Super Bowl Sunday notes
From what I hear at work, things should be slowing down there and it will allow me to get back to a somewhat normal schedule. That should be nice.
- As for the beta of the game that I was playing the other day... well, it's certainly the next version of the game that I had played in the past.
- I'm curious as to if anyone you know actually has 'Super Bowl parties.' I don't know anyone that hosts an event for the game unless they actually like one of the teams that is participating.
As for me, I'll be playing hockey tonight and won't see a minute of the game, and don't really mind that I'll miss the entire thing. I've steered clear of the hype for it and have been quite content with that fact.
Also, just to let you know, this is a typical behavior for me every year. I typically don't watch the game unless the Packers are playing in it. Just don't see the point.
- In other gaming news, I finally gave RAGE a test seeing as how it's gone through about 10 different patches since release, and I'm happy to report that all of the screen tearing issues that I was running into with it in the past, are now gone. The game itself seems to be confused as to whether it wants to be a car racing game or a FPS though. Maybe that's only because I'm in the first few hours of the game.
- Madtowner nailed it with his analysis of Twisted Metal based on the demo. Why on earth would steering be different when you are driving in reverse? Eventually you can get used to it, but it just doesn't make any sense at all.
- I'm working on scheduling an interview with the Grand Slam Tennis 2 team, so hopefully I can bring that to you in the next few days.
- Still hoping to be able to put together an interview with the SSX and UFC staffs as well, but... well, you know you can't get all that you want.
- Enjoy the game, to those of you watching.
Thursday night notes
-Man, it's Thursday night and this is the first time I've had a chance to get to the PC since Monday. Work has been incredibly crazy this week. I've had about 1 hour to play Skyrim this week and that about sums up all of the gaming time I've had. Weekend is coming up soon, hopefully that'll mean some time for relaxation.
- One of the things that you have to worry about when a new platform is released is that the titles on older platforms will start to get neglected. That certainly looks to be the case with MLB12: The Show for the PS3. Removing franchise features from the console version so that you can spend more time working on the PSVita version? Um.. yeah, that's not a big win for the rest of us.
Considering the fact that online play for The Show has been terrible for the last few years and they're still not really addressing all of the issues there, it's just hard to look for much improvements in this years game.
- I have to agree with Bill Harris in his feelings about the rumor of Microsoft eliminating the ability to play used games in games for their new console. As much as I would like to see Gamestop reigned in... I don't want retail markets being the only ones that control the pricing for games. You could look at titles only dropping $10 to $20 each year after release. That would absolutely suck for gamers on a budget. If Microsoft tries this, they will kill their next console before it even gets off the ground.
- Congratulations to Prince Fielder (and sadly, Scott Boras) for making the deal that they did to send him to Detroit. He gave Brewers fans some great years and some absolutely terrific memories. I really hope that he plays incredibly well there.
- Lastly, don't know if you saw this, but the play made by the ballboy at the Australian Open today definitely deserves a look from everyone. Crazy reflexes there.
SOL: Exodus this week…
It's not that often that you really get surprised about a game's release date, but SOL: Exodus is releasing on Wednesday on Steam.
As a long time fan of Space action flight games, it really looks like a game to try out, especially at the $10 price point.
There is a bit of concern about the length of the game, considering it mentions only 8 missions, but with a development team of 6 that has only been working on the game for a year or so, I would think we'll see something worth the asking price.
I'll post some thoughts once I get some time in on it.
Thursday night notes
- Funny that Dan mentioned the Zombies in NFL Blitz. I was pretty sure that we spoke of them in the interview. To me it didn't seem like any connection to Mutant League Football. It just seemed as if they were throwing in random strange teams, such as the mascot teams that they've done with NCAA and other games. I guess when Owen Good reports it, it's a story, but when I report it... hehe. Just kidding.
- Getting a chance to go ice fishing this weekend. I only get to do it a few times every year, but love it each and every time. Getting to yell, "Tip Up!!!!" and run across the ice to try and bring in a Northern is always a great time. Plus, I get to do it with a few great friends. Definitely one of my favorite weekends of the year.
I'd say that it takes the sting out of the fact that the Packers are not in the NFC championship, but the funny thing is that the loss really didn't bother me all that much. To be honest, I'm much happier that they lost last week than to lose in the NFC title game or the Super Bowl.
Two of the three worst defenses in the league lost last week... will New England go down this week?
- Hope everyone caught the season 3 premier for Archer tonight. Tape 'em up.
- Ryan Braun's appeal began today at the league office. I have absolutely no doubt that he'll get suspended for 50 games. It'd be nice to hear what their explanation for the test is though. Certain it will be bunk though.
- Grabbed the Resident Evil Revelations demo off of the 3DS store today. Absolutely no idea why I did so....
- After a bit of a lull, a few more sports games are starting to come out next month. Grand Slam Tennis 2 for the Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360. UFC Undisputed 3 for the PS3 and 360. And SSX for the PS3 and 360. Nice to see that we'll have some new sports games to talk about very soon. I'm efforting interviews on each of them.
- Lastly... I tried out the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo last night on the PC. It seems like the combat could be fun, but two things bothered me. Really long loading times for a demo, and Quick Time Events that give you experience bonus on certain kills. QTE's are just about the most annoying thing that I can recall in games.
For $60, I'll be passing on the game for now. Maybe when it hits the $20 price point in a few months.
Tuesday night notes
- Got a chance to use Google Wallet with my new Galaxy Nexus phone today. Google had a deal where you got $10 free when you signed up for the service, so it couldn't hurt to try it out.
Couldn't believe how smooth and slick the process was. Swiped my phone on the pad to activate the wallet, typed in my pin on my phone, swiped the phone again and it was paid. Pretty damn slick. Don't know how often I'll use it in the future, but I was impressed with how easy it was to pay that way. Nice to know that if I ever forget my wallet that I can use my cellphone that way.
- According to the game timer on my Steam account, I have 38 hours into Skyrim. Actual time is a bit less as I left it paused on the start menu from time to time, but it's clear that I'm still really enjoying the game. I do have a drive to start off the actual story portion of the game though as some of the other side missions have gotten a bit more boring as time has gone on. Maybe I should look into joining the Dark Brotherhood... that could be a refreshing change of pace.
- Speaking of RPG's, the Kingdoms of Amalor demo is out tomorrow on the PC and PS3 (today on the 360.) I'm anxious to see how well the game will play, as the early reviews of the demo have been very positive.
- Oh, and about the Packers. Here is part of the fan base. Every team has a group of drunk chicks that take the team too seriously... but man... she's a special kind of drunk and crazy.
- Have a good rest of the week.
Friday notes
- Let it be said that Dan can have a civil conversation with people about politics. The guy amazes me sometimes.
- Very busy week at work and when I wasn't there, I was dealing with typical crazy family issues. Nothing really exciting, just keeping busy.
- Rumors continue to grow about the release of Diablo III. My problem with this is that I'm getting more and more interested in Kingdoms of Amalur. Seeing as how I'm still spending a considerable amount of time with Skyrim, I just don't know how many more games I could spend time on. I guess that's a good problem.
- Sunday's game between the Packers and the Giants should be a great one. People seem to think that this Giants team is the one that can give the Packers the most trouble due to the fact that they can generate a pass-rush with their front four. What's funny is that the same defense everyone loves now, is the one that gave up 31 points on December 4th.
The Packers will win or lose based on their capability to force turnovers. It's what worked for them all year long and I'd be shocked if that wasn't the key in Sunday's game.
- Have a great weekend.
Monday notes
- Took the kids to see the Muppets over the weekend and they were pretty bored by the end. Certain scenes just seemed to drag on, especially the one with the chickens covering "Forget You."
Overall it was a decent film and it had some fun 80's throwaway jokes, but it wasn't nearly as good as I was expecting it to be. My hopes for comedy were probably way too high.
- Other than the Broncos/Steelers game yesterday, there wasn't too much in the way of drama for the Wild card weekend.
Oh, and if you love Tebow coverage, stay tuned to ESPN this week as they'll definitely have you covered.
- Anyone interested in the BCS championship game tonight? I can't muster up even the slightest amount of interest at this point.
- I did see that Best Buy is putting up signage indicating that Diablo III is coming out on February 1st. I'm not holding my breath on that, but I will certainly be there for the midnight launch when it happens. Haven't done that for a game in ages, but this game will eat all of my free time when it does release.
- As for gaming recently, I have been trying to play through some older titles along with fighting through the world of Skyrim, Crysis being one of the titles that has been fun to mess with.
I have a hankering for hockey gaming of late as well and will have to find and outlet for that.
- Have a great week.
Tuesday notes
- Let's start with the Rose Bowl.
Any team that gives up 640+ yards on defense can't complain about losing the game.
The only questionable call that the refs made was the one at the end of the first half where Toon was knocked out of bounds, they stopped the clock, then started it again without blowing a whistle or anything. That was just a weird situation.
Oregon was clearly the better team and proved it on both sides of the ball.
People around here keep talking about Chryst's leaving being the biggest deal, but I think it's that Chris Ash is still going to be the defensive coordinator. The D was terrible this season and it cost them in their 3 losses.
- The Packers have earned their rest and need to take every minute of the next two weeks to shore up as much as they can with their own defensive issues.
It was great to see Flynn play as well as he did against Detroit though. That was a crazy fun game to watch.
- You can tell that it isn't a normal sports week because the Badgers are playing Michigan State tonight and it's getting zero coverage from the local media. Usually Izzo comes to town and people break out the torches and pitchforks.
Losing to Iowa at home will do that I guess. That was another ugly game due to horrific outside shooting. This team is poised for a 1st or 2nd round tournament loss. Mark my words on that.
- As far as gaming goes, I spent the majority of the weekend playing Skyrim. The game just sucks you in. One minute, I'm walking to a cave to handle a quest and the next, I'm mining ore out of a second or third cave that I found along the way.
All that and I haven't touched more than a few hours of the main story line. I did find a kick ass Deadra mace in a quest that let's me capture the souls of enemies if I kill them within 3 seconds. It's an evil weapon but cool as hell to use.
- Still planning on a Game of the year post. Just need to find the time.
- Have a great week.
Thursday notes
- I'm slowly recovering from a flu/cold bug going around the house. Had a bit of a temp last night and just generally felt like crap. Thankfully, the Mrs. let me get a good bit of sleep last night and that seems to have helped things a great deal. don't feel 100%, but I'm getting back to full speed again.
- So, weith all of the SOPA stuff that is going on, I'm looking to move my domains from Godaddy. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm looking at Namecheap.com right now and they look like a reasonably good place to move the domains to.
- Thanks to some of Best Buy's sales over the last few weeks I was able to get the Nyko Power Pak for the 3DS. I have to say I'm impressed at how nice and easy it was to replace the battery on the unit and double the battery capacity for $8. The battery adds a nice feel to the bottom of the unit as well. Very happy with that purchase.
- I was able to get a chance to see 'Attack the Block' the other day and I was stunned that I haven't heard more about this movie to date.
I don't want to give too much away about the movie, but a group of street kids find an alien, kill it, and then have to deal with the issues that come up as a result of that.
Quite a fun sci-fi film and well worth your time if you can track it down.
Tuesday notes
- Hope that everyone had a nice and relaxing holiday season.
Nothing too eventful happened on my end, just played some open hockey and spent time with the family.
No real gifts to speak of either as my wife and I have completely bailed on the concept of buying each other gifts. I prefer to just get stuff for the kids and let them have their fun.
- Congratulations to Howie's Bleacher Bums who won the 2011 SportsGamerBlog Fantasy Football championship.
I'll be contacting Howie today to determine what game he wants as a prize for winning.
- As far as gaming goes, I spent a good deal of the holiday weekend working through Steam Achievements for their holiday sale.
One of the items that I won was a 50% off Bethesda software coupon and was able to trade that for a few games.
Between the Steam deals and Amazon's daily download deals, it's been a fun holiday season for picking up more games that I'm not all that likely to play soon. heh.
- The Packers got back on track with a nice win over the Bears on Christmas night.
Thankfully that stopped people from talking about how everyone has an answer to how to beat the Packers.
There are some very good teams that will have to come to Lambeau in the playoffs this year, and every one of them should be a fun game to watch. I think the Packers can beat all of them, but you never know if they'll have another bad game like the K.C. one. Hopefully the bye week will give them that extra time to get Clifton, Jennings, and Pickett back for the run to the Super Bowl.
- Lastly, post your 3DS friend codes if you have them. Dan is the only person I have on my friends list on there and it's depressing to see that one person on there, especially when it's Dan.
NBA2K12 – $9.99 for the PC at Amazon
NBA2K12 - Download version at Amazon.com
This post is also a great way to remind you that if you use our Amazon search box, we get a shiny penny when you buy things. That does help us to be able to add more prizes to the yearly events. Just something to think about in the holiday season.
Monday notes
- If you still own a Wii, please, stop what you're doing and go out and pick up Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Does the game have a minor issues? Yes, the Motion Plus support is a bit off from time to time (but can be reset quickly.) Outside of that, the game is absolutely terrific and is a tremendous amount of fun to play.
Also, it's a game that your kids can sit and watch without having to explain why daddy is cutting a bloody swath though a battlefield. My youngest daughter sat next to me yesterday and laughed hysterically every time Link fell down or hurt himself due to my actions, and that's something that most games don't give me now.
They have also made the game a bit simpler due to the fact that there are save points inside of dungeons now (blasphemy to most hardcore Nintendo fans,) but they do make it easier to step away from the game from time to time rather than forcing you to finish a dungeon/temple once you start it.
I highly recommend the game.
- So, along with Zelda, I had one of my more fun gaming weekends in memory as I was able to power through a decent amount of side quests in Skyrim and play through a good number of levels in Super Mario 3D Land.
In Skyrim, I have barely touched on the actual story of the game, spending more time solving little issues that various local towns have had and delved into mines to work on my smithing skill.
I wouldn't have thought that I could possibly like a crafting portion of a game, but I find myself going into mines, so I can acquire ore, then smelting it, and making new jewelry and weapons, so that I can continue to enhance my own weaponry. It's time consuming and pointless, and strangely fun all at the same time.
- Mario 3D Land? It's just one of the best platformers that I've played in memory. Some of the 'big coins' are a pain in the ass to obtain, and some of them are hidden in ways that just seem nearly impossible to access, but the game is fun in a way that I just don't see much anymore.
Frustrating at times, but an absolute blast to play.
- Oh, and NBA2K12 has come out for the iPad. Since I don't have one of those tablets, Dan will be taking a look at the game and posting some of his thoughts in the near future.
- One of the funny things to witness when a team is playing very well, as the Packers are, is how people seem to want to find fault in every victory. Hardly any of the fans around the area want to seem to enjoy the fact that the team is 10-0, all they want to do is discuss how close they have come to almost losing games.
Sure, there are things that the team needs to improve on, but enough with the negativity. Enjoy the run while it lasts...
- Lastly, I watched 'Beats, Rhymes, and Life' on Friday. The documentary covers the history and issues that 'A Tribe Called Quest' has gone through in the last few years.
ATCQ is one of my all-time favorite groups and it was sad to see all of the issues that they went through as the group broke up. I can only hope that they're able to get back together for a U.S. tour again at some point in the near future, as they are on top of my list of groups that I want to see live.
Tuesday notes
- A bit of advice to Jerry Sandusky, if you're going to go on national television making a plea of innocence to Bob Costas... Try not to have an awkward 15 or 16 second pause when you're asked about whether or not you're sexually attracted to young boys.
I have to commend Costas on his interview skills though. An interview such as that one is an incredibly difficult one to handle. He asked tough questions and great follow ups.
Moving on...
- Don't believe that the Packers have played a more complete game than the one that they put together last night... and they still made plenty of offensive line mistakes and fumbled on a punt return. Still, you can't complain when you beat a division rival 45-7.
Plenty of tough opponents remain on the Packers schedule, but their offense is playing remarkably well and a 3 game division lead is always a good thing with 7 games to go.
- Speaking of football, I would like to thank the Vikings for stopping James Starks from scoring a late game meaningless touchdown that allowed me to win my fantasy game last night and go to 8-2 on the season. It's hard to believe my team has done this well, when I have only outscored my opponents by 50 for the season. Still, I'm not going to complain.
Only 3 more weeks before the playoffs, so make those last moves count.
Oh, and pay no attention to the playoff brackets that are created by the game. Currently it has teams from opposite divisions playing in the first round. I'll be re-adjusting it so that the top for teams from each division make the playoffs and are seeded from there.
- As far as gaming goes, Skyrim has been eating up quite a bit of my time as I navigate through the initial city that you travel to.
One of the problems that I had with Oblivion was the leveling system and having no idea what way was the best to grow your character. For example, I apparently went up 5 level during the first quest that I tackled with my character, but had no idea if it was a good idea to advance all the levels at once, or if there was a reason why I would want to wait and move up a level at a later time. I'd hate to think that I'm a few hours into the game and I've already made a mistake that would impact my character for the life of the game... but I'm going to stick with it either way.
I guess this is just one of those games where they really want you to buy the strategy guide, as you can tell it's just going to be a massive world that you're going to be taking on.
- Lastly, looking like no season for the NBA. It's just so hard to pick a side between billionaires and millionaires who can't split 3 billion dollars.
Whatever will we do without having to watch the pick-and-roll be run for 48 minutes?
Veterans day notes
- Funny that Dan's offices are closed, but the bank that I work for is open today. Oh, well. Thank you to all of the veterans that have served or continue to do so. You do a job that I could not, and I'm proud of what you do.
- The process of starting up Skyrim on Steam last night was a very painless one. At 11:00 p.m. I was able to decrypt the files and by 11:05, I was playing the game.
At this point it feels like a much prettier Oblivion, but that is not a problem at all. I spent at least 10 minutes making helmets and other weapons, along with fixing up the weapons that I had picked up in the early stages of the game. My Redguard warrior will be smiting many enemies in the coming weeks, but no dragons if I can avoid it. I'll be steering clear of those big nasties for quite some time, no doubt about that.
- Thanks to Carson Palmer for getting my fantasy week started off right. I had to laugh when I initially picked him up and saw that he was only owned in 3% of all leagues. I think that pick up will work out for me over the long haul. Anyone need another QB? Josh Freeman and Colt McCoy are available cheap.
- Happy birthday, Madtowner.
- There were some absolutely terrific lines in the first Beavis and Butthead episode last night. My wife and I were laughing out loud at some of the video and Jersey Shore quips. (It's so cold in the D.) The show has had some disappointing parts, but for the most part it's as good as I was expecting it to be.
- Have a great weekend, everyone.
Thursday notes
- Well, I have to say that the Penn State board of trustees did the right thing last night by firing the university president and Paterno. How McQueary is still coaching this weekend doesn't make any sense to me.
Sadly it seems that this story is just not going to go away. Hopefully it will continue to make people aware of how universities and businesses will protect their own name before doing the right thing.
Maybe something like this can help stop that sort of behavior, probably not, but I can always hope.
- And because I'm incredibly weak, I pre-ordered Skyrim from Green Man Gaming earlier today. I'm happy to say that the pre-loading process is complete on my home PC and I'll be able to start digging into the game at 11:00 CST.
I think this is actually the first time that I was ever able to take advantage of that feature of Steam and I have to say that it's pretty damn cool. Something like that allows me to put the kids to bed and then just sit back and wait until I can play the game, rather than having to go to a midnight launch somewhere.
Just one of the nice things that the PC does that consoles still cannot.
- Don't forget to update your fantasy lineups if you have anyone playing in tonight's game. Gotta see if someone can knock of my 7-2 Madtown Bombers.
- Walmart has released their Black Friday ad online and there are a few interesting sports gaming deals in there.
For $15 each, you can pick up Dance Central 2, Kinect Sports: Season 2, or MX vs ATV Alive.
For $28 each, you can grab Madden 12, FIFA 12, Nascar 11, or Forza 4. (Also you can get Battlefield 3 or Batman: Arkham City for that same $28 price point.)
That's a good start to the Black Friday deals. I just hope you can order games on their website and avoid having to deal with the silly crowds.
- Lastly, I forgot to mention this a few weeks back, but I grabbed Warhammer: Space Marine from OnLive during their $1 sale and was pleasantly surprised as to how well the game played. I didn't notice much in the way of lag while mashing my way through the first groups of enemies and found that the graphics were surprisingly decent as well.
If they do offer another game sale where they're putting games forward for $1 again, I highly recommend you take a look at the service. For a $1, you can do much worse.
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