There hasn't been much for me to talk about lately, so I apologize for the lack of updates over the past couple of months. Politics have been boring and dull, bills are doing what the smart people knew they'd do (screw people over), food and energy prices are skyrocketing due to turmoil in the middle east, and everyone's blaming everyone else for their problems. So in essence, nothing new is happening. The video games I've been playing have been disappointing to infuriating, which led me back to Dragon Quest IX, a game that, by all accounts I should have stuck with due to its' awesomeness. I can't play Marvel vs Capcom 3 since the matchmaking is completely busted. Dead Space 2 and Need for Speed have angered me to the point of quitting as well. All in all, it seems like games just keep disappointing me nowadays more than ever. I played the Mass Effect 2 Overlord DLC, which was really good, but it was short-lived.
In the world of sports, the Capitals are struggling like they have all season, the Hurricanes are fighting for a playoff spot as well. The Wizards and Bobcats are mediocre as well while Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, San Antonio and Dallas are all major players just like everyone thought they'd be. However, starting next week expect some news on a daily basis. Why exactly? Because I'm heading down to Florida for MLB Spring Training. I went a couple of years ago and it was a fun time even though I got to see the Astros and Braves every other game. This time I'm seeing a much more diverse group of teams including the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and Cardinals.
So next week I'll be posting daily updates of Spring Training games I saw, discussing what I liked and didn't like from the games. Until then I hope to have at least a couple of more news posts. See ya!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Spending Money and Politicians
We as a society vote for politicians because they say "Yes." Have we ever thought to ourselves that we need a politician to say "No" for once? I'm not saying all politicians who say Yes are bad, but let's keep things in perspective: The country is going broke, and we need have Government bite the bullet for once and cut expenditures. I know many seniors out there were promised money they put into social security, and that the process will continue for quite some time. But let me remind you that Government took your money and spent it foolishly, and now they are only making matters worse.
We need Government to stop spending money, or at least at the amounts they have for the last decade or so. If Government did a 10% cut across the board in every area of spending, including medicare, medicaid and social security it would have an alarming amount of money. By doing this for at least one year we would, at least in some small way right the proverbial ship that is our current economic crisis. It doesn't take rocket science to come up with solutions to our problems, nor does it take such complexity to sell it to the American. It should simply be put like this, and should be done so without sugar coating it so they'd get the message: "Take less money over a longer period of time or no money at all."
It sort of ties into our job climate as well in terms of unemployment benefits and education. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life." We simply cannot expect better results through the same course of action we have been repeating over the past half century. There's a word for this method, and it's called "insanity." However, in our current political climate, no one appears sane, nor do we as a society look towards sane people for answers. Instead we look to the people who caused these problems in the first place, but we call them saviors when they are no more than evil pawns.
We need Government to stop spending money, or at least at the amounts they have for the last decade or so. If Government did a 10% cut across the board in every area of spending, including medicare, medicaid and social security it would have an alarming amount of money. By doing this for at least one year we would, at least in some small way right the proverbial ship that is our current economic crisis. It doesn't take rocket science to come up with solutions to our problems, nor does it take such complexity to sell it to the American. It should simply be put like this, and should be done so without sugar coating it so they'd get the message: "Take less money over a longer period of time or no money at all."
It sort of ties into our job climate as well in terms of unemployment benefits and education. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life." We simply cannot expect better results through the same course of action we have been repeating over the past half century. There's a word for this method, and it's called "insanity." However, in our current political climate, no one appears sane, nor do we as a society look towards sane people for answers. Instead we look to the people who caused these problems in the first place, but we call them saviors when they are no more than evil pawns.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Marvel vs Capcom 3
Solid, but barebones.
Marvel vs Capcom 3 is the latest and greatest name in a long line of fighting game series that have returned to the scene this generation. With all of the additions of online play, game modes and emphasis on competition you'd think Capcom would've prepared a much deeper online experience, especially when Super Street Fighter IV, a game they released last year in the same genre, had a much more expansive online service.
Sadly enough, that expansive online service did not carry over from Super Street Fighter IV. Instead gamers are treated to a barebones and barely functioning online service that has become the meat of multiplayer games today. Ranked matchmaking is almost broken at this point, with ranked matches taking forever to get into, and if you do get into a match, they are laggy to the point of being unplayable. Player matches are fine, since you can search for lobbies unlike in ranked, but you can't spectate other peoples' matches. Instead, non-fighters are treated to a menu where you can see the health bars of combatants slowly drain until a winner is declared. In fighting games, people either want to play or see other people play. While it can be understandable that a lot of that stuff would slow down the game, perhaps showing it on a delay of a couple of seconds would help soften the load in terms of connectivity.
The game also features a player license where you can look at stats, setup reserve teams, titles and icons. The most disappointing feature about this is your friends stats. You can look at them, but every time you start up your game the information isn't there, meaning you have to manually update each individual friend's information you play the game if you want to. In addition to this, the friends list doesn't sort depending on whether they've played the game or not. In conjunction with the online functionality of the game, this comes off as very cheap and unfinished at Capcom's expense. With the plethora of DLC announcements we've had so far, players are left to wonder if they're going to be asked to pay for the honor of a patch, or in the form of a 2012 update which I'll dub "Super Marvel vs Capcom 3."
With all the negativity about the online features behind us, the offline features are where the game has a lot of functionality behind it. You have Arcade Mode, which is 7 fights long, a Training Mode and a Mission Mode in addition to local versus play. In the Arcade and Training modes you can choose to have online fight requests on like in Super/Street Fighter IV. Training Mode can also act like facing bots in Arcade Mode, but you have complete choice over them. While some may say this is better than how it's done in Street Fighter, I have to question that since there's no real competition behind it. Training Mode is basically a sandbox where you can fool around with life and hyper bars, AI movesets assists. It's not for competition and hurts the game's replay value because of it.
The gameplay of Marvel vs Capcom 3 is very fun, and you can do a lot with the combos and chains. However, given the amount of problems the game has, and given Capcom's questionable record in the past about functionality updates to their games, you have to wonder if the game will have long legs or not. Because unless you're a serious fighting game fan, it's really not worth a full purchase price with the problems it has right now.
Marvel vs Capcom 3 is the latest and greatest name in a long line of fighting game series that have returned to the scene this generation. With all of the additions of online play, game modes and emphasis on competition you'd think Capcom would've prepared a much deeper online experience, especially when Super Street Fighter IV, a game they released last year in the same genre, had a much more expansive online service.
Sadly enough, that expansive online service did not carry over from Super Street Fighter IV. Instead gamers are treated to a barebones and barely functioning online service that has become the meat of multiplayer games today. Ranked matchmaking is almost broken at this point, with ranked matches taking forever to get into, and if you do get into a match, they are laggy to the point of being unplayable. Player matches are fine, since you can search for lobbies unlike in ranked, but you can't spectate other peoples' matches. Instead, non-fighters are treated to a menu where you can see the health bars of combatants slowly drain until a winner is declared. In fighting games, people either want to play or see other people play. While it can be understandable that a lot of that stuff would slow down the game, perhaps showing it on a delay of a couple of seconds would help soften the load in terms of connectivity.
The game also features a player license where you can look at stats, setup reserve teams, titles and icons. The most disappointing feature about this is your friends stats. You can look at them, but every time you start up your game the information isn't there, meaning you have to manually update each individual friend's information you play the game if you want to. In addition to this, the friends list doesn't sort depending on whether they've played the game or not. In conjunction with the online functionality of the game, this comes off as very cheap and unfinished at Capcom's expense. With the plethora of DLC announcements we've had so far, players are left to wonder if they're going to be asked to pay for the honor of a patch, or in the form of a 2012 update which I'll dub "Super Marvel vs Capcom 3."
With all the negativity about the online features behind us, the offline features are where the game has a lot of functionality behind it. You have Arcade Mode, which is 7 fights long, a Training Mode and a Mission Mode in addition to local versus play. In the Arcade and Training modes you can choose to have online fight requests on like in Super/Street Fighter IV. Training Mode can also act like facing bots in Arcade Mode, but you have complete choice over them. While some may say this is better than how it's done in Street Fighter, I have to question that since there's no real competition behind it. Training Mode is basically a sandbox where you can fool around with life and hyper bars, AI movesets assists. It's not for competition and hurts the game's replay value because of it.
The gameplay of Marvel vs Capcom 3 is very fun, and you can do a lot with the combos and chains. However, given the amount of problems the game has, and given Capcom's questionable record in the past about functionality updates to their games, you have to wonder if the game will have long legs or not. Because unless you're a serious fighting game fan, it's really not worth a full purchase price with the problems it has right now.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
A couple of mediocre games
Over the past two days I've finished a couple of games so I thought I'd share my thoughts about them. While both are mediocre, I enjoyed them for what they were. However, some questions need to be raised.
Splinter Cell Conviction
I bought this right before Thanksgiving last year and I plowed through it in roughly two days spanning six hours. I think some of the ideas in the game are pretty good, along with how cover is implemented and moving from cover to cover. But the problem lies in the level design, which almost always small and linear. This rarely allows you the freedom to get somebody's attention, draw them over to you and sneak up from behind them or around them. In addition, the person voicing Sam Fisher sounds really drunk. I don't regret paying what I did for it, but it's just not that good.
Golden Sun Dark Dawn
Truth be told, I loved the first two Golden Sun games. However, over the course of this game I've come to learn that I've grown out of them. In the previous games I found myself enjoying the story as well as the combat, but in this game I couldn't enjoy either because the story was so intrusive and childishly written and the game was so ridiculously easy until the very end where it had a nice challenge that it was just baffling. Over the course of the first 12 hours of the game I came across 4 boss fights. In the next hour alone I faced 5 boss fights. That's pretty ridiculous pacing I have to say. Overall, it was a very disappointing game that doesn't make me want another one.
Splinter Cell Conviction
I bought this right before Thanksgiving last year and I plowed through it in roughly two days spanning six hours. I think some of the ideas in the game are pretty good, along with how cover is implemented and moving from cover to cover. But the problem lies in the level design, which almost always small and linear. This rarely allows you the freedom to get somebody's attention, draw them over to you and sneak up from behind them or around them. In addition, the person voicing Sam Fisher sounds really drunk. I don't regret paying what I did for it, but it's just not that good.
Golden Sun Dark Dawn
Truth be told, I loved the first two Golden Sun games. However, over the course of this game I've come to learn that I've grown out of them. In the previous games I found myself enjoying the story as well as the combat, but in this game I couldn't enjoy either because the story was so intrusive and childishly written and the game was so ridiculously easy until the very end where it had a nice challenge that it was just baffling. Over the course of the first 12 hours of the game I came across 4 boss fights. In the next hour alone I faced 5 boss fights. That's pretty ridiculous pacing I have to say. Overall, it was a very disappointing game that doesn't make me want another one.
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Next Hype: MvC3
Today I finally got my hands on Marvel vs Capcom 3, the next great fighting game. It's insanely fun to play, even for beginners. MvC2 veterans will probably struggle to get into it at first, but when they do it's going to be great. But for now here are some impressions I have for it:
Dante seems like he'll be the best character in the game. He has the most moves, but is also a bit stiff. My guess is that when someone masters him he'll be unstoppable. His Nirvan assist is also very powerful, and if it hits is a 12-hit combo.
Phoenix is really fun to play despite having such low health. She can combo stuff pretty easily and get some hefty damage done. Once she gets hit, especially at high levels of play, she'll most likely be done.
X-23 is going to surprise a lot of people and will most likely get a lot of play due to her speed and ability to combo. She seems pretty basic, but powerful.
Sentinel seems just as strong as ever, as does Storm. I can't say much for Magneto though.
Overall, the game seems really well polished and controls well. I wish there were more characters to unlock than just the 4, but I'm not really complaining. When it hits Tuesday I can't wait to get it home and try stuff out for myself.
Dante seems like he'll be the best character in the game. He has the most moves, but is also a bit stiff. My guess is that when someone masters him he'll be unstoppable. His Nirvan assist is also very powerful, and if it hits is a 12-hit combo.
Phoenix is really fun to play despite having such low health. She can combo stuff pretty easily and get some hefty damage done. Once she gets hit, especially at high levels of play, she'll most likely be done.
X-23 is going to surprise a lot of people and will most likely get a lot of play due to her speed and ability to combo. She seems pretty basic, but powerful.
Sentinel seems just as strong as ever, as does Storm. I can't say much for Magneto though.
Overall, the game seems really well polished and controls well. I wish there were more characters to unlock than just the 4, but I'm not really complaining. When it hits Tuesday I can't wait to get it home and try stuff out for myself.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Sonic 4 Episode 1
This one came out last summer, I bought it last fall and barely played it, but I finally beat it today. There is good reason for this as Sonic 4 is a very bad game. When I bought it I had heard 'it's like Sonic Rush, not classic Sonic' and of course that's a lie since it's closer to Sonic 2006 more than anything else.
Let me start off with the positives: I think the graphics are nice and clean and the music is good for what it needs to do. With that out of the way let me start with the very long list of negatives:
The controls and physics of the game are terrible. Sonic takes an extremely long time to get up some speed, perhaps 5-7 seconds whereas in most Sonic games it took 2-3. Not only that, he can walk up anything and everything without even flinching as long as you hold the correct direction. If you are flying through the air, you better hope you are holding a direction because if you don't you just drop straight down, not even in a slower, less dynamic arc.
Then there's the design of the game itself. Long shafts of death, instead death traps, and random points where you get hit without anything on screen are the norm for this game. This kind of thing continues until the very end of the game and is frustrating to no end. Some of the special stages are okay, but they become aggravating very quickly, especially since you have to get the Emerald in order to play them from the Level Select Screen. It's even worse by the fact that it looks like it can be selected.
All in all, Sonic 4 is a really mediocre product marred by just baffling decisions that they clearly didn't fix from when that guy played through the entire leaked version of the game almost a year ago. Sonic Team, when will you ever learn?
Let me start off with the positives: I think the graphics are nice and clean and the music is good for what it needs to do. With that out of the way let me start with the very long list of negatives:
The controls and physics of the game are terrible. Sonic takes an extremely long time to get up some speed, perhaps 5-7 seconds whereas in most Sonic games it took 2-3. Not only that, he can walk up anything and everything without even flinching as long as you hold the correct direction. If you are flying through the air, you better hope you are holding a direction because if you don't you just drop straight down, not even in a slower, less dynamic arc.
Then there's the design of the game itself. Long shafts of death, instead death traps, and random points where you get hit without anything on screen are the norm for this game. This kind of thing continues until the very end of the game and is frustrating to no end. Some of the special stages are okay, but they become aggravating very quickly, especially since you have to get the Emerald in order to play them from the Level Select Screen. It's even worse by the fact that it looks like it can be selected.
All in all, Sonic 4 is a really mediocre product marred by just baffling decisions that they clearly didn't fix from when that guy played through the entire leaked version of the game almost a year ago. Sonic Team, when will you ever learn?
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The Great Game
This year's Super Bowl was a fine example of how a football game should play out. While the Packers were dominating the entire game it still felt surprisingly even, even though they were up 21-10 at halftime. The Packers ended up only winning by 6 points but the big difference in the game was Pittsburgh's 3 turnovers, all resulted in Green Bay touchdowns, one of which was a pick 6.
While I'm happy for the Packers winning, I did think the Steelers were going to win from an experience factor. As it turned out the Packers looked like the more experienced team which is surprising considering the Steelers have been in 3 Super Bowls in 6 years. The Steelers defense didn't really make anything happen outside of 2 sacks. The Packers defense got pressure on Big Ben a lot during the game, and while they only got 1 sack on him, they held up their side of things, leading them to victory. While Rodgers got the MVP honors, it was the defense that gave him those great chances with short fields to get points.
There was a time about midway through the Fourth Quarter I was sure the game was going to overtime. When the Packers got deep into Steelers territory I was surprised they went for the field goal. Even though it didn't matter in the end, knowing Green Bay's weakness on special teams throughout the year I thought there was a good chance they'd blow it. A touchdown drive would've given the Steelers the win unless Suisham missed the extra point at that stage in the game. But it didn't happen, so no harm no foul I guess.
Overall, I was very satisfied with this Super Bowl. It was a great way to end the season, and the only thing anyone could've asked for was overtime, but we'll have to wait another season for that to happen. But for now, let's just hope there is a next season.
While I'm happy for the Packers winning, I did think the Steelers were going to win from an experience factor. As it turned out the Packers looked like the more experienced team which is surprising considering the Steelers have been in 3 Super Bowls in 6 years. The Steelers defense didn't really make anything happen outside of 2 sacks. The Packers defense got pressure on Big Ben a lot during the game, and while they only got 1 sack on him, they held up their side of things, leading them to victory. While Rodgers got the MVP honors, it was the defense that gave him those great chances with short fields to get points.
There was a time about midway through the Fourth Quarter I was sure the game was going to overtime. When the Packers got deep into Steelers territory I was surprised they went for the field goal. Even though it didn't matter in the end, knowing Green Bay's weakness on special teams throughout the year I thought there was a good chance they'd blow it. A touchdown drive would've given the Steelers the win unless Suisham missed the extra point at that stage in the game. But it didn't happen, so no harm no foul I guess.
Overall, I was very satisfied with this Super Bowl. It was a great way to end the season, and the only thing anyone could've asked for was overtime, but we'll have to wait another season for that to happen. But for now, let's just hope there is a next season.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Super Bowl XLV
My final prediction of the season is here. After looking back at what each team has accomplished this season and looking at how the Steelers and Packers match-up against one another, I have come to a sound conclusion about who will win the Super Bowl this year.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will win Super Bowl XLV 31-27
I don't say this lightly, but I'll say that this Super Bowl seems to be the most evenly matched Super Bowl in years, if not ever. Their offenses and defenses match-up against one another extremely well and both have sub-par Special Teams coverage. If there was ever a Super Bowl that had the possibility to go to Overtime, it'd be this one.
For two teams with great defenses, my score prediction might seem a little high, but usually when two great defenses play against one another the score is usually a little on the high side. It might be because there will be a lot of defensive touchdowns and turnovers leading to short fields, but I think it'll come down to both defenses overcompensating for one thing. The Steelers will probably overcompensate the Packers passing game, allowing them to run the ball effectively. The Packers will overcompensate the running game which will allow Roethlisberger to pass effectively.
As far as how I think it will end, I'd like to see it go to overtime and end with a kickoff return for a touchdown after the team who got it first scores a field goal on their opening drive. It'd be the first time ever a Super Bowl goes to overtime, and it'd also be the first time the NFL would use their new Playoff overtime rules. If it ended the way I just described, it'd also mean the losing coach would complain about the overtime rules costing them the Super Bowl, which would be hilarious.
I think this Super Bowl is going to be spectacular. It involves Dallas, Green Bay and Pittsburgh; three of the biggest teams in the league. It could really only get better if both teams were undefeated. But since it's not, I believe we're in for something special, as it might be the last NFL game we see for quite a while.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will win Super Bowl XLV 31-27
I don't say this lightly, but I'll say that this Super Bowl seems to be the most evenly matched Super Bowl in years, if not ever. Their offenses and defenses match-up against one another extremely well and both have sub-par Special Teams coverage. If there was ever a Super Bowl that had the possibility to go to Overtime, it'd be this one.
For two teams with great defenses, my score prediction might seem a little high, but usually when two great defenses play against one another the score is usually a little on the high side. It might be because there will be a lot of defensive touchdowns and turnovers leading to short fields, but I think it'll come down to both defenses overcompensating for one thing. The Steelers will probably overcompensate the Packers passing game, allowing them to run the ball effectively. The Packers will overcompensate the running game which will allow Roethlisberger to pass effectively.
As far as how I think it will end, I'd like to see it go to overtime and end with a kickoff return for a touchdown after the team who got it first scores a field goal on their opening drive. It'd be the first time ever a Super Bowl goes to overtime, and it'd also be the first time the NFL would use their new Playoff overtime rules. If it ended the way I just described, it'd also mean the losing coach would complain about the overtime rules costing them the Super Bowl, which would be hilarious.
I think this Super Bowl is going to be spectacular. It involves Dallas, Green Bay and Pittsburgh; three of the biggest teams in the league. It could really only get better if both teams were undefeated. But since it's not, I believe we're in for something special, as it might be the last NFL game we see for quite a while.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Returning to Normalcy
It's been a while since I've updated here, so I thought I'd give a bit of a rundown about what's going on in my life since my last Playoff Predictions (I went 2-0 by the way).
Computer Troubles
I had to get my laptop fixed, which included a new hard drive, a keyboard and DVD drive replacement. Since it was all free I had no reason to complain. This was a big reason why I didn't update my blog for a while, but it wasn't the main reason.
NHL All-Star Weekend
This past weekend I went to the NHL All-Star Game in Raleigh, NC. The Skills Competition was definitely a highlight as Chara from Boston (I forget his first name) broke his NHL record with a 105.9 MPH slapshot. The RBC Center went absolutely insane when he did it, and it will be something I won't forget either. Speaking of never forgetting things, I got a picture with, and got to touch the Stanley Cup at the NHL Fan Fair. It was pretty cool experience, and I got a lot of pictures from the Skills Competition and Fan Fair. I might be able to upload them this week before the Super Bowl so I can share some of them with you. The game was fun, too. The highlights being Alexander Ovechkin throwing a stick in order to stop a player from scoring a goal, which resulted in a Penalty Shot where there was no goal, and the Guardian Project. I'm sorry, but if Stan Lee wanted money, he could've asked.
Video Games
I've been playing a few games in the past few weeks as well. This includes me buying Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (Wii) which is a very fun fighting game, but it just feels off to me. It might be because I don't have a Fight Stick for Wii, but with a Classic Controller Pro it's just fine for the most part. Another purchase was Dead Space 2 (PS3) which came with Dead Space Extraction. I haven't played the latter, but I'm a bit over halfway through the former and I've got to say it's well put together, but I still think the first one is better. Some enemies in Dead Space 2 just seem to pop out of nowhere and you just take damage, which makes me frustrated at times.
So with that, until next time, which should be Friday when I pick the Super Bowl.
Computer Troubles
I had to get my laptop fixed, which included a new hard drive, a keyboard and DVD drive replacement. Since it was all free I had no reason to complain. This was a big reason why I didn't update my blog for a while, but it wasn't the main reason.
NHL All-Star Weekend
This past weekend I went to the NHL All-Star Game in Raleigh, NC. The Skills Competition was definitely a highlight as Chara from Boston (I forget his first name) broke his NHL record with a 105.9 MPH slapshot. The RBC Center went absolutely insane when he did it, and it will be something I won't forget either. Speaking of never forgetting things, I got a picture with, and got to touch the Stanley Cup at the NHL Fan Fair. It was pretty cool experience, and I got a lot of pictures from the Skills Competition and Fan Fair. I might be able to upload them this week before the Super Bowl so I can share some of them with you. The game was fun, too. The highlights being Alexander Ovechkin throwing a stick in order to stop a player from scoring a goal, which resulted in a Penalty Shot where there was no goal, and the Guardian Project. I'm sorry, but if Stan Lee wanted money, he could've asked.
Video Games
I've been playing a few games in the past few weeks as well. This includes me buying Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (Wii) which is a very fun fighting game, but it just feels off to me. It might be because I don't have a Fight Stick for Wii, but with a Classic Controller Pro it's just fine for the most part. Another purchase was Dead Space 2 (PS3) which came with Dead Space Extraction. I haven't played the latter, but I'm a bit over halfway through the former and I've got to say it's well put together, but I still think the first one is better. Some enemies in Dead Space 2 just seem to pop out of nowhere and you just take damage, which makes me frustrated at times.
So with that, until next time, which should be Friday when I pick the Super Bowl.
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