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Re: Seb (Reply to this comment)
by kedsand1
Flash,
It's funny how you bring up the point about playing football sims with guys you rate in real life versus guys that are good in the game because the guys in those games often color my view of them in real life.
Take Steven Hammell, for example, who was once a Motherwell player and is now with Southend United (now League One). In Championship Manager, he was this hot prospect with, like, 20 dribbling and a fair degree of pace. I bought him from Motherwell to play in the Rangers' setup and he became this great left-sided full-back/midfielder who I would eventually enlist as my captain when I got the Scotland gig. However, in real life, I gather he's just a regular left-back just trying to ply his trade in England -- in other words, he's not spectacular.
Despite this, I like Steven Hammell because of the service he provided in Championship Manager. Crazy, I know, but I believe that we all tend to think highly of those who, though we do not know them directly, somehow gave us a special moment, whether they "virtually" did it or not.
Thanks for your comment. It's good to hear from a die-hard football fan. I believe I am one, but, as you can see, my view is colored by football sims like FIFA 06. That's why I like Hamed Namouchi, though you pointed out that he's a "horror show."
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Jun 12 '07
8:26 am PDT
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Seb (Reply to this comment)
by flash-hammer
...Seb Rosenthal, what a guy. Last I heard he went back to Chile, if he managed to avoid those injuries that plagued him over here or not I don't know, but I hope he did, I actually met him when he played for Rangers and he was a good guy.
I rarely actually played as Rangers in Champ/Football Manager, due to a bizarre fixation I had with playing the players I rated in real life as opposed to the ones who were good in the game.
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Jun 11 '07
4:54 pm PDT
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Re: !!! (Reply to this comment)
by kedsand1
Actually, I changed my mind. I'm changing "Liam" to "Lee."
Just for fun, here is what my Rangers first 11 was before I got rid of Championship Manager:
GK: Mattias Asper
CB: Michael Reiziger
CB: Graeme Thomson (some guy who turned out well)
CB: Jonathan Woodgate
RM: Allen Ormerod (another one of those random guys)
CM: Emmanuel Petit (this was in 1999, mind you)
CM: Giovanni von Bronckhorst (I miss that guy)
CM: Barry Ferguson
LM: Steven Hammell
ST: Sergei Rebrov (who won the Supporters' Player of the year for three or so years until...)
ST: Andriy Shevchenko (who won the Supporters' Player of the year after Rebrov)
From 1999-2001 of gameplay, Rebrov had a great partnership with Sebastian Rozental. What ever happened to that guy?
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Jun 08 '07
8:27 am PDT
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Re: !!! (Reply to this comment)
by kedsand1
Flash,
You know, I think you're right about it being Lee Miller! I think that Liam Miller is actually a midfielder. Come to think of it, yes, the Lee Miller I have on my team I acquired from Dundee United. Sadly, since I've been using the name "Liam" for the past few articles, I'll stick with that, but I do acknowledge that you're absolutely right.
It's funny about Hamed Namouchi. When I started playing FIFA 06 at Semi-Pro level, I played Manager Mode with Motherwell, because, of all things, I was a fan of Steven Hammell from my days with Championship Manager. (In that game, I had acquired Hammell to play for Glasgow Rangers, who I guided to UEFA Cup in my first season in charge! Hammell ended up being a star left-sided midfielder for me and, as I also became the manager of Scotland, my captain on the national side. But, that's another story...)
Anyway, in my second season playing as Motherwell, I picked up Namouchi after he was transfer-listed by Rangers. Immediately, he had an impact, scoring goals as my central attacking midfielder in a 3-4-1-2 formation.
Months later, when I started playing as Amiens SC at World Class level, I decided to buy Namouchi outright (he was not transfer-listed). He started out as a 67, but is now a 77, thanks to his having a lot of game time and my midfielders coach being a 6 now. He is also my captain and my number 10! Talk about simulating real life!
Thank you for your correction and comment. Please keep them coming -- at least, I know that there is one other FIFA die-hard reading my fluff!
Go Gers!
KEDSand1
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Jun 08 '07
8:13 am PDT
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!!! (Reply to this comment)
by flash-hammer
I'm really loving this article, and am going to get fired into reading the rest too, I think the furthest I got in Manager Mode in 06 was season 6 actually.
Just a few notes: Liam Miller actually plays for Sunderland, he did start life in Scotland at Celtic, before moving to Man Utd and failing to make any impact. However there is a Lee Miller who plays for Dundee United, who is a workmanlike striker who has played for a few mid-table SPL clubs, maybe it's him you have.
I'm also amused at Hamed Namouchi actually being quite good in the game...the boy was an absolute horrorshow in real life when he played for Rangers
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Jun 08 '07
5:21 am PDT
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Re: GO AMIENS SC!!! (Reply to this comment)
by kedsand1
Flash,
Thanks for your comments!
Well, to find the time to play FIFA 06, I usually wake up at around 6 am on Saturdays (and Sundays, if time permits) to play before my sons wake up. I can usually know out 4-5 matches per hour...
Sure, you can live vicariously through my gaming experiences! I must admit, though, that the more I play FIFA 06, the more frustrated I get. "Why?" you may ask. Here are my reasons:
1) Goalkeepers
The computer's goalkeepers are amazing the saves they make. It usually takes 15-20 shots on goal for me to score 1-3 goals. I have even "lost" games during which I had 20 shots on goal and scored none, but the computer had 2 shots on goal and scored 2! Some of my shots are pretty good, too: one-on-ones, angled shots, headers to the far post. The computer's goalkeepers (at World Class, anyway) are TOO good.
2) Tackling
On one hand, the CPU is excellent at dispossessing my players of the ball -- a CPU player approaches my dribbler, nudges him for a few seconds, and then comes away with the ball while my player flails wildly. On the other hand, I have to send 2-3 guys after a CPU player, while he makes these amazing turns to avoid my players. This may be the result of my relative non-mastery of certain "skill" moves in the game, but the computer doesn't fall for those, either...
3) Team Momentum
One of the things FIFA 06 tries to do is measure team momentum. If a team is doing well (e.g. they score a goal or dominate possession), momentum is high and the offense flows. However, if a team is not doing well (conceding possession, allowing shots, floundering), team momentum is down, thus poor play is perpetuated.
Now, I would say that 60% of what happens on the pitch on a team level is user-controlled. But, certain things are not -- one such thing momentum at the beginning of a game. If my team starts off in bad form (for some reason) and the other team is rolling, then I have to somehow engineer comebacks to get into the game lest bad form perpetuates bad form.
One frustrating example of this was during a recent match against AS Monaco. For most of the game, my forwards just would not try to make any runs. Since my forwards weren't advancing, my midfielders kind of stood around the half-way line. I toggled Team Mentality to Attack, I changed my formation, I set my defensive tactics to press the opposition, and I set my offensive tactics to overload the penalty box with my players -- none of this made my team move! That was extremely frustrating and forced me to rely on advancing players one by one by myself, either by making mazy runs forward or by lobbing through-balls at my wide midfielders, hoping they would run onto them.
Ultimately, if I were to improve the FIFA franchise, I would "humanize" the CPU's goalkeepers, but boost the defensive AI WITHOUT making it so easy for the defense to take the ball: clogging passing lanes, shadowing players, and positioning defenders off the ball better would be more acceptable than having to face superhuman keepers (at the highest difficulty level, anyway). Also, I would make the offensive computer-controlled players more aggressive, or at least aggressive to reflect their Aggression rating.
You want to know what's really disheartening, though: apparently, there is a fifth level of difficulty called "Legendary," which is harder than "World Class." This fifth level is unlocked by accomplishing a certain sequence of events. Personally, I'd like to leave it locked while I toil away at World Class, which is challenging enough for someone who only gets to play once in a while, namely me.
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May 30 '07
11:35 am PDT
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GO AMIENS SC!!! (Reply to this comment)
by flashfriday
Wow, when you play a videogame you REALLY play a videogame. Where do you find the time? :) I'm lucky if I get 1 hour of "me" time when I get home from work. Do you mind if I live vicariously through your gaming experiences?
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May 29 '07
9:27 am PDT
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