Soccer | The Recycle Bin

Football Manager 2005 Arrives

Thanks to GamePay, the UK Royal Mail, and our own fine US Postal workers, my copy of Football Manager 2005 (FM2005) arrived today (now yesterday as this gets posted fairly late), only a week after it shipped. Not too bad, but is it worth the wait?

The manual is as tick as can clocking in at 60 some odd pages, but being a veteran of the Championship Manager series (CM) that was more or less what I expected. Gamers new to the series may be in for a shock – FM2005 is not a casual Sunday affair. I have never been what I would call an expert when it comes to CM, but I do my best. I am sure I will eventually read the entire manual, FAQs, and of course the obligatory message boards (already doing the message board thing) to try to get the most out of the game.

On to the game … not so much, but you will see why if in a minute.

To get things started right, I dove right in and decided to start a new game; selected several leagues (England, Argentina, Mexico, MLS, and the like) and made a decision to start off unemployed. In retrospect I am not sure if that was such a hot idea since the only manager job opening was for DC United, which I applied for, but I was unsuccessful in my bid for my first job.

After simulating a few days, I decided to go on “holiday” and have the game auto apply for jobs. The first one to be available was for San Jose, but once again I was unsuccessful. I simmed until late July (my game started in February) and still do not have a job in hand.

Enough is enough. My first experience with the game did not live up to my expectations. Is it too much to ask for a job? Then again why would anyone hire an obscure manager from America? Maybe I need to read the manual to see if I did something wrong. Not enough lower level clubs? No idea. I think I will just call it a night and start over tomorrow, this time selecting a club to manage instead of waiting for the game to let me play.

OK, OK. I know I suck. I do not even get to the important stuff like the match engine. There is always another day.

Random Stuffs

I have not had a whole lot of time to write of late, so I figured I would start the week off with a little bit of everything. Funny that I put this together Monday and it is now mid-week. So it goes, and so I go, and so will you soon I suppose (with apologies to Billy Joel).

2004 Election Musings
I continue to be amazed at all the fall-out (err, crap) from the recent election. Conspiracies on all sides. Bush cooked the electronic voting machines to give him a +5% margin, while Kerry cooked the exit pools to discourage Republicans from voting. It is really just short of astonishing that people have this much time on their hands.

I could go on forever, but I will spare everyone the grief and horror. I do find it funny that CNN kept stating that this “election is too important for us to rush to judgment” after several networks finally declared Bush the victor. I also thought it was funny that the Kerry camp was not going to concede the election because “we believe there are still some votes out there.” WTF were they going to do? Shake the election tree? Freaking ridiculous.

UGA vs. Auburn – Comes Down to Campbell
Not that it matters much because it is easier to say after the fact, but I predicted to my step father that UGA would put a hurting on Kentucky, 56-10. The actual score was 62-17, which really does not matter since the Auburn games looms large this weekend.

Speaking of which, no prediction yet but it comes down to one simple fact. If Jason Campbell plays well then Auburn wins, if not, then the Georgia ends Auburn’s dreams of a Championship season.

Football Manager 2005
While I wait for my copy to arrive from GamePlay (hopefully today) I have been reading the sigames forum to pass some time, and to be entertained. It is always eye opening to read what different gamers complain about.

The known bugs list is pretty long and worth reading. Some of these issues are very minor, while others are more significant. Luckily sigames is know for quality support via patches. And then there is the MLS …

The list of MLS issues from this MLS issues thread is nothing short of eye-opening (now transferred here). If the MLS is really this cooked, then I will be one disappointed gamer. I just hope that sigames decides to address some of these problems in a patch, and not wait until FM2006.

Katamari Damacy – Take Two
I continue to be impressed with Katamari Damacy, which has to be a candidate for non-sports game of the year. Well, maybe GTA: San Andreas will win that, but Katamari Damacy is easily the most addictive and original game that I have played in years.

As I described a few nights ago, the concept is amazingly simple – you roll around your katamari (ball) to make it bigger and bigger. You play in different levels and roll over all manner of items in order to “stick” them to your ball to make it a certain size within a set amount of time. My description may sound stupid, but it is amazing fun.

I was trying to think of a game that contained the same sort of whacked out graphics and addictive sound track. From a graphics standpoint, I think Jumping Flash for the PlayStation may be a good starting point. If you ever played that game, then I think you have a decent idea of the approach Katamari Damacy’s developers took. As far as music goes, there is no comparison; all tunes are completely original, catchy, and full of fun.

I will try to do a more detailed write-up later this week, but suffice it to say that I am addicted to this game. If you want to try something completely different and cheap ($19.99)

All for now …

Football Manager 2005 Ships

For “text-based” sports management fans, the Championship Manager series is about as good as it gets, and thankfully, it looks like Football Manager 2005 (the true successor to Championship Manager 4) shipped today. I have a pre-order in with UK based GamePlay. Hopefully the game will arrive soon since I paid for priority shipping.

FIFA 2005 (PS2) More Impressions

More time with the game brings me to another frustration that I am having a hard time looking past. The CPU controlled players on offense are worthless. When I fire a shot at the goalie, and it is deflected, I do not want everyone to sit around and watch the CPU defenders eventually clear the ball. No, I want my guys to run like bastards towards the ball in hopes of getting a rebound, second look, cheap shot, etc. Maybe there is a setting that I am missing?

Same thing goes for my CPU defenders when the CPU is attacking in my box. They should do everything is their power to get to the ball to desperately clear. Instead, there is no appearance of urgency, no desperation; just lollygagging.

The game is not a total disaster; far from it. The new first touch system is pretty cool. It allows you to flick the right stick in the direction you want your player (about to receive the ball) to redirect the ball. This is important because it helps clear space while keeping a run going. I have discussed before my lack of dexterity when it come to gaming, so I still need lots of work with this feature, but the potential is evident.

I have yet to score with the new “chip the ball shot over the goalie” feature, but I am getting a lot of use out of the new “chip through-ball” feature. It gets pretty crazy when you do a chip through-ball, followed by a first touch, and then fire in a shot.

The sucky manual is really bothering me. I have no idea how some things work, or should work. The manual says that I can use the L1 shoulder button to call in defensive help to cut off a player, but damn if this does not seem hit or miss. I hope someone gets a PS2 specific FAQ posted sooner rather than later. Is it too much to ask for a decent manual? I am not asking for color or anything, just something that describes the game’s controls, features, strategy, and so on. Winning Eleven does this right, so shame on EA for such a lackluster effort.

I will post more later. The verdict is still out on how good or how bad FIFA 2005 is compared to WE7. Right now I think that WE7 easily has the better playing game, but it too has plenty of issues. We could pick apart games all day long, but at the end of the day fun factor wins out. So far, so good, but FIFA 2005’s lack of any semblance of computer controlled AI players is starting to grate very, very quickly.

FIFA 2005 (PS2) Impressions

As promised, as I got off my lazy bones and decided to post some gaming impressions. I have put in a few games of FIFA 2005, and the following are a few random thoughts in no particular order.

At first glance the game is much improved over its predecessor in many areas. The gameplay is better, but there are still issues. The graphics are wonderful; I have yet to see slowdown. The ball physics are greatly improved. The new player inertia physics are a welcome addition. Basically it seems as if the developers finally rebuilt FIFA.

At times the AI is really stupid (CPU players on offense and defense tend to watch too much of the action), but at other times they actually try to help. I am not sure what the pattern is or I would share. I am sick of CPU controlled players in the box watching rebounds instead of clearing (on defense) or putting in a quick shot.

I do not remember the CPU aggressively attacking the ball when trailing in last year’s game, but in FIFA 2005 the defenders get more and more tenacious as the clock counts down towards the end of the game.

I have seen the CPU draw plenty of penalties, cards (no red yet), and I was event awarded a penalty kick, which is something I do not think I saw at all last year.

Thus far I have three disappointing aspects of the game: magnetic posts, cross buildups, and lack of detailed statistics. First, all shots seem to gravitate towards the posts. In fact I would say that 95% of the shots I have seen (my own and the CPU) have been towards the posts. It is almost as if there is some magnetic quality. The variety is decent once the ball reaches the goalie – either he saves, there is a rebound off the goalie, there is a rebound off the post, or the ball somehow sneaks into the net.

Another disappointment is that the CPU only builds attacks along the sidelines in attempts to land crosses. I am hard pressed to think of a buildup down the middle, a simple break away, or anything of the link. Buildups that end in crosses into the box seem to be the rule of the day.

I have yet to play the career mode so maybe complaining about the lack of statistics may be premature. I just want to see more than a few simple game summary stats, bookings, and goal scorers. In this regard, Winning Eleven has me spoiled. Even the older World Tour Soccer releases did a better job of game statistics. FIFA continues to get this wrong year in and year out.

I have had a great time keeping possession with simple passes, lobs, and through balls as I play “keep away” or try to build up for a decent attempt. One thing I have not been successful with is taking the ball from end to end because the CPU defenders usually shut me down. I am sure this may change once I get a handle on the current skill moves.

I have yet to see the CPU try a blast from well outside the penalty area, but I know it is possible to score from 22 or so feet out, as I managed to drill one in (to the far post of course) from the corner of the penalty area.

I’ll end on a few random items that do not directly affect the gameplay, but nevertheless are worth mentioning. I am not sure how much it will matter to readers but the manual sucks; it is only 12 or so pages. The music also sucks. Most of the other EA Sports games come with strong licenses. Not sure what is going on with FIFA 2005, but the music does not do it for me. The save feature also sucks – looks like you can only save to the 1st memory card slot. I think the announcers are unbelievably repetitive; after a few games I think I have heard all they have to say.

Wow. Been a long time since I hit hard with an impression, and I have to say that it feels nice.

More to come later.

Less Static, Less Updates, Less Stuffs

Updates have been pretty sparse of late, but unlike past attempts at running Calvert Games I am not stressing. And why should I? Damned if I know, but when things were much more gaming oriented I would stress if updates were not timely, reviews were not long enough, and content was not flowing.

That was then, this is now.

Hopefully I will actually get some time to play and to write, but play time has been pretty limited of late. I got NBA Live 2005 on release date when I was in the UK, but have yet to play it, much less open the wrapper. A few days ago I got FIFA 2005, but I had company in town, so once again, wrappers remain unopened. Maybe today after the Georgia game.

Speaking of which, this is another week without an SEC update. I may do a recap despite not making any predictions. Free time of late has been limited, so I have to pick my spots.

The Falcons looked pretty pathetic last week, which was a surprise. I did not expect them to be world-beaters game in and game out, but I did not expect them to suck eggs against the Lions. Too bad I have wasted my season ticket this year, only attending a single preseason game. Easy come, easy go. Something like that.

Can someone please explain to me why the NFL has its collective head up its collective ass? The whole Pat Tillman flat is completely ridiculous, and stinks a nasty corporate world stench. It is simply ridiculous that Jake Plummer is not allowed to honor his former teammate by wearing a #40 sticker on the back of his helmet. I understand that the NFL has to have dress code rules, and I understand that the Cardinals are wearing the stickers the entire year, and I understand that the entire NFL wore the stickers a few weeks ago. Fine and dandy, but why not let former teammates wear the sticker regardless of their team affiliation? It is just freaking ridiculous, and despite the compromised reached earlier this week (not going to go into details here) the NFL has become too corporate for its britches. Too bad.

Despite the lack of updates, I still have plenty to say; I just have to find the time to speak my fill. Hope everyone has a great weekend, and hopefully, with a bit of luck, I can get back on my high horse and ride again.