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Wednesday, August 1, 2012
12:55 PM - August 1, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
And we’re off.
Like the Christmas shopping season, it seems like it gets earlier and earlier every year with football game demos, doesn’t it? Either way, PES leads us off with its first of two demos. Except for those poor North American PSN users, everybody else should have access to it by now. It’s not a bad strategy on Konami’s part: release it early, tempt a few action-starved FIFA fans into giving the game a try, plus get some feedback from the fanbase and make some changes.
So what’s new?
Friday, July 13, 2012
12:19 PM - July 13, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
North American sports fans may find it quite different, and perhaps more difficult, to successfully build a dynasty in soccer games. If you think the MLB doesn’t do enough to ensure parity in the league, wait until you read about what goes on (or doesn’t) in soccer leagues around the world.
Note that most of these off pitch rules don’t apply to MLS, as the league contains some distinctly North American characteristics to the team building side of the sport. And as always, there are bound to be some discrepancies league by league, but by and large, the following are applicable to most of the world’s biggest leagues.
Read More - An Idiots Guide to Soccer and Soccer Gaming (Part III)
Note that most of these off pitch rules don’t apply to MLS, as the league contains some distinctly North American characteristics to the team building side of the sport. And as always, there are bound to be some discrepancies league by league, but by and large, the following are applicable to most of the world’s biggest leagues.
Read More - An Idiots Guide to Soccer and Soccer Gaming (Part III)
Monday, July 9, 2012
03:05 PM - July 9, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
If you haven't noticed, it's All-Star week around here at OS. So to go along with that theme, and also because I'm a few articles short (hello, dear editors) as the soccer games haven't picked up steam yet, here's your cursory All-Star article.
Now, it'd be easy to do an All-Star team of the best players in The Show, but that wouldn't be much fun, would it? All you have to do is rank players by attributes and voila, the best guys rise to the top. It's so easy that anybody—like, say, a soccer writer-- can do it. Instead, how about those players that aren't at the superstar level, but oftentimes play above what their attributes indicate? Now that's a better basis for an article. And it's more fun because ten different people may pick ten different players to be on this team -- everybody's got their own surprising overachievers.
So here we are, a team of unsung all stars who can quietly go about their business and still contribute immensely in The Show. Two things first: One, I use Knight165's OSFM rosters; and two, to reiterate, in this team are guys who are just a notch below the all-star level, but for whatever reason I find suit my playing style and outperform expectations -- so no Verlanders, Hamiltons or Vottos here.
Read More - Unsung All-Stars: Best Players Who Don't Get Their Due
02:50 PM - July 9, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
Soccer, or is it football? It seems like sometimes this gets more discussion in North America than the actual sport itself.
Personally, I don’t really care, but regular readers may notice that I almost always use the term football. Not because of any historical arguments, but rather that it just makes more sense. After all, between the two footballs, only one of them is primarily played with, you know, the foot. For practical reasons though, I’m using soccer for this guide because unlike most articles, this one doesn’t have a game — FIFA or PES, for example — in the title to instantly clarify it. The last thing I need is for Madden fans to click on this and realize they’ve not gotten what’s been promised, even if they should be used to this feeling by now.
Read More - An Idiots Guide to Soccer and Soccer Gaming
Thursday, May 31, 2012
12:53 PM - May 31, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
I have to give credit to EA here. Their in-game manual actually does a fairly decent job of explaining the more intricate parts of running the team in GM mode. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed by all these jargons come off season — RFA, salary cap, junior eligibility —slow down, take a breath, and go through the manual bit by bit and you should be OK.
Read More - A Guide to Hockey for The Hockey Illiterate (Part Three)
Read More - A Guide to Hockey for The Hockey Illiterate (Part Three)
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
03:05 PM - May 23, 2012. Posted by Steve_OS. Written by Kelvin Mak
We here at Operationsports are happy to announce the final three winners of the EA Sports Player Performance Index contest, all of whom will be receiving a signed Premier League shirt!
For round six, the player who gained the most points was —and this may induce some groans from certain quarters—Carlos Tevez. In round seven, no surprise, the winner was Clint Dempsey, probably one of the more underrated footballers playing in the Premier League right now. And in round eight, it’s a bit of a shocker as Emmanuel Adebayor came out in front of both Rooney and van Persie to gain the most points in the final week of the Premier League fixtures.
So here are the winners, drawn from those of you who picked the aforementioned players:
- Round 6: bigdoc22
- Round 7: Ezio
- Round 8 Steelerfan
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
01:29 PM - May 22, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
Hockey, unlike baseball, football or basketball, is a very fluid game by comparison. Stoppages are not planned, nor are they nearly as frequent. In some cases, a game can go on for a good ten minutes without any pauses. Also, possession changes hands quicker and a lot more often than those sports. What this means, in terms of strategizing, is that there are less varieties of “set plays” than other sports. Instead, and especially in the NHL video games, strategies are usually more of a set formation, and most of the time it’s up to you to read and react to the situation. Basically, less set pieces, and more general principles.
In terms of actual strategy, this is one area where the NHL series sorely lacks depth. Basically, all you need to know is to watch the diagram on the strategy screen, the more players you commit to the offensive zone, the more offensive it is, and you are much more liable to give up odd man rushes (counterattacks) if you turn the puck over.
Read More - A Guide to Hockey for The Hockey Illiterate (Part Two)
Monday, May 21, 2012
12:14 PM - May 21, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
It’s a clichéd notion, but there’s still some truth that hockey, of all the big four North American sports, is the Ringo of the bunch. Make no mistake though, its stock is certainly back on the rise in America. The TV ratings on NBC and its various affiliates — OLN, Versus, whatever the Peacock has decided to call it this week — have been steadily rising, and it’s now beginning to feel en vogue all over again to be a fan of the sport. So for those of you who may want to get into the game, as well as the video game, here’s a primer to get you started.
Read More - A Guide to Hockey for The Hockey Illiterate (Part One)
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
03:41 PM - May 15, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
It’s one question football fans have debated million times over in pubs across the world: Messi or Ronaldo?
One is held up as the bright light of the sport, conducting himself with class and dignity against the increasing tide of cynicism in the sport — diving, haranguing referees and transfer demands if players don’t like their manager, their teammates, or their tealady. Leo Messi is, of course, above all that, plying his trade quietly and shunning controversy in the Camp Nou. And it’s not like there’s a need to be loud — his skills do all the talking he needs anyway. Slipping by defenders, picking passes, and calmly slotting balls into the corner of the net.
Read More - Who is Better to Play With in FIFA: Ronaldo or Messi?
12:33 PM - May 15, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
I recently went, along with OS big boss Steve Noah, to EA Canada’s headquarters to have a sneak peek at FIFA 13. We were shown a 90-minute presentation (most likely one of the longer ones for events like these) about the new features in this year’s game. We couldn’t talk much about it initially since everything was embargoed… until today.
Hallelujah for the embargo lifting!
Overall, from the presentation, I went home with two main conclusions: That it’s hard to hold in six cups of coffee over an hour and a half, and more importantly, the FIFA team isn’t kidding about their continuing dedication to realism.
Read More - FIFA 13 Gameplay First Look Preview
Hallelujah for the embargo lifting!
Overall, from the presentation, I went home with two main conclusions: That it’s hard to hold in six cups of coffee over an hour and a half, and more importantly, the FIFA team isn’t kidding about their continuing dedication to realism.
Read More - FIFA 13 Gameplay First Look Preview
Thursday, May 10, 2012
11:05 AM - May 10, 2012. Posted by Steve_OS. Written by Kelvin Mak
Operation Sports and EA Sports are teaming up for a weekly giveaway of signed Barclays Premier League shirts! That’s right, footy fans, every week, from now until the end of the Premier League season, we are giving one lucky winner a signed jersey from a BPL club, courtesy of The EA Sports Official Sports Technology Partnership with The Premier League.
Click here for the rules, as well as enter the contest.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
02:04 PM - May 9, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
About a year ago, I wrote about why I don’t play Be a Player modes. A year later, I still feel the same way.
Arguably the greatest weakness of the mode lies on the field, where to this day it still feels like you’re playing the same game but with the player lock on. The technology is just nowhere near the point where you can truly play a team game with a bunch of AI players, since there’s no effective way of communicating with them in real time.
But the mode’s off-the-field offerings can stand to use some much needed improvements, too.
Read More - A Potential Improvement for Be A Player Modes
Thursday, May 3, 2012
03:29 PM - May 3, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
FIFA Street wasn’t a bad game by any means, but a fair amount of reviews, including one from yours truly, suggested that the game may be better suited as a cheaper release as opposed to a full priced one. The game did receive a price drop, but the surprising thing was how quickly one came — in less than a week.
One couldn't help but ask: Perhaps the game was overpriced to begin with?
Read More - Are Arcade Sports Games Really Worth $60?
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
06:17 PM - May 2, 2012. Posted by Steve_OS. Written by Kelvin Mak
Operation Sports and EA Sports are teaming up for a weekly giveaway of signed Barclays Premier League shirts! That’s right, footy fans, every week, from now until the end of the Premier League season, we are giving one lucky winner a signed jersey from a BPL club, courtesy of The EA Sports Official Sports Technology Partnership with The Premier League.
Click here for the rules, as well as enter the contest.
Instead of a separate release, this year we get our international soccer fix—Euro 2012—through DLC for a cut-price twenty dollars. Actually, maybe not so cut-price, because after spending some time with it you may feel that perhaps at $20, Euro 2012 still isn’t a steal.
In fact, it probably is just about right, given that the game turns out to be a rushed cosmetic job on top of a stellar FIFA 12 game.
EA claims that nothing has been changed from the great FIFA 12 engine. Anecdotally speaking, it did seem that some of the wilder results of the Impact Engine have been tamed, and certain animations smoothed out, but perhaps that’s more of a placebo effect than anything else.
Either way, gameplay is 99.5 percent identical to FIFA 12. So the good news is that everything you liked about FIFA 12 is still in there—the measured pace, precision dribbling, the customization—but the bad news is that Euro 2012 is then really just a twenty dollar skin and roster update.
Read More - UEFA Euro 2012 Review (DLC)
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