Before the long weekend, I stumbled across an online community dedicated to - and I mean this literally - rebuilding the PC version of NHL 2004. I spent most of the weekend installing it and getting it ready to go on my laptop.
First, a little history. NHL 2004 is widely regarded as one of the best iterations of the popular EA Sports franchise. I believe NHL 2011 has overtaken that assessment as far as console gaming is concerned, but since EA Sports no longer produces NHL series products for the PC, NHL 2004 remains, in many gamers eyes, the best NHL game on the PC.
One of the really awesome parts of having a game on the PC is the ability to modify just about every facet of the game, from uniforms to game menus, as well as music/sounds. I remember doing this with NHL 99 when that game was still current.
People have done that with NHL 2004, replacing just about everything they can: rink graphics, jerseys, player faces, coach models, statistics, rosters (rosters are up to date as of the trade deadline of this year), game clocks (CBC, TSN, ESPN, etc.), and in-game menus. It's ridiculous how much they've been able to do, and how well-done it is.
Anyway, I really recommend it if you have a copy of NHL 2004 handy for the PC. It's amazingly fun. Oh, and because I'm an idiot and didn't mention what the site is called: it's called NHL04 Rebuilt, fittingly enough.
While we're on the sports topic, I just thought I'd mention that I'm going to be doing some off and on writing on The Blue Jays Luddite, a new Blue Jays blog started up by my brother. Expect a little bit of cross-promotion from time to time.
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Monday, April 25, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Ottawa Senators 2010-2011
Since I don't run a sports blog, it's hard to justify writing my opinion about the Senators. However, this does count as a piece of writing, and it's practice, so I'm doing it here.
I think everyone can agree that this season is toast. Ottawa is not going to make the playoffs (barring a miracle), and even if they did, they would likely get swept. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with this - you can't win every season in sports. The problem this year is that the team is losing horribly. They're not even making a game of it. When I see them play live, I would like to be able to watch an interesting game, but this team is not even capable of doing that.
So what's the problem? Do the players just not care anymore? Is it the coach? The GM? Unfortunately, the answer is likely "all of the above". I think it's time that the organization moves on after this year with a new look. Both Bryan Murray and Cory Clouston's contracts are done at the end of the year, so that makes it easier to get a new GM for the team. Not that I'm entirely upset with what Murray's done - he's brought in a great player in Erik Karlsson, as well as other young dynamic players - but I think he's just about at the end of his rope in Ottawa. At least as a GM - if he stays on as a scout, that wouldn't be so bad.
The only players I really want to see here next year are Erik Karlsson, Jason Spezza, and Daniel Alfredsson. Other than that, everyone is fair game. Up until this year I probably could be accused of being sentimental for the likes of Chris Phillips or Mike Fisher or Chris Neil, but it's clear that this team needs a new face. There are some young players down in the AHL that will come up to replace some expiring contracts, and then the rest should be traded.
It would be really nice if next year, for the 2012 All-Star game, for Ottawa to be a competitive team; however I don't think that is really going to happen. I would at least like to see a young, fresh team that shows signs of promise. I can wait for a couple of years for another chance at the Stanley Cup; just give me a team that shows that they WANT to play.
I think everyone can agree that this season is toast. Ottawa is not going to make the playoffs (barring a miracle), and even if they did, they would likely get swept. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with this - you can't win every season in sports. The problem this year is that the team is losing horribly. They're not even making a game of it. When I see them play live, I would like to be able to watch an interesting game, but this team is not even capable of doing that.
So what's the problem? Do the players just not care anymore? Is it the coach? The GM? Unfortunately, the answer is likely "all of the above". I think it's time that the organization moves on after this year with a new look. Both Bryan Murray and Cory Clouston's contracts are done at the end of the year, so that makes it easier to get a new GM for the team. Not that I'm entirely upset with what Murray's done - he's brought in a great player in Erik Karlsson, as well as other young dynamic players - but I think he's just about at the end of his rope in Ottawa. At least as a GM - if he stays on as a scout, that wouldn't be so bad.
The only players I really want to see here next year are Erik Karlsson, Jason Spezza, and Daniel Alfredsson. Other than that, everyone is fair game. Up until this year I probably could be accused of being sentimental for the likes of Chris Phillips or Mike Fisher or Chris Neil, but it's clear that this team needs a new face. There are some young players down in the AHL that will come up to replace some expiring contracts, and then the rest should be traded.
It would be really nice if next year, for the 2012 All-Star game, for Ottawa to be a competitive team; however I don't think that is really going to happen. I would at least like to see a young, fresh team that shows signs of promise. I can wait for a couple of years for another chance at the Stanley Cup; just give me a team that shows that they WANT to play.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Revisionist History
This is the post where I finally admit that I write a lot of posts, frequently. I would space them out a week at a time, but the problem is that some of them become less relevant the more I sit on them. Okay, I'll try to space out posts like these, I promise. Non time-sensitive posts will go up when they go up.
Anyway I just wanted to point out that you'll never see a group of people so into revisionist history than sports fans. I admit I'm guilty of being a revisionist myself - and the best example I can think of is the recent departure of Anton Volchenkov from the Ottawa Senators to the New Jersey Devils.
For the longest time Volchenkov was our darling defenceman - the shot blocking leader, he was the best D-man available in the league. But as soon as it started to become evident that he was going to be testing free agent waters, we (we fans, that is) started to notice some problems in his game. He can't handle the puck if his life depended on it. He could get injured any day - don't sign him for more than two years! And so on.
The same sort of thing happened with Dany Heatley, but mostly that was because he was a dick about the whole "requesting a trade" deal. Still, revisionist history is at its peak in sports. Any other prime examples out there? In sports, or in anything else.
Anyway I just wanted to point out that you'll never see a group of people so into revisionist history than sports fans. I admit I'm guilty of being a revisionist myself - and the best example I can think of is the recent departure of Anton Volchenkov from the Ottawa Senators to the New Jersey Devils.
For the longest time Volchenkov was our darling defenceman - the shot blocking leader, he was the best D-man available in the league. But as soon as it started to become evident that he was going to be testing free agent waters, we (we fans, that is) started to notice some problems in his game. He can't handle the puck if his life depended on it. He could get injured any day - don't sign him for more than two years! And so on.
The same sort of thing happened with Dany Heatley, but mostly that was because he was a dick about the whole "requesting a trade" deal. Still, revisionist history is at its peak in sports. Any other prime examples out there? In sports, or in anything else.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)