Random notes

- Man I was pretty upset after that Jets/Dolphins game. Overall it was a good game and it was very exciting at the end, but the fact that the difference ended up being that completely lucky TD the Jets got on 4th and 13 killed me. Favre throws up a wounded duck after getting hit and the ball sails in the air for what felt like 4 seconds, and somehow there was a Jet receiver at the goaline waiting for it and no Dolphin players were around to break the play up! How could there not have been any defenders around the ball when it was in the air that long?! ARGH!! So frustrating!

- Finally, the new Madden rosters are out, so I grabbed those last night and finally started a franchise. Played my first preseason game against the Bucs. I won 41-35. Point total was a bit high and surprisingly my QBs were way more accurate than the CPU (I only had about 5 incompletions the whole game). I'll review my slider settings after the preseason is done so that I have a bigger sample size, but it feels good to finally start a franchise. This is why I play video football games. I really hope EA releases the "Sim Gamer Pack" they mentioned on the Operation Sports forums. That will greatly improve the way the game plays (if the CPU sliders actually work of course).

- Speaking of Madden and Operation Sports, I am liking the involvement that the Madden 2010 team is having on the forums. Their lead designer, Ian (screen name: TheFuture), seems to really want a lot of the things the sim gamers of OS want. At least, he is saying a lot of the right things. I am not holding my breath, especially given the short development cycle, but I am real curious to see how Madden 2010 comes out.

- Check out the Little Big Planet walkthrough videos over at Gametrailers. This game looks very impressive! I can't wait!

- I beat Bionic Commando: Rearmed. Great game. I am going to start it up on a harder difficulty and try to work through all of those challenge rooms (man, these things are TOUGH!)

- I am thinking of picking up Castle Crashers when they fix the online problems.

- I picked up Condemned 2 (360) from Target for $20. I enjoyed the first one and thought it was a severly under appreciated launch game.

- This weekend I switched over from DirecTv and Bellsouth DSL to Comast. I had no real issues with DirecTv, but I just wanted a faster internet connection than what DSL could offer. Plus I will end up saving some cash by consolidating my bill.

I went ahead and got the HD package from Comcast (I never had the DirecTV HD package). The HD stuff looks great of course, but I get better picture quality when I get my local HD channels with my regular over-the-air antenna. I guess they need to compress the HD signal for cable (and satelite) so it doesn't look quite as sharp, but since I get iffy reception with my rabbit ears and lose the signal a lot, I'll take the stability over the slight loss in quality.

The standard def channels look better through Comcast than they did through DirecTV. I mean, they still look like crap, but it is an improvement.

My internet connection though is faster. A lot faster. Like, it is probably faster than it should be. The first thing I did after the technician left was do an internet speed test and this was the result:

Wow. That is about 10 times faster than what I had through DSL!

Yes, I am a happy camper. =)

More Madden

A few more observations that I've noticed.  Note, I am playing on All-Pro difficulty with some additional slider tweaks (the Madden IQ thing was not my cup of tea).  11 minute quarters.  I have all penalties maxed except for false start, which I have set to 75.  I got tired of trying to get the defense to jump with the fake snap count and always having my o-line jump instead.  If the defense would jump sometimes, it would be worth the risk.  But the defense NEVER jumps, even with offside set to 100, so what's the point?

 

- As has been mentioned countless times on Operation Sports (and first noted by Bill Abner over at his blog), the "Robo QB" issue is starting to get on my nerves.  The QB throws balls right on the money, regardless of who is throwing.  I just played the Saints and Brees was about 32 of 37 or some ridiculous number like that.  From what I can tell, there are a few factors contributing to this.  First, the QB's are just too accurate.  You rarely see a pass off the mark.  Everything is catchable.  Second, the CPU refuses to throw deep.  I have yet to see the CPU actually throw a bomb down the sideline.  Their deepest pass has been a post to the TE down the middle in which the ball traveled about 25 - 30 yards through the air.  And last, even when you put pressure on them, they still get off amazing, accurate passes.  Throwing off their back foot, moving away from the LOS, twisting in mid-air, the CPU QB's are experts at getting the ball out when under pressure and their passes when doing so don't have nearly the accuracy penalty that they should.

 

The problem is not isolated to the CPU either.  I am finding my completion percentages to be higher than normal too and I've turned down QB accuracy to 30.  Looks like I have to keep bringing it down, since I average about 70% -75% completion.  But I least I have the ability to tweak that.  Can't do anything about the CPU's pin-point accuracy.

 

- Something that has REALLY been bothering me is the fact that the CPU snaps the ball way too fast.  You have less than 2 seconds to make any reads on defense and make pre-snap adjustments, because that CPU QB is snapping the ball as soon as he sets under center.  Very annoying.  I've been caught controlling the wrong player, or in the middle of an audible, or the game thinks that I am "run committing" because I was changing my d-line's assignment, etc.  This needs to be fixed because it gets more frustrating by the day.  Then throw in the fact that there is no accelerated clock and the CPU is snapping the ball with 30 seconds left on the play clock each time.  So their time of possession is off.

 

- There seems to be a glitch in which the game shows the wrong coach reacting negatively to a play.  If my defense makes a big play and recovers a fumble for example, it shows a cut-scene of my coach angry on the sideline, instead of the opposing team's coach.  I've seen this happen a few times.

 

- The running game can be brutal in this game.  Huge holes close up in mere milliseconds.  But it is a good sort of frustrating.  Some games I've barely been able to move the ball on the ground.  Others I average just shy of 5 yards a carry.  I do think that people get in the backfield too fast sometimes, but it is not too big a problem at this point.

 

- What is a problem, is that on play-action passes your QB seems to get sacked 80% of the time without having time to make a read.  It is immediate.  Play-action, bam, sack.  Very annoying.

 

- Being able to save your replays and uploading them online is really cool.  However, once you save a replay I have not been able to view that replay again fullscreen, I only see it as a smaller thumbnail on the top right corner.  That is odd.  You can upload it to the internet and see a slightly larger version, but if it is saved on my console then I should be able to watch it like normal on there.

 

- Aside from QB completion percentages, number of tackles per player, and the more than occasional weak CPU running game, the end of game stats are looking really good with 11 minute quarters.  Looks like this will be what I go with for my franchise.

 

- I mentioned this in an earlier post, but man the sidelines in this game are dull, lifeless and ugly.

 

- Superstar mode is trash.  It is exactly how I remember it from Madden 2007.  This mode has the potential to be fantastic.  If done right, these type of modes can feel like a whole separate game.  In both MLB The Show 07 and 08 I have ONLY played in career mode.  But Madden gets so many things wrong that I won't even go into it here, I'm going to have to do a whole separate post soon.

 

- EA needs to add a new easy way to get roster updates.  I don't plan on playing much Madden online, but I do want the roster updates for my franchise.  Yet the only way to get roster updates is to start an online match, download the rosters when it prompts you, and then quit the match.  That is just stupid.  I am sure it is also annoying to the person on the other end that is expecting a match, only to have me back out once the roster downloads..

 

That's all for now.

 

Weekend

I had a pretty good weekend. The Dolphins beat the Chiefs 24-0 (the real Dolphins, not my Madden team). Granted, it was a preseason game and it means nothing, but dammit, we looked really good and it felt great to look good! I forgot what that was like! You know you're coming off several mediocre years when you end up yelling and celebrating more in a preseason game than you have at any point in the last 4 seasons. :)

I also beat Braid. I think. I found all the puzzle pieces and I got the achievement for completing the game. But it doesn't really "end" per say as far as I can tell. Anyway, the game was quite the experience. I highly recommend it.

I also played some CoD4 multiplayer this weekend. Wow, whenever I stop playing for a while I get absolutely massacred when I get back in. I must have stunk it up for about 10 games before I even started performing decent again. This is still my favorite competitive multiplayer game that I have played.

I checked out the Head Coach demo that is in the PS Store and played around with that for a bit. I like the interface and it seems to be insanely deep (as far as I can tell from the demo). Unfortunately, when I was going to play the week 1 game, the game got stuck in a perpetual load screen. It was loading the game and it did not appear to actually be "stuck" because it kept changing all the facts that were on the screen, but I must have waiting for about 5 minutes for the game to load and nothing. I just turned it off and went to bed. So, all I did basically was get a feel for the menus.

I also tried the Star Wars: Force Unleashed demo (PS3). Everything I have seem on this game to date has been very impressive and the demo continued that trend. Ever since I first played Psi-Ops in the Xbox I dreamed of a Star Wars game being made in that same style. Well, this game is it. I'm a big fan of games that give the player a feeling of empowerment and lets them wreck havoc and this game lets you do just that. The visuals are slick and the control scheme seems solid. I was still in the learning stages so I never felt totally comfortable toggling between all my abilities, but this game has a lot of potential. I'm going to download the 360 version and see which I prefer.

Lastly, after playing through the demo twice, I decided to buy Bionic Commando Rearmed (360). Grin really did a bang-up job with this title. Every little detail about it screams quality. They did not do a half-assed port, you can tell this project was a labor of love for the developer. I have fond memories of the original NES game, but nothing detailed. I remember really enjoying the game, but everything is a haze. So far I am really enjoying Rearmed. It has that great old school vibe and the controls feel great to me. Many are complaining that the controls on the 360 version suck because of the terrible d-pad, and I agree that the d-pad sucks, but I am playing the game with the analog stick and having no problems. The game even supports analog controls (tilt the stick slightly and your character shuffles forward slowly).

The play mechanics remain mainly unchanged, just tweaked here and there. It takes some getting used to though. Your character can't jump after all, and in a side-scrolling platformer not being able to jump just feels wrong on so many levels. That is actually why it took me two play-throughs to buy the game. My first time through was a mixed bag of "Oh yeah, I remember this. Cool" and "Holy $#*@, why can't I &#$% jump! I hate you!". Once you accept the fact that you won't be jumping around and feel comfortable with all the grappling techniques (the advanced tutorial is essential), the game really opens up. And the game is a lot deeper than you initially think. You get many new weapons and items later on so that there is always something fresh to mix things up.

For $10, this game is a crazy bargain. Another recommendation from me. This has been a great month for Live Arcade games. And we still have Castle Crashers to look forward to. Sweet.

I also played Madden (of course) and will put some thoughts up shortly.

Gaming update

- I am 3 puzzle pieces away from completing Braid.  If you haven't taken the plunge yet, dig into your pockets and cough up the 1200 MS Points for this game.  Please.  The game is a true gem.  I've spent $60 on games that aren't a third as brilliant as this one.  Support these type of games folks, or we'll be over-run with unoriginal, by-the-numbers crap! 

 

- Still plugging away at Hot Shots: Out of Bounds.  I'm really enjoying the game.  I tried the new Tiger Woods demo and I don't know, I find Hot Shots to feel more authentic.  Bizarre, I know.  But, aside from the cutesy characters and over-the-top courses, the Hot Shots golf engine and physics are pretty deep.  I also feel that you have to plan your shots out more in Hot Shots than in Tiger Woods.  Especially while putting.  I sometimes take over a minute evaluating the green in HS before a big put.  You have great control of the camera and various angles and you have to actually calculate your shot.  In Tiger, you have extremely limited control in evaluating the green and you mostly rely on a "Putt Preview" that shows you exactly where the put will go and then adjust from there.  I just don't get the same satisfaction sinking a long put in Tiger as I do when I nail one in Hot Shots.  Maybe that is just me.

 

I do like the analog swing mechanic of Tiger and playing in real-world courses has me intrigued.  I might end up picking Tiger up eventually, especially since I believe Gabe is getting it as well.  Of course, I am still waiting for my Hot Shots rematch!

 

- I still pop in MLB: The Show every now and then to continue my starting pitcher career.  I am now by my 3rd year and with the Houston Astros organization.  I felt bad leaving my Marlins when my contract expired after my second year, but I wanted a Championship and the Marlins weren't heading that way anytime soon.  Looks like my decision has paid off.  The Astros have made it to the World Series and we're about to enter game 6 leading 3-2.  And of course, I am starting game 6.  I hope I go the distance (and win), otherwise I think I might miss out on the "celebrating" if we win the game after they pull me.  Something I hope they work on for next year's version.

 

- Then of course there is Madden.  I've had my up and downs with Madden so far.  Now that I have a few more games under my belt, I am getting used to its animations and gameplay, so I am comparing it less and less to APF in my head and trying to judge it on its own.  I've been playing exhibition games for now and spending a lot of time on the practice field.  I don't want to start a franchise until updated rosters are out, as the current one still does not have Pennington on the Dolphins.  I might have to wait until the first week of the actual season to be able to jump into franchise.

 

Might be a good thing because I am still doing lots of slider tweaks (damn you EA for not including CPU sliders!!!  Worst design choice ever!) and trying to see what quarter length produces the most realistic stats.

 

At the moment, I am enjoying the game again for the most part.  Will add some updated gameplay impressions later.

 

More Madden . . .

A few more impressions.  I have not been able to play a full game since Tuesday.  Something always comes up and I have to stop playing.  I don't understand why we do not have in-game saves by now.  Is it that difficult to implement?  Most of the impressions below involve graphical observations, etc.  Note, I had my nitpick hat on last night.

 

- I've probably played about 3½ quarters total since Tuesday (not counting time spent on the practice field of trying some Madden Moments) and I have not score a TD.  So far, in 7½ quarters as the Dolphins, I have scored 1 offensive touchdown.  Come to think of it, that is very realistic!  =)

 

The thing is, I actually move the ball down the field pretty well.  I mix a combination of runs, short passes, the occasional 15 - 20 yard pass, etc., and I move the chains with good consistency.  But once I get in the Red Zone I can't close the deal.  I haven't missed a FG yet though.

 

- The more I play it, the less I like the animation and player movement in this game.  Some isolated animations look great (catches, tackles, RB getting away from defender) but overall the game does not look realistic in motion at all.  Running animations are terrible.  It does not look like the runners are even running at full speed (regarding the effort the animation shows), and your players can zig-zag around the field in a very unrealistic fashion.  Sure, that is great for player control (you want your guy to go left, he's going left) but it doesn't really take momentum or physics into account, so it totally kills the realism.

 

- Kickers' legs move way too slow when kicking the ball.  At the speed their legs moves you expect the ball to travel no more than 15 yards down field, yet the kick-off goes into the endzone.  This is similar to how the throwing animations don't match how far the QB's are throwing the ball.  What looks like the animation for a 10 yards pass sails through the air for 40 yards.

 

- To satisfy my curiosity, I popped in Madden 2006.  Yes, I still own it.  I prefer to keep it than to get the $1.00 Gamestop will give me for it.  The player models in that game, while grotesquely 'roided out, seemed to display more detail in the jerseys and overall textures and poly count.  The current models look far more human and accurate, but they don't sport the texture detail of 2006.  In 2006 you can see the sweat in their arms and neck and the skin textures were very detailed.  Just an observation, I agree with pulling system resources away from generating these minute details that you can only spot in Instant Replay and using them in other areas, but I wish we could have the detail of 2006 with 2009's models.

 

- Maybe I was just in a weird mood yesterday, but visually, the game just wasn't looking that impressive to me.  I don't know why because I thought it looked pretty good when I picked it up on Tuesday.  The grass textures and lighting are really the highlights of this game.  I find all other aspects pretty lack-luster at this point.  Maybe it will grow on me.  I think this all stems from the animation.  That is my pet peeve.  If the animation was actually life-like, it would make everything else look better.

 

- The commentary is a mixed bag.  The play by play by Tom Hammond is completely robotic.  Sounds like the radio announcer without that weird "radio filter" applied to the sound.  Chris Collinsworth however sounds absolutely fantastic!  Completely natural and fluid.  He provides the best commentary in a football game I have ever heard.  Now, that being said, poor Tom's job is much harder to do in videogame form.  He needs to read his lines with a very stable timbre and tone because all his words need to be spliced together to form the play by play.  So a regular sentence you hear from him might be made up of separate sound bytes.  Collinsworth however is free to just talk away because all his sound is played back exactly how he says it.  Eitherway, if not for Tom's robotic delivery, the commentary in Madden would have been a huge win this year.

 

- Presentation is a step forward as well, although it is still not where I would ultimately like it to be.  But, since I just popped in Madden 2006 last night, it is night and day from that game.  I can't believe how absolutely dreadful 2006 was in this regard!  The new graphical overlays look great and the game does a great job of throwing stats on-screen as the game goes on.  I love that.  The view of the Stadium from the outside before the game is a welcome addition as well.  But the overall presentation still feels bland.  All the cutscenes are really weak.  Last night one of the players tore his knee, the graphic said he was "Out for the season" and the cutscene just shows the player on the floor for a bit, in pain, trying to get up and having a hard time, yet nobody comes to help him.  No training staff, his other players are just 5 yards away watching him.  He finally stands up and begins to hop off the field.  I think back to the really great injury cutscenes of NFK 2K5 and these pale in comparison.  I also think they should not tell you the extent of the injury immediately.  They should keep you in suspense while the doctors check your player out, etc.

 

- There is very little emotion in the game.  The crowd noise is pretty static and I just don't see the emotion on the field or on the sidelines to make this feel like a real NFL game.  The sidelines in particular are completely void of life, with low polygon player models which are totally uninteractive.  They just stand there looking straight ahead no matter what is happening.  I got spoiled by APF's great, active sidelines.

 

Overall, I think I am going through 2K withdrawal.  I haven't played a Madden game in 2 years and I have APF fresh in my memory, so I am comparing Madden to that game.  I am hoping I'll begin to adapt to it soon, although I will say this, I do prefer Visual Concepts' vision for what a football videogame should be.  I like the feel of their games more overall.  I like the details they get right.  I like the direction they were taking the genre way more than the direction Madden seems to be going, which is to cater more to the casual and tournament crowd.

 

We'll see.  I'm going to wait for the opening day roster to start a franchise and I'll see how the game grows on me.  I really do want to like it.  Really.