Anybody out there?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Feb 03, 2003 11:28 am

Hi all:
 
 This forum has been quiet for more than a week. Anyone out there?
 
 What´s going on in your gaming? What titles are you playing? Which ones are you looking forward to?
 
 Anyone? Bueller?
 
 Take care,
 PK

J_Cauthen · Post by **J_Cauthen** » Mon Feb 03, 2003 3:54 pm

Right now I´m looking forward to NASCAR Racing 2003 Season most of all. I´ve seen the demo and now I want more. I know it will be worth the cash to upgrade, just as NASCAR 2002 was over NASCAR 4.
 
 I don´t get the baseball jones until April, so I´ll let the baseball games settle out and establish a frontrunner before I buy one. High Heat 2004 PS2 is my leading candidate right now, but that could change. I don´t like baseball gaming on the PC for some reason, but then again, I didn´t like football gaming on the PC until Madden 2003. Maybe there´s a baseball game that will change my mind where the PC is concerned.
 
 I´m also looking forward to Konami´s Winning Eleven 6 for the PS2, but again, I´m going to wait for the reviews to come in. If it´s not reasonably comparable to the qualith of WE6 FE, I´ll go the mod route and pick it up instead.
 
 I had pretty much decided that get an XBox this March, but my financial situation is not going to permit it, at least not then. Maybe things will improve later, I´m not ruling it out all together.

CityWolves · Post by **CityWolves** » Mon Feb 03, 2003 4:18 pm

Speaking of baseball games, something that I think could potentially bring me back to EA´s baseball series (and it´s not even the switch to new designers) would be the roster update feature that this year´s previous EA games have included. I think this is one of the most underrated features of the on-line experience on PS2...
 
 And April is a bit long for me. Pitchers and catchers, get to your training camps. Now.

J_Cauthen · Post by **J_Cauthen** » Mon Feb 03, 2003 9:59 pm

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD>Quote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><BLOCKQUOTE>
 On 2003-02-03 12:18, CityWolves wrote:
 Speaking of baseball games, something that I think could potentially bring me back to EA´s baseball series (and it´s not even the switch to new designers) would be the roster update feature that this year´s previous EA games have included. I think this is one of the most underrated features of the on-line experience on PS2...
 
 And April is a bit long for me. Pitchers and catchers, get to your training camps. Now.
 </BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
 
 Yes indeed, I will be watching EA Sports new release intently. One of the luxuries I´m afforded as a result of my very seasonal interest in team sports games is that I´ve had the chance to see them all before I have to make a purchase, since for some reason publishers seem hellbent on getting them out two months before the actual start of the season.
 
 I´m really late on basketball, I don´t think of it as being basketball season until the New Year´s Day bowl games are done. I´m just now starting to follow it with any sense of passion. Fortunately for baseball, my interest in basketball ends when the college season ends witht the final four. Pro basketball does little if anything for me anymore as a spectator, and continues to slide in my video and computer gaming interests.

Galley · Post by **Galley** » Tue Feb 04, 2003 4:10 am

I haven´t done much gaming since the spring semester started, but I am definitely gonna buyone of the new PS2 baseball games. High Heat is the leading candidate.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Tue Feb 04, 2003 2:45 pm

Thanks to PKs latest slider settings discovery, NHL 2k3 (GC) has really started to open up and become fun for me and my roommate and friends. But really, I´ve been playing a lot of Madden Online (PS2) while I´m waiting with baited breath for WE6 to finally show up stateside. (I did finally get a cheap, used copy of NFL 2k3 for PS2, as I was craving some creative, NFL-like plays and formations, but I just can´t seem to deal with the robotic movements and turbo dives.) In my opinion, since ISS 64, this Komani soccer has consistently been the best sports series out there, bar none, and it has hurt oh so much not to have it around since the PS2 came out. Surely, WE6 FE is a better game (I wish EA could do a similar thing with their Madden series, i.e. release a tweaked-up version of the latest game around playoff time or something every year, but hey, that´s simply wishful thinkng; roster updates online ARE a very nice and necessary feature, a big step towards that sort of thing), but we´ve been living without good footie for so long, even this crumb from Konami will seem like a feast!
 
 As a baseball freak (ooh how I love that High Heat series!) I am curiously looking forward to EA´s latest baseball offering. To me, Madden 2003 finally got the kicking game JUST RIGHT. Making it like a golf swing mechanic, but varying the speed of the return-path towards the accuracy zone dependant on how far into the power zone you let it get, and including nautral and realistic hooks and slices has finally made the kicking in a video football game highly realistic and extremely satisfying. No more easy 60 yarders for Elam and Janikowski (sure, they can boot it far, but if you go full power, it´s very difficult to get the accuracy right, and that thing is likely to hook or slice on it´s way towards the goal), but extra points and 30 yarders are easy for anyone; nice and easy, with little power, and the accuracy is a cinch to hit just right. I just think they really nailed it, and for the first time in any football game; EA tried something new, and to me, it has added a level of realism and quality to the Madden line. Now they seem to be taking that mechanic into pithching for their new Baseball, and I couldn´t be more excited. Will we finally have a game that actually has BASES ON BALLS? As good as High Heat is, it STILL doesn´t have realistic walks. I mean, you really have to deliberately TRY to walk someone in a video baseball game. (In HH, even when I TRIED to throw, say, a fastball OFF THE PLATE with Schilling, it would always end up hittable over the plate. No matter what, his ERA was always super-ballooned in my fantasy draft season with my friends because he never threw an unhittable, way-out-of-the-strike-zone heater.) Now with EA´s new mechanic, walks look to be organic and naturally occuring, and even better, for all the same reasons they happen in the real game. A 3-0 fastaball will really be like a real 3-0 fastball: you´ll take a little (or a lot) off it to be sure to send it over the plate. An 0-2 fastball on the inner corner should be realisitc as well; as you try to throw it as hard as you can, it may well fly over the Umpire´s head if you don´t nail the accuracy just right.
 
 Suffice it to say, I can´t express enough how much I appreciate the kind of addition to gameplay Madden´s new kicking mechanic has provided; I am also very heartened that EA has seemingly abandoned it´s Triple Play disaster, and brought a mechanic from one series to an entirely different sport. If only this pitching mechanic were going into High Heat!!!

Post by **Jared** » Thu Feb 06, 2003 1:33 am

I´m out here....back from France/Belgium/Holland. Spent most of it in Paris seeing lots of sites and eating lots of crepes. I really enjoyed it, although the weather was fairly crappy (40-45 and rainy just about every day).
 
 Most of the places I stayed didn´t have cable, so I didn´t watch much soccer. However, I did get to go to a match (PSG v. Le Havre). It wasn´t great....Ronaldinho didn´t play and PSG (the much better squad) underperformed yet won 1-0. The crowd was merciless against them though....the last 15 minutes were filled with whistles.
 
 They deserved it though. After watching the match, I think most of the MLS can compete (not dominate, but stay mid-table) in the French league. Just my opinion....
 
 Jared

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Feb 06, 2003 1:01 pm

Jared:
 
 Welcome back. Sounds like a cool trip.
 
 Ronaldinho is wasting his time in that s*** league. He should come to England, where his skill would be appreciated and rewarded.
 
 I´ll have the NHL 2K3 and Rally Fusion reviews to you by the end of this weekend -- promise! I´m almost done with NHL 2K3. The game has confounded me like no other.
 
 Take care,
 PK

J_Cauthen · Post by **J_Cauthen** » Sun Feb 09, 2003 12:44 pm

Excellent rundown Hugo! I´ll take your advice to heart. I´m going to give their new baseball franchise a shot after seeing what they did with Madden this year. I have the luxury of time since I don´t have to have a baseball title as soon as they come out. My blood doesn´t start flowing until the real season kicks off.
 
 Jared,
 
 Welcome back! Sounds like you got to see a good bit. Bummer about the weather, I can´t imagine not being able to see Paris under sunny skies... that´s the way I always picture it. At least you got to see one soccer match, even though it didn´t quite pan out like you´d have wished. I´d love to see a top drawer soccer match in Europe, just to experience the crowd as much as the match. I really envy the passion they have for the game!

Post by **Jared** » Sun Feb 09, 2003 1:28 pm

PK,
 
 Been reading recently that Ronaldinho is likely to transfer. He and his coach don´t get along at all....I think he was injured or something but photos showed him partying in Brazil. Would be cool to see him in a better league...though the French league may be slooowly improving.
 
 John,
 
 If you ever go to Europe, you MUST see a soccer match. It´s just an amazing experience...especially if the crowds really into it (my first match over there was Arsenal v. Liverpool...I´ll never forget it).

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Tue Feb 11, 2003 5:22 pm

Well as you know I got rid of the Xbox and am back with a PS2 (for Winning Eleven International. My finances are not what they used to be and one console is all I can justify right now.)
 
 Right now I´m playing GTA:VC and Splashdown on PS2, and Ace Combat 4 off eBay is on the way. I´m still trying to find a cheap copy of NHL 2k3 for PS2 to satify that urge. I may just go back to Hitz 2003.
 
 GTR2002, Tiger 2003 and HH2003 on PC are also keeping me busy, and I just got Nascar Racing 2003 Season... which I may return and get WoO depending on how I feel after some play.
 
 I´m just getting into the EPL. I´ve been recording a few games on the TIVO, and watching in spurts when I get time. I quite like it. I´m not addicted yet though.
 
 Not sure what I´ll do for baseball games this year. I´m enjoying HH2003 on PC despite it´s flaws. I´ll probably wait until April or May and decide what to do at that time.