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Monday, February 16, 2009
Any of you who have completed the EA survey will have noticed this interesting piece of news:

Quote:
EA SPORTS .com and EA SPORTS World are combining content and services. The new combined EA SPORTS.com will provide ways for sports gamers and fans to interact with their games, compete with their friends, and connect with the greater gaming community and EA SPORTS...24 hours a day, 7 days a week through their consoles, PC's and mobile devices. Features will include:
  • Use the 3D avatar tool combined with EA SPORTS photo game face technology to create your own persistent identity in the world of EA SPORTS online.
  • Earn or purchase exclusive gear from head to toe and wear your team's licensed jersey to show off your true colors.
  • Join a club and/or team or start your own. As a GM, your job is to run your club effectively by scouting top players, scheduling practice sessions and challenging rival clubs/teams in your league.
  • Showcase your accomplishments online by uploading your best goals, calling out your place atop the leaderboard, and collecting trophies and accomplishments showing how you are the best amongst the rest.
  • Put your money where your mouth is by challenging other EA SPORTS gamers for cash or prizes.
  • Access sports news, tutorials, and tips and tricks from the pros as well as everyday gamers.
  • Create custom highlights from your best performances using the EA SPORTS video broadcast tool. The best are selected by EA and given a voice and a flavor all their own in EA SPORTS Top 10 highlights. The community can watch online or download as a podcast along with select EA tracks.
  • Become a fan journalist by creating and critiquing high quality sports and game analysis on The EA SPORTS Fan news network.

This is certainly exciting news for sports gaming. From the above list, which new features interest you the most and which are you not at all excited about?
Blog: bronco92
Friday, February 13, 2009
Friday Other Stuff (2-13-09) Stuck
06:17 AM - February 13, 2009. Written by Steve_OS
If any of these links interest you, talk about them.QOTD: What are your plans for the weekend?

Me? I'll be playing some MLB 2K9 baby. It's actually pretty good, but I've only played a handful of games. Impressions, screenshots and videos will be going up all weekend long.

Happy Birthday to the following OS'ers!

hummels (44), 23 (33), TreyFury97 (30), OSUFan_88 (21), Joven (20), Herdof (20)
Blog: Steve_OS
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Thursday Other Stuff (2-12-09) Stuck
06:40 AM - February 12, 2009. Written by Steve_OS
If any of these links interest you, talk about them.QOTD: In terms of "All Star Games" which one do you always look forward to watching?

Happy Birthday to the following OS'ers!

joeman212, sportsgal, Rickster101 (51), SpankyAF (30), fpac, gameaddict4life (24), Ephexx (22), Flyboy (21), smittyjs (19)
Blog: Steve_OS
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Wednesday Other Stuff (2-11-09) Stuck
07:02 AM - February 11, 2009. Written by Steve_OS
If any of these links interest you, talk about them.QOTD: Anyone looking forward to God of War III?

Happy Birthday to the following OS'ers!

Hammerhunker (41), Sammich (33), Goldmember2 (30), z99zazn (27), gazzap1983 (26), JGama (24)
Blog: Steve_OS
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Tuesday Other Stuff (2-10-09) Stuck
06:45 AM - February 10, 2009. Written by Steve_OS
If any of these links interest you, talk about them.QOTD: Do you care about all this steroid talk in baseball?

Happy Birthday to the following OS'ers!

Virix, marq (31), HungryBologna (25), ballaholic23 (23), b_bearz (23), aran (23), bigmac16 (23), Porschebenz2001 (20)
Blog: Steve_OS
Monday, February 9, 2009
Monday Other Stuff (2-9-09) Stuck
06:40 AM - February 9, 2009. Written by Steve_OS
If any of these links interest you, talk about them.QOTD: How was your weekend?

Happy Birthday to the following OS'ers!

cardsfan09, packmanuk (41), CFav (31), Linx (27), thedukejr (24), n.h#9 (15)
Blog: Steve_OS
Sunday, February 8, 2009
OS NBA2k9 Match Up: Kobe V LeBron 
03:26 PM - February 8, 2009. Written by SBartlett


LeBron “The King” James. Kobe Bryant -The Black Mamba. Who is the best basketball player on the planet today?

Using NBA2k9’s Living Rosters on the X box 360, I will break down LeBron and Kobe’s updated ratings at the halfway point in the season. I will also compare their statistics, all-around game, and ultimately crown the true king of hoops as of February 1st, 2009.

Kobe Bryant #24 SG Los Angeles Lakers (99 Overall)
2009 Season: 26.4 PPG; 5.2 APG; 35% 3P %

I had the fortunate opportunity of witnessing Kobe Bryant play NBA Basketball from the second row in the T.D. Bank North Garden last Thanksgiving in 2007 against Boston. When I say witness, I mean I was witness to a defiance of physics and gravity every time Kobe decided to shoot the j. It’s unreal. Kobe rises up, hangs in mid-air for a second until the defender passes bye, and then releases his shot. I have come to the conclusion that he is in the Matrix – it’s truly a phenomenal sight to see. The levitation was surreal.

Kobe’s arsenal of offensive weapons is unmatched. His ball-handling (94) allows him to get anywhere on the court so he can create any shot he wants at anytime. Although his shooting percentage is down this year, he still has a smooth outside jumper (80 3PT Rating) with a fluid release. Kobe is also a nice passer (74) for a 6’6’’ shooting guard because of his overall basketball I.Q. (99 Off. AWR).

Kobe Bryant can lock up almost any guard on Earth when he wants to (94 Def). All this means is he will have to exert less energy on the offensive end. He is long, active, agile, and smart. Intelligence on the court should not be underestimated. Anticipation and effort is what defense is all about. I think Kobe has the edge here over ‘Bron ‘Bron just through more experience. We have yet to see that type of tenacity out of LeBron on a more consistent basis.

Kobe needs to develop an unstoppable post game (87 Mid Range) like Jordan did to find more dominance later on as he ages. If he does this, I think Kobe can legitimately win another championship with Phil Jackson. He has the skills to master that fadeaway to the same level as Jordan’s.

Kobe also knows when he has the green light on offense – usually in the crunch time. He picks his spots to assert himself. That’s when he makes his money. He is an assassin.

LeBron #23 SF Cleveland Cavaliers (99 Overall)
2009: 27.9 PPG; 7.2 RPG; 6.8 APG

LeBron’s 6’8’’ stature as a passing guard with great ball control (96) can qualify him as a point guard, but he does like to mix it up in the paint (Close 99). The Association hasn’t seen a player with his height, speed (91), and passing ability (89) since Penny Hardaway.

LeBron is also highly comparable to Magic Johnson with his court vision (99 Off Awareness). What separated Penny Hardaway and Magic Johnson to me was their ability to thread the needle – the gift to make a pass when there is no passing lane existing. Essentially, they possessed a vision to see a lane where nobody else saw it. This is a testament to their knowledge and feel for the game. LeBron has shown signs of these skills and he will only get better. Scary.

What separates LeBron? Try getting in his way when he drives the lane to jam. The world has never seen a basketball player with the skills LeBron holds to attack the basket. His ability to drive and score can only be described as a force of nature with his liftoff and “no regard for human life.“ One can describe his phsyical gifts comparable to the likes of the Blue Beast from X-Men.

The King’s outside game still not deadly by any means (77 3PT Rating). It is mildly effective at best. It has improved and I expect him to add it as a real threat throughout the next few years of his career.

LeBron plays passing lanes well so he can get out and smash on his opponents when defending the bucket. He is opportunistic to get blocks from behind. Is he a ball and chain lock down defender? Not really at all, no. Does he have the skills and smarts to be. Yes, it just takes effort. I believe he will add this to his game in the next year – possibly by playoff time. He has shown a much bigger commitment to defense this year than we have seen in the past.

Stats

LeBron is the King of the Association boasting a 31.60 Player Efficiency Rating. What are Player Efficiency Ratings? It is exactly what it says – it’s a measurement of a player’s efficiency through a combination of statistics. Check out the full explanation here: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/column...ohn&id=2850240

To put this in perspective, Chris Paul is on pace to put up the best PER in history of any point guard at 30.13 this season – and LeBron is still ahead of CP3.

Kobe’s PER is at 24.37. I attribute some of this to his torn ligament in his pinky, and his dislocated ring finger. Both are on his shooting hand. This naturally has brought his shooting percentages down.

Also, the 42.4 club was created by Bill Simmons to measure playoff performances. It combines playoffs points, rebounds and assists. MJ hit the mark of 42.4 eight times. Jordan's 48.5 in 1989 are the highest marks ever. Kobe has reached this mark three times in his playoff career, and LeBron two.

My ChoiceSo who goes the hardest?

Kobe has been fortunate to play with Shaq which undoubtedly lead to the rings in his possession. For this reason, I cannot use this as leverage to defend Kobe’s greatness over LeBron’s. So for the sake of this article, I throw the three rings aside.

After winning and MVP award that I believe should’ve gone to KG of the Celtics last year, Kobe and LeBron will fight to the end of the season for the award. What Kobe is doing this year is pure will-power to play 82 games with a messed up shooting hand. Not to discount LeBron’s play this year either. He has been out of this world with an injured supporting cast. The second half the season should be thoroughly entertaining.

When it comes down to it, Kobe’s competitive nature mirrors Jordan’s as much as anyone who has played the game since His Airness left. (You young ones keep in mind Jordan was arguably the most competitive athlete the world has ever witnessed.)

The Jordan Rules by Sam Smith can attest to that statement; not only did Jordan punch his teamate Will Purdue in the face in practice because of a pick Purdue set on him, he also was quoted many times stating that he didn’t trust the mentality and even the overall skills of his teammates.

Sound familiar? Yeah, I thought so. Kobe drove Shaq out of L.A. If you dispute that, read The Last Season by Phil Jackson. Kobe chews out teammates, butts head with ownership and threatens them until they make moves (Jordan would also try these same tactics in the 1991 season). It’s a part of his makeup; it’s in his D.N.A. He cannot accept losing and it is also part of what makes him great.

Just like Jordan before him, Kobe is an assassin and this is what sets him apart from LeBron at this point in their respective careers. The similarities of Kobe and Jordan, from their game to their personality, are so powerful that I can only think we have yet to see the best from Kobe. His drive and heart dropped 81 on the Raptors. His grit and composure took on the Spaniards head-to-head on the world's biggest stage - and Bryant delivered us the Gold. Then Tuesday night; 61 in Madison Square Garden Monday night to send a message to the Association that L.A. is still coming for the number one spot. The man's just got it.
These classic Kobe moments ascertain him as the number one baller in the world.
Blog: SBartlett
Friday, February 6, 2009
The Show 09 Demo Impressions 
10:30 AM - February 6, 2009. Written by jmik58
Knowing that this is just a demo build I will try to keep the comments concentrated on the most notable aspects that I would consider "need to know" for anyone who has or hasn't played The Show before.

I played three games of the demo last night at around 2 A.M. so I'm trying my hardest to recall and as I remember things throughout the day I'll come back and add to the list.

I played one game on Legend with Philly and lost 9-0. I played other games as well with Philly on All-Star mode (most realistic sim experience for me) and won both. One of them on an Utley 3-run walkoff.

  • Record Your Replays -- The first tip that popped up in-game was showing how to save video of any replay in the replay vault (every play is saved throughout the game for viewing at any time during the game). This may not be big to most but for us at Dynastymanager.com it opens up a lot of possibilities for our pages. The impression I got was that this would be extracted using a flash drive, unlike any upload feature to an SCEA server.
  • Legend Mode -- In my opinion, it should be called "Arcade Mode." The CPU results are all-or-nothing in this mode offensively. Either they hit a HR or a wall scraping double, or they strike out. Offensively you might get a couple solid hits throughout the game, but this mode is all about the challenge. Do NOT be the guy who tries to play an entire season on Legend Mode. It's all about pride and bragging rights, but it does not produce realistic baseball results if you are going for the sim feel. A fun side feature, yes. Really that big of a deal, no way.
  • Lighting -- No words to explain it. You have to see it. Lighting and shadows are what makes things come to life. Close-ups (try pitching from the "pitcher" camera without asking for the batter's autograph) look like the real thing. This is what next-gen graphics were meant to be in sports gaming.
  • Fielder routes -- My #1 gripe from last year. Fixed. Again, you have to see it to appreciate it. Even the human outfielders take adjusted routes to the ball by going into fielding animations that keep it real.
  • Timing at the plate -- If you played The Show before, this is really going to twist you in knots. In the past you practically had to swing as the ball left the pitcher's hand. The swing timing is much more realistic now as it is almost an instantaneous button-to-swing reaction. Yes for realism. Oh crap for those of us who have to un-train ourselves.
  • Swing feedback -- A subtle feature for those of us who use the plate coverage indicator (Yellow Oval) when we bat. After each swing you can push L3 and a small window will pop up. The window displays the strike zone, shows where your P.C.I. was located for the swing, and shows a red dot where the ball went through the zone. Oh we're not done yet. It then goes on to tell you if you were very early, early, good, in the wheelhouse, late, very late, reaching, jammed, etc. This is crucial to adjust your skills at the plate.
  • Field/Crowd improvements -- The crowd does move around more and they REALLY set the atmosphere when clutch moments arise. The field wears down and dust clouds kick up. Chalk lines deteriorate. You can see footprints!
  • Fielder Urgency -- I didn't see a throw to second for the final out of the inning, but the 2nd basemen was johnny on the spot in case I wanted to. The fielders had the appropriate body language and throw strength for each and every individual play.
  • Pitching Meter -- It is smaller at the top and widens back out towards the stopping point. I didn't see any difficulty in using the meter so no sweat there.
  • CPU Stole a base -- Awesome!
  • Slider Detail -- They literally have a paragraph to describe what each slider does. Very nice!



Again, there are things I'm leaving out, but part of that is so that you all can ask questions as well.

I'll check the thread periodically if anyone has any questions or anything they want me to check out on the demo.
Blog: jmik58
Friday Other Stuff (2-6-09) Stuck
07:00 AM - February 6, 2009. Written by Steve_OS
If any of these links interest you, talk about them.QOTD: What are you up to this weekend?

Happy Birthday to the following OS'ers!

Michael402, shean (38), Whaaaazuuuuup (36), rocket21 (33), Young Nahj Syn (27), stewaat32 (24), Jaysworld26 (22), ATR BOMBER (21), Michael 2 (19)
Blog: Steve_OS
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Back Online with More Power Stuck
08:41 AM - February 5, 2009. Written by bronco92
We successfully completed an upgrade of our database server early this morning. We now have more RAM and twice the CPU power. We hope that this will put us in a good position to avoid any major slow downs during the busy MLB release period that is quickly approaching. Enjoy The Show demo today.
Blog: bronco92
Thursday Other Stuff (2-5-09) Stuck
06:46 AM - February 5, 2009. Written by Steve_OS
If any of these links interest you, talk about them.QOTD: Do you play more co-op games, against another person or just go at it solo?

Happy Birthday to the following OS'ers!

Moostache (38), phillyfan2578 (31), MassNole (30), callmetaternuts (29), uwlawyer (28), ChuckStank (25), Cryolemon (23), Greg521988 (21)
Blog: Steve_OS
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Upgrade Time: Downtime Announcement Stuck
08:56 PM - February 4, 2009. Written by bronco92
We are upgrading our database server early tomorrow morning.

We will be offline for approximately 30 minutes sometime between 3am and 5am ET.
Blog: bronco92
Wednesday Other Stuff (2-4-09) Stuck
07:10 AM - February 4, 2009. Written by Steve_OS
If any of these links interest you, talk about them.QOTD: Which games are currently in your rotation?

Happy Birthday to the following OS'ers!

bieniemy25, thekid491972 (37), toychri (34), dley, SmUrFiNaToR (24), Rahzel (20)
Blog: Steve_OS
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Tuesday Other Stuff (2-3-09) Stuck
06:58 AM - February 3, 2009. Written by Steve_OS
If any of these links interest you, talk about them.QOTD: If you could have 1 rule change in any sport, what would it be?

Happy Birthday to the following OS'ers!

goobamccoy55 (37), KingofHearts444 (28), Mystery Ridah (28), MessenjahMatt (24), Nolesfan2740 (20)
Blog: Steve_OS
Monday, February 2, 2009
Monday Other Stuff (2-2-09) Stuck
06:27 AM - February 2, 2009. Written by Steve_OS
If any of these links interest you, talk about them.QOTD: How would you rate the Super Bowl game?

Happy Birthday to the following OS'ers!

hooder18 (38), Battlestar (36), tedknick (34), BrewBomber (33), Bakes (30), NCoffey (25), sccdct34 (25), Donovan (24), aps22 (22)
Blog: Steve_OS