College football is, by far, the most popular college sport, but yet still very limited in its audience demographic. If you're a fan, then most likely either you or someone close to you attended a BCS conference university. Or you could just be sports fanatic who lives in or close to the city where a college football powerhouse resides. I graduated from Florida State University in Aug. '03 and have been a fan of college football ever since.

So, NCAA Football 09 is upon the masses. This game won't convert anyone to the sport who isn't already a fan. But if you like football, then you will love this game. Seriously, EA Sports finally got it right this time. Every aspect of the game (from the fluid animations to the online play) just feels like college football.

Oh and there are ONLINE DYNASTIES finally!

PSN & XBL: LosDaddie

I will be playing on both the PS3 & Xbox 360.

Ninja Gaiden II Review

Your enjoyment of Team NINJA's latest action game depends on a single question: How important is a game's camera to you?

If you need a perfect camera that you never need to babysit, then you'll hate NGII. If an erratic camera that needs some babysitting is not a deal-breaker for you, then you'll love NGII. There really is no middle-ground on this issue.

Of course, every would-be Master Ninja should approach Ninja Gaiden 2 with expectations of consistent butt-whoopings. This game is no cakewalk.

Alright, so I finished Ninja Gaiden II on Sunday and now feel comfortable posting a guide for the average gamer. I'll post my NGII review before Friday.

This blog entry is meant to guide you, the first-time NGII player, to a fun, not-too-frustrating experience with Team NINJA's latest action game. You should still expect NGII to provide a consistent butt-whooping though.

Recommended NGII Walk-Through: 1up.com: Ninja Gaiden II SuperGuide

Weapons:

• The Dragon Sword and Eclipse Scythe should be the only weapons you level up.
• Dragon Sword - Spend your first 40K of Yellow Essence to max-out the Dragon Sword. Yes, it's worth it.
• Eclipse Scythe - You first get to use this weapon in Chapter 7. So keep that in mind and remember to save Yellow Essence to be able to level-up this weapon immediately.

Ninpo (magic):

• Art of the Inferno - Your first and (arguabley most powerful Ninpo. Max-out this Ninpo before any others. At max level, this Ninpo targets 3 enemies at once.
• Art of the Piercing Void - Very powerful Ninpo, but not useful in many situations. Very, very effective against dragons. Level-up this Nninpo ability after you max-out the Art of the Inferno.
• The rest of the Ninpo attacks are barely worth mentioning and rarely useful. The defensive Ninpo (Art of the Flaming Pheonix) is great in theory, but horrible in practice (it goes away after Ryu gets hit just once ).

Items Not To Miss:

• Rod of Trials - Found in Chapter 2. Don't not miss this item.
• Trials of Valor - Complete these trials for very important items & Yellow Essence
• Art of the Piercing Void - Found in Chapter 7. Do not miss this item.

General Tips:

• Don't forget to BLOCK!!
• Read 1up.com's guide on "Spamming the Ultimate Technique", which is basically holding down the Strong Attack ( Yellow/Y) button repeatedly. Very effective.
• Master the Flying Swallow attack. You can perform 3 back-to-back Flying Swallows using the Dragon Sword. Very useful and effective.

GOOD LUCK!

Ninja Gaiden II: Update -------> Chapter 10

Again, I refer you to 1up.com's NGII SuperGuide if only to find the very important items Team NINJA has hid throughout the game.

Anyway, I've finished 3 chapters (Chapters 7-9) since my last update. This part of the game is supposed to be when NGII's difficulty ramps up and, yes, that is true to an extent. I'll break down each chapter:

Chapter 7: No more difficult than the previous 6 chapters, but this is the first chapter in which enemies use guns. This is also the first chapter you get to use the Eclipse Scythe and if you use the aforementined SuperGuide, then you'll be able to max-out the Scythe immediately (like I did). Yes, the maxed-out Scythe is very powerful and a joy to use. Other than a tough Test of Valor, the only mentionable event in this chapter is the Boss battle where you fight two bosses back-to-back.

Chapter 8: Wow.....a very, very difficult chapter filled with MULTIPLE-rocket-launching Infantry Soldiers and big Mechanized Serpentines. Oh and there's a ton of incendiary-shuriken-throwing spider clan ninjas. Yes, this is a chapter that will kick your butt because almost every enemy has a long range weapon. Seriously, the rocketlauncher guys fire about 6 rockets at once, the mech serpentines are tough to kill even with a maxed-out Scythe, and the incendiary shuriken ninja gang up on you while each tossing 2 incendiary shurikens at you.

Yes, chap8 will test your Ninja Skills. To top it off, the Test of Valor is very though with the rocket-launching soldiers and the final boss is no cakewalk either. But hey, you do feel as sense of accomplishment when you're done.

Chapter 9: I guess Team NINJA felt sorry for making chapter 8 so difficult because chapter 9 is much easier. If you have a maxed-out Scythe & Dragon Sword and you also max-out the Art of the Piercing Void ninpo, then this chapter should be a cakewalk. Also, this was (at least for me) a great chapter for collecting the game's currency (yellow essence). I ended chap9 with about 78k in yellow essence even after buying the max amount of Herb of Life, Devil's Way Mushroom, and a Tailsmen of Rebirth. A really fun chapter.

Well, that's it for my second update. I played about 5min of Chapter 10 before stopping. Again, if you can get past the camera, Ninja Gaiden II is a great action game.

I hope to finish NGII this week and I'll post my review then.

Ninja Gaiden II: Path of the Warrior ---> Chapter 6

First things first; I highly recommend using a guide for Ninja Gaiden II, especially if this is your first Ninja Gaiden game. Why the recommendation? Simply because NGII is a game that WILL kick you butt and you'll need all the items & power-ups you can find (Team Ninja is notorious for hiding valuable items & power-ups in their games). I do, however, recommend you try to defeat each boss on your own and only resort to a guide if you're having thoughts of stomping your Xbox360 Controller into the ground.

1up.com has a great NGII guide: Ninja Gaiden II SuperGuide

Quick Highlights & General Tips:

• Level-Up the Dragon Sword ASAP - Do so before you buy any other items. I had my Dragon Sword max-out by half-way through Chapter #3.

• Choose MANUAL SAVE - The default is auto-save. So you will have to change this in the menus.

• Level-Up the Art of the Inferno ninpo attack first.

• Do NOT miss the Rod of Trials found in Chapter #2 - This item allows you to play the Trials of Valor for important items.

• Level-Up the Scythe ASAP - I recommend only leveling-up the Dragon Sword & Scythe for your first playthrough.

Anyway, back to my NGII update. I'm half-way through Chapter 6 and the game keeps getting better. This is a pure action game with very few puzzles & platforming elements. By that I mean NGII is like a fighting game where you play through one of the fighter's (Ryu's) the backstory instead of 1vs1 battles. Success in NGII, like in every fighting game, is determined on your defense (blocking), counter-attacks, and smart/effective use of your special attacks (Ninpo attacks & Obliteration Techniques).

So far, my impressions of NGII are the same that can be read in most reviews. The game's camera isn't a problem for me, but the camera could definitely be improved. It does, at times, get stuck and block your view. I blame the camera problems mainly on the level design. Some levels are just too small & confined for the camera to work well. Also, the fast-paced action of NGII would be difficult for any camera to keep an ideal position. Again, I believe that fault is due to level design. Another fault in the level design would be, IMO, that the levels just seem empty.

If I had to find another flaw in NGII, it would have to be with the story & voice acting. Completely forgettable on both accounts...at least so far. Basically, the same forgettable story you'd find in any fighting game.

Alright....this blog is getting too long and I'll just say that despite the aforementioned flaws, NGII is a superb action game so far. The core gameplay/action is very satisfying. Slicin-up mad amounts of enemies is incredibly fun. The boss battles hearken back to old skool action game boss battles....depending on both skill & luck. And the difficulty hasn't been a problem for me yet. Supposedly, the difficulty ramps up in Chapter 7.

I will post further impressions later this week. I hope to be on Chapter 9 or above by Friday.

What's Your Game?

I was able to get in about an hour's worth (enough to finish the 1st level) of NGII last night. I started on the medium (I don't remember the term) setting and leveled up the Dragon Sword ASAP.

So the reviews have been spot-on in regards to the camera & environments. While I didn't have a problem with the camera yet, I can see how an inexperienced NG player would have problems. The environments are "empty" and do have invisible walls....I don't know if an open world setting would work in NG though. And I might not have paid attention to the enviros if I had not read some reviews.

The action/gameplay is, of course, difficult and very rewarding at the same time. IMO, the combat in NGII is the best in the genre. It is still unmatched in its challenge and speed. I don't believe any action game will be on par with this engine until God of War III drops.

The graphics are just as good, if not slightly better, than NG Sigma. Not Gears/Uncharted-quality, but still damn pretty. The new finishing animations are sweet...mad heads rolling. And yeah, blood aplenty...limbs flying everywhere....and it's awesome. The framerate hasn't dropped once yet, but I don't have the recording feature on either.

So yeah, I like the game (big surprise) so far. That may change as I progress and the game supposedly gets much more difficult.