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
Friday, July 9, 2010
11:58 AM - July 9, 2010. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
I will come right out and say it: The NCAA Football series has been a disaster on this generation of consoles. However, I am happy to say that after a long wait, and after playing my copy of NCAA Football 11 for several weeks now, not only is the franchise back in a very big way, but this is also the best football game I have played this generation.
Read More - NCAA Football 11 Review
Friday, July 2, 2010
12:03 PM - July 2, 2010. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
Tiger Woods 10 on the Wii introduced one of the great innovations in the history of golf games: Wii MotionPlus (MP). By allowing the controller to pick up on even the slightest of arm and wrist movements during a swing, MP revolutionized the way golf games would forever be played. But even with its exceptional control scheme, Tiger 10 had some glaring issues holding it back, specifically dated player models, antiquated game modes and tired gameplay mechanics (sans MP).
It has been roughly a year since I wrote my review of Tiger 10, and with a new year comes another Tiger Woods golf game for the Wii. Touting all new game modes, golfers, courses and an extremely innovative first-person mechanic known as "TrueView", Tiger 11 promises to deliver the ultimate golf sim available on home consoles.
So with that in mind, can Tiger 11 finally ascend into the upper echelon of sports games, or is the franchise still being held back by nagging issues that have plagued the series for years?
Read More - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 (Wii) Review
Monday, May 24, 2010
12:00 PM - May 24, 2010. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
With the MLB regular season well underway and MLB 2K10’s Living Roster feature finally including all of this year's top rookies, we here at Operation Sports decided to run our annual season sim using 2K’s hard-ball sim.
So where did your favorite team finish, and how did your favorite player do in 2010 according to 2K? Read on to find out.
Read More - MLB 2K10 Sims the 2010 Baseball Season
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
11:59 AM - May 11, 2010. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
A few weeks back I was lucky enough to attend EA Sports' Season Preview event in New York City. Both NCAA 11 and Madden 11 were on hand at the event, but it was a couple of the other games in EA’s 2010 sports lineup that caught my eye. Most of these games had already been demoed to OS a few months back in San Francisco, so below are my updated impressions of these games.Read More - EA Community Event Game Impressions
Monday, May 3, 2010
11:51 PM - May 3, 2010. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
Growing up in the late 80's/early 90's, one sports game reigned supreme when it came to neighborhood bragging rights -- Tecmo Bowl. Before the Madden franchise became the juggernaut it is today, Tecmo Bowl was the quintasential virtual football experience. Utilizing it's "chess" like playcalling mechanics, reliance on homemade gamepad moves, and NFL/NFLPA licenses, Tecmo Bowl came to define a generation.
Twenty years after the first games release -- and 18 after the release of the series' stellar sequel, Tecmo Super Bowl -- fans of the game are being treated to a completely new HD experience in Tecmo Bowl Throwback. For those of you unfamiliar with Throwback, Tecmo has taken the teams and rosters from 1993's Super Tecmo Bowl, added new HD graphics and presentation -- with an option to switch back to the old 8-bit graphics in HD on the fly -- and added online play for the first time in series history.
So is Tecmo Bowl Throwback an enjoyable trip down memory lane? Or should the series have been left to die in the 90's like Ryan Leaf's career? Read on to find out.
Read More - Tecmo Bowl Throwback Review
Monday, April 26, 2010
05:20 PM - April 26, 2010. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
As part of the EA Sports Draft Preview Party last Tuesday, I was lucky enough to sit down with three of this year's top picks. I asked them some hard hitting questions about the Draft, gaming and the all important Madden 11. So what do three future NFL stars have to say about the world of sports gaming? Read on to find out. Jahvid Best knows what site to visit.
Read More - EA Draft Night Athlete Interviews
09:54 AM - April 26, 2010. Posted by Steve_OS. Written by Christian McLeod
We have just posted our Madden NFL 11 hands-on impressions. Find out what Christian McLeod has to say about his time with the game.
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Read More - Madden NFL 11 Hands-On Impressions
Friday, April 23, 2010
10:15 AM - April 23, 2010. Posted by Steve_OS. Written by Christian McLeod
We have just posted our hands-on NCAA Football 11 preview. Find out what Christian McLeod has to say about the game, a few months before release.
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Wednesday, April 7, 2010
02:21 PM - April 7, 2010. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
As the 2010 baseball season gets underway, it's kind of hard to believe that it is already 2010. Looking back, the years 2000-2010 were truly a golden era for baseball gaming. Out of all the sports that were digitally re-created this past decade, baseball games faced the most competition, which led to many outstanding titles that were created by multiple development studios. In celebration of baseball's opening week -- and in an effort to compile the top five baseball games of the decade -- I have spent the last three weekends huddled in my basement feverishly playing some of the best baseball titles from the past 10 years.
With so many worthy candidates, narrowing the list down to just five was no easy task. It should be noted that each game chosen not only had to demonstrate superior gameplay, but also had to leave a distinct impression on the genre as a whole.
Three weeks of intense baseball gaming, a broken Dreamcast controller, several pots of coffee, and one angry wife later, I give you Christian McLeod's Top 5 Baseball Games of the Last Decade.
Read More - Top Five MLB Games of the Last Decade
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
01:56 PM - March 31, 2010. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
A few weeks ago, the NCAA Football development team gave gamers everywhere a first look at some of the upcoming features in NCAA Football 11. After a somewhat disappointing NCAA 10, the series needs some work if it is to ever to return to the lofty heights that were achieved during the last generation of consoles. With more information now being released on the NCAA Football 11 blog, I have decided to take a look back at the initial information that was revealed about the game and discuss what it all means -- or could mean -- for dedicated NCAA Football gamers.
Read More - NCAA Football 11: Breaking down what we know
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
05:07 PM - March 10, 2010. Posted by Steve_OS. Written by Christian McLeod
The month of March is by far my favorite time of the entire year. Why? Because March signifies the return of baseball. I have been playing the game ever since I was old enough to walk; I still pick up a pack of baseball cards whenever I get the opportunity; I viewed my trip to Fenway Park as a religious experience; And I am one of those twisted individuals who will watch all 162 games of my beloved Detroit Tigers (and even game 163 last season, which I do not want to talk about). March is the month of baseball's rebirth.March also happens to be the month baseball games are released, an added bonus that makes the month even sweeter in my eyes. I have been gaming for as long as I have been interested in baseball, so naturally the two would go hand in hand. I am proud to say that I have played quite possibly every baseball game ever created. From Hardball to High Heat to the Tiger Electronics monochrome baseball game, I have experienced them all, loving many, despising a few, and with many others falling into various levels in between.
Knowing this I am sure it will come as a surprise when I say that I was a bit underwhelmed by Sony's MLB 09: The Show last year. The game was most definitely a solid overall baseball title, but my biggest issue with the game was that after playing the '08 version to death, there was no aspect of the '09 game that really compelled me to invest a great deal of time into the title. I never felt that addictive pull as a baseball fanatic and hardcore sports gamer to keep playing.
But when I was told that I would be handling the review of MLB 10: The Show this year, I was definitely excited for the opportunity. With the promise of revamped real-time presentation, a new broadcast camera angle in the field, numerous RttS improvements (including the ability to call a game as a catcher) and upgrades to the series' awful throwing meter, MLB 10 seemed to have enough new content to differentiate itself from its 2009 iteration. So does MLB 10 deliver that elusive pull for this baseball junkie? Read on to find out.
Read More - MLB '10: The Show Review - Written by: Christian McLeod
Monday, February 22, 2010
12:15 PM - February 22, 2010. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
Baseball season is just around the corner (we are just a week away from Spring Training games!), and 2K Sports has been hard at work on its latest hardball offering, MLB 2K10. Operation Sports recently previewed the game, and now the masses (at least on the 360) will be getting their hands on the demo tomorrow. In other words, with just a few short weeks until release, it is now time for a What's Hot/What's Not feature. So what has got me excited about MLB 2K10, and what has me scratching my head? Read on to find out.Read More - MLB 2K10: What's Hot and What's Not
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
12:11 PM - February 9, 2010. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
It has been about 10 years since I last played a golf game on the PC. Ever since Tiger Woods arrived on the original Playstation in 1998, I have been enthralled by the idea of console golf with my family and college roommates. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 further solidified the series as the golf game of choice for me because of the intuitive analog-swing mechanics on the Playstation 2. Unfortunately, the years have not been so kind to the TW franchise, with each console iteration released since 2005 feeling more and more stale and archaic -- the only saving grace being the exceptional motion controls in Tiger Woods 10 Wii.
Thankfully, EA Sports has started an open beta for Tiger Woods Online -- a free to play, browser-based PGA experience that hearkens back to the days of the PGA Tour series on the PC. The game is a breath of fresh air for a jaded golf-gaming veteran such as myself, perfectly blending old-school game mechanics with innovative online and community features.
So is the TW Online beta worth your time? Read on and find out.
Read More - Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online Beta Review
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
01:50 PM - January 20, 2010. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
Growing up in the early to mid part of the 1990s, there were not many activities that were more exciting than scrounging up some change, going to the local convenience store and buying a pack of sports cards. Whether it was football, basketball, baseball or even soccer, your card collection was much more than simple childhood hobby -- it was a status symbol, signaling to the neighborhood who the most hardcore sports fan was. There were even preferred card makers that further elevated one's status, as nobody wanted to be the guy stuck with the massive Donruss collection when all of your buddies were showing off their Fleer Ultra collections.My group of friends took our card collecting a step further than most, picking a sport, a collection of 10 cards for that respective sport and then spending entire afternoons ripping up our parents front yards as we emulated those specific athletes. Trust me, you have not lived as a kid until you have pretended that you are Julio Franco in a game of whiffle ball, correct stance and all.
Naturally, when Madden 10's Ultimate Team mode was announced a few months back, I was extremely excited to relive my childhood nerdiness, this time in video game form. Since I never played the Ultimate Team mode in EA's FIFA series, I really did not know the overall value that the mode would bring to my favorite sports game of 2009. I am more than happy to report that after weeks of nonstop play, I am absolutely loving almost everything about Madden's Ultimate Team.
Read More - Perspective on Madden Ultimate Team
Thursday, December 24, 2009
12:56 AM - December 24, 2009. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Christian McLeod
Last week College Hoops 2K8 played the role offortune teller for the 2009/2010 college basketball season.This week NCAA Basketball 10 gets to be the fortune teller. Sporting dynamic rosters and statistical updates throughout the real world college basketball season, NCAA 10 has promised to deliver some of the most realistic statistical data ever in a college title. For this simulation, I used the dynamic update released on December 1, and the named rosters put together by the OS community. Like in the College Hoops simulation, the entire season was simulated with injuries on for reference. It should also be noted that this simulation was run with authentic team schedules -- College Hoops 2K8’s was not.
Read More - NCAA Basketball Simulation: NCAA Basketball 10
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