NHL10 screen shots
EA has sent us the first screenshots for NHL10.
Click on each picture for a bigger version of the file.
Enjoy!
Tuesday Thoughts
Tonight is the night I get tested for sleep apnea…I get to enjoy an overnight at a local hospital where I am watched. Should be very exciting. I really hope they find something wrong so it can be fixed, which is better than being ‘inconclusive’…
I did buy the soccer game for the DSi…and it plays like a soccer game. My son likes it…
Tuesday notes
- Absolutely terrific hockey last night. The Pittsburgh/Washington series is a joy to watch. Great back and forth action, and a 3rd overtime game in the first 6. I can't wait for game 7.
The Vancouver/Chicago series finished up last night with a 7-5 Chicago win. I can't remember the last time I saw that many goals scored in a conference semi-final. Chicago just wouldn't quit in that game. I always pull for the Canadian teams in the playoffs, so I was disappointed to see the Canucks lose, but I was pretty happy when Adam Burish (former Badger) got his first goal of the series.
Good hockey all around.
- So, the Logitech Harmony adapter for the PS3 has been released at a price of $60. Here's the first review that I've seen for it.
I have to admit that I'm tempted by this... just so I don't have to have my PS3 controllers sitting around for my daughters to mess with, but the $60 price tag is quite a bit higher than I would like to pay for it. Grrr.
- So, that DSi Ware game from yesterday, Real Soccer, is priced at $9.99 at Gamestop as well. So, for those of you without a DSi, that's a good price for it either way.
Monday notes
- Back from yet another trip. It'll be nice to settle in at home and not have anything to really do for a while.
- Real Soccer 2009 has come out on the DSi shop today. I'm sure that Dan will be providing you with some information about it. It sounds as though it's almost the same as the DS game that just came out recently, but with a few minor additions (and subtractions.) Heck, I still have a lot of DSi points left from my purchase, maybe I'll pick it up as well.
- I enjoy how the Brewers seem to play much better while I'm out of town. They must not like the pressure that I put on them.
- I'm debating putting together a solo podcast for the site where I make stupid jokes about sports and sports games. It might fill in some of the times for when Dan and I can't do the show together. Not sure if it'll work out though. I don't want to take away from the regular show. We'll see.
Early Friday morning notes
- I'm heading to Michigan tomorrow for my best friend's graduation later today, so I probably won't be posting again until early next week. Why not stay up late and get something posted, right? heh.
- Blizzard really does have their stuff together sometimes. I went to check on my Battle.net account and saw that you could add all of the cd-keys for your Blizzard games to your account. From there, you can download the games from their site. Nice to not have to worry about the CD's for any of their games whenever I have the urge to play them again.
- Dan and I are working on getting some new guests for the podcast, but we may have to wait on a few of them until after E3. Hopefully they'll work out.
- Manny suspended for 50 games. Will any slugger survive this era?
- Thanks to a friend, I just got done watching an episode of Three Sheets, a show on the Mojo network, where the host goes from city to city learning about how people get drunk in that city. Very entertaining stuff. Much better than what people each in each city.
- See you in a few days.
3D Realms Dead
Big news on the net right now is that 3D Realms has gone out of business. No idea if it’s true or if this means the end of Duke Nukem. A real shocker if this is true…
Wednesday notes
- Looks like EA (along with the NCAA) is going back into the courts again, this time with a suit being filed by a former college quarterback who has said that they are being exploited by both organizations.
Somehow or another someone has to finally figure out a way to either state that the scholarship that an athlete receives is their payment for their likeness and such in college... or start paying them a percentage of the profits off of the items sold with their likeness.
- So, I was checking back in my emails from the last year and saw that MLB Power Pros 2008 was announced right around this time last year and took a chance to contact 2K Sports to see if the new version of the game was going to be announced any time soon. At this point they have no info though.
The reason I was curious about this version is due to the fact that this years release in Japan included online play, the World Baseball Classic, and other new features.
I really hope that we do hear something about this soon.
- The complete lineup for Guitar Hero: Smash Hits has been put together. I have to say that I'm pretty damn happy with it....
Anthrax: Caught in a Mosh
Pantera: Cowboys from Hell
White Zombie: Thunderkiss '65
Giddyup....
Early Wednesday notes
- Just caught up on Dollhouse... man... now that's a cliff hanger. Here's to hoping that the series will get picked up.
- The NHL Phoenix Coyotes have filed for Chapter 11. One of the owners of Blackberry has offered to buy the team, on the condition that they move the franchise to Southern Ontario. Now, I will freely admit that I'm no expert on Canadian geography... but where would that be? London? Hamilton?
The story is a very interesting one, as the NHL stepped in to prevent the sale of the team. They've removed the owner from the ability to make an decisions for the team. This will be interesting to see how it plays out.
- The Brewers have won 17 in a row against Pittsburgh. Now, that's just crazy.
- Has ESPN finally gone over the edge? I just turned on Sportscenter and maybe it's a light sports day... They just spent 2 minutes talking about how the Reds/Marlins game was the first ever matchup of pitchers whose last names began with 'Vol.' Good grief.
A new approach to the sports game franchise
Just about everyone who has played their fair share of sports games on the PC or on consoles has lamented the yearly release structure of each sports game franchise. Whether it be Madden, NBA2K, or MLB: The Show, we see a new title released every season with minor enhancements from the last years version.
The amount of time that the developers, usually, have to work on each title doesn't usually get much past 8 or 9 months for a given game... and that's being rather optimistic.
Unless there is a major flaw in the game, any minor issues you'll have with a game will more than likely be replicated into next years version.
So, what can be done to break the cycle?
Gamers usually talk about skipping a year or two after buying a new version of a given franchise and while that may work for that individual, it won't do too much to try and fix the core issues.
Another thing that gamers usually talk about is the hope that developers will throw the consumers a bone and just release a roster update (for a lesser charge) every other year, but then you would have to believe that the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL (and their players associations) would not be happy about that scenario. I'm sure that each of them count on the revenue that they receive from all of the game sales and would prefer that those revenues are not cut in half just to benefit the people buying the games.
After that thrilling introduction, you have to be wondering what my idea is. I don't really think that it's an incredibly unique one, but it's one that has already worked for another hugely successful franchise.
My suggestion is that sports games should follow the Activision/Call of Duty school.
For those of you that don't pay attention to that series, Activision alternates between two different developers with each version of the game. How has it worked for them? It's been incredibly successful.
Call of Duty 2 and Modern Warfare were developed by Infinity Ward. Call of Duty 3 and World at War were developed by Treyarch.
The result of this is games that held true to their previous versions, but with the bi-annual releases of the titles, I believe that the developers were able to do more with the engine and make their titles better.
My suggestion would be to take the one large studio that is working on the titles, split their staff in half and create two teams that would work on alternating years.
I would like to think that would take us out of the cycle of receiving minor enhancements to each game, as you would have people working on new features for 18 to 20 months. You would have to deal with sharing the engine and what you'd be working on, but I think that the healthy competition between the two units could help to provide us with a much more complete game series in the long run.
It's not the most innovative or unique idea for sports games, but I think it's a concept that doesn't cause any developers their employment and allows them to come up with more ideas that could benefit the games, and sports gamers, in the long run.
Tuesday notes
- In an effort to try to get things back to normal... I figured I would get a post in this morning.
- Via Japanesebaseball.com, I found this link to the latest Famitsu article in regards to Pro Yakyuu Spirits 6. The google translation has some issues with it, but you can pick up the gist of the fact that they've added a manager mode where you make all of the calls from the dugout. Could be interesting, could be pointless. Still, it's a new addition.
Apparently there are other things that have been added, but I would have to rely on people who can actually read Japanese to get more information from the document.
Man... if I didn't have my game purchase restriction in place, I would pick this up when it comes out in the summer. I really love the series and it's a terrific baseball game. Maybe I'll grab it in January...
- Man, did you see that Rick Ankiel catch last night? Ugly crash into the wall. Thankfully it sounds like he's ok.
- Ovechkin and Crosby with hat-tricks in the same game? Awesome. For my money, Ovechkin is the most exciting player to watch in the game right now. I'm really pulling for the Caps (as well as the Canucks... gotta root for the Canadian team.)
- Back to the grind...
Monday night follow up
- I need to post about the Brewers offensive struggles more often. heh.
Quick Monday notes
- Seriously... how can the Brewers expect to win many games when they only score 13 runs in the last 6 games. This team is going to through a serious hitting slump right now. The funny thing is that the papers just keep talking about how great their doing at taking walks. I guess when you're struggling, it's better to look for some silver lining.
- What are your feelings on Mother's Day gifts? I'm always curious as to what other people think about picking up Mother's Day gifts for their spouse.
- Installed the release candidate for Windows 7 on my new PC and it's just screaming along. I'm hoping to spend a bit of time gaming on it tonight or tomorrow night just to see how it really holds up.
Riding the Pines – Episode 27
They said it couldn't be done.
They hoped that it was done...
Dan and I have recorded Episode 27 of Riding the Pines.
In this episode, we pretty much play catch up on the last few months, my trip to Paris, the new information on Madden 10, and a few other games that we've been playing.
You can find the podcast at the following link, via our Feedburner page, or at iTunes.
We'll try to get another show done in the next few weeks, but definitely not next week, as I'll be out of town. Beyond that, no promises. heh.
Enjoy!
Podcast is coming!
I’m pleased to report that Glen and I ranted on and on this weekend and we will have a Podcast posted at some point. Glen is editing it now.
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