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Tuesday, January 6, 2009
MLB 09 The Show Screenshots (Playstation.com)
08:15 PM - January 6, 2009. Posted by The Management.
Playstation.com has posted some more MLB 09 The Show screenshots.

Quote:
"Now includes interactive training, new settings, a new steal/ lead-off system, presentations and coach interactions. Interactive training will consist of a set of mini-games designed to improve a player’s ability and performance in various areas of baseball."
Game: MLB ’09: The ShowHype Score: 10/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS2 / PS3 / PSPVotes: 30 - View All
MLB Front Office Manager Official Box Art
05:14 PM - January 6, 2009. Posted by Steve_OS. Written by Steve Noah
For those of you that haven't seen it yet, 2K just sent us the official box art for MLB Front Office Manager.
Game: MLB Front Office ManagerHype Score: 8/10 - Vote Now
Platform: Xbox 360 / PS3 / PCVotes: 16 - View All
Inaugural San Diego Studios “MLB 09 The Show” Community Preview Event
05:04 PM - January 6, 2009. Posted by Steve_OS. Written by Steve Noah
We just received this PR from Sony Computer Entertainment America San Diego.

Quote:
"With the holidays over we would like to take this time and announce our first Community Preview Event for the “MLB The Show” franchise. The event will be held on the 29th and 30th of January. Our Community Day will allow regular consumers of the franchise and members of the community unprecedented access to the development team and the game before its release in March.

There will be six total attendees at the event. These individuals where chosen from the pool of selected Community Leaders months ago. The attendees are mlblover15, jim416, nemesis04, Knight165, Pared, and Pastapadre from the community sites Operation Sports and Pastapadre.com.

The event is a major part of our Community Initiative here at the San Diego Studios.

I’m sure you have many questions about the event and what this all means for you as a member of our community/consumer base. Feel free to ask these questions on the message boards and the Community Manager will be around to answer them."
Game: MLB ’09: The ShowHype Score: 10/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS2 / PS3 / PSPVotes: 30 - View All
OS Awards: Basketball Game of the Year
04:35 PM - January 6, 2009. Posted by MMChrisS. Written by Chris Sanner
Although 2008 will be remembered as the year that daily roster updates and five-on-five online play were brought to digital hardwood fans, NBA 2K9's quality gameplay should not be forgotten. While many gamers have attested how much better the NBA Live series has gotten, it is still very clear that Live has a ways to go before it can get near the top of the mountain -- at least that is what the majority thinks at OS.

Our staff voted for NBA 2K9 as the basketball game of the year, and for good reason. While NBA Live did do some things well, NBA 2K9 did just about everything better. For that reason, NBA 2K9 continues 2K Sports' reign atop the basketball gaming category in 2008.

Read More - OS Awards: Basketball Game of the Year
OS Awards: Best of the Rest Game of the Year
03:23 PM - January 6, 2009. Posted by MMChrisS. Written by Chris Sanner
The best of the rest category is kind of a catch-all for all of the minor sports that did not have enough games to warrant their own category -- or sports that just are not as mainstream as some others. With that being said, the winner of this category is no stranger to mainstream sports.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 is a very capable golf series that continues to improve each and every year. Ever since the disappearance of most of its competition -- sans Hot Shots Golf -- the Tiger series has been plodding ahead, churning out solid games each year. With Hank Haney at your side, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 introduced just enough new stuff to keep the game feeling fresh for one more year. That is why the game won this category in '08.

Read More - OS Awards: Best of the Rest Game of the Year
2K Offers $10 Off Coupons
01:39 PM - January 6, 2009. Posted by Steve_OS. Written by Steve Noah
2K is offering up $10 off coupons. The coupon is valid for quite a few games, including NBA 2K9 and NHL 2K9. The offer expires on January 31st.
MLB Network is Live!
03:16 AM - January 6, 2009. Written by JohnDoe8865
Major League Baseball finally caught up to the NFL, NHL, NBA, and even College Sports when MLB Network was launched on January 1, 2009 in approximately 50 million homes as the largest network debut in cable history.

MLB Network promises to air live games, original programming, highlights, classic games, and coverage of baseball events. The Network also has secured the rights to air Ken Burns's 'Baseball'. That is a huge plus to me.

MLB Network has a really strong cast of personalities such as Matt Vasgersian, Al Leiter, Joe Magrane, Harold Reynolds, and occasionally Bob Costas.

MLB Network plans to air 26 live games throughout the season. While that might not seem like much, remember that the NFL Network, the strongest of the dedicated sports networks, aired ZERO live games until the last couple years and upon launch in 2003 was mainly just a studio show.

Now I've been watching a lot of MLBN since it launched on January 1st, and I have to say that so far I'm impressed. The selection of shows seems to be adequate, especially for such a new network, and I must say it looks great in high-definition. The MLBN looks very professional and comes off as a good promotion for the game of baseball.

I've enjoyed the ''Cathedrals of the Game' series, the 'Hot Stove' studio show, and the re-airing of games so far. I'm looking forward to watching the Ken Burns's 'Baseball' as well. I missed it's original airing on PBS and haven't bought the DVD set yet.

So far I like what I see from MLBN. I have been thinking for a while now; that with the very eventful off season in baseball, and wealth of knowledgeable voices in baseball available, that having a dedicated channel was a natural fit.

I'm excited to see this trend because I'm a fan of the dedicated sports network with the ESPN family airing more original programs and entertainment and not as much sports and scores as you would get 10 years ago. I could write a whole other blog entry about that, but I won't - for now.

With NFLN, NBAN, NHLN, CBS College Sports (formerly CSTV), and now MLBN - fans of each of the above mentioned sports can now get 24/7 access to programming that is geared to that sport. It's a good thing and I think it is a boon for the hardcore sports fan.
Blog: My thoughts on all things OS, sports, and life.
Got Cheese?
01:16 AM - January 6, 2009. Written by Acedeck
After spending some time last night playing some NHL 09 online, I got thinking about the subject of cheesing in video games. Now I know that it's probably going to exist, as long as people have the ability to do it. Is it feasible to tie up every single loose end when it comes to cheeses inside sports video games? Probably not. After all, it's just computer AI at the end of the day. It's only as smart as the people who program it. This gave me an idea on how to handle cheesers in the online arena.

What if there were a mark next to every player who's been voted as a cheeser. This mark would show up on the leader boards (almost like *Barry Bonds). It would also display during the match creation screen, when picking teams. This way, if you didn't want to play a cheeser, you could simply back out before the game started. I think it'd punish cheesers enough that people may reconsider doing that backwards-breakaway goal in NHL 09, or the S-move in the old 2k hockey series. Who would seriously want to play a cheeser in a ranked match if they knew the other player's playing style going in? Most people prefer to play a straight up game, regardless of the sport.

Now, you may think that players would just begin giving bad "cheeser ratings" simply because they lost. Maybe this is true, maybe it's not. This is why I think the ratings should be weighted based on the person giving the review. If the person is ranked high, with very little cheeser marks on his/her name, their vote at the end of the game would hold a lot of weight. If you're low ranked, and you have a bunch of cheeser hits yourself, your vote counts for a lot less. I believe the weighted votes from higher ranked players who've shown that they don't cheese can recognize a cheeser as good as anyone. I also believe they want the game clean, so they wouldn't just give someone a cheeser mark because they lost the game. If I lose to someone in a legit manner, I'll be the first one to say how good of a game they played.

To get even more specific to NHL 09, and how to fix the problem, I'll lay down an even more detailed idea. The EASHL is known for tons of cheese. It has almost ruined the league. Division 1 in the EASHL holds the title of "cheeseheads" more than Green Bay, Wisconsin. What if, like above, there were marks next to every team that accrues more than "x" percent of players on their team marked as cheesers. So, at the end of each game, you're given a list of all the opponents that you played against. Again, you mark the ones who cheesed. You can also mark if they played a good game, to add weight to that opponents future votes towards other cheesers out there. If they played a good game, you say "non-cheeser." From that point forward, that player holds more weight with his vote. When starting up a new EASHL ranked game, it will show the mark next to their name at the match-ups screen before entering the game. Simply back out if you don't want to play a cheesing team.

I know it's not the perfect solution, but I think it'd help crack down on the cheese that ruins so many online games. Who wants to have a cheese asterisks next to their name or teams name? It'd be a permanent scar on the face of your online identity. If you got it, you earned it. It's that simple. You didn't just accidentally earn that cheese mark next to your name or team. Someone with a credible opinion voted you as one. I'm sorry if nobody wants to play with you anymore. Perhaps another cheeser would like to play with you, as that's about all you'd have left after you received that mark.

Enjoy your new mark, cheeser!
Blog: Acedeck
Monday, January 5, 2009
HD's Hot Links After Dark (1/5/09)
11:12 PM - January 5, 2009. Written by hdaniel1

Happy New Year! 2009 is here! Pretty soon we will be talking about 2010.

New Year's Eve over here was a lot of smoke hanging around, since we could pop fireworks. Of course, there was a lot of people doing illegal fireworks. Sounded like a war zone out here!

Having fun with the iPhone. Best purchase I made in a long time.
Blog: HD's Afterthoughts
Stoked Update (IGN)
10:57 PM - January 5, 2009. Posted by hdaniel1. Written by Daniel Hee
IGN has posted the following Stoked updates:
  • Stoked Updated Impressions

    Quote:
    "The coolest (no pun intended) elements that I found in a nearly complete build of Stoked were the design and presentation of the mountains themselves. There's Mt. Fuji, Diablerets in the Swiss Alps, Alaska, Mt. Shuksan in Washington, and Almirante Nieto in Chile. Each mountain needs to be loaded separately, but once you have it cached the rest of the load screens are quicker."
  • Stoked Screenshots
Game: StokedReader Score: Vote Now
Platform: Xbox 360Votes: 0 - View All
TrackMania DS Update (IGN)
10:57 PM - January 5, 2009. Posted by hdaniel1. Written by Daniel Hee
IGN has posted the following TrackMania DS updates:
  • TrackMania DS Hands-on

    Quote:
    "And while no online is a downer for a game as dedicated to online racing, leaderboards, created content, and ghost sharing as TrackMania has been since its initial freeware versions, TrackMania DS is still a great fit for Nintendo's handheld, and a blast to play locally. The entire basis of the series falls on fast, challenge-based races, and that goes hand-in-hand with DS's philosophy."
  • TrackMania DS Videos
Game: TrackMania DSHype Score: Vote Now
Platform: NDSVotes: 0 - View All
Looking For 5WG? Re-launched at 5WGaming
10:43 PM - January 5, 2009. Posted by Steve_OS. Written by Steve Noah
Our good friend, Shawn Drotar, has re-launched 5WG at his new URL, located at 5WGaming. For everyone that was wondering what was going on with his site, head on over for the details.

Quote:
"Here at 5WG, 2008 ended with a whimper, so we’re looking to start off 2009 with a bang.

In mid-December, through some shenanigans and skullduggery that I’ve little desire to get into, this site’s original domain was obtained by someone else, which took 5WG offline. Since I had no interest in rewarding such behavior, I made the decision to let the baby have his candy, so to speak, and move on… to here.

Thanks to the technical wizardry of co-founder Mark Fossen, we’re back up and running over here without the loss of a single article in our archives, with new and improved back-end software, a streamlined and more eye-catching look that will drive our content better while maintaining ease of use, and most importantly, a new address: 5WGaming.com."
OS Awards: Baseball Game of the Year
05:07 PM - January 5, 2009. Posted by MMChrisS. Written by Chris Sanner
Going with the so-obvious-it-has-to-be-MLB 08: The Show logic, the 2008 Operation Sports Baseball Game of the Year is indeed MLB 08: The Show. In fact, outside of a few stray votes for Out of the Park Baseball 9, MLB 08: The Show was the overwhelming choice among the staff here at Operation Sports.

MLB 08: The Show could be the best baseball game to come around since MVP Baseball 2005. For those a little rusty at math, that means MLB 08: The Show is the best baseball game in nearly four years. That is the type of game that could be a challenger for the Game of the Year Award that will be given out in the near future.

Read More - OS Awards: Baseball Game of the Year

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