My Vikings Rant

OK so as most if not all Vikings fans are aware the Dome contract/lease is up in just a couple months, they've been playing this sad little game of footsy between the team and state political asshats for far too long. Now today the fucking republican shitheads walk out and say there's no need to work out a deal at this time as they first don't believe that Ziggy and Co. will move the team, and second that the team has put up it's best offer for the proposed cost of the stadium.

Well being here in northern Mn. I know the times are hard, and I like many struggle from payday to payday. However I also like many around the entire state (as well as all over I know) look forward to every Sunday when the Vikes are going to be on as a time of respite, and enjoyment that win or lose we love seeing them play. Right now as bad as the season has gone I love watching the young kid get out there, sling the ball and then there's the studs like A.P. and Capt. Rodeo both of whom are heading towards possible POY or at the least position awards by the end of the season.... shit if he manages to stay on pace (PLEASE GOD I HOPE SO) Jared could surpass the gap-toothed cheap ass record setter Michael Strahan for Sacks in a season. How fucking awesome would that be to have that record set in a season of turmoil and despair? It would be exactly what all of us hardcore purple fans already know. That our team doesn't lay down, that the players who are here are proud and want to give everything they have for the fans [b]HERE[/b] in Minnesota as well as a the Purple Pride that runs all over the country.

But I sadly don't know how this will get resolved as things are right now, and with the political atmosphere in this state so messed up by horrible leadership in the recent past we are sitting at a cross roads that sadly could have us looking at the team being moved not out of desire, but out of need for the team to be able to compete in an NFL market that continues to grow and without a new stadium to help the team bring in money the players and future of the franchise would also suffer. If the idiots in the capital building think that keeping the team here is about just having them sign on for the Dome again they are mistaken, and we will lose the one team that in my humble opinion means more to the state than any other. Yes the twins have won titles, but it's in a sport that continues to lose fans/viewers every year, the Wolves.. yeah if a team wants to move let it be them please, the Wild.. they are the Wild.. they give us just enough to enjoy watching hockey, and beyond that the Vikings continue to be the largest money maker in the shortest season. Something has to give for this to be settled, and I just hope that it's not Ziggy and the team heading to the smog filled skies of L.A. because I will stop cheering for every single Mn. based team no matter the place they fall in the standings because it would be sacrilegious in my opinion to cheer teams that the state has shown support for by helping bring new stadiums into play for them (yes all of this includes the Gophers).

Is there anyone else that finds themselves puking in their mouth a little bit seeing this image?

Or this one?

This is where the NFL also needs to step in to make the state leadership see the reality of not getting a stadium, and the impact it will have on the state, local economy, and jobs that will be lost.

Now compare that to the long term investment that the new stadium would bring the state by offering more jobs (just to build it not just running it and the surrounding business' that are planned), the offerings and chance to bring in massive amounts of money via tourism for events that we have hosted and could again like the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, and large stadium concerts etc...

he one point that does hit me and bother me some is the local people fighting the proposed tax of like .o5 percent or some such shit on the people in Ramsey County where the Arden Hills proposal would fall into. REALLY?!?!? you fuckers are worried about less than 1% tax being applied to things your six figure incomes buy you? GFY!! I make shit.. less than 30K a year for my entire life the most in a year was actually just over 28k. I would be one of the first people to happily vote in a 1% tax if it meant that the stadium would be built in Mn to keep my beloved team in Minnesota. Good lord I'd be happy for a 1% increase if it was going to be built in my "back yard" for Christ sake and I wouldn't have to drive 3 1/2 hours to see a game, and deal with the insane downtown traffic. I can't see the issue for those people that keep fighting this.

But I digress, and thanks for taking the time to read my rant, and letting me "Ponder" the future of this team when we look at what might be very soon a huge void for many of us.

Snootch

Dungeon Defenders

The best LIVE arcade title nobody will be playing.

First the reason I say nobody will b playing this is because of the massive influx of “AAA” titles such as Battlefield 3, Modern Warefare 3, Skyrim, Batman Arkham City, and others all coming down the pipeline during the same time. This game is not little, and it’s not what you’d expect from a LIVE ARCADE title in the least. By saying it’s not little is an understatement when you consider the hours I’ve already invested into this game, and I’ve only played through just under half of the 13 available levels that come with the download. There is rumor of DLC at some point for this title, but I can’t see myself needing that for a good long while because there is just so much for a game that only cost 1200 MS points it’s the best investment I’ve made in games for some time. I could go a number of directions with this review, but I think it’s best to separate the game into sections based on how you’re playing it.

Now first off this game was on I was not fully interested in when I first heard about it, and I even skipped over the free version(s) that are available on the Android and Amazon marketplace for Android based phones and tablets. I would have never given this game a second look had I not been talked into playing “Trenched” with a few friends early this summer when there was very little available to burn my gaming dollar and time. I found a great deal of fun and depth in that game, but it pales in comparison to the depth that is involved in Dungeon Defenders. You begin by creating a character that is based on one of four classes that are “Squire, Apprentice, Monk, and  Huntress”. A quick look at the character images tells you what you need to know about each class, but don’t let the generalization of the classes fool you. There is depth where there normally is none with these classes.

Squire – This is the tried and true knight class that is built to swing big (and little) swords and other weapons in a CQC style. His towers are some of the most well rounded as he works with some strong barriers that are great for slowing down the hordes as well as other towers such as the harpoon that not only do massive damage, but they will pierce everything in that straight line that is in it’s way. So if you have a line of 10 meat targets of ogres, archers, and other baddies coming at you these harpoons when they fire will not only hit the front enemy, but it will continue on through everything in it’s path until its momentum dies or it hits a wall. Flat out this character is a fun character, and he has been one of the more fun characters for me to play when going solo and in co-op.

Apprentice – Having the look of “Orko” from He-Man you will be correct if you see the wizard that sits back and casts spells, but you will also be wrong when you imagine that this character has week melee combat. His is the best balanced character across the board based on his ability to use towers for blocking, attacking, and with the right weapon in hand he’s good in a fight. Good.. not great, but good enough to do some damage as you let his towers to the main heavy lifting. His Magic Missile tower isn’t anything special, but it’s cheap, uses few units, and overall with a couple upgrades will do some big damage, and you ad to that the fact that the enemies will not be able to be resistant to those attacks like they are at times against Fireball Towers and Lightning Towers it’s worth investing some mana in those when using the Apprentice.

Huntress – She is the vision of the overdone elf class that will stay back away from the fray to pelt the enemies with rapid fire from her bows and other projectile weapons that also include some of the craziest looking versions of gattling guns I’ve ever seen. At first play she is awkward, and in solo you are hard pressed to really get far because she has little in the way of slowing the enemies. Where the other classes have walls, big towers and items that plain and simple “get in the way” she doesn’t have those. Instead she has a focus on traps that are basically like a diverse collection of land mines that can do a number of things from exploding to choke the enemies with toxic gas to the Inferno Trap that when triggered explodes to light an area f the ground on fire and it will continue to do damage on all enemies within the area for a period of time. So while not the perfect attacker nor defender here AoE (Area of Effect) attacks don’t just do damage, but they are like a gift that keeps on giving.. death. However there is one GLARING issue when playing the Huntress that you need to be aware of, and that’s the need to reload her weapon when you run out of ammo. So basically you are playing an archer that is using a clip that needs to be replaced. If your weapon has a number of 22 rounds at a time you can shoot that thing ill it’s dry and then it will re-load on it’s own or you can choose to re-load on your own as you near the end of your ammo. The more ammo you have remaining the faster the re-load, but that only makes sense because there’s less to replace.

• Monk –Now this character class is the one I’ve spent some time with, but can honestly say I never got a real feel for it yet. The list of what the character can do is decent with ranged attacks being one of two attacks available to the player with the other being his weapon. His skills on the tower end are focused on “auras” that can harm, heal, and limit the abilities of the enemy. The aura’s that are employed by the monk will have effects like draining the energy from them, slowing them down, lightning effect, and an enrage that is really fun when placed in the right intersections where multiple enemies will gather as they are aiming to get to the crystal you are defending. Once they enter the enrage aura there is a percentage chance that they will turn on the other enemies, and attack them instead of you. The one strength of these auras is that they can be overlapped, and can also overlap the areas or other towers being used to make for some very effective defenses.

SINGLE PLAYER

You can play this straight up, and solo through the game, but getting through some of the levels that I’ve been on by yourself with just one character isn’t going to happen, and more to the point if you ramp up the difficulty beyond medium when you are solo(ing) this game it will be a challenge. What I have done up to this point when running solo has been to farm for xp and mana to build up my characters to ready them for the tests that lie ahead. So with multiple runs through the first level “Deeper Wall” I have learned a pretty effective defense that has allowed me to bring the difficulty up to hard when running this level solo with at least the Squire and Apprentice. However this does not mean that you shouldn’t use the other characters in any form of play that you wish because one area that stands out with this game is the ability during “build phases” to swap in and out between different characters that you have created. So for example when I begin a run on deeper wall with my level 3 monk that I’m trying to build up I have little to no ability to use his auras at this time, and so I’ll swap in my Squire pick up some mana around the level, put up a few barriers in the spots I know will be work, and then after these are placed I go swap back to my monk so that I can continue playing the level with him. You can do this as much as you want after/before any level, but just not during an attack phase.

Another fun way to play this game is something that you might like if you are looking for a more true to tower defense styles, and that’s the “Strategy” mode. In this mode you perform your set-ups just like you do in any other mode, but when you hit the crystal to start the battle s where it gets different. You g from being an active member of the battle to an observer.. or in my case a mana vacuum. The one aspect that is very fun about that mode is after setting up your defense and starting the battle you still have the ability to create or repair more defenses. So as they are attacking and getting beat on by your fire tower feel free to upgrade that same tower to make it even more devastating.

Co-op Mode

Now this is what this game is built around and made for without a question. The fun factor goes up a great deal the more friends you have in a room and with being able to run 4 players it’s a great deal of fun as you try to work together to make it through each level finding the best tools in each arsenal to attack/defend each wave of enemies. In the co-op mode you are also not limited to having just one character from each class, but in fact you can mix and match them as you feel fit to what you feel is best to help you get through each level. So what that means is that if you want to have a four player room of all squires hacking and slashing the enemies as you build defenses you are free to do just that. The key to making it through some levels is teamwork, and there’s no denying that at some point it’s not just about working together, but having one person who tends to take the lead doesn’t hurt so that everyone isn’t just running around planting towers to help their score because if that happens you are doomed to get over-run fast and also running out of units that you can use to build things can make for a mess when you realize you left a lane open that the enemies are not flowing through like water in a drainpipe. Trial and error will also be a good friend as you push the difficulty up to the hard and insane levels. The difficulty not only comes in the form of enemies that get stronger and have more hit points, but also by just plain throwing an entire goon squad at you until you are sick of seeing the green, stinky, ugly things anymore. I haven’t gotten as deep into this as a couple other friends of mine, but that’s fine by me because they are the guru’s of these sort of games while I’m just a learner who is having a blast looting and trying to find that WMD that will let my character whoop some ass without reservations.

The overall play experience of Dungeon Defenders has made me try and test out a few other tower defense games on the mobile side, but it’s not the same, and speaking of the mobile side just beware that going out to grab the mobile version from either the android market or the Amazon marketplace will see you sitting with two different versions that will fight for being the “highlander” on your phone because there can be only one. It’s a little tough to get the controls down at first on such a small screen, but after a little bit it’s not too bad. For the price it’s a heck of good deal. The only unknown right now for me is the IOS and if it’s free, how it plays etc… but my guess is that it’s not free as even a dead Mr. Jobs wants your money.

http://dungeondefenders.com/

http://dungeondefenders.wikia.com/wiki/Dungeon_Defenders_Wiki



Gamestop & Customer Satisfaction

I know.. the title could have been misleading, and in some cases you might have thought I was joking around. Big business rarely gives a pinch for the little guy, and unless you are at their door screaming for something to be done it rarely happens. however I actually can state that in my case it is the full truth.
Last Tuesday I had stopped in at the Gamestop closest to me with the intent to move my pre-order off of BF3 and Saints the Third over to MW3 Hardened Edition.
Everything was going fine, the guy took the other pre-orders down, moved the credit to MW3, and as I thought I was about done he stops me before having me sign to inform me that the cost had gone up $10 from $99.99 to $109.99. So while not a huge increase it was shocking and a bit weird to me since I had heard nothing of the sort from anyone or anyplace prior to this. His excuse was that it was because they had gone through all of their pre-order copies they were expecting to get, and this was to cover the cost of getting more. It didn't seem right, but this guy was the manager, and also a person I had dealt with in this store a dozen times over the summer. He was always helpful, and never pushy with buying extras or stuff that normally happens in retail settings.
So I gave the OK for the extra $10 since it still would be saving me money in the long run with the DLC etc.. that would be part of having this version of the game.

Later that afternoon as I'm at home checking my email I get an email from Gamestop with the weekly ad, and right on the main page of it is the ad for pre-ordering MW3 for $99.99 for the hardened edition. being a bit surprised, and starting to re-think what happened at the store I hit the main Gamestop site, same price as the advertisement I received in email form. So I decided to call the Gamestop customer service to get to the bottom of things. I talked to very pleasant lady that checked with her manager as well as all recent updates on MW3 and there was nothing stating a price change at any locations. She asked my information, and the information of who helped me etc.. at the store. She then informed me that she would escalate the issue to the regional manager of the store I had gone to, and that he would be contacting me in the next couple of days.
I figured that was a bunch of company B.S. but figured I'd see if he did. In the meantime later that evening a senior sales associate (not management) called to ask what happened, and when he heard the situation offered me a $10 gift card for my trouble and to at least make up for that difference in price. I refused the card, thanked him for going out of his way to do something management should have, and explained I'd wait to deal with the regional manager.
Well Come Friday afternoon as I'm sitting playing a game my phone rings, a number our of the Twin Cities and I'm thinking bill collector from a clinic or something when I had hurt my back. Nope it was the regional manager calling to find out the story from me. I explained it all, told him who it was that had tried pulling this on me, and also asked that his senior sales associate be rewarded or recognized for going above his position to help a customer when a manger should have.
The regional manager apologized numerous times, said he had no idea why this would have been done, and then he also offered me a gift card for my troubles. Now I accepted his offer since he was doing his job the best he could.
Overall I did get some satisfaction from seeing things get taken care of, and made me actually miss working in a retail setting (management that is) since it's been almost 10 years since I was working in management.
I also found out that Gamestop has plans to open a location in my town (finally) and got information that might help me get  in early for a position if the store opens. In the back of my mind I’m thinking if the money is close to what I do now I'm all over shooting this job and going for management in the store.
Two final points are that first I have no idea if it's a $10, $50, %2 gift card, but the difference of $10 while important wasn't the point for me. I wanted a person held accountable for doing wrong by a customer.
Second I have no idea what my current pre-order amount is on my MW3 copy since I just realized my receipt is with my sister and the copy of a game she bought under my power rewards card that day. :D LOL

Dead Island: Sandbox Game for Zombie Lovers Pt. 1

Dead Island is The Fantasy Island for zombie lovers minus Tattoo yelling "The Plane", and it’s built on blood, brain matter, and insanely good times. When I was thinking about purchasing this game I was very skeptical to say the least. I have not been a big fan of other zombie based games or modes in other games in the past. So that would mean I was not a fan of the Left for Dead series (never even played the second one), the zombie mode that Call of Duty: Black Ops used to vault the game into the stratosphere was just annoying in the few attempts I gave it. So when a friend mentioned he was picking Dead Island up I was very hesitant to say the least, but after talking to him more I decided that since most of the games I wanted to purchase in the future were still a couple months away I could give this a run if for no other reason than for some random hack n slash fun with the co-op mode.

This review is being done in more than one part because I have only managed to get to the second chapter with one character so far. This isn’t because of playing time, or desire, but more because of what can best describe as the “GTA” factor. This meaning that there is just a ton of side quests and fun to be found while not following the main quests.



The game is pretty from vistas like this.



For the first couple hours on the game solo I found myself doing everything but completing quests, and this meant testing what the game would allow me to do. I first learned that if you end up on the side of mountain looking down at the beach you should not attempt to “walk” down to the beach due to the fact that you will just increase the speed you are descending until you flatten yourself on the sand below. I also found one of my favorite ways to kill the zombies (when playing solo at least) is to walk or run around an area like the pied piper until I have a handful of the screeching and groaning pin cushions behind me. At this point I’ll head into the ocean or a pool where I will just enjoy a game of kicking the zombie, making them fall into the water, and watching them gurgle and continue raching for you until they float up dead in the water. Yes this is completely mindless and pointless to my overall completion of the game. However this is just the sort of activities and random user made fun that has brought me so much enjoyment in other sandbox games like Saints Row, GTA, Red Dead, and Crackdown to name some good ones.

Now I’ll talk a little about the weapons, skill trees, and the RPG style system that gives this game more depth than some of the aforementioned sandbox games. First there is are the weapons, and these at first I was thinking were going to be based solely on the class or player style you started with. The four classes being a knife wielder, gun specialist, brawler, and a jack of all trades to chose from. The weapons range from pieces of wood, sticks, and pipes you pull from the side of buildings to hammers, batons, and oars from boats. It does  come down to the basic choice of something sharp to cut them to pieces or a blunt weapon that you are going to pummel them into a pile of hamburger with. The weapons all have a life bar that is based on a durability rating that you need to always be aware of or you can find yourself starting to swing a hammer and find only your fist swinging into the air, and this can happen at the worst of times. Being surrounded by a few zombies and not knowing that your weapon is going to break three swings into the combat is a bad place to find yourself. This I however not a situation you run into often since you have weapon slots that you can have set up and ready for your use by using a quick menu to swap between them or just hitting “RB” will cycle the weapons you have pre-set.



Brawler's Fury in action



The player skill tree is another area that makes the depth of this game that much more interesting for me. Having a RPG element to the game gives the player a goal outside of just doing the quests. Within the three different trees you can build your player to fit your style. So if you want to build up your attack power first you can, but you could also choose to build your weapon skills to help your weapons more effective as well as last longer so they need fewer repairs. There is also a tree for all four players that is focused on your "fury" and how you will work with it. You want to be able to use the fury that is built up because it is first of all super cool and fun, but also very effective when you find yourself faced with multiple zombies or just one big dude you want to take down fast. These are also based on the class you chose. Here’s the basic rundown of the rage for each player.

1. Brawler: When you engage his fury you still need to get in close since you are only swinging fists, but it does major damage from the fist level you get. Hitting most regular zombies will take them out in one solid punch, but it still takes multiple hits to kill the bigger baddies in the game.
2. Gun Specialist: Her skill has you pulling out a pistol and unloading on the zombies in the area around you. It’s pretty cool to see and also does a great deal of damage.
3. Knife Specialist: Her fury when activated has her also needing to get in close like the brawler, but for her she pulls a stiletto out, and her super fast jabs/stabs are lightning quick to do major damage in a short amount of time.
4. Jack of all trades: His skill is one that is also very fun, but takes a bit of skill to be super effective. He pulls out a supply of throwing knives that he then starts throwing into the zombies at an amazing speed. So from distance he’s great, but it takes being either accurate or a bit closer to fully take advantage of this early on when it only lasts for a few seconds.

At this point it’s a tie for what one is my favorite between the brawler and the jack of all trades. This is a bit biased also since my highest level character is my brawler, and I also haven’t played the gun toting lady at this stage yet.




Infected attack fast and you will hear them coming.

 

So now we move on to the stars of the game, and that is the crew of zombies you will face or at least those that I have faced up to this point in the game.

To start the main and abundant zombies in the early going are those called “walkers” and these are the sloth like zombies that make up the majority of “non-living” life forms on the island. One on one they are not a match for any player even with just some well placed fists or a kick to get them down, and then continue to pummel them into paste. In groups however they can take a toll on you, and will actually surround you so it’s not as if the A.I. isn’t smart enough to try to pin you into corners to help beat you down. They use basic attacks of grasping and/or weapons to attack you.

Next is the “Infected” and these guys you will hear before you see and you should be thankful of this. If you hear the wails from an infected be weapon ready and get yourself into an area with space for movement to help you keep enough space to swing and move. These enemies will come from out of bushes, and over fences if they smell your living flesh, and will attack by grabbing, biting, and swinging at you. I have yet to see one wielding a weapon.

The last form of zombie I’ve run into up to this point are the biggest and most brutal so far, but they are also the slowest and don’t do much for chasing you. The “Thugs” are most often in areas where you “need to be” such as the goal for a quest or in the path where you don’t have a choice but o get past them. Now you can run past them in some situations, but then what fun is that? The XP gains from killing them are worth the possible beatings… or temporary death that you may end up with. The attack with brute strength by swinging their arms and if they connect you are flung a good distance away and it will take a moment to recover if you aren’t down for the count. If you manage to cripple their arms they will still attack by trying to head-but or bite you. It’s rather funny when you get both arms broken, and they sway limp at the sides of a thug as he wails and tries to damage you.  



Thugs are as mean as they are ugly.

The only things that I have to say on the negative side so far are minimal and easily overlooked because of the fun this game has to offer, and also because this game isn’t doing a heck of a lot as far as size and scope of the game. First issue is the handling of the truck in this game. I understand this had to be one of the last things they really worried about in the game play, but when you put two different achievements into the game based on driving you should have the ability to not turn a corner without having to come to an almost complete stop. The other issue is just the clipping and minor glitching that you and/or the zombies will do from time to time. This so far happens most often when you are in or near the different buildings. So again these are minor things I have run into, but have no issue overlooking because of the fun factor of the game.

So overall I recommend this game as a rental at the very least for anyone who likes good co-op fun, loot collecting, RPG player growth, and seeing a head get chopped off a zombie with a machete.

I will continue this with a second review after completing the main quests as soon as that has been done.



Review by: Mike "Sir Snootch" Tomperi

A couple helpful sites for those gamers looking for some info or help.

http://www.deadislandgame.com/

http://deadislandwiki.com/wiki/Dead_Island_Zombies

9/11 We Shall Never Forget

The time is 8:45 AM EST and all is right with the world, mothers and fathers are at work as their children are sitting in school on the east coast. The time is 7:45 AM CST and all is right with the world, parents are leaving for work as the children begin arriving at school for just another boring day of classes. The time is 5:45 AM PST and all is right with the world, families are just beginning to rise to a new day, they are having breakfast and planning their days.

The time is now 8:46 AM EST… The time is now 7:46 AM CST… The time is now 5:46 AM PST….  Things in our world will never be the same regardless of where in the United States of America we live. The change of one minute would begin a tragic series of events that would see both of the World Trade Center towers hit by hijacked planes, another hijacked plane dives into the Pentagon, and one last plane is being aimed at the capitol building in Washington D.C. by another team of terrorists, but this plan ends up crashing into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania  after the brave men on flight 93 realized what was happening not just on their flight but all around the country. The brave men and women on flight 93 chose to make the ultimate sacrifice by attacking the cabin of their hijacked plane and the result of that being the hijackers chose to down the plane and kill everyone on board rather than lose control of the plane.

I don't know of anyone who wasn't touched in some way, shape, or form ten years ago when our country was attacked on 9/11. This tragic event brought our country together in a way that I can't remember it being in my life before. For a short time there were no more arguments about what party "Republican or Democrat" was better. During the days after we came together to show that we as a people would not sit back and let an act of terror push our country into turmoil, but instead we would band together in support of our country. We would see the will of the American people as we mourned we also moved forward to both hunt down those responsible for the actions that killed innocent civilians, and those men and women of the various rescue factions such as the police, fire department, paramedic, and also those soldiers who also lost their lives that day at the pentagon.

We would watch minute after minute, hour after hour, and day after day of television coverage where they were replaying the planes hammering into the north tower of the World Trade Center, a plane hitting the Pentagon, and the scenes being shown of the wreckage of United Airlines flight 93 in a crater that looked more like a bomb impact than a plane.

The outpouring of compassion and support for the people who lost their lives was incredible to see, but for me personally I could only think about how helpless I felt living in Minneapolis, Mn. Where I’m hundreds of miles away from any place that I could offer my arms to dig through rubble, my shoulders to carry supplies in to those men and women who continued digging, cutting, and searching for survivors at first, but then just to find the bodies of the fallen people in the mountains of twisted metal and cement that once were the Twin Towers. I found the only way I could help was to give money and assistance to the local Red Cross, and so that is what I did. I like so many others in our country being wealthy or not chose to help in the only way we could from our area of the country. We gave, we volunteered our time, and overall we poured as much of ourselves out to assist those who were at ground zero 24 hours a day relentless in their search for those who become victims of this horrible attack.

The date is now 09/11/2011 and we are ten years removed from the events that changed so very many of us forever. Yes the country went back to normal eventually, and over the years following the attacks on our country many things returned to how they were back before the attacks. However I know that I can still see the impact that those events had on many of the people In our proud country when I see a men and women that have joined one branch or another of our armed forces because they feel it’s their duty to continue helping fight for our country or protect what they love. There are men and women that I know personally that had no direction in life prior to 9/11/01 but since then they have become police officers, firefighters, and paramedics. The events of that day changed how they viewed their lives, and those of every man, woman, and child in this country even if we don’t see it now it’s all around us. When I drive around my small town in northern Minnesota I see more flags that aren’t just flown high on the Fourth of July, but they are a part of the household for the entire year.

You can go on any social network at any given time during the year and see individuals who you know or are “friends” with on the internet and see at least one person you know that has a profile picture that pertains to our armed forces, civil servants, or just a flag, eagle, and any number of other images that refer to our country and supporting the fact that we are Americans. 

So regardless if you don’t agree with why our soldiers are over in the middle east remember that they are doing their jobs, and that given the order they would happily return to their family and loved ones back here in the united States. When you see a police officer in your local town in a little gas station grabbing a cup of coffee take a minute to shake their hand and thank them for everything they do to protect us every day, but don’t just do this today. Because it’s not just today that they are working to “Protect and Serve” our communities it is a daily job that they love to do, and from talking to the friends I have in the H.P.D. here in town they can’t see themselves doing anything else. If you get a chance to attend one of the open houses that your local fire department has I recommend that you stop in, and again say thank you and shake the hand of even a couple of these brave men and women. These individuals take hours or even days away from their lives to perform their jobs, and it is often very thankless. We need to always remind ourselves of what would happen to us if these heroes were not there to help when we needed it.

This day is a day that we will all remember and hopefully never forget. Our children and grandchildren are safer now than they have been in the past in my opinion, and the tragedy of 9/11 is where it may have started, but it was the heart, determination, and will to move on, push forward, and become a stronger nation as a people that has brought us to this point. It has nothing to do with politics or who the president has been. It has been and should always be that the strength of our country lies in all of the people.

Part of the new memorial at ground zero. It sits in the footprint of one of the Twin Towers.

God Bless the men and women of the Army, Navy, Marines, National Guard, Air Guard, and Coast Guard

God Bless the men and women who serve us as Police Officers, Fire Fighters, Paramedics, and other First Responders.

And finally….God Bless America

Madden 12 Day 1

Being the only real resident Madden Geek I have decided that I will be putting a post together each day (time permitting of course) detailing things from the game as I go through playing franchise, be a pro, online (head to head), online franchise, and MUT (Madden Ultimate Challenge) that for those who haven’t played a Madden title in a while it is a combo of card collecting and a on-going season where you start with a “deck” of players that is not even a complete team of  NFL players, but you earn coins that can be used to buy packs of varying value to upgrade your team as you go along. For anyone who has tried the FB Madden game it’s that game mixed with actually playing a game with the players that you have on your team. I’ll add more to the MUT mode after I’ve put some time into it.

First off I decided to use some of the MS points I had sitting in my account since at the current time there’s nothing in the arcade or coming in the near future that I wanted. I decided that with my plans to get NHL12 at some point, and already having Madden 12 paid for I’d drop the 2000MS points for the new EA Sports season pass. While some look at it as a waste of MS point, and they might be right I thought that it was going to first allow me to start playing Madden as of Sat. evening instead of Tue. on the date of release. Plus it’ll give me a three day playing head start on NHL 12 if I plan to get it on release, but if I don’t get it on release it’ll still give me 3 days of play with the game to see if it’s everything it is cracked up to be. This pre-view isn’t just a demo like you’d get from the marketplace, but instead it’s an actual full digital copy of the game so I looked at the use of the MS points like renting a game for 3 days. Considering that I have Madden for 3 days, NHL12, and Fifa12 (other titles to be added also like PGA etc..) all three days before release I figure at $2-$3 a day for most rentals it would come out to be roughly $16 of rentals just at the $2 price for the three title I intend to give a run with the free days.

Now back to Madden 12 itself, and I decided that since all of the major improvements outside of the visual presentation were put into the franchise mode that I’d go there and start playing there. Of course before actually starting the franchise I jumped online, faked that I was going to play a game, and got the newest roster update. That in itself is still a piece that sticks in my gut as a “needs o be fixed” option. For guys like me who play both online and offline it doesn’t matter much, but having to go into the Madden online game (not just the lobby) has been something that’s pissed me off for a few seasons when I only want a new roster update that I know is out.

So now on to the beginning of a dynasty with my favored team of course being the Mn. Vikings. With the new roster update they already had the fat lazy McKinnie gone to FA, McNabb sitting in his lovely purple #7, and A.P. ready to run the ball down the throats of every defense in his way.

The first thing I did was look around the new menu design, and while not easy to manage at first just because they are different in look and placement from the last couple seasons it wasn’t much different to control the menus after only a few minutes. Using the triggers moves you one group up or down from areas such as news, team management, coaching and other areas. Once I jumped into the team management area the first thing that caught my eye was one of the cool new features I was looking forward to using and seeing how it has been implemented, and that would be the new roster “cut down” that has been added for more depth and making the pre-season games worth playing. So now after each game in the pre-season before you can simulate the ret of the week you need to evaluate your roster, and decide who is going to be cut. In my first pre-season game I decided to use what can only be deemed as a “ground and pound” gamelan into effect. This had me using an offensive attack that was based on the legs of A.P. to start, followed by Toby Gerhart, and from there the combo of Booker and Young did some work also. The final score of the game was deceptive, but much like a pre-season game as the late game scores were the big points. Final – 27-10 Vikes over the Cowboys with all but my 1^st score being scored in the second half of the game. The first possession of the game had my Vikes plowing down the field on a 72 yard drive that was made up of 8 carries from A.P., 2 carries by Gerhart, and 2 pass completions from Mcnabb to Harvin and Shiancoe respectively. The scoring play was a 5 yard dive play with Peterson where he ended up carrying a LB the final yard as he wouldn’t be denied his first touchdown of the season. After that drive the AI actually pulled the starters as most coaches in the league do in the first pre-season game to be replaced by the 2^nd team offense with rookie Christian Ponder at the helm. Overall the rest of the game was a mix of rushing and passing about 50/50 with Ponder feeling actually like a rookie even with him being human controlled. He would make a stunning 20 yard lightning bolt to a WR only t be followed by a pass that would fall 3 yards short of the TE on a crossing route.

So with the way the players were playing I realized that  had already experienced another new feature of Madden 12, and that’s the “Dynamic Player Performance” where a player may play hot or cold not only from game to game, but it can change in game. So coming into the game I didn’t have any players on an up or down, but at the final gun it had me sitting on A.P. being on the HOT side, and as expected 2 of my 2^nd/3^rd string DB’s on the down after being chewed up on a couple deep balls.

Now after the game was over, and I returned to the main screen it was now time to choose who would be part of this first round of roster cuts. As I scrolled from position to position it was nice to see that they are making you want to play the pre-season games and the reason for this is that as you play, and players either perform poorly or step up it’ll show more of their stats. No the veterans don’t have to have their stats opened up, but for the rookies you draft or pick up via free agency after the draft this is where you can finally find out what they are all about. So the first week cuts were fairly simple as the team was sitting on 4 QB’s  so that meant former practice squaders QB Rhett Bomar and FB Ryan D’Imperio were gone along with Veteran DT Fred Evans and rookie FA WR Andre Homes to round out the four who were cut after this first pre-season game.

Pros –

1. Pre-Season - up to this point would first start with making the pre-season worth playing and no longer a 4 game sim that was just in the way in previous versions of the game.
2. Blocking / Tackling - Love.. Love… LOVE the fact that there is no longer the suction cup blocking or tackling that has plagued all Madden games since well… forever. It’s now great to not just hit the hole with a HB and make a run for 3-4 yards even. It’s just as cool to replay a play here or there and see the O-Line on passing plays or rushing plays blocking like a real line would. Seeing the right tackle sliding out to pick up a blitzing OLB only to have the DE he was blocking be picked up by the LG is great. Or a RG pulling out to the left on a counter, and picking up a MLB that is hitting the hole to allow the FB to get in front of the HB and lock up the OLB to turn the play into a nice 8 yard gain.
3. Player progression – The example I like best is the choice I made to put my rookie DT Christian Ballard in as the 2^nd  team DT spot over the veterans on the roster. With that he was able to play almost half the game, turned in a 4 tackle, 1 sack, 1 TFL game. He wasn’t on a hot streak, but his improvement did show on the stats when I was looking at who to cut he had an increase of his overall rating of almost 10 points. That’s huge on a defensive line I know I’ll be trying to find a second DT to start.

Cons –

1. Sound/Commentary – While this is a version of the game that very well might not be what I get from retail at this stage I can only ask EA WTF were you doing during this step of the game making process? It’s horrible with the same two guys in the booth as last season I’m yearning for the days of Pat and John so much more now. They cheated and seem to use at least half of the same comments from last season and it’s sad to hear Collinsworth (I hate his voice BTW) telling me that A.P. is an “up and coming back in the league”. Wha… What? Really? Up and coming back you say? Huh ok so I know that unless the retail version is different I’ll be listening to much more of my custom music off my Ipod than every before.
2. Super backers – AKA: Linebackers who can jump high enough to swat down a ball thrown for a guy 15 yards behind them. This has been one continued issue from the last few seasons I’d think they would fix by now, but I guess not, and so it just means I’ll be throwing to the flats, drag routes, and other non post patterns.
3. Punt returns – Well this is something that is tough to say is a “Con” because it is a real world difficulty for a lot of NFL teams. Even the best of the best aren’t getting big returns on a regular basis, but it needs to be made possible. It still feels like you might as well just wave your hand and accept the ball where you catch I because returning for more than a yard or two is very tough.

Overall I’m liking what I see so far, I’m looking forward to digging deeper in to the game, and the next few updates will continue the franchise mode with smaller details and they will lead up to how the new scouting worked during the season, and what the new FA model for the game is like as well as more presentation information etc…

Please post any questions you have about the game, information you'd like to know, and I'll do my best to respond to them.