Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Is the Universe a Friendly Place?
Dr. Peter Jensen talked about a lot of things, many of which can help your personal life. He talked about eliminating stress. He talked about how to get the most out of your abilities. He talked about learning more about yourself. Einstein once asked the question, “Is the universe a friendly place?” The truth is that each of us will answer this question differently. Some will say yes, others no and some maybe. There is no wrong answer. You just have to know how you answer it and how that can affect your decision making. Peter joked that his wife asked him, “Why are you always so defensive when students question you?” He replied, “I’m not being defensive!” Knowing that you may behave like this can help you make the changes necessary to improve. A person can’t change from being a negative person to a positive person. But if you truly recognize the areas that you are weak in, you can adjust.
Managing Stress
There are many ways to deal with stress. One of the best ways to deal with it is only worrying about the things we can control. Worrying about things we can’t control does no good. Peter joked that we shouldn’t worry about the problems in this world. His mother-in-law does that for everyone. The old expression, "Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference” is a truly great one.
The other ways to deal with stress are to maintain relationships and discuss our problems. Women live at least five years longer than men. And a significant portion of that is due to men’s inability to discuss their problems and deal with stress. Studies have shown that the best support group for a cancer patient is other cancer patients. Shocking! Talking with people that can understand your problems is a tremendous benefit.
The Power of Visualization
People do not realize the power of visualization. It can have a significantly positive or negative affect on your body and your ability to deal with adversity. Constantly beating yourself up over mistakes only creates more stress and problems. There was a study where athletes had their brain patterns analyzed when committing a mistake. They studied the neurological affects from a physical error and then had the athlete visualize the same mistake. They found it had the same effect on the body. So when an infielder boots a ground ball and then relives it in his head another four times, he’s actually committed that error five times. He needs to let it go much like a cornerback who got beat on a touchdown pass. Noted speaker Ben Zander has stated that after every mistake we should say, “How fascinating!” We learn through mistakes. Taking risks and aspiring to be great are positive things so don’t dwell on the screw-ups.
A post-Olympic study of Canadian athletes showed clearly that those who did their personal best at the 1984 Olympics used mental imagery two and a half to three times as frequently as those who did not perform up to their expectations. The four minute mile was once a psychological barrier. Nobody thought it was possible until Roger Bannister did it in 1954. But as soon as he did, that barrier was broken. Within 46 days someone else broke four minutes. By the end of 1957, 16 runners had done it. You can’t do it if you can’t imagine yourself doing it.
Change Your Perspective
Sometimes we allow ourselves to get frustrated. We get angry or stressed and our body and mind tenses up. When our adrenaline kicks in, our mind can lose the ability to process a lot of information. Ever got into a heated argument with someone and minutes later wished you could have remembered some key points that seemed to go blank in your mind? It’s because you were too hyped up to process things properly. There are times when we need adrenaline to have key focus and there are other times where we need to use techniques such as breathing or refocusing to regain our composure so we can perform at a high level.
Dr. Peter Jensen told a good joke.
One day a mother was driving her seven year old daughter to school. The daughter turned to the mom and asked, “Where are all the bastards mommy? I don’t see any bastards.” The mother replied, “They only come out when your father drives.”
The father viewed every driver on the road as an annoyance which raised his stress level. The mother chose to remain calm. Instead of allowing some things to annoy us, we need to relax and refocus. Allow ourselves to become an observer rather than just viewing a tough situation in a first person perspective. “Act as if” you know what you are doing. Some guys have a tough time approaching girls as a teenager. When approaching a girl you can act like the no-confidence dork you feel like. Or you can act as if you are cool like some other guys you have seen. Act as though you know what you are doing. Visualize success. After winning a major Johnny Miller once said that it wasn’t just him that won it. Whenever he was looking at a tough shot, he visualized another great golfer making a similar shot from memory. Everyone gets nervous. You are not your feelings. Even though you may be nervous, you don’t have to act like it or let it govern your actions.
How We Deal with Challenges
When Bell was declared a monopoly and broken up into smaller companies, many middle management employees had their livelihoods threatened. A total of 207 of these managers were studied over the course of seven years to see how they handled it. They examined the differences between those that ended up getting promoted and being successful versus those that languished behind. They found the floundering managers had seven times the amount of sick time used as the successful ones. This wasn’t a case of the lousy employees dogging it. This was an example of how negative energy and worrying actually affects your physical well being. The mind and body are connected.
When faced with challenges, you can choose regressive coping or transformational coping. Regressive coping is negative. “Why me?” “Why can’t it go back to the way it was?” These types of questions do not help deal with your problems. The successful managers took a more positive attitude. “What skills do I need to learn to be successful?” “How can I use this opportunity to better myself?” We can choose how we deal with challenges.
Conclusion
This experience was great. Dr. Peter Jensen told quite a few good stories and provided some great examples of how we can challenge ourselves to better deal with the issues we face. Hopefully some of these comments will be useful for anyone struggling with stress or problems either on the court or off of it.
Friday, November 6, 2009
I own a PS3 and my family does have a Wii which largely collects dust. The party types of games are hits for parties but that’s about it. A good first party game with poor graphics comes out once in awhile to keep people interested but there really isn’t much to like for a sports gamer other than Tiger Woods. This machine feels like it was entirely created by hype and somehow Nintendo has ridden this propaganda into massive profits that Microsoft and Sony will never come close to matching. Nintendo can make all kinds of claims about the Wii. It’s a great party system! It’s a workout machine! It’s unique since you have to shake your wrist at the screen! Their commercials even show grandparents joining in on the fun. And every time I see that crap I just shake my head. People get suckered into an idea that the Wii is great fun and then this overpriced console gets used once a week and pads Nintendo’s profit margins.
Call me a bitter fanboy and you will be right. I take delight in seeing Wii sales down 40% from last year and I hope they continue to fall. I want the gaming industry to focus on making high quality games with high quality graphics for myself and not some glorified stick figure game for a seven year old. Nintendo is innovative and creative. Nobody can dispute that. Nintendo is also the next gen console leader without question. And that makes no sense to me.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The original Uncharted was a sleeper hit that eventually sold well over two million games. It was a third person shooter that featured a good shoot and cover system and solid gameplay. But what really sold people on the game was the story and character development throughout. This game felt like you were playing a movie rather than a video game. The musical score was fantastic and the graphics were solid. Throw in some platforming, treasure hunting and a little puzzle solving and you had one of my favourite games of all time. You were Indiana Jones without being Indiana Jones and who doesn’t love Indy? Or should I say who doesn’t love Nathan Drake?
How Does the Sequel Compare?
Uncharted 2 has many similarities to the original game. We still have the same cover and shoot system that worked well in the original. There are still many different guns you encounter over the campaign to keep things interesting as well as provide strategy options. The game forces you to choose between short range, long range and clip capacity and you can only hold two guns at once (a hand gun and a large gun). Thankfully the game removed the six-axis controls for grenades making them easier to use.
There are a few improvements to the game from the first one. First, the graphics and locations look great. You can be fighting in the jungle, a burning city or find yourself in the middle of a snow storm. Each environment feels unique, looks great and often has different objectives. The original Uncharted seemed to bog down a little near the halfway point due to excessive fighting in the jungle. The sequel does a better job of mixing up the locations and it keeps the game feeling fresh throughout rather than repetitive.
Second, stealth is now a true option and occasionally a necessary one in gameplay. You can sneak up on a bad guy and take him down without causing a scene. This certainly helps level the playing field when facing numerous enemies. You can still choose to shoot first and ask questions later but it’s a subtle improvement to the game. I personally like throwing a guy off a ledge without using my gun.
Third, the hand to hand combat got a bit of an upgrade. While still using only a single attack button (square), you do have a counter move button (triangle) that can make hand to hand combat more fun. While the game still centers on gun play, hand to hand combat is used a little more than the original which rarely required it.
Game of the Year?
So with all these improvements, is Uncharted 2 better than the original? As with all sequels, they face a challenge when trying to out perform an original that was loved by many. I loved the original and there are a few things with this game that held me back from stating that it was better than the first.
Too Linear
Parts of this game were simply too restrictive for my tastes, particularly the first half which I found slightly disappointing. The original Uncharted was linear but not to this extent in my opinion. The Uncharted series is not a sandbox environment but this game featured so many cut scenes and animations that it sometimes felt scripted. In the opening sequence alone, climbing the train was full of animations of the train falling apart. You have to wait for an event to play out before regaining control of Drake. Is this great story telling or an example of the lack of control over your character and outcome? Another example of this is a fight that the game requires you to use hand-to-hand combat. Never mind that I’ve pumped a few rounds in a guy that has no armour – this has zero effect. I have to wait for him to charge me and then engage in hand to hand combat. Often these cut scenes and animations are great but the scripted feeling did bother me at times.
While I praised the new locations as being more varied and less repetitive, they are also smaller and more restrictive in design for the first half of the game. Exploration seems to be an afterthought. There is always a burning bus or a closed gate preventing you from checking other areas out. The original game also restricted access but you could usually backtrack to where you came from after a gun fight to fully explore for treasures. The sequel pushes you forward constantly. Often times a leap from a building results in the platform falling down preventing you from jumping back. Many times a door gets closed, the floor caves in or the previous path seems to get cut off somehow. Keep it moving is what the game is screaming at me! You have to get to the next cut scene to advance the story! The first game certainly had elements of this but not to this degree. There is a more frantic pace in this game than the original. Some may like that while others may not.
Furthermore, the smaller environments of the first half lead to more cramped fighting areas. We get a bunch of quick gun battles in tiny spaces that don’t require a lot of strategy simply because you can’t move anywhere. The second half of the game was much better for my gaming habits. The environments were bigger, we got some epic gun battles over large areas and the pacing seemed to be a little less hectic. I just wish they would have spread these areas out over the entire game a little better.
Treasure Hunting
Treasure hunting is frustrating in this game. Normally I am not much of a trophy or treasure hunting nerd. But I found myself searching like crazy for them in the original. I would spend all kinds of time looking for them and got 38 out of 60 in the original (41 the second time). It was fun. The sequel made it frustrating as they were too hard to find. I felt like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. Uncharted 2 has 100 treasures but I was only able to find 34 on my initial play through. And that was mainly due to a few chapters leaving out some easy treasures to pad the stats.
Overall Thoughts
Uncharted 2 is a very good game that every PS3 owner should experience. It’s similar to the first one and the story and development of the characters is second to none. If you loved the first game you will probably love the second game. The graphics are outstanding and the varied locations add to the overall enjoyment. However, the first half of the game was just too linear and scripted for my tastes to consider one of the greatest PS3 games ever made. The original Uncharted still has a special place in my heart as my favourite PS3 game of all time.
86/100
Monday, October 12, 2009
The guy chose OhioState while I had Miami. I had no problem with that and he seemed like a better player than me. If he would have just played real football, he probably would have won. I knew he wouldn’t do that from his first possession when he ran a fake punt on 4th and 10 and tried to convert with a pass from the punter (he failed). He then went for it on 4th down twice on his next possession to score a TD. This guy just didn’t believe in a punter. I was down 14-7 at the half as I struggled on offence.
In the second half I return a pick 80 yards for a TD to tie it at 14-14. On his next possession he tries to no huddle me on 4th and 16 from his own side of the 50. He fails to convert the first down and then promptly quits. What a douschebag.
There are so many advantages to playing offline only. You can tweak sliders, play whenever you want and don’t have to worry about cheese. The only advantage to playing online is to hopefully get a smarter opponent. Instead I get an annoying one. So it’s back to my offline cave for another couple years.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The graphics are a lot better than the first game although I find the audio seems to jump volume between stuff (too quiet and too loud depending on cut scenes). I do turn up the character voices and turn down everything else a bit to hear the characters easier during the fights.
The sequel is largely the same as the first game plus fusion powers so if you like the first game, you should like this game as well. I must say the Fusion powers do add quite a bit to the game. Quite often the bad guys will swarm you and it's great to use a Fusion power to wipe them out. For those that don't know, there are 3 fusion powers: clearing, guided and target. I don't use guided too often which is a decent fusion but I stick to clearing which does a smaller amount of damage but a large area. Perfect for clearing out the ton of drones that can overwhelm you at times. The target is good for bosses to isolate one person and do a lot of damage. Lots of different combos between characters but it can be hard to pick the one you want since the action is usually nuts and I hit the L2 button and quickly scan my teammates to see which fusion effect I can use (it will show Target = circle, Clearing = X, etc. over the guy's heads). You can load up to two fusions in your meter at a time from beating up bad guys so it's definitely something you need to save when you really need it since you can't just do them whenever you want.
The story is done well too. They really did spend a lot of time on cutscenes, the characters and voice overs. I'm still early in the game but this looks to be a nice improvement over the original game.
My team is usually a flying guy, two medium guys and a slow but strong guy. Thing is perfect for my strong guy and I will gladly use the Hulk there when I unlock him legitimately (he's very similar to the Thing if you use the Hulk cheat). Wolverine is always a favourite for a medium guy but I will also be using Deadpool when I unlock him soon (my son has him already - did that part legitimately twice due to corrupt save). Captain America is good but I'm souring on him as I'm leaning pro-registration.
Gambit is OK but I barely know him. I love Spiderman from the comics but I don't really like his powers that much. A little too quick and not quite enough of a basher.For flying guys, there are quite a few to pick from. From the first game to this one I like the Human Torch and IronMan. Both are very similar in this game although Iron Man gets the nod because he's stronger and can pick up cars. But both have shooting powers and a radius power move where they can knock down anyone around them. Storm is cool but I don't quite like her powers as much. She has lighting strike down which is OK. She doesn't have a radius move but does have a powerful wind move where anyone in front of her gets blown away. That is a better move IF you can ensure all the bad guys are in front of you. Ice Man is pretty cool too. I'm going to have to use him more. He has a fusion with Wolverine that leaves ice all over him.
Ms. Marvel looks good and is pretty cool to use. You automatically get three powers with her. Both the Hulk and the Thing have a couple strong smash moves to use right away. Thing's third move is a rampage/charge move. Definitely better than Luke Cage who I know nothing about and isn't as easy/good to use. Wolverine was sweet last time and sweet this time. Quick and very powerful strikes.
I would agree that the difficulty is too easy. I do think Super Heroic is perfect for me right now. That's the hardest difficulty available until you beat the game. I've had one or two people die on me quite a bit but I usually can revive them right away because there are constant heal/revive tokens you pick up along the way (can only hold two at one time). I like the challenge of a harder difficulty set.
Tried the basic simulator today and that was good for teaching me the different combos available in the game. One of my favourite moves is just grabbing a drone, then giving him two light shots and a heavy shot while holding him. That easily kills them on the lower difficulty levels but doesn't usually finish the job on Super Heroic. Luckily a quick (light attack) foot stomp on them after you toss them will take them out.
Definitely liking this game so far. If you liked the first game you should own this one. It's a nice change of pace from sports games and I love the freedom of playing 20 minutes or 2 hours. It's not a strategy game or anything like that. It's a full on arcade game full of action that is just fun to play. CFav worked on this game and has also made some comments in the OS forums here: http://www.operationsports.com/forum...iance-2-a.html . Join the party!
Friday, September 4, 2009
There are three different groups of buyers for video games. The first group is the guy that buys the game day one. It doesn’t matter when you release the demo as these sales are unaffected.
A second smaller group are the guys who are probably not going to buy the game regardless unless you knock his socks off. How does a bad demo boost these sales numbers? Only a great demo can pull these sales in.
Lastly and most importantly, there is a large group of gamers sitting on the fence trying to decide if they should buy, rent or pass on a particular game. Does it really matter if these guys get a demo two or three weeks before the game comes out? I don’t think so. What really matters is getting a good demo in their hands and generating strong word of mouth. That’s why a later demo based off the final and largely bug free code would help the most. A bad demo that annoys this consumer will largely hurt sales so why release them so soon?
A side benefit is that valuable development time before a game's release isn't spent on creating the demo - it's spent on the actual game! When the game is done, then you have time to create the demo disc properly. Other than pleasing the impatient gamer, myself included, I see too many negatives of early and crappy demos.
Most sports games are released weeks ahead of the actual season they represent. Having a fully functioning demo come out after the retail release but still before the actual season starts would be best. This would give the fence sitters a much better demo to judge and probably boost sales. Seriously, how on earth does an early but crappy demo help sales at all?
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
But is this just football games are all sports games next gen? Are people tired of video game sports with all the other options out there, have they been annoyed at the quality so far or have sports games gotten to the point where people are buying every couple years because they aren't making a huge improvement? The Show on the PS3 has sold 07 (260,000 but a late release and first edition) , 08 (640,000) and 09 (490,000 and counting). So it's sales haven't skyrocketted either. Is this a trend for all sports games? NBA 2K8 went from 920,000 on the 360 to 1,050,000 for 2K9 on the 360. On the PS3, sales also increased 480,000 to 510,000. But this could be because Live sales dropped from 570,000 to 440,000 on the PS3 and dropped 560,000 to 540,000 on the 360 from 08 to 09. Overall basketball numbers were pretty flat from 08 to 09.
The NHL 2K series saw it's numbers from 2k8 to 2k9 stay very similar. On the 360 it went from 120,000 to 140,000 but stayed the same on the PS3 at 50,000. The EA NHL series improved nicely from 08 to 09 on the PS3 seeing sales rise from 160,000 to 270,000. On the 360 it went from 250,000 to 520,000. Those are huge gains on both systems and on a sidenote, I didn't realize 2K hockey was getting it's butt kicked. But many feel the EA hockey series have improved a lot. Is that what warranted the gains?
Madden sales from 08 to 09 went from 2.41 to 2.32 million on the 360. The PS3 went from 0.93 to 1.61 million. It did seen an increase in total sales although the 360 sales did drop. With a big change this year, I will be curious to see how it fares.
Conclusion: I'm not sure. I think if a series does innovate and improve, we see big sales improvements like EA hockey has seen. The Show didn't change a lot from 08 to 09 and we haven't seen a big sales increase either. The NCAA series has seen steady declines and that series still hasn't gotten all of the features from last gen either. People who may have been disappointed with one game may tend to stay away on the next one. Either way, EA's profits aren't going up with the NCAA series on a year by year basis.
Friday, July 3, 2009
There are many types of gamers out there and it’s not just the casual gamer vs. the hardcore gamer. The hardcore gamer may know more about the sport they are playing and are certainly a better gamer than the guy who only plays a couple hours a week. But there are core differences within the hardcore and casual community as well. Not every hardcore gamer wants their football game to be a defensive slugfest. And not every casual gamer wants to throw up 50+ points every time they pop the game in. Those assumptions are simply false.
Time for Preset Game Types
The developers have given us difficulty levels but that just makes the games easier or harder. They have given us sliders, which are great, but many don’t understand them or like them. There are many among the hardcore group on OS that hate sliders and refuse to use them. The Madden team tried adaptive sliders so the game would change on how you play but that still brings you back to a style of gameplay the developer wants and not what the gamer wants.
It’s time for the developers to institute built in Game Style options that will automatically adjust the sliders based on your desires. There needs to be three options: Offensive, Balanced and Defensive. An Offensive set in a football game might boost QB accuracy, RB ability, and downgrade defensive awareness. A Defensive set might do the exact opposite. In a baseball game an Offensive set might automatically boost sliders for home run power and contact. A Defensive set in basketball would automatically reduce shooting sliders and boost rebounding and steal sliders.
Everyone Wins – Online Too
With game difficulty settings and automatic pre-set slider options, gamers would have an easier time of getting the game to fit their style of play and skills. This could be used for online gaming as well. Looking to play a more defensive football game online? Choose the defensive lobby (All-Pro Defence). Want to play an offensive NCAA game where you get great pass protection and throw bombs all day? Choose the All-American Offence Lobby. Either way, pre-set slider options would be extremely easy to implement and would give both offline and online gamers more options.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
I'm still passing on NCAA 10 for now but may reconsider if the sliders are patched AND work well. I still want the old camera back but there is a near 0% chance of that per Greg Heddleston on NCAA Strategies. Too difficult to patch. Too bad the EA dev team thinks it's a good idea to remove options rather than have simply allowed us the choice of two gameplay cameras in the first place.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
inFamous is a great game. I loved the demo and bought the game. If you do all the side missions, collect the blast shards and get the dead drops it takes a long time. I've probably played around 20 hours and am only 43% done! I’m slow though as most people think you can finish off the game in about 20 to 25 hours if you rush. Collecting things like blast shards aren't just useless hunting expeditions though. They actually aid you in your ability to get more powerful.
This is a sandbox game - an open world environment that features many missions and an overall story (not bad, not great) that ties it together. I don't want people to think it's similar to GTA IV. The style of the game may be (missions, open world) but I was bored with GTA IV and regretted buying it. This game has a completely different gameplay system since you play as a comic book hero/villain. It makes the entire feel of the game unique. You don't drive a car or use guns. You are an electrically powered super hero or potential villain.
If you played the demo first, you may be frustrated by your lack of powers to start the game. This game has a clear RPG style where you have to complete missions, gain experience and learn new powers. XP can be used to upgrade your powers. While annoying at first, the quest to improve yourself keeps you coming back for more. Your power will grow but so will the quality and variety of your opponents as you work your way through the three different islands.
This game forces you to play as a Hero or as a Villain. There is no in between as power upgrades force you to achieve certain levels of karma. Some of the many powers and upgrades that Cole acquires are different depending on your status. There are also 15 unique side missions that pertain only to good or bad characters adding even more replay ability to this game. Of course, you will have to play through the game twice to see these different missions and powers. People on the streets will praise you or stone you depending on your Karma Level.
The character, Cole McGrath, actually has the ability to acquire many different powers and abilities. Some require more energy than others so you can’t just rush in, expend all your energy with a mindless set of shock grenades thrown in every direction and expect to do well. inFamous is not a brainless button masher where you can just jump into a massive battle with the bad guys and kick butt. You have to know your limitations, conserve power at times, and get some cover. Sometimes you just have to turn and run. Cole is not Superman. He's more like Spiderman, which I think is a great thing. If you want a nearly indestructible character that just wants to go destroy stuff, this game might not be for you. Your missions will make certain areas of the islands safe while other areas remain dangerous. I visit the dangerous areas some times for a good battle but keep your head on a swivel and be prepared to die if you get too cocky. Death comes easy in this game. Having to run to a nearby power source (ex. Light post) to re-energize and heal yourself is a good thing imo. Games that come too easy bore me.
This game keeps sucking you back in. I’ve never played a game that was this addictive and took so much of my time. Check out the demo for a great feel for the game and then go out and get this game based on that experience.
Friday, June 5, 2009
The guys that want companies like EA to adopt a bi-annual release for their sports games are just wasting their time. EA makes a ton of money releasing Madden and their big sports games every year. Sure going to a bi-annual release might make for a better game every two years but it will never happen!! These companies are about making money first! Reducing consumer spending and decreasing profits are hardly the goal of the CEO unless you work for GM.
Let’s try DLC!! Just download or buy a game and just purchase digital add-ons every year! Again, this is wishful thinking to bring down costs for the consumer. If EA and other companies could make more money this way they would. Making more money doesn’t usually translate into breaks for the consumer. A developer on OS already said that if they could release a game like World of Warcraft, where they could charge heavy monthly subscriptions, they would. The fact that they haven’t indicates that the subscription market does not exist.
The common complaint is that next year’s edition is just a small improvement. Guess what? It’s been that way in each console generation for the last 15 years. Developers build a base engine and then tweak that engine until the new game comes out. It’s more of a product of the quick changing hardware cycle than the developers. Even a great game like the Show wasn’t that much different this year. There is a limit to evolution and we will see less of it over time, not more. Only so many new features can be added as we have complicated games already. We will never have the type of revolutionary changes we had when going from an Atari to the NES. Those days are gone so stop waiting for them. Bring on NCAA 09.5! Bring on NBA 2K9.5! Label it any way you want but the new games will be better and many people will have fun.
Last but not least, many of us like buying a new game every year. And a new disc with a new case! I don’t want to play the same game for two straight years. I don’t want to buy giant external hard drives to store HD games or movies. And why do people think $60 is such a huge chunk of money for the amount of time we spend with the game? What kind of ticket would that get you at Yankee Stadium for a three hour baseball game? How much does dinner and a movie cost you on the weekend? Plus I can trade that game in before the next game comes out and my cost is even cheaper.
If you don’t like the current format, don’t support it! Don't buy the new game every year. Wait two years and you can have your own personal bi-annual cycle. But I’ll still head over to EB Games when I want to play the next great game and I won’t need a USB cable to get it.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
1. Fighting is Entertaining
Hard to argue this point. Who doesn’t love a good fight? There’s a good reason why Boxing and UFC are so popular. People like blood and fists of fury. Just think how much greater football would be if Terrell Owens squared off against Donovan McNabb as they met on the field during a change of possession? The stadium would be on its feet and everyone would love it! Don’t kick them out of the game though since we would be punishing the fans. Just put them in a box where they have to sit out one possession and can play later. Furthermore, we need to teach our young kids that fighting can be a good way to settle a dispute. Losing your temper should be more encouraged after all these years of teaching our kids to become sissies.
2. Fighting Keeps the Dirty Play in Check
Who hasn’t heard of offensive lineman like Conrad Dobler poking guys through the facemask? Is it really fair that a defensive player only gets a 15-yard penalty and possible fine for a late hit on the QB? What about that defensive back that’s holding longer than the allowed five yards? Referees can sometimes miss these calls so we should encourage the players to police the game and take justice into their own hands. The next time I see a quarterback get hit late, his offensive line better punch the lights out of the player who does it. 15 yards my ***! He needs to get whooped and just sit off for a short time on the sideline and get cheered by the local fans. Little Johnny, whose watching the game, needs to know that it’s the players who are in charge of the game, not the referees or league officials. Justice is best served with your fists. It’s by far the best way of keeping dirty play in check.
3. Protect the Stars and Open up the Game
We all like offense. It’s good for the game and attracts fans. Hockey uses fighters to ensure that players can’t hit or bother the star hockey players on the ice, particularly the little ones. Those pesky defenders who are trying to stop the star from scoring should not do too good a job, even if it’s legal. The threat of a punch in the face helps give the star player more room. Football should adopt this to allow its star players more freedom to score on the field. Any Pro Bowl quarterback like Peyton Manning should have more time to throw. If a defensive end keeps sacking or hitting him legally, Peyton’s teammates should come to his defense. We need to expand the rosters to allow a designated goon. The next time Peyton gets sacked just send in the goon and have him kick the defender in the groin. He’ll think twice about sacking him next time.
There you have it. We can use the same great reasons to keep fighting in hockey to also add fighting in football. And this just isn’t for professional football. This needs to be integrated all the way down to the amateur level. How can a player be taught to fight properly in football if he’s not fighting in junior high? He can’t. When you see parents in the stands at a Junior C hockey game cheering on two 16 year olds fighting each other, everything feels right in this world. Fighting will help take the NFL to the next level of fan interest.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Graphics Guy
This is the guy that obsesses over graphics, frame rates, player models, textures and animations. He can tell you that the shade of blue at Boise’s stadium just wasn’t annoying enough. He can tell you the Joe Torre model in the Show doesn’t have small enough fingers to pick his nose. If you have a concern about any of these things, this guy can nitpick with the best of them.
Crotchety Old Guy
This is the guy that hates Graphics Guy. “Back in the day we had pong and we loved it! Just be thankful for animated stick figures you young whipper snappers!” Every time he turns on the PS3 he forgets he has to change channels to play the game. “Damn TV! Can’t you figure this out by now?”
Accessories Guy
This is the guy that lays out his socks and tie before bed at night in accordance to his weekly wardrobe schedule. He wants five different elbow pads with six different sized stripe options, wrist bands with seven different textures that can be placed anywhere on the human body, different colored mouthpieces and eye black with the ability to write messages on them like Tim Tebow. If every player on every team doesn’t have the right accessories, a heart attack may happen. Either that or an open letter to EA complaining about the lack of attention to detail.
Atmosphere Guy
This guy paints his chest and goes topless with a cheese head at Lambeau Field in January. He loves bunting, playoff chants, varying crowd attendance, pre-game, half-time and post-game shows along with cut scenes showing a fan taking a leak at the urinal. "Long live 2K5! For shame EA!"
Gameplay Guy
Hates graphics and accessories guy. Every post they make rubs him the wrong way. “Who cares about the announcers? I just shut them off. Only gameplay talk is allowed here!” He’s often seen eating at Lila’s Greasy Spoon with Crotchety Old Guy.
Slider Guy
This guy constantly fiddles with his car seat as he can never find a comfortable position that feels just right. When he finally thinks the seat is perfect he gains ten pounds and has to go through it all over again. Then he declares he has found the perfect car seat position for everyone without realizing that other people may be taller or fatter than him. He finally gives up a year later as he trades his older car in for the new model.
Prozac Guy
This is the guy that proclaims a game and everything in it to be the best ever! “NCAA ’09 was the best game ever! I love how the cpu quarterback never throws deep. It makes it so much more interesting then seeing the occasional deep pass like I just saw on Saturday!”
Suicidal Guy
This guy can find fault in Jesus. “I’m only averaging 3.1 walks per game when I should be averaging 3.2!” Most games are flaming pieces of crap. But somehow they end up being purchased and played for months at a time. Positive compliments are rare and negative comments are a welcome release. Serenity now!
Conspiracy Gamer
This guy hates to lose and believes in comeback code. Every loss is a conspiracy against him. He believes in Roswell and that we never walked on the moon. At least one broken controller sits in his closet.
Anti Mascot Guy
This guy thinks that building the new Yankee stadium takes the same time as building an outhouse for his momma. “Why on earth did NCAA add a useless mascot game when they could have focused on create a school, FCS, and franchise discipline? Why are there mascots in the game when the Show could have collision detection?! Clearly they don’t know what they are doing!”
Many of us are a wide range of gamer. I would say I’m Atmosphere Guy, Gameplay guy and Slider Guy with a sprinkle of Crotchedy Old Guy and a small touch of Suicidal Guy.
Monday, January 26, 2009
I was playing NBA Live 09 this past weekend and I’ve only played 20 to 25 games and I’ve got a déjà vu feeling. Run up and down the court, shoot the ball and defend the ball. I’ll run the occasional play and pick and roll but it is starting to feel too similar. I know I’m over simplifying this but bear with me. I just don’t find myself excited to play the next game any more. I used to watch a lot more basketball in the past but my interest has faded there too.
In football, there is a stoppage after every play. Baseball features a lot of time between the batter getting into the box to the pitcher taking the sign and adjusting his jock strap. Many people hate this and argue that football and baseball don’t have much actual game action. But I love the emphasis this places on strategy. Now people could say that you just run or pass on every play in football. You could say baseball is just about throwing a ball and hitting it. But the down and distance, personnel packages, and types of plays all vary a lot between every play in football. Each different pitch count provides a different scenario in baseball, particularly in the one on one battle between each pitcher and batter. The starting pitcher changes every five games and managing the bullpen and bench are crucial to success.
I’m a football fan first and baseball fan second. Is it as simple as natural preference or is it a natural desire for more strategy that these sports offer? Do you even agree that strategy is more important in football or baseball? It’s probably natural preference although I’d be curious to hear others state the reasons why they like a transition sport over a sport like football or baseball (or vice versa).
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