Madden 360 Style
With the craze of Fantasy Football, Colts undefeated season, the 49ers sucking, but @ times looking promising, I was pretty stoked to get this version of Madden. I had played the same game for regular Xbox and I was pretty disappointed because Madden had just peaked in terms of gameplay.

Pros about the new one:
-Of the course the graphics. The stadiums look great, the field looks awesome, and the player models are spectacular.
-Got rid of any of the "stupid" modes in Madden that don't focus on game play itself.
-The user interface is easy to use and intuitive. The way you call plays now seems easier and more efficient as it shows more plays on the screen.
-The AI seems a bit smarter when it comes to D. I have a hard time scoring 40+ pts against the computer. This could also attribute that I'm using the Niners, but who knows.
-Utilizes Dolby Digital 5.1 - which makes it sound awesome.

Cons:
-No mini-camp. The mini-games were kind of dumb, but I did like the fact that you could progress your players with it.
-No post game stats. This seems like a simple thing to have, but for some reason they got rid of it. All you get to see is the top statistical leaders for the game.
-No way to change camera angles. The gameplay changes a little bit when you hike the ball, but it would be nice to have this basic feature as well.
-No Madden - he may be annoying, but he's a classic. "BooM" "Where'd that truck come from!?" The new announcer isn't very good.
-The controls are a bit funky. There's a button for sprint, hold ball, spin, juke, stiff arm - it's a tough combo of buttons. Moving your QB and doing a pump are used with the same control stick and it must be sensitive because I seem to pump all the time which leads to sacks.
-I haven't gotten this far yet, but they took out scouting of the college players which I thought was kind of cool.

So all in all, it's still a solid game, but this is like the "core xbox 360" where ironically the other console version would be the "premium." I expect next years Madden to include anything missing from the stripped down version.

In the meantime, I will wait anxiously and hoping EA will release a MVP game for 360.

Gift Giving

You gotta love this time of year. For some people it is filled with joy and happiness and for some it is a time of anxiety and wondering if that certain friend is going to get you anything this year...and just what exactly are you going to buy them. So with that being said I will be perfectly clear in who I am giving gifts to. If you feel like buying gifts for other people is a waste of your money then perhaps you would like to skip the stage of life and go straight to hell. Tony will arrange that for you. As for the rest of you fags, I will tell you who I am getting gifts for. This is no way an attempt to make you guilty of not getting me anything. Besides, Steve doesn't get guilty and he only reaps the benefits of Xmas. =)

Bryant - Is getting a gift of some sort. Except for once his gift will be something he needs not exactly what he wants. Haha.

Tony - Has not been around for the holidays in the past couple of years. I have grown fond of Tony even though he sucks at Winning 11 and provides no challenge whatsoever. He will be getting a gift so he can truly enjoy Christmas with us this year.

Andy - I have to get Andy something because he is poor. He is my captain and he deserves something for leading me into battle. I trust and follow his wisdom in the gaming world and it usually keeps me alive. Usually...

Derek - Is also getting a gift. I have it narrowed down to a couple of choices, but no final decision is made just yet.

Kevin - I don't even talk to this fool anymore. However I will probably go into something with Bryant/Andy for your gift. I would make it more personal, but ever since you got a girlie dog and bought a house...you just don't seem like that nigga I knew back in da' hood. =)

Steve - Ahh Steve. To Steve's defense he has ALWAYS said not to get him anything. I completely disobeyed him every year thinking he was bluffing. He wasn't. Haha. But Steve, once again I got you something. This is a gift that might not be the best in the world, but I did put a lot of thought into it.

WILDCARDS (NOT YET BEEN DECIDED)

Jonathan - I say we save our money for this 40K poker tournament we are having. How about we just go out to dinner after a day of card playing. We can buy each other the same amount of chips. Haha. But seriously, let me know if you want to or not want to do the gift giving thing. And I promise that if we say not to get anything for each other...I won't pull a Derek and give you something.

Brian - This fucker one year got everyone and their mom gifts. It was totally unexpected, but a very nice surprise. We then retaliated by giving him a game that we didn't even end up playing that much. Haha. As with Jonathan, let me know if you are getting me a gift. Or you can join in on the poker idea above. What d'ya say? Everyone go to the card room and dominate?

THE BOTTOM LINE IS THIS. THIS YEAR I WAS REALLY LOOKING AT PEOPLE'S INTERESTS AND ON THE LOOK OUT FOR SHIT THEY NEED. I DIDN'T GO OUT THINKING, "WHAT AM I GOING TO GET THIS PERSON?" IT WAS MORE OF A "OH HEY THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO USE/ENJOY THAT FOR A XMAS GIFT" AND THEY ARE GETTING SOMETHING FROM ME.

So to say again. This is who I am getting gifts for with the exception of Jonathan and Brian who I haven't found anything for just yet. If you guys get back to me and want to scratch the other off the list then that is fine by me, but only because I haven't found anything just yet for you. So lemme know.

On a more ipmortant note: I'm down with Zhang Ziyi as an actress...but give me a fucking break. CHINKS DO NOT PLAY JAPS. See Tamilyn Tomita can play a chinese person (Joy Luck Club) only becuase she is superior to them. Zhang cannot play a Japanese...even a Japanese slut for that matter because she is inferior. Haha. So who's gonna see the film with me?

I would use the chatter box, but this may be more readable. I know Brendan will blog more on this later, but this is what I'm hearing so far about X-mas. It sounds like there might be some quasi-party gift giving going on.

Seeing the responses from Steve, Kevin, and Tony; talking with Brendan and Derek - it sounds like most people would like to get together for a little shindig -> this may/may not tie into the Annual Horiuchi Dinner (Brendan will provide more details) and may include some poker fun (with special guest Phil Ivey and his 40K). Most likely this would be an after Xmas - Pre New Years type o' deal.

It also sounds like people will be buying gifts for some and not others, which should be fine, since some of us know each other better then others and some just like giving gifts. Can't stop anybody for that! But gift giving among others is not mandatory. Christmas is the season of giving, not the season of "shit that guy bought me something, I better buy him something fast." That's a risk, but if Christmas is truly about giving, it shouldn't even matter, right? =)

Tony's right, where the most important thing for us should be spending the holidays together. With some of us not working and/or going to school, it's pretty much the only time of year where we can all hang out together and possibly see each more then once a weekend, if that. I know I'm a hermit because of work lately, so i'm definitely looking forward to the holidays. This doesn't count for just the Pooky guys either, I know we have some readers out there and I would love to spend the holidays with you (Horiuchis, Shannon, whomever else that reads this darn thing).

Still awaiting to hear from Andy, Jonathan, Farmer B on their thoughts for X-mas and whether they'll be joining us in our gathering. Actually this could include Kevin, but I'm especially looking at Brian on that one.

heading to vegas on dec 19th. You guys are invited as well if you want. Should be fun.

Hi all,
As the X-mas season is drawing near, there have been some informal discussions in terms of how we're handling X-mas gifts for everyone. I've kind of heard mixed reviews on what everyone wants to do, so I was hoping that this blogger would garner some opinions. From what it seems to me, gift giving is kind of a chore that people feel obligated to do and I know us in Pooky don't want to create that kind of atmosphere.

We could do 3 things:
1. Buy gifts as usual for everyone.
2. Not buy gifts and everyone be ok with it.
3. Have like a little gift exchange party of some sort.

Any of the 3 options are ok with me. I don't mind just buying for family this year as most of us have what we want in life in terms of tangible items (Me especially haha). If we don't spend money on each other, I would say maybe we can pull some dinero together and throw a little holiday shindig. Maybe a nice dinner and some cocktails. (haha I guess this could be option 4)

Any opinions?

PS - Brendan, a post will come soon about the new Madden and my thoughts. =) I know you're all sitting on the edge of your seat for that one.