Author Bio
Christian McLeodHome Town: Bloomfield Hills, MI
Sports: Baseball, Hockey, College Football, Basketball
Games: NHL 94, MVP Baseball 05, Punch Out, Excitebike
Teams: Detroit Tigers, Red Wings, and Pistons, Michigan State Spartans
OS Username: Bumble14
Tags: Xbox Live: Bumble14
Monday, April 18, 2011
02:08 PM - April 18, 2011. Posted by ChaseB. Written by Christian McLeod
That’s right NCAA Football fans, bowl patches will be making their triumphant return in NCAA Football 12.
If you have read any of my articles concerning the NCAA Football series over the years, you know that I put a big emphasis on the little details in the game, especially details that were present in the years when the series was flourishing on the PS2 and Xbox in the early to mid 2000s. This small jersey presentation addition blew my mind when I first saw it in NCAA 2002, and it quickly became one of my favorite aspects of the series.
The patches themselves gave each bowl game the feeling that you were participating in something much bigger than a regular season game. Plus, I'm one of those geeks who loves everything about the pageantry and tradition of college football, so seeing the patches in a video game representation of my favorite sport was nothing short of a dream come true.
Read More - Bowl Patches Are Coming Back in NCAA Football 12
Thursday, April 7, 2011
12:43 PM - April 7, 2011. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
Classifying a wrestling game as "arcade" is a bit of an oxymoron to me. With spectacular showmanship, high-flying acrobatics, bright colorful costumes and dialogue that has more in common with a soap opera than a major motion picture, the very essence of the WWE is over the top, and WWE All Stars nails this atmosphere better than any wrestling game in recent memory. With a great roster and a control scheme that is almost as good, you'll be hard pressed not to fall in love with THQ's rookie wrestling franchise.
Read More - WWE All Stars Review (360)
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
04:32 PM - April 5, 2011. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
1. Releasing a college basketball game in January instead of November would be a positive for a college hoops title.
Dustin Toms: Fact/Fiction. I feel like this is a loaded question. For the hardcore college hoops fan, this would be nothing short of a disappointment. You don't want to start playing halfway through the season, you want to take control once the actual season begins. But on the other hand, for the gaming companies, releasing closer to the tournament would probably make them more money in the long run. When it comes down to it, we all just want a new college hoops game.
Christian McLeod: Fact. I consider myself a college hoops fanatic -- the kicker is that outside of the early season tournaments, my interest level in the sport doesn't peak until mid/late January. Once college football is over and the NFL Playoffs come to an end, college basketball kicks into high gear. Also, by January interest in NBA gaming is beginning to tail off after a four month play period. Why not refine the NBA engine, polish up gameplay quirks, and even add some new features to the college game? In short, use the NBA game as a beta to perfect the college game, and then use the college game to use as a beta to perfect the next year's NBA game? Seems like a win-win for everyone involved to me.
Read More - OS Fact or Fiction: College Hoops Edition
Monday, April 4, 2011
05:05 PM - April 4, 2011. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
Just like the roster of WWE All Stars, my love affair with the WWF/WWE has been generational. Growing up in the '80s, I was exposed to wrestling at its prime when Hogan, The Million Dollar Man and The Ultimate Warrior were part of every kid's bedroom decor care of Pillow Buddies. I’m even proud to say I spent entire summer vacations using my Macho Man Randy Savage action figure to dominate any figure thrown against me by my neighborhood cronies. Of course, the best part about these royal rumbles was that all the matches took place in a homemade ring, crudely assembled with rubber bands, nails and plywood because no one had enough allowance money to buy the actual ring.
A few years later, after my childhood idols had left the ring in favor of making movies like Suburban Commando, my love for wrestling had somewhat faded. Much of my early teen years were spent repressing the memories of The Rockers tag team title, and the time Jake the Snake teamed up with the Undertaker to pull the ultimate double cross on the Ultimate Warrior. I had almost completely purged my love for wrestling up until one fateful Monday night when I mistakenly turned on my television and witnessed something that was nothing short of spectacular.
The year was 1996, and the WWF had unleashed a brand new attitude. With Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock leading the charge, this new WWF was all about rude raunchy drama that was a 15 year old's dream come true. This was no longer the “kiddy” WWF that I grew up with. At that moment I was completely hooked all over again, and I watched religiously through 2002 when the brand lost many of its top-tier personalities and much of its “oomph” in my opinion.
Read More - WWE All Stars Initial Impressions
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
05:11 PM - March 15, 2011. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
For the past couple years I have been rooting for the MLB 2K series. At one point on the last-gen consoles, it was a masterful series. But when MLB 2K6 came out on the current-gen consoles, the franchise unfortunately spiraled out of control. That downward spiral culminated in MLB 2K9, one of the more disappointing games in recent memory. However, I thoroughly enjoyed MLB 2K10 despite its flaws, and I had very high hopes for MLB 2K11.
So did MLB 2K11 find its source of power this time around, or did it just find another way to swing and miss?
Monday, March 14, 2011
04:14 PM - March 14, 2011. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
We recently changed our review process. Read all about how we do our reviews now.
Day One: Initial Impressions
Day Two: Initial Online Impressions
Day Three: Midpoint Update
To this point, my time with MLB 2K11 has been filled with many highs and lows. Thankfully, MLB 2K11’s My Player and Franchise offerings are deep, intriguing, and most of all, fun additions that had me enjoying every minute of this in-depth look at them.
My Player
Last year, MLB 2K10’s My Player mode was a very enjoyable first entry into Visual Concept’s baseball franchise. If the mode had a major flaw, it was that it was far to easy to breeze through the minors on the way to your MLB debut.
My Player mode in MLB 2K11 takes the framework from 2K10, and then polishes it up real nice. Advancement to the majors is now dependent on your ratings in several categories rather than just overall statistics like last year. For example, if you are a center fielder trying to make it to the bigs in your organization, a 60 speed rating is just not going to cut it, even if you are batting .400. The same goes for pitchers; don’t expect to get called up unless you get at least two of your pitches into the mid 70s.
Read More - MLB 2K11 My Player and Franchise Impressions
Saturday, March 12, 2011
03:36 AM - March 12, 2011. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
We recently changed our review process. Read all about how we do our reviews now.
Day One: Initial Impressions
Day Two: Initial Online Impressions
Day three in the new review process is the day that I am given carte blanche by our editorial staff to write about anything I want concerning MLB 2K11. Instead of boring you with my thoughts on the game's amazing soundtrack, I’ll cut to the chase and give some overall mid-week impressions on the game. I know that many of you are still on the fence out there regarding a purchase of this game, so I want to make sure to provide as much information as possible prior to my final review, which will hit early next week.
But before I dive into my thoughts on the game three days in, I wanted to give 2K a big pat on the bat for the inclusion of a dedicated Playoff mode. While not exactly the sexiest feature out there (at least according to the competition), dedicated playoff modes are an absolute must for me in a baseball game. Let’s face it, not all of our favorite teams are lucky enough to make the playoffs in real life -- let alone our respective franchises -- so such a mode is the only hope we have to see our team win a ring. 2K’s Playoff mode is customizable, easy to access and a whole lot of fun to play, especially should you have a couple buddies who are willing to come over for some local multiplayer.
All right, with that out of the way, let's move on.
Read More - Major League Baseball 2K11 Mid-Review Update
Thursday, March 10, 2011
05:57 PM - March 10, 2011. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
We recently changed our review process. Read all about how we do our reviews now.
Day One: Initial Impressions
Outside of the traditional 2K online league functionality and ranked/custom matches, there isn’t a whole lot to discuss when it comes to MLB 2K11 -- at least in terms of new elements. So consider this writeup more of a quick impressions piece about how the game plays online rather than an in-depth look at the online game modes and features.
That being said, in the five or so games I managed to play online, MLB 2K11 played a more stable game of baseball than it did offline. Gone were many of the graphical freezes when a ball was put into play, and lag was at a minimum aside from a very slight swing delay. As I found myself trying to mentally comprehend how this could be, I immediately realized that MLB 2K11 online is essentially MLB 2K11 offline minus the presentation.
Yes, there is no in-game presentation when playing the game online. No pregame introductions, no stat overlays when a player comes up to bat, no instant replays of big plays, no between innings highlights/box score, and worst of all, no in-game notification of what player is at bat.
Read More - MLB 2K11 Online Impressions
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
02:13 PM - March 9, 2011. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
We recently changed our review process. Read all about how we do our reviews now.
One of the luxuries of our new review format here at Operation Sports is that it gives us reviewers a full week (at least) to put a game through its paces. In the case of MLB 2K11, our new format may be a godsend. Why you ask? Because based on my first impressions with the retail build, this game has a long way to go in the next week to impress me.
MLB 2K11 seems to play a fundamentally solid game of hardball. The problem is the game feels extremely unpolished, almost to the point where it’s been impossible to enjoy some of the game's best qualities -- like the reworked timing windows while batting that lead to an impressive amount of hit variety.
In the five hours I have spent with the game, I’ve noticed some extremely irritating graphical glitches. One has involved pitchers magically turning into PS2-style player models when being pulled from the game. Another has involved watching my screen freeze for milliseconds multiple times as a ball is hit into play. And one more beyond that involved a pitching animation glitch that made the ball morph from the pitcher's hand to another trajectory so distracting that it made the ball impossible to hit. MLB 2K11 is not the most aesthetically pleasing game, and it’s becoming abundantly clear as to why the game was not shown off more prior to its release.
Read More - MLB 2K11 Reviewer First Impressions
Friday, March 4, 2011
01:34 PM - March 4, 2011. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chase Becotte
Chase Becotte: I'm trying to temper my enthusiasm until I see what happens with the effectiveness of just juicing your created player with power, but it's hard not to be really excited after playing this demo. Everything from a more lively crowd at the U.S. Open -- when I played the game at a preview event, the crowd seemed even more lively than the one found in the demo -- to the player grunts to the tweaked controls are all really working here.
Jayson Young: The crowds definitely sound great with the way they build up during rallies and yell between points, but outside of that, I don't see a whole lot of improvements over Top Spin 3.
Christian McLeod: At the recommendation of my OS staff brethren, I reluctantly downloaded the Top Spin 4 demo. To my surprise, I had a great time with the demo -- so much so that the game may enter my closely guarded sports gaming rotation in a few weeks. Graphically, the game is beautiful, and just as Chase mentioned, my jaw dropped during the first match I played on clay. At times I felt like I was actually controlling a televised tennis match, and the buttery smooth control scheme was pretty easy to pick up and start having success with in a matter of minutes.
Chris Sanner: A few weeks ago someone asked me on Twitter what I thought of the prospects for Top Spin 4. I said I think the game can't possibly be bad, but I'm not sure if it's going to be a can't miss all world title.
I think I was definitely right on that.
Read More - Top Spin 4 Demo Impressions Roundtable
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
02:06 PM - March 2, 2011. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
Of all the retro top 10 or top 5 lists I have done here at Operation Sports, this was by far the most difficult. With today's modern games incorporating a myriad player ratings, the playing field has been somewhat leveled in terms of skill differetiation. There was a time, however, when baseball games contained players so dominant that they were outlawed for generations to come.
With spring training already upon us, I figured it would be a fun idea to take a look at the top vitual baseball players to have ever existed -- or been created -- in video games. My criterion when putting this list together was that each representative had to be so overpowered that all his opponents cower when his name is mentioned.
Read More - The Top 10 Virtual Baseball Players of All-Time
Monday, February 7, 2011
01:21 PM - February 7, 2011. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
To say that the Madden series has been a success this console generation would be an overstatement of the decade.
Think back to the year 2004, a year that could be summed up as nothing short of a football gaming utopia. NFL 2K5 aside, EA's Madden 2005 set the bar for all successive iterations in the series. The game was the perfect blend of polished gameplay, solid presentation, and new and innovative features like defensive playmaker controls. Madden 05 had football gamers glued to their consoles for months to come.
Fast forward to 2006 when the now infamous Madden "next-gen" trailer was released, and the hype surrounding Madden's move to the Xbox 360 and PS3 was at a fever pitch.
Read More - Madden's Current Gen Has Not Been a Success
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
04:20 PM - January 19, 2011. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
Sports gamers on a budget have two choices. The first is cut back on sports gaming (not realistic), and the second is doing research to identify some of the best deals out there. If you are not ready to give up your sports gaming, then lucky for you, yours truly has already done the research on the deals. Sit back, relax and take a look at a little piece I like to call, Sports Gaming on a Budget: January 2011 Edition.
Read More - Sports Gaming Bargains: January 2011 Edition
Thursday, January 13, 2011
12:36 PM - January 13, 2011. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
NCAA Football 11 gave thousands of eager fans the first quality HD college football experience during this generation of consoles. But now with January already upon us, and NCAA 12 deep into development, it is only a matter of time until the NCAA Football 12 details start emerging. January is also the month that I begin my coverage of the newest NCAA game.
This first article will focus on some of the things NCAA 11 did extremely well, as well as the areas that still need improvement in order to push the game to the next level.
Read More - Building a Better NCAA Football 12
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
01:04 PM - December 22, 2010. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
Last week on OS Radio we were happy to be joined by EA Sports' Ben Haumiller to discuss NCAA Football 11. We talked about what goes into making the game, and we got a brief glimpse at the future of the franchise.
Being the college football junkies that we are, yours truly along with Ben and Chris Sanner decided to break down 11 of this year's biggest bowl games and make our expert picks. Of course it would not make much sense to just make these picks and leave it at that -- we are a sports gaming website after all.
So following the radio show I locked myself in my gaming man cave and simulated each and every single one of the games we discussed. How did we stack up against NCAA Football 11's picks? Better yet, how do you think we will have done once the real games are in the books, and the dust has settled on January 10?
Read More - Breaking down the Bowls with OS, EA, and NCAA Football 11
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