Today I have decided to do a game review instead of being pissed off, after all it's not healthy to be angry all the time :).
I was out last night and decided to stop in at Best Buy and see what was new in the electronics world. To give you a bit of background I have been playing EA Sports NHL Hockey since it first came out for the computer and then ported it over to the PS/2. I have never made it to the point of getting an XBOX or PS3 though as I now have two kids and I don't have a lot of time to play games anymore so we have a Wii instead.
I came across EA Sports Slapshot and read a couple reviews on it to decide if I really wanted to get it. I was not impressed with NHL2K10 for the Wii so I didn't want to spend 70 dollars on a game that would just sit on the shelf. After reading the review I bought it and came home. After trying to get the stick together for about 10 minutes from the one picture they have of it and the written instructions in the manual I had it more or less together so I put the game in and turned it on. The first thing that comes up is an instructional video on how to put the stick together, D'oh.
I then went through the start up which goes through several training screens and lets you learn to check, play defense, shoot and hit targets.I did pretty good at this so I figured must be time to start the season. I went in and downloaded the latest rosters from EA (turns out they haven't updated them yet) and then selected the Habs as my team to start the season. I played two games, scoring a total of three goals and losing both games before I realized that perhaps I needed a little more practice before playing a full season.
EA has done a decent job with graphics, they aren't as good as what you find on the XBOX or PS3 but they are good for the Wii. The stick control is a little hard to get used to as you have to use the nunchuck stick to skate, which is at the top of your hockey stick, and then you move the stick around to shoot, poke check and body check. I have found it very hard to poke check which means I am body checking a lot, this isn't to bad but has shown a flaw in the game play. When Cammalleri and Gomez can take out Phaneuf and Komisarek with a body check something maybe a little off. I have also found it doesn't matter if you are Crosby or Laraque, you can do the exact same offensive moves and have the same chance of scoring.
All in all it's a good game, maybe not for the hardcore NHL fans that have an XBOX or PS3 but if you are looking for some fun and something a little unique I would recommend playing this game, but perhaps start with what I am doing now by going and starting in the peewee and build a character so you can get used to aiming and controlling the play before you jump into an NHL season. It gives you the practice you will need and you get to build yourself up to play in the NHL.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Stupid drivers have returned
So fall is sort of more or less here, schools are now in session all over Calgary and people that have no clue how to drive in rush hour are out in full force. I understand the odd lapse of focus when driving specially in the morning as we have all done it but at this point in life people should know simple rules of the road be able to follow them.
We will start with last night, I was driving home from the football game it was almost 8 o'clock by the time I got up to my area of living and due to construction they have closed one side of the road and the other side is turned from two lane to one lane two way traffic. Once you get through that you have to turn into a community and follow a detour through the community and back into the main road. So as I am driving up the main road a red van is following just behind and to the right of me (I was in the left lane they were in the right lane, both lanes end as you have to move over and everyone that lives up here knows that as it has been like this for almost a month). I get to the area where it has turns to a two way traffic and move over, the red van swerves very badly (no turn signal) and pops in behind me. He uses no turn signals all the way through the detour even though you need to turn left, right, right and left. I came to a stop sign where you have to stop as vehicles can go straight from the other side or turn left or right to go around the construction zone plus dump trucks also come out of there. The red van speeds up and goes around me blowing through the stop sign and then takes a wide left turn cutting me off so I laid on my horn. I then follow him and he turns right on to the road that I turn on to as well. He slows down and rolls down his window and yells at me, I just drove past him but he speeds up to catch me and starts yelling again so I opened my window and he yells "What is your problem". I told him it was a stop sign and you are supposed to stop. He then says "What you want to teach me how to drive". I proceeded to leave the situation as I did not want to get into it with this guy. He followed me all the way to my house and then turned into the condos beside my home. I was a little disturbed that he now knows where I live and is obviously hot headed and can't drive but I will wait and see if anything happens with that.
Then we get to this morning. I am driving the kids to school and for the most part it goes pretty good, except for when I am on Bow trail at Sarcee, Bow trail is 3 lanes but after you cross Sarcee it turns into two lanes (shitty development by the City of Calgary). The problem is so many people don't want to wait in the two lanes so they flip to the third lane and then speed up and cut people off in the second lane as they have to get over in hurry. This causes traffic to slow down even more and comes close to causing accidents.
Once I drop the kids off at school I have to turn right on to 17th ave, I was stopped at a stop sign waiting for traffic to clear and then I see a person on a bike come up to the controlled cross walk, I think awesome he will hit lights and I can go. He hits the lights and a car blows through the cross walk just as he is about to enter. I think to myself well that was rude, he then enters and I am about to go then I see the fear on his face as a car slams on their breaks and almost hits them because they obviously don't see the large flashing yellow lights either. Once I am sure they have stopped I then go shaking my head at how dumb people are. I proceeded down 17th ave slowly as there is a lot of traffic and finally get to another controlled cross walk and a person is crossing, my side is moving so slowly not a big deal everyone is stopping as a person has hit the lights and is crossing, but on the other side no less than three cars blow right through the intersection while the person is crossing one almost hitting them. Again I am sure they just missed the large yellow blinking lights.
Finally I get downtown and I am crossing a road where cars turn left as it is from a one way to a one way. A guy just in front of me almost gets hit as a van not realizing people are crossing (even though several people are crossing) figures they can beat us. Luckily they stopped and no one got hit today.
I am just simply amazed how bad drivers are these days, no turn signals, not letting people cross the street even though pedestrians have the right of way and doing everything they can to cut other people off as they are way more important than the rest of us and have to get everywhere first.
If you are reading this please don't be one of these people, drive responsibly and maybe we will all get home and to work in one piece.
We will start with last night, I was driving home from the football game it was almost 8 o'clock by the time I got up to my area of living and due to construction they have closed one side of the road and the other side is turned from two lane to one lane two way traffic. Once you get through that you have to turn into a community and follow a detour through the community and back into the main road. So as I am driving up the main road a red van is following just behind and to the right of me (I was in the left lane they were in the right lane, both lanes end as you have to move over and everyone that lives up here knows that as it has been like this for almost a month). I get to the area where it has turns to a two way traffic and move over, the red van swerves very badly (no turn signal) and pops in behind me. He uses no turn signals all the way through the detour even though you need to turn left, right, right and left. I came to a stop sign where you have to stop as vehicles can go straight from the other side or turn left or right to go around the construction zone plus dump trucks also come out of there. The red van speeds up and goes around me blowing through the stop sign and then takes a wide left turn cutting me off so I laid on my horn. I then follow him and he turns right on to the road that I turn on to as well. He slows down and rolls down his window and yells at me, I just drove past him but he speeds up to catch me and starts yelling again so I opened my window and he yells "What is your problem". I told him it was a stop sign and you are supposed to stop. He then says "What you want to teach me how to drive". I proceeded to leave the situation as I did not want to get into it with this guy. He followed me all the way to my house and then turned into the condos beside my home. I was a little disturbed that he now knows where I live and is obviously hot headed and can't drive but I will wait and see if anything happens with that.
Then we get to this morning. I am driving the kids to school and for the most part it goes pretty good, except for when I am on Bow trail at Sarcee, Bow trail is 3 lanes but after you cross Sarcee it turns into two lanes (shitty development by the City of Calgary). The problem is so many people don't want to wait in the two lanes so they flip to the third lane and then speed up and cut people off in the second lane as they have to get over in hurry. This causes traffic to slow down even more and comes close to causing accidents.
Once I drop the kids off at school I have to turn right on to 17th ave, I was stopped at a stop sign waiting for traffic to clear and then I see a person on a bike come up to the controlled cross walk, I think awesome he will hit lights and I can go. He hits the lights and a car blows through the cross walk just as he is about to enter. I think to myself well that was rude, he then enters and I am about to go then I see the fear on his face as a car slams on their breaks and almost hits them because they obviously don't see the large flashing yellow lights either. Once I am sure they have stopped I then go shaking my head at how dumb people are. I proceeded down 17th ave slowly as there is a lot of traffic and finally get to another controlled cross walk and a person is crossing, my side is moving so slowly not a big deal everyone is stopping as a person has hit the lights and is crossing, but on the other side no less than three cars blow right through the intersection while the person is crossing one almost hitting them. Again I am sure they just missed the large yellow blinking lights.
Finally I get downtown and I am crossing a road where cars turn left as it is from a one way to a one way. A guy just in front of me almost gets hit as a van not realizing people are crossing (even though several people are crossing) figures they can beat us. Luckily they stopped and no one got hit today.
I am just simply amazed how bad drivers are these days, no turn signals, not letting people cross the street even though pedestrians have the right of way and doing everything they can to cut other people off as they are way more important than the rest of us and have to get everywhere first.
If you are reading this please don't be one of these people, drive responsibly and maybe we will all get home and to work in one piece.
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