The LifeMaven

I’m not sure how many folks know this, but I’ve been playing around with it for the last day and I’ve learned a lot.

After every online multiplayer match, you get the menu screen with: Player Feedback, Quit Game, Stats, etc. The one that will really help improve your game is Highlights.

From highlights you can review any play from the game by selecting it and pressing X (On 360). It’s just like reviewing an instant replay and you can look at the play step by step using the left and right triggers.

True football fans will realize that this is exactly what real teams do when they review the film and photos from a game! Here you can learn what defense your opponent used that stopped you so much or how they scored so easily against your defense.

I haven’t even begun to play around with this in Online Dynasties, but I imagine it’s even more useful. Most people have a handful of plays that they use on offense and defense all the time. Using this highlight tool it’s possible to figure out what their tendencies are for the next time you play them.

For me, that’s just uber cool!

PS: Unfortunately the only way to review the highlights is immediately after a game. Which sucks if you just lost and it’s gotten to you. Maybe someday EA will be cool and actually let you save the entire highlights section for future use. But until then, the best thing to do is just calm down and look at the highlights a little later, after the sting has worn off.

PPS: This works in regular matches against the CPU, but I think it’s less relevant because the CPU is much better at mixing up it’s play calling. BUT I haven’t looked at it either, so who knows?

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I recently purchased NCAA Football 10 for the 360.

It’s been pretty good so far. I built a Baruch Bearcat team using the Teambuilder feature and have been working their way up from cupcake status in my offline dynasty.

It’s fun, but after about 2 weeks of playing religiously, I’m starting to crave something a little more challenging.

Enter Online Dynasties.

I’ve heard a lot about them, but have never tried them. Basically the concept is up to 12 folks can get together and play through the dynasty mode. Each chooses a school to represent and handles all of the team duties such as recruiting, redshirts, etc.

The trick is supposed to be it combines the challenge and unpredicablity of playing against real people with the longer term focus of dynasty mode.

Since this will be my first foray into online dynasties, I thought it would be a good learning experience to share with any other online neophytes interested.

Step 1: Finding a dynasty

How do we find a dynasty? The method I’m using is by looking through the different forums for the game. I like Gamefaqs because I already have an account there, but there’s also the EA Sports forum and NCAA Strategies forum.

Once you have an account on one of these places, just look for posts about joining a dynasty. You’ll usually need to leave your gamertag (PS3 folks I have no idea your equivalent) and preferred team.

The person who started the thread should send you an online dynasty invite when they’re ready to start. You’ll need to go into the game and look under “Career Modes” -> “Online Dynasty Invites”

And that’s all I’ve got so far. It’s not much, but hopefully I’ll get an invite and can update on my progress soon.

Like many other young males in my generation, I have an expensive addiction.

No, not drugs.

VIDEO GAMES!

This week marked this year’s release of Electronic Arts’ annual college football game. And like any good addict, I reserved and bought a copy.

I know that the value is marginal compared to last year’s game. A few new features, slightly improved graphics and animations, but I still purchased it anyway.

The “pull” was just too strong.

There are two lessons to take from this:

1) Release something in periodic installments and if,

2) the “pull” is strong enough, you can make some serious money.

Many football fans are stuck in a similar boat as me. We know the value of this year’s edition will probably not be worth the $60 investment, but we buy it anyway because we’re so addicted.

What can you do in your business to get people to continually pay in periodic installments?

Memberships? Subscriptions? Or follow EA’s model and just release a new version every so often?

What can you do to create that kind of “pull” that will sustain treating your customers like that?

Marketing? Advertising? Hype?

PS: A monopoly, where you’re the only game in town helps too.

EA has exclusive rights to the college and pro football licenses. There hasn’t been another serious pro football game since NFL 2K5 by Take Two.

What’s new in my world this week? (A collection of random updates, cool stuff I’ve found, and other random awesomeness.)

Rediscovery! I got the Brett Favre itch!

Rediscovered Madden 09 after a break of about two months now. (That’s a long time for me to go without any football.)

I don’t play online that much, mostly solo franchise games, but if anyone is up for a game my Xbox live gamertag is DCH Spartans 2. Just send a message and we’ll set something up!

And speaking of words with Re- in them…

Red vs. Blue Recreation!

Ah yes, where would Summer be without Red vs. Blue.

For those not familiar with the series, it’s basically a comedy made using the Halo series of video games. The term is called Machinima, and you can learn more about it here and the series here. (Don’t you just love Wikipedia?)

Most of the series probably won’t make much sense if you’re not a regular follower, so I would suggest checking out the earlier seasons first to see if it’s something you like. (Although it obviously changed over the years since it began.)

For those who are familiar, what are you waiting for?! Go watch it!

Corporate life can so ridiculous

(Cube Image above taken from www.cubefigures.com)

DISCLAIMER: This story is told entirely from my point of view, so any decisions or meetings that I was not a part of are not included, obviously. I don’t even know the actual final outcome, but just the thought of what might happen is worth a rant.

I know we all have our own horror stories about corporations doing something incredibly stupid or unreasonable.

This week’s gem comes courtesy of my company, so of course all names have been changed to protect the guilty.

I work in desktop support and one of our functions is to disconnect and reconnect and computers that need to be moved as people are moved from one cubicle to another.

Currently, we’re in a big project where three floors worth of people have to be moved because the company wants to lease the space.

The issue is that someone complained about not having their computers reconnected early enough and so management wanted to put a deadline on us to have all computers reconnected by 7AM.

WHAT!?

It’s bad enough that we’re short staffed and we have to do these reconnects in the mornings. (My coworkers do, not me because I work a different shift.)

But to push that time even earlier is downright inhuman.

Some folks don’t get overtime so they would have to leave early after starting early. But that would understaff us for the disconnects that take place in the afternoon.

To me, this is another example of poor communication. Whoever is making these decisions or proposing them is not in touch with us grunts on the ground level.

Suffice to say, it’s very aggravating and yet another reason why I want out of the corporate world real quick.

Update: This post from Escape from Cubicle Nation about an overloaded employee is yet another example of corporate insanity.

Questioning my manliness

Kind of.

I’ve mentioned in some of my other posts that I read The Art of Manliness.

And I was wondering if some of their advice is applicable for other cultures?

I mean, a lot of what they say isn’t culture specific. Things like writing a letter to your dad or setting your values.

But some suggestions for father-son activities seem pretty American to me. Playing catch, going to a ball game, fishing, camping, hunting, etc.

I feel like I have a pretty unique view in that I’m more American than I am Chinese, and my dad is the same, but he has a more unique view on the world, than I.

I mean, I’m pretty Americanized and occasionally find myself vaguely interested in these “traditional” American pastimes. My dad on the other hand, not so much.

My question is this: What do other cultures do to create the same sacred bond between father and son? Let me know in the comments!

And that leads to: Father’s Day is coming up

Have any special plans for that father figure in your life?

So what’s new in all of your worlds’? Anything interesting or awesome happen to you? Let me know below.

What’s new in my world this week? (A collection of random updates, cool stuff I’ve found, and other random awesomeness.)

Showing Gratitude Update

In my Friday update last week, I talked about the importance of showing gratitude and reaching out to people.

Here are some of the responses I got:

Chris Gullibeau:

“Thanks, Andrew! I really appreciate you taking the time to write this. Good luck with your blog and everything else!”

Havi Brooks:

“Hey that’s wonderful – happy to hear. Keep me posted on the biggification front! ”

Brian Armstrong:

“Cool blog!  It looks like a good design and a great start.  It’s never easy figuring out what exactly to do with your life, but at least you’re exploring the question – something most people never do.  Keep in touch!”

Brian even went so far to link me in a post! I was deeply touched as I did not approach him with that intent at all!

As you can see, some folks in the online community are still very personable and approachable despite all of the successes they might enjoy.

Some tips and lessons from this:

1. Don’t expect anything in return. Don’t ask for the link, if people like what they see, they’ll link on their own.
2. Show gratitude! Thank people for the inspiration and impact they’ve had on your life and worldview.
3. Be humble, but don’t grovel. You’re just as great as anyone else in the world, even if you might not have the same laundry list of accomplishments. (Not sure if I passed that one myself) :-/

Seth Godin provides Graduate School for Unemployed College Grads

Well, not exactly.

In this post, Seth lists a number of tasks us college grads could do that could greatly improve our job prospects.

Here are the ones I’m working on:

· Teach yourself HTML

· Start, run and grow an online community. (I hope this blog counts!)

· Write a regular newsletter or blog about an industry you care about.

Seeing as how I’m only working on those three out of a list of 10, I feel strangely inadequate. :-/

But still, I think it’s a fantastic idea for any of my fellow grads who might not be doing anything this summer.

Follow up: Pam Slim over at Escape from Cubicle Nation has a similar post to us fellow grads. Check it out!

Rediscover American McGee’s Alice

Warning: To those who believe that Disney’s Alice in Wonderland is the one true depiction of the story, the images and scenes seen here will be downright sacrilege. Proceed at your own risk and only with an open mind!

I remember a few years back when this game came out, one of the promotions had a very dark and morbid rhyme as told by Alice.

Too bad, I couldn’t find it on Youtube.

I swear, I spent way too much time trying to find that rhyme to show everyone how cool this version of Alice is.

Instead, all I have is this trailer to show for it. Enjoy!

So what’s new in all of your worlds’? Anything interesting or awesome happen to you? Let me know in the comments.

So I’m checking my Twitter feed Friday night, seeing what’s new, what’s interesting, what’s hot. And I come across a blog called The Art of Manliness. Now, I only read through a few posts so don’t be misled, but what I found was very thought provoking and inspiring. It made me think about the other two topics of this blog, gaming and football. It made me think about what makes these things “manly,” what makes them worthy, what makes them important when there are things like starving children in Africa or wars fought overseas.

Read the rest of this entry »

So here’s what I’ve been up to now that school’s out.

1. Corporate Job

Blah! Not my first choice, but it’s keeping me alive financially for now. Also is giving me an excuse to use on my folks before breaking the news about being an entrepreneur.

2. City of Heroes/Villains

I renewed my subscription and also created an account for my girlfriend so we could play together.

That plan blew up in my face.

She just didn’t enjoy the slower power system compared to more immediate actions in Diablo, World of Warcraft or Left 4 Dead.

xP

Still, I’ve got a one month subscription if anyone else wants to play! (I mean play with me, not on her account. I don’t know what I’m going to do with that…) xP

3. Reading Pam Slim’s Escape From Cubicle Nation

A very good read. I tend to read these books several times, once to just get a feel for it and see what its all about and afterwards to find out what I need to take actions on.

I’m still on my first read through and will probably post about my action items when I’m done.

4. Deciding on a posting schedule.

I’ve also been reading/reviewing the great works that have been giving me the inspiration for this blog, namely Chris Guillebeau’s 279 Days and Brief Guide to World Domination, and Chris Garrett’s ebook Killer Flagship Content. (You have to sign up for email updates for Chris Garrett and it’s been well worth it for me so far)

All great works, well worth many reads, and best of all FREE.

One of the things Chris Guillebeau writes about in 279 days is the steps he took to get his blog off the ground and how the same could work for regular folks like you and me.

So I’m working it out and following some of the easier steps, but I was pretty much picking and choosing whatever felt right. Up until now, I’ve been pretty much posting at will, whenever I got the mood. But that hasn’t been working too well from a traffic and audience standpoint so I’m going to follow his advice and CREATE A POSTING SCHEDULE!

Here’s the announcement, POSTS WILL BE MADE EVERY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

I guess this blog is going to be just like a weekend hobby for me until I figure out what my next steps are.

Comments on what you’d like to see next or advice on the direction I should take the blog? Let me know in the comments!

If you’re like the majority of most gamers, you’re likely male and between the ages of 16-35. And unless you’re a complete social hermit, you probably have a girlfriend or significant other.

We’ve all seen these situations before, where the guy is completely glued to his game and while his girlfriend is ignored and wondering what she needs to do to get that kind of attention.

Here’s one simple idea. PLAY WITH HER!

(And not just in the rated R sense, either

I’ve come up with the 5 current games that I’ve played with my the women in my life and they represent what I think is a good way to include her in your favorite hobby.

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