~Official Xbox 360 thread~

[Captain_Stealth]

For every bad example, I can give a good example so I won't even get into that. Last years Madden was considered a large step in the right direction as well, after a couple years worth of failures.

The thing with Nintendo is they'll keep rehashing everything until someones finds a problem with something. Mario for example, SMS was not well liked so Nintendo had to take a second look and you got Galaxy. But Zelda, they have not changed the interface since Ocarina of Time. Thats almost 11 years of the exact same thing. It's going to get stale at some point and it did for me at Twilight Princess. Look at Pokemon, they add 150 or so new ones every game but gameplay wise not a lot changes (atleast not until they got to D/P when people had complained about R/S)

I understand theres a fear of screwing something up but theres also a franchise growing incredibly stale. Twilight was an updated Ocarina, nothing more (and thats exactly what the fanboys had been screaming for after they bawled over Wind Waker.) My hope is now that they've satisifed the fans Spaceworld 2000 desires, they take the franchise in another direction. The handheld games are still fantastic because they keep doing new things.

And I'm not saying anything new about Nintendo either, this has been everyones #1 complaint for years now. Well, other then the absolutely shitty 3rd party support (and it's almost gotten worse with the Wii, if thats possible)

Agreed.

Keeping things the same only works for so long until they do get stale. Personally I've always loved gaming but I've never been such a hardcore gamer until about 6 years ago I think. The games I've known quite well, while I still love to play them, are basically the same and not much has changed in terms of the control interface and gameplay style. Obviously changing it brings a lot of risks but every choice can be risky. At least add a few new features as every game comes in to shake things up so it can add to the gaming experience. I'm sure if I'd played OOT, I wouldn't be in love with Twilight Princess as much as I am right now. I know some others that I have grown bored of so I know what Mike's getting at.

That's Nintendo's style. Seeing a game take a different approach(especially a well known title) is when I get most excited in getting a new game so I'm basically agreeing that change is good. It's as simple as that and Mike's already given good reasons so I won't even bother saying much more even though I really didn't add much and just rambled.

I just realized that I have finally reached 5,000 posts. Half way there.

Edited May 7, 2008 by Captain_Stealth

[jetsniper]

Oh my god, the best thing happened in GTA IV today. I was down in the SE by Brucie's shop since it's basically the only place I can find hookers. So I pick one up and take her around back in the alley where she does her thing and gets out. So to get my money back, I get out and shoot her in the head. Then I decide to just hide in that alley until the cops stop looking for me. What I don't realize is the freeway is going by overhead so since someone is dead, an ambulance is automatically called. Instead of driving to the scene normally, it launches itself over the barrier and lands on me while I'm just standing there hiding and I end up dead anyway.

Pretty much the same thing as this:

I could not stop laughing.

[Captain_Stealth]

Oh my god, the best thing happened in GTA IV today. I was down in the SE by Brucie's shop since it's basically the only place I can find hookers. So I pick one up and take her around back in the alley where she does her thing and gets out. So to get my money back, I get out and shoot her in the head. Then I decide to just hide in that alley until the cops stop looking for me. What I don't realize is the freeway is going by overhead so since someone is dead, an ambulance is automatically called. Instead of driving to the scene normally, it launches itself over the barrier and lands on me while I'm just standing there hiding and I end up dead anyway.

Pretty much the same thing as this:

I could not stop laughing.

THAT IS GOLD!

The Halo clip was awesome too. That's what I'd figured had happened.

[Captain_Stealth]

I checked again today and all they had was the collective edition which was $89.99 so I said screw that. The wait continues......

[jetsniper]

I checked again today and all they had was the collective edition which was $89.99 so I said screw that. The wait continues......

Man, I could really use that duffel bag.

[Captain_Stealth]

Man, I could really use that duffel bag.

Nyce.

I was at the point where I was REALLY considering just paying up because I want it so badly. The I decided to be smart about it. Meh.... I hope I'll get it sooner rather than later.

[Captain_Stealth]

The most ######ed thing just happened. In my NHL 08 dynasty with the Blues, Brad Boyes was being a jerk and all the guys I didn't send offers to somehow cpu signed with my team. Boyes took a million less than what he rejected. This makes no sense whatsoever.

Edited May 8, 2008 by Captain_Stealth

[jetsniper]

The most ######ed thing just happened. In my NHL 08 dynasty with the Blues, Brad Boyes was being a jerk and all the guys I didn't send offers to somehow cpu signed with my team. Boyes took a million less than what he rejected. This makes no sense whatsoever.

Uh, thats a regular feature in the game. The cpu will sign guys you don't every single time. It's impossible to release guys in NHL 08. And I mean that literally.

[Captain_Stealth]

Uh, thats a regular feature in the game. The cpu will sign guys you don't every single time. It's impossible to release guys in NHL 08. And I mean that literally.

Are you serious? Like how the ###### can I rebuild or sign anyone. I officially have lost all hope for EA's dynasty mode. Like the only free agents were Nagy, Bernier and Pandolfo. Now I have to keep the guys I wanted gone. Might as well package them up for goodies.

I think it's time for another run through of Pokemon.

[jetsniper]

Yeah, it's bullshit. The game cockslaps you for reaching the roster limit but theres not a damn thing you can do about it, especially when theres a huge UFA out there you want to sign. And most teams won't accept 2 for 1's because they've reached the roster limit as well.

[Captain_Stealth]

Yeah, it's bullshit. The game cockslaps you for reaching the roster limit but theres not a damn thing you can do about it, especially when theres a huge UFA out there you want to sign. And most teams won't accept 2 for 1's because they've reached the roster limit as well.

That's the most annoying part!!!!!! Sometimes I'd be trading a roster player for another roster player, 1 for 1 and it said it couldn't happen because the roster limit was 23 players. IT'S A ONE FOR ONE SWAP! When I wanted to trade for a young goalie, I wasn't allowed because the one I traded needed to be scratched. I couldn't do that because I had no room to call up a goalie to satisfy the need of the stupid lines in having the goalie scratched. It's the most ######ed thing ever. I've never really been a fan of EA's dynasty mode and this puts it all to rest. At least the dynasty mode in the 2k series is realistic despite the gameplay being piss poor.

Gives me a headache.

I should add that I haven't played 2k8 so I shouldn't comment but I liked 2k7's dynasty a lot.

Edited May 8, 2008 by Captain_Stealth

[Fanpuck33]

Yeah, NHL from EA has always lacked behind Madden in terms of dynasty mode. It's been getting better, but it's definitely not there yet. It doesn't seem like it'd be that hard to copy the Madden options over to NHL.

[Captain_Stealth]

Yeah, NHL from EA has always lacked behind Madden in terms of dynasty mode. It's been getting better, but it's definitely not there yet. It doesn't seem like it'd be that hard to copy the Madden options over to NHL.

IMO, EA's dynasty seems to be getting worse.

[Fanpuck33]

I suppose I'm not the greatest judge, I've never gone too far into a dynasty in an NHL games. Farthest I ever made it was into the third season. It's never been good enough for me to just sim dynasties, like I do in Madden.

[Captain_Stealth]

I suppose I'm not the greatest judge, I've never gone too far into a dynasty in an NHL games. Farthest I ever made it was into the third season. It's never been good enough for me to just sim dynasties, like I do in Madden.

Well no doubt. Madden's franchise modes are state of the art. EA's NHL dynasty is just pure crap and it's mind boggling that they even thought it was ok. It really gets you to wonder what the people at EA are smoking.

[jetsniper]

Well to be honest, MVP's dynasty was even better then Madden and the NHL dynasty saw some good strides this year as well. EA only supervises this stuff though, the actual developers vary amongst the sports games. Tiburon only works on EA's football games so it's not as easy as just getting a company to copy the same format.

[Fanpuck33]

Well to be honest, MVP's dynasty was even better then Madden and the NHL dynasty saw some good strides this year as well. EA only supervises this stuff though, the actual developers vary amongst the sports games. Tiburon only works on EA's football games so it's not as easy as just getting a company to copy the same format.

Yeah, but how hard is it for EA Canada and HB Studios to look at Madden, see that it's awesome, and implement similar features?

[jetsniper]

It depends on a lot of things, obviously the player models are vastly superior to any other sports game so the room to go that in-depth might not be there. Also, unlike the Madden series, the core gameplay has been broken in NHL for years so they've been trying to focus on that. It's hard to worry about the frills when no one finds the core game any fun at all. It's like putting icing on a cake that tastes like crap. Sure it looks a little nicer but when you get down to it, it still tastes like crap.

They've found a formula that works in NHL 08, now watch them focus on some of the extra stuff in 09. It's all about prioritizing and when the actual gameplay stinks, Dynasty mode doesn't amount to anything.

[House11]

It depends on a lot of things, obviously the player models are vastly superior to any other sports game so the room to go that in-depth might not be there. Also, unlike the Madden series, the core gameplay has been broken in NHL for years so they've been trying to focus on that. It's hard to worry about the frills when no one finds the core game any fun at all. It's like putting icing on a cake that tastes like crap. Sure it looks a little nicer but when you get down to it, it still tastes like crap.

They've found a formula that works in NHL 08, now watch them focus on some of the extra stuff in 09. It's all about prioritizing and when the actual gameplay stinks, Dynasty mode doesn't amount to anything.

If room on the disk is a problem then they should do away with the European Leagues, it's and NHL game so make it one and if you want international teams make another game and call it something else. I'd rather have a good in depth NHL game than the ability to play with Euro teams and International teams.

[jetsniper]

Except the Euro teams help add to the realism of Dynasty mode. Get rid of the teams maybe but keep them there in the UFA pool. International teams aren't need since they did away with World Cup mode.

If you guys just want to complain about NHL now, go here: http://www.leaguegaming.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88919. The list is being sent to EA.

[House11]

Why keep all those UFA's ... the list is so freaking long !

[Fanpuck33]

They shouldn't have totally dismissed all the changes they made on NHL 2004, the control scheme and passing on it was amazing. I was very disappointed when they moved away from that. NHL 07 and 08 returned to that a little bit, but the passing still isn't as good. If they'd have stuck with it back then, they'd have mastered it by now and could have focused on the dynasty options. Then again, I'm the total opposite of popular opinion when it comes to games, so I'm guessing most people hated NHL 2004, since they are the same people who loved the 2001 and 2002 editions, which I think were God awful.

I agree with Cali about the Euro teams and players, they are superfluous and ridiculous. I mean, some of the goalies available are ridiculous. In my Jackets dynasty, the Habs signed some nobody European goalie and dumped Huet. They also signed some nobody to replace Koivu. That's ridiculous.

[jetsniper]

They shouldn't have totally dismissed all the changes they made on NHL 2004, the control scheme and passing on it was amazing. I was very disappointed when they moved away from that. NHL 07 and 08 returned to that a little bit, but the passing still isn't as good. If they'd have stuck with it back then, they'd have mastered it by now and could have focused on the dynasty options. Then again, I'm the total opposite of popular opinion when it comes to games, so I'm guessing most people hated NHL 2004, since they are the same people who loved the 2001 and 2002 editions, which I think were God awful.

I agree with Cali about the Euro teams and players, they are superfluous and ridiculous. I mean, some of the goalies available are ridiculous. In my Jackets dynasty, the Habs signed some nobody European goalie and dumped Huet. They also signed some nobody to replace Koivu. That's ridiculous.

2002-2006 are basically considered the lowest of the low with 2004-2005 being among the worst. Personally, I found 2003 to be the worst.

I don't know how you're using the passing but I find it spot-on. I can get it around the boards, through guys legs, basically anywhere I want. It makes cycling the puck have a sense of purpose and makes playing on the powerplay a little more realistic. (atleast with the way Colorado plays)

[Captain_Stealth]

2002-2006 are basically considered the lowest of the low with 2004-2005 being among the worst. Personally, I found 2003 to be the worst.

I don't know how you're using the passing but I find it spot-on. I can get it around the boards, through guys legs, basically anywhere I want. It makes cycling the puck have a sense of purpose and makes playing on the powerplay a little more realistic. (atleast with the way Colorado plays)

Agreed.

Now I've never disagreed with the gameplay really. It's just the way the dynasty is run. UFA, the draft and even trades and such. While they're improving I will admit, they've done stuff that just makes the game less enjoyable. Talking about the dynasty guys, not the gameplay because that is pretty solid(besides where a simple deflection can send the puck out of play like a rocket).

[jetsniper]

Agreed.

Now I've never disagreed with the gameplay really. It's just the way the dynasty is run. UFA, the draft and even trades and such. While they're improving I will admit, they've done stuff that just makes the game less enjoyable. Talking about the dynasty guys, not the gameplay because that is pretty solid(besides where a simple deflection can send the puck out of play like a rocket).

I just wanted them to fix that thing in 07 where a wrist shot would hit the goalies glove, roll down his back and into the net. It happened all the time and was annoying as hell. The only thing I wish they'd get rid of now is the automatic goal spots that all the cheaters online exploit. Wrist shots from a certain point along the blueline can't be stopped and neither can passes along the crease from the corner. Other then that though, theres nothing that can be complained about gameplay wise and thats all I care about since I spend 95% of my time playing the game anyway.

Don't we have an NHL game thread for this crap? Lets get this thread back on track....

I blew up my car in an intersection today (talking GTA IV here) in Algonquin (downtown New York) so there was crazy traffic. Anytime a car got close to the fire, it would catch on fire and blow up as well. 5 minutes later, you wouldn't believe the carnage. There was a good 20 cars all on fire with every pedestrian in sight running around, on fire, screaming their heads off.