Saturday Thoughts
Friday night is my game playing night as everyone but me goes to bed early. I watched Be Kind Rewind (meh) and played some games. My quick thoughts:
NHL 2K9 - Wii. Ugh. Not good. Not good at all. I like the idea of what they were trying to do, but the game is a complete mess. It tries to do too much with too little. The PES-esque controls are a nice idea, but they don't work in this game. This franchise is really gone downhill to EA's far superior NHL 09
NHL 09 - PS3 - This is a hockey game. Love playing with the AHL teams, love the game play...love the NHL 94 controller option. Well done.
Rock Band 2 - Xbox 360 - Part of the fun of the game is discovering what song you'll play next. I don't understand why you would want to unlock every song. I've seen a lot of "isn't RB 2 just more of the same. No. The features they've added like Battle of the Bands and the mystery set list are really neat additions. I wouldn't bother to wait for the full package if you already have instruments (save it for GH WT which sounds like it will have better instruments anyway).
Pure - (360) This game reminds me of the old Motocross Madness games on the PC. It looks gorgeous and plays great. Easily going to be one of the most underrated games of the year and a definite sleeper pick on my list.
NFL Head Coach - Another game that doesn't seem to be getting any love but is a very, very enjoyable sim game. You might have seen Bill Abner's Q&A over at GameShark and I think EA hit the nail right on the head -- no doubt it's a niche market but here's a game that could even cater to a casual sim gamer. Make sure to try it out, and btw the demo doesn't do this game justice.
Burnout Paradise - 360 - Criterion's model of constantly releasing content rather than having the dev team terminated by EA right after release is a wonderful example of longetivity in the gaming industry. It's funny, I went to try to buy a used copy of the game for the PS3 since that's all that Glen had (loser)...the problem is that you can't find it. Must be no one is trading it in...and now you can get bikes. Very cool game, very online community oriented. Check it out if you haven't already.
Crosswords DS - Another game that seems stupid but is incredibly addictive, especially when you are on the 305th hour of soccer practice. Very fun game.
Million Heir - DS - A great hidden pictures game for the DS.. a lot of fun.
Phew. Oh yeah and on a non gaming related note...
So far the Archos 5 I bought has been very frustrating. The 120GB model I have requires you to buy plug ins for MPEG4/video podcast playback (which I knew) however the puchase process is as fun as a root canal. RIght now when I enter my product key on the site, it says "invalid product key". I called support (30 minute hold on a Friday night). They tried it and said they had to escalate it....so I'm still video less.
The built in speaker is disappointing -- it's mono rather than stereo. The audio quality is very good from teh 1 speaker, but I really thought I'd get 2 (you can only get 2 on the Archos 7).
The LCD screen is great when it works. It's constantly requiring me to shut it off and back on. I'll see static on teh screen (a la Atari 2600) and then it looks like the whole thing is corrupted. One of the problems is that the unit released with beta firmware -- which is really odd. A new firmware update was released yesterday but it's still in Beta. Ugh.
The Wifi webbrowsing and music play back work as expected, although it's taking a long time (3 hours and counting) to put on 40GB of music.
I may be taking advantage of the Amazon return policy on this one. The screen constantly going wonky is a deal breaker. I'll wait until I receive the rest of my accessories first, but I'm pretty bummed.
Does anyone have any recommendation for a subscription service usable large MP3 player? I'm talking 80+GB..which also plays video and has wifi? I think the Archos is the only solution right now....
Phew. That gets you caught up with me. LOL
and that’s the ball game
That'll finish the Brewers season.
Blowing a 4 run lead in the 9th.
Runners on 2nd and 3rd with no one out in the 12th with no one out and not scoring a run.
Those two events just sum up the season.
What an f'n pisser.
Thanks for spending the money, Mark.... too bad the team failed you.
NHL 09 (PS3)
This game is a lot of fun. One of my favorite modes is playing in the AHL -- Manchester (NH) vs Portland (ME)....the controls are a little different but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty fun. I'm really enjoying myself with this game. I haven't put in NHL2K9 yet for the Wii..
In other news, although I bought Pure and Star Wars Wii, I'm too tired and just ran out of time. I can't believe it's almost midnight and it's only freaking Wednesday.
One last thing: I did treat myself to the brand new Archos 5 120GB media player which is now in stock at Amazon. I'm really excited to try this "internet media tablet" out..
Crunch! Yum!
Well, one of my guilty pleasures on the 360 gets a sequel today -- Feeding Frenzy 2. Yes, I play some goofy games, but hey, I admit it -- I liked the game.
While waiting for my son at travel soccer practice, I stayed in my car to avoid any chance of EEE. How come all fields are just mosquito breeding grounds? Anyway, I played a few DS games...it's really nice to have Guitar Hero available when you're bored.
I've been very tired when I get home so the real game playing has taken a nosedive. I did play a quick game of NHL 09 for the PS3...man what a fun game that is.
I may pick up PURE today...there was some discussion about the game...I know the press release is confusing, but as told by my girlfriend Ashley from GameStop -- the game is in stores today. The press release said it will be in all stores by next week, but I think they were saying that just to give it some time to get shipped via UPS ground 
.
Sports, and Politics
1. I received NHL 09 from Gamefly and NHL 2K9 for the Wii yesterday but didn't get a chance to play because I was all about the Rock Band and hey it was about 11:30 before I got to play and I was tired. I will play tonight just for you.
2. I didn't go to the Star Wars midnight launch. Oh well. I don't even think I'll pick the game up today -- I'm more excited for PURE than I am the Star Wars games.
3. Circuit City stores in NH/MA are now accepting trade ins for Ipods...interesting...
4. Okay, as someone who's real job is in the financial services industry, and as someone that's been in said industry for 20 years this October, I have never, ever seen the cluster@#$% that I'm seeing right now. I'm personally concerned about my AIG investments and I never thought I'd say that. The problem is severe and almost unfathomable. Anyone that says the fundamentals of our economy are strong is a complete moron. The banking system is a fundamental part of our economy. John McCain should realize this seeing as though he was around during the depression . Seriously though, make sure you keep under $100K in each financial institution so that you'll qualify for insurance if any bank goes bad -- yes, I know wouldn't we all like to have $100K, but seriously you would not believe how many go over this important insurance -- I will say I am surprised that ING has made it through pretty much unscathed ..I figured that all these online places would be the first to go...
Make me believe
I want to begin this post with a comment. I want to say that I truly respect MeanOnSunday and Neil for posting comments here, your viewpoints are completely different than mine on a good many issues, but I respect you for coming here to discuss what you feel.
Recently, I had an idea to start up a new website dedicated to politics. Before you stop reading the post, I need you know where I'm coming from here because it won't be what you're thinking of.
Over the last few years, I've become increasingly despondent in the way that the political system works in this country. This isn't a shocking concept. I defy any of you to tell me that the system is running as well as it should.
My belief is that we're all being decieved... and it comes from all directions. The media fails almost absolutely in it's job to act as a watchdog for the public. I believe, and I think that people would have a hard time disagreeing with me, that due to the fact that media organizations are owned by massive corporations with their own interests at heart, that they exist only to keep everyone split and angry. They want everyone to believe that this country is red and blue. That there is no 'purple' and that everyone needs to take a side. Simply put, I believe that they want us to all hate each other.
The drive for them is not to strive for the truth... they are driven to keep us from it. When I saw a quote from from the Sunday talk shows this week that stopped a discussion by saying, "I’m just going to call time here and let people make up their own minds on this," I knew I had had enough. They don't care. They don't want to present the facts or check to see that the things that they are being told are lies or distortions. They don't want to bring us together... they want to spin the stories to make us take sides and keep us divided... and that makes me sick inside.
Politicians seem to exist, with few exceptions, to make us feel the same way.
The presidential elections have become contests, with issues manufactured by the media, to keep things close. Is your life really made worse if George Takai marries his boyfriend? Seriously, do you care who Reverend Wright is? Do you want days of media attention spent on a comment about 'lipstick on a pig?'
I'll be the first to admit that I was falling for this. I was drinking the kool-aid and getting more and more angry. Then I realized why I was starting to get so upset. I wasn't getting angry because of what the people were saying, I was getting angry because they weren't saying ANYTHING.
There were two things that really got me to this point in the last few days. The first of which was McCain's ad about Obama wanting to teach sex education to kindergartners... and to hear it defended. The ad is visually presented to make Obama look like he's a pedophile. They don't want you to know anything about the bill that it's based on. They don't want you to know that they removed the phrase 'age-appropriate' before sexual education. They want you to think that Obama wants to come to your kids school and start talking to your 5 year old about sex. They want you to see a 30 second spot on TV and be appauled that a good percentage of the country might want this monster to be the next president of our country. It was bush-league(no pun intended) politics... and when Karl Rove says you've gone too far... you know you're not on the high ground.
The second ad was Obama's ad about the fact that John McCain doesn't know how to use email. Frankly, I don't care if he knows how to use email. The ads purpose is to make Senator McCain look like he's out of touch and can't be trusted because he doesn't know about 'the internets.' It's insulting to our intelligence and it makes me mad.
Why is it that all people want to do is tear down these two men who haven't done anything but to serve their country in the best way that they know how?
Why is it that a man who was raised by a single mother, put himself through school with scholarships and student loans, and worked to help his community before being a politician is being mocked for being a community activist?
Why is it that a man who has spent the majority of his life serving and defending his country is being mocked because he may not be savy enough to use a computer? (Hell, I do the job for a living... I'd venture that 90% of the people I deal with are probably behind him as far as computer knowledge is concerned.)
Why? Why do we put up with this year after year? Why do we let the media tell us what we should believe about these people? Why are we forced to believe that there are two America's? What ever happened to Conservative Democrats and Liberal or (ok... that's too far) Moderate Republicans?
To quote High Fidelity, "Hey, I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I'm certainly not the dumbest." I just want the game to be played right. We're all sports fans here. The games that we watch and play all have rules and if the rules are broken... people pay the price for it. Why can't we have it that way in politics?
Why can't we have a law that states that an ad must be proven to be true before it goes on the air? (Well, money is the answer there,) but why can't we have a law on the books that says just that? No grey areas... no ellipses... just facts. Why do we continue to allow borderline slander to be presented as if it was the truth?
I know I'm talking about pie-in-the-sky concepts, but why can't we demand more?
I believe that Senator Obama's most crucial moment in his speech was when he uttered the single word, "ENOUGH!"
The sad thing is, that I think I've had that same thought... but that it applies to both of them.
That's why I thought about creating a political site, not to drive us further apart, but to try and make us all see the things that we do have in common. We want this country to be a better place. We want this country to be a safer place.
The simple fact of the matter is that those things cannot happen they way that they are right now. They can't happen until we decide to stop bickering about the petty nonsense and work together to make real change happen in this country.
Right now, we're looking at 4 more years of the same... no matter who we choose and that makes me want to do something. I'm not a man that could possibly participate in the political process... but I would like to try and change the way things are.. or at the very least, get people to talk... and be honest.
I just can't imagine that I'm alone where I'm at right now... because if I am... then as a country... we are truly lost.
...and that is a vision of America that I don't want to believe can ever become true.
Ah… that certainly made my day
That just about made my day/week/year. I can't ever recall a team, that is leading a race, firing their manager with 12 games to go. The decision must have come from the top... and if that is the case... kudos to you Mr. Attanasio.
Fork… meet Brewers
You may feel free to stick yourself into them at any time.
Oh, and Corey Hart? You can feel free to stay in Philly if you think that they're just better fans. We've been waiting 26 years for a play off appearance for this team. If you think the fans were tough on you last week, just wait until you get back after blowing a 6 game lead in the wild card race.
I have another post coming, but I have a feeling it will have to wait until tomorrow as I'm wiped out at the moment. It's something that I've been thinking about for a while, so I hope you'll bear with me as I get it ready in my head.
Wisconsin/Fresno State Blog
Ok.. I have to blog this crap now...
Thanks to the WAC officials for keeping Fresno State in the game. Fresno clearly fumbled the ball and had it overturned on review. What a crock. This is why you shouldn't have league officials for non-conference games.
- Wisconsin forces a field goal attempt after Fresno's gift drive... and the score is now Wisconsin 13, Fresno State 10.
Oh... and Fresno is not a state.
- To the 4th quarter we go... Wisconsin has a 3 point lead and the ball at their own 25. Gotta run the ball and pound this team in the 4th.
- Evridge just about threw an interception right into the hands of the Fresno State LB... that would have hurt... big time.
- On a big 3rd down and 6, the Badgers can't complete a pass and have to punt the ball away. Evridge had tons of time to throw or run... and just keyed in on one receiver and they end up with an incompletion. Thankfully the punt was a booming one... and Fresno starts their next drive around their own 15 yard line.
- I hear that the NCAA doesn't like liveblogging of games from events... wonder how they feel about live-blogging while watching an event... hmm....
- Fresno busts off a huge run on 1st down and are now at the Badgers 25 yard line. Tons of missed tackles killing the Badgers tonight.
- Big 3rd down coming up for Fresno here as they haven't gotten anything going after the big run... and Wisconsin holds them to a field goal attempt. Can't keep letting them get these huge plays.... and they miss the kick.
That's two FG misses for the Fresno kicker tonight.
- Personally, I think Bret Bielema is the puffiest coach in the Big Ten.
- Big 3rd down conversion for the Badgers as they are really starting to grind the ball on the ground. Ball at the UW 45 with 9:30 to go.
- And Evridge looks to have hurt his hamstring on a badly thrown deep ball. That's a major pisser... but he hasn't really thrown the ball well today and has been limping a bit for a while now. Not the best time for your backup QB to come into a game... on the road with a 3 point lead with 8:00 to go... but that's what we're looking at.
Watching this game... I think both of these teams have the capability to play better than they are today. The Badgers have made some really odd play calling decisions at times and Fresno took a long time to open up their playbook.
- Well, the Badger drive ends with a punt after the Badgers come up a half yard short of the first down on a 3rd down screen pass. Fresno starts their drive, again on their own 15 yard line. Wisconsin's D really needs to make a stand here.
Considering the OSU result from earlier tonight... Wisconsin has to have this win if they want any chance at a big BCS game this year.
- Fresno's WR just dropped a big gainer when the UW DB fell down while covering him. Could have been 40 yards plus. Luck break for Bucky there. 3rd and 1 from the 24.
- Fresno picks up 8 and has the ball near their 35 with 6:30 to go.
- Credit where it's due... the Wisconsin D has allowed a few big plays, but has played much better than they did in their past two games. Of course, as I say that they allow another first down. They really like playing about 8 yards off of the Fresno WR's for some reason...
- More bad tackling and what should have been a 3 yard loss ends up being a 5 yard gain.
Fresno is in UW territory with 4:30 to go.
Fresno is really running clock here. Seems like they want this drive to be the last one of the game. 3:00 to go with a 3rd and 10 at the UW 47.
Huge sack for a 6 yard loss and Fresno has to punt with 2:00 remaining. And they stick the ball inside the 1....
- 1st down is a sneak to get some room. 1st down should win the game.
- Fullback gets the handoff on 2nd down and gets the first down. What a call. Everyone keyed on PJ Hill and they snuck it right up the gut on them.
- That'll do it. Whew. Huge win on the road.
What a game. I'll be really interested to hear more about that reversal of that fumble. That call made the game a lot closer than it needed to be.
I will say it had nothing to do with Fresno though. They played a very good, if not a bit conservatively called, game.
Thankfully Wisconsin got the Big Ten a good non-conference win. Now the regular season starts... and after the bye week, the Badgers get Michigan at the Big House... then OSU in Madison, in what should be a huge game... as all night games in Madison are.
Whew... hope you enjoyed this... it was fun, and cathartic, for me.
Oh and another thing
1. I wanted to 2nd what Glen said about Pure. Looks like a very good game.
2. I tried the Motorstorm 2 demo....feels a lot like Motorstorm 1, but that's not a bad thing.
3. So not only Tom Brady has a torn ACL and MCL, but now Charlie Weis does as well? Damn...who would have thought...
Saturday night notes
A few thoughts while I watch the Wisconsin football game tonight against Fresno State....
- I'm upset with Major League Baseball tonight for putting the Cubs/Astros series in Miller Park. You took a home series for the Astros and put it in a stadium that will essentially make it a home game for the 'visiting' team. That stinks. I'm not happy with how the Brewers are playing, but if they were to lose the Wild Card to anyone, I would prefer that it would be the Astros... due to Cecil Cooper being their manager. This just sucks for them. They were asking for Atlanta as the site for the games... and they should have gotten that.
- I don't know how many NHL fans we have here on the blog, but I read this article on CNNSI about the fact that the NHL is still not reducing the size of goalie equipment and it really annoyed me.
One of the bigger problems that the NHL faces right now is that the game could be more fan friendly. One of the first things that they could do to resolve this is to increase the scoring in the games. Goalies are WAY too over protected in the game. It's not at the level it was when Patrick Roy covered 2/3rds of the net, but it's still way too much.
Look, I play goalie at an entirely recreational level... and I feel like I need every bit of that just because I put myself in bad positions where I need the larger pads to protect me. These guys are pros... they don't need the massive armor that they have to be safe.
Keeping the goalies safe has to be a priority, but they also have to look at the good of the game as well. I love the NHL and just think that they need to make some changes to make the game a bit more interesting for the casual fan.
- Wow... did OSU get CRUSHED by USC tonight. Wisconsin really needs this win tonight to give the Big Ten just a bit of love today.
- On the eve of Rock Band 2's release... I find it funny that I just really got the hang of hammer-ons and pull-offs... by playing the Guitar Hero: Aerosmith demo. For whatever reason, it never really clicked before... and when I played that demo... it finally felt right. Go figure.
- I finally got around to watching 'There Will Be Blood' last night. I'm absolutely amazed that I had never heard the jokes about "I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE!" before today... but somehow I avoided it. I did a search on it and there is a terrific SNL sketch about it though. It's funny to hear the crowd during the sketch though, as you can tell that most of them have no idea what they're talking about.
- Glad that the press is finally starting to call out the lies in the presidential campaign. The ad that McCain is running about Obama wanting to teach sex education to children in Kindergarten is one of the most disgusting ads that I've ever seen in my lifetime. The press is supposed to fact check this kind of crap and call them out for it... I'm glad to see that they might actually be starting to do their job. It's just funny to see that the hardest questions that McCain has had to answer in the last few days have come from the cast of the View.
Back to sports gaming
- I tried out the demo for Pure last night. Wow, was that fun. The trick system was very intuitive and the course didn't seem like the game was trying to cheat you out of finding a way to win a race. This game is in my rental queue right now... and I'm pretty sure I'll be picking it up if the rental goes as well as my demo experience did.
- I spent an hour or two with NHL2K9 today for the 360 and I'm still very high on the game. In my first game with the Islanders, I went against Martin Brodeur and the Devils. I was shut out 2-0, but hit at least 3 or 4 pipes. In my next game, I went against the Blues and managed to put up 7 goals... at which point they pulled the goalie. It was nice to see that the in game AI decided that their goalie was struggling and needed to get out of there.
Now to my annoyances that I've found thus far. In the franchise mode, there is a waiver wire where you can try and claim players. I have yet to see anyone on it, but when I look at other teams... they have claimed players. Unless I'm looking at the waiver system all wrong, the Islanders are 4th on the list and should have had a chance at some of the players. I'll keep an eye on it.
I also, can't figure out how to trade for minor league prospects... they don't appear as an option in the trade system. You can trade for draft picks and players in the NHL, but not in the minors. (I found this out as I was trying to trade for a former Badger goaltender in Ottawa, Brian Elliott.) That really hurts the franchise mode if you can't trade for prospects to rebuild your team.
- It's surprising to me... but the NBA Live 09 demo wasn't all that bad. After watching the DNA video.. I'm intrigued by it, but it doesn't really seem like a useful system for a person like me. They're talking about updating their rosters every single day, and while that sounds great... how many people really want to play one game a day when they're playing a game like this.
Maybe those people are out there, and in that case... this looks like it's a game for them. They also have a feature where they let you replay the last game that happened in real life, using the exact rosters that were used that night. Again... interesting, but I'm not sure how practical it is.
- Whew... I did have a lot to talk about today....
More Saturday Thoughts
1. Condolences to Todd and Bill...man, I didn't expect the stink fests that Michigan and OSU provided tonight.
2. I watched the 20/20 interview of Sarah Palin last night. While that show was terrible (really Sarah, guns don't kill people, people kill people is your argument), the commercial for Life On Mars was great...they ran the promo like it was 1972, right up to the bad ABC logo at the end. I loved this show on BBC America....I have no idea what to expect on the US version, but I'll be watching.
3. Burn Notice had like what , 5 episodes for the season? Maybe it needed to be shown in London as BBC "seasons" are six or so eposides.
Sports
I played an online game of Tiger on the Wii the other night. Craig beat me by a ton. I wish I could get putting down...
I played a little NCAA football today on the 360. That was fun.
I think I'm going to trade in Mario Super Sluggers because it's not a fun game and since it's a Mario game it still gets good trade in value + 20% .
Tired of Obama, McCain
Well yesterday Obama was in town, and he was around today as well, and McCain will be around for the NASCAR race. My goodness, you'd think it's the primary or something.
The thought that Obama cancelled an appearance on SNL because of a Hurricane is silly. The PC-ness of this people is insane. I mean seriously -- oh my we should stop doing everything because of a storm in California. Whatever.
Quick Saturday note
My thought, at this point, is that the Brewers best hope for making the playoffs is if they don't let the Astros go back home after Ike.
Also, they need to stop any other team from playing....Phillies..Cards... everyone.
Any chance of that happening?
Tons of demo comments coming later tonight.
Contact Us
Riding the Pines Podcast
Search Amazon.com
What We’re Playing
Dan:
