Review: NCAA Football 2010 Demo

This week, EA Sports released the NCAA Football 2010 demo, available for download on the Xbox Live Arcade. For this review, I am only going to talk about the game play since that's all that's available in the demo.

I'm just going to come out and say it right off the bat, I hope this demo is nothing close to the real game. While it has some cool new features, it has more negatives than positives and that just won't fly with a fan base who is tired of Electronic Arts repackaging the same game with a different bow and one new whistle year after year. If you want to argue with this and say that because it's a one year advanced game it has to be better, I'm sorry but you couldn't be more wrong. NCAAF 2003 was much better than 2004. NCAAF 2007 was one of the worst sports games I've played on the Xbox 360 console along with MLB 2k6 and the entire NBA Live franchise.

New doesn't mean better, but in the case of NCAA Football 2009, it did. I saw 2009 as the best of franchise. Maybe is was pasting Darren McFadden on the cover that tickled my fancy or the addition of the Online Dynasty, or maybe—just maybe—EA finally got the game play right for a change. While there were things that seemed to be a pain in the butt (like receivers trying to toe drag as if they were falling out of bounds in the middle of the field, inevitably forcing them down at the spot of the catch), it was the smoothest NCAAF game I have ever played. Players didn't run a 3.9 forty yard dash, their were less loop holes, not every quarterback could throw accurately on the run. Needless to say, NCAA Football 2010 has a lot to live up to and it's not going to sell anyone on “cutesy” cinematics.

Like I do when making any life changing decision (such as whether or not to try the new Angus burger at McDonald's), I've come up with a list of pros and cons of this game to help me review it. Shall we?

Pros:

• Tackle animations. The new tackle animations are pretty good overall, but sort of got repetitive. If they mix in those from 2009, we should be good to go.
• Cut-scenes. I do like the cut-scenes a lot in between plays and during the kickoff. These add to the experience of the game as if it were being televised. If I remember correctly, these were in the 2007 game.
• Erin Andrews. Erin Andrews joins the broadcast team this season as the sideline reporter, giving injury updates via audio rather than just having to read it. Plus, we get to see Erin Andrews.
• Injury choice. After a player gets injured, as long as it isn't serious, a prompt comes up letting the user choose whether or not to continue playing this player or to bench him for a while. In older versions of the game, we had to go to the injury report menu to do this.
• Uniform customization. This year you have COMPLETE control of what uniform your team wears. You can individually customize helmets, jerseys, pants, socks and shoes in any variety before each game.

Cons:

• Player lock. While I'm sure a lot of people will enjoy this, I didn't. The main reason was because once you are locked on a player and the ball snaps, there's no going back so you better hope the rest of your defense is as smart as you. If I'm locked on an LB while running Cover 2 and the offense goes deep, I cannot switch to my safety for coverage help. That doesn't fly with me. Plus, pressing in the left thumbstick is the button to engage this. In 2009, this button was used to either pump up or silence the crowd. There's no reason Player Lock is programmed as this, it should be the right thumbstick.
• Hit sensory. In the demo it's not programmed correctly. If the ball carrier is dragging my defender forward and a safety dives forward to knock him back, the demo doesn't pick up the safety. Another thing I noticed was when I returned a punt, somehow the defender spun me around, despite there being a good gap between my player and the computer's (meaning it never came in contact with me).
• Hurry up encroachment. When the offense ran the hurry up offense against my defense, encroachment was called against a defensive player I was not controlling... he was just sitting across the line of scrimmage and the poor programming caused the offensive line to come in contact with him.
• Let me go back. I jumped offsides while blitzing with the OLB. While standing on the opposite side of the LOS, it didn't matter how hard I pushed the stick backwards, he wouldn't budge. I had to press “B” to change my player in order for him to move back onsides.
• Spider senses. If you are the quarterback and you're about to get sacked, even from the blind side, your controller starts vibrating to warn you. I don't get it.
• INT camera. When you pick the ball off, the camera angles changes from in front of the defense to behind. This is nothing new. But now you're able to move your defender while the camera is rotating; therefore, first you'll start by pulling the stick towards you then rotating it forward with the camera's changing angle to help you optimize your speed. Realistically, this is slowing you down by a few steps. It should just keep all motion frozen until the camera is behind you like the older games.
• Coach cam. It mainly bothers me on the offensive side of things, but when you want to look at your play (such as WR routes, etc.), all the angles are much different than how it looks in your play book. I understand that the post routes are meant to be more accurately to the post itself, but the WR aren't able to get good enough cuts on their routes. Plus, the animations within them are childish.
• Catch the ball. If you're WR is running a crossing route and your throw is anywhere below the waist, the receiver won't make an effort to reach down... he'll just let it hit him in the legs and keep running.

While these are many of the pros and cons in the demo, I'm sure I'll come up with more later to add to this post. I understand this is the demo and it's two teams that every player has a 99 rating (which is NEVER fun), there were more problems in this demo from my point of view than there were with the 2008 and 2009 demos combined. Hopefully EA will have everything fixed by the July 14^th release.

NCAA Football 2010 Demo Rating: 6.5 / 10

Turtles In Time Re-Shelled: Why update the graphics?

I’m sure by now most everyone is aware of the fact ScrewAttack.com’s No. 1 Beat ‘em Up of all time, TMNT: Turtles in Time, is making its way to the Xbox Live Arcade on July 22nd. 18 years after its original release on the arcade and 17 after it’s birth on the SNES, the game is getting a whole new, High Definition, 3D, make over.

That’s what I don’t like.

Officially titled TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled, Ubisoft has taken over the original Konami classic updating the graphics to make them look more “Next-Gen” approved (just like Lode Runner). I honestly do not get the reasoning for this. One of the reasons for re-releasing this game was for the sheer sake of online co-op just like TMNT: The Arcade Game, which is still one of the top selling titles on the Xbox Live Arcade and it didn’t change the graphics one bit... When I play it today I feel like I did as a little kid, teaming up with my buddies at Chuck-E Cheese beating up the Footclan.

Is the 3D “re-shelling” really necessary? To me, updating the graphics, in its own special way, is making it another game. To my knowledge there have been no additional levels added to the gameplay, just a complete re-skin of a classic. I’m just still trying to figure this one out. I understood the Street Fighter II: HD Remix, that was totally fine. If Ubisoft wanted to follow Capcom’s lead on this where the graphics would be less pixilated, I’d be all for that. That’s not the case.

To the younger generation being introduced to this game for the first time, they might not notice anything at all. But to my generation, the one who grew up on Nintendo systems, we’ll buy this game with our Microsoft Points, but it won’t hold its weight like TMNT: The Arcade Game still does.

Left 4 Dead 2 forced to change box art

Those overprotective mothers at the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) are in the news again, but this time it has to do with a certain video game’s cover.

Anyone who is familiar with the Xbox 360 can recognize the box art of Valve’s Left 4 Dead, a survival horror game released in November 2008. The box art features a zombie’s crippling hand with four of the five fingers sticking out to give emphasis to the “4" in Left 4 Dead.

Valve is now releasing the sequel, Left 4 Dead 2, in November 2009 (AKA five months from now) and the marketing team cleverly came up with a new box art that not only adds the number two next to the title, but now the hand has all but two fingers chewed off, obviously signifying that this is the second game.

The ESRB was not too happy about this and has forced Valve to change the cover from the ringer and pinky fingers being chewed off to simply being bent forward.

While this may not seem like a big deal, if you look closely, it seems as if the zombie hand is now giving the “peace” sign (or “V for Victory” for our friends across the pond), rather than putting an emphasis on the game’s gruesome nature.

Are the bitten off fingers really that disturbing?

First Thoughts: Milo and Kate

This is the second part of my “First Thoughts” that I started a little over a week ago on Project Natal. Here I want to look at Milo and Kate, Lionhead Studios current key development for the project in which the user interacts with a virtual boy or girl as if you were really viewing each other via webcam (Think the Fable II dog evolved times 100).

Right now this project is obviously in the VERY early developments as what was shown at E3 2009 is the majority of what we know so far. By turning your head left or right you can change the angle of the camera, zoom in or out by standing closer or backing away from the TV, hopes of having actual conversations with voice recognition as well as other unique interactions like helping Milo or Kate build their own tree houses. Pretty cool stuff.

But now the question has to be asked, what is the limit of Milo’s (I’ll reference Milo now for either him or Kate) learning ability? We will assume that it won’t have the programming to learn on an endless plane giving us a real life look at 2001: a Space Odyssey in households across the planet, but that doesn’t mean its learning climax won’t be creepily high with the ability to expand via DLC.

Now I’ve never been the one to believe that technology will one day rule the planet and there’s no stopping it. I don’t think that Microsoft is the new SkyNet and I don’t think Milo will become HAL. I’ve always felt that while we as human have come dependent on technology, technology is more so dependent on us and the main difference between humans and technology is our ability of logic, reasoning and rationalization. ScrewAttack.com had a very well-written video spoof on Milo the other day that really brought these ideas to life (almost too much so). If you haven’t seen it, you might want to check it out here (language warning). I don’t think Milo will be programmed with all of these abilities, but in order to please the masses I thought I’d at least touch on the subject because as much as I hate to admit it, there is a 0.01% chance that this is an actual possibilities.

Consider the masses pleased.

Another thing I wanted to look at was whether or not Milo will be an Xbox build of the Tamogachi, or will it be something new altogether. The way I see it, that’s all it seems like to me, a Tamogachi on the TV; a virtual “friend” who I can interact with while I’m bored or mess with as I go to sleep, not a game. In the eyes of chief developer Peter Molyneux, he sees it as an actual game and according to him, a game must have a beginning and an end (which is weird because I still haven’t met anyone who beat World of Warcraft). So if Milo & Kate is an actual game with an objective, what is it? Do we raise our virtual kid from birth and see them through college graduation and pay their tuition with Microsoft points (if you’re a stranger to sarcasm, this is what it sounds like in text)?

I do not get the game aspect of this. To me, this seems more like a hobby than anything else—another promising attempt to bridge the gap between the Xbox 360 and casual gamers. I honestly do not feel that there should be a game aspect of it whatsoever in terms of an overall objective with an ending. If this project needs an objective, how about it’s to keep Milo a happy kid? If this were really a “game,” it would be something I might invite my friends over to play, but that’s not the case.

I don’t mind the development of this project, it’s a very interesting step forward for technology and software development, but let’s not make it into something it’s not.

Samus and Baby Metroid: BFF

Got bored last night and made this video:

How to get a wireless Xbox Live connection via your PC

Simulposted from my Denver Xbox Examiner page. If you enjoyed this, be a pal (not PAL) and click on that link.

I know this isn't anything ground breaking, but it's nice to save money in this economy. Many of you have no need for this, but I thought I'd at least share.
----------------------

So since I've moved into my new house I have been without Xbox Live for two weeks because I accidentally left my wireless Xbox receiver back home in Tulsa, Okla. When I visited the folks following finals week. Now I'm back in Colorado and before last night I was without Live because I didn't feel like spending $100 on a new receiver designed specifically for my Xbox 360 console, I decided to turn my desktop into a wireless receiver itself. I know it's a tough economy out there right now and we all could afford to save a few bucks so I thought I would share this with everyone else. I realize it's not a groundbreaking technique and I'm sure there are other how to's out there to show you this, but I'm just here to help. Wanna know how? Read below.

(I'm using Vista in this tutorial, but you can do the same thing with XP)

Here's what you need:

Xbox 360 console
Two (2) CAT 5 Cables (Ethernet)
Hub / Switch
Computer with wireless access (doesn't matter whether or not it's a desktop or laptop, just as long as it receives Internet via a wireless signal).

Step 1: Connect the Ethernet cable from your PC to the first slot in your hub.
Step 2: Connect the Ethernet cable from your Xbox 360 to the second slot in your hub.
NOTE: Do NOT plug either cable to uplink slot. The point here is to “fuse” the two connections together to act as one.

Step 3: Open your Network and Sharing Center (Start > Control Panel (Classic View) > Network and Sharing Center. Once there, click “Manage Network Connections”



Step 4: Hold control and click both Local Area Network and your wireless network connection. Release the control key and right click on either of the selected networks then left click on “Bridge Connections.”

After a few seconds your window should look like this:



Step 5: Go to Start > Run (or hold the keys windows+R) and in the window type “cmd” (without the quotes).

Step 7: Once the DOS command prompt comes up type “netsh bridge show adapter “ (obviously, from here on out don't put the quotes in your prompt)

Step 7: In the same command prompt window type “netsh bridge set adapter 1 enable” (if you happened to mix up steps 1 and 2, then the command to type would be “netsh bridge set adapter 2 enable”)

Step 8: Once again type “netsh bridge show adapter” in the command prompt just to make sure it worked correctly. If it did, you should see something like this (notice the adapter you set to “enable” has changed from the “disabled” state:



Step 9: ENJOY!

First Thoughts: Project Natal

As the newly appointed Denver Xbox Examiner, what credibility would I have if I didn’t mention Microsoft’s biggest announcement of E3 2009, Project Natal?

If you haven’t heard, Project Natal is the new motion sensor technology that Xbox 360 is testing out for their next wave of gaming much like Nintendo’s Wii, only that Project Natal uses no controller whatsoever. That’s right, rather than being required to hold a wand and a nunchuck, this version of motion sensor gaming is completely hands free... well, other than your actual hands.

This concept of gaming raises a lot of questions, much like Wii did when it was first launched, the main one: will it work? And not just work, work in the way it was intended to. The Wii was able to successfully prove doubters wrong, but this, in my opinion, is a whole other frontier.

What I see Project Natal, which Microsoft used Steven Spielberg as their E3 spokesperson, as is an attempt to bring those newly hooked gamers that were reeled in the Wii’s ease of use (such as dad and grandma)–it’s a bridge builder. For moderate to serious gamers such as myself I see this as a possible step back for Microsoft’s main consumers. We like having that controller in our hand allows us different combinations of attacks, flight maneuvers and other movements... not training our bodies new ways to move. We don’t want the Power Glove 2.0.!

On the other side of this argument lies a brilliant idea from Microsoft that will almost guarantee a huge spike in sales because it’s a supplement for a new system that will probably cost, roughly, $200, rather than sprouting $500 for a whole new console... let’s just attach an add-on!

Not only does this allow for saving money in an economy that we’re still waiting to come back to surface, but it brings those gamers who got hooked on the Wii over from Nintendo to Microsoft with a product that promises to be easier than easy. At the same time, we’re able connect our standard Xbox 360 controllers and play [enter name of a groundbreaking shooter here], while our families can play “pop the bubbles” when we’re not around.

Honestly, when I stared this post I was really skeptic about Project Natal, but the more I dissected my thoughts on paper (or the computer screen), I realized that this might not be so bad afterall.

What if Super Smash Bros. was on Xbox?

So earlier today I was playing Super Smash Bros. And Super Smash Bros. Melee and I thought to myself? If there were a version of this game dedicated to original Microsoft characters on the Xbox and Xbox 360, who would it feature? I thought about this for a while and the truth is, there aren't too many exclusive Xbox characters out there (and by exclusive I really mean ORINALLY on Xbox before moving to other platforms).

The Super Smash Bros. Series is so great because it brings all of these characters that we've loved since childhood and puts them in a single game. Sure, the newer versions of the game bring in guys like Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog. It's a simple concept turned into a best seller, and you have to know that Nintendo knew that no one could pull this off quite like they could... Sony could have a decent list with Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Croc, etc., but Microsoft can quite put a group together for one main reason, they're too young and focus less on being original and more on groundbreaking system performance. Don't get me wrong, I love my Xbox 360 and will probably never own a Playstation console because I am brand loyal to everyone other than Sony, but you have to admit that Microsoft has that problem.

Still, I am going to try to put a list together and you can fill in what I might be missing.

• Master Chief
• Cortana
• Generic Fable Hero
• The Arbiter
• Vertical Tank (from Steel Battallion)
• Hawk
• Sam Fisher
• Kelly O'Lenmey
• Zak (Fuzion Frenzy)
• Marcus Fenix

Thoughts?

List of systems that I own

Sorry I haven't updated a couple of days and my apologies for this filler-post, but I am really trying to get my point-and-shoot photo journal done for my JTC211 summer class I am taking (you can view the progress here). So for now I'll just run off a list of video game systems that I own so that you can get to know me a little better:

Xbox 360
Xbox
Wii
Gamecube
Nintendo 64
Super Nintendo
Sega Genesis
Nintendo Entertainment System
NES (Top Loader)
Gameboy Color
Game Boy
Atari 7800

E3's latest "The Old Republic" trailer has me worried

Maybe it's just because I am obsessing way too hard over this game's release since I love Star Wars so much, but am I the only one who is worried about the the latest Star Wars: The Old Republic trailer that was released today at E3? Don't get me wrong, it looks AMAZING, but the amount of detail and the high-quality graphics was what really started to make me think.

Normally, yes, for any current generation PC or console game I really enjoy stunning visuals, but this is an MMO--not something I'm gonna run solely off my computer.

I'm no genius, but I'm also not a dumb ass. I realize that this was a pre-rendered sequence, not actual gameplay footage, but still I started to worry. I am very excited about this game's release and the fact that Bioware is incorporating story into an MMO, but with the downfall of Star Wars: Galaxies, I want this game to have a high population of players and if there is too much stress on graphics then it limits the number of consumers who can successfully play the game. This isn't Crysis, it's an MMO. While I'm sure I could run it fine, I'm not so certain about my friends.

Whether you love it or hate it, you have to admit that World of Warcraft has done a great job with keeping the visuals pretty low-key so that anyone with a credit card and Internet access can play, which is part of the reason it is so successful. Again, don't get me wrong, I hope the visuals of The Old Republic are way better than WoW, but at the same time I don't want anything overdone where server speeds drag so low that I can't slay a Dewback for entertainment.

Review: Up

Why is it that Disney-Pixar is able to make every summer just that much better with their nearly-annual feature films and shorts? With the exception of Cars, I have never seen a Pixar film that I didn't enjoy, starting where the magic began with Toy Story as a child in 1995.

On Saturday night I went to see Up in Disney Digital 3D and I have to say... Bravo. First let me get the 3D stuff out of the way so I can actually get into discussing the film. Obviously this was a film made for 2D viewing adapted for 3D, not the other way around, so there wasn't really anything overwhelming about objects jumping out at you--actually I can only think of one instance where this happened. Still, while it was an extra 3 bucks per ticket, it was actually worth it because it really enhanced the standard 2D visuals to a point where you would really have to pay attention to notice the difference, but when you focused on it, it was a huge benefit.

I don't want to get into too many details about the story line because I've really noticed traffic picking up on the blog lately and I don't wanna give away any real spoilers, but I'll give a basic overview.

The movie follows the life of Carl Fredickson (Edward Asner) from a child and his love of adventure thanks to his hero Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), but we soon find out that while Carl thinks he wants to be adventurous, his lack of athleticism and just flat out fear of so many elementary things prevents him from doing anything extreme. He soon meets a young girl named Ellie who is also a fan of Muntz and seeks adventure, except she actually partakes in seizing the day rather than dreaming about it. As the cliche moves on, they eventually get married and both promise to each other that they will one day travel to Paradise Falls in South America (Where Muntz once took his infamous expedition), but for the time being Ellie works with exotic birds in the local zoo while Carl owns a balloon stand. Sadly, and as expected by Disney, Ellie gets ill and passes away which turns Carl into a grumpy recluse, gets forced to move to a retirement home, but instead inflates a 1,000 balloons with helium and makes his house fly all the way to South America with hopes of finding Paradise Falls. That's all I'm going to say about the story right now, but there's your basic outline.

I don't know what it was about this film, but you just couldn't help but smile and enjoy the entire thing. I mean it had everything from romance to adventure to comedy to a great overall message. It was just amazingly fun.

Two things I really enjoyed about Up was both the voice acting and how dynamic the character of Carl was.

With the voice acting, I wanna give a shout out to young Jordan Nagai who did the voice of Russell (the fat kid in the previews). According to IMDB, this is the first film Nagai has ever worked on, but with how well he plays his character, you wouldn't believe that he's new to the business. He does a great job of mixing naivety with both humor and love. All of his lines are perfectly written AND carried out.

Then of course you have the lead role with Carl who, like I said earlier, is voiced by Edward Asner. Throughout the entire film he has such "generic" one-liners that make you think of a stereotypical grumpy old man, but they're simply hilarious. But that's what Asner does, in my opinion he's the best voice actor of all time. He doesn't do a lot of live-action, but that's OK, because we still recognize his voice when we hear it on television or in film.

This also helps add to how dynamic Carl's character was and Disney needed a veteran voice actor to pull this off. Now the way he changes was expected from the audience, but at the same time there was never a part of the film where Carl's character upset us, he's just lovable guy even when he is miserable His main change is him going from smart-ass recluse (not so much unlike myself) to a man who loves everyone and just likes being with people--a way of life he never imagined he'd enjoy.

Something else that I really enjoyed was the cinematography, which is something a lot of people don't give enough credit to in animated films. It's really hard to explain what I mean, but if you go see Up, definitely pay attention to shot angles, especially the wide ones.

The thing that is going to make me give this film 5 movie reels versus 4.5 is the fact that writer / director Pete Doctor is OBVIOUSLY a fan of science fiction and he worked three Star Wars references into Up. The two main references were during one scene where the dogs started piloting their air planes in attempt to shoot down Carl's house. When they begin to commence their attack the dogs use the lines "Red Leader, checking in," "Red Two checking in," "Red three, checking in," which as anyone should know is the opening dialogue to the Trench Run scene in A New Hope. I was the only one in the entire theater who laughed at that, but I literally fell out of my seat I was cracking up so hard. The next came at the end of the same scene when the dogs crash their planes... While they're all 3 flying in a V formation, two crash into each other while the third gets nicked and is sent spinning out into "space," which was obviously taken from the end of the Trench Run when Han comes back to clear Luke so he can fire the torpedo's into the Death Star, sending Vader's tie flying out of control. All of these references are pretty much confirmed at the end of the film when Carl and Russell have their picture taken outside of a movie theater showing Star Wars.

In the end what I really enjoyed was meaning of Up. Obviously "adventure" was a theme throughout, but with that version of adventure we think of the outdoors and big, exciting, events, but that was just the theme of the film, not the the meaning. The real message was that life is not only an adventure, life is the true adventure. Not the safaris or scuba diving trips, but the little things that make life the amazing thing that it is.

Rating: 5/5