Archives – the Good, the Bad, and Ugly pre May 31, 2015.
After falling to San Diego 12-5, and going .500 in their last 10 games, the Braves are 8 back of the Phillies. The NL East crown is going to have to wait, and it looks like the playoffs are now out of reach. Atlanta is now 5.5 back in the wild card chase, and I do not think they can overcome Florida, San Francisco, and Colorado. Not going to happen this year.
These kinds of articles make N4G and other feeder services go haywire. Grown men cry; women hide the children. The blogsphere blows up. ars technical just posted an interview with Naughty Dog stating that the Xbox 360 cannot handle the upcoming Unchartered 2.
“I guarantee that this game couldn’t be working on XBox 360. It would be impossible. I’m 100 percent sure of this.” Christophe Balestra, co-president of Naughty Dog, spoke with Ars about the technology behind Uncharted 2, the hugely anticipated follow-up to one of the PS3’s best games: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. “First of all, we fill the Blu-ray 100 percent, we have no room left on this one. We have 25GB of data; we’re using every single bit of it.”
This quote is a candidate for surprise quote of the year.
I have been contemplating my next airgun purchase for a while, and Crosman’s Benjamin Marauder has been in the mix. Every since Crosman released the Benjamin Discovery at an affordable price ($399 for the gun and hand pump) I have been considering going PCP, but to be honest, the dark side is daunting. After reading a ton of material on the Marauder from various sites and forums, I finally decided to take a leap of faith – my .22 Benjamin Marauder arrives tomorrow.
As always I used Straight Shooters for my airgun purchase – they are professional and give great advice. While I may have been able to find some of the non-airgun items in my order cheaper, why bother? I do not mind paying a little extra for quality service and peace of mind. In fact, after placing my order via the web, Craig from Straight Shooters gave me a call and politely explained to me that a one piece scope mount would not work on the Marauder because its magazine would get in the way. I was given several different options before finally deciding on the perfect choice for my shooting needs.
I ended with the Sun Optics (the old BSquare) two piece medium adjustable mounts. The mounts will hold a Hawke 4-12×40 Air Max scope. I have wanted to try a Hawke for a while, and the Air Max seems to be a good value for the price ($159). I am very interested to see how the Map-6 system works. At some point I will probably do some scope swapping, moving the Air Max to my R1 Carbine since it has a cheap CenterPoint scope. In this hobby, you always have to think about the next purchase!
The final decision I had to make was the hand pump selection – Hill or Benjamin branded pump? I needed to keep this purchase at a reasonable price, and going with a hand pump keeps me from going all in with scuba equipment. Once again Straight Shooter helped me out via email – I finally decided on the Hill hand pump because its shaft holds more air, which means less pumping and it contains an air filter that supposedly keeps out moisture among other things. The Hill pump ended up costing me an additional $89 because I had to add on a Quick Connect Foster Female Adapter to make the Hill compatible with the Marauder. In the end, I think (hope) the Hill pump will be the right decision since I will be pumping for the foreseeable future.
Just for the hell of it I also threw an extra magazine into my order. You can do the math, but I think this order set me up with a more than reasonable entry into the world of PCP.
So what to do while I wait for Brown Santa to arrive? I downloaded the Marauder manual from the Crosman site and have read it a couple of times just to make sure I am ready to enter the world of PCP when my Marauder arrives. If I had not read about bleeding the hand pump fill hose, I would have been a victim of hose whip. Never knew there was such a thing, but I bet I would have not given a second thought to just pulling the hose off the fill nipple.
I am excited about going PCP, but that does not mean that my R7, R1 Carbine, and .22 R1 will fall into disuse. To the contrary, I think they will get used more because I will have to compare the merits of traditional high quality springers vs. an American made PCP.
This video from DeepSouthSports is f’ing hilarious, except that Tide fans are not laughing so much. Of course the video is from an Auburn fan, but who cares, it still made me LMAO.
In what I thought was a “duh” moment for Sony, I found this article from gamesindustry.biz somewhat amusing.
Launch titles for the PlayStation 3 motion controller will be compatible with either one controller or two, Sony president Shuhei Yoshida has told Eurogamer.
“We are approaching the launch by making sure that all games that we create can be played with one controller and the camera,” he revealed.
“We will also introduce options for if you happen to have more than one controller available. Experiences will be enhanced if you purchase a second. We are trying to make the entry barrier as low as possible, but I’m looking forward to introducing more advanced things you can do with having two in your hands.”
Could you imagine the reaction from gamers if Sony required you to have two new motion controllers? I am not sure how much these will cost, but assume somewhere in the $39-54 price range. It would be suicide for Sony to force PS3 users to pick up two controllers. If the eyetoy camera thing is also required, the entry fee is going to be pretty steep. I hope the new motion offerings will be far better than average.
You know this one will sale like hotcakes. Not just because of the Winter Olympics tie in, but because it will be better than the usual “simulation” style Olympics games that usual are duds. OneLifeGamer has some screens. I am sure the kids (and dad) will get this one.
I found this interview from The Times via N4G. There is nothing really new revealed, but I thought it was interesting that Sony is sticking with the 10-year plan thing.
In retrospect, do you wish you had packed less into the PS3?
Had we done less, I think we’d have gotten into a situation where, especially with the way technology ramps up, it would have been very difficult for us to embark on a 10-year life cycle with this particular console.
I think that because of all the things we were able to pack into the platform – Blu-ray’s a great example – we were able to make sure we could take advantage of some of the great services we are offering.
Those things aren’t possible if we didn’t put that kind of power into the platform.
This plan may have worked with the PlayStation and PS2, but I have my doubts that this dubious plan can hold up for the PS3.
I found this Fifth Down article about the Falcons – Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, and the offensive line – via the NFC South blog at espn.
I also think it is worth noting that in two of his first four games and three of his first seven games, Ryan had a passer rating below 70. I don’t say that to knock him, but rather to point out that as great of a rookie season as he had (and he is the best rookie quarterback I have seen in six years of tape breakdowns), he does have room to become an even better player. That thought should keep NFC South defensive coordinators up at night.
The article points out that Ryan’s decision making progress (or how about in game progression of reads) improved from his senior year at Boston College. As a Falcons fan, I find this article very encouraging. If only the defense can keep up its end of the deal.
It is another slow news Monday, so I thought I would go a little off the beaten path for a few minutes. Over the weekend I finished up The Lord of the Rings. I have not read the book since the movies were released, and I thought it was about time before the various revisions in the movies became ingrained in me as facts.
I just started The Icewind Dale Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore. For those of you that do not know, this is a Forgotten Realms book (AD&D) that made Drizzt (dark elf) and Salvatore famous. I have wanted to read one of the Drizzt books for a while, but something always got in the way. I figure if I start now, I can finish up next week at the beach.
With upcoming trips to Atlanta (preseason vs. Chargers) and Florida (much needed vacation); I thought it was time to pick up my new tailgating rig. Enter the Weber Q 220.
Thanks to free Amazon Prime shipping, the new 220 should be here by Wednesday and ready for the regular season, September 13 vs. the Dolphins.
When Little Big Planet (LBP) was announced, I was immediately enthusiastic about the game, and put it on my “purchase” list. However, I was smart enough to recognize the true reality of my current gaming situation – I just do not have enough time to put this type of game in my library. It will end up collecting dust. Been there and done that.
Last week the PlayStation Blog announced the Little Big Planet: Game of the Year Edition. It looks like it is full of goodies and extras and whatnots, but I still face the same problem – not having enough time to add LBP to my gaming mix.
I have written about this more and more lately; these days I am a much more discerning gamer when making my gaming purchases. I not only consider price, current time available for gaming, and potential longevity of the game.
For price, there is a big difference between play $59.99 or $29.99 for a Greatest Hits title or a game that has been discounted. I am much more willing to try something different at a lower price point than I am at full MSRP. Recent examples include Ferrari Challenge ($17.99) and Ratchet and Clank TOD ($29.99). I wanted both of these games, but unlike Madden 10, I was not willing to pay full price. I would like a soccer game, but I am not willing to pay $49.99 for FIFA 09 when I know that a new version is only a couple of months away.
I also consider how much time I have available for gaming. At this point in my life my gaming time ebbs and flows with the seasons and various activities. Fall is upon us so Falcons games are coming up, the weather is better for shooting my Beeman R collection, and of course the kids have various sporting activities. In short, I will probably not pick up many games between now and Christmas because I know I just will not have time to play them to their fullest potential regardless of their purchase price.
Finally, when evaluating a game purchase I consider the longevity of a game. I do not mind paying $59.99 for a game if I know that I will play it for 18 (or more months). Take Oblivion for example; that game has so much replay value that I doubt I will ever find time to complete it fully. The exceptions to this rule are sports games – I usually try to sell them on eBay after 6-9 months to attempt to get $30 or so to “reinvest” in the next annual installment.
So back to LBP. It has longevity going for it, but I now deep down inside that I just do not have time to dedicate to this type of game, which is too bad because I am still interested in the game. Maybe one day.
The Atlanta Falcons held on to a 20-13 win over the Rams. Yes it is preseason, so no one cares. Ah, but no so true for many fans because the preseason is where depth charts are set, young guys get to make or break their careers with first impressions, and if nothing else the preseason tides us over until the real gridiron action starts. It is a tasty morsel of sorts. As a season ticket holder, the preseason is a small investment for the upcoming season. Observations now for the season ahead.
Offense is ready
The Falcons starting offense looked like they were ready for the season to start; first two drives were productive and ended with a rushing TD by Turner and a TD catch by Gonzalez. Hell, I will go so far and say they looked damn near stellar – have to get the homer out of me. The Falcons even managed to work some on their no-huddle offense, with fairly efficient results. Matt Ryan at the line was shades of that QB with the Colts.
Backup QB unsettled
Or maybe it is not, but D.J. Shockley looked nowhere near ready to step in for Ryan. I assume Redman will get the call (if needed).
Secondary is scary …
but not in a good way. This unit will not put fear in the heart of opposing teams, and unless the d-line can figure out how to put constant and consistent pressure on opposing QBs, the upcoming season may be merciless for the secondary. I know the Falcons have a lot of faith in CB Brent Grimes; he was around the ball a lot, but what will he do against a quality WR?
From time to time I like to quote articles that may not be examples of brilliant observations, opinions, or insights; instead the articles are posted because they contain highly entertaining comments. Here is one from kotaku – GameStop expect PSP Go owners to trade in their UMDs.
Instead of expressing apprehension about a system that can only run games that are downloaded — i.e. not the games primarily sold on GameStop’s shelves — the company’s executive vice president of merchandising and marketing, Tony Bartel, expressed enthusiasm. “We’re very excited to be selling the PSPgo,” he said. “We have a very clear roadmap as to how we can drive profitability on the sale of games.” Bartel noted that GameStop would do well selling points cards to help downloads.
And, Bartel said, there would be this perk: “It will also be a strong contributor to our trade-in process where you have people that will have UMD games that will no longer work on that platform that will fuel additional currency for GameStop.”
Still waiting with baited breath to see what type of trade-in program is in the works. If I wait long enough on Sony, the PSP Go may sell out, which will solve the problem for me.
This Falcons/Rams preview (ajc – The Bird Cage) of what to expect tonight is pretty much in line with what I posted earlier this morning. I am linking to the article because it also includes some Fantasy Football value, and it talks about tailgating. I am ordering my Weber Q 220 this weekend – I cannot wait for the season to start!
1 – Defensive Improvement
It was the first preseason game and lets just chalk up to that for some of our defensive performances. We had some bright spots and some low points, but overall we did hold the Lions to 3 points and that’s the bottom line, although many fans were less than enthused about the first defensive outing. Will we see some more pressure and more of a defensive gelling?2 – Backup QB Battle
Even though Matt Ryan will see more action in this game, the battle royale continues in earnest with hometown favorite DJ Shockley trying to unseat Chris Redman. Shockley may have more upside, but he has to prove he can handle backup duties on a more consistent basis and Redman needs to justify his large salary.3 – Fight for Last WR Spots
Will Eric Weems continue his mad dash towards not only a roster spot, but serious playing time? Weems has impressed throughout camp and looks to lock up a spot with a couple more solid performances. That would leave either one or two spots for Robert Ferguson, Marty Booker, Troy Bergeron, Chandler Williams, and rookie Aaron Kelly.
The defense better gel in a hurry. The Falcons can always get another WR after final cuts, or maybe even in a trade, but for the defense it is game time.
The ajc posted an article about Vick and Favre being added to Madden 10 via roster updates, but for me the more interesting part of the article was this gem.
A survey performed for EA by the University of Oregon’s Sports Marketing Center found that “Madden NFL” players were considerably more knowledgeable about the sport than other fans. For example, 67 percent of “Madden” players could correctly identify specific passing routes, compared with 48 percent of non-gamers.
Interesting. I wonder how many Madden players expect jukes and other special moves?