Operation Sports
Feature Blogs
- Thursday Other Stuff (3-18-10) by Steve_OS (0)
- Wednesday Other Stuff (3-17-10) by Steve_OS (4)
- The Show is a victim of its own success by MMChrisS (21)
- Tuesday Other Stuff (3-16-10) by Steve_OS (11)
- Monday Other Stuff (3-15-10) by Steve_OS (5)
- Friday Other Stuff (3-12-10) by Steve_OS (4)
- Thursday Other Stuff (3-11-10) by Steve_OS (6)
- Wednesday Other Stuff (3-10-10) by Steve_OS (5)
- Tuesday Other Stuff (3-9-10) by Steve_OS (5)
- Monday Other Stuff (3-8-10) by Steve_OS (12)
See all the latest Blog Comments in one location.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
- Video: Zero Punctuation: Heavy Rain
- Google Maps for Android: Search ‘n Swipe, Latitude Widget, and More
- Kindle for Mac now available
- Video: Kevin Butler "Moves" from the FUTURE
- Batman: Arkham Asylum Going 3D
- 11 Badass Conspiracy Theory Movies
- Best of Craigslist: To the guy who tailgated me for 20 miles
- Xbox 360 slim already under production?
Happy Birthday to the following OS'ers!
MattRobinson17 (52), Kilmer (45), solofx7 (35), Allan21 (23), Classic88 (22)
In the opening minutes during Game 5 of the 1997 Conference Semifinals, Jordan finally got his dunk on Mount Mutombo and gave Dikembe his own signature finger wave. Chicago won the game and clinched the series, 4-1.
2K10 unfortunately doesn't have those great Hawks uniforms, so I had to go with these ones. The give and go with Luc was extremely difficult to set up. 2 things would happen, either Jordan would stop to catch the ball, or it would lead him to far under the basket. I finally got the play with a contact dunk on Mutombo, but never could get Luc to throw a bounce pass.
Here's the list, all on the XBox 360:
- Blood Bowl
- CSI: Deadly Intent
- Darkest of Days
- Devil May Cry 4
- Fight Night Round 4
- Gears of War 2
- G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra
- Hitman: Blood Money
- James Cameron's Avatar: The Game
- Left 4 Dead
- Mini Ninjas
- Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
- Operation Darkness
- Overlord 2
- Scene It: Bright Lights Big Screen
- Soul Calibur IV
- Star Wars: Clone Wars Republic Heroes
- The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
- Turok
- UFC 2009: Undisputed
- Warriors Orochi
- WET
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Today was all about UF Pro Day. I listened to people syaing Joe Haden was at risk of falling out of the first round if he didn't up his 40 time. Not once taking into account his actual play on the field.
Brandon Spikes is now looked at as a 3rd round project. The leader of one of the best defenses in recent years. He might not be the guy who is going to run down some one like Willis can but he can flat out hit you. I project this guy going to a team who is already very good at LB on Def(Steelers, Panthers, 49ers) and just making them better. As a 49ers fan id love to see him there but I think the scariest place to see him land and where he would be best suited is the Bengals. Giving them Rivers, Maualuga on the outside and Spikes in the middle.
Now for Tim Tebow. He has changed his delivery and all that has been great. All you see when following football is how much he has improved and how much better his new technique is for the pro level. With all that said and for all being made of it, how has it effected his draft stock? It hasn't he is still a 3rd round projection just like before. Instead of being drafted and then making these changes he has just given him self a head start nothing else.
The teams that put huge stock into the combine draft people like DHB in the first round. If you want to see what your drafted do it while there on field.
I think the person who has risen his stock the most was Jordan Shipley who put together a great performance in the NC game after the star of Texas went down. He didn't flinch, didn't hesitate, did his job and was a solid #1 receive regardless of who threw him the ball.
06:44 AM - March 17, 2010. Written by Facts
I have never seen a NFL game that has the ability the tender your RFA's (Restricted Free Agents) with the appropriate draft picks or money. Being a CS Major, the coding for it seems hard but I think it's possible. If EA can come up with Pro-tak and 2K can come up with MLB and NBA Today's Dynamic Commentary, I would think they could add this in (if only 2K had the NFL rights)
- 10 Strange Athlete Superstitions
- DROID system update coming soon, details here
- Windows Phone 7 Series won't have copy and paste
- Test drive Internet Explorer 9
- Microsoft IE9 Platform Pops with Speed, Standards
- Keyboard dock, other iPad accessories will be MIA on April 3
- 7 Sexiest Female Chess Players (I say, meh...)
- 5 People In Your NCAA Pool
- "X-top" 360 Laptop Finished! On Ebay!
- 7 Reasons Why The Windows 7 Phone Is THE iPhone Killer
- 10 Hottest Cougars of 2010
- Modern games that would have sucked on Atari 2600
- Razer Releases The First Gaming Grade Mouse Specifically For Left-Handers (Yup, already pre-ordered mine)
Happy Birthday to the following OS'ers!
Porter Callahan (69), dmbfan1970 (40), -dirty- (22)
Ever since the release of PS3 and Xbox 360 sports gaming has seen a steady decline in quality. Somewhere along the way all of these companies forgot that they needed to put out a quality game year in and year out to keep the consumer happy. Part of this can no doubt be blamed on the internet. Companies now have the ability to patch a game the minute it loads into your console as long as you are connected to the internet, and all of the companies seem to be using this as an excuse to release unacceptable games.
Where before a release date would be pushed back if a title was not complete, now companies ship this products knowing they are incomplete and load fixes onto your machine when you load the game for the first time. The problem with this method of business is it doesn't allow your entire game to go through a massive Q&A test in its final state before it is released to the consumer. This inevitably leads to ongoing problems and breaking just as many things as are being fixed. You don't have to look any further than this year's two baseball titles to see exactly what I am talking about. We are only 14 days since both 2K Baseball and SCEA The Show have been released and they have both combined for three content updates already. Both games are still in unacceptable conditions, meanwhile the companies are scrambling to try to figure out where all of these "new" problems came from.
How is this acceptable? When did I miss the memo that said, "We are going to release your baseball games in March, but don't expect the game to be finished until opening day in April when we PLAN to release our final patch." I can't think of another business that would operate in this way, yet this is the road all of the sports titles are taking. I for one am completely fed up with it and find this business model completely unacceptable. I read this year that John Madden himself called an all hands meeting with the people who produce John Madden Football, arguably the most successful sports game of all time. Hopefully issues like this were discussed, and we as a consumer can start seeing better quality products from release.
The consumer is beginning to get smarter and smarter and has already begun to boycott a lot of these games, which is proven by declining sales since the start of the "New Generation" of gaming consoles. I would sure like to return to a day where I can pull a game out of a wrapper, load it into my machine, see one minor update and have all of the features promised working correctly and efficiently. I severely doubt that day is coming this year or next, and I fear that we may lose one or two of the "Big Dog" companies in the sports business before the dust settles. The solution is simple, if it is still broken, don't release it. Unfortunately in today's world higher ups know they have a little extra time after the product ships to complete it before they reach the consumer, and they show no indication of backing off of this mindset anytime soon.
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I have felt since about mid-season that Syracuse had the best team in the country and they haven't disappointed. I did choose them to win it all, however with the injury to their starting center, Arinze Onuaku, getting out of the first weekend may become a task greater then they can handle. With a game against Florida State, or the perennial big, little-guy Gonzaga looming in the second round, Syracuse is going to have their hands full. Luckily the rest of their bracket is relatively lack-luster and if they can get past the second round they should have clear sailing into the regional final where they have to face off against one of my sleeper teams.
Despite finishing the season ranked in the Top-10 Kansas State has continued to fly under the national radar as a legit championship contender. Everybody knows that the one thing you need to make a solid run deep into the tourney is good guard play and K-State certainly doesn't disappoint. Between Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen the Wildcats have one of the scariest back courts in the country and look to give anybody they run up against a run for their money. I don't think K-State has what it takes to knock off the Orange in a best of seven series, but in a one and done format anything can happen.
Another team I am very high on is Georgetown. The Hoyas have three projected NBA players in their starting five in Greg Monroe, Austin Freeman and Chris Wright. They are playing their best basketball at just the perfect time and gave the Mountaineers of West Virginia a run for their money in the Big East Championship game. A game I feel they looked clearly fatigued from the extra game they had to play due to their poor seeding going into the tournament. I did pick Georgetown to make it all the way out of the tough Midwest region and into the final four where they have would have to play a rematch against conference nemesis Syracuse, but that is where I have their road ending. Unfortunately the Hoyas road into the Final Four blocks the path of another one of my sleepers, Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys are led by Big 12 Player of the Year James Anderson who helped guide them to a 22-10 season which included wins over the top ranked Kansas Jayhawks and Kansas State. Oklahoma State plays a 3-point shooting style of basketball that matches up very favorably against any defense they would see. As much as their style of play helps them, it is also their biggest downfall. The bottom line is how many games can they string together in a row where their shooters are shooting well. I picked them to upset Ohio State, but I don't see them being able to come off of that win and have enough to get by Georgetown in the Sweet 16.
The last sleeper team I feel could make a deeper run than most expect this year is the 13 seed Sienna Saints. The committee finally did me a favor here and gave these guys a navigable path into the Sweet 16. With an opening round game against a struggling Purdue team that has not been the same since losing Robbie Hummel, Sienna should have an easy time dispatching the Boilermakers. This should set them up to play a Texas A&M team that most feel is very solid, but still a year away from being a legitimate contender. Unfortunately for the Saints this would most likely set them up to play Duke, but if Louisville finds a way to get by the Blue Devils, I like the way the Saints match-up against Louisville. I picked Duke to beat Louisville, but I would not be surprised if the situation played the way I described and the Saints sneak into the Elite 8.
This years' tournament is setting itself up to be one of the best we have seen in a long time. There are plenty of holes for more then one sleeper team to snag a victory. The parody in College Basketball has been pretty large this year and I wouldn't expect this years tournament to be any different. I know which team I think have legitimate shots to make some noise, now we just have to see what they do on the hardwood.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
10:46 PM - March 16, 2010. Written by BigBlue
I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for 2K Sports' titles. I own all of their football titles, basketball games, hockey and baseball games. I even bought Don King Boxing by 2K sports. I'm a big believer of their product. Love sim sports games, always have.I, like many of my fellow OS gamers, am enjoying the heck out of MLB2K10. Yes, it has its quirks, stutters, and at times questionable AI. But I believe that this is the game we were meant to have last year. And, while I gave last year's title every chance to shine, it became apparent that the game was simply incomplete.
But this year's title erases last year's bad memories (not to mention the snazzy David Wright FATHEAD hanging on my basement wall). To me, the current patch improves the games' rating from a 7 to a solid 8.
BUT . . . this game still needs work. 2K HAS to focus on animation fluidity for next year's title. There is absolutely no doubt about this. It is MLB THE SHOW's fluid animations that set the standard for baseball videogames. Plain and simple.
It is time for 2K to smooth out the animations.
* Eliminate the stop and start running animations.
* Slow down pickoff attempts to a more natural speed.
* Get rid of the hitching in some of the baserunning animations. Baserunners should also round the bases and maintain that arc angle, never always running right on top of the chalk from base to base.
* Slow down that rocket throw from the outfield or from deep in the hole from a shortstop position.
* Enough with the user-controlled rushed throws that look so unnatural, it's virtually impossible for a shortstop to throw to first while facing centerfield.
* Slow down the bat speed going through the zone on a power swing
* Improve the batter's swing animation so that there is no delay between his stride and the movement of his hips while bringing the bat through the zone. And make sure his eyes are on the ball all the way through contact (NEVER LOOKING AWAY)
* It's time for 2K to be the first of the baseball titles that includes a catcher removing and tossing his mask while blocking the plate, or to field a bunt or a popup behind the plate. That would be innovative.
* The players in the dugout clapping their hands should be looking towards the field and not to the heavens. Players in the dugout dont always stare at the jumbotron either.
* If my player hits a homerun, let him shake hands with the coaches in the coaching boxes.
I'm sure there are many other animations that need to be ironed out a bit. In my opinion, 2K Baseball right now is where THE SHOW was a few years ago. Tighten up some of the AI logic, but really GET TO WORK ON ANIMATION FLUIDITY and this game will hit a home run next year. I guarantee it.
BigBlue
Anyhow, enjoy the pics of the God of War Ultimate Edition. For me, it's on to the game. Chaos will rise again!
Ok my excuses are out of the way...now onto my main point today: MLB '10: The Show is a victim of the series recent successes.
I'm a bit shocked about the negative blowback from many about this year's game, moreso from the source of a lot of those complaints and not that they are actually there. I would expect people to complain about the game's numerous bugs as they have every year, but The Show is getting another charge levied against it: not being innovative enough.
This is where The Show is a victim of it's own success, and it's the trap the developers are soon to find out isn't a pretty one to be in. The Show is, without a doubt, the most realistic baseball game to ever hit video game shelves. However, it has gotten there through small incremental improvements over the past several years. Many long-time fans of The Show are claiming the game is not innovative enough and is, dare I even say it, stale.
Unfortunately, The Show is hitting a preverbial crossroads: developers have to change up the formula because the game will undoubtedly become stale in the coming years. However, doing so may very well ruin the game they've built and scare long timers off anyways. This is the quandry that success creates, sooner or later your fans will demand more than you can provide. NHL 2K learned the hard way that changing things up can sometimes have very negative results.
So what say you? Do you think next year's version of The Show should be the first step towards changing the gameplay up in order to keep the long time fans interested? Are you a long time fan? Is the game stale to you? Sound off!
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