The Recycle Bin

Seems the folks at Level Up disagree with Dubious Quality.  Where’s my popcorn emote?

Speaking of Bill Harris, somebody that lives in Austin recommends that Kentucky steal our (Texas A&M) coach.  Hmmm. 

So Carr is out in Houston after the arrival of Schaub.  I am surprised that Carr was an out right release.  I assume that interested teams realized that (A) they could get Carr for free if they were patient (B) no interest in Carr was generated by the Texans attempt to dangle a bruised and battered carrot.

I also see that the Texans re-signed Ron Dayne, which further proves the trash/treasure deal.

Tubby gets the trash treatment in Kentucky, but is a crown jewel in Minnesota.  Go figure.

Well I decided to invest in a new digital camera after all (for those who remember my previous dilemma).  My new Pentax K100D should arrive today and I will officially enter the digital age.  We took a vacation to San Antonio and I loaded up my Nikon N70 to take pictures while visiting SeaWorld.  By the way, I visited SeaWorld many years ago in San Diego and was very unimpressed.  So unimpressed that I didn’t go to SeaWorld in Orlando at all during my eight years living in Florida.  Things have changed!  Was a pretty fun experience in 2007.

Anyhow, back to my story.  I had all sorts of trouble with the N70, film, and getting it to advance properly.  I threw my hands up in frustration at one point and told my wife that I was done with film and would purchase a digital SLR.  She didn’t object at all – could have been all of my cursing amidst the families entering SeaWorld’s entrance that did the trick.

Initially I was going to purchase a Nikon D50, discovered that Nikon discontinued it and was making the D40 now.  Problem with the D40 is that the auto focus motor is no longer in the camera, so all of my nice Nikkor lenses won’t work in AF on a D40.  Screw you Nikon – to eBay go my lenses.

I was a free agent and looked at the various offerings from Canon, Olympus, Sony, and Pentax.  Each had its strengths and weaknesses, but I am a Pentax guy from way back.  One of the first film cameras I used seriously was a Pentax ME Super.  Pentax digital cameras get great reviews and they happen to be offering some serious rebates (ending March 27^th).

Next I purchase a fancy printer!

I stumbled across a pretty good gaming blog this morning.  I’m assuming that everyone else on the planet knows about N’Gai Croal’s Level Up and that I’m late to the party.  Be warned – adult gaming analysis is on the site.  No ads for dating services.

Last night was the first time I had a chance to watch any significant amount of games for this year’s tournament.  I was out of the country last Thursday, and the first weekend back after being out of town for a while was not going to pay off for me.  So fast forward (or rewind) to last night.

I got to watch most of the Kansas/Southern Illinois game, which was a real treat, followed by CBS switching to the final few minutes of Memphis pulling a fast one on Texas A&M.

Then we get the Tennessee/Ohio State game, which was a complete fiasco for the Buckeyes.  At least it was when I went to bed – Tennessee was up by 17 at the half.  I figured no way they are coming back.  Ohio State wins 85-84?  Choke job by the Volunteers or major comeback by the Buckeyes?  Madness.

Not a lot of time for blogging of late, but I have a few minutes for some random stuffs (yes, with an s).

• Speaking of not enough time, I have not seen a whole lot of March Madness, but tonight’s Kansas/Southern Illinois has been fantastic.  Have to love the 1080i on the Sony BRAVIA KDL-40V2500.
• MLB 2007 The Show (PSP) has some absolutely crap load times.  Second generation game, WFT?  Seems like a familiar theme for Sony.
• Speaking of MLB 2007, just got my free promotional Braves cap.  I would have been happy with the hat if not for the cheesy “MLB 2007 The Show” logo.
• Just download OOTPB 2007 … hope to convert a 2006 and 6.5 test league, do a historical sim or two and otherwise have some fun.
• If Chris follows-up on his Smackdown Comparison, Chris should figure out a way to “cash out” on the article because it will have to be damn impressive.  Cannot wait!
• Last night I almost played WoW for the first time in weeks, but Joseph started crying (gas pains I suppose), so I could not pat his back, and move my man (so to speak).  Maybe this weekend.
• The weather in these parts is awesome.  Maybe upper 50s in the morning and upper 70s in the afternoon.  Too bad it will only last for a couple of weeks, and the pollen has started.  The yard work has also started.  Oh, never mind.
• Currently enjoying Sweet Water 420 Extra Pale Ale and Amstel Light.

More stuffs later, especially if I actually have some quality OOTPB 2007 time, but for now I am all out of words.

Here are the major criteria I will use for my upcoming baseball smackdown 2007 series.  I will compare Baseball Mogul 2008 and Out of the Park Baseball 2007 across these categories:

1. Statistical volume – What does the game track for statistics?

2. Customization options – What can I create as far as league structures, teams, etc.?

3. Ability to use previous version league files and import them – Am I going to have to start over to play this game?

4. Realistic development curves – Is there enough variation in player development to make things interesting?

5. Realistic statistical results – Do the statistics produced by the leagues make sense over time?

6. Engaging on-field management – How interesting is playing a single game?

7. Ease of use/User interface – Is the game easy to maneuver through?

8. Installation/System requirements – How demanding is a full install of the game and how does it run?

9. Online capabilities – How easy is it to play games through the internet?

10. Game manual – How well thought out is the game manual?

11. Graphics/Visual Presentation – Even though it is a text-sim, what part do graphics play in the game’s presentation?

12. Miscellaneous intangibles – Are there other issues worth mentioning?

13. User community support – How widely played is the game and is there a fan base developing mods and other enhancements?

14. Developer support – How responsive is the development team to problems/issues with the game?

I usually wait a few days to post my enthusiastic support for a brand new game.  If you are a baseball career text-sim fan and do not purchase Out of the Park Baseball 2007, then you really aren’t a baseball career text-sim fan.  Plain and simple, end of story.  This is not meant to put down any other fine baseball product out there, but you really need to own this game.  I believe a demo will be released tomorrow, but trust me on this.  This could be the greatest baseball sports product every developed.

I’ll be posting why it is the game of games over the next few weeks.  I started complaining about PC baseball games almost 20 years ago.  This morning, my complaints were finally answered.

A major ouch move that will pay off big for Houston in the long run. I am not comfortable with Vick, much less comfortable with him playing an entire season. I am also not sure if the Falcons can draft well enough to justify the swap in first round picks and the additional picks second rounders. ESPN.com is reporting:

“When the trade is completed, Atlanta and Houston will flip-flop first-round picks in April’s draft, and Atlanta will receive Houston’s second-round picks in 2007 and 2008. The deal likely will be completed later Wednesday afternoon. Houston has the No. 8 pick in the first round of the draft, while Atlanta is slotted 10th.”

Can this really be a good thing for ATL? They need help now, and I doubt they are going to get it with this move. Plus they lost their insurance policy. I believe that Schaub is the real deal; hell of a move for the Texans.

I’ve decided to compare and contrast Baseball Mogul 2008 and Out of the Park Baseball 2007.  One thing that motivates this comparison is that I am tired of all the “Baseball for Dummies” posts that wash through various forums when discussing BM or OOTPB.  The argument goes something like, how can I enjoy a baseball game that has a 500 page manual?  So I will tackle this issue head-on.

Plus, BM 2008 has some significant changes that put it back into the “I need to check this out” category.  The 1980s interface was changed and some other nice additions were made to beef up the game engine.  I’ll purchase it in the coming week or so and start doing a piece by piece comparison between the two products.

I didn’t do this last season because, well, OOTPB 2006 sucked.  Different year, different story because both products look to be moving forward in the right directions.

I just got a burr up the backdoor after reading (and responding to) a post in the DSP forum about “must have” PSP games.  Are there really in must have PSP games?  I keep writing about my PSP dilemma, but to be honest, I continue to sour on my PSP.

I keep debating selling the system, but the resale value of the games suck.  I recently cleared (on eBay) just under $10 for last year’s Winning Eleven game, $15 for Colin McRae, and cannot even move last year’s MLB game for $5.  It seems like this is has been the same story over the last couple of years; the resale market for PSP games is completely depressed.

Winning Eleven 2007 and MLB 2007 are great sports games; as close to “must have” purchases for the PSP as I have seen.  Madden 2007 is also a damn fine game; pretty much a pint size PS2 game.  What else?  WipeOut is solid, Namco Museum’s analog controls are flaky at best, and a handful of other games currently collecting dust.

On my last UK trip I spent most of my PSP time with Pinball Hall of Fame, Lumines, and MLB 2007 (Vice City and WE were next in line).  Just seems unreasonable (and costly) to spend most of my PSP time with a pinball game.  WTF is wrong with me?  I still have not bothered to play Tiger Woods, which was a desperation purchase.  I do not even play golf (I am not even sure I like golf), but I was desperate to find something to play on my PSP.

Is it time for a DS?  I do not want to be in a situation where I travel with a PSP and DS, so this is going to have to be an all or nothing situation for me.  The question is can I give up my PSP, even if it means taking a huge loss on the hardware and games?  I am not sure if I can stomach the pain.  At the same time, how do I justify holding on to the damn thing?  I guess I am still holding out hope for some sort of killer app, but as the months go by, I am becoming increasingly blue in the face.

The coolest part of my recent Nottingham trip was visiting Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem which may or may not be the oldest pub in England (established in 1189AD). Its pretty damn impressive, and a great place to get beer. Having an open seat next to me on the flight back was also nice, but these 9 hour flights pretty much suck; hell of a long time to be on a plane.

This is one OOTPB fan who knows how to post a complaint/issue:

“I have one pet peeve, i am still seeing “away team” instead of visiting team. Away teams are in star trek, not baseball.”

Now that is some funny stuff!

Well it’s official. There really is nothing worth reading in print about computer gaming. If I subscribed to any gaming publication (I don’t and haven’t for many years) it would have been Computer Games Magazine. Many of the old timers there grew up on the mean streets of the Usenet forums and went on to write some interesting stuff every now and then. CGM was the only magazine that I thought was at least trying to make things appealing to the over 20 crowd.

If CGM’s parent company TheGlobe, is the same group from TheGlobe.com, they may be the single most destructive influence in gaming publication that I can remember. The company destroyed Games Domain and anything else it touched. But you could see this coming ten or fifteen years ago as the gaming media slowly became too closely aligned with the products they sell and the PR groups that represent them.

Thank goodness for independent blogs! Here I can tell guys like Marc Duffy to go stuff themselves and not feel guilty at all! hehe

So I am off to Nottingham today.  Get to spend lots of time on plans and trains, so it will make for a not so fun trip.  I think by the time I get to my hotel I will have spent a good 18-20 hrs traveling.  Yuck!