So I started playing this the other night. I went through the tutorial (a must), and then checked out "Tackle Alley", a minigame in which you control a halfback trying to get to the endzone by avoiding wave after wave of skull-crushing linebackers. And, damn, was it addictive. Apparently, there are 100 "levels", each one progressively adds some new wrinkle of difficulty, like shrinking the field of play. I made it to level 84 before finally succumbing to the insanity.

I got around to trying out the real game last night, and man, do I suck, especially at running the ball (any tips?) I think the Madden/NCAA way of playing football is so ingrained in me, that I'm having a hard to shifting to the more immediate perspective this game demands, and its going to take some time to retrain my brain. Some of the hits and animations are really incredible, though. I led my tight end directly into an oncoming defender, who knocked his lights out right as the ball arrived. My tight end wilted to the ground, legs splayed out in a split position. He hung there for a second before flopping to the turf like jelly. It was quite amusing.

Anyway, the game looks promising. I just need to learn to suck less.

Pete, I'd venture to say that the Godfather game drew heavily from mechanics from the original Mafia. The gameplay is very similar between the two (basically GTA-like, with small variations), but what elevated the original Mafia to an all-time great in my mind was the wonderful setting full of nice touches and detail, great characterization and script, and an unforgettable ending.

Loved the demo, but one thing that was troublesome was how absolutely tiny the text and map were. Even on my HD set, I was struggling to read objectives and follow the red line to my destination.

There are A LOT of quality shows I missed while they were on the air, but have devoured once on DVD. In fact, I probably prefer watching a TV series in marathon-like bursts. The top ones in recent years would have to be:

THE WIRE

and

THE SHIELD

I'm not a huge video game football fan (in fact I haven't bought a football game since the Dreamcast...), but I'm actually considering picking this one up now.  Looks like you can get it for $30 at Best Buy.

Same here.  I used to play a lot more with friends.  I was never much into Madden but I played a lot of NFL Gameday on the PSX.  I'm grabbed the android game and like it.  I think I'll stop at best buy tonight and see how much it is running there.

It's 30 bucks at BB. I just picked up a copy there, took it home, installed it to the HD with patch and used an old flash drive to import the NFL teams and players. I'm ready to go now!

I actually had backbreaker in hand while looking down at Madden 11. I've been telling myself for months now that I wouldn't get Madden this year (every other year works well for me, and I purchased it last year), but DAMN the pull is strong. I don't know how Madden does it. They nominally update features and gameplay and still I'm tempted to drop 60 bones on it. Fortunately, I was strong and left the store with the Backbreaker purchase instead. It was actually kind of funny-- there were fratty dudes in front of and behind me in line, both with copies of Madden. They probably thought I was mistakenly buying the wrong game. 

Bill Harris is glowing about the game post-patch.

This may be the most dramatic improvement I've ever seen in a game via patch. All the possibilities that Backbreaker represented, all the unique qualities that were designed to capture the intensity of being on the field--they nailed it...

It's a 90 game in 90 condition now.

Let me be clear about this. It's not just that the broken parts of the game have been fixed. It's that this game absolutely soars, in a way that I don't remember seeing since ESPN NFL2K5.

Yes, I thought Madden was a better game last year, but I still remember how blown away I was the first time I saw NFL2K5 in 480P on the Xbox. It was incredibly vibrant and totally breathtaking.

In 2010, so it is with Backbreaker.

Now, I know how Harris can go overboard with his effusive praise with games every once in awhile, but to his credit he did call this one a stinker pre-patch. I'm curious enough that I may give it a shot for my digital football fix this year, especially considering it's listed at $40 bucks (edit: it's just $30 at Best Buy at the moment) and likely to drop in price pretty soon.

Plus, it looks like you can import NFL rosters.

Holy bucket of suck. I guess they are emphasizing the "guitar" part of the game's name and loading up on guitar-heavy and harder rock music, which really doesn't appeal to me at this point all that much.

I guess I won't get my chance to become a WARRIOR OF ROCK!!1!

Meh.  I listened to a bunch of the previews.  I wouldn't change the station if it came on, but it doesn't strike me well enough to purchase it. 

INCORRECT ANSWER. 

no prob 

8-3

The Suburbs
by Arcade Fire

BUY BUY BUY BUY.

I was going to get this at full price anyway, so this was a nice surprise.

Holy fuck. 

7-18

Slanted & Enchanted
by Pavement

Classic.  

Fun fact: I believe a certain OO poster is named after track #2.

I really like Sparklehorse.

Too bad he offed himself earlier this year.

Loving, loving, loving Seasons 6 and 7 of the Shield.

Unfortunately, the first 5 seasons are only available by mail, and they definitely need to be watched in order.

Oh, and Arrested Development is available on Watch Instantly, but everybody here has watched that unless they're as dumb as a box of hammers.

I was going to say Party Down, but it seems to have been removed.

My favorite movie I've seen on watch instantly is probably This is England.

Other recommended flicks include The Vicious Kind (starring Adam Scott from Party Down in a very different kind of role) and Gigantic (starring Zoey Deschanel, hubba hubba).

My Kingdom For The Princess - THIS GAME IS ON SALE FOR 99 CENTS! For the price this is an absolutely ridiculous bargain. I got it for $5 but would have paid $10 and still considered it a steal. I got in trouble with my wife over this game, it's so addictive. It's a time/resource management title in which you are tasked with clearing roads and rebuilding structures in order to get the princess home safely. Tons of levels, very challenging gameplay (if you go for gold on each level), and it kept me absolutely hooked from start to finish. Easily one of the best games I've played on the iPad to date.

Bought! I haven't had a chance to play it yet, though. Why? Because I bought Family Feud HD and couldn't put it down. 

7-11

I And Love And You
by The Avett Brothers

 

After a couple of weeks with little offerings, it's been a good last few days on the MP3 deal of the day.

Agreed. This one gets the Caveman Seal of Approval™!

Act 1, a compilation of songs mentioned so far.  there's a list at the end, not sure if the songs on it have been mentioned yet.

Most of the songs in that list that would interest me are already available in Rock Band or will be in RB 3.

I'm hoping they manage to get Def Leppard to do RB also.

Are you crazy? Drumming in Rock Band is hard enough with TWO arms. 

I love that women so damn much..  

7-7

Gorilla Manor
by Local Natives

Great album. Recommended!

Holy dismal sales Batman, what happened to Alan Wake? I feel embarassed for thinking it would outsell RDR, let alone hold a candle to it.

Yeah, the Alan Wake sales sadden me, but what did they expect? I have no idea why they released it the same day as RDR. I'm guessing a lot of people were like me and interested in the game but put off buying it in favor of RDR. Why not hold it for one of the relatively barren weeks in June? I'm sure it would have done much better then. 

I'm finally playing Alan Wake now (after finishing off RDR), and I'm really enjoying it. I hope these fledgling sales number don't sink the chance for a sequel, though they probably do.

I have this:



 

Wait, motherfucker, THAT'S MINE! I got it as a Hanukkah gift when I was about 12. How the fuck did you get it?

Awful. So sad. 

Alan Wake. Loving it.

FUCK.

I loved this show.

Where will the brilliant Martin Starr turn up next?

Rob Schneider's blonde daughter http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2576486/ in the movie! My goodness - those legs go on until forever!

Holy shit, she was born in the '90s. That's the most depressing thing I've seen all week.

Damn, I was hoping for a bigger discount on ME2.

Has anybody played The Void? It seems to have pretty good reviews.

In other news, Palm Heroes (basically HOMM clone) went on sale for $0.99 with a new update.  I was really excited about it until I actually started playing.  I don't know if it was me or what, but it seemed really difficult to click on anything, making it a pretty terrible play experience.  Disappointing, but I am sure glad I didn't pay $7 or whatever it was last week.

Is there a decent HOMM clone for the iPad? It seems like a great format for this type of game.

I've always been curious about Gothic 3, but I remember it being slammed when it first came out. Has it been patched enough to make it a worthwhile play? I loved Gothic II and Risen, btw.

Angry Birds. 

I played King's Bounty: the Legend for about 50 hours. With its current sale price, that comes out to about seven and a half cents an hour.  

6-11

Alligator
by The National

Another mega-winner. 

Oooh, may have to finally pick up Trials HD for that price.

Also, if you haven't played 'Splosion Man, you really should. Great platforming fun with an AWESOME ending. 

6-8

The Black Dirt Sessions
by Deer Tick

This is a great album, highly recommended.

Holy crap, I'm all over this. I didn't know that it came out today. Great band.

[Spoiler]

My #1 would be

Spoiler for Hiden:

Omar

in the Wire. 

I played them out of order: I started with Armored Princess and liked it so much I went back and played Legend.

AP is a little more refined than Legend, but I found Legend to a be a little bit more humorous and lovable. They're 98% the same game, though, and 100% great.  

5-22

Boxer
by The National

 

The Wire is pretty much the best thing on TV ever. 

having watched both of them I'd have to give the edge to the Shield though, which I recommend if you haven't seen it.  Vic from the Shield is just so likable yet despicable at the same time, and for me the show never had a bad season, unlike season 4 of the Wire which, while getting great reviews, was just a dull change to the series.  thankfully they got back to basics in the last season.

The Shield is great indeed but I don't like to compare it to The Wire since while they seem similar superficially, they ultimately become much different shows. 

I couldn't disagree more about your opinion of Season 4 of the Wire.  Easily its best season though I do like Season 5 a lot more than most people do. 

+1

Season 4 of the Wire is my favorite season. And considering that the Wire is the greatest TV show ever, that's saying a lot.

I'm watching the Shield now and enjoying it quite a bit, but it doesn't have the broad lens and sociopolitical impact or the Wire... still, a damn fine show though. 

So no lasso means what, exactly? I know that's how you wrangle your horse, but what else?

no nun wrangling contests 

No simulated asphyxiation sex either.

Any idea whether the MP for this game will have legs? I haven't played any MP on my 360 in quite a while, and I'm kind of geeked about the idea of joining a GT virtual posse, but I might not be able to get the game for several more weeks. Will you still be plugging each other with bullets for weeks to come?

I will decimate

I could do that as a teenager, but no longer. I'm lucky to get ten times in a month now!

5-3

The Big To-Do
by Drive-By Truckers

Fuck yeah. PURCHASED.