June 12th, 2009
Hi all! As you can see from the link above I'm in the process of
re-doing the site so hopefully when it's done it'll look a lot better
than it does now (though that isn't exactly difficult). Anyway, I
apologize for not updating regularly but now that I've got the wedding
and house out of the way I'll have more time. While the site's going
through renovations please check out
my blog below that I'll
be updating regularly (honest);
MACCA'S
MUSINGS
April
12th, 2009
EA Sports have added some DLC for FIFA 09 in the form
of the Ultimate Team mode - you can read
my review of this $10 DLC here.
January 13th, 2009
Happy New Year! My new year's present was to
have my Xbox 360 give me a RROD so I've been without Xbox Live and been
playing Metal Gear Solid 4 and Little Big Planet on the PS3, with some
Persona 3:FES and J-League WE 2008 on the PS2. PES 2009 for the PS3
isn't getting nearly as much play time as I thought it would (JLWE08 is
just a better game).
New Star Soccer 4 has been recently released - if you're a fan of
previous games (or simply a fan of Sensible Soccer/Kick Off)
download it now. My ancient computer is having a hard time with it
but from the demo it seems even better than NSS3.
Over the holidays I was rummaging through my parents basement and
found my copy of FIFA 2000. You can check out my
classic review here. Oh, it's just
as bad as I remember.....
December 9th, 2008
You can find my
FIFA 09 review here (at Digital Sports Page).
Here's my PES 2009 (PS3)
Review. I love the series but it's really been stagnant and as a
complete package I think FIFA 09 is a better purchase. That said I'm
still playing PES 2009 in single player.
October 28th, 2008
I
finished my FIFA 09 Review - it should be posted up on
Digital Sports Page
pretty soon. I ended up giving it an 88/100 - it's not only the best
FIFA game ever, it's the first FIFA game that stands toe-to-toe,
gameplay-wise, with the Winning Eleven/Pro Evo series. I still think J-League
Winning Eleven 2008 Club Championship is a better single-player
game but FIFA 09 has it beat in multiplayer and I also think FIFA 09 is
a better game than PES 2008. For an old-school Winning Eleven-whore
that's quite a statement.
I'll be picking up FIFA 09 for the Wii and of course PES 2009 for the
360 and PS3 so look for those reviews soon!
FYI - that screenshot was taken by me in-game on the 360!
September 30th, 2008
While the FIFA 09 demo has been out on
both Xbox Live Marketplace and the PSN Store, Konami has been lagging
behind with their demo of PES 2009. Thankfully, according to
Winning Eleven Next Gen Blog
the 360 and PS3 demo should drop this Thursday, October 2nd. The
demo was rumoured to be out several weeks ago but that would have meant
it was the same build as the underwhelming Leipzig demo. Thursday's
release should see the final build so I'm intrigued to see if it's as a
good as the folks at WENB have made it out to be (or have they, like
many WE/PES fans, just had their standards artificially lowered by the
godawful PES 2008).
Speaking of PES 2008, I had the pleasure (?) of re-experiencing the
laggy crap-fest that is PES 2008 online when I played a friend online
last week. I stick by the sentiment from my review - I'm just astounded
that in 2008, in the era of broadband that a company could release a
game with netcode so crap it plays worse than dial up games from 10
years ago. I remember playing the original Quake on MPlayer and Heat.net
with less lag than you get in PES 2008 over Xbox Live.
In more positive news,
it looks like New Star Soccer 4 is almost done - according to their main
website Simon (yes, ONE guy programs the bloody game - take your excuses
and shove them up your ass Seabass) is now in the final testing stages.
I can't wait for this one and if you're a fan of old-school football
games in the vein of Kick Off 2 and Sensible Soccer you must check out
New Star Soccer 3 - click the
link for the demo. And don't forget my review
here.
September 23rd, 2008
Away
for a while but a truckload of stuff has happened in the soccer-gaming
world. The FIFA 09 demo is out for the PC, 360 and PS3 while Konami has
released more info and screens on PES 2009.
Meanwhile, check out my J-League
Winning Eleven 2008 Club Championship Review - I didn't assign
scores to the game as it's practically the same as last year's game. On
the one hand that means it's an absolute rip-off if you have last year's
game. On the other hand, it's still the best single player
football game around. Click on the screenshot for the review.
For great FIFA and Winning Eleven news I'd check out;
Winning Eleven Next-Gen
Blog
FIFA Soccer Blog
Check out the FIFA 09 Advanced Skills videos - while most of those
moves would be a little impractical against human players they're still
pretty damn neat!
August 2nd, 2008
With the new European football season just
around the corner (plus the Olympic football tournament) there's been
some news on both FIFA 09 and PES 2009.
FIFA Soccer Blog has posted some videos FIFA 09 gameplay
while Konami have released a 'Gameplay' Trailer of PES 2009
You can also find a high-res FIFA 09 gameplay video
here. Whaddaya think? It's difficult to assess PES 2009 as it's
basically a trailer, FIFA 09 looks noticeably faster than last year's
game (not sure that's a good thing) but I can definitely see some more
animations for player movement. Stay tuned.
July 19th, 2008
One of the features I love about the Wii is the
Virtual Console that allows you to play classic NES, SNES, Genesis and
Neo-Geo games. At this point in time there's only one football game -
Soccer for the NES - you can
check out my review here.
July
15th, 2008
My fiancee recently bought me a Wii so I've posted a
review of Mario Strikers Charged - click on the link to read up.
It's solid rental but I can't recommend it as a full price game though I
do like the fact that the developers (Next Level Games) didn't over-do
the Wii motion controls like EA Sports did with FIFA 08 for the Wii
(I'll be posting brief impressions of that game later.
E3 2008 is going on right now so I'm hoping we hear (and see) more
about FIFA 09 and PES 2009 in the next few days. Fingers crossed!
July
2nd, 2008
The hype for FIFA 09 is starting to build. Here are two
interesting interviews with the developers;
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6193217.html
http://www.operationsports.com/feature.php?id=568
The biggest highlites for me are the fact that you can form a party
for online team play and the ability (finally) to have a quick online
re-match. The rest of the improvements with respect to ball physics and
player controls sound interesting but we'll have to see how they play
out. I really do hope, however, that there are more appreciable
differences in playing styles between teams as it'll really add more
life to the already excellent Manager Mode.
June 28th, 2008
I've reviewed a new game for the Nintendo DS
called Fab 5 Soccer.
It's incredibly cheap (less than fifteen bucks right now) and does
feature 24 licensed players including cover-boy Lionel Messi.
Unfortunately, the shallow arcade gameplay ultimately disappoints. You
can check out the review here.
June 9th, 2008
The apologies are getting old so I'll stop.
Finished (and passed) my very last licensing exam so in 3 weeks I'll be
graduating from my Residency program!
To celebrate - here's my
EURO 2008 (Xbox 360) review posted up at Digital Sports Page! Enjoy.
March 31st, 2008
I've fixed the problems with the server so
www.maccasgaming.com should be
working.
Now go download the EURO 2008 demo for the Xbox 360 or PS3 and have
fun! :)
March 29th, 2008
FIFA
Street 3 (Xbox 360) Review - Here.
Here's my review of the
(US) Xbox 360 version of PES 2008. You can recall I reviewed the
European PS3 version at
Digital SportsPage. This is a shorter, more concise review but also
has the advantage of many more months of play. Hope you find it useful.
March 24th, 2008
I spent most of the month of February working
in a small town a few hours north of Toronto (hence the paucity of
updates). I'm now back in the city but it's still been a super busy
month working ER. [End Excuses!]
Anyway, here's my review of
FIFA Street 3 for the Xbox 360. I had high hopes for this game,
unfortunately it's taken several steps backwards from even the last game
in the series.
I'll be posting my review of (US) PES 2008 on the Xbox 360 soon.
Don't forget you can check out my review of the European version of
PES 2008 on the PS3 at Digital Sports Page.
February 7th, 2008
Here's
my review of Sensible World of Soccer on Xbox Live Arcade. I
actually wrote this a month ago but have just been stupid busy.
In other news EA Sports have announced (surprise, surprise) that
they'll be releasing a Euro 2008 game. Hopefully, it builds upon the
phenomenal Online Team Player mode available in FIFA 08 - seriously, I
can't get enough of this mode.
The FIFA Street 3 demo has been up on PSN and XBox Live for some time
now. Despite the neat graphical style it appears to have the exact same
problem as FIFA Street 2, in that it's a trick game with soccer
elements rather than a soccer game with trick elements.
*sigh*
Why can't EA Sports just release a 5 vs 5 futsal game using the FIFA
08 engine? If it had the responsiveness of the trick moves in the Arena
mode it would be a killer game! I guess I'll have to keep on dreaming.
January 8th, 2008
Happy New Year!
Hope you had a safe and fun holiday season and are enjoying Sensible
World of Soccer on Xbox Live! Here's my
review of FIFA 08 for the Nintendo DS.
December 9th, 2007
Two updates in one day? Why not. As
promised, here's my review of
Winning Eleven DS: Goal x Goal. Please, don't import this game.
December 9th, 2007
Late update but I've posted my
review of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 for the PS3 at Digital Sportspage.
Check out the review, it's pretty in-depth but I figured a game that has
had this much flack should receive more scrutiny.
I've been playing the newest Winning Eleven game for the Nintendo DS;
World Soccer Winning Eleven DS: Goal x Goal (what is with
these titles?!) so look for a review before the end of the upcoming
week.
In other news, hope you've been enjoying the 5vs5 multiplayer patch
for FIFA 08 - it really adds another layer of depth and playability.
November 6th, 2007
I'm still waiting for my copy of Pro Evo
2008 for the PS3 from Game.co.uk (even though it shipped more than a
week ago!) but once I do get my grubby mitts on it I'll be posting
impressions and then a review. The impressions for Pro Evo 2008 for the
PS3 seem to be at two extremes, a whole lot of people are calling it an
absolute disaster (the phrase 'worst game ever' has been bandied
about on some forums), while others are saying it's the best in the
series. I suspect the truth will be somewhere in between....I hope.
I've posted a review of New Star
Soccer 3 for the PC - this is one hell of a good game and a must
try/buy for fans of SWOS and Kick Off 2.
I'm still chugging away at FIFA 08 (360) and JLWE2K7 (PS2) and having
a ton of fun, online in the former and single player in the latter.
October 19th, 2007
I've posted a review of FIFA 08 for the Xbox
360 but I've done so at Digital Sportspage - don't worry, I'll still be
posting other reviews (including classic games....when I get round to
them) on this site.
You can check out my review here.
Also, the PES 2008 demo is up on the North American XBox Live
Marketplace.
October 2nd, 2007
IGN has posted an interview with Winning Eleven creator Shingo "Seabass"
Takatsuka regarding PES 2008 (and in particular the PS3 version). He
talks a big game in the interview, here's hoping his game can back it
up....
October 1st, 2007
If you're able to tear yourself away from
Halo 3 (or...erm.....Warhawk if you're a PS3-only gamer) you'd have
noticed that demos of FIFA 08 and PES 2008 have hit XBL and PSN.
You can check out my thoughts of
both demos here.
August 27th, 2007
J-League WE 2007 Club Championship Review
HERE. Special thanks to the
man, the myth, the legend FERNANDO for his excellent translation patch.
For those of you stuck with translations for the World Tour/Challenge
Mode there's a
thread on
Evo-Web with the Challenges in English.
When it comes to the next-gen consoles (PS3/Xbox 360) it won't be
long until the new version of Winning Eleven/Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
comes out. Probably the best site for info on the game is the excellent
Winning Eleven Next-Gen Blog
- be sure to check out the many videos from the Leipzig Games
Convention.
The
big feature that Konami is promoting is their new 'Team Vision'
AI system which is supposed to adapt to the way you play and prevent you
from abusing teams with the same tactic. I'm intrigued to see how this
will pan out but I'm just as interested to see if Konami have toned down
the ratings of players like Adriano and Henry. Team Vision won't mean
much if you play online everyone still scores bucketloads with Adriano!
Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a Fantasista mode, no full
licenses for the EPL or Bundesliga, and only 10 (Ten! TEN!) stadiums!
While the presentation does appear to be improved this does seem to be a
very underwhelming effort from Konami. Hopefully it plays better than it
appears.
For
the second year running the soccer title I'm really excited about is
FIFA 08 for the next-gen consoles. You can check out some previews
here;
IGN
Games Radar
Eurogamer
I'm glad that a full complement of teams will be included (remember
last year's next gen version only had the top divisions) and I'm
interested to see if the Be A Pro mode comes close to emulating the
genius of Winning Eleven Fantasista mode. There also seem to be a number
of promising new gameplay changes.
The PS2 version also interests me as
IGN's most
recent preview has mention of manual passing using a much simpler
system than Winning Eleven.
Start saving your pennies.....
August 26th, 2007
One word;
"Fantasista"
What the hell does it mean? I don't know. What IS it? It's a
brilliant new game mode in J-League Winning Eleven 2007 Club
Championship that promises to reinvigorate the series! Basically, it's a
mode where you create and follow the career of a single player and I
have been ridiculously addicted to Fantasista over the past few weeks!
Check out my review of J-League
Winning Eleven 2007 Club Championship (the long titles continue) HERE!
August 8th, 2007 - I AM NOT DEAD!
Contrary to popular belief, I
have not expired and am still very much alive (thank you Dave and Yun!).
In the past few months I've moved to Toronto (and also transferred
programs!) - it's nice to be back in the big city!
A few European sites have released some screens from the next-gen
(PS3/Xbox 360) version of Winning Eleven/Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (or
whatever it'll be called);
You can these screens and more at -
http://4players.de/ and
http://pelaajalehti.com/ I love the detail in Raul's face and you
can see from the team-select screen that Tottenham and Newcastle have
licenses (unfortunately it looks like the rest of the EPL is generic).
As always, you can find out lots more insider info from the fantastic
Evo-Web forums.
I'm still waiting for my copy of J-League Winning Eleven 2007 Club
Championship (PS2) to arrive, stay tuned for some impressions (no,
really!).
April 14th, 2007
My recent week of vacation offered me multiple
opportunities to post new reviews....instead I played more Winning
Eleven 360 online. Oh well.
Don't worry, I have some new and classic game reviews coming up.
On a side note, if you're a Street Fighter fan
this story from 1up.com may interest you. :)
April 1st, 2007
No, it's not an April Fool's day joke -
here's my UEFA Champions League
(Xbox 360) review!
In other news, hopefully Konami and EA Sports have been paying
attention to the following recent real-life footballing events;
i) Both Inter and Barcelona have been knocked out of the Champions
League before the Quarter Final stage, so how about for next season's
games they aren't so bloody OVERRATED!
ii) Peter Crouch scored at hat-trick against Arsenal, this to go with
spectacular goals in the Champions League and 16 goals (so far) this
season. How about raising his stats for next season's games......
iii) England are crap. So make their 'Teamwork' rating in the low
10s....or maybe even minus...
Just my (biased) $0.02...
March 21st, 2007
Work has been a bitch.
Here's my UEFA Champions League
2006-2007 (Xbox 360) hands-on impressions, enjoy.
February 26th, 2007
I have the flu (thanks kids!). Here's my
belated review of Winning Eleven Pro
Evolution Soccer 2007 for the Xbox 360. I've had a lot of fun
playing online and met some great people. Unfortunately, I've also met
my fair share of cheaters and losers - here's my guide to the
five types of idiots you may have the
misfortune of encountering on Xbox Live while playing Winning Eleven.
February 8th, 2007
What's up folks? Had an insane last 2 weeks
with work and am now working in the Pediatric Emergency department. The
kids relax and are a lot calmer when they realize that their doctor is
playing the same videogames they are! ;)
Anyway, Winning Eleven Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 (what a stupid
title) is finally out and I'm definitely underwhelmed by the Xbox 360
version. There's only 8 stadiums, poor online interface, slowdown and
player responsiveness that just isn't as quick and crisp as the PS2
version. That said, I'm still playing it online and getting used to
using the Xbox controls after almost a decade of using the PS2's D-pad!
Look for reviews of the PS2 and Xbox 360 versions soon.
January 18th, 2007 (2nd Update)
Want to know which handheld
soccer game to buy? I put the four big handheld soccer titles up against
each other - see who wins out in
the first annual Handheld Soccer Championship!
January 18th, 2007
Three reviews in 7 days! Three! I should get
paid for this stuff.....okay, maybe not.
Here's my review of FIFA 07 for the
Nintendo DS. Enjoy responsibly.
January 16, 2007
Having recovered from my deep depression
following Liverpool's double thrashing at the hands of Arsenal, I've
finished my review of Pro Evolution Soccer
6 for the PSP.
January 11, 2007
Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a fun and
safe new year (I was working but whatever), anyway, here's my
review of FIFA 07 for the PSP!
Enjoy!
December 28, 2006
Ah, back from my lengthy five day
vacation.....anyway, here's my review of
Winning Eleven DS for the Nintendo DS
(duh!). Don't forget to check out my Football Manager 2007 PSP review if
you haven't already.
December 22, 2006
I want to wish everyone a safe and happy
Holiday Season!
Stay tuned to the site because I'll be updating very soon with
reviews of FIFA 07 PSP, Winning Eleven DS (if the DS truly is
region-free!), New Star Soccer 3, and a few new features!
December 14, 2006
I finally managed to bring up the courage to
update the original 1.5 firmware on my PSP! On the downside, bye bye
emulators :( On the brightside, I can finally play new PSP games! :)
Here's my review of Football Manager
Handheld 2007 for the PSP, enjoy!
Hope you're close to being done your Christmas/Holliday shopping
because the malls are insane!
December 5, 2006
REVIEW
ADDENDUM - JL-WE10 (PS2) Review
Doh! I'm a fool! In my rush to review Konami's newest J-League game I
merely took a cursory look at the Master League (using European club
teams) before jumping into a J-League season.
It turns out that the Master League has been improved - now
you have full 20 team leagues (by nation) as well as a World Club
Championship tournament (on top of the existing UEFA and Champions
League Cup equivalents). Furthermore, the Master League has the number
of available subs per match to five something that was only
present in the J-League modes in previous games! I've adjusted the
game's score appropriately.
Special thanks to Jared from
Digital Sports Page for
pointing this out on their great
forums.
November 30, 2006
Hi all, I've managed to drag myself away from
Gears of War to bring you a review of
J-League Winning Eleven 10 for the PS2!
November 16, 2006
Sorry for the long hiatus - I was on a
particularly busy rotation last month. Anyway, here's my
review of FIFA 07 for the Xbox
360.
I also must apologize to those that have been emailing me at my Yahoo
account - I'm on Gmail now so you can reach me here -
lchandr3@gmail.com. My sincerely
apologies to Aroon and Carlos Perez Chapa.
Cheers
October 2nd, 2006
Ahem...here's my
review of FIFA 07 for the Xbox!
What a game!
September 20th, 2006
Here's a
review of Goal Storm '97, a
Playstation game also known as Winning Eleven '97.
1up.com has posted another
preview of FIFA
07 for the Xbox 360. It appears that not only will the Manager Mode
only feature the top tier divisions but it will only last for 5 seasons!
Grrrr....
September 13th, 2006
Do the names Davy Jones and Rico Salamar
mean anything to you? If you do you may enjoy my review of the original
FIFA International Soccer for the
SNES!
September 10th, 2006
IGN
recently posted a preview of FIFA 07 for the Xbox360 which revealed some
disturbing news - it appears that the 'next-gen' version of FIFA
will only have 157 teams (just the top divisions and top leagues)
compared to 500 teams in the current gen versions. Great job EA Sports!
You pay several hundred dollars for a 'next-gen' system, a ten dollar
premium for a 'next-gen' game, and then you get a listing of teams
that's far less then the current generation of games. I was really
excited about the new manager/franchise mode but with only the top tier
of each domestic league it's going to be a piece of crap compared to the
Xbox and PS2 versions.
EA Sports' argument is that "it was just too difficult to
bring everyone [all the teams] over to the 360" - too
difficult, or too time consuming? I'm still looking forward to FIFA 07
on the 360 but my excitement has definitely been tempered.
September 6th, 2006
Here's a review of the classic SNES title
(which would later be ported to the Genesis, PSX and GBA);
International Superstar Soccer Deluxe!
August 29th, 2006
Things are heating up in the soccer gaming
world with some new info on both FIFA 07 and Winning Eleven: Pro
Evolution Soccer 2007 (yes, that's official title for North American
version - what a mouthful!) for the Xbox 360!
FIFA 07:
Team Xbox has an interview with FIFA 07's senior producer, Andrew
Wilson. Some of the highlites include Wilson discussing what sounds like
fully unscripted ball physics as well as, and I quote, "re-writing
[sic] the A.I. from scratch." Hmm, those are some pretty strong claims,
hopefully EA Sports can live up to them.
You can check out some screenies of FIFA 07 on the 360 at IGN
here.
Check out the player models! Hopefully they're not just cut-scenes as
they look fantastic. Check out Rooney (click on the pic to see a larger
version)!
Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007
IGN
has some screenshots of WE2007/PES6 for the Xbox 360 which you can check
out
here. There's also a small preview up at
1up.com. In
my opinion the game looks pretty underwhelming at this point
which is a shame but understandable since this appears to be more or
less a port of Winning Eleven 10
for the PS2 and therefore a game not built 'from the ground-up' for a
next-gen system. Further understating this point is a gameplay video
that's been posted at GameVideos.com - check it out
here. As you can
see, it looks nice, but more or less a high-res, widescreen version of
WE10.
More info to come so watch this space.
Okay, I'm back to playing Saints Row! :)
August 23rd, 2006
Sorry for the paucity of updates – it’s a
combination of the off-season (soccer gaming-wise) and a few busy
rotations for me at the start of residency. I’ve mainly been playing
Winning Eleven 10 for my soccer gaming fix (with the odd game of FIFA WC
2006 on the 360 for a change) but mostly I’ve been indulging in some
non-sports games. I know I’m late to the party but I just finished God
of War for the PS2 which has to be one of the finest action/adventure
games I’ve ever played! I’ve also been racking up the games on Street
Fighter II Hyper Fighting for the 360 on Xbox Live (my gamertag is
DrMacca) though I lose far more games than I win!
Speaking of Xbox Live, I’m really enjoying the Live Arcade weekly
releases (Texas Hold’em was released today, by the way). It really is a
crap-load of fun to play classic titles, but with the addition of
current-gen frills like leader-boards and online play. I recently read a
rumor that Live Arcade might see an edition Sensible World of Soccer
available in the future – if this is true and they include an online
multiplayer mode I’m not sure I’ll be leaving my couch! Here’s hoping
the rumor has some substance to it!
Anyway, I have a few retro-reviews lined up and I’m also eagerly
awaiting the release of FIFA 07 on the 360! I think it’s a sign of the
good work EA Sports have done (or perhaps how stagnant Konami have
become) when I think I’m more excited about a next-gen version of Fifa
than a next-gen Winning Eleven (especially if it comes with the same
tired old Master League!).
Watch this space!
August 7th, 2006
EA Sports have finally released some info on
FIFA 07! You can check out the press release at
Soccer Gaming and better yet, you can check out gameplay
(yes, GAMEPLAY!) videos of the PS2 version at IGN -
here's the link to the videos.
July 16th, 2006
This site is kind of like waiting for a bus -
you wait forever for one to arrive and then all of a sudden two show up.
Ahem...two reviews for your reading pleasure (click on the links);
Winning Eleven 10 (PS2) - 88/100
Sensible Soccer 2006 (PS2) - 65/100
Also, I don't know if this has been reported elsewhere, but if you
check out Konami's Japanese website there's info on Winning Eleven for
the Nintendo DS - check it out
here.
June 26th, 2006
Erm.....Holy
Crap Part II! Sorry, guys. What's happened;
i) I graduated from Med School, won a Family Medicine award, and passed
my licensing exam! Woo hoo!
ii) That officially makes me Dr. Macca! :)
iii) I just returned from a backpacking trip through Spain & Italy with
my fiancé
iv) I've posted my FIFA: World Cup 2006
(Xbox 360) Review!
Anyway,
back and working July 1st so that should mean more regular updates.
I've definitely got my WE10 review in the works, as well as a few
others.
Finally, here’s a pic of me at the Nou Camp….what a gorgeous stadium!
April 25th, 2006
Holy Crap! It's been a while! Sorry, folks -
have had a lot on my plate recently. I got engaged! Yup,
another one bites the dust! Congratulatory emails can be sent
here. I've
also been studying for my medical licensing exam (it's on May 9th) and
getting ready for my apartment move. That said, I'll soon be getting my
hands on Winning Eleven 10 (PS2), FIFA: World Cup 2006 (X-Box), and
Football Manager for the PSP! So, stay tuned for hands on previews and
reviews to follow.
Also, congratulations to Arsenal for reaching the CL final, and my
beloved Reds for reaching the
FA Cup final!
March 1st, 2006
After playing it to death very recently, here's
my review of FIFA Street 2 for
the X-Box. Is it better than the original FIFA Street? Hell yes! Is
it a must-buy? Read on to find
out!
February 27th, 2006
I've posted a review of the cult SNES hit,
Capcom's Soccer Shootout. Enjoy!.
February 23rd, 2006
Ah, the resident match is in and
fortunately I got my first choice - Family Medicine at the University of
Western Ontario (London, Ontario). Woo hoo! To celebrate I've posted a
mini-review/hands-on of Winning Eleven
9: International (PS2). Enjoy!
February 14th, 2006
Don't worry (or worry) I'm still alive!
Interviews and my big-ass final year OSCE exam are done and WE9:I is
here! I'm online with the PS2 version so look for me - my nick's 'Macca'.
Anyway, I'll be getting the content flowing again on this site soon
so check back before the end of the week!
January 15th, 2006
I'll be off for residency interviews next
week, but here's an article on some
possibilities for soccer gaming on the next generation of consoles.
Hope you enjoy it!
January 3rd, 2006
As promised, my
review of Championship Manager for the
PSP!
Don't forget my JL-WE9 Review
as well.
January 2nd, 2006
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a wonderful
holiday season. I had a blast being back in T.O. playing some ball
hockey and WE9. Anyway, here's my
review of J-League Winning Eleven 9: Asia Championship. Enjoy!
I've already written my review of Championship Manager for the PSP
which I'll post tommorow.
December 12th, 2005
Here's
my review of The Official Pro Evolution Soccer 5 Guide. By the way,
I recently finished Half-Life 2 for the X-Box, I've been late to the
party since my PC isn't powerful enough to play it but man, what a
bloody amazing game! I'll have my review of J-League WE9 up next
week.
December 6th, 2005
Tis the season....for Winning Eleven
goodness! Some hands-on impressions of
J-League Winning Eleven 9: Asia Championship for the PS2! I'll have the
full review up soon.
December 2nd, 2005
Twenty-two shopping days till Christmas!
Anyway, in honor of my recent RTWC 98 review, I've done an article
comparing the feature sets of FIFA
RTWC 06 for the uber-powerful XBOX 360 and RTWC 98 for the ol' PSOne.
I also took a look at the lambasting that EA Sports' newest FIFA game
has been getting by the usually EA-friendly gaming press!
Enjoy!
November 22nd, 2005
So....who wants to donate an XBOX 360 to
Macca's gaming? [cue crickets chirping] LOL Anyway, I haven't forgotten
about the site - I've just been playing more non-sports/soccer games
recently. However, I have had some time to play RTWC 98 and I've added
my retro review here!
I'll soon be adding a comparison of the feature sets of RTWC 98 and
RTWC 06, and also some short info on the non-sports games I've been
enjoying recently (if you're interested!).
November 4th, 2005
S.W.O.S.
is back, baby!!! If you're a soccer gamer who's worth his salt you've
probably already read about the Sensible Soccer remake for the
PS2/X-Box/PC at Soccer Gaming, if not, check it out
here! You can also check out
the similar/same press release at Team
X-Box. While on one hand this is pretty damn neat, the skeptic in me
wonders about those screenshots - camera seems a bit zoomed in (compared
to the original) doesn't it?
October 31st, 2005
Happy Halloween! I am done my elective in
Toronto and had a hell of a time there! Back now in London I've brought
you a nice Halloween treat - my FIFA 06
PSP Review!
October 12th, 2005
I've written a short
addendum to my original Winning Eleven 9 review - I discuss the free
kicks, multiplayer, daisy-cutters, and CPU team management.
I've also added a review/look back at the originator of all this Pro
Evo madness - International Superstar
Soccer Pro Evolution on the PSX.
Finally, Fifa 2006 review, in case
you missed it.
October 9th, 2005
Fifa 2006 - easily the best game in the
series and you can read the review of the X-Box version
here.
October 2nd, 2005
Review of Winning Eleven PSP/Winning Eleven:
Ubiquitous Edition here.
September 18th, 2005
Winning Eleven: Ubiquitous Edition (aka
Winning Eleven PSP) hands on impressions!
September 11th, 2005
Hmmm, my lengthy update is a bit too big
for the main page so click here for
info on Winning Eleven for the PSP (!), a random SNK football game, and
MaccasGaming vs. University of Nottingham's Pro Evo Society
Representative (er...an unofficial representative).
Oh, and I've also added numerical scores to my
WE9 review (by request) and a
review of Super Soccer for the SNES.
September 1st, 2005
Possibly (hopefully) the most in-depth
review of Winning Eleven 9 on the net....or at least the longest review
on the net. Click HERE.
August 6th, 2005
Bloody
hell I've been away for a while! Anyway, I've been doing my family
medicine elective in Kitchener/Waterloo where I have no freakin' TV and
no freakin' internet. Needless to say I've got a lot of reading done.
But I did make a return home to get my hands on WINNING ELEVEN 9!
Here are some (lengthy) hands-on
impressions after a red-eyed gaming session into the wee hours.
Also, big shout out to my friend Moiz for getting engaged! :)
July 8th, 2005
So there I was in Starbucks tonight (sipping on
my ridiculously overpriced and long-windedly named caffeinated
beverage), writing my retro review of Fifa: RTWC 98 (PSX) and thinking
of how the first time I saw the great 3D polygonal player models my jaw
just hit the floor. It was truly one of my most memorable moments in
sports gaming, and since I'm a sucker for lists, I thought I'd share a
list of my other Top Ten Memorable
Moments in Sports Gaming.
July 7th, 2005
Gamespot.com recently posted a really interesting article comparing the
Sony Pro Duo memory sticks to the SanDisk ones. Surprisingly they found
the SanDisk memory sticks to be superior with regards to transfer
speeds! You can check out the article
here, or by clicking on their
pretty banner above.
July
5th, 2005
My friend Jas recently got a kick-ass BenQ DLP projector
and I just thought I'd share a pic of me standing infront of a 90inch
game of Ice Hockey (emulated through my Xbox).
In other news, UK website GamesRadar has a
review of Fifa for the PSP
and it seems as if the slow-down/freezing hasn't been fixed. That said,
the review doesn't specifically say they're reviewing the UK
version of the game so Fifa fans should still keep their fingers
crossed.
June 25th, 2005
I've just finished my review of
Fifa Soccer for
the PSP. You can find the review here. I was really surprised with how
much I actually liked Fifa for the PSP - sure it isn't close to Winning
Eleven but it does provide a lot of arcade football excitement and, like
Fifa 2005 for the non-handhelds, it wipes the floor with the Fifa games
of the past few years.
June 22nd, 2005
My take on E3 here.
Kids, don't do drugs.
June 9th, 2005
Wow, this is turning into a site with monthly
updates! Sorry about going AWOL, the good news is that I've finished my
Internal Medicine rotation and now have my life back! I've also written
another review of Fifa Street, this time for
DSP, which should be up
there soon. I've also managed to procure a Sony PSP so look for some PSP
reviews in the future.
To add to this site, I've added a short guide to emulation and
emulators which you can check out here. I doubt it will be long till
someone manages to crack the v1.5 firmware for the PSP and we'll see a
flood of various v1.5 emulators hit the net (there are already emus for the v1.0
firmware, check out PSPHacker for
more details).
May 8th, 2005
Sorry for the long time without updates, I've
started my Internal Medicine rotation and have been ridiculously
busy....but not so busy that I couldn't bring you fine folks some
reviews: Neo-Geo Cup '98 for the
Neo-Geo (duh), Goal! Two for the NES,
Super Goal! for the SNES, and
finally a non-soccer game; the legendary
Ice Hockey on the NES (this one's for Jaswan!).
WTS 2005 and Fifa: RTWC 98 reviews on the way. No, seriously!
April 19th, 2005
Posted some random Gran
Turismo 4 pics that I took using the photo mode. Mmmmm....eye
candy.....mmmmm bad AI.....
April 18th, 2005
Sorry for the week without an update - Gran
Turismo 4 has me in its clutches and I am perplexed as to why - though I
think the killer driving model and the sweet eye candy have something to
do with it (even if the CPU AI is still brain dead). I really
didn't want to like GT4 and when I first got it it collected dust on my
shelf for a week or two, but goddamn the driving model is fun.
Anyway, I've updated with a short review of
Goal! for the NES. Had quite a bit of
fun with this one (despite the ooogly graphics - sorry Luc!). I'll be
posting a review of the legendary Ice Hockey (NES) soon. I know it's not
a soccer game, but it's still a classic.
World Tour Soccer 2006 (PS2), Italia '90 (Atari ST) and ISS Deluxe (SNES)
reviews are on the way.
April 9th, 2005
Posted a review of Sensible World of Soccer for the
Amiga. I forgot how great this game is and just how many bloody teams
and leagues it has - 146 of them! Makes Winning Eleven's selection of
teams and leagues look like a joke.
April 6th, 2005
So
after what has seemed like ages I've finally got the site up and
running. Posted reviews of Kick Off 2 (Commodore Amiga),
WE8:Liveware
Evolution (PS2) and Goal! Goal! Goal (Neo-Geo)! 'veI also added a copy
of the Fifa Street review I did a few weeks ago. The Kick Off 2 & Goal!
Goal! Goal! reviews are part of my history of soccer gaming review
series. I'm currently working on a review of another classic football
title; Sensible World Of Soccer (Amiga) - look for that posted later
this week along with (hopefully) a World Tour Soccer 2005 review.
Hope you enjoy the site.
Lavan
