Rating some recently seen movies

I have been in movie watching mode for a while, so I thought I'd just rate what I have seen on a scale of 1-10.  No comments, just ratings.

Zulu: 8.5

The Machinist: 8.0

Streets Of Laredo: 8.0

The Wolfman (2010): 7.0

Capturing The Friedman's: 8.5

The Red Baron: 6.0

Harvard Beats Yale 29-29: 8.5

Sense and Sensibility: 9.0

Suspect Zero: 6.5

Right At Your Door: 8.0

The China Syndrome: 8.5

NCAA 11 improvements from demo to retail version

Thanks to Pastapadre for listing these on his site, which we are happy to link to from Memory Almost Full.  The list of improvements that will be implemented for the retail version is stunning.  If these changes are delivered as promised to what is already a terrific playing demo version of the game, we are in for a real treat with NCAA Football this year.  Hopefully the sliders will also work fully so we can configure the game to our personal tastes.

Anyway, here is a link to the list.  Be sure to check it out.

Quick gaming thoughts

• I finished Red Dead Redemption a while back and loved every second of it.  A serious, serious contender for Game Of The Year that will be hard to knock from the top spot.  Once you finish you can keep playing (but with a twist that I must admit is a bit disappointing to me) so I plan to put more and more time in just because of the sheer fun of it.  This is one game that will be fun to pop in and play when nothing else seems compelling.
• I have put quite a bit of time into UFC 2010 Undisputed.  It is quite enjoyable, especially the career mode.  I finally got my fighter the welterweight championship belt, but this is on easy mode so it's hardly an accomplishment.  The controls become pretty natural once you invest some time into the game.  I may start a new career on the next higher difficulty level pretty soon, but we'll see.  It's still fun to play with the real fighters and see their different strengths and weaknesses.  While solid, I can't see this game being considered for GotY.
• I returned to my 2009 GotY, Borderlands, to check out the expansion DLC The Secret Armory Of General Knoxx.  What I had read about it holds true; it is insanely difficult.  I am definitely out of practice so that may have had something to do with it, but I died multiple times at the same spot, before I really got very deep into the action.  My character is at the highest possible level (pre-DLC) so it shouldn't be this crazy, but it is.  I'll give it a shot again later, but I was very frustrated to keep running into such problems so early in the episode.
• Other than NCAA Football 11, the only other game on my radar now is Mafia 2, which looks a whole lot like Red Dead Redemption set in the late 1940's/early 1950's.  With a release date set for August, this is a must-buy for me.

That's it for now!

NCAA Football '11 demo out

I downloaded the demo yesterday and played a few games last night.  At first glance, this game seems much improved.  The new locomotion system makes a huge difference; players move much more life-like and you have better control over them.  They don't seem as stiff and seem to react better to the input you give them.  Bravo to EA for that.

Also, the much ballyhooed improved run-blocking AI is indeed a great addition.  Pulling guards actually carry out their assignment and all blockers look for someone to hit.  It makes the running game seem much more realistic and enjoyable.  This was another sorely needed update.

The myriad gameplay improvements are there to be seen.  I was impressed with the sideline catches made by receivers, the overturned plays as a result of replay, the much more realistic passing (throwing on the run is no longer so accurate), etc.  I was able to get a decent pass rush going against the CPU as well, which is a big deal.

The game also looks terrific.  The presentation has been amped up quite a bit.  The graphics and animations are improved and the crowd seems more into the game.  It all adds up to what looks to be a terrific package.  I did have one bug rear it's ugly head when I picked off a pass and returned it for a TD.  The audio dropped out during the return and after the player celebrated the score the game froze.  I quit the demo and restarted and still had no audio.  I had to reboot the XBox in order to get the demo back to normal.

If the AI sliders work correctly when the full game is released then we are looking at a revolutionary game in the NCAA series.  This series, once my absolute favorite, has grown stale over recent years, especially on the new generation of consoles.  Of course no game will be perfect and I am sure this game will have some small nagging problems somewhere; they all do.  But I am as excited about NCAA '11 as I have been about any game in a long while.  That took a lot of doing by EA, but so far they seem to have answered the challenge.

Our Airman Zach

Here is Zach snapping his family a salute before we had to leave the base for the last time.  He is now in Biloxi, Mississippi getting training for his job.  We won't see him again until late September/early October.  We could not be prouder of the way he came through basic training.  Way to go Zach!

Back from San Antonio, Texas

To quote Lindsey Buckingham: Never going back again.

Will have an update on Zach later. He's doing very well and looks terrific.