The first time a game franchise was taken away/cancelled was after College Hoops 2K8 was cancelled. NCAA Football 15 was recently cancelled after the O’Bannon case against the use of collegiate player likeness in games without proper compensation, etc. Now that the bad news has been released it is time for the gaming community to rise to the occasion – like they always do.
Just because NCAA Football 15 is cancelled doesn’t mean that there can’t be some sort of editing to make it possible – albeit on ‘older’ software. By editing the roster files in the game and even possibly using hex-editing skills to really make it feel like a new game.
Fear not NCAA Football fans. All is not lost as long as you take an active role in the community and work to keep your favorite game alive.
Now that we are about six weeks into the NFL Regular Season there are many surprises in the league as far as performance and records go. There are already many teams vying for the #1 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft while others are suddenly looking like they think they can make a surprise playoff run. Here is a list of some teams you might want to consider using in Connected Franchise Mode with some ideas of how to build them to success.
Obviously Bad Teams
The Jaguars are among the worst teams in the NFL and we knew this before the season started. Given the fact that their Quarterback situation is almost laughable. When running this team it might be wise to create a new owner as well (unless you want to be the Wario look-a-like Shahid ‘Shao’ Khan. Also, taking it upon yourself to look into trading Maurice Jones-Drew for a potential draft pick might be something to consider if throwing away the season is on your possibility list. Another action to consider for a fun storyline would be signing Tim Tebow and trying to save the franchise in Jacksonville. Otherwise, moving the team to Los Angeles might be the absolute best idea… even if EA doesn’t do much to make it worthwhile to move a team other than strictly in being in a new city.
Tampa Bay is in desperate need for an overhaul in how their team is run. If that means you go through a season with Greg Schiano leading the way with his faux-military take no prisoners style or possibly just creating yourself as an intelligent player’s coach – the choice is yours. With the departure of Josh Freeman there is a possible storyline to go with in using rookie QB, Mike Glennon and having him lead the Bucs to success. Otherwise, you might want to start looking into the potential for getting someone in the draft or free agency. You will have a decent base of skill players to use with Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams at WR on top of having the ‘muscle hamster’ Doug Martin at HB. Tampa Bay isn’t a terrible team, but they could use some serious help and changes – starting at the top.
Surprisingly Bad Teams
This team has been a perennial contender for the last decade and they are starting to show their age… not to mention some serious holes in personnel. When they lost their starting Center in Pouncey it looked bad. Now that the season has started and they have no real answer at HB, WR, OL, LB or DB it is looking like they might need more work than anyone ever thought. Maybe it is because they play in what used to be a two-team division and they are simply falling behind the other teams. Either way it goes, the Steelers are a team that could potentially use a huge front office change and maybe a new face for the franchise if Big Ben proves to be declining as much as he seems to be. Do yourself a favor and revamp the O-Line before you do anything. Try to sign a true #1 WR and hope that the defense can pick it up. The potential for a fun rebuild is there in using the Steelers – and suddenly it isn’t so surprising.
The Giants are in trouble. This is a team that just a few years ago won two Super Bowls. Now they are looking similar to the Steelers in almost every way. The Giants have started to look like an aging team and Eli Manning is starting to look like the player he was early in his career throwing INTs like they are going out of style. This compounded by the fact that they are a team without a true HB threat. Bringing back Brandon Jacobs was surprising after he had been released by the team rather recently. Their defense was once one of the most feared in the league and now it has more holes than a block of swiss cheese. Taking over ownership of this team could be a lot of fun if you want to get rid of Manning and start fresh. Although, that could be a long road ahead.
Surprisingly Decent Teams
Cleveland is a team that looked like they were destined to go 0-16 after two weeks and suddenly they are tied for first place in the AFC North. While they are a team on the rise, they are also a team without a true answer at QB or HB. While Josh Gordon seems to be a legitimate threat to be a Top-10 WR in the league and Jordan Cameron is one of the better TEs this season the Browns need some serious help in offensive skill positions. On defense, the Browns are among the best in the NFL and this is largely due to the aggressive approach they have taken under Defensive Coordinator, Ray Horton. You might want to look into getting some help for Joe Haden on the other side of the field at #2 CB. Otherwise, this is a team that simply needs a couple pieces before they become a true contender.
Kansas City is starting to look like a serious contender with new coach, Andy Reid. If you were to take this team to a 5-0 record in your first season in Madden it suddenly isn’t too far-fetched. However, this doesn’t mean that they are a perfect team that doesn’t need any help. They have some good pieces to play with in Jamaal Charles, Dwayne Bowe and even Alex Smith at QB. This goes with a defense that is rather dangerous and can hold their own against virtually any team in the league. It could be fun to take over the Chiefs and make some moves to make this a team to compete with the Broncos for the AFC West.
In the next couple months we will finally be able to purchase one or both of the latest consoles from Sony and Microsoft.
The question on every jaded gamers’ mind is – “Which one will have the Red Ring of Death (RROD)/Yellow Light of Death (YLOD) first?
The sad state of affairs in console gaming became an on-going joke when the initial PS3 and XBox 360 models began to over-heat and fail in large numbers within months of release. The 360 took the majority of the flack as the RROD left almost every owner of the original ‘white’ XBox in fear that their console would greet them with the E-72/74 error. I was one of the many that had to send their console into M$ and wait impatiently for my gaming to return almost 2 months later.
The PS3 wasn’t left out of this tragic hilarity either. Many of the original PS3’s (not as high of a % as the 360) started to overheat around the cell processer/gpu chip-set and required either a long trip to Sony for a fix or some sort of repair by melting the solder on your own with a heat gun… or even your kitchen oven (<— I know, right?). The moral to this story should be more of a warning than anything to people that want to get the new consoles on release day. You are going to be beta testers and you will get a front row seat to the engineering failures of the PS4 and XBox One.
Which Has a Better Design For Ventilation?
This is really anyone’s guess, but we can try to take a look at the consoles in their case design as well as their specs and start placing our bets.
Considering both consoles are very similar in their power specs there shouldn’t be a lot of differential in heat produced. However, the PS4 is already ahead of the game by using DDR5 RAM instead of the XBONE’s slower DDR3.
Sony seems to be learning from the mistakes they made in the design of the original PS3. While the PS4 is still relatively large in size, it isn’t enormous with a strange curvature and tiny vents like the ‘Fat’ original PS3.
The PS4 seems to be trying for a well vented rear section rather than from the top side.
Microsoft seems to think that the answer is to simply keep the console enormous and implement enormous ventilation areas.
The XBox One has allocated half of the top of the console as well as the side and a slot on the back of the machine for ventilation.
Which One Will Fail First?
Based strictly off of pictures of the case designs the XBox One has an advantage in ventilation area but the sheer size of the console drives me to worry about the internal design and engineering of the console. The one thing that changed between models of the 360 and PS3 was that they got smaller (as most technologies do) as time went on.
The PS4 seems to be trying to go in a similar direction to the PS3 original with rear vents (albeit, bigger vents). However, this might seem to be a case where less is more when compared to the XBox One.
THE VERDICT
The XBox One will pose a greater risk for dying first and it is primarily because of the location of the vents on top of the console. While there is more ‘ventilation’ on the console itself, it is opening the worst possible part up for dust to settle by default. Consider the amount of dust that gathers in a console just through the back slots (even in a clean house). Now think about how much dust will find a way into the top of your console over the course of time.
The size of this console and the placement of a giant fan under the top vent is begging to become a dust collector.
I have been fielding questions from friends, family and NoobTubeTV visitors lately and now I will just put this out there for everyone to read.
The next-gen consoles really aren’t that different from each other. With some minor differences in RAM speed and other internal tuning the consoles are relatively similar machines on the inside. The real difference will come in the $100 difference in price on release day with the PS4 being the cheaper of the two.
Here is a side-by-side comparison of the system specifications.
After going down this list of specs you won’t see much different in the primary specs. Also, for those that say that PlayStation Online Network is free and XBox isn’t… that argument is over as PS3 will now have a fee to play multiplayer games. However, that doesn’t mean you will have to find a new receiver for Netflix as it should (still) work just fine with the free online account.
Also, there are conflicting reports out there and let it be stated here that neither system is ‘backwards compatible’ with titles from older consoles. However, the PS4 will be able to stream games from the old system if that is any consolation (no pun intended). So, keep that PS3/360 if you plan on wanting to play Grand Theft Auto 5 for the foreseeable future.
What other questions do you have about the coming release of the new consoles? Put them in the comments section below.
With the release of GTA:V only two weeks away there are millions of gamers chomping at the bit for a chance to devote their spare time to murdering innocent people in the street, taking cops on crazy chases, organizing heists and playing the occasional mission in the story mode.
Grand Theft Auto V is almost here.
If you consider the fact that Rockstar has stated that this game will be bigger than virtually every GTA game put together there is room to worry about the potentiality for major bugs in the code. While this is obviously something that will be an issue at some point (as it has been with almost every game during this generation) one can’t help but wonder if this game might be so large in scope that it succeeds much like Skyrim has for a few years – even with the bugs.
The marketed depth of GTA:V prior to release is something that has driven me to wonder if this is setting up many people to wait out the release of new consoles as they play one of the most beloved series in gaming over the last 10 years. The question is, will it be enough to keep you from feeling like you have to get the PS4 or XBox One when they release?
The demo is now available for Madden fans to download and play to their heart’s content. At 2GB in size it is a nice size for a demo with 5 minute quarters and the ability to change the difficulty level (as well as change the accelerated clock back to normal speed so you can enjoy the demo for a bit longer each time you play.
You will have the choice between using the Ravens or the 49ers in a Super Bowl rematch in Baltimore. The other match-up has the Packers and Seahawks playing on the not-so-frozen Tundra of Green Bay.
The demo is solid and plays like you expect Madden to play. There have been some obvious tweaks and changes to the momentum of players as they don’t go into sprinting as fast as they once did in past iterations. Also noticeable is the fact that player collisions seem refined this year. If you are using a bruising runningback like Frank Gore and you flick the R-Stick forward at the right moment you can expect to blow up smaller players on defense.
On the other hand, if you are on defense and want to lay out an opposing player with the ball and you have someone like Patrick Willis – it will be a fun “oooooh!” moment as the heavy hitting defender knocks the snot out of the ball carrier. While this seems like something to cast away as ‘something that should have already been in the game’ it is a nice addition none the less.
Shouldn’t This Stuff Already Be In The Game?
Yes, you are right. We have been waiting for basically this entire generation of consoles to have a Madden title that plays and feels like this. It still feels like a crisp handling Madden game where the players move at the slightest command of the analog sticks. While many Madden fans tend to worship the control scheme and feel of this game it is still a bit arcade-like and feels at times like it is still focused on being an offensive shoot-out rather than a good football game. Granted – this is what the NFL wants in their new approach to the game (flag football much?).
This also brings to light the new ‘run free’ feature that gives players a more dynamic running ability based on their style and ratings. As mentioned above, players like Gore will run people over and then there will be players like LaMichael James that can juke others out of their jocks. It is a nice addition but it isn’t really something ‘new’ as much as something that is just being featured in this title.
Dear Phil Simms – STFU
I can’tstand this guy during his broadcasts in real-life and in Madden he is ten times worse. If you got sick of hearing him bad mouth the wrong player or make some sort of lame comment about WRs not being able to be touched – it gets old by the second quarter. Turn off the commentary and turn up the crowd noise… although even that isn’t as good as it should be. The sound quality is garbage and I’d recommend getting some decent music to play in the background rather than hear anymore of what we have been getting for the last 25 years.
Connected Franchise Mode
This is once again something that EA is trying to push as something new that was really removed before coming into this generation of consoles. Owner Mode (what it really is) was in Madden 2005 and is finally back almost ten years later. The only thing with this is that I am left wondering what in the hell I care about my team making more money for if there is a salary cap. In a baseball game this is vital as your team needs more money for better players. In this game you will most likely be able to spend your money on something you will never see in-game like cup holders at every seat or heated toilet seats.
The new feature seems to be directed on towards bringing more fans to your games depending on the prices you set for things in the concession stand along with ticket prices, etc. News to EA… NFL games are expensive forms of entertainment. You have to be crazy not to expect a cup of crappy beer to cost $8-9 per cup (no joke). So, before you get all excited about some ‘new feature’ like this it would be wise to look at it with a critical eye and ask – “What does this mode/feature really add to the game?”
As we get closer to the release of Madden 25 there will be a lot more hype built up on the internet focusing on how amazing this game looks and how many new features there are in place. Don’t fall in the trap… read up on Madden 25, play the demo and above all else don’t buy this game new without knowing the details first. We will keep you posted.
I have been fortunate to know or be acquainted with artists, writers and even some people that work in video game production. One thing that has never ceased to amaze me is their creativity. There is always something new in their head. Some sort of cool new project that is simply amazing because it is fresh and straight out of their creative mind. The current mainstream gaming atmosphere doesn’t allow for this sort of creativity anymore.
With games like Call of Duty and Madden being released every year it doesn’t say much for what corporate monsters think of gaming. They don’t see it as art – they see a bottom line that must be met in sales or the studio will be closed. As you start looking at the upcoming consoles do yourself a favor and ask why the games are getting stale. While Madden can’t exactly change or implement something wild or crazy graphically or otherwise – it is still lacking creativity.
Another example of a great game that became over-produced quickly – Assassin’s Creed. Really? Is the character truly a different person? Sure, the voice is different and the face may be structured with some new scars, etc… but this is the same damn game every time it comes out. Attack, Counter, Attack, Kill, Run, Repeat.
There are many artists and developers out there that want to be creative in gaming and they are being held back because gamers don’t want new games or concepts. They want a fresh veneer painted on the same crap they have been playing for 10 years. People generally fear change and it is up to artists, musicians and writers to flip their world upside down.
I look forward to the day when I can look at video games and see them as new, fresh and risky art… right now all I see is what most people seem to want:
2/3 of a gun
Crosshairs
Poorly animated blood
The list could go on, but really if it needs to you are missing the point.
The Tuesday that many gamers had been waiting for has come and Microsoft announced the latest iteration in XBox consoles. It isn’t much of a surprise to hear that they are planning a release ‘later this year’. While this most likely means a retail release for the holiday season, it would be interesting to see them try to beat the Playstation 4 to the punch with a release prior to that time period.
XBox One
Some of the other details include a BluRay Disc Drive, 500GB harddrive and an 8-core CPU to go with 8GB of RAM. The system will also have wireless-N tech for networking. USB 3.0 ports will help for a faster connection for Kinect and other peripherals – it will be interesting to see how far they really want to take Kinect at this point.
In terms of backwards compatibility – none. This isn’t really a surprise as the 360 and PS3 had virtually zero backwards compatibility after a couple years.
Used games? The rumors were swirling and they will continue to swirl because Microsoft didn’t address this issue at all. It does seem that you will have to install every game to your harddrive which would make for an interesting issue when dealing with enormous games on BluRay discs. Will you have to uninstall old games and then start switching between them after awhile? The move away from being ‘used game friendly’ isn’t going unnoticed, but many gamers out there won’t do much to prevent this move as they continue to buy big budget titles like Call of Duty and Madden without thinking twice.
Hopefully, the limitations of second-hand games will create a more picky audience of gamers.
(No price points have been discussed, but look for it to be similarly priced to the PS4)
Remember, remember the fifth of November
It’s COD season is it not?
I can think of no reason why COD season should ever be forgot.
You can start pre-ordering Call of Duty: Ghosts soon
Are you excited by the news of a new name for the Call of Duty series or are you convinced that it is merely a first person shooter version of Madden NFL?
NoobTubeTV 