Monday night notes
- I never thought it would come to this, but I need my defense to pull out a fantasy win for me. I need 12 points out of the Colts tonight. C'mon Indy.
- I spent a good portion of yesterday on my Road to Glory career in NCAA football. Other than my daughter thinking it was very odd that Daddy was a Hawkeye, I had a decent time jumping back into the game. The problem that I just can't get over are the blocking issues. You'll see a guard kick out and have a one on one chance with the corner back and they'll turn around and run towards the middle of the field to take on a linebacker that is no where near their line of sight.
As badly maligned as the passing cone was in Madden... they really should implement a field of vision cone for your blockers. If they can see someone people in front of them, that's who they should block. They should never take a 90 degree turn to go after a guy who is 10 yards to the left of them.
- The Direct2Drive deals continue this week with RPG's. Neverwinter Nights 2 for $5 bucks sounds like a pretty good deal in my book. Also, MLB2K9 is still $5 for another week.
- Maybe more later tonight... depends on how tired I late I stay up.
This Sunday Sucked
Well it’s obvious that the Patriots aren’t what they used to be. I mean seriously how does one team get 3 delay of game penalties? Well, Tom needs to stop with the audible and start with the plays. I don’t think I have ever been so nervous with every play.
Jets fans, looks like you have a pretty good QB. Only 2 weeks in but after 2 games the Patriots do not look great at all.
In other news, I have been enjoying NHL2K10 for the Wii, Ultimate Alliance 2 and Wet. Yes, I’ve been busy.
Wow….
- Now that is an absolutely horrible offensive line. In the first two weeks, the Packers offensive line has made Adawele Ogunleye look like one of the best linemen in the league... and they follow it up in week two by giving Antwan Odom a chance to get to Derrick Brooks' all time sacks in a game record.
That line will need a ton of work if they're going to do anything in the NFC North this year.
It was just a painful game to watch. Dropped passes, a defensive line that couldn't stop anything on the ground, penalties on almost every single possession, no running game to speak of. Ugh. I'd go on... but it's just too painful to recap again.
- It's hard to compliment them much but the Brewers are about to win 5 in a row. It would be a major achievement to see them finish the season at .500 considering how they fell apart as the season went on. Plus seeing Prince set the Brewers record for RBI in a season is a great thing as well.
Early Sunday notes
- The reports of the Packers greatness (in the local media) have been greatly exaggerated. Good grief. Giving up a 3rd and 34. At least 5 drops in the first half... and they're amazingly tied at the half. They played an awful defensive half and yet have managed 2 interceptions (one returned for a TD.) Ugh. An awful half of football.
- We have 4 entrants for the Madden 360 fantasy league. If we can get 8, we can take a division in each side and get at least 10 games against a real person.
- More later...
Saturday night notes
- The Badgers game today was pretty underwhelming. Lots of turnovers and mistakes, but they still beat Wofford... which I've only ever seen in NCAA Football before today. Next week is the Big Ten opener against Michigan State, who lost a tough one to Notre Dame today. I would not be surprised at all to see MSU beat the Badgers next week though.
- In other College football news, it was great to see Washington beat USC. I love seeing a program that didn't win a game last year upset the #3 team in the nation.
- Don't forget to set your lineups for the Fantasy League. I don't think there is any chance that I can possibly put up as many points as I did in week one. Seeing my team put up 130 points in a week. I'm looking forward to taking on the Koalas tomorrow.
- Dan might be a bit hard on the graphics for NHL2K10 for the Wii. The graphics are not great, but they are Wii level. I was actually impressed that they were able to make the player faces, in the closeups, look as good as they do.
- I know we've talked a bit about the Madden online franchise, but I can't track down all of the names of the people who have wanted to play in it. Even if it's just four of us, with each person taking one team in a division... I think it could be pretty fun. Drop me an email and let me know what you are thinking.
- Today, when not watching football, I've been playing the hell out of Retro Game Challenge. If you're an old-time gamer, which if you're reading this blog, I have to believe that you are... you should really try this game out. Some of the challenges are frustrating as all get out, but the fact that you're getting this many NES style games in one cartridge for $10 or $15 (depending on where you shop) makes it well worth it.
- I picked up the Lucasarts Adventure game pack last night on Steam. Just couldn't pass it up for $10 bucks. Commenter msbonik was talking about a possible XWing/Tie Fighter pack... which is funny because I just dug all of those out about 3 weeks ago and got all of them running on my Windows 7 system. Still some of the best flight sims I've ever played.
NHL 2K 10
If you want to play hockey on the Wii, and yes I’m talking to 4 of you (even soccer sells better on the Wii), the only option you have is 2K’s NHL 2K10. The good news is that it is a fun game.
The bad news is that it is fugly. I think there were better textures on the Genesis. The game itself has a control scheme that takes some getting used to. The Wii MotionPlus enhances the game.
I feel the game right now is just too slow. Even with the speed burst, it is slow. Maybe it’s a factor of the system limitations, or something but the fastest game on ice isn’t that fast on the Wii.
This is my first hockey experience this year outside of a demo. 2K did a great job incorporating live game data via the WiiConnect which is a nice touch.
The audio doesn’t sound great either unfortunately. I was looking forward to game specific play by play but maybe I was thinking about the NBA game. I cleared the puck on a PP and was told I made a terrible shot. That’s because it was a clearance.
The game supports everything but the Wii Zapper. You use the Wiimote as a steering wheel during the Zamboni game (which I have had way too much fun with), and also supports Wii Speak.
I’m hoping to play dipsh—uh, Glen, online and we’ll test it out. Too bad he doesn’t have Wiispeak. Dumbass.
USC Sucks!
Oh man, did I enjoy that USC – Washington football game. You see Pete Carroll was one of the worst coaches the Patriots ever had so anytime you see him lose, it’s a great event.
So long championship!!
The Glen STFU Post
So I’m here just minding my own business, doing my Graduate School homework (Master’s in Finance candidate) when Glen starts Pming me…are you going to post this week, blah blah.
What a tool. Obviously someone doesn’t understand you have school, work and strategic planning in the same week can tend to drain you of the will to live…so here’s the STFU Glen post.
Based on Glen’s raving I bought NHL 2K10 Wii for overnight delivery. Glen apparently already has a bridge he’d like to sell me.
I have had a chance to play NFS Shift and boy, that game is wicked awesome. It’s too bad there is such an inverse relationship between quality of EA games and sales of EA games. Oh well.
If you need MS Points, make sure to go to dell.com and get 4000 points for $40. Pretty good deal, and now is the time to stock up for Rock Band Beatles.
Thursday officially started the TV season – and man that NBC Comedy Community looks very promising. Check it out!
You may not have been able to tell, but the only game I’ve played this week is Scribblenauts and I really didn’t get into it yet. I’m now having to decide on sleep or a game. I really should choose sleep.
Thursday night notes
- First things first... Scribblenauts is a very impressive title from a technical perspective. The controls for the game really hold me back from recommending it to everyone though. The concept behind the game is a sensational one and it allows for an insane amount of gameplay creativity, but the controls are just maddening from my play time with it.
It's well worth your time to look at it, but I've been amazed at the endless stream of compliments that the game is getting and how few people are mentioning how bad the controls are. Such is the internet, I guess.
- I've spent a bit more time with NHL2K10 for both the 360 and Wii and find that, surprisingly, I think that the Wii version is better than it's graphically superior brother. The Wii version contains all of the features of the Xbox 360/PS3 version, plus some Wii specific skills competitions.
The controls for the Wii version are the biggest challenge though. It's most definitely not a "pick up and play" experience. It will take you a while to figure out the natural shooting motion that the game demands. Add to that the fact that you will make a lot of mistakes on your passes, until you figure out that control method as well, and you have a challenging game play experience.
What surprised me about it was the fact that while I was being challenged by the controls, I really wanted to get better at them, and once I did start to grasp them (pardon the pun,) I found the game to be incredibly enjoyable. Again, when I got my first goal, I was really excited about the moment.
You can contrast that with my first 'Be A Pro' moment from NHL10, where I started a career as a goalie and got drafted #1 overall by the Maple Leafs.. and my reaction was... 'Oh, alrighty then.'
If you're at all curious about my NHL2K10 career on the Wii, you can take a look at it here. (It also gives you a glimpse into their online stat tracking and game blogging features.)
- After playing 2K10 for a good part of the night, I spent a bit of time on NHL10 for the Xbox 360 and have found the 'Be a Pro' mode to be a bit more in depth that the previous year. They've added a store feature where you can get new equipment for your player (unlockable via gameplay accomplishments or via purchase in the Xbox and PS3 online stores.) The new equipment enhances the ratings for your player and is well worth the time to enhance.
The goalie controls have been altered and, for the most part, they are improved. One of the major changes was how the 'hug the post' works. In the past, if you pushed your goalie to the post, he would get stuck to it. In this years version, you need to pull the left trigger to get the goalie to stick to the post. It's a nice change, but I have found some issues with it already. Whenever I would try to get the goalie to hug the right post when my goalie was on the right side of the crease, he would slide to the other side of the net and stick to the left post. Perhaps I'm just not using it correctly, but it's definitely an odd thing to see... and it hasn't cost me any goals yet... but it is a touch annoying.
My plan is to spend a bit more time with NHL10 tomorrow night and see how the board play and some of the other added features work, but I do think that what I've seen thus far are some nice enhancements to last years game.
- Is anyone following baseball anymore? The closest division race is 4 games (Twins behind the Tigers,) and the NL Wild card is a 3.5 game lead with 2 weeks to go. Not the close races that we've seen in years past.
- I'm incredibly tempted to pick up the Lucasarts Adventure pack for $9.99 on Steam. Both Indy games, the Dig, and Loom for $9.99? Damn, that's a lot of point-and-click gaming value for $2.50 a title.
NHL2K10 first impressions
One thing is for sure, I am enjoying the games that I'm playing thus far. The easiest way for me to tell how much fun I'm having with a sports game is when I celebrate after my first win. I scored a short-handed game winner against the Pens with 16 seconds to go and jumped off the couch. To me, that means that I'm getting into the game, and enjoying what I'm doing.
So far, it feels like a nice game of hockey. There is a good flow and it seems like you can score some nice goals in your games.
The control scheme seems to play quite a bit differently from the EA series, but that's neither a good or a bad thing. It's just different. After a time, I was able to get used to it and was able to pull off a few one-timers and pull off a couple of special moves and beat a goalie for a score.
I wanted to try and post some of my franchise blogs, just to see how that feature worked out, but for whatever reason, I cannot connect my Xbox Live account to my 2K account. (I can connect my PS3 account to it though. Perhaps there are some Xbox Live issues tonight that I'm not aware of.)
One disappointment that I do have is the fact that the rosters do not include any of the rookies. I know this is a normal thing, but I was really looking forward to seeing how Tavares was ranked for the Isles. Rumor has it that the newest roster update will be up within the next day or so, so maybe the rookies will be included there.
I have seen a few other issues (defenders not taking the right approaches or angles in trying to get the puck from the a player bringing it up ice, goalies being a bit out of a natural position,) but some of those things might be able to be corrected with a good set of sliders.
I would have to say that after playing 3 games tonight, my impressions are pretty favorable. I wasn't a huge fan of the series last year and was glad to see that they were changing direction this year, and thus far I like what I've seen.
Right off the bat, I would say that the game is definitely worth a rental for a hockey fan. Purchase... that will take a bit more time to decide.
Early Tuesday night notes
- NHL2K10 showed up today for the Xbox 360. I just finished installing it and will give it some time tonight after the kids get to sleep.
- Also picked up Scribblenauts and Mario and Luigi for the DS.
How am I going to have the time for these games along with NHL10 and NHL2K10 for the Wii, which will be showing up tomorrow?
- I rented IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey for the PS3 as well. Quite an impressive flight title from my time with it thus far. Especially for a console game...
- I'll have my early impressions of 2K10 later tonight.
How about those Pats?
I had to work until 10PM my time tonight, but I got home to catch the last 2 minutes of the Patriots game. Thankfully Buffalo didn’t take a knee in the end zone. There’s stupid, and then there was that, but it explains why NE is 1-0 and BUF is 0-1.
In other news this was on the PS Blog:
“Hey all, today we are thrilled to announce that Portland Trail Blazers All-Star guard Brandon Roy will be the cover athlete for NBA 10: THE INSIDE, which hits stores on October 6th, exclusively for PlayStation Portable.”
By saying exclusively for PSP, they mean there’s no PS3 NBA game this year, which is too bad in one way (less options) but okay in another (the game sucked).
I love the PSP cover art that says NBA 10 is the #1 rated game for the PSP…wasn’t it the ONLY game last year for the PSP?
Monday night notes
- Woo! Islanders preseason hockey on the NHL Network! I loves me the NHL. Doesn't look like I'll be seeing any of Taveres, but it's hockey all the same.
Gamefly shipped out my hockey games today, so I have that to look forward to this week. Lots o' hockey this week.
- Could the Pats have been any luckier tonight? You do have to take advantage of the other teams mistakes, and that's what they did.
- I know that I don't like Gus Johnson's play by play, but Mike Greenberg makes me turn off whatever device he is on... and as a result, no Raiders/Chargers on my TV tonight.
- If you're looking for some cheap PC games, Direct 2 Drive has a $5 sale going on. Included are MLB2K9, the complete X-Com collection, and quite a few others. Well worth a look. I'm a Steam fan myself, but for this price point... it might be worth a look.
Sunday night notes
- What a weekend. No podcast this week. I was up until 2 in the morning on Friday night doing work, then had a bachelor party all day yesterday (got home at 3:15 from that,) and spent the better part of the day recovering from said bachelor party. I think I'll be passing on beer for a little while.
- It looks pretty likely that the Badgers are a 7 or 8 win team this year. They really struggled yesterday against a good Fresno State team, but had to intercept a pass in Double OT to win it.
- What an odd game between the Packers and Bears tonight. 4 interceptions for Cutler, the Packers offense looked anemic through most of the night, but somehow managed a late win (Something they could never do last year.)
- Gotta tell you that I'm pretty damn excited for the hockey games coming out this week. I should have 2K10 here in the next day or so, I have the Wii version of 2K10 coming from Gamefly and should have a copy of NHL10 soon as well. I'll be totally wrapped up in those games this week.
- If you're a DS gamer, Toys R Us has Scribblenauts with a $15 gift card on Tuesday and they have Mario and Luigi with a $10 gift card tomorrow. My wife loves the Mario and Luigi RPG's and Scribblenauts looks really interesting. TRU is rapidly becoming one of the best places to pick up games on release day with all of their gift card deals.
- Have a great week everyone.
NPD – It’s all about the spin
Rumors abound about the disaster forming that is Madden on the Wii. Apparently the game sold a whopping 67,000 copies. Last year, the game sold about 130,000.
Now that is a huge drop. Is it the economy? Partly. Is it because people were getting burned buying crap? Probably. Is it because this year’s Wii version still sucks? Absolutely.
On the other hand many sites are promoting that Madden is #1, dethroning Wii Sports Resort, which is a pretty big deal these days. Of course, Madden doesn’t usually just barely beat out the competition, it crushes it.
According to industry sources, while Madden dropped somewhat across all platforms, it’s nowhere near the drop that happened with the NCAA series…so there’s that.
For the record, I certainly see why the gaming public would stay away from Madden. The recent track record hasn’t been good. It’s too bad that the gaming public is taking it out on a good game. I just hope it doesn’t foreshadow or give someone the idea that crap games sell well 
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