play. That, to me, means that the ball is acting like it should.

Hitting in the game is quite challenging, but not in a “this is cheap” kind of way. You’re not going to get a hit unless you get really solid wood on the ball, and I’ve gotten no where near hitting a homer yet. A very good sign.

Dan and I had a chance to chat, on our PS3’s tonight, after we both played in solo mode and we both agreed that the thing the game is very, very good but could be excellent if we had more knowledge of the Japanese language. Right now we both have to skip through a great deal of the text in the game just because we have no idea how to do most things.

If you haven’t had a chance to look at it, this is the tutorial that I’m following. It’s a very early FAQ, but it does a great job at covering some of the things that you can do in the game. The tough part about it is the fact that it only covers about 25% of the things that you can do in the game. For example, they don’t have anything about the MVP (Think MLB’s – The Show) or Pennant Chase (A 5 year franchise) modes. It’s great that the game has that much depth, but it’s going to make it really hard for us to enjoy it as we don’t know what in the hell we’re being told by the game most of the time.

From my one night experience with the game, I’m definitely going to be playing a lot more of it. Also, to let you know how much I enjoyed the game, I’m thinking about acquiring a Japanese dictionary so that I can try and learn some of the words in the game so I can enjoy the game a bit more. It’s fun to have the epiphany when you figure out that the word on the screen means first base, but there is a ton of trial and error in gameplay to get there and it’s holding me back from enjoying the game as much as I could right now.

Oh, and just for comparison with the MLB2K7 demo… this game blows that game out of the water. I could live in the Exhibition game mode alone and enjoy myself a great deal more than I did when I was playing the 2K7 demo.

I think it’s safe to say that my PS3 isn’t just going to be a machine dedicated to Folding@Home anymore.

As I think I mentioned yesterday, I bought a 120GB for the 360. I haven’t opened it. I think even teh guy at GameStop thought I was crazy. Anyway, after reading Gamerscore blog I don’t know what to do.

If I transfer to this GB and decide to upgrade to an elite, I will not be able to because you can’t transfer between 120gb drives. the elite does NOT have a kit and is designed for “new” 360 users so you’ll have to order the transfer cable separate.

Of course, if you are say, going to trade in your 360 to GameStop, that is kind of a problem.

I know I need more space, and after seeing the HDMI on the PS3, I think I want it for the 360…but it sounds like it’s going to be more trouble than it’s worth. Maybe I’ll see if the 120 unit sells out and then ebay the drive and then use that money to buy an elite. .

I know Glen will be around shortly, we just had a nice conversation using voice chat on the PS3 regarding Professional Baseball Spirits 4. Yeah that name is goofy, but it is Japan we’re talking about — let’s be glad it’s not called Super Terrific Fun Game with Bats and Balls.

Wow, my PS3 hasn’t seen this much action since it has been released. LOL.

Anyway, I’ve tried to read the manual for context, and although I can see the pitches that’s about all I understand. Thankfully there are quite a few FAQs out there that assist you — however there’s a LOT of Japanese in this game.

What I’ve found so far:
This game has a lot of little “wow” touches. You can command your pitcher to pick up the rosin bag for instance. The next pitch you’ll see some dust come off the catchers mitt. Cool. First and Third base coaches are actually watching the game and interact. Umpires are very active as well.

I find hitting very difficult — it’s the move the outline of the bat and press X model — but one nice touch is that by pressing “O” you can attempt a “pull” swing rather than a regular swing. Why hasn’t anyone else thought of that? The hit all the trigger buttons l1/l2/r1/r2 for a speed boost is a little arcadey for me.

When you first play a game you are treated to the sights and sounds of Japanese baseball, which is like a soccer match, or as Glen aptly put it, the Tom Selleck classic Mr. Baseball. I am serious. I did not give that movie enough credit as they nailed it in this game. And since Japanese developers worked on this Japanese game, I guess that’s how it really is. Scoreboards are very detailed, right down to the way numbers are put up on it — very cool. There’s also a picture in picture to see the manager’s disgust if you screw up. During the play you’ll see whether or not the play is a hit or an error. It’s amazing how well they’ve done this.

The in game action is simple enough. I love the fact this game has a ‘radar’ showing where all your fielders are and where they think the ball would land. Although it’s the traditional game of move your “x” into the “O” it makes more sense to do this than what I’ve seen in some other games .

The strategy part is where I wish I had knowledge of the Japanese language. I don’t believe there is a bullpen…BUT when you sub in a pitcher you actually perform warm up throws — three to be exact. I have no idea what this does or means.

Like I said there is a lot of text on screen and luckily an ERA doesn’t look like a batting average so that’s how I choose pitchers — there’s no “ERA” stat…so it’s difficult.

There is a franchise mode, but good luck with that.

Graphics are OMG good…sound is pretty nice as well, although I have no idea what they are saying. Seriously, the commentators have that excitement in them the way Andres Cantor does soccer. It’s great. Oh and did I mention the incredible graphics that make MLB 2K7 look like a PS1 game? Maybe that’s an exaggeration but they are amazing graphics. I love seeing the SEGA ads in a Konami game. Fun times!

Some forums discussed a frame rate issue, I have not seen that.

So far, it’s the best $70 I’ve spent on the PS3. I’m curious to see how / if the Show will come close…it’s still due out in 2 weeks.

Just to annoy Glen, I wanted to let you know that NCSX was pretty fast too and unlike him, it’s in my PS3. BTW, HDMI looks better on my TV than component, which makes deciding to get a 360 Elite much harder — as in I’ll probably get it. Ugh.

So far I’m following the tutorials and I have my son’s baseball practice so Glen will get ahead of me on gameplay, but I love the graphics. Superb…pitching makes sense, I just wish I knew what the translations were. Glen did give a quick tutorial which I appreciate. More later. Maybe Glen and I can try an online game and actually give the bluetooth headset a chance to stop collecting dust!

Good stuff on the Playstation Network today.

Firmware 1.7 – Play downloaded PSOne games on your PS3. Ok, now I’ll be buying Hot Shots Golf 2 and Destruction Derby once they’re confirmed to work for both.

Folding@Home 1.1 update – I covered this earlier in the week

Ninja Gaiden Sigma demo – Very cool. I never played the original Xbox version of this, so I may pick it up on the PS3 based on how terrific it looks at this point.

Also, the Virtua Tennis 3 demo arrived today.

Background Downloading will be a big help today. By the time I’m done playing PYS4 for the night, I should be able to dig into the Ninja Gaiden demo.