Joust The Facts

Is Madden Going To Disappoint Me?

Gosh, I hope not.  As you may know if you're one of my 12 or so regular readers, I'm a Green Bay Packers/NE Patriots fan (with a side of Philadelphia Eagles - although the Michael Vick fling is doing nothing for that).  EA Sports Madden 11 has predicted that this years game will go to the Steelers by four in a fourth quarter comeback.  Ugh.

Forget Punxsutawney Phil -- Madden 11, EA's pigskin prognosticator, has emerged from its burrow just in time to make its annual wintery pick.

And it's going with Pittsburgh.

According to the simulation, the Steelers storm back from an early fourth quarter deficit to narrowly beat the Green Bay Packers, 24-20, nabbing their record seventh Vince Lombardi Trophy. With five catches for 111 yards -- including the game-winning TD -- Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace wins the MVP.

Well, let's just say that I'm rooting for the game to make it's second mistaken prediction in eight tries.

I Loved This Game!

Ah, Pac-Man.  The time (and quarters) I spent playing that at Sgt. Pepper's Pizza, just down the street from my college apartment.  Those were the days.  And now, the gentleman who designed the game is retiring.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pac Man will be reborn on Microsoft Corp.'s XBox Live online service on Wednesday as a final tribute for designer Toru Iwatani, who is retiring from the $30 billion games industry he helped ignite.

The new version of the iconic arcade game is a faithful interpretation of the addictive 27-year-old original, where players wrenched joystick controllers to race a character -- resembling a yellow pizza missing a slice -- around a digital maze to chomp white pellets and chase multicolored "ghosts."

[...]

Iwatani, 52, an employee of Japan's Namco Bandai Holdings, said in an interview he will retire from active duty at Namco and spend more time teaching the next generation of game designers at Tokyo Polytechnic University.

Though I haven't played in quite some time, Pac-Man was thoroughly enjoyable and I remember fondly heading for the game room with my roommates and killing time chewing up the dots.  But you also developed quick hand-eye coordination and, because each level had a pattern which could be run precisely to survive to the next level, memory.  I joked with my mentors in arthroscopic surgery, when they complimented me on my dexterity with the scope, that the video games were great training for such video surgery.  Both involve watching a screen, moving your hands while watching the screen and making things happen on that screen.  Now many surgery programs incorporate elements of this kind of training.  Thanks, Mr. Iwatani.