Month: July 2008

It’s kind of hard to post Calling All Cars multiplayer impressions when no one is online to play the game. I checked the lobby multiple times last night from 7PM to around 1AM and only once did I find another game brewing. So I got in one five minute game, which is not enough for me to get a great feel for online play.

As most of you know, I am not really a huge online fan, but this game sees like it could be a pretty good experience. A first glance Calling All Cars has plenty of variety (multiple vehicles, multiple weapons, multiple levels, and multiple ways to score). Maybe that is not really the case? Easy to cheese and cheat? I am not sure why no one was around to play the game. Maybe the game is just old news and has run its course.

In my one brief online game, there was a lot of mayhem trying to pickup and carry a criminal to jail. Do you go for the 1 pt, 2 pt, or 3 pt option? If someone is in hot pursuit as you are heading towards the jail, you have to decide quickly. More than once I went for the 2 pt ramp, but was out of turbo boost (or whatever this game calls it) and did not score.

If no one is online this weekend, I will know why Calling All Cars was given away free in Qore Episode 2 to Qore subscribers.

George Brett is my all time favorite baseball player. Ever. Period. End of story.

I grew up playing 3B in little league, and it was natural that I had to pick between Brett, Mike Schmidt, and (as a Braves fan) Bob Horner. The choice was easy for me. Not sure why, but I gravitated towards Brett and those early 80’s KC teams. What a great pick! I think Brett is the only player to win a battle title in three different decades – 1976 (.333), 1980 (.390), and 1990 (.329). Amazing!

Today is the 25th anniversary of the Pine Tar Game

It was the famed Pine Tar Game — Royals against the Yankees — and Thursday marks its 25th anniversary. Brett says he can’t count the number of times that he has seen the famous clip, but says “I have the game on tape, I watch it once a year with my boys. They don’t want to watch the whole game, they just like to watch the aftermath when the umpire calls me out. When I first saw the replay, I had no idea what I had done. I said, ‘You’ve got to be s——- me. I did that in public?’ [Former manager] Earl Weaver said he didn’t know what he was doing when he went out to argue a call. I had no idea what I was doing. When I looked at the replay, I was pretty amazed that I’d gotten that angry.”

Great memories!

If you are looking for some cheap PS3 games, check out the Summer 08 Sale

For one week, the following titles will be offered for $4.99 (regularly priced at $9.99)

* PAIN
* PixelJunk Monsters
* High Velocity Bowling
* High Stakes on the Vegas Strip: Poker Edition
* Rocketmen: Axis of Evil

I am not sure about PAIN or Rocketman, but PixelJunk Monsters is well worth $4.99. I am going to take up the offer on High Velocity Bowling and High Stakes; seems to be a great deal.

I am also going to pick up 1942: Joint Strike for $9.99, which is a little high, but should be a cool game.

Based on the popular arcade series, 1942: Joint Strike combines classic top-down shooting with amazing 3D HD graphics. Maneuver aircraft carriers to take on waves of enemy fire and face off with huge enemy bosses. Recruit a wing man locally or online to employ Joint Strike attacks, combining firepower into one explosive barrage. With a whole new arsenal, prepare to rejoin the battle!

I wish Everyday Shooter was part of this deal; that is one game that I want to try, but have not picked up yet.

The PixelJunk Eden demo is also being downloaded. This is one game that looks very cool; very different sort of game.

Finally, I pulled down the Calling All Cars game (free for Qore subscribers), but have not given it a whirl yet. Too many games … not enough time.

The Braves may have beaten the Marlines 9-4 last night, but at what cost? Chipper Jones and Tim Hudson both left the game due to injuries

Will Chipper have to park his NL leading .369 average?

Jones, the major league’s batting leader at .369, was hurt running out a grounder in the fourth inning and immediately left the game. He said he hopes to avoid the disabled list but may miss the start of a series against division co-leader Philadelphia beginning Friday.

Hudson (11-7) said he felt tightness on the inside of his upper forearm at the elbow, but he doesn’t expect to miss a start.

I wonder if Cox still thinks the Braves are buyers? At 48-53, the Braves are only 5 games under .500, but 6 games back of the NL East lead. The Braves need to realize that it is not going to happen this year.

I just noticed that Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm was available on the PlayStation store. I am shocked that it did not happen sooner.  A couple of weeks ago I said

“In other news Qore episode 2 Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm is still exclusive to Qore. Over/under is the Qore episode 3 release. I doubt I will pick it up, but it gives me something to fuss about if Naruto becomes un-exclusive.”

Nice. By “exclusive” to Qore, Sony means a limited time exclusive. 2-3 weeks. I could care less, but like I said, it gives me something to bitch about. Further devalues Qore.

My kids think it is funny that I put a parental control pin lock on their Wii, but there is no way I could leave them to their own devices with Nintendo’s online store.

Until last weekend I had not taken advantage of any of the virtual console games, but as a reward for the kids, I purchased Super Mario Bros. and Kirby. It is funny how much the kids love the classic NES games; Mario games have to be among their favorites.

I have stayed away from virtual console games because of their limitless possibilities, and addictive qualities. It is easy to start burning money on Nintendo’s back catalog of games. I may have to get my wife to change the parental control pin.

One of writers for sarcasticgamer.com just picked up a PSP

How about some Loco Roco?

“So, even before you get any games for the system, the PSP gives you a lot to do with your media. When I got home, I immediately started filling my memory stick with all kinds of goodies. Buying the system has basically made my old iRiver mp3 player obsolete, and it’s amazingly easier to move all your media onto the memory stick than it is trying to sync playlists to your mp3 player. So, needless to say, I love the media features. Some of the most boring stretches at work the past couple days were made much more bearable while watching old episodes of Family Guy.”

The writer makes some good points. In general the games are cheap, they get discounted fairly quickly, and the little system that could has a lot to offer besides games.

My concerns with the PSP are the lack of games quality on the horizon and PS3 connectivity. Not sure what is out there next for the PSP, but as it stands right now, my PSP gets 90% of its use on business travel. More quality games could lower that ratio. PS3 connectivity is also a concern. Where are the Remote Play games? When is Sony going to make Remote Play a smooth experience?

When E3 was in Atlanta (1998 ish), I had a great time walking the show floor, trying the demos, getting free beer from Sony, picking up all the free crap, and then some. All for free as a member of the gaming press. Those days are long gone.

gamesindustry.biz makes a case that something has to change or E3 will cease to exist

“The solitude of this year’s E3 made patently obvious to us that the ESA membership made a mistake in downsizing the show last year,” said Pachter.

“Prior to last year, publishers and console manufacturers used E3 to address the needs of their core constituents: media, retail, investors, and consumers. By choosing to eliminate any potential for a consumer element to the show, the ESA chased away much of the television media.

“By scheduling the show two months later than in the past, retailers stayed away. By scheduling the show during the calendar quarter financial quiet period, only limited access was provided for buy and sell side analysts. ESA leadership appears to agree that the timing and scope of the show is a mistake, but is hamstrung by some of its more influential members, who appear to be pettily reluctant to spend money in order to showcase the industry,” he added.

Pachter said that the ESA must strike a balance between the huge 60,000 attendees of the old E3, and the relatively small 5,000 person shows of the of the past two years.

I think most publishers and of course the Big Three hold something back for other shows – Tokyo Game Show and specific publisher days. It is obvious that something has to change when the biggest announcement is that Final Fantasy XIII is going multiplatform. It will be interesting to watch E3 evolve because the show is almost irrelevant.

We know that Sony has lost exclusive titles left and right. Why? There has been lots of theories and conjectures, but until now it was just that; speculation. Thanks to gizmodo we know that Sony is not in business to write checks for exclusives

This, as we learned from Sony’s Jack Tretton, is because they’re “not in the business of writing checks for exclusives.” Jack goes on to explain quite logically that in this day and age, it’s just much more profitable for game publishers to put their titles on as many consoles as possible, and companies would have to throw out some big chunks of money to convince them otherwise. The kind of money Microsoft has been doling out.

That may explain why Metal Gear Solid 4 is the last standing (for now) exclusive, and it explains why Sony keeps harping on its first party exclusives.

For my money, I have assumed a couple of things have happened. First, games are just so damn expensive that third party developers (and publishers) have to go multiplatform in order to recover development costs and to reach the largest possible audience. Second, Microsoft is throwing dump trucks of money at developers, which is something that I can only assume that Sony did in the past with third party exclusive titles on the PlayStation and PS2.

I typically stay away from all things NBC related (typically way too liberal minded for this card carrying conservative to the point of being marginalized), but this story caught my eye

Then he watched the Sony press conference, and the world as we know it changed. After hearing about “Metal Gear Solid 4”, as well as other PlayStation exclusives in the pipeline and the awesomeness of Blu-ray, he promptly packed up his Xbox 360 and all his games and went down to Game Stop to trade them in. He bought a PS3 and “Metal Gear Solid 4.” [source for link: n4g]

I am really not sure how this article justifies that Sony is “winning.” Seriously. What sort of teenage hears about Metal Gear Solid 4 (and other PlayStation exclusives) for the first time at Sony’s E3 press conference?

I was expecting ultimate proof that Sony is winning, but the only thing I learned is that some kid sold his 360. At least we learned that Sony is putting special scratch resistant coating on Blu-rays. I suppose that is something.

Not really, but I think there is a feeling that Sony told their fan base to f’off. So, here is the final word (at least for me … for now) on the announcement that shocked the world; Sony responds to Final Fantasy XIII going multi-platform

1UP: You’re not too upset about the announcement? You don’t think it’s very pressing?

RE: Again, you’ve got 23 exclusives already on the PS3 from a first-party perspective. If Microsoft wants to back up the dump truck full of money, there’s not a whole lot that can be done there. Certainly, Final Fantasy XIII is still coming on PS3, so it’s not like it’s not on your system anymore. It’s being developed first for the PS3, so your experience is probably going to be better on the PS3 than it will be on the 360. I haven’t seen it or played it; [this is] just based on what I’ve been told. It’s definitely a win for the 360 owner, and Microsoft should be applauded for that, but it’s not a loss for us. It’s not like the title is not coming out on the PlayStation 3. It is.

I’d also stand by for Tokyo Game Show. There are still other products that need time to incubate before they’re announced. [Source: This has been referenced by so many sites that there is no point in me quoting a source.]

I love the “dump truck full of money” quote.

By the time Final Fantasy XIII is actually released in the US, I bet that most folks that wanted the game will already own a PS3 or 360. Of course I could be wrong because FF VII helped drive PSX systems, but that was many moons ago.

Sony’s recent E3 press conference was focused on exclusives; first party exclusives. Same for the July Official PlayStation Magazine, but it is obvious from message board rantings that long time Sony RPG fans are concerned. For years, PlayStation has been the platform of choice for RPGs, and the only place to get Final Fantasy. Does Sony have some bone to throw their faithful?

Today was a good day for yard work, real life work (not really, but duty called), beer guzzling, and NCAA Football 08. There was not much sports related in front of me worth watching. At this point, with Tiger out, I could care less about the Open, the Braves suck, and football is still a ways off.

I could have watched the German Grand Prix this morning, but Fox needs something to throw up in the afternoon. As a result, we get yet another tape delayed race, which is a total crock of crap.

I read in the paper this morning that as the trade deadline approaches, Bobby Cox considers the Braves to be a buyer, not a seller. Every the optimist. I love Cox, but this team is not built for a playoff run. How does losing by 9 runs to the Nationals (15-6) equate to being a buyer?

The Falcons open training camp this Saturday; thank goodness … I am ready for some football. The Redskins opened camp today. Looks like football is just around the corner.

Moving back to videogames …

Yesterday I spent some time with my kids playing Super Stardust HD Team Expansion. The new verses mode is interesting, but I really enjoyed the split-screen co-op mode. When things get crazy, there is some slow down, but not to the point where I felt it affected gameplay. I teamed up with my six-year old to post a high score in the top 2K. Obviously not a lot of co-op players out there, but it is pretty cool to be so high on the leader board.

According to Lazy Gamer, Sony has won the GTA: IV battle in Europe.

Europe was always going to be a major GTA battleground and by the look of it the PS3 has taken this one.

Right now the current sales sit at

PS3 – 2,193,728
360 – 1,919,583

And with the PS3 version outselling the 360 week on week at the moment it is becoming safe to say that while the race was close the PS3 won.

I am not sure why this caught my eye, but I guess it is an excuse to quote a South African gaming site. First time for everything I suppose.

Have I mentioned how much it sucks that Qore is not Remote Play enabled? Forget the fact that I cannot get Remote Play to work consistently outside of my home network. I could always have Qore stand in for my throne room reading material. One can dream.

Why does the Orange Box suck so much on the PS3? Who cares? Ripten has a nice “he said, she said” article

Now Valve’s Erik Johnson says, “Well, EA handled most of the PS3, so I don’t have a lot of insight into that — they did most of the work”. The use of the word “most” is supposedly an indicator that not all of the work was done by EA. The conspiracy theorists out there fail to realize that EA has a history of farming out it’s work, and have taken that to mean that at least some of it must have been done by Valve.

Ports in general suck, so no surprises here with this one. PC ports are probably going to be better on the 360. Still nothing earth shattering. Since I am not a shooter fan, much less a Half Life devotee, I could care less. I just thought the conspiracy theory was entertaining.

Why would anyone pay $349 for a 60GB 360 when they can get a 80GB PS3 for $400? Does anyone even buy the sub $300 360? Should be interesting to see if the PS3 continues to outsell the 360 (month-to-month) in Q3.

Let’s call it a wrap and move back to some NCAA Football 09.

I just finished up a game that really points out some of the glaring flaws with NCAA Football 09. I took the Georgia Bulldogs on the road to face Eastern Michigan University. Of course the Dawgs brandished their black jerseys. I picked EMU because my #1 ranked (and 99/99/99 rated) black shirted Dawgs should be able to overwhelm the poor Eagles. Not so much.

Here are some of the highlights and items of note from UGA’s 24-17 victory over EMU:

• Matthew Stafford was 9-9 134 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs. Good for a 261.7 rating. Holy crap! If that happens this year, UGA is deserving of their #1 ranking.
• The EMU QB went 23-30 194 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs. That is a 76% completion rate, which is fairly typical for my games.
• Knowshon Moreno had 73 yards on 18 carries, and 1 TD. Fairly decent 4.0/rush.
• Caleb King came in for one play to give Moreno a rest. That is the first time I have noticed the CPU doing substitutions.
• The main EMU HB had 55 yards on 11 carries.
• EMU missed a 52 yard field goal attempt. I have yet to see the CPU make a 50+ yard field goal. I kind of like that because those 50 yarders should be rare.
• The EMU QB fumbled the ball once on a bone crashing tackle, but an o-lineman managed to recover the ball. Fumbles are exceedingly rare.
• I had a couple of INTs, including a “user pick” and a one by the CPU that I returned for a TD.

Notice anything really strange with the EMU QB line? He had 3 TDs, but EMU only scored 17 points. What gives? I looked at the scoring summary, and on the last play of the game, EMU scored a TD as time expired. The TD was credited twice (i.e. listed as two line items – 1 yard TD passes)!

Ouch. Not sure if this bug is a common occurrence, but it seems par for the course with NCAA Football 09.  With all that said, the game was still fun.  Go figure.

I guess the word is more or less out; NCAA Football 09 is a common disaster, but a fun one. The broken slider issue is inexcusable, and while I do not really care about the custom roster problems, this stuff gives the appearance of a complete lack of quality control. Tell me that is not the case. If a game should ever be recalled or patched, this one is a text book example.

At this point EA plans to release a patch to fix the roster issue; hopefully they will also do a minor gameplay patch to fix a few of the other holes.

I do not mind the issues that have been reported for kick off and punt returns. If I get a long punt return, I consider it a reward for stopping the silly passing game. Besides, it seems like the game has something positive to balance out each negative. For example, draws actually work, which is a pleasant surprise. Same for play action passes.

As always, penalties are not a part of the game. I have no idea why the developers cannot get some sort of random algorithm to at least attempt to get this right.

The best I can tell, it also looks like there is an issue with substitution frequency, which would be a major concern if I started a dynasty. I want to rotate running backs, but I cannot think of a game where the CPU has substituted a HB due to fatigue. This is the sort of thing that does not have a direct impact on gameplay, but the impact on statistics does have an effect on the overall college football experience. It does affect my fun factor; I am a statistics whore. I want my starting HB to have 22 carries, and see a handful of carries for my backup HB.

I have yet to see the Weather Channel offer me anything other than “partly cloudy and 75 degrees” – and yes, I am connected to the internet. Why offer features if they do not work? Once again, this does not affect gameplay, but it gives an experience of overall sloppiness.

Interceptions are low; I have thrown more than the CPU. Usually on quick outs, or into triple coverage. I have yet to get a “user pick” and my guys have dropped more than their share of would be interceptions. Unlike last year, fumbles are non-existent. I guess too few turnovers is better than too many, which would ultimately affect gameplay negatively.

Tecmo Super Bowl. When fun mattered.

Serious problems aside, the NCAA Football 09 is fun. I guess I am just a sucker for college football. If I do not watch replays of how the AI reacts to plays, my single biggest issue is a very unrealistic pass completion percentage (CPU gets 70-75% per game). Maybe some of that is user error (I am not a talented videogame player), but in the past I would make some minor slider adjustments to even things out. Not this year.

I have been holding off on starting a dynasty until I see what sort of patch is going to be released. We know a roster patch is coming, but what about some gameplay tweaks and minor adjustments? The roster bug does not bother me too much because I have never used real names at the start of my dynasties. I know who the players are on my team (and the teams I follow) or I can just look them up in a football annual or web site.

The one thing I have figured out is that the game is a lot more fun with lower ranked teams. Making teams equal may also get the same effect. As a UGA fan, it is just not that fun with a 99/99/99 team. Well, maybe a little beating up on Tech.

For years I wrote dynasty articles (the old Chronicles junk) using North Texas, which was always a lot of fun, until the Mean Green actually got sort of good. Well, now they are not so good, which makes them the perfect team to play with. I had a great game yesterday using North Texas vs. SMU; I won 12-10 … the game came down to me stopping SMU as time expired. I had a 40 yard field goal hit (and bounce over) the crossbar. I also had a 45 yard field goal fall just short.

The game is heavily focused on offense to the point where a lot of gamers are complaining that they cannot stop the CPU on 3rd down. While I am getting some 3rd down stops, there is no real formula for my success. The only way I can get decent pressure on the CPU is to “cheat” – I pull one of my linemen to the far end of the line and speed rush the QB. I am still not getting many sacks (I think I am averaging one per game), but it does help put a little pressure on the QB. I know its cheating, but it is helping me to make the game fun. I just call it a “Calvert Blitz” package.

Is the game wroth $60? Depends on how many fundamental football problems you can put up with in a videogame. No doubt, NCAA Football 09 has its fair share of bugs and issues. Pretty much a common disaster from that point of view, but the game has plenty of fun to offer. If we can get a few minor gameplay fixes via a patch; I think the game would be excellent if sliders and substitution frequency were fixed. At this point, most of the other stuff that has been discussed here and elsewhere is not going to be fixed. In short, a mixed bag.