(from DownGoesBrown)

Tuesday is one of the biggest days on an NHL fan's calendar: the release of NHL 10, the latest version of EA Sports' NHL series.

It goes without saying that a blogger as important and popular as I am would be sent an advance reviewer's copy. I had a chance to give it a try over the weekend, and the results were mixed.

Bugs
Let's get the bad news out of the way first. I'm not sure if this game was rushed onto shelves without enough time for testing, but there are a ton of bugs that simply should have been caught.

• Simming ahead several years in franchise mode can lead to unrealistic results. For example, I simmed ahead to 2011, and the game listed one of the teams as playing in "Phoenix".
   
• In Front Office mode, the "fire general manager" option is permanently greyed out for the New York Rangers.
   
• Somebody at EA needs to seriously prune the roster file to clear out guys who haven't even been in skates for years. This year's game still has guys like Jason Allison and Theo Fleury kicking around.
   
• While the post-whistle scrums are a nice addition, they don't feel realistic because announcer Jim Hughson fails to break into an overwrought lecture about how terrible they are.
   
• The financial AI is just terrible. Teams like Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia kept signing players to contracts that would clearly ruin their long-term salary cap situation.
   
• AI-controlled teams occasionally make roster moves they'd never make in real life. For example, in one sim I noticed the Leafs had signed another team's RFA, which of course is ridiculous since Brian Burke hates when teams do that.
   
• While experimenting with the GM mode, I attempted to trade a star player to Edmonton. The deal was accepted, but when I checked the Oilers roster immediately afterwards, the star player was there.

Cheats
What major video game release these days doesn't come with a few cheats and easter eggs? Sure enough, NHL 2010 has its share.

• When you're prompted to enter your name on the opening screen, type in "Jim Balsillie" to unlock an extended slideshow of Gary Bettman giving you the finger.
   
• If you manage to win the Stanley Cup, hit "exit" before the handshake line finishes. When you enter the off-season, the game's musical soundtrack will be replaced by the sound of Red Wings fans crying. (Note: there is apparently no undo for this feature.)
   
• Enter your name as "Howard Berger" on the opening screen, and then sim a season. All 82 of your games will be scheduled during the month of November.
   
• Inspired by the legendary NBA Jam series, NHL 10 includes a hilarious "tiny mode" in which all the regular players on a team are comically shrunk down to a fraction of their normal size. To enable this mode, go to the Team Select screen and choose "Montreal Canadiens".

New features
Now for the good stuff. As fans have come to expect, this year's version comes packed with new and enhanced features.

• The much-hyped "first person fighting" mode is every bit as good as advertised. When you throw a perfectly timed uppercut that connects with your unsuspecting opponent's face, you can actually see the blood splatter onto the cab's dashboard.
   
• The game includes an interesting new feature called "Ask Burkie". You can type in any hockey question, and a simulated Brian Burke will provide an answer. Unfortunately, due to an apparent programming error the screen lacks an "exit" button, and Burke just keeps talking and talking non-stop. Even removing the CD and unplugging the system doesn't help. I eventually had to burn my Xbox and bury the ashes in the backyard to get him to be quiet.
   
• In a neat bit of crossover promotion, the game will check your hard drive for any Resident Evil saved game files. If it finds any, it will replace the final zombie boss with Chris Chelios.
   
• The "Be A Player" mode is super realistic. In my first game against Toronto I lightly nudged one of the Leafs' skill players, and the game immediately cut to a full-motion video montage of my funeral.
   
• The all new board play is great fun. You can get a puck to an open teammate by using the new "kick-pass" button. In addition, when controlling Martin Havlat you can also use the "kick-groin" button.
   
• Players can now snatch a puck out of the air with their glove hand (note: feature does not apply to Andrew Raycroft).
   
• Finally, the game features an intriguing new mode in which two teams can play each other up to seven consecutive times, with the first team to win four games advancing on to play a different team. As a Leaf fan I thought this was really unqiue and creative, and hope the real NHL implements something similar in the future.

Posted this on my Blogger originally...posting here for whatever reason as well:


So I woke up this...afternoon with my mom asking me if I wanted anything from the supermarket. After groggily requesting Sun Chips and Pretzels, I rolled out of bed and checked the clock expecting it to be 11 AM or noonish. Imagine my surprise when I saw 4:18 PM. Hoooly hell. I slept 14-15 hours. The first thing I did, since it was fresh in my mind, was to check the lag on multiplayer on Halo 3...I hadn't played Halo since I'd been home and needed to see how my connection hindered the online play.

First thing I see as Halo loads is an MSN message through XBox from my friend James; it's a link from foxnews.com. Since I can't click links on XBox MSN, I ignored it and figured I'd ask when I got back on real MSN. Shit, I figured it was something political or lulzy, which he usually sends. Not 20 seconds later, I saw a message pop up from my friend Keevee saying "Billy Mays =(" ....now I'm a little more intrigued. I finish the Halo match (no lag, by the way. Awesome), shut off the XBox, and go on my laptop for real MSN. As I'm waiting for it to load, I fire up Firefox and head to Yahoo. There, I see all I needed to kill my day:

TV Pitchman Billy Mays dead at 50.

...what? MSN loads. Keevee's MSN name: "R.I.P. Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, and Billy Mays." BILLY MAYS. I have two offline messages from Jordan and James, both of the same link, reporting Mays' death. My friend Stephanie's name cries out WHAT HAPPENED WITH BILLY MAYS NOW? Wow. Billy Mays? Did anyone see that coming?

So I sat here for a moment...thinking this sucks. Billy Mays is a legend; everyone knows who he is. And now, he's gone. And at 50 years old, no less, with a hit TV show. Everything's going his way, and BAM. Gone like a stain put through some OxiClean.

Billy Mays, to me, was the perfect pitchman. You see this big man in khakis and a blue workshirt, a big beard and a beaming face, and instantly you're like "Alright. What do you have to say?" Then all of a sudden, this booming eternal-caps-lock voice screaming at you about the awesomeness of this product he's got piled up on a table.

But the thing is...you believe him. He's in an infomercial, and you believe what he's telling you, because he's talking directly to you. He seems so honest and earnest that you don't even realize how badly you'll be screwed on "free" shipping and processing.

And even if you're like me, and you never bought anything, you still have a little smirk after watching the infomercial. Maybe it's his volume, maybe it's the things he says, or maybe it's the little rhymes he always manages to fit in his ads, but they make you feel a little bit better about the day.

The fact that he was so dedicated and so passionate about what he did must be at least a little inspirational to all of us. It really shone through in his ads as well.

What I'll remember most were the lulz he brought through Pitchmen and his ads, and especially through the Youtube poop videos (those done especially by mark3611) that endeared me to this larger-than-life personality and his complete and utter manliness. I'll remember the ridiculous products he hawked, how they could make our lives easier if they actually worked, how there was always more, how he'd triple the offers, how he'd send all this bonus crap...and most of all...I'll remember THIS HAMMER IS REAL.

So a toast to Billy Mays and his passion and joy. Billy Mays is what this world needs more of; the gregarious soul, the passionate soul. Those who help stimulate this deadened economy by hawking anything and everything. A toast to turning down the TV volume when his commercials came on because they were THAT LOUD. To think that no new products will be introduced via a screaming Billy Mays is absolutely crushing. A toast to those who looked up to him. A toast to those affected by his loss. A toast to the nights when we don't have that loud voice to send us off to sleep. A toast to the products that will heretofore go unnoticed because they didn't have that voice to propel them into the American mind.

A toast to Vince Offer, for being spared the agony of being destroyed by Billy Mays in a pitchoff.

And finally, a toast to "But wait! There's more!" ...because there isn't anymore, Billy. And that, my friend, is a tragedy.

Not even Mighty Putty could bond him to mortality. Not even Zorbeez can mop up all the tears shed. Not even Hercules Hooks could hold our heavy hearts. Not even the Awesome Auger can dig as deep as our sadness goes. Not even Impact Gel can protect against the impact of his death, and the impact to follow. Not even the Big City Slider Station can make enough burgers to fill the hole we now have within us. Not even Orange Glo can make the world shine today. Not even What Odor can eliminate the stink of loss and tragedy (yeah, it's a stretch, deal with it). Not even Mighty Mendit can mend our broken hearts.

And perhaps, most importantly, not even OxiClean can clean the memory of him we have in our hearts and minds.

Requiescat in pace and godspeed, Billy. You will be missed terribly.

1. OPEN PAINT
2. CLOSE YOUR EYES
3. DRAW A CAT

Monday
10:00a-11:50a - Weather
12:00p-1:50p - History & Appreciation of Cinema
2:00-3:15p - Westward Move in America

Tuesday
3:30p-4:45p - Abnormal Psychology

Wednesday
10:00a-11:50a - Weather
12:00p-1:50p - History & Appreciation of Cinema
2:00-3:15p - Westward Move in America

Thursday
8:00a-9:15a - Audio Production
12:00p-2:50p - Audio Production Lab
3:30p-4:45p - Abnormal Psychology

Friday
NO CLASS

Look up the date of your birthday in Wikipedia. From the date page, pick one interesting historical events that occurred on that date, three births, and one death. If possible, one holiday.

Events:
1963 - Instant replay is used for the first time in a Army-Navy game. (Used because eeeeveryone knows about Pearl Harbor...)

Births:
1910 - Louis Prima
1976 - Georges Laraque
1979 - Sara Bareilles (oh god she's so hot 8DDD; )

Death:
1980 - Darby Crash

Holiday:
INTERNATIONAL CIVIL Aviation Day 8D;

I'm a little nervous.  I'm FAILING the class I need to get credit for in order to become a Broadcasting major. 

No.  Don't get me wrong.  I put effort into it.  I go every day, I learn, I read, I research, I do the work, and I take it seriously.

But no.  I do everything the man asks in an assignment and still fail.  Is this even legal?  The average GPA of that class the whole last year was a 1.5, and you need a 2.0 in order to become a BCA major.   Red flag?

This dude grades way too harsh.  Am I supposed to rethink my entire *future* because this guy's on a power trip?

Fall 2008-2009 Class Schedule

Monday:

• 3:00pm-3:55pm   Elementary French 1    Pearce Hall, Room 332
  
• 5:00pm-6:15pm   Intermediate Algebra    Pearce Hall, Room 326

Tuesday:

• 9:30am-10:45am Voice and Diction          Moore Hall, Room 216
• 12:00pm-1:50pm Survey of Mass Media  Moore Hall, Room 101
• 3:00pm-3:55pm   Elementary French 1    Pearce Hall, Room 332

Wednesday:

• 3:00pm-3:55pm   Elementary French 1    Pearce Hall, Room 332
  
• 5:00pm-6:15pm   Intermediate Algebra    Pearce Hall, Room 326

Thursday:

• 9:30am-10:45am Voice and Diction          Moore Hall, Room 216
• 12:00pm-1:50pm Survey of Mass Media  Moore Hall, Room 101
  
• 3:00pm-3:55pm   Elementary French 1    Pearce Hall, Room 332

Friday:

• NOTHING.  HAHAHAHAHAHA.