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Sports Champions |OT| of Pretending to Play Sports

D

distrbnce

Banned
Maastricht said:
Yes. Though I may not be able to, given my tiny living room floor space I'm already happy I manage single player at a mere 1.5m :D

Big notice to all PENHOLD players: give it up, this game doesn't support it. Although it may appear to work if you're used to Wii Sports, the game's AI assist and calibration goes all wrong if you try. You may end up thinking that the game is bad.
Click to expand...

Hm, I don't exactly do a penhold, but I do have the paddle in the same position almost all the time. Are you sure you aren't on Bronze?
 
user friendly

user friendly

Member
distrbnce said:
Hm, I don't exactly do a penhold, but I do have the paddle in the same position almost all the time. Are you sure you aren't on Bronze?
Click to expand...

Yeah, after beating gold last night I had to win a bronze match for my girl and I was like WTF is wrong here? Thought the calibration was off because it kept pulling the paddle towards the ball. Very disorienting after getting used to silver/gold.
 
B

backbreaker65

Banned
Seventy5 said:
Kat keeps kicking my ass on Gold Gladiator Duel. The AI can shield bash and then attack way faster than me. Has anyone finished Gold? Any tips besides sucking less?
Click to expand...

To be honest with ya, I used this level as "shoot for the moon and even if you miss you will be amongst the stars" I come into the game knowing I have 30 to 40 minutes to blow and I use it for blow off steam and sweat like crazy. I just wish this game had a calorie counter.
 
B

BomberMouse

Member
Bought this today, loving SC and the move, it's by far the best Move game right now (at least until the shoot comes out :p)

EDIT: Wrong thread
 
P

PistolGrip

sex vacation in Guam
Other developers better up their game man because seriously Sports Champs is the best show of the Move out there. Even the pointing is on par.

Lazy devs get to it!


distrbnce said:
Hm, I don't exactly do a penhold, but I do have the paddle in the same position almost all the time. Are you sure you aren't on Bronze?
Click to expand...
Yeah I tried the penhold in Silver and it was bit awkward and it seem like the my paddle was confused at times. You can manage to hold it like that without screwing with the system (slighty anchored) but thats not fun.
 
A

alterno69

Banned
Amir0x said:
Archery gets a lot better the more you play it. way better than the alternatives

like, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better.
Click to expand...
Yes, got my second controler today and archery is now my favorite game, it's awesome
 
M

Man

Member
So much work lately, no time to play.
I'm still in bronze for everything.

Next weekend it will be only you and me Sports Champions.

Still really impressed on how flawlessly executed the sports are. Gladiator especially. It's a blue print for games to follow.
 
M

marc^o^

Nintendo's Pro Bono PR Firm
Amir0x said:
I can't skip your posts anymore marc^o^ cause you chose Jimi Hendrix Little Wing
Click to expand...
Hi Amrir0x, have you shared your thoughts about Sports Champions?
Obviously it lacks an online mode... but apart from that?
 
L

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
archery works fine to an extent for me but I end up aiming off screen. Is that normal or is something wrong with my setup?
 
L

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
alterno69 said:
There's something wrong with your set up
Click to expand...


thanks, what can I do? Would moving the camera above my tv help? It wasn't like this in one controller mode. But when I switched to two this happened. I don't have pointer issues with other games.
 
M

mauaus

Member
3 starred everything up to Kenji Gold on Table Tennis, granted i was tired by the time i got to him but i did get my ass handed to me...:lol
 
Y

|ync

Member
levious said:
thanks, what can I do? Would moving the camera above my tv help? It wasn't like this in one controller mode. But when I switched to two this happened. I don't have pointer issues with other games.
Click to expand...

I used to have some pretty bad issues with two move archery but now I have it working well (most of the time).

Here are a few things that helped me:
1. Move the camera to the top of the TV (This puts it just below shoulder height for me)
2. Make sure the camera is pointed so it can see the moves through the whole archery motion.
3. If you are shooting right handed (left arm pointed forward) stand a bit to the left of the camera and vice versa. This helps prevent your outstretched arm from blocking the camera for the other move.
4. Hold your bow move pointed up (as if you were holding a bow) not pointed forward (as if you were holding a gun).
5. Make sure you point you arrow move down when grabbing an arrow and up when nocking the arrow (bringing the two moves together).
6. This last point I'm a bit less sure on, but I think it recalibrates your aiming somehow when you nock the arrow. I try to bring the bow hand into a neutral and consistant position before nocking the arrow each time, the seems to help prevent those times where you have to aim way up or way to the side to line up your shot.
 
Vlodril

Vlodril

Member
Really loving TT so far. Havent even tried anything else. Up to gold cup now and the more i advance in ranks (bronze,silver,gold) the easier the game gets. I think its due to the extra responsiveness since they take out the assists. The only match i had trouble so far was the one before the last in silver (cat? ). Still won but those spins man.. she is going to kick my ass in the gold.

Anyway even after reading all the impressions i was still doubtfull if they would be able to emulate the speed of rl TT and they have managed beautifully. For a new developer Zindagi have done a fantastic job. Grats.

Oh hey now got member status after a year or so. Move makes it all happen :lol
 
B

bestami

Member
Got the game yesterday. Since people were saying voleyball was their favorite game i was really curious about it. It really is fun, very well thought out mechanics. My favorite is still table tennis (loved the demo). I just 3 starred the silve championship. Loving the game so far. I can't recommend it enough.
 
M

marc^o^

Nintendo's Pro Bono PR Firm
Just wasted 6 match points vs Dallas in gold cup to eventually lose, damned!

Hopefully I'll win this cup this week-end so that I can start trying other sports: I haven't gone beyond the 1st bronze round in Gladiator, volley ball, bocce and disc golf.

Do these activities get better in silver and gold cups, as with TT and Archery?
 
M

MrPliskin

Banned
BomberMouse said:
Yep, there was a patch.

Let's hope the next one includes online play.
Click to expand...

I'd love to see online play, but honestly I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't get it. Though, I'd be totally happy if we only got online play for the turn based games like Disc Golf and Bocce Ball.
 
D

distrbnce

Banned
6c94be3f-1.jpg


Ugh... Silver Boomer feat. 1:1 shield tracking.

blurry pic due to dangly Move.
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
marc^o^ said:
Hi Amrir0x, have you shared your thoughts about Sports Champions?
Obviously it lacks an online mode... but apart from that?
Click to expand...

The functionality of the controller works well enough (provided you have the 8-10 feet... you really DO need that much space for it to be as accurate as it should be, and I simply don't have that real estate). There's a bunch of little problems that add up to a big problem with the Move controller that I posted in the PlayStation Move thread.

In the end, I like Bocce and Archery the best. In Archery, to me, it's better at tracking the motion of what I'm doing that it ever was in WSR. It's incredibly visceral to actually make the smooth transitional motions from pulling out an arrow to notching it and then pulling back and letting go.

Bocce sorta reminded me of Curling, and I'm obsessed with Curling, and so it was neat playing that game. Was pretty easy but the controller did what it should at all times. Was the easiest game to control, seemed like there was never any problem with the EyeToy properly detecting shit.

Anyway, long story short, like Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, it's a superficial package that is only skin deep: another tech demo masquerading as a full title, which I cannot stand. My philosophy is that I don't want bits and pieces of actual full fledged sports titles in one mini-game outing. If I wanted to play those sports, I'd buy the actual games that go the whole nine. Why would I play the crap baseball in Wii Sports which is basically a glorified homerun derby with automatic fielding when I can play MLB? Why play this Gladiator game when I can play a real fighting game with meat on its bones, with all associated content this brings? I don't want bite sized chunks of full sports games.

I guess that's why Bocce and Archery are the best to me... because I don't think they'd function well as the only part of a videogame. But that's because in general, I wouldn't be seeking out an Archery and Bocce game anyway.
 
M

Maastricht

Member
Amir0x said:
Anyway, long story short, like Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, it's a superficial package that is only skin deep: another tech demo masquerading as a full title, which I cannot stand.
Click to expand...

I respectfully disagree. Like I said, I play with only 1.5m floor space, and I'm also 6'4", but I manage pretty well - I am close to finishing the Gold Cup for Table Tennis, Silver Cup for Gladiator, and Bronze for everything else but Beach Volleyball which I so far barely played. In my opinion, you only really need 8-10 feet when you're doing simultaneous multiplayer, which I haven't tried and which will likely be near-impossible for me.

Each of these games so far exhibit more depth than most of their equivalents every have in the past, whether they were in a dedicated game or not, in terms of gameplay. A lot of the depth is shown as you progress to higher difficulty and the assists are gently decreased and taken away, you start serving into the net if you're not careful, you start smashing the ball on your own side if you're not careful, AI behavior gets more and more interesting and like real table tennis (I love little details like the player making a shout to suggest a loud shot and then serving a really short one, just like we used to do in real life when my friend had a table of his own that his father built for him from scratch).

I think most people in this thread here agree with me on this, that SC has a tonne of depth, and will be played by many of us for a long time. I certainly can see each of the events take 10 hours by themselves at the very least, without ever touching multi-player.

I guess to each his own, but for me SC ranks as one of the best game experiences I've had in my life so far. Its modest presentation is really deceptive in that regard, but having played Wii Sports Resort (much better presentation) for 15-20 hours the weekend before I got SC, where some games in Wii Sports fall apart under too much exposure, those in SC just keep on getting better.

This is all imho, but I think this actually reflects the majority of impressions in this thread.
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
being a tech demo doesn't mean the gameplay isn't in place for something in the future that is more appealing

let's take Beach Volleyball. Why would I buy this over a dedicated Volleyball game? In those games, I get all the modes one would expect from Volleyball, all the settings and individual match types and rule sets. I'd get all the rosters and a much more diverse selection of setting.

When I talk about being superficial, I mean from a content point of view. I don't care to bore myself on these little four cup tournies they have, because it's all skin deep. It doesn't go much beyond what they present, because they're chunks of fuller titles. The gameplay may very well be whatever you wish it was, but it's irrelevant to me.

If I loved the motion control gaming this much, I wouldn't want to play bite sized chunks of full motion controlled sports titles either.

I'd take a dedicated Motion Control Tennis before playing these little empty shells of full tennis titles that come with these mini-game packages. I'd play a dedicated Motion control baseball before playing these feature cut and rule cut versions of what the developer's imagined these sports should be.

And that's of course if I'd take the motion control version at all - I like my controllers to be 100% dependable, 100% of the time, with no huss or fuss. That's simply never going to be the case with these current slate of motion controllers, and until it is, it's not going to be something I prefer.

It'll always be relegated to a few matches between family members before we all forget about it and move on.

For now, MOVE is for Tumble and later hopefully Sorcery turns out alright. The software is ghastly for me. That's just how I am.

I'm so incredibly happy that you guys were saved by the power of Jesus Christ and will make it into heaven now that you "discovered" the "magic" of motion controlled gaming, but for us consistent folk, not much has changed.
 
P

patsu

Member
Amir0x, you don't like SC table tennis, gladiator and beach volleyball ? What happened ?

EDIT: Oh, want a dedicated package. wut !?

You may have a point. SC should be a HDD game so I can start a game quickly to loosen up.
 
A

alterno69

Banned
I, like others have limited space between my couch and PSeye/TV, i've had literally zero issues with move so far. I also have a 4 year old son and i had no problem calibrating for him. What i'm saying is you can't say it doesn't work just because it doesn't work for YOU.

I give move and SC 2 thumbs up :D
 
B

backbreaker65

Banned
Patch in Sports Champions 18mb what does it fix/improve or add? their aren't any patch notes.

For those playing Gladiator Duel, when blocking(2 Moves) hold the T trigger to block prevents your shield from being destroyed. You can block without it but your shield will suffer damage.
 
D

DangerousDave

Member
Yeah, Amir0x has a point, here.

It's like a combination plate. There are 6 different things in the plate, and you only like some of them. And even if there is one that you find it delicious, you can't ask a full plate of that.

Sony took a very conservative approach with Sports Champion, cloning the Wii Sports - WSR formula. A set of small games.

Taking in consideration the features of PS3 (hard drive, bigger online userbase, etc), SC should be something like a frontend for different bigger games, as DLC.

You buy the "SC main package", for 30$, in PSN, with Basic sets of 6 sports (that is what SC is right now), and then you are able to buy the PRO version of the games (and also, Basic and PRO version of upcoming games). You loved Table Tennis? You pay 15$ and you have a "full" Table Tennis game, similar to the Rockstar one. Tournaments with any combination of players and AI. Career mode with ingame money, hundred of unlockables that you buy with ingame money, customization, even skills that are added to your "real" skills (being able then to hit the ball faster if you're not a very strong player, etc). Online play. All that kind of things.
 
R

Redbeard

Banned
Yeah, I don't really understand the argument that SC's "mini-games" don't have enough content.

Perhaps if the games themselves lacked depth or weren't challenging, but that's totally not the case with Sports Champions. I also don't really see any individual game having more content than what already exists here for sports like Table Tennis, Bocce, Archery, Frisbe Golf, etc.

It's not even a full priced title, yet I've put more hours into it than a lot of games simply due to the depth and the challenge. Having a few 'minigames' may not be your thing, but if they're engaging and deep enough to me (as well as show off the power of new hardware), I'm all for it. Sports Champions is an excellent move showcase title.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Amir0x, you need to make your mind up. You don't like how the games are so shallow - why would you play any of these shallow things, when you'd prefer to play a full, 'proper' game featuring that sport. You liked Archery and Bocce, but then you go on to say you wouldn't want to buy a full game featuring those sports anyway.

So perhaps, just perhaps, there are some sports or activities that aren't deep/involving enough to justify a full price standalone release, but package together quite well in a compilation?

As for it just being a tech demo, well yes, I can see that some of the sports chosen can seem like they've been chosen based on the movements you do in the real sports. But you commented yourself on the control you get over the ball in Bocce. So again, perhaps its good that a 'tech demo' has been applied to these minority sports? Yes, bocce is just gestures/motion applied to a ball. But lots of people like bocce, and if that tech demo provides a good approximation of the real game, then isn't that a good thing?
 
S

spwolf

Member
mrklaw said:
So perhaps, just perhaps, there are some sports or activities that aren't deep/involving enough to justify a full price standalone release, but package together quite well in a compilation?

As for it just being a tech demo, well yes, I can see that some of the sports chosen can seem like they've been chosen based on the movements you do in the real sports. But you commented yourself on the control you get over the ball in Bocce. So again, perhaps its good that a 'tech demo' has been applied to these minority sports? Yes, bocce is just gestures/motion applied to a ball. But lots of people like bocce, and if that tech demo provides a good approximation of the real game, then isn't that a good thing?
Click to expand...

pretty much my impression from the demos...
 
J

jax (old)

Banned
spent 2 hours playing SC with the dual wands.

completely different sort of work out now. I had to stop as I ran out of breath after an hour or so of gladiator duel.

archery.
took me awhile to get what I had to do and I had to retread back to the tutorial levels to relearn the controls. Definitely easier with 1 wand. The notching and pull back with 2 wands took some getting used to... and surprisingly energetic as you had to hold the pose while you aim. Then I got to the challenge mode and you really had to notch notch notch and it became it work out.

gladiator duel
got to the final boss on silver duel. again took relearning as I had to give up the triangle/square dodge buttons and relearn shielding, side stepping and what not. Literally jumping all over the room and swinging up down. They need to film people playing this. Cardio madness. Got to the woman at the end of silver and I thought I had her beat, then I realised it was 3 rounds, and I was already exhausted.

so I lost. :lol

+

add. How the fuck do the opponents in duel jump to avoid you low swipes? Do I also jump to avoid their low attacks. The woman above did it 3 times and I was like "bullshit!"



so good.

the complaints about this HALF PRICED... EXCELLENT VALUE, GREAT MOVE SHOWCASE... is ridiculous.
 
M

Maastricht

Member
Jax said:
gladiator duel
got to the final boss on silver duel. again took relearning as I had to give up the triangle/square dodge buttons and relearn shielding, side stepping and what not. Literally jumping all over the room and swinging up down. They need to film people playing this. Cardio madness. Got to the woman at the end of silver and I thought I had her beat, then I realised it was 3 rounds, and I was already exhausted.

so I lost. :lol
Click to expand...

I just beat that woman also with two wands, and sweat was dripping left and right. She was much tougher than the rest (though I had some trouble with Kat) and I really had to step up my game, learn to dodge / roll to the side when I was down, etc. Awesome game!

I can definitely see why people dream about a Soul Calibur type game for this. It's responsive enough - the hits are super responsive and the gestures responsive enough. Great stuff. If The Fight: Lights Out ends up being as good as this, I'm in.

add. How the fuck do the opponents in duel jump to avoid you low swipes? Do I also jump to avoid their low attacks. The woman above did it 3 times and I was like "bullshit!"
Click to expand...

Believe it or not, you actually jump yourself. You can probably do it with some kind of gesture as well, but actual real life jumping just works. :lol

It's not really half-priced, but I think buying the game separate is $40? In Europe it isn't bundled and it is also cheaper than normal retail games.

EDIT: as for the full games debate, each sport in Sports Champions has quite incredible depth, imho. From what I've seen and heard so far, and mirroring my own experience, the only people who make the suggestion that it is a collection of shallow mini-games are people who've only just started playing, or haven't played it yet at all.
 
I

InaudibleWhispa

Member
I wish the multiplayer options were a bit more robust for larger numbers of players. There isn't really anything 4 people can play competitively. Bocce only seems to allow 2 teams of 2 unless I've missed an option, unlike it's closest Wii counterpart, Bowling, which allows 4 players. And I was annoyed that Archery has to be 2 players playing together, so if you have 2 controllers you have to both downgrade and play with one each. The Wii Sports Resort set-up of 1 player at a time allowing 4 players in one match trying to outscore one another is much better for a party and I don't see why a similar set-up couldn't have easily been implemented alongside any modes they currently have.

Ultimately, my family won't be using this game for get togethers and such, they'll be falling back on WSR for "party play" and it'll only really be suitable for the times when a couple of people want to play. It's a shame because the gameplay is far superior to Wii Sports in every way, and I rarely play these types of games without a group of friends.
 
G

Grecco

Member
Amir0x said:
For now, MOVE is for Tumble .
Click to expand...


I agree. Tumble is the best thing out there for the Move right now. By heads and shoulders. That game hasnt gotten nearly enough hype/press/interest either as it deserves.
 
R

ryan-ts

Member
mrklaw said:
Amir0x, you need to make your mind up. You don't like how the games are so shallow - why would you play any of these shallow things, when you'd prefer to play a full, 'proper' game featuring that sport. You liked Archery and Bocce, but then you go on to say you wouldn't want to buy a full game featuring those sports anyway.

So perhaps, just perhaps, there are some sports or activities that aren't deep/involving enough to justify a full price standalone release, but package together quite well in a compilation?

As for it just being a tech demo, well yes, I can see that some of the sports chosen can seem like they've been chosen based on the movements you do in the real sports. But you commented yourself on the control you get over the ball in Bocce. So again, perhaps its good that a 'tech demo' has been applied to these minority sports? Yes, bocce is just gestures/motion applied to a ball. But lots of people like bocce, and if that tech demo provides a good approximation of the real game, then isn't that a good thing?
Click to expand...

Gonna have to side with Amir0x here after playing around 6 hours of this thing. SC, to me, is a pretty damn expensive tech demo, just like Wii Sports Resort. Both also pale in comparison to playing the actual sports as well which is a huge gripe of mine, playing the real thing is a lot more fun. I see a lot "Oh but it mimics the real thing so well". I agree, but that should be a basic requirement of a game with Move when they're going for realistic motions. I really believe SC is a ridiculously glorified tech demo. When something better comes out I'm sure all of you will start pimping that, hopefully it will be justified then.
 
M

Maastricht

Member
ryan-ts said:
Gonna have to side with Amir0x here after playing around 6 hours of this thing. SC, to me, is a pretty damn expensive tech demo, just like Wii Sports Resort. Both also pale in comparison to playing the actual sports as well which is a huge gripe of mine, playing the real thing is a lot more fun. I see a lot "Oh but it mimics the real thing so well". I agree, but that should be a basic requirement of a game with Move when they're going for realistic motions. I really believe SC is a ridiculously glorified tech demo. When something better comes out I'm sure all of you will start pimping that, hopefully it will be justified then.
Click to expand...

You need to play 6 hours of a single event ... :lol Seriously though, this game keeps on giving, imho, right past the final boss after the gold cup and the champions cup that follows after that.

And pale in comparison to playing the actual sports eh? Can we at least agree that's just your opinion? Because in real life I can't play a track of frolf landing on ice in the summer let alone find a track where I can play this game in the first place, have an independent referee determine the goal, on screen displays showing who's closer in Bocce, have real-time assists when I'm not so good yet to make a match more exciting early on and help me learn the game, and doing gladiator duel in real life is going to require a lot of compromises (wearing good padding being one of them), never mind breaking shields.

And then there has always been the difficulty of finding players that match your ability, play whenever you want, etc. But crucially, in all these events, and I've played all of them to greater or lesser degree in real life, your real life motor skills seem to transfer over into the game almost directly. And that alone is a big achievement. Beyond that though the game is actually fun, has a good difficulty progression, and gives a lot of depth to the gameplay progression.

No game will ever be everything to all people (do I expect everyone to enjoy Hustle Kings as much as I do, or Chess or Skating for that matter?). But think this game is bloody fantastic (and no I'm not a casual gamer - I've been playing games since 8bit days).
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
Maastricht said:
I will say one thing: you and whomever else can claim that you know the facts, that SC is a glorified tech demo, blah blah blah, but it would be better if you just gave your opinion based on your personal experience, let us do the same, and let others make up their own mind. No game will ever be everything to all people (do I expect everyone to enjoy Hustle Kings as much as I do, or Chess or Skating for that matter?).
Click to expand...

that's all anyone is doing, Maastricht. You seem to be taking it personally, however.
 
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