Tag: PS3

Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) videogame system

Madden Ultimate Team – Additional comments after first few games.

My Madden Ultimate Team (MUT) pretty much sucks; still using my default starter pack team which may in some small way contribute to my awful record. I am currently 1-3, but have burned 6 contract cards. In other words, I only have enough cards left for 4 more games. That may not be entirely true, since I probably have not used all my starter set cards in all my games.

Why the discrepancy? One game I was disconnected; the server message said I would not get charged, but nonetheless I think I was still hit for a contract.

I did quit another game because halftime of the Vikings/Saints was over; I thought halftime would last longer than a regular season game, but I digress. Besides, I felt like I was getting a total cheese job from the Lions, so why waste my time to finish up such a dreadful game experience?

This brings me to another point. You know things are pretty bad with my default team when I am getting killed by the likes of the Detroit Lions. Detroit was up on my 21-0 in the first quarter with a whopping 51 seconds of total possession time. Three scores; one pick-six, one bomb where my players could not tackle the receiver, and one long run where once again my players could not tackle worth a damn. In my dotage I would do a rewind on some of these plays because I felt like they were total garbage. I do not have enough free time to feel like I am getting completely clowned by the CPU!

The one game I won was a FG fest; 9-3 against Tampa Bay. The only reason I won was because I went into completely clock management mode and attempted to protect my meager lead. This started when I was up 6-3, so that says it all!

That is not to say things are all bad; I actually like the concept and enjoy a decent (non stressful challenge). I am just not sure that I will have the patience to keep this up.

From my experience with the game, the more points you score, the less you give up and whether you win or lose the game are the biggest determining factors as to how many points you earn. Even if you lose and score 7-10 points a game, you will be rewarded with roughly 200 coins. With new card packs that include upper-echelon players costing 3,000 coins, some may find the task of building a team without resorting to spending real money a chore.

I don’t play Madden 10 online, and I don’t think I will start online MUT anytime soon, but at some point that may be better than getting beat over and over again by the CPU. Right now I am not interested in paying “real” money to upgrade my team, but if I want to be well represented online, it sounds like spending cold hard cash is the only way to survive.

Another issue is that this is obvious just a monetization effort for EA, by charging for player cards, EA stripped the skill out of this mode. All I need to do is spend $20 and I can instantly buy the Ultimate Team, which is very lame.

Where to from here? I have 1100 or so coins and most of my “good” players (OK, they are starters, but that does not make them good) only have 4 games left. Not sure what happens when you actually run out of players. I’ll either have to buy more Bronze packs, or watch my team get really bad (I can’t imagine being any worse!).

I really wanted to hold out and save for a Silver pack (1500), but I bet I end up having to go with a couple of Bronze packs (500) just to have enough players to field at each position. No doubt that Gold and Platinum packs are beyond my capabilities.

Of course MUT is only a few weeks old, but I am not sure if the developers considered the economy for average (to subpar) Madden gamers, that do not cheat, use money plays, try to trick the system, etc. I play for realistic statistics, and since I suck, I am mired in mediocrity.

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Madden Ultimate Team First Impressions

At the risk of being told that I am talking to the south end of a north bound mule, or being called an EA Sports mouthpiece tool, I created my Madden Ultimate Team – “GA TX Falcons” (creatively yours, the Georgia Texas Falcons).

I have read all the negative opinions about this new “free” mode, but I find it somewhat interesting. It has the potential of being a very nice diversion. I doubt I will spend money buying cards, but I can certainly see the allure. If you are not good at Madden (raises hand), it is a little frustrating starting off with such a mediocre group of players.

After opening my starter pack, I was greeted with a piss poor group of players (and cards). I get the yucky Brown home colors when playing at the St. Louis Rams’ Edward Jones Dome, and the Redskins road whites. How bland can you get? I get a run heavy offense, and the Detroit Lions defensive play book. My team is QB’ed by none other than Marc Bulger. Jack Del Rio coaches my rag-tag set of cards.

Needless to say, the early going looks to be tough. Remember, I raised my hand when I said I was not very good at Madden? It is not as if I do not know how to play; I am just getting too old to press all the buttons in record time. I need to remember to turn off “fight for the fumble” one of these days; I never mass the buttons fast enough to win a scrum.

For my first game I took on Tampa Bay, which happens to be the default rival team for my Atlanta Falcons. I thought I was in high cotton after I took a 14-0 lead, but somehow (thanks to three turnovers) I gave up 17 unanswered points in a disappointing loss. For my second game I intentionally looked for a weak team, but still lost to the Chiefs 31-24.

The only good news is that I managed to get enough cards (just over 550 I believe) to buy a Bronze pack of cards, but I decided to wait since it was time for the start of the Jets/Colts game. BTW, the Jets just went up 14-6 with just under 5 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, but I digress.

It takes a lot these days to get me gaming, so it will be interesting if Ultimate Team continues to provide some appeal. I want to get in another couple of games tonight, and I have to decide if I am going to waste 500 points on some Bronze cards, or if I should just grind my way to a pack of Silver cards. At the rate I am going, I should be able to pick up a pack of Silver cards in another 3-4 games. Not sure what happens when all the contracts run out.

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Friday Gaming Quickie

A few PSN games that I am interested in purchasing are on sale are on sale this week (via PlayStationLifeStyle update):

* Gravity Crash (now $4.99, original price $9.99)
* ZEN Pinball (now $4.99, original price $9.99)
* Critter Crunch (now $3.49, original price $6.99)
* Braid (now $7.49, original price $14.99)
* Burn Zombie Burn (now $4.99, original price $9.99)
* Tank Battles (now $3.49, original price $6.99)
* Uno (now $3.99, original price $7.99)
* Championship Bass ($5.99) [PS one Classics]

Of these games I will probably purchase ZEN Pinball tonight; I am a sucker for a good Pinball game. Not sure about the others, but this is where I would actually look for a decent review or two to get the “popular” opinion or general consensus on a game.

Just for the hell of it I may consider Championship Bass. Have not played a decent fishing or hunting game in a while, and they are usually a fun way to waste away some time.

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White Knight Chronicles: International Edition

When I have time, which lately for serious RPG fun, is almost never. I have a backlog of PS3 titles that I have yet to finish, and in some cases start: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Demon’s Souls, and Dragon Age: Origins. Adding White Knight Chronicles: International Edition (WKC:IE) may be a tad overkill at this point. Still, the game looks promising.

I have written enough on the topic of online gaming that I do not need to elaborate beyond saying I am not a big fan. RPGamer thinks the game is run of the mill at best, I am actually intrigued by WKC:IE’s online components.

As mentioned earlier, White Knight Chronicles features an online mode which allows for cooperative play. Players will be able to take their avatar online to complete the aformentioned special quests, but will not be able to take Leonard and company along with them. Instead, people having difficulty with a particular quest will have to team up with other players to accomplish their given tasks. Another interesting feature of online play is the ability for players to create their own Dark Cloud-esque Geonet, which allows them to recruit NPCs to a customizable town for support and dialogue.

I am not sure if WKC:IE’s interesting twist on how to integrate online components into a single player offline game will be enough to draw me in for a purchase. Besides, I still have to ask if I even have time for this sort of game.

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When PSN Games Fade Away

I was cruising around N4G this morning I came across this article for Calling All Cars. Apparently as of Jan 14, Sony no longer hosts the game on its servers. The article shows that the game is still playable, as long as you (or a friend) hosts the game.

My concern is that folks that paid for the game were not told up front that their online experience would fade away after a certain period of time. Granted, I got the game for free as part of a Qore episode/subscription, have not played the game in a while, and am not all that bent out of shape about the game fading away. Of course that is beside the point. Since I do not have any skin in this one, it only bothers me enough to write a short rant, but what happens when a game I care about disappears?

I think Sony needs to keep hosting these games for the life of the PS3, or Sony needs to offer some sort of voucher (for those that paid for the game) for a replacement game as PSN content is discontinued.

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Monday Madden 10 Football Action

At some point over the long weekend I stumbled across some news about Madden Ultimate Team. To me this looks like a free DLC engine to take additional cash from pre-teens or anyone else addicted to collecting things; videogame related or football cards.

It has been a long time since I played Madden 10 or anything else for that matter. Yesterday I decided to fire up Madden and give it a go. I had to wait for the 1.03 Update to download, but after that I was all set. I saw the new Madden Ultimate Team in the menu, read the various tutorial screens, and backed out at the point of creating a team. Maybe next time.

I only got in two off-line games, and I have to admit that they were a ton of fun. While my gaming time has been extremely limited the last few months, and really my desire to play anything has been much diluted; right now I am an unenthusiastic gamer. However, I always enjoy spending some time with Madden.

Arizona 20 – 14 Falcons
Picked Arizona as a random team, but I guess it was a timely selection being that they just got kicked out of the playoffs. I never said I was good at Madden; in fact I downright suck. I typically play on Pro, with various settings to suit my preferences. My oldest son asked me my I don’t play on All-Madden. [sigh] I think my Madden IQ is still stuck below 500; not because I do not understand football, but because I am too damn old for this stuff now! Back to the game. I should have won, but I threw three INTs, one of which was returned for a TD. The final blow was Ryan’s third INT with about 90 seconds left as I was driving for the winning score. Three Red Zone INTs will kill you every time.

Falcons 24 – 6 Giants
Another random opponent, but this time I wanted to play on the road. Just for the hell of it I selected snow, which turned out great because it was fun watching the momentum of the players. They would slip and slide; maybe not truly realistic, but the developers did a good job of making a noticeable difference between ideal conditions and a field of snow.

Did I mention that these days I am more or less a casual gamer? For this game (thanks to the 3 INTs in the last one), I made sure I had access to the Rewind feature. Yes I suck, and yes I did rewind one TD run by the Giants, but I had the damn runner dead to rights; locked him up with two different tacklers, but to no avail. I no longer have low enough blood pressure to put up with those type of antics. Life is too short.

Yesterday afternoon the weather was so nice that we took the family for an afternoon walk. It has been nasty and cold for so long that everyone needed some quality outside time. During the walk I commented to my wife that I am going to have to somehow arrange my schedule to get in a couple of hrs of video game time a week.

So yes, my Madden day was a lot of fun.

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Heavy Rain Lights Up The N4G Charts

I should have titled this one “Oh what a little T&A will do for you!” but wanted to keep this article strictly business. LOL – maybe I should just do a reply for T&A Thursday and compare scores as the week progresses, but I digress.

I decided to take a quick look at the latest news and notes on N4G, and was not at all surprised to see a story about sex, in this case the ESRB’s description of Heavy Rain’s sexual content, lighting up the charts. The article currently sits at 740 degrees, and is sure to move up later today. A holiday will do wonders for your T&A hits when all the horny teenagers have nothing to do except surf for soft porn.

For what it is worth, in this case I specifically did not quote any of the T&A content from the article so as to keep references and hits somewhat on topic.

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Random Saturday Gaming Links

Some random video gaming links for your reading pleasure …

The demise of a once proud franchise?
Bill Harris (Dubious Quality) on the possible demise of EA Sports NCAA Football (and possibly basketball) series:

Physics-based gameplay, an offensive style that is now common, and “authentic offensive styles of play” are possible additions to the game? WTF have you guys been developing for the last ten years? If you’ve been developing this game for ten damn years (at least) and teams aren’t ALREADY playing like they play in real life, then that’s a fail.

It would be disappointing to see the NCAA series get canned, but then again it has become rather stale. This year was the first time I completely passed up the game. EA Sports obviously has some work to do to recapture the magic and popularity of this once great franchise.

The Nintendo DS kicks core gamers in the nuts.
Eurogamer has this bit on the unexpected success of the all UK conquering Nintendo DS:

Bitter core gamers, annoyed at the invasion of their sacred domain by a host of newcomers, occasionally dismiss the DS in the same terms as they do the Wii – it’s your mother’s console, designed for the “casuals” and with nothing to appeal to real gamers. They miss the point. The DS has something for everyone, successfully filling almost every niche in the market – and it’s only by filling an enormous range of niches that a platform can ever truly become mass-market. Yes, the DS has fitness and brain training applications for the older generation, but it also has core games for the traditional market – and so much more besides. It has software for small children, for teenage girls, for language learners, for music fans, for tourists, for aspiring chefs and for everyone else in between.

Nintendo’s popularity is obviously at an all time high, and the DS (or its latest incarnation – the DSi) shows no sign of letting up anytime soon.

Holiday gift giving guide.
These things are typically a dime a dozen, but GameShark’s stand out thanks to Santa’s helper. She is very cute in a sexy sort of way, and all decked out for Christmas! I started to say that I would like to unwrap her for Christmas, but figured this is sometimes a family site.

HVB still alive and kicking
High Velocity Bowling has to be one of the better implemented motion sensor gamers on the PS3. The developers have done a damn good job of keeping the game fresh with cheap DLC (usually $0.99 a pop). If I break out my PS3 anytime soon for something other than movie watching, I am sure that HVB will get turn or two.

Sony slims down losses
An article that kotaku.com picked up shows that Sony is still taking a loss on the PS3 Slim. $37 per console sold adds up after a while. Prorated over 10 years (you know, the Sony lifetime achievement console plan) and things do not sound so gloom and doom for Sony after all. I should be a spin doctor.

Happy rainy Saturday!

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All is quiet on the videogame front.

My PS3 has not been getting much of a workout of late; except for playing the occasional Blu-ray (watched X-Men 1 last weekend), the PS3 is off most of these days. It is not as if I have nothing to play – FIFA 10 and Madden 10 should get plenty of sports time with Ferrari Challenge getting my racing pleasure on, but things have just not worked out that way.

I also have Demon’s Souls just sitting around (no guidebook cover problem if you do not use the damn thing) and Dragon Age: Origins is a possibility, although the latter is technically being saved for Christmas. One of these days I could actually jump back into Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which is a splendid game, but much like the rest of my collection, it is gathering dust.

Usually I am looking forward to some upcoming release. I have no idea what is next, what the next “it” game happens to be, which videogame magazines are pimping reviews. It is kind of an awkward time for me as a gamer. My free time is focused on other interests, but as I wrote several months ago, these days video gaming is sort of a season hobby. There are only two Falcons home games left, of course the upcoming Bowls and NFL Playoffs, and then the weather will turn nasty. Well, as nasty as it manages to get in Columbus, GA.

As we head into the Christmas season, maybe a couple of days off here and there will motivate me to jump back into some of these games, but for now it is not even fair to call video gaming a hobby. My how times have changed!

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PSN Subscription Fee Rumors

The rumors are running rampant – PSN no longer free. Or premium offerings for a special fee. And so on and so forth. This bit from PSXExtreme:

We see the same question at least a few times per month from readers: “will Sony start charging for the Network?” We always have the same answer: “no, but they may charge for some sort of premium service that is optional.” This seemed almost inevitable from the very first moment we learned the PSN was to be free; once they were in a good position (which is now), Sony would likely provide users with an optional primo service that delivers extra content for a small fee. And now, according to this slide from Sony’s Media/Investor Conference, it seems clear the time has come: right at the bottom of the PSN features on that slide, it says “New revenue stream from subscription.” Now, this could mean any number of things, but we certainly don’t believe you’ll suddenly have to pay to play online. That will always remain free if we take Sony’s words at face value; this new addition will be something special for members and if they want to pay for it, that’s their choice.

I may pay a premium for extra content, but the price has to be right, and certainly there has to be value for my hard earned dollar. I did pony up for a Qore subscription, but have since let it expire because it frankly was just not worth the money. If there would have been a free downloadable PSN game each month, along with Remote Play (or downloadable play) on the PSP, then I would have said it was a good deal.

It will be interesting to see what Sony plans to offer for this new subscription revenue stream.

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Dragon Age: Origins

I have had Dragon Age: Origins on my gaming radar for a while, but as so often is the case I have to question when I would actually get to play the darn thing.

It sounds like the PC version is the one to get; better graphics, tons of downloaded content, and a potentially large user community with lots of potential mods. I am considering a new PC/laptop just for this sort of thing (i.e. gaming). I would not get a gaming rig per say, but something that is more powerful than what I am currently using.

Looking at the metacritic scores, the PC (91%) has received the highest ratings followed by the PS3 (89%) and then the 360 (86%). The PS3 scores are interesting because the game (as I understand it) was ported from the PC/360 – and somehow the PS3 version has higher ratings than the 360? Maybe that means that PS3 reviewers have lower standards? Maybe subpar ports (just talking out loud about graphic issues) are expected to be the norm these days?

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