My new schedule has been pretty tiring — waking up early to write for the site, going off to super secret project for 10 hours, heading home, and trying to write for the site again. With that in mind, I’m going to be horizontal most of Friday night and all day Saturday, which means lots of Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip and Dragon Quest IX. When Sunday rolls around, I’m going to try to play some MLB 10 The Show
How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?
Not sure. I kinda feel like playing Uncharted 2, inFAMOUS or Halo 1 or 3 again. Basically something I know I will enjoy. But I also want to pick up Bad Company 2 MP again been a while since I have played.
Lately I have been playing the heck out of Pinball Heroes on the PSP.
Beer and herbal supplements is what I'll be doing most of the weekend, bbq after bbq after bbq.
Killing Lich King Saturday in 10man and 25man.
i think i'll be game free this weekend. Heading out to the bars today. bbq saturday and inception before the Q. (sorry Rpad if you still need someone to spoilarz it for you) Sunday there's a pierogi fest in Whiting IN that i'll be heading to as well.
I'm going to keep plugging away at Gay Tony.
… That didn't come out right. Whatever, the game is great and much better than "The Lost and Damned."
@Smartguy;
Good luck. Don't die too much. I'll put on the South Park Warcraft episode in your honor this weekend.
"Mom, bathroom. BATHROOM!"
-M
@Iceman
Such a good episode. When that one first aired some of my friends and I teased a few guys who totally geeked out over WoW and tried to decide which of them was comparable to which character in the show. Now I might have to watch that again…haha.
Also, I'm watching Unbreakable again. Thinking I might play some L4D2 and Skate 2 this weekend. I would like to beat MW2 also if I get a chance to play. I'm only a couple levels in right now and so far it has been fairly easy. Any hard levels coming up @Iceman?? I'm on the first controversial level in the airport right now.
@Big Blak
If you are on L4D2 sometime this weekend hit me up. I'm thinking I might get The Passing DLC if you wanna play the mutation or something. Last time I played both L4D's I got pissed because achievements that I should have gotten didn't unlock, so I haven't played for a few days. Ready to try again, haha.
@Iceman
I'm a prot Pally. I die when and if I choose to lol. Seeing as how I maintank, I get the best heals.
A couple of friends and I started up an Online Dynasty in NCAA Football 11. We're all playing as schools from the MAC, which means we suck ass. It's been entertaining to see how we all approach things. The other two guys to the 2 best schools in the conference. I took Ball State, ranked #111 out of 120 in the preseason poll because I hate myself (apparently).
@ BSU
Sounds good I'll be online in the am.
@Nightshade
I feel honored that you picked my school. haha. I'm assuming they actually have the real players names for all the teams in this game? If so I actually know the QB and WR that you probably use. It would have been better to choose Ball State a couple years ago when we had our old QB before he got drafted to sit on the 49rs bench.
@BSU: No, they don't have the real players. EA can't use the real names because the players are all amateurs.
@Nightshade
Really, I thought that some previous NCAA game actually had the players names…maybe it was just the numbers though idk. Well even so, if they use anything close to the real stats then I feel sorry for you having chosen Ball State. I would have gone with Central Michigan because they are consistently good, especially for the past couple seasons.
Those NCAA games are great but the fact that popular players aren't compensated for their likeness is becoming an issue more and more each year. If you use Florida and your big white qb is running nuts, it's obvious who it is lol. Same if you used Ohio State years ago and ran all over the place with RB ## and it was obviously Maurice Clarett lol. Small thing I know, but the NCAA at it's shadiest.
@tokz_21 I expect a spoilar-ific post in the Inception story. I'm definitely not seeing it in theaters unless I'm dragged out.
@smartguy
I agree the NCAA is a multi billion dollar industry and they can break a little something off for the players that bring in their money. Their some greedy aholes for that. What happens if those guys injure themselves the college is just done with them and that's it. what are the scholarship players supposed to pay medical bills!
@rpad
I'll try my best. How detailed do you want it? i don't want to like completely type the movie out for you; that would be one looooong post.
@tokz_21 I have no plans on seeing it until it hits cable, so go for as much as you'd like!
@BSU: I like the challenge of using the worst team in the conference. The other two guys picked Western & Central Michigan, the two best teams.
You can have the game create fake names for all players in both NCAA Football and Basketball, but they all default to "HB#21" or whatever.
@Smartguy: The NCAA is pretty hypocritical all around honestly. They do pretty much everything the way that they do purely for money while feigning that they have the best interests of their athletes in mind, and then they turn around and sanction schools for the actions of players who've long since left those programs, basically punishing innocent kids. It's pretty much bullshit.
@Ray: Maybe a little late, but there's my idea for a "Dark" EA game. Dark NCAA Commissioner, where you play as the head of the NCAA and dole out sanctions and other punishments to schools for the actions of players who have been pro for 4 years.
@N8R: Nope, no gifts either. And my issue is not with them not paying the players, it's with the hypocrisy of punishing schools for the crimes of those who are long gone.
@N8R
I agree that cash shouldn't be given, however a scholarship is a fine line when it comes to a gift. I'm not sure, but could a scholarship be more than tuition and thus that player receiving a refund?
The NCAA makes money from TV, jerseys, games, etc. I think it is ridiculous that a player cannot market themselves since it is their own image. The NCAA is strictly keeping the revenue stream to themselves.
Let's not kid ourselves about the best teams. Most of the perennial top teams are nothing but NFL farm teams and young players know that. If they choose to go to a lesser name place it is typically for reasons of not a full paid ride, family, or legacy (Eli).
@ Nightshade
Where I agree to a point, I understand incorporating measures to insure that history doesn't repeat itself. In some cases though, it gets a little out of hand.
@ Smartguy
The schools make the money too. They can sell jerseys with numbers, but not players names (unless it's a throwback of a player that's no longer in the NCAA). People who have current player jerseys with names, get them custom made.
By some descriptions, you could say that the players do receive benefit from that in the form of better education.
As for the top 10 teams, I see your point, but that's at least subject to change over time. The Oregon Ducks had a hell of year when they had Dennis Dixon. Granted, Steelers don't typically draft by the conventional standards. Willie Parker was an undrafted free agent and Roethlisberger came from the University of Miami (Ohio) for christ's sake. So there are blatant exceptions to that rule. Which is good.
As for scholarships, that's a good question… and I doubt it. But I honestly don't know. I think it's a stupid plan since these players could totally get hurt early on in their college career. Since the scholarship deals take place while they are still in high school, it seems like a hell of a risk from the university's standpoint. If a scholarship deal says "You get (X amount) unless you get injured, then you get (Y amount)"… I doubt that turd would flush if you know what I mean.
@Bsukenyan;
MW2: I'm not going to ruin anything for you, but I suggest you play through the game on normal (or so) so that you can enjoy the rollercoaster without getting frustrated or hung up on one particular part. The story is great and I especially liked the climax. It is a continuation of MW1, so you'll get more out of it if you've played CoD4. After you beat it, you can go back for another play through in Hardened or Veteran. I beat it on Veteran taking it nice and slow, and if I can do it, so can you.
If you want to do the co-op missions together, drop me a line. I'll be happy to help you out. Sandrock helped me out like you wouldn't believe on doing all the co-op missions on Veteran. He's much better at CoD than I am, probably because he plays it more often than I. This is the first CoD game that I play on a console.
-M
Dragon Quest : IX for me too. Probably some Blacklight and MW2 as well.
@Nightshade
A reality simulator huh? Lol.
If the Heisman Trust asks Bush for his personal trophy back then I expect OJ’s to be given back as well.
@ the NCAA
It’s an NCAA bylaw that players cannot receive financial compensation for playing in the league for any reason. There is a very good reason for that too. If that were the case, the richest schools would sign contracts with the best players and it would moot the league. Alot of kids would get screwed and a school like Ball State would never ever EVER stand a chance as opposed to just never standing a chance.
Jim Brown is in a case with EA about the likeness thing now (or at least was).
Granted, I think schools can still get away with giving gifts to the players like cars and free meals. I think they just can’t pay them, nor can anyone else.
@Smartguy @N8R
OSU is a great example of what money can buy in a college team for basketball and football. But to really get to what you were both talking about earlier, I am positive that it would be possible that enough scholarships could be given to a select athlete which would total well over the actual amount of tuition, room and board, and other fees. I have seen it happen to normal people who have just been lucky enough to get a ton of scholarships, and anything over the actual amount of their expenses is simply given to them as a refund. There is no doubt in my mind that extra money could be given in this way, of course it would probably be very easy to track and everyone in the office of scholarships and financial aid would recognize that all of the big name athletes consistently receive well over the amount of their expenses. Possible, yes. Plausible, I doubt it simply because I think there would be better less transparent ways of getting money to NCAA all stars.
@N8R
"By some descriptions, you could say that the players do receive benefit from that in the form of better education."
With Ball State being a smaller school I actually have had classes with many football players and some of my fiance's friends are good friends with most of the basketball team, so I have met quite a few college athletes. A better education is not what the majority of them are after, in my opinion. If that's what it was all about then our old QB would not have left school a year early to go to the NFL instead of finish getting a free education and assistance in his classes because it was very well known that he had horrible learning disabilities. It is about making money and getting to play sports. And I wouldn't limit this to my school either, I remember plenty of times when I have heard of big schools in the surrounding states have players that are academically ineligible yet still manage to find themselves on the field. One example would be the Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team when I was in high school having a combined team total GPA of 0.0 and still playing all of their games. Yes you read that right, but they got away with it.
Another similar and more recent example would be how in the 2010 NCAA college basketball tournament Ohio State University had two of their best players academically ineligible, yet they still played the entire tournament that the team played in. For some people the academics might be an incentive, but I cannot believe that that is the case for the majority. One guy on BSU's football team is even getting $500,000 from his parents for every year he is in college just as a bribe from them to get him to stay in school (how do I know? sometimes it is nice to go to a smaller school where it is easy to see the athletes around and hear what they are talking about)
@Iceman
Yeah I played CoD4 a couple months ago. I think I might try to stick with MW2 on Veteran, the last one only took me a couple days to beat like that and plus I want to keep up my streak of beating CoD games on Veteran the first time through. Did it with CoD2 (much harder than the MW games) and CoD4.
Where there any levels on MW2 that took longer to get through simply because of difficulty though? Or are they pretty even? I remember the sniper levels on CoD4 were pretty hard near the end of the level, and one of the levels where you had to clear out some houses on a hillside and come back again from the farmhouse were both pretty hard on the first one. Really they just took a lot more planning ahead and a little bit of luck.
I might take you up on your offer for the Spec Ops missions though, I haven't even taken a look at those yet but most people I know who haven't finished the game 1000/1000 just have those left to do. I don't know if it's because they don't want to or because they are harder.
@ Bsu
-"One guy on BSU’s football team is even getting $500,000 from his parents for every year he is in college just as a bribe from them to get him to stay in school"-
According to what's happening to Reggie Bush right now (haha Smartguy, now your team has a scandal that i won't rub in) that should be illegal too.
@N8R
No scandal there, it's commonplace all over. Alabama was on probation forever, Florida State is in crap over that, Oklahoma dismissed a few players. The list goes on and on. Just a big name this time.
Some schools just hide it better. Like Duke. Of course it is natural for kids to drive luxury vehicles at an Ivy League school. hehe.
@smartguy Gran Hill had a BMW while at Duke…though he comes from a rich family. Ha!
@ Smartguy
So, if the scandal is a commonplace, it negates the scandalous nature of it? That doesn't make sense.
From what i hear about the Bush thing, it's not exactly USC that's at fault here but the Bush family's "agency". Granted, I think it's a little unfair as well. If I bought my son an awesome car for doing amazingly well on the debate club or chess team in college… nothing would ever come of it no matter how loudly he declared how he got the car.
Then again… Bush did it and Big Ben didn't (chew on that).
@N8R
Reggie hasn't been accused of rape twice though. I don't mind the guy who let people give him gifts because they wanted to represent him in his professional career.
I think scandal is the wrong word to use though. That was really the crux of my statement from earlier.
@ Smartguy
Accusations can be dispensed as freely as oil in the gulf. Confessions and (even worse) convictions are yet another thing entirely.
Would it make a difference if I accused Reggie Bush of raping me even though I'M full of shit? Don't think I won't do it.
apples and oranges…apples and horny oranges
@N8R
I think you are very much misunderstanding what I'm saying. In post 23 I stated that some players go to smaller schools for relative reasons. Ben went to the smaller school for his own reasons, whatever they may be. The Saints got Jahri Evans (4th rd) from some small school out of Pennsylvania and Marques Colston (7th rd, 1 slot away from Mr. Irrelevant) from Hofstra. The best players aren't necessarily the big names who go to the NCAA farm team of their choice.
The scandal part now. Big Ben being accused of rape twice is a scandal. I don't consider what Bush did a scandal. I think it's hypocritical of the NCAA to allow programs to recruit and lure these kids into school and then sanction the player and or school for the player using his/her athletic talent and notoriety to make things easier on them financially while going to school. It's ridiculous that the NCAA has no problem using the player's name, likeness, highlights, etc to make revenue on players who will never get any of that money.
In other words:
"Let me represent you when you get drafted next year. I'm also going to set you up with a marketing firm so you can get endorsements. Here, let me pay the rent at this house for you and your family until you get drafted" = not a scandal.
"He raped me when I went to fix his tv in the hotel room" "He raped me in the bathroom of this club" = scandal by comparison.
Nice jab about the oil though.
um i went to william and mary and if you dont think darren sharper got money from boosters you are out of your mind
^^ what he said.
actually i know how the scam used to work at w & m
there was a restaurant just off campus, where every star football and basketball player worked…there were really no stars when i was there, but you know what i mean…
boosters would be very generous in the tip jars…no paper trail
when i say restaurant, i mean bar really…lol
@ Bsukenyan;
There were a few parts I found a bit harder than others, but that is probably in the way I approached the scenario both tactically and with the weapons I had available. I won't call out specifically which parts were harder for me, because most likely, you'd breeze by those parts since you are a Veteran player. In contrast, I'll bet that there is a part of the game that you thought was super hard that I just coasted through.
The Spec Ops missions get progressively harder in general. You will need a good partner. Luckily, Sandrock helped me out and he was awesome.
@Thundercracker;
I know what you mean. UM has had its fair share of scandals and they just learn to get around them in creative ways like you mentioned. Miami is, after all, the model for "Vice City" (literally).
-M
@ Smartguy
Unfortunately, I don't have the time to get into this today because I start a new job today. However, I will say this:
The press and public now have Bush under their microscope, and the guy truly is no saint (no pun intended). It's not gonna end here. They're talking about stripping him of his Heisman. That's just the beginning. Eventually, you'll see exactly what I'm saying about being a public figure sucks and being that visible causes other (jealous) people to create flaws in you like hecklers at a comedy club and lame ass critics on blogs nobody has ever heard of (not talking about Ray).
Remember, I don't think OJ killed his wife either, but he did rob those guys in Vegas.
@N8R
The Heisman Trust won't do it. They let OJ keep his after all. There is nothing for you to delve into though. USC didn't pay for his perks so there is no scandal. An NFL team didn't pay for it. No scandal. If this is considered a scandal then Dez Bryant is considered a scandal because he got advice from Deion Sanders.
Microscope all they want. If it is something that is questionable then I'd be on the side saying that it is questionable. Like it or not Big Ben put himself in to dumb positions.
I just don't see
^^ got cut off. Just don't see an issue with a college athlete making money by doing what they do best, be a star athlete.
Gratz on new employment dude
@N8R
Congratulations on the new job. What are you doing now?
@Iceman
Yeah that seems to be how those games go, usually most parts just take some good sound strategy and precision. The difficult parts of MW1 were the places that were more open and you had a choice of what section to clear next (that is what made all of CoD2 hard). I haven't taken a look at the Spec. Ops missions yet, but I hear they are the hardest part. Perhaps I will be calling on you and/or Sandrock for a bit of help later on.
Congratulations, N8!
Have they hired you as a captain of a boat skimmer for BP?
-M
@ Smartguy, BSU, and Iceman
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Despite popular belief, I am not the boat skimmer or Reggie Bush's pool boy. I got hired as an IT/Web and Graphics designer for a real estate firm. After I get settled in, I should still be able to hop on and converse (which is a huge plus for me).
Pays pretty well too.