Only 1 good commercial
Not happy about the results of the Super Bowl, but at least it was a good game.
I only saw one commercial that I liked.
Yes I’m alive
I know it's been a long time since I've posted. I honestly don't have a good reason why. I guess I could blame some personal things going on or just the fact that I haven't been playing many games, but neither is a good reason.
Gaming:
Madden: I'm in season 3 of my Patriots franchise having won my first 2 Super Bowls. My players are starting to show their age however and ratings are dropping. Overall I'm rated an 83. Part of that is that I refuse to pay top dollar for most players. I'll pay someone rated an 80 the minimum rather than someone rated an 86 10M a year. I did find a strange bug this year. In week 6 I decided to try to trade around some draft picks. Being 5-0 I found 2 teams that are 0-5. Both were willing to trade me pick for pick. So my 1st round for their 1st, my 2nd for their 2nd and so on. That's an easy way to start boosting your team. Linebackers jumping 20 feet in the air making 1 hand catches still piss me off.
NFS: The Run - I have only played about an hour of this one, but I like it. My son just finished the run across country so maybe I'll start putting some more time in. I actually like the gamepad controls better than the wheel.
Diablo 2 - Yea, still playing this one...enough said
Movies
Rise of the Planet of the Apes - This is a very good movie. I was not a fan of the ones in the 70's but I loved this one
Captain America - Just so so. I really liked how they picked the guy to become Captain America, but not really enough action in the movie for me
Music
I've been using Spotify since Dan sent me an invite and still like it a lot. Not everything I look for is on there of course, but I have found a bunch of new music. My current favorite is "Falling in Reverse". I had never heard of them, but they were a Spotify recommendation. Now I listen to them all the time. They will be in Atlanta on January 24th. It's a Tuesday night. I will be going!
Sports
The Patriots D has been terrible and I don't see it getting any better. They might be the strongest team in the AFC, but if the O has a weak week they can't hold on. I still think the Packers will repeat.
Red Sox - What were they thinking? Bobby Valentine? Give me a break. We might not sink to the level of Baltimore, but we are going to have issue this year. On a positive note, I'm glad they let Papelbon go. Give Bard a shot. Sure he might be a little rough stll, but I honestly think he's ready. Of course maybe that's why I'm writing here (when I do) and not on the Red Sox payroll.
Clemson looked great in the ACC title game and I think they can handle West Virginia. Next year looks very promising too with Boyd, Watkins and Hopkins coming back. I expect Dwayne Allen to leave for the NFL, so that will hurt, but Watkins was so impressive as a true Freshman, I can't wait to see him next year.
Boston Sports
WOW. I should end the post there, but let's talk about this.
Haynesworth - I like this move. A 5th round pick for someone with his talet is a great trade. If he plays like he should it's a great addition. If he thinks he's still in Washington the Pats cut him and it only cost a 5th round pick.
Ochocinco - I'm not as happy with this move. I know they turned Moss around. Maybe they can do that here as well, but he's not as talented as Moss, so the risk is a lot higher. I agree the Pats need a play making WR, but I see Ochocinco's attitude overshadowing what he does on the field. Maybe not in the first few games, but once he goes 2 games with 2 catches his attitude will catch up with the Pats.
Buckholz - Seems his back is worse than anyone thought and may be lost for the season.
Crawford - Out today with elbow pain. Let's hope the cortizone shot he got helps.
J.D. Drew - says his shoulder's been bothering him most of the year. Well it's a good thing he's on the DL then. The Red Sox have had some young OF's like Josh Reddick step up this season and fill in nicely. Pesonally, I'd like to see Reddick keep the starting job in right when Drew comes back.
Red Sox trades - of course there is a lot of speculation on what the Red Sox will do before the trade deadline. I don't know that they have to make any moves, but a high quality starting pitcher would be nice. James Shields? That's who I'd like them to get.
A post
During the podcast it was discussed on how little I had posted recently, so I figured I'd try and find some stuff to post about. I really have not been doing a lot of gaming and since this is a gaming site the relevant content has just not been there.
Duke Nukem PC - the single player game sucks. There is not need to sugar coat it. Multiplayer is a TON better but seems like the same game we've all player before under different names.
Madden 2011 - I started a fantasy draft franchise a couple weeks ago. I did get the first pick and took Tom Brady. It quickly went down hill from there, but I do like the outcome of my team. Calvin Johnson Jr for my WR and Willie Parker as RB. My O and D lines are my weak points.
MLB 2K11 - Played thru season 2 with My Player. I'm now the #1 player on the team and have moved from SS to 3rd so that Jed Lowrie could play short instead of sitting on the bench and having a guy rated a 62 play 3rd. Whey they didn't move Jed to 3rd I don't know. In season 2 we won 102 games and won the AL East by 18 games only to get swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Twins. So we're back in spring training and I don't know if I have the desire to play thru another season.
I've really started looking into Pinball Emulators. I've gotten Future Pinball installed and working, but can't seem to get Virtual Pinball and PinMame working right. I don't know what I'm missing. The real confusing part is that it seems they all install as almost a portable app. I'm really surprised someone hasn't zipped up their setup and posted it online with "unzip to C: and create shortcuts to these EXEs" It just seems that simple yet I can't get it working. I keep getting VBS errors. If anyone already has this type of setup complete and would be willing to zip and share, please let me know. If I could get that running the next thing I'd look at is HyperSpin as a front end and then MAYBE putting together a full cabinet to run it.
Duke Nukem if ever
I bought DNF for the PC today as I knew I would. On trying to install I instantly get an error that says "No language configured." 30 minutes on hold later with 2kGames I'm told to install steam manually, then click "add game". I do that, enter my code and my copy is now registered. It then starts to download DNF. WTF. If I wanted to download a 4GB game I would have bought it on Steam. I have the fucking DVD in the drawer, but it will not let me use it. To make matter worse I'm getting a blazing 128kb/s. At this rate I think I have 3 weeks left until the download is done.
What’s in a title?
As you can tell I haven't posted in a while. No real excuse, just haven't.
Over the weekend the family and I want to see the new X-Men movie. It's not a must see, but we all like it. It was fun seeing the development of characters and there are some good action sequences. I didn't realize going into it that this was considered a reboot of the franchise and as such saw some continuity issues between this film and the last 4. I just assumed it was a prequel. Knowing about the reboot going in would have alleviated some questions during the movie.
I've been playing some more MLB2K11 post patch. I still like the game, but still don't feel drawn to it like I was with 2k10. I've had twice now where a ball hit to center would be picked up by the outfielder and they would not throw it in. The runner gets to 2nd base and all of a sudden I have the ball. You never see the OF throw it, or the ball travel thru the air. I've also had 1 case where when attempting to steal home the pitcher went thru the motion, the ball moved 2 feet then stopped in mid air. After I scored the ball continue to the plate and a ball was called. Speaking of stealing I've noticed that with runners on the corners, if the guy on 1st takes off for 2nd, the catcher usually just holds the ball. Sometimes if it's me stealing 2nd he will throw to 3rd, but he never throws when I'm the one on 3rd. I never saw any of those 3 situations pre-patch.
Is tomorrow going to be a big day? A year ago I would have bet on it, but after seeing IGN give a negative review and the comments I've heard about the demo I'm just not so sure. I'm sure I'll end up going to the store and picking up Duke, but I'm just not as excited for it as I thought I would be. I'm not sure about Glen and Dan, but I'll be getting the PC version...assuming I get it at all.
Glad to see Miami get beat. Once the Celtics were out, I didn't care who won as long as it wasn't Miami.
Speaking of Boston, the B's are trying to force a game 7 tonight. As many of you know, I'm not a big hockey fan, but I am a Boston sports fan, so I have to pull for the B's. I've watched more hockey in this years playoffs than in the past 10 years combined. I have to admit I've enjoyed it too. I doubt I would enjoy it so much if I didn't have a team I was really pulling for
Music
So I listened to the new Avril CD last night. I use to be a fan, but OMG, that CD sucks. I didn't like a single song off of it. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less as they have been going downhill since her debut and the last one was boarderline at best.
One CD I'm really looking forward to is the new 3 Doors Down. It's been listed as being released "Spring 2011" for a while now, but I read last night that it's been pushed back to July. Three more months. I'd have to say I think 3 Doors Down is my favorite band right now. I've loved every CD and from listening to the first single off the new one I don't see that changing here. Now I just need them to schedule a local show.
Random stuff
Thanks for the feedback on the images I posted the other day. I have finally gone thru the entire shoot and really only got a couple more that stand out. I determined that I need some better gear if I'm going to shoot sports. I made the first move this weekend and bought a new camera body. I picked up a Rebel T2i. 18MP, but the most important part to me is that the noise at ISO 1600 is about the same as the noise at ISO 400 on my Rebel XT and Lightroom can clean it better too. So I now feel like I can shoot 2 stops faster with the same lens. I do want to pickup a new lens, but the one I want (70-200 2.8 IS II) is $2,500 and out of my budget right now. Here's a link to what I think was the best picture I got at the game. It's an INT for the Georgia Force. http://www.flickr.com/photos/craigtompkins/5618737155/
I went to the Gwinnett Braves (AAA) last night as they hosted Norfolk Tide (Orioles). I was able to go in about 2 hours before the game and watch the Tide take BP and warmups. The SS looked farmiliar, but I didn't know why. Then I recognized his name during the lineups. It was Nick Green, who played for the Red Sox in 2009. Green actually pitched 2 no hit innings in the 8th and 9th against the White Sox that year. I always liked and hope that he gets called up somewhere again soon.
As for gaming, yea, um, I haven't played much of anything. Not even MLB2K11 which I do still enjoy. Just too much other stuff going on right now that is taking priority. I will make time for Duke Nukem for sure - yes even if it bombs. I'll be picking up the PC version, but will definilty be interested in seeing which system it sells best on. I'm going to guess the 360.
AFL
As Dan mentioned I was at an AFL game last night. I do enjoy the games and it might be the only pro football we have fora while. What Dan didn't mention is that I had a press pass and was on or just off the field for the whole game. I've got a lot of photos to process, but looking thru them quickly I know I only several keepers and a couple really good shots. I do see how out dated my camera is (Rebel XT) and will have to upgrade it soon. The lens I was shooting with was a bit slow for the lighting conditions, but I can't afford the faster lens that I want, so next time I'll rent it before the game. I didn't have time to do so last night as I didn't know I was getting the press pass until about 3 hours before game time. Here are 2 quick shots and I'll post more to my flickr account when I finish processing them.
- As Glen mantioned I too signed up for the Amazon cloud. 20 Gig for 69 cents was a no brainer for me. I however had to ask a co-worker who Glee was. I still don't know, but I'm told it's High School Musical TV.
- MLB announced today a 7 day DL for concussions. I'm all for this and think it's the best off season move in baseball.
- I finished my first season of MLB2K11 in My Player mode. I'm a SS for the Red Sox and got called up from AA over the All Star Break. We won the World Series over the Giants 4-3. Of course we beat the Yankees 4-3 to make it to the Series. After a full season I've got some quick comments, both good and bad
- It's definitly more difficult starting out, but after 1 full season I'm finally comfortable with my skill set. Of course I want to be better, but I'm hitting about .280 and I think I had 13 HRs. Nothing spectacular, but considering how much longer it takes to get skill points this year I'm happy with my progress. I do strike out a lot however, but that's me haiving a hard time with curves and sliders that start in the zone and move away from me.
- My arm strength is an 80, but I still can't get the ball to 1B in the air on any balls hit to my right.
- I have a hard time turning what should be easy double plays as it takes too long to get the ball out of my glove for underhand throws. Overhand throws are a much faster animation and work fine.
- Haing played about 150 games between AA and the Majors, I have yet been involved in a 4-6-3 Double Play. I have to assume that happens without me if at all.
- I've also noticed that I have to cover close to 2nd whenever there is a runner on and a lefty up to bat. Not a big deal in itself, but I have yet to have the pitcher try a pickoff with me.
- I've had 3 times now where we had bases loaded and me on 1st or 2nd and the guy on 3rd has tried to steal home. Not Crawford or Elsbury either.
- Often times after the game, my team seems to show the wrong emotions. If we win we have our heads down and if we loose we clap.
- After this season the Red Sox lost 1. Papelbon (expected), Jed Lowrie, Varitek, Wakefield, Gonzalez (so much for that extension), Oritz, Scutaro, J.D. Drew and Josh Reddick. That seems like a lot of turnover to me, but I guess we will not know for sure for another 10 months or so.
Thoughts
- MLB2k11 - I still like the game, but after playing 10+ seasons of 2K10 I'm starting to get tired of it already this year and I'm still in my first year. Of course I am just doing the My Player mode so maybe I should switch to Franchise mode. My issue with Franchise mode is that I will want to play all games and not sim them, but I can't do that for multiple baseball seasons.
- Tiger Woods 12 - The demo has been out for a week and I still have not grabbed it. I probably should. I really want to like a golf game again, but I don't think the motion controllers on any system are the way to go. Sure it might be cool for some, but as someone who takes his golf pretty seriousely it's just not accurate enough. So the question becomes "Can I be satisfied with an arcade stick controlled golf game?" I probably could if done right. By right I mean, take the arcade aspect out of the game. No adding spin after you hit the ball. No putting lines that you can move directly to the hole. That sort of thing.
- NFL - By now we all know the NFL is on hold. I really don't know which side I'm on and honestly don't care. As a fan it bothers me because I think those guys entering the draft are in limbo and frankly I don't want to miss football. I have seen several polls online asking what you will do on Sunday's without football. Not a single one (that I've seen) has my idea as an option. If there are no NFL games, I think the NCAA should move some of their games to Sunday. Maybe make it the 2-4 biggest games of the week? What do you guys think?
MLB2K11 First Impressions
I too picked up MLB 2K11 for the 360 last night. I kind of wish I waited considering I paid $60 for it and now see it for $32 shipped http://goo.gl/1LqNt
As for my thoughts. I jumpted right into My Player mode as well. I created a SS with the Red Sox. I'm going to assume that most of you know what My Player mode is or can do a google search so I'm not going to go into details on that.
My first thought is that it's much harder than 2k10. Of course to be fair, I haven't had these kind of stats in a long time, but it definitly seems harder. Pitches seem to get to the plate a lot faster. Last year I could wait to determine the pitch type and see if it was going to be a ball or strike before deciding to swing. This year fast balls are getting by me and if I try to guess fastball I'm way out in front of an off speed pitch. I've played 15 games and am batting .250 or so without a HR yet. Baserunning is about the same, but I am 1 for 1 in stolen bases. Last year I went 0 for my first 100 or so it seemed. I'm still having a hard time determining if a batted ball is going to be caught or not so I have gotten doubled off a couple times on line drives.
Fielding itself seems about the same, but throwing the ball is taking a bit to get use to. I have to be aware of the throwing power this year or I will miss the 1st baseman and get a throwing error. I have not tried pitching yet.
The part that's going to make this more difficult overall is that you don't get as many skill points for completing different actions this year. The highest skill point value I have seen so far is 25 points.
I have seen a few nice touches that even after 7 seasons of 2K10 I didn't see. I got an infield hit after hitting the ball off the mound and the ball changed direction and went behind the charging SS. I have also been safe at 1st on a throwing error where the opponent threw the ball into the dugout and I was awarded 2nd base. That was great.
I loved 2k10 and so far I'm liking 2k11 even more.
Hitting the fan part 2
Well the TV tech came out (a day late) and says he will have to buy a video board - HELLO I told you that on the phone! The problem is that the board is not made any more so I have to buy a used board and who knows how long that will last. So I took Dan's advise. Now me taking Dan's advise is not usually a good idea, but I think he might be right with this one. I bought an HDMI to DVI adapter and am just using the DVI input. I don't push sound to the TV anyway, so I really shouldn't be loosing anything.
For my son's PC, I'm building him a middle of the road machine. Nothing special. He's in 10th grade, so I figure 2 years from now he'll need a new high powered laptop anyway. This machine should last until then.
We took the car to the dealer and they replaced the head gasket. There is still a leak in the engine. So we are getting a brand new engine installed. They had to order it so we will not get the car back until next week, but I really can't complain about paying $50 deductibleto get a new engine at 88K miles. Thank God I got the extended warranty. I don't recommend them for any items other than car or house, but I'm glad I got it.
When it hits the fan
Monday of last week my son tells me his PC is locked up. I check it out and sure enough the keyboard and mouse are off. No power to them. The CPU fan is just screeming. I do a reboot and think everything is fine, but 2 minutes later the CPU fan starts spinning faster and faster and faster. Then the keyboard and mouse go dead again, sound stops playing and the screen is frozen. Not good. I shut it down and boot it up on Tuesday and it hasn't locked yet, but it does not sound good. Now his PC is my hand me down Alienware. It's a P4 @ 2.8 with 4GB of RAM. Plenty for what he does on the PC, but getting old. I think I'll have to replace it.
On Tuesday I turn on entertainment system to watch TV and the signal is interlaced. I did some testing and found that when this happens I can turn off/on the xbox 360, the stereo or the TV and it will show up correctly. So I think it's an HDMI issue (everything goes into the stereo as HDMI which then sends to the TV via HDMI). On Thursday the TV will not display at all. Just a "check input" error. After testing with another TV I have determined that the HDMI input on the TV has gone bad. I called a TV repair shop. He says that Samsung uses 1 digital input board on this TV that has been known to go bad (which I did see people talking about online). Cost is about $250 to replace it, so still cheaper than the $2,000 TV I want.
Early this week my wife's check engine light came on. A computer check says the #4 cylinder is not firing. I talked to a mechanic friend of mine who suggested replacing the spark plugs and swapping 2 of the coils to see if the issue goes away or moves to another cylinder. I did that today and there was no change except that it's running rougher than even yesterday. After some testing with a guy from AutoZone we discover that when we pulled the spark plug out of #4 there is antifreeze on the tip - Blown head gasket.
On another note, I did get You Don't Know Jack for the wii. Not quite as fun as the PC versions, but still worth the money. And yes I do remember how fun the PC versions were, I introduced my son to them about 3 months ago.
SnowLanta
As some of you know, I currently live just outside Atlanta. I'm not sure when the nickname started, but it's been called HotLanta as long as I can remember. Today however it's anything but. We went to bed last night with warnings of snow and ice and predictions of 3-5 inches. I took that to mean "this is the south and we panic at the thought of snow so it will be about 1-2 inches". Nope. I woke up to 5 inches of snow with it still coming down. It recently turned to freezing rain so my yard now has 6 inches of snow with a 1/2 inch of ice on top. The forecast calls for highs of 30 today, so it will be tomorrow before it starts to melt at all. While those of you that are use to snow are laughing (I am too being from Boston) you also have to remember that there aren't many snow plows or salt / sand trucks down here. Atlanta only has 8, a few towns have 1 or 2, but most don't have any at all.
Needless to say I'm not going to work today. As long as I have Internet access today I'll be just fine hold up in here. Time to get some gaming in. I have installed Links 2003 and will see if that's as good as I remember. I've also installed John Daly Pro Stroke Golf (PC). That should be a good test to see how far golf games have come in the past 8 years. I wish Tiger was coming out on the PC this year as I'd like to play Augusta National. I guess I'll have to get it on the 360.
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