The Recycle Bin

All random impressions are based on default settings. Still early days, but figured I would share some thoughts:

• Lots of interceptions. The good news is that most of mine are fairly obvious; throwing into double coverage or miss reading zone coverage. The bad news is that a couple appear to be some sort of super human (well computer AI) feats of wonder.
• Playing as the Falcons results in most kickoffs ending in non-returns; clear out of the endzone or downing the kick. Michael Koenen has a hell of a leg in this game.
• Punt return coverage appears to be a little better than past games. Blocking is still suspect, but there is a chance to get a return. Still too many fumbles on the first hit.
• The new symbols that show different player’s characteristics are interesting. On one hand, I think it is nice look for match-ups (throw away from that great coverage DB), but on the other hand, the symbols sort of take away from the “realistic” experience, reminding me that I am playing game. If there is not a way to turn this off, the super sim crowd should be going nuts by now.
• In one game managed to tackle a CPU HB in the endzone for a safety. I have not seen that in a while.
• I have not given up many big plays. The only long TD reception against me came when I tried to jump in front of the ball, missed, resulting in an easy 50+ yard TD for the CPU.
• Averaging about 1 penalty per game; usually holding. Par for the course for EA.
• The CPU tends to not manage the clock. They break the huddle, line up, and run a play. I would guess that only 5-7 seconds run off the clock. This means more plays, but so far this is my biggest beef with the game. Not sure if there is a setting to accelerate the clock.
• In one game, I was up 14-0 at the two minute warning before the end of the second quarter. The CPU had the ball on third down, did not convert a running play, and called for a punt. Instead of trying to run time of the clock, they simply punted. Very poor clock management.

So far I am really enjoying the game. The last Madden I owned more than a couple of weeks was Madden 2004 (collector’s version with that SOB Vick on the cover), so maybe my Madden break had something to do with a “fresh” experience.

More impressions later. The good news for me is that I do not think the game is nearly as bad as a lot of reviews are claiming. One man’s trash I suppose.

I have read a lot of harsh comments about this year’s Madden, mostly along the lines of a slow, jittery framerate.  I guess I continue to show my age, and I continue to move towards a more casual gaming experience, because I just do not see this game as being terrible.

Granted, I have only played 10-15 minutes, but a quick play session should be enough to expose all sorts of graphical problems.  Maybe all the framerate issues are for online play, which I typically avoid.

My first impressions are that the graphics look very nice, but certain parts could be better.  The crowd animations are still uninspiring, and the sideline action is rather flat.  The developers also went for a strange fog-like appearance for everything at a distance that is not part of the field of play.  My oldest son asked why it was so cloudy in the Georgia Dome.

If the 360 version is looks 2-3 times better than the PS3 version, then hopefully I have something to look forward to next year (which is probably gives EA’s coffers something to look forward to as well).  If a faster framerate does make a difference, then give me more frames and 1080p.

I had no issues with the controls; they are crisp and responsive.  I have seen a couple of YouTube videos that indicate that at certain points the animations kick in and take control of your player.  I have not seen issues with “mario running” but it looks like some blocking around the pocket may be suspect (oops, just let the guy go and tackle my QB).

Finally, I put Vick on the bench; what a sick SOB.  My oldest son asked “Why is Vick in the game?  I thought he was in jail.”  Sad.

Speaking of bending it, Beckham got his first goal and an assist last night.  One dimensional or not, just an amazing display of talent; on a few kick, he bent it to the left;

Not really feeling it for Madden right now, or any gaming for that matter.  I got the game on Tuesday, but only put it in long enough to see if Vick was in the game (he was), which was about as far as I went with this one.  I have seen a lot of negative press on the PS3 version of Madden 08, but I am going to have to withhold my opinion until I actually spend some time with the game.  I will say that despite some of the negative comments on NCAA Football 08, I think it is a great game.  60 vs. 30 fps be damned.  The game is either fun or it is not.

Vick is probably not having much fun tonight.  Do I take it on the chin and call it a career, or do I fight the very bad fight?  The fall out in all this is that maybe I can get some season tickets once everyone decides to abandon their seats over Vick.

This one goes out to the one I love.

It is good to finally be home again.  What a long trip … Edinburgh for four nights and York for two nights.  I spent a good 18 hours traveling yesterday between trains, planes, and automobiles.

From a gaming standpoint, I spent very little time with my PSP on the plane; just could not get into anything.  In Edinburgh I saw Wii “in stock” signs on a couple of store fronts on Princes Street for 199 British Pounds.  No bundles – just the system.  The PSP 80GB unit was going for 800+ British Pounds, but included your choice of a couple of games (decent titles such as Resistance), Blu-ray movies (I assume the 5 free deal currently running), and an extra Sixaxis controller.  Still, I could not imagine spending $1,600 for a game system, regardless of the pack-ins.

When I am traveling, gaming always takes a backseat to the local sights and sounds.  In the case of the UK, that means checking out the various historical sites, pubs, and trying all manner of different beer.  I happened to be in Edinburgh during the annual Festival.  I arrived in time to see part of the Fringe Parade.  Crazy stuff.

Anyway, it is great to be back home.

Just in time to ruin grade point averages and reduce worker productivity around the world, Blizzard announced their new expansion today. I must now get my characters to 70 that are going to make the push to 80.

Man, if you love Ohio State University, stay away from any city close to Gainesville, Florida. Why? Because the number of colorful “We own OSU” t-shirts I’ve been reading these past couple of days is quite impressive. I won’t go into any details, except to say that the very manhood of the entire state is questioned in oh so many creative ways….

I’m not going to apologize again for not posting for a while because it’s beginning to sound like a broken record. I think most of our readers know what a “record” is so I won’t bother with further explanation. I’m currently on vacation with my wife in hot, humid, and rainy Miami, Florida. This is our summer Florida tour where we drop my oldest off in Tampa to visit her friends, my youngest with her grandmother, and my wife and I sneak off for a week of fun in the sun.

I’m surprised how easy it is to game in hotel rooms these days. The connection speeds are fast enough that I can actually run my online league and upload some pretty large files without too much delay. Same for World of Warcraft – I could play WoW all day long from every hotel room we’ve stayed in so far this trip.

If my wife let me, that is.

My youngest daughter wants photographic evidence that I was not in front of the computer at some point during our trip to Miami. Is that a bad sign?

I generally deal with online league issues in the morning because that’s about the only predictable time of the day. I never know where our travels will take us, so the AM is perfect for answering emails, responding to PMs, etc. Then I shut down, look longingly at my laptop and head out of the door.

I am using my relatively new Pentax K100D on this trip, so I have another excuse to use the laptop.

Whenever I disappear for several days, it is always the same old song and dance.  Something at work usually pops up and distracts me from gaming and blogging for several days.  Work plus after work activities (that would be beer) keep me away from you, my eager readers; all two or three of you.  It is funny how much work gets done, and how many important decisions get made, over drinks.  Way of the world I guess.

Not sure what this week will be like.  I always run low on gaming on weeks before I travel, so I assume this week will be no different as I get ready to jet to Scotland next weekend.  Flight-time is PSP-time, but I just have not been feeling it lately for the PSP.  I am considering dumping it for a Nintendo DS, but there is not enough time to get this sorted before the trip.  Maybe some sort of new game will do me right, but I kind of doubt it.

Today is Brickyard day, which means ribs and beer in a little while.  Of course I take any excuse I can find to bust out the grill and throw on some quality BBQ.  And delicious Miller Lite on a hot day.  Yum.

Happy Sunday!

Seems all of those rosey iPhone activation numbers were incorrect according to this report. While I am not quite ready to call it an “iToy” like my friends are, it is clear that Apple may have overestimated how much people are willing to pay for a cute, underperforming cellular phone. The math is simple. No active synch = no sale for many, many cel phone users.

I have not had much time to play NCAA Football 08 today (I am only doing quick play and Campus Legend mode right now) , but I did finish out a week.  UGA improved to 2-2 with a nice 34-24 win over Alabama.  As the number three HB, I saw limited action, which brings me to the point of this post.

After the Bama game, I managed to move up to #2 on the depth charts, and if I had a decent set of practices, I would have been the starting HB for the Ole Miss game.  The funny thing about sports games is that this is completely unrealistic, but of course it is fun.  I assume most gamers would not want to ride the bench game after game, so EA had to do something (i.e. practices to move up the depth chart) to engage the casual fans.

It is really not that big a deal to me, and I would gladly have the developers implement a more realistic system if they actually used players similar to real life.  It is fairly typical for UGA to employ the third-string back more than I have been employed in the first four games.  In the end it does not matter, because I am second-string for game number five, and will be starting by game six.

As I said, it is not realistic, but it is fun, which is the reason I continue to play the game.

I am not sure I have seen such a crazy start to a race. As I was waiting for the race to start, and the rain to come, I told myself “rain makes everything fun” and sure enough, things got crazy in a hurry. I am not sure I have ever seen 4-6 cars go off at the same point on the track. I remember Sao Paulo a few years back being so wet that a lot of cars (including one Michael Schumacher) went off, but I am not sure if it was anything like today’s Europe Grand Prix.

Poor Kimi got hosed trying to make his first stop. I am not sure if he was told to stay out, if he was going in too fast, or if missing a turn right before the pit gave him an “unfair” advantage. Or he just made a mistake; did not see a replay to see what really happened.  Either way, he lost his pole advantage, going from first to sitting at seventh waiting for the restart. Too bad because Hamilton is struggling (he was one of the ones to go off, but managed to keep the engine running) and this could be a good opportunity to make up some points.

I guess it is about that time of year again. I load up on football annuals, and then along comes a new version of NCAA Football. And the waiting and anticipating begins. Thankfully, this year’s NCAA Football 08 Campus Legend mode gives me a way to hold steady until September 1, when the Cowboys from Oklahoma State come a calling. I am getting ahead of myself.

I started a Campus Legend as a speedy HB at Shaw High School (Columbus, GA for those keeping score at home). After each of my first three wins I was rated as a 4-star recruit, but after having a decent championship game, as a 5-star recruit, I was presented with a meal ticket to pretty much any school in the country. Decisions, decisions. Go to Texas as the third-string HB, or stay in state at that little school in Athens, GA as the fifth-string HB. I realize my lifetime dream of becoming a Georgia Bulldog.

Glory, glory to old Georgia!
Glory, glory to old Georgia!
Glory, glory to old Georgia!
G-E-O-R-G-I-A.
Glory, glory to old Georgia!
Glory, glory to old Georgia!
Glory, glory to old Georgia!
G-E-O-R-G-I-A.

I am not really that great a video games; never have been, and going down hill quickly with age. I only had to overcome 10 points to become fourth-string, and 10 more points to become third-string. I have 128 to make up if I want to be second string. Kregg Lumpkin, Thomas Brown, Knowshon Moreno; I want your job.

Georgia fans better divert their eyes. Oklahoma State pulls off a 28-25 upset, followed by a 39-13 spanking from South Carolina. Ouch. Double ouch. I did not see any action in the first two games. That has to be the reason for our early struggles. What a disaster of a season. One of the things that is really great about Campus Legend mode is that you do not get to call plays or pick your role; the CPU does all the handy work.

Our next game was against Podunk State (or some such 1AA or Bowl Division school). After we went up 30-0 at the half, I finally got my moment to shine. Georgia tallies up a 68-0 thrashing of this opponent, behind my 128 rushing yards and 3 TDs (and a receiving TD). I am feeling it baby, I am feeling it!

Go Dawgs!

Last weekend I finally cracked out Oblivion The Elder Scrolls IV for the PS3, but unfortunately I now have NCAA Football, with Madden lurking in the wings.  I hope I can get my money’s worth from this game, but it took me almost two months to open the game, so I have a feeling this could wind up as a wasted impulse purchase.

I think the PS3’s library takes a lot of grief, but I have an excellent racer in F1CE, Resistance is a great FPS (if I were into that sort of thing), Oblivion looks to be the real deal for role playing action, and while the jury is still out on NCAA Football 08, I think it is shaping up to be a quality title.

Back to Oblivion.  First impressions – great graphics (I am a card carrying CGW – casual gaming whore), engrossing combat system, and extremely deep environments (pull arrows out of dead guys).  No way I can do the game just now.  I am into Oblivion, but NCAA may get in the way.

The game is growing on me, now that I am finally starting to pickup (but not yet master) the controls.  After being frustrated a couple of nights ago I took it to the practice field and figured out how to throw the ball.  Apparently the game expects very sensitive use of the PS3 buttons.  A very light tap will lob the ball, gaining some much needed air, while anything else all but ensures a bullet type pass.  I guess practice makes perfect, because I am becoming increasingly successful at the passing the ball.

I just finished up a game as North Texas; I demolished Mississippi State 28-10.  I know the competition was not that great, but it was still a nice victory.  All the scoring took place in the 2nd and 4th quarters.

I took an early 14-0 lead, but on the ensuing kickoff, the Bulldogs run one back for a TD, making the score 14-7.  I accidentally pressed the pitch-out button, causing a fumble.  Oops.  My defense held, forcing the Bulldogs into a 35 yard field goal attempt.  Wide right!  After both teams suffered through three and out series, my punt returner fumbled the ball inside the 10 with 40 seconds left in the half.  Damn.  Comeback API?  I managed to hold the CPU to a field goal, ending the half 14-10.

I managed to pull away in the 4th quarter, thanks to a couple of interceptions.  I wore down the Bulldog defense with a clock controlling ground attack, which allowed me to take a harder than it looked 28-10 victory.

As an example of getting better at passing, I managed to go 13-17, 168 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, good for a 178.8 QB rating.  Six different receivers caught passes, and I managed to avoid being sacked (that is a first).  Mississippi State put up a decent offensive attack, racking up 11 first downs to my 10.  TOP was 9:00 to 11:04 in my favor.  The Bulldogs could not get a decent running game going, and 3 INTs pretty much spelled their demise.

Fun stuff.