Archive – Page 30 – The Recycle Bin

MLB 10: The Show – Briefest of Impressions

I did not get nearly enough time with MLB 10: The Show (MLB10) over the weekend. There was just too much other stuff to do and catch up on after being out of the country for a week. Besides, the weather was spectacular and it was opening weekend for youth soccer, so we spent as much time outside as possible.

I did get to activate my code of the six classic stadiums. I guess this was a nice enough extra from the folks at Amazon, but it was not as if I grew up watching baseball at the Polo Grounds. Of course these stadiums are better than the cement circles that were popular when I was growing up – Fulton County, I call you out. Still; gift horse, so I will not complain.

My first thoughts are that MLB10 has an overwhelming assortment of options. With my thirty minute gaming sessions, it will take me a while to figure which options best suit my style of play.

MLB10 looks like it has superb presentation; the game looks real, the announcers seem to do a good job, and the game appears to have all the other intangibles that go into making an immersive baseball experience. One of the things I noticed right off was the ability to speed up the time it takes in-between pitches. When I actually spent a lot of time playing console baseball games, my favorite experiences where those that I could actually wrap up in 30 minutes; 45 minutes tops. I am not sure if a quick game is possible with MLB10, but any options to speed up the game are always appreciated. I almost feel guilty for attempting to bypass some of the wiz-bang side effects that the development team put into the game to make it appear as a realistic baseball experience.

I played a couple of three inning games; both times as the Braves. I lost 1-0 to Seattle and 2-0 to the Dodgers. I managed a single hit. I suck.

Thankfully there is a practice mode, so I can get some much needed practice in the batting catch. I am not sure if I should keep at it on the default batting Veteran level, move down to Rookie, or maybe change from the Catcher view. I will have to experiment and see if I improve; cannot stand seeing a .105 average. Ouch.

I am sure more impressions will be forthcoming throughout the week. I am cautiously optimistic because I actually have a console baseball that I want to play. It has been a while.

US F1 – A Look Towards Future Days?

The complete failure of US F1 is rather sad; however it is almost pathetic that the team is even talking about a 2011 entry. So many questions, two of which I will ponder now – what really happened and how did it fall apart so (seemingly) suddenly?

US F1 principal owner Ken Anderson is either a fool or delusional; maybe both. Does Mr. Anderson really think that he will just pick up the pieces, and start racing in 2011? At this point why would anyone give any money to this rag-tag startup? It looks like Mr. Anderson singlehandedly destroyed any hopes of an F1 future in the US.

What really happened? I honestly have no idea. Clearly the team was not ready regardless of how the new 2010 rules were going to play out, and more importantly Mr. Anderson and company must not have secured the necessary financial backing for this sort of undertaking.

Disappointing at best, and maybe best described as really downright disheartening to this F1 fan that really wanted to see a F1 racing future in America.

Saturday Stuffs Madness

It has been a while since I went hells blazing, stuffs to the wall crazy, so I figured it was time …

There And Back Again
I spent last week in Calgary, which explains why the site experienced a severe slowdown. Thursday and Friday marked the first time in over 150+ days (8 months) that I did not post something. That was a hell of a run; I suppose it had to end sooner or later.

Flying sucks. Everything stinks about flying from the airport parking experience, to get a boarding-pass, to security, to sitting next to overweight folks that have no business buying a single seat. It all makes for a crap experience. For this trip I had to go from Atlanta to Salt Lake City to Calgary, and returned via Minneapolis/St. Paul to Atlanta. Four different airplanes; 2000 sky miles. Glad to be home.

Now Drinking
I am sort of a homebody; I am not much for traveling unless it is with my wife. With three kids, that is just not something that occurs frequently these days. When I do travel, it is almost exclusively for work. If I had to pick a favorite part about traveling, it would have to be having the opportunity to sample different local beers. While I was in Calgary, I was able to enjoy 4-5 different beers, my favorite of which of Big Rock Honey Brown Lager. The Big Rock Black Amber Ale was a very close second.

New on Blu
While I was out of town, two new Blu-rays arrived – Never Ending Story and Clash of the Titans. Unfortunately it looks like both movies received absolutely nothing in the way of extras, which is extremely disappointing. We watched Never Ending Story for family night tonight. My youngest son was really into it, although he did not know what was going on except there was a really bad wolf. My oldest was pretty much soured on the whole “making him watch another stupid movie” routine. Thankfully my middle boy decided the movie was pretty good, even if he tried to play it off as a ho-hum experience.

Gaming Backlog
MLB 10: The Show arrived earlier in the week, but I have not had a chance to crack it open yet. I have not even come close to finishing Heavy Rain, and of course WKC:I is also uncompleted. FFXIII arrives next week, so I better get going. Or get eBay’ing.

I should have plenty of comments on these games over the next few days. Something video gaming related to make you stand up and clap your hands. Sorry; I think you get the point.

While I was in Canada, all hell broke loose in PS3 land. I guess I should be thankful for small favors. Non event for me, but from the best I can tell, there are some seriously pissed folks out there. Time heals all wounds? This too will pass.

Chrony In Action
Today was truly a blessed day; 60 or so degrees. Sunny, blue skies. I was finally able to get my Chrony setup for a few rounds from the Beeman R1 .22 Long and my Beeman R7. The good news is that I was able to get the shots to register. This was a huge improvement over my first experience, which was a non starter. I still do not know what I am doing, but it looks like my R1 is blazing at around 713.85 FPS while the R7 was cracking at 574.75 FPS. As the weather turns nicer, there will be a whole lot more of this for your airgun reading pleasure. I just hope the weather holds so I can break out the Chrony again and see how the Marauder fares.

Bring on Sunday!

Falcons Sign Dunta Robinson

The Falcons are working out final terms of a six-year contract with Houston Texan CB Dunta Robinson.

We’ve known this was coming most of the day and it comes soon after the Falcons prevented Brian Williams from becoming a free agent by giving him a contract extension. Suddenly, the Atlanta secondary looks a lot better than it did at the end of last season.

I do not know much about Robinson; everything I have read indicates that he is a number one coverage DB, which is a great need for the Falcons.

The Falcons are hoping the return of defensive tackle Peria Jerry will help improve their pass rush. The signing of Robinson clearly is designed to improve the coverage.

Last season, he covered the opponent’s best receiver and played on both the right and left sides of the field.

Solidifying the corners, along with the return of Jerry should provide the Falcons with an instant improvement on the defensive side of the ball. Getting Robinson now gives the Falcons a lot of different directions to go with their first two picks (first and third rounds). They can continue to work the defense with additions to the d-line or LB corps. I would love to see the Falcons go defense with the first two picks, and look for value pickups along the o-line (specifically concentrating on the C spot) and WR and RB depth with their later picks.

Falcons Attempt to Keep UFAs

According to the AJC, the Falcons have tendered several offers to their unrestricted free agents.

The team has made tender offers to right tackle Tyson Clabo, right guard Harvey Dahl, running back Jerious Norwood, punter Michael Koenen and offensive lineman Quinn Ojinnaka, according to their representatives.

Clabo, Norwood and Dahl all have four accrued NFL seasons and received first round tenders. With the first round tender their salary for 2010 will be $2.521 million or 110 percent of their 2009 salary, whichever is greater.

I doubt anyone will take any of these guys in exchange for a first round pick, but if they do, it is really a win-win situation for Atlanta. They either get to keep some decent players, or they get high draft picks in return. Seems like a joke because no one is going to give up a first round pick for a change of pace back (Norwood) or a second round pick for a punter (Koenen).

Team US F1 – Dream Unrealized

According to Racer, Team US F1 has closed its doors, which probably comes to no surprise to anyone following the team’s recent troubles.

Against the backdrop of weeks of uncertainty about the future of the American team, which had been struggling to get a car ready for the start of the season, sources have revealed team personnel have now been informed they are no longer required as the operation was not continuing.

It’s unfortunate. I never expected the upstart to be a front running; I did expect Team US F1 to put together a decent package, finish some races, and build some US enthusiasm for F1. Chasing after foreign drivers with serious sponsorship backing would have ultimately limited any appeal to US racing fans, or those just curious about this form of auto racing. I think Americans would have backed a true US based F1 team effort, but alas, it looked rather doomed from the start.

MLB 10: The Show Arrives

I am far, far away from my home, so hopefully my wife will make sure MLB 10: The Show (MLB10) does not sit neglected on the porch too long.

It has been a couple of years since I embraced a console baseball title; I want it back – MLB10 will pave the way. MLB 10 looks to do everything right. From online leagues, to a more realistic gaming experience, MLB10 looks to set the stage for the greatest game of console baseball ever produced.

Sony’s boys and girls in San Diego have been incredibly busy this year, refining the game, and making little adjustments that put the game into a whole different ballpark from what we have experienced with past titles. This 30 minute gamer [I need to TM this quickly] will appreciate the warm up features.

Among other options to note, we brought back the classic L1/R1 baserunning controls for you old-schoolers. The RTTS Baserunning option will default to New, but if you prefer the single button press style controls, be sure to change it to Classic. We’ve also added in the ability to take pregame batting practice when you’re in the starting lineup for that game. You can step into the cage and take ten swings to help get your timing down before game-time. You won’t receive any training points or attribute improvements, but this will definitely help get you into a nice rhythm. To ensure you participate in batting practice, set the Pre-Game Batting Practice option to On. Lastly, we’ve added a new Mound Warm-Up feature that will give relievers a chance to throw eight warm-up pitches on the mound, after coming out of the bullpen. Just like pregame batting practice, you won’t receive any training points for this, but it does give you the chance to get a good rhythm before facing live hitters.

Hopefully the statistics engine will be spot on. While I have OOTP for statistical simulations, it would be pretty damn impressive if MLB10 could satisfy my twitch urge, and keep the stat-head in my happy.

Cannot wait until I get to get my hands on this puppy!

PSP – One Last Chance For Glory

As mentioned earlier, today is travel day. I cannot think of the last time I turned on my PSP, so if it does not get much use on this trip, it is high time to ditch the little brick. There is not a direct flight from Atlanta to Calgary, so I am going west (Salt Lake City) before heading north to the frozen lands of Canada. With a combined 6+ hrs in the air plus a layover, you would think that the PSP would be the perfect way to pass the day. There is also the return adventure on Friday; some PSP gaming must be in order, right?

I charged up both batteries, which in my opinion is the primary weakness of the PSP – the battery life basically sucks. I have a handful of UMDs at my disposal – Lumines, Final Fantasy Tactics, two different Pinball Hall of Fame collections, Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Loco Roco, Untold Legends, Pangya, and Wipeout Pure.

Taking 7-10 UMDs with me makes me think about the appeal of a PSPgo with a digital library. Not too much; just a passing thought as I write this article. To be honest I am just not that excited about my current library of PSP games. Hopefully something will float my boat and make the trip pass a little quicker.

Kicking Off March

I am traveling to Calgary for business; will be back to regular posting action starting Saturday. Check back daily for some articles to help you pass the time. Yes, I have several articles lined up, coming your way in my absence. Most likely I am going to miss a few days of posting, but that cannot be helped.

Happy March! Welcome madness; it’s almost here.

Sunday Falcons News, Notes, and Mock Drafts

First up, the Falcons secured the 19th position in the 2010 draft; Texans get the 20th spot via coin toss. In the middle of the draft one spot may not matter a whole lot, but with the loss of their 2nd round pick, I think every spot does in fact matter.

NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks has put together his latest mock draft, which has the Falcons taking a linebacker.

19. Atlanta Falcons
Navorro Bowman, LB, Penn State

Mike Smith needs a playmaker at the weak-side linebacker spot, and Bowman’s athleticism makes him a perfect fit in the Falcons’ scheme.

I do not know much about Bowman; I think it is critical for the Falcons to get help on the d-line and in the secondary. If DT Peria Jerry is expected to make a full recovery, the Falcons could go in a different direction, but I think the first pick has to be an impact player on defense that can start right away.

The official Falcons site has an article with some quotes from GM Thomas Dimitroff and Head Coach Mike Smith. Nothing really earth shattering, but worth a read during the long buildup to the draft.

Weekend Site Maintenance Redux

This weekend I am offering up another round of site maintenance for your viewing pleasure. Several upgrades are in the works, and should be appearing throughout the weekend.

Tags Away
With the upgrade to WordPress 2.9.2, I can introduce tags, or more importantly, Clouds of Tags. Calvert Games has amassed over 2000 articles in its current database; there are literally 1000s more that were left behind in previous incarnations of the site. Archiving those into WordPress is a job for another day.

I have probably only put tags on 15% of the articles. I will slowly work my way through the archive, tagging as time permits; watch the cloud change over time.

I had to make a few decisions on what to tag, and what tags to create. First, the primary focus of the site (see Site Focus below) is videogames so generic entries such as Baseball, Basketball, Football, and Racing pertain to videogames. Some games such as WKC:I, MLB: The Show, OOTP, and Madden (to name a few) get their own tags. Second, some specific real life sporting topics that I enjoy writing about have been given their own tags. UGA, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Braves all get their own tags, while there are also some broader range sports tags to cover NFL and NCAA Football. There is a method to the madness.

Check out the new Tags Cloud on the side-nav; when it actually appears. For an example of tags in action, check out the White Knight Chronicles: International (WKC:I) tag.

Site Focus – Airguns, Videogames, Sports …
And don’t forget the beer! Let’s be honest; Calvert Games lost its direction over the last 18 months. While the focus was primarily videogames, the site did go in directions that did not make a lot of sense. Over first two months of 2010 I am attempting to remedy the situation.

If you have noticed, this year the site has been extremely focused on videogames and sports coverage. I intend to continue to cover videogames in earnest, from my own unique perspective as a contrarian gamer. For me videogames are a hobby, a family activity, and a great stress release. Videogames will remain (or return as) Calvert Games primary focus.

Sports, primarily diatribes and commentary on the Falcons, Braves, UGA, and U.S. Soccer will also remain a staple.

Like it or not, adult airguns coverage will remain; I will keep anything over the top as opt-in have-to-click-to-see-it. However I am considering moving airguns coverage to a sub-domain. Maybe. For me airguns are another great stress relief, so once the weather is nice, look for more airgun coverage.

Stuffs (yes the ‘s’ is intentional) will remain a staple because there is always a place for off topic coverage. You just are not going to see as much of it as you have in the past. I am still going to write about beer, because I have to be me.

Some Categories will go away. For example, Birdwatching (WTF was I thinking) is now a tag; if I happen to write about birding, it will be designated as Stuffs, and as I just said, much less Stuffs than in the past. Same for Chronicles; at one point in time, under the old format, these types of articles made sense, but not anymore.

I haven’t decided yet what to do with D&D coverage. My intentions were sound; just not sure if it distracts too much from the main focus of Calvert Games – videogames and sports coverage.

Popular and Random Posts
I have added a new popular posts widget on the side-nav. Unfortunately it does not grandfather in any of the past history, so going forward articles showing up in this section are either really popular (linked from other sites) or search engines have decided to prominently display Calvert Games articles in their search results.

I am also looking at adding a “random post of the day” – after all, there are 2000+ articles on the site. While I may be biased, some of them are pretty damn good.

Ads and Other Nonsense
The Google Ad space (aka Sell Out) has not made a triumphant return. I think it will at some point. Maybe next weekend. Or a paypal solicitation space for beer money; have to pay the rent somehow.

Happy Saturday!

PS3 – Studios Push the Envelope

Pretty good article from GamesThirst (via N4G) on how the various Sony in-house studios are pushing each other for graphical and gameplay supremacy.

It all started in earnest with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. No one paid attention back then, the game did not receive the praise to so badly needed but deserved. It was, and still is one of the best looking games on any console. After it, the flood gates were opened, and while lazy devs complained about the PS3’s built, Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, Santa Monica, Kojima Productions, Guerrilla Games, Quantic Dream and Zipper Interactive were all working their hearts off to drop bombshells on the gaming industry. Guess what? It’s exactly what they did.

Technical Quantic Dream may not be a first party studio, PS3 fans have to assume Sony will do everything they can to lock up future IP from the developers of Heavy Rain. Sony may not have the numbers yet, but I like their strategy of getting out original IP experiences.

The Rain Does Not Stop Today

I am only a few chapters into the Heavy Rain experience, but I wanted to offer a quick comment or two. The opening stages/chapters are slow going, but they are necessary to introduce you to the backdrop story and of course the awkward controls. Yes, I still find the controls cumbersome, and they take away from the immersion factor. The quick time events are interesting, and add to the intensity; I just hate holding down the R2 button to walk. Seems so 1996 Resident Evil-ish.

IGN (UK) recently posted an article a couple of days ago offering various opinions from their contributors; spoiler free and worth a read. I thought this opinion summed up my experiences so far in the early stages of the game.

Heavy Rain is so well-put-together and finely produced that it’s guaranteed to suck in even the most skeptical PS3 owners right off the bat. It’s an adventure game at heart — there’s no doubt about that — but don’t let that turn you off. While the adventure genre has been effectively dead on consoles for a very, very long time, Heavy Rain puts a new spin on things. This is no point-and-click, read-read-read bore-fest. Heavy Rain exemplifies what adventure gaming should be in 2010.

It is worth noting that the Heavy Rain metacritic user scores (6.6 based on 566 votes) are significantly lower than the critic ratings (88 reviews). Heavy Rain is definitely not for everyone. A rental may be in order for some; so for this jaded gamer is enjoying the experience.

Heavy Rain Alternate Cover

For those of you that like this sort of thing, Sony made an alternate Heavy Rain cover available for your downloading and printing pleasure. I think this is based off of the UK release.

I am not sure what it says about me that I am posting this link; I can say that I have never been “hard core” enough to replace a game cover with something I could print off the internet. These days I am thankful for small blessings!

PS3 Gets More RAM

It looks like the kids at Sony have figured a way to eke more ram out of the PS3. According joystiq, PS3 developers now have access to 70MB more RAM.

While 70MB of additional memory is not insignificant, don’t expect drastic changes to future PS3 games. A PS3 developer told us that “any bit of RAM helps. Generally it probably won’t change design, but might allow extra effects resolution or dynamic lights or something. Probably more beneficial from the systems and art side then from design/gameplay.” In tandem with increasingly efficient code, the added RAM will undoubtedly make for even better looking games.

Better looking graphics should scare the piss out of ESRB reviewers near and far.