Baseball Primer Newsblog— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Thursday, December 14, 2006
You’re almost as good as…ClefyB?
The Tigers are satisfied they won’t see a recurrence of the right wrist and forearm inflammation that sidelined Joel Zumaya for three games of the American League Championship Series.
Why? Club president and general manager Dave Dombrowski told WXYT-AM (1270) on Wednesday the team had concluded Zumaya’s injury resulted from playing a video game, not from his powerful throwing motion. “That was probably what was taking place,” Dombrowski later told the Free Press.
Zumaya, 22, was known to play “Guitar Hero,” a PlayStation 2 game in which a player uses a guitar-shaped controller to simulate the performance of popular songs.
Repoz
Posted: December 14, 2006 at 12:26 PM | 150 comment(s)
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At least the Wii wasn't out yet - who knows who might have had a bizarre Wii boxing injury during the playoffs? (My money is on Edmonds)
We are nearly 30 years old.
then he happened to accompany the team on a road trip & saw Chocolate Thunder walking through the airport with an 80 pound boom box slung over his bad shoulder
We are nearly 30 years old.
I can't say I've gone 80 minutes at EB Games, but one of my friends and I went about 30. We're 28.
So if he had already hurt himself, or is just predisposed to that kind of pain, I could see it being aggrivated by that game.
That never really happened, did it? ;-)
That never really happened, did it? ;-)
there was an article in SI many years ago about weird sports injuries & the 76ers team doctor (can't remember his name) swears it's true
With nothing to fist-pump about this offseason, his elbows are in near-mint condition.
Blame Ronnie James Dio's grandmother.
You sort of have to play it to actually understand, it's sort of like an epiphany.
I can't understand the appeal of [b]any video game, ever. Never have played one, going all the way back to Pong & Pacman & whatever -- can't imagine ever wanting to. The fact that some people fetishize such silly stuff is ... off-putting, to say the least.
We are nearly 30 years old.
IOW, the average age of a gamer.
You don't think its 16 year olds shelling out $600 for game consoles, do you?
Now you've got me imagining some perv with a Pac-Man fetish. Ew ew Ew ew Ew!
With the ghosts, it might even qualify as necrophilia.
I like video games. It just that this particular one looks kind of boring. Although it appears to be one of those types where you always seem on the verge of getting to the next level, so to speak, and those can be addicting.
You don't think its 16 year olds shelling out $600 for game consoles, do you?
Ya know, I used to wonder when I'd outgrow video games. As it is, I don't play them that often. I haven't played anything but the latest EA college baseball game in the last year, and I probably haven't even played that in a month. But then it dawned on me that all of the adults who never played video games when I was growing up didn't themselves grow up with video games. So I'm not really that worried about it.
I agree with the others who say you have to play it. I initially thought it was a really silly idea, and bought it on a friend's glowing recommendation. It is incredibly addictive (like all good games and many bad ones).
Basically, anyone who has ever enjoyed a little air guitar and can't play a real guitar very well is probably going to have a blast with this game.
I can't understand the appeal of any video game, ever. Never have played one, going all the way back to Pong & Pacman & whatever -- can't imagine ever wanting to. The fact that some people fetishize such silly stuff is ... off-putting, to say the least.
Mindboggling. To me, that's like someone saying, "I can't understand the appeal of this whole moving picture thing. Never gone to the movies, can't imagine ever wanting to."
Some of the best video games are basically interactive movies these days. The level of detail that goes into their creation is well beyond the days of Pong and Pac-man. We're talking about games scored by a professional orchestra, integrated realistic sound effects, with characters given speech by the highest quality voice-actors, with detailed plots and rich characterization top to bottom. Other excellent games sacrifice some of this realism for even more rich breadth, either non-linearity, or novel-length plots, or greater mental interaction in the form of puzzle solving, or comedy, or sometimes just good old mindless twitch.
There are so many different types of video games, with so many different themes, that there MUST be something out there that would be captivating to even you. Your issue is almost certainly lack of quality exposure.
We are nearly 30 years old.
80 minutes of playing "A Horse with no Name", and "Baby, I'm a Want You" hardly compares.
My youngest brother asked me for it for Christmas.
Only time I have ever injured myself is playing Call of Duty II multiplayer on line and my shoulders were feeling it when I was done(PC)
We are nearly 30 years old.
Last Saturday a friend got guitar hero for his birthday and we took turns playing it for hours. We are 36.
I think I'll still be playing video games when I'm in a nursing home. It'll be a good thing. I won't have to stop playing just to go to the bathroom, the robot nurses will clean up after me.
I'm 38. We didn't get the Atari until a couple of years after it came out. So I got my start on Pac Man, Asteroid, and Space Invader machines at the arcade. My hand-eye coordination was never great, so I'd burn through quarters quickly. So I never really got into video games.
Thats whats great about us, is we have seen how incredibly far it has come. I remember shortly before the Atari coming out my Dad buying the Odyssey, I believe the name was. I believe my folks still have the Colecovision and the controller for baseball for that thing was insane.
I hope when I am 60 i am still playing super mario kart. I don't think I want to stop playing that game. Greatest. Racing game. ever.
What a world our grandchildren will live in, with those controllers with 146 buttons and 46-bladed razors and 2-minute abs.
Nobody's comin' up with 2. Who works out in 2 minutes? You won't even get your heart goin, not even a mouse on a wheel.
I'm sure you're right, but you've got to realize that I've never even played pinball. I've got nothing against games per se -- I've devoted god knows how many umpteen hours of my existence to the likes of Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, various card games, etc, not to mention most of the team sports -- but ... I dunno. I can't really explain it.
Maybe my mother was scared by an arcade when she was carrying me, or something.
I remember moving from the Atari to the Nintendo at 11 years old. (Hmmm...one more button.) And then to the Super Nintendo at 15. (Whoa! A lot more buttons to play with!) Then to the Nintendo 64 at 20. (What the hell is this thing?) I got used to that one, but then the GameCube came out when I was 25. (#### it. I'm playing the PlayStation 2.)
I am, at 30, eagerly anticipating getting my hands on a Wii, though.
http://www.guitarherobrokemyknee.com/
I think the game that most blew me away in that regard was God of War. I actually think it's slightly overrated, as there are too many portions that just aren't much fun. But as...well, art, I guess, it's absolutely extraordinary.
A few months ago I was talking about the game to my dad, mainly in explaining to him why he shouldn't bother to buy it. (Seriously, it would kick my dad's ass on Easy mode) When I told him why Kratos was so white, he was blown away. He thought that was an amazing plot point.
I find this a curious statement on a site dedicated to such a silly enterprise such as baseball.
I'm 31 and trying to decide if my marriage could survive the acquisition of a Playstation 3. As it is, I'm totally addicted to playing PS2 NCAA Football 07 online. When 08 comes out on the PS3 next fall, well, it might be a good idea to start looking around for furnished, month to month apartments in the area.
Someone needs to play cranky old man... forget the graphics, forget the poor man's virtual reality pap....
Gimme any of the following:
- OOTP5 through 6.5 (ootp2006 just doesn't do it for me)
All the best features from the great dynasty games of yesteryear -- Earl Weaver baseball, Tony LaRussa baseball, etc
- Hearts of Iron II/HOI2 Doomsday
Single greatest WWII sim ever. Better historical depth than ANY textbook you've ever seen. Play any of 150+ nations from 1936 to 1948, with realistic tech trees, units, commanders, political cabinets, etc
- Civilization II
Civ III and Civ IV sacrificed too much pacing and gameplay for eye candy
- Europa Universalis II
By the same folks that did HOI, historical sim from ~1400 to ~1800.
- Galactic Civlizations II
Civ 2 in space! The one game where I think the eye candy was worth it -- design your own ships -- not just features, but look and feel.
I'm glad that people here like it.
So the only song you did was "American Pie"?
I'm a really big fan of what they've done with culture, vassal states (in the expansion), less constricting tech trees, great people and not having to click into the damn city menu to control the city in Civ IV. I'd say the ease of gameplay is much better with IV.
I don't think III was a significant upgrade on II though.
This is true. I'm still playing Contra 3 and Super Metroid.
I'd never seen the game, or figured out why it was popular, but watching this guy prance and strut while belting out the tune (and only missing a couple of notes), I finally understood.
Somebody above said basically the same thing but I think guitar hero appeals to all those people that wanted to be a rock star but never put the time in to learn how to play guitar. Which I guess makes the game no different then Madden or MVP or pretty much any other game. But still Guitar Hero and Dance Dance revolution look to be the dorkiest games to play. Sure you might have a ball playing them but you better hope to god nobody snaps a picture or films you doing it.
That and final fantasy.
You could be in a coma and still play this game.
http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/
Baseball Stars
Super Mario Cart
Starcraft
I will play these games forever
Axis and Allies
Test Drive
Lakers vs. Celtics
How about learning to play, you know, an actual guitar?
Because the game's a lot more fun?
You're one of my heroes.
But still Guitar Hero and Dance Dance revolution look to be the dorkiest games to play. Sure you might have a ball playing them but you better hope to god nobody snaps a picture or films you doing it.
Actually, Guitar Hero has a lot of "street cred", I think.
Umm, dude, post #24. C'mon now.
I'm sure it does but I'm also pretty sure that if most of the people that play guitar hero filmed themselves and then put it on Youtube they would get flamed pretty harshly. I'm also pretty sure that if you played it during a family chritmas gathering in say 20 years it would get a big laugh.
Like I said I'm sure for those that play it it is a blast. But that doesn't change the fact that you look stupid doing it.
They couldn't possibly look any worse than this girl.
Umm, dude, post #24. C'mon now.
Oops, sorry Shredder.
As an 18-year-old, I am lucky -- my dad as well as my brother and sister (9 and 10 years older than I) were into video games, so I was exposed my entire life. I was raised on Atari from birth, worked into NES early on (Mario Bros. 3 is the greatest game of all time), the Super Nintendo came around and I was getting better, the N64 was finally a console I rocked on (as I was getting older and more spatially-unstupid) and the Gamecube has been my buddy until just recently, when I went with an XBox360. I still plan to get the Wii down the road, but for now, I feel dirty for having betrayed Nintendo.
Billy Madison: I disagree. Although it is a very good game, Donkey Kong is the best video game ever.
Biff: Donkey Kong sucks.
Billy Madison: You know what? YOU SUCK!
I've been playing "actual guitar" for over a decade and Guitar Hero is still a crapload of fun. Challenging, too. Believe it or not, plenty of songs are more difficult in Guitar Hero than on a real guitar.
Too late for me. My fiancee caught me at a Best Buy when I thought she had left for Ann Taylor's Loft or Williams & Sonoma or one of those places.
There are plenty of GH videos on YouTube and they don't get flamed.
The guitar doesn't look as dorky as the cell phone clipped to the waist does.
That sounds like a challenge.
I was born with the only joystick I'll ever need.
Bah. "Reality" is a shared illusion.
From an oldfart whose primary pastimes -- besides baseball -- are books and movies.
Better question: Will your alimony payments allow you to keep buying games?
Never let a woman come between you and gaming.
You enjoy doing something other than what I enjoy doing? What is this fresh hell?
True, thankfully I quit that job and no longer had to carry around a 24-hour Nextel. Now, I'm just unemployed!
That just means more time for Guitar Hero!
Too late, unless you came out of some test tube or swamp.
Most people I know prefer Guitar Hero, but they still like Donkey Konga.
2. Final Fantasy 3 (US) was the best of all the FF games, and is my candidate for best video game ever. FF2 is a very close second.
3. The best sports games in the late 90's, by far, were the EA NHL franchise.
4. HE'S ON FIRE!
Single greatest WWII sim ever. Better historical depth than ANY textbook you've ever seen. Play any of 150+ nations from 1936 to 1948, with realistic tech trees, units, commanders, political cabinets, etc
Very fun game. I feel sad that I don't have the time to play it I once did.
I realize that this is the consencus now, but I strongly disagree with it. FF3(VI) is where things started to go downhill, and it's a predecessor to the crapfest that was FF7... and 8... and 9... and.. you get the picture.
I always wondered whose idea it was to take out the fights in, what, the '95 version?
'94 or '95 was the last one with fights. I knew lots of guys who wouldn't upgrade to the newer versions cuz they wanted the fights.
I always assumed the NHL asked EA to remove them. I'm probably wrong.
"Oh look, little Wayne's head is bleeding. Oh, his legs are shaking, little Wayne's legs are shaking!"
Anyway, listening to "I Love Rock n' Roll" and "Killing In The Name Of" thousands of times has made me extremely jaded toward Guitar Hero. Point is, we need a new display game...
I'm so sorry. Isn't that a violation of some labor law under inhumane working conditions?
Anyway, listening to "I Love Rock n' Roll" and "Killing In The Name Of" thousands of times has made me extremely jaded toward Guitar Hero. Point is, we need a new display game...
Ugh. ILRR is easily the most boring song in either game.
Absolutely not my friend.
If I absolutely had to vote for a #1, I think I'd still vote for Legend of Zelda: the Ocarina of Time, but Metroid Prime is up there in the pantheon of all time greats.
While not the easiest thing to track down, Samba de Amigo is great fun. If anyone is willing to brave a little Japanese (I don't understand a lick) and likes the WarioWare games, check out Rhythm Tengoku. Elite Beat Agents just came out for DS recently and it is excellent as well.
1. Civ 1 was the best of all the Civ games.
I had to delete this from my computer, it was so addicting and time-consuming.
My friend had to delete his because another friend was always using his computer to play it.
Worse than heroin.
2. Final Fantasy 3 (US) was the best of all the FF games, and is my candidate for best video game ever. FF2 is a very close second.
The music in this game - and also this old Sega game called "Warsong - were ridiculously addicting. It took several years to get the tune out of my head. (Warsong's theme song pops back into my head)
3. The best sports games in the late 90's, by far, were the EA NHL franchise.
Yep, NHL Hockey ruled.
4. HE'S ON FIRE!
Couldn't agree more. I've probably played NHL 94 on Sega CD (don't ask) and NHL 96 on Super Nintendo more than any other games.
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