Thursday, June 8th, 2011

The Last Great Hope?????

With the news of Terrelle Pryor leaving Ohio State amid the allegations I got to wondering. Is Ohio State the last team from the north in the near future to challenge the mighty SEC? It has been widely known about the SEC’s dominance over the past five years and honestly before that. Sure you will have the USC’s, Texas’s and yes the Ohio State’s rise up every now and then but for the most part the SEC is getting the dominating teams and showcasing them on Saturday’s in the fall. My reasoning for this is simple; Recruiting. It’s obviously what makes the College Football world go around. Kids these days don’t want to go to a north college where it’s cold and snowy when playing games late in the season. Kids, when given the choice have proven that the beach, sun, and beautiful girls is the biggest recruiter that there is, and when you talk about beautiful girls there is no better place to go than the SEC.

Now I am not a SEC guy, I do live in the center of SEC country but I am definitely not a SEC guy; I am a ACC guy actually but even though you cheer for one you have to acknowledge the dominance of the other. Ohio State cheated, Jim Tressel is a Cheater, and Terrelle Pryor believes he is bigger than he actually is because people had him believe as such. USC is or was full of cheaters, but if you think that Lane Kiffin is squeaky clean than I have some land I would like to sell you. Now I am not here to say that the SEC doesn’t cheat because everyone knows they do. In my opinion only Vanderbilt is clean in that conference, but in that conference cheating gets you to National Championships and getting caught will knock you down for a couple of years but you can get back in four to five years because you are in the SEC. In my opinion Ohio State is looking at becoming Notre Dame here soon.

The north over the last many years in College Football has really had only one constant team; THE Ohio State Buckeyes. Now that they will no doubt take a step back who’s the team in the north? The Notre Dame Fighting Irish was the team in College Football pretty much since the start of football to 1993. After that though they just became another school who would be ok every now and then but when they were bad they were really bad. Ohio State I believe is going that route and every now and then will be good and win Big Ten titles but they will not be what we thought Ohio State was anymore. Michigan has taken a significant step back, Notre Dame has taken a significant step back, and Ohio State is soon going to join them.

It’s is simply much harder to get good football players to play in the north these days. Iowa is good, and Wisconsin is good but neither has challenged for National Titles really in the past decade. As Ohio State though has proven in the past, all you have to do is go undefeated and you will be given the benefit of the doubt and placed in the National Championship Game, so it is not to say a north team can’t make it to the National Championship Game, but the south, and west mostly the south’s dominance in College Football is going to continue for the foreseeable future.

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

A Release date and info has been released for UFC Undisputed 3

UFC® UNDISPUTED™ 3 RETURNS TO VIRTUAL OCTAGON™ ACTION IN JANUARY 2012 WITH INTENSE TOE-TO-TOE COMBAT AND INCREASED ACCESSIBILITY

Critically Acclaimed and Best-Selling Mixed Martial Arts Videogame Franchise Set to Bring Players Closer to the Action with PRIDE® Mode, New Weight Classes and Extensive Roster

THQ Inc. and Zuffa, LLC today announced the first gameplay details surrounding UFC® Undisputed™ 3, the new installment in the critically acclaimed and best-selling mixed martial arts (MMA) videogame franchise based on the Ultimate Fighting Championship®. Poised to take players inside the virtual Octagon® with extensive focus on intense toe-to-toe combat, impressive visual presentation and significantly increased accessibility, including the introduction of PRIDE® Mode, two new weight classes and an impressive playable roster of more than 150 UFC fighters, UFC Undisputed 3 is currently in development for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, with a scheduled release timing of January 2012.

“UFC Undisputed 3 is on track to deliver an incredible virtual MMA experience unlike any other,” said Danny Bilson, Executive Vice President, Core Games, THQ. “This product is intense, engaging and highly competitive while still being extremely accessible, making it a must-have for millions of UFC fans, traditional fighting game enthusiasts and more casual sports fans around the world.”

“We are excited to launch UFC Undisputed 3 in January 2012 and expect it to be the best version yet,” UFC President Dana White said. “We’ve added two new weight classes and several new features to the game that will bring UFC fans closer to the Octagon than ever before.”

About UFC Undisputed 3
UFC Undisputed 3 will mark the debut of PRIDE Mode, enabling players to fight for the first time in the renowned Japanese MMA organization. The mode will include official commentators Bas Rutten and Stephen Quadros, authentic environments and notorious MMA rules, including the ability to execute soccer-style kicks, head stomps and ground knees to the head. Finishing an opponent will be more important than ever through devastating new moves, responsive striking controls, refined visual presentation and the introduction of a brand new submission system. In addition, players will now enter the Octagon with a choice between traditional and simplified gameplay control options, enabling them, regardless of skill level, to experience the intensity of UFC and nuances of MMA combat while executing simple standing strikes or more complex ground and transition mechanics.

Players will also experience the excitement of a live UFC event through significant visual improvements, including the introduction of much-anticipated fighter entrances, new camera positions, improved facial animations and a gritty, high contrast appearance. They will enter into battle with an unparalleled choice of more than 150 playable UFC fighters, including talent from the newly added featherweight and bantamweight divisions. Rounding out the virtual UFC experience with a significantly revamped online experience, as well as a variety of new and returning gameplay modes, UFC Undisputed 3 lets players have their fights – their way – to deliver the most intense, competitive and engaging experience to date for the franchise.

For more information on UFC Undisputed 3, please visit http://www.ufcundisputed.com, http://www.facebook.com/UFCUndisputed and http://www.twitter.com/UFC_Undisputed.

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

NHL 12 Producer Blog #1

EA Sports have posted their first NHL 12 Producer blog, discussing goalies.

Gameplay Producer Nate Ng here to kick off the first blog for NHL 12 with some goalie info. I just want to prefix the rest of the info with a few things. This is by no means ALL the new goalie info as things will change up until the game gets into your hands. This is also not the last time we will talk about goalies. If my blog doesn’t answer some of the questions you have, post your questions here and stay tuned! Without further ado, let’s dig into some goalie info for NHL 12.

Goalie V-H Technique – what does V-H stand for? Well I’m glad you asked. It stands for vertical-horizontal. It is a technique used by goalies similar to the hug post. Goalie V-H is something you see many NHL goalies do throughout the game but something we’ve been missing in the title. The purpose of this technique is to put goalies in better position for passes behind the goal line and also allows for them to more easily push off the post into butterfly. How does this affect your goalie in NHL 12? From the goalie V-H, you will be able to make saves, poke check, and cover the puck. You will also be able to push off the post from this stance and right into butterfly or into the desperation saves.

Updated goalie saves – Goalies are always a work in progress. The thing with goalies is that we have to make them balanced. Any tweaks to shooting or AI, and we have to rebalance goalies. They are what one might call a house of cards. Tune a shot this way, and you have the potential to unleash ‘always goals’. Much like every other year, we go in and look at all the saves we have in the game and try to tune goalie behavior to allow for goal scoring, yet still have goalies feel natural. We have also improved the puck tracking for goalies this year. What this means for goalies is that they will be better at fighting through the screens and battles in front of the net, and be more agile when skaters are pulling dekes on breakaways and in close.

Goalies are LIVE – Yes, you read correctly. Skating hard to the net, players will have the ability to crash the crease, jostle for position in the crease, bump or even run the goalie over. Don’t worry though goalies, we will call goalie interference penalties. Have a pest in front of your net that you want to clear out? We got you covered. Goalies can shove back this year. Both AI goalies and user goalies can and will clear out the front of their nets. For AI goalies, it will be based on their ratings, and for user goalies we will give you a button.

Goalie behavior this year will also be affected by traits. A more aggressive goalie will shove and fight to clear his crease. A good puck handling goalie will be brave and come out and challenge for loose pucks.

Goalie fights – Goalies can fight! You asked for it, you got it! When you run the goalie, you can expect a tough guy to stand up for his goalie. At times, the goalie will stand up for himself by dropping the gloves and there’ll also be times where the opposing goalie will want a piece of the action too. We saw it happen a couple times this year in the real NHL…if it’s in the game, it’s gotta be in the game!

There you have it folks, the first little teaser to goalies in NHL 12.

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

WWE '12 Debut's, Smackdown vs. Raw is no more

Every champion must reinvent himself, and every Superstar has an evolution. Reinvented with each challenge, always primed and ready to strike with more edge and intensity than ever before, he is reborn - bigger, badder and better.

FINALLY...the WWE experience you've been demanding has arrived! THQ's flagship franchise in the company's WWE videogame portfolio is reborn, delivering the best and most realistic WWE action ever. With new Predator Technology, an overhauled gameplay experience and new broadcast TV presentation that promises the most fluid, dynamic, authentic and action-packed WWE simulation experience to date, WWE '12 gives you more control over WWE than ever before.

GAME FEATURES:

EXPERIENCE THE NEW WWE! - WWE Action is redefined with new Predator Technology! This new system delivers a fresh and strategic gameplay experience that looks, feels and plays better than ever before. the gameplay you have demanded is finally here with the most fluid WWE action and realistic animations to date in a WWE videogame, improved A.I. and an all-new Breaking Point submission system!

DYNAMIC TV PRESENTATION - Witness the most electrifying presenation in all of sports entertainment. A dynamic new broadcast camera system and badder visual presentation replicate everything you see on WWE's television broadcasts. New rendering and lighting technologies will provide the most realistic WWE Superstars, WWE Divas and WWE Legends and best-looking in-ring action to date.

CREATE AND SHARE YOUR WWE - WWE '12's best-in-class creation suite gives you the ability to create Superstars, entrances, finishing moves, storylines, Highlight Reels and all-new capabilities never before seen in a WWE videogame! Go online and upload your creations to share them with the WWE Universe and download creations from others to add to your own experience.

WWE UNIVERSE 2.0 - Take control of your WWE career in a bigger, badder and better WWE universe. Your actions determine your destiny and shape your experience, as storylines, matches, alliances and rivalries are built based on your decisions.

ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA - The Road to WrestleMania is fraught with action, drama, challenges, storyline twists and truns, and surprises. Which road will you pick, and what story will you tell, on your way to the biggest spectacle in sports entertainment?

READ THE Q&A WITH THE DEVELOPER

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

Madden '12 Cover Art: Two different Covers

 

Sunday, May 29th, 2011

NCAA '12 Screenshot: Pro Comabt Uniforms

Sunday, May 29th, 2011

Madden '12 Interview with Michael Young

"Getting back to Madden, we asked Mike about what he thought the biggest single improvement from last year’s game to this one, and he answered in a way that you would expect. He said that from his perspective, there are several great improvements, but he would say the camera work. To understand why he would say this lets us give you the skinny on the improved broadcast style camera shots you will see in this year’s game. In previous installments, they hand animated all of the camera angles, but this year they did something unique. The majority of camera work in this year’s game was done by cinematographers from NFL Films. They used a new technology that allowed them to show the folks from NFL Films action from Madden NFL 12, and the NFL Film folks actually shot the action the way they would do it in real life. That means, when you see a guy running down the sideline in Madden 12, more than likely the camera angle is just how you would see it on TV, because the guys who shoot it in real life, shot it in Madden NFL 12. In addition to that, the cameras in this year’s game are in the same position that they are in real life. So when you play a game with your favorite team it should look and feel eerily familiar, because the same angles you see on TV will be the same ones you see in Madden. Madden 12 will feature over 700 new cameras with 16 broadcast cameras per stadium." READ MORE

Sunday, May 29th, 2011

Madden '12 Screenshot: Cowboys vs. Redskins