Footy, American style

So, yeah. While Jay is proceeding to watch his hard-earned virtual loot wash down the virtual table with Fable 2's Pub Games (nice purchase, son), I've been taking a chill pill for the past few days with some virus or other. Never mind, though - it's given me the chance to sit down with this year's Madden 09 in advance of doing my review next week.

See, I love American Football. Not quite sure where the seeds were sewn (I think my brother might be to blame), but ever since 1993 or so I've been following the fortunes of the Cleveland Browns, save the couple of seasons where they temporarily ceased to be. Yes, I'm a Browns fan. Stop laughing.



Anyhow, to Madden 09. This year's edition (PS3 flavour for me) is remarkably smooth, looks great and is packed full of the kinds of depth and stats that any NFL diehard could have wished for, even if they've got Brett Favre in the wrong colour jersey on the front (you can download a new Jets cover from EA Sport's Madden 09 website if you're that bothered).

In general, first impressions are positive. The Madden IQ feature adds weight to my thoughts that these games are the best way for anyone to be introduced to the sport, although I am yet to fully experience EA's claims that it fully adapts the difficulty level to suit your skills. It's shaping up to be excellent fun, and I am soon going to test the Superstar Mode to see if I once again get drafted by the ruddy Buffalo Bills. Fingers crossed I don't - seasons 07 and 08 were pretty grim for me down at the Ralph Wilson Stadium.

In any case, I'll let you know how it pans out. With Jay being perplexed as to why a football game allows players to pick up the ball and run with it and generally being rather confused about the whole NFL scene it's definitely going to be me flying solo on this one, but I think I'll live.

EDIT: Got drafted by the Seahawks. Hmm.

Fable Gambling

Dunno what that weird vid of Tekken was all about, but in other news I've been getting hooked on the Fable 2 Pub Game Gambling-like Live Arcade download. While I confess, like most gambling, it's extremely addictive, I also get the impression that some corners where cut on the balancing. Either that or they decided that they would teach us all a lesson - that when you gamble, you'll eventually loose. It would be nice to think that wouldn't be within a couple of hands, but there you go. If you're interested in playing Fable 2 then I recommend pre-ordering for a download otherwise you'll be spending your points on this little mini-game for not much else other than...well, spending your points!

Let's mess around!

It's party time here at UltraNinjas HQ, with Jay being away on holiday and me being in a jolly mood. It's about time the big man had a break given his rather tortuous workload, so hopefully he's out there getting drunk and living life to the full rather than, say, spending his time fitting blinds, installing a new cooker or getting his car serviced.

So, what does a ninja monkey do to pass his time? He watches classic game footage on Youtube, that's what. Here's a particularly jolly piece of nostalgia for you lot so you can join in the fun:



I totally rocked Tekken 3 as Hwaorang. Good times. Whilst I am here, have a listen to the new tune from Biffy Clyro. I'm not such a big fan of theirs, but Mountains is actually a pretty top song in my own opinion.



Over and out.

Braid

So, I've spent this morning playing through a few worlds of Jonathan Blow's Braid (Xbox Live Arcade, 1,200 Microsoft Points). On the face of it the thing looks like any other 2D platformer, but there's a twist within; you can move time back and forth to change object locations, move to other areas quicker or get rid of pesky enemies. It's brilliantly done, as this video shows.

Geo 2 Rocks it!

Following up on Matt was saying about Geometry Wars 2, it really is worth the few quid to buy this game. It's so unbelievably addictive and for the 6 stages it has to play offers some serious re-playability. Give it a shot :)

Error in I.E.

Sorry to all of you who may have been experiencing problems with the website displaying the blog if viewed in certain browsers - it seemed that something had been overwritten somewhere...doh!

(Thanks goes to Gaz for spotting that one!)