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Thursday, December 4, 2008
While I do agree that the game was geared a bit too heavy towards the offense — especially when it was released in July — this season has been another prime example how sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction.
If a gamer got a 61-41 final score in NCAA Football 09, most likely the gamer would’ve screamed at the top of his lungs that the game was too balanced towards the offense and it wasn’t realistic.
I’m going to issue a declaration, NCAA Football 09 is as realistic as your mind allows it to be. I’m not saying the game is an all-timer as far as quality goes, I’m just saying that the naysayers are probably in the crowd that would see a 61-41 final in NCAA and scream at the unrealistic results.
Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction folks.
Friday, November 28, 2008
-MLB '08: The Show redeemed my love for America's pastime. Thanks to The Show, I am a baseball nut again. Spring can't come soon enough and for that, I am thankful.
-EA is not going to buy Take Two after all...at least until we hear that they are again. But for now, it's enough reason to be thankful for today right?
-The return of quality EA Football. Some people are still adamantly denying this and some are even calling the games terrible, but the overall consensus is that both games are on the up-and-up. I sure hope (for our sakes) this continues, but I am thankful for the memories created thus far this year.
-Since EA isn't going to buy Take Two, I'm thankful that Take Two will have the oppurtunity (if they so choose) to create a sequel to All Pro Football 2K8. I sincerely hope that the expected APF 2K9 is actually still in development, but for a later release. That hope causes me to be thankful for companies willing to take a risk. We need more of that.
So what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving as far as sports games go?
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
However, from the conversations I have personally had with the guys who are making the games, review scores actually do mean quite a bit to many of them. Just as with any well-ran sports team, a development team typically has a few goals they would love to achieve each year and one of those goals is usually to receive a certain score with reviews.
Something has definitely happened in regards to the consumer base in sports gaming though, as advertising dollars no longer are a good indicator of how a game will sell. NBA Live/NBA 2K9 are great examples of this in action this year.
Obviously, Quality matters. As for review scores?
I would say they matter a whole lot in most people's purchasing decisions in some way. So my question is, how much do review scores matter to you? If they do matter, what's the lowest rated game you have willingly bought? Be sure to sound off!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
My take? All 3 have a decent argument...honestly none are better than the others and if you think so, you are a fan of said team or you are ignoring reality. If OU was in either Tech's or Texas' position, I'd be screaming trying to state my team's case as well.
In the end, we are going to have three 11-1 teams in the Big XII South, possibly an 11-1 team in the Pac-10, we have an 11-1 team in the Big 10 and then we'll have a worthy 0 or 1 loss team in the SEC as champion (assuming the favorites win there). This is probably the craziest season yet for the BCS.
No more complaining from folks about unrealistic results in NCAA...it seems like the craziest possible scenarios tend to be the actual ones that work themselves out nowadays.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Although my vote means very little to the big scheme of who wins the 'Game of the Year' award, I am pretty confident I know which game is going to be my pick. Going into the fall release season, I didn't think it was possible that I would pick any game BUT MLB '08: The Show.
The Show rekindled my love for baseball. It changed my life. Yet, here I stand...ready to crown another game the best of 2008. I played this other game so much, I am now in year 10 of my career...something I have never done before in a sports game. Thanks to a very good patch, I haven't played a better version of this game since the year 2003.
What game will be getting my 'Game of the Year' vote? None other than NCAA Football 09.
So what do you think? Am I absolutely an idiot? Or...do you agree with me? If not, what game was the best you played this year?
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Instead, by and large in the (very) limited sample I received, you overwhelmingly said awesome presentation with decent gameplay is a more preferable option than to perfect gameplay and bad presentation.
I do not want to buck the old trend too far, gameplay is still the most important fundamental aspect of a game. The game has to be functional to be a game, and fun to be memorable. However, almost every game released by a major company in this day and age will be decent enough to be both.
So, it is my conclusion that in TODAY'S sports gaming environment, spending more time on the presentation and less on the core gameplay would result in much better sports games for the rest of this generation at the very least.
If I was wrong in my premise, High Heat baseball would've been the best selling baseball franchise of all time. But it wasn't, because, for all the game did right in the gameplay department...it fumbled in the presentation.
So what do you think? Should developers spend more time working on revolutionizing presentation in the next few years and just evolve gameplay?
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
So the question, "If you could choose just one, which of these football games would you buy?"
Assume a few things: both games feature the exact same selection of modes and features, it's just the gameplay and presentation which are different.
A)Game A is a game which features the best presentation yet in a sports game to date which would fool even the most skilled viewer into thinking they are watching a real game. The gameplay, however, is far from perfect but is still ok. We'll compare the gameplay to the gameplay in Madden or NCAA of last year as it has some definite flaws but is still very much functional.
B)Game B is a game which features the best gameplay we've seen yet in a football game, everything you could dream of x's and o's is possible in the game. However, the presentation is so bad, Madden 06 could possibly feature better presentation. There are a few graphics glitches and such and the commentary and 'TV style' menus are just atrocious. The graphics? Well, you'd think you were watching some sort of a cross between a PS2 and PS3 game...was there a PS2.5?
I'm interested to hear the responses. I'm pretty sure I know which way most OSers will lean on this one, but I may still be suprised. Remember, you can only choose ONE game out of the two!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
By and large, they suck at creating 'it'. They definitely don't have 'it' figured out. Other developers in other genres get 'it' and then translate 'it' onto the screen for us to enjoy 'it'. What is 'it' you ask?
'It' is the simple fact that video games are meant to be an experience that resembles something so believable that the player willfully suspends himself into the game and becomes a part of it. When a game does that, it can be considered a great game.
Games by and large could go a long way to acquiring it by having great ambient sound, great sound effects, great commentary and a crowd that is true to life. The it, in this case, is the simple fact that 51% of your games experience is true to life.
My real life example for this week is NCAA Basketball 09. Had the developers spent the time to get the atmosphere right, the game would instantly have been an 8 or higher. Why? Because the gameplay is believable enough that the right atmosphere would just suck the player in and willful suspension would be easy.
So my challenge to developers today? Get 'it' in the game and see what happens with your product.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Posted on November 17, 2008 at 05:19 PM.
This latest rumor from Smashpad about EA Sports is interesting. Basically, EA would offer consumers a special deal to reward brand loyalty with up to a 33% discount per game title purchased in a program Smashpad is reportedly calling "EA Sports Season Pass". The caveat? It would be available in GameStop's only with a $20 entry tag.
While the program sounds cool, this is nothing but a rumor. It would be cool to see it happen, and would definitely be a brainchild of Mr. Peter Moore as he has often preached trying to expand brand loyalty of customers.
There is a very good chance the discount is quite a bit lower than reported or most likely, the whole thing is nothing but contrived bs. My case against the rumor is the simple fact the flyer posted has a game's list which includes games EA no longer owns the license to (UEFA) or games EA hasn't announced as of yet (FIFA Street 4).
However, it is certainly exciting to think about for folks strapped for cash during these increasingly tight economic times. Would you take advantage of the program if it is indeed as reported?
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Saturday, November 15, 2008
http://www.operationsports.com/forums/ea-sports-ncaa-basketball/277794-ncaa-basetball-09-demo-available-impressions-here.html
So now to get down and dirty, what do I think?
NCAA Basketball is a good, but not great game. Which features good but not great action on the basketball court and it features a good but not great set of options. The play-calling is the same as NBA Live, which makes it the best play-calling system for basketball available. The pre-game focuses add a depth of strategy, especially in your dynasty games.
The action on the court is an overall improvement over last year. Guys try to pick off the ball and your teammates do their best to run offensive plays with a bit of a purpose.
Players also tend to play pretty close to their ratings. My shooting percentages and such have been pretty realistic thus far. The huge thing I was looking for was to see if the bad teams shot like bad college teams and if the good teams shot like good college teams. It certainly seems to be the case, as a more athletic team will suffocate the offense of a lower tier team.
As I stated earlier, I can describe the gameplay as good, but not great.
One thing I think is a huge positive is the control feels much more tight to me compared to NBA Live. I haven't had as many instances of losing control of my players because they get stuck in a string of animations. I also somewhat prefer the control scheme of CB over Live, even though they are mostly identical.
One thing that the AI doesn't do very well is go to their star players. In Live, I saw this happen over and over again. I know college basketball is a more team oriented sport, but some of the teams with absolute superstars don't really seem to go to them enough in key situation.
There are a few things I'm not a huge fan of....I have seen numerous backcourt violations because an animation causes a player to cross the half-court line. Players running out of bounds due to a canned animation seems to happen less frequent than in Live, but it still happens.
I will be around most of the day to answer some gameplay questions but I don't have the game with me today unfortunately, so I will try to answer any questions as best as I can!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Army
Boston College
Central Michigan
Chattanooga
Cincinnati
College of Charleston
Colorado
Delaware
DePaul
Detroit
Georgia State
Harvard
Hawaii
Holy Cross
Howard
Indiana State
Iowa
Iowa State
La Salle
LSU
Richmond
Rutgers
Saint Louis
Santa Clara
Southern Methodist
Vermont
Washington
Wichita State
William & Mary
Yale
This isn't a full impressions update, but I just wanted to pass along my feelings before diving back in. This game could be the best college basketball game on the next-gen consoles so far...still a lot more playing to go, but it has a chance.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
(1) '68 UCLA vs. (16) 2006 George Mason
(8) '86 Duke vs. (9) '83 NC State
(5) '78 Kentucky vs. (12) '93 Michigan
(4) '99 UCONN vs. (13) '81 Indiana
(6) '79 Indiana State vs. (11) '59 Cal
(3) '84 Georgetown vs. (14) '97 Arizona
(7) 2005 Illinois vs. (10) '54 LaSalle
(2) '82 UNC vs. (15) '57 Kansas
NCAA Midwest Region
(1) '76 Indiana vs. (16) '90 LSU
(8) 2008 Kansas vs. (9) '75 UCLA
(5) '80 Louisville vs. (12) '86 Navy
(4) '94 Arkansas vs. (13) '59 West Virginia
(6) 2005 North Carolina vs. (11) '77 Marquette
(3) '54 Kentucky vs. (14) '90 Georgia Tech
(7) '93 UNC vs. (10) '83 Houston
(2) '56 San Francisco vs. (15) '95 Wake Forest
NCAA East Region
(1) '96 Kentucky vs. (16) '91 Georgetown
(8) 2004 UCONN vs. (9) '91 Arkansas
(5) 2001 Duke vs. (12) '81 Virginia
(4) '67 UCLA vs. (13) '52 Kansas
(6) '79 Michigan State vs. (11) '89 Michigan
(3) '57 UNC vs. (14) '89 Syracuse
(7) '87 Indiana vs. (10) 2003 Syracuse
(2) '74 NC State vs. (15) '90 Loyola Marymount
NCAA South Region
(1) '72 UCLA vs. (16) '88 Kansas
(8) '96 UMASS vs. (9) 2002 Maryland
(5) '95 UCLA vs. (12) ''85 St. Johns
(4) 2007 Florida vs. (13) '60 Ohio State
(6) '62 Cincinnati vs. (11) '68 Houston
(3) '91 UNLV vs. (14) '85 Villanova
(7) '66 Texas Western vs. (10) '86 Louisville
(2) '92 Duke vs. (15) '70 LSU
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