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Weekend Players' Club 7/19/2024
StoneColdSpider 19 Jul 2024
G'Day fellow tuxers……. Its Bruce your host here once again…….


[+..••] As for gaming this week in Emulationville I played [+..••]


Console

International Superstar Soccer 2000 (2000 Konami) - Nintendo 64 - Sports (Soccer)
Madden NFL 2003 (2002 EA Sports) - Nintendo GameCube - Sports (Football)
NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona (2002 Infogrames) – Nintendo GameCube - Sports (Racing)
NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona (2002 Infogrames) - Sony PlayStation 2 - Sports (Racing)
NBA Live 98 (1997 EA Sports) - Sony PlayStation - Sports (Basketball)
NHL Hitz 2003 (2002 Midway) - Nintendo GameCube - Sports (Hockey)
Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (2006 Konami) - Sony PlayStation 2 - Sports (Soccer)
Ricky Ponting International Cricket 2007 (2007 Codemasters) - Sony PlayStation 2 - Sports (Cricket)
Test Drive Unlimited (2007 Atari) - Sony PLayStation 2 - Sports (Racing)
Triple Play 2002 (2002 EA Sports) - Sony PlayStation 2 - Sports (Baseball)
WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role (2000 THQ) - Sony PlayStation - Sports (Wrestling)


Ricky Ponting International Cricket 2007…...

!link

When Shane Warne retired….. Ricky Ponting was there to pick up the player endorsed Australian cricket game market and save us from Brian Lara…...

The graphics….. Are quite good….. Nothing super amazing but good non the less….. The animations are a bit crap though…… The bat leaves the batters hand way to much and looks really bad in the close up replays…… The ball hovers slightly above the players hands when its meant to be held….. The ball will even disappear into the bat when being hit sometimes……

The lack of fine detail with the animations really lets down what is over wise a perfectly fine looking game…...

The sounds……. Are good….. Lots of good commentary from a host of different commentators not just the Australian commentators…….. With lots of lines and lots variety it takes quite a while before the commentary gets stale……. The sounds of the crowd is perfectly acceptable as well as well as the ambient sounds of the game as well…… Such as bat on ball…….

The real weak point on the game is the music…… Its very shite…… The fact is they didnt change the music for the different regions……. So it has very West Indian feeling menu music which would be fine for Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 but doesnt work for Ricky Ponting International Cricket 2007…… And that is pretty much the only music in the entire game as well…….

The controls……… Really easy and intuitive is the best way to describe the controls…… They are actually the best part of the game…… Everyone controls really well and is nice and responsive….. Catching can be a bit of a issue at first with the timing mechanic being a bit weird…… Besides that its all good…..

The storyline.…… There is no storyline so I get to make one up……. After being sued by the Doritos Pope, Nacho Nun and April O'Neil...... Mayor McCheese was not happy with Pengling…… And so he ordered the Emulationville Health Inspectors to go and shut down Penglings Cookie Bomb Bakery…….

There is a loud thud at the bakery door….. Pengling opens the door……. “Who is i…… NACHO NUN!…… WHAT ARE U DOING HERE?!?!?!?!…… Wait I dont care…… Piss off”……… Pengling then tries to close the door but Nacho Nun has her foot in the door preventing it from closing…….“As part of the settlement with the town of Emulationville…… I was made the lead health inspector” replied Nacho Nun with her smug setting set on full…… So you better let me in so I can shut you dow…….. Stat the inspection…… Thats right…… Start the inspection……”

Pengling reluctantly allows Nacho Nun into the bakery knowing full well she is up shite creek without a paddle either way…….. So she might as well go down the entertaining route…….

Nacho Nun makes her way to the cookie bomb preparation area……. Nacho Nun looks around a bit before opening a hatch on her chest and spilling oil on the ground…… “Oil on the ground……. Thats minus 8 points”…. Nacho Nun says with her smug setting in overdrive now…….. “Nacho Nun sprinkles Doritos Dust™ on the counter…… “Cross contamination…… Minus 8 points…… Again…….” Pengling is getting redder and redder in the face as she watches this farce proceed right in front of her…..

“Nacho Nun opens the hatch on her chest again and pulls out the foul smelling lifeless body of a Nina Turtle…….. She dumps it in the sink…….. “Dead turtle in the sink……. Another 8 points deducted…… Not looking so good Pengling……. You run a filthy ship………” Nacho Nun says with great pleasure her voice……..

“THATS IT IVE HAD ENOUGHT” Screams Pengling who has clearly had enough……. “You cant do this to me Nacho Nun…… I MADE YOU!!” Pengling pleads……. “While you did indeed “make” me……. I was not actually created until I found the all knowing mighty pontiff Doritos Pope…… His guidance and teachings is actually what created me……..” Nacho Nun replies with indifference in her voice…….

And with that Nacho Nun hands Pengling the report…….. “Here you go…… Penglings Cookie Bomb Bakery is now officially shut down until you bring this place up to the health standards Emulationville expects from you……” Nacho Nun says so smugly you would swear she was a Tesla driver…….

And with that Nacho Nun leaves the Cookie Bomb Bakery……. She puts a big chain and a giant padlock on the door so they cant be opened……. She also puts a sticker on the door announcing the closer of the bakery due to failing a health inspection…… Nacho Nun dusts off her hands and walks down the street feeling very pleased with herself as she starts whistling Camptown Races…….

OH NO TRUE BELIEVERS!!!!….. How will Pengling get out of this predicament???…… How will she pass any future inspections and what will the Doritos Pope do now that Penglings Cookie Bomb Bakery is now out of business????……. Tune is next time true believers to find out…….

The gameplay…… Is good…. Its cricket….. Not much to say about it….. You play cricket……. The only real issue with the gameplay itself is just how easy the AI are……. They are complete pushovers even on the hardest difficulties and even Pengling could easily beat them on easy…… The AI is very very easy to cheese and it doesnt take long to find their weak points when they are batting…… Its insanely easy to get them all out for 0 in under 2 overs………

Also there are only 3 real players (Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and Yuvraj Singh) in the game….. The rest of the players are fake with a few letters changed to avoid a law suit…… This was done so the game could have different names in different regions….. In Australia and New Zealand its Ricky Ponting International Cricket 2007……. In India its Yuvraj Singh International Cricket 2007 and in the rest of the world its called Brian Lara International Cricket 2007…….

Overall…… The game is perfectly fine…… The lack of real player names and low effort animations combined with the dreadfully easy AI really takes this down a few notches and really spoils what should have been a really good cricket game…… Its a pity that Shane Warne Cricket ‘99 on the PlayStation 1 is not just a bit better than this PS2 game…… Its a lot better than this game……..

And that is why my final score for Ricky Ponting International Cricket 2007 is a underarm delivery out of 10………

!link
!link
Ricky Ponting International Cricket 2007…...


Other Screenshots……...

!link
Test Drive Unlimited (2007 Atari) - Sony PlayStation 2 - Sports (Racing)


!link
Madden NFL 2003 (2002 EA Sports) - Nintendo Gamecube - Sports (Football)


!link
Triple Play 2002 (2002 EA Sports) - Sony PlayStation 2 - Sports (Baseball)


!link
NHL Hitz 2003 (2002 Midway) - Nintendo GameCube - Sports (Hockey)


!link
Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (2006 Konami) - Sony PlayStation 2 - Sports (Soccer)


!link
WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role (2000 THQ) - Sony PlayStation - Sports (Wrestling)


!link
International Superstar Soccer 2000 (2000 Konami) - Nintendo 64 - Sports (Soccer)


!link
NBA Live 98 (1997 EA Sports) - Sony PlayStation - Sports (Basketball)


!link
NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona (2002 Infogrames) – Nintendo GameCube - Sports (Racing)


Well thats it from me…… Hope all you tuxers have a good week……

Now for my bad joke of the week……
Q: Whats the only game where you can hear a pin drop????......
A: Bowling.......
*ba dum.... tssssh…...*
Pengling 20 Jul 2024
!Saturn Bomberman - Master Game intro
My pick this weekend is the "Master Game" mode in Saturn Bomberman. This is a much shorter secondary single-player game that's separate from the standard story-mode, and it's designed around score-chasing and speedrunning.

!Saturn Bomberman - Master Game, in-game
Bomberman dons a gi that very strongly resembles the one worn by Goku from Dragon Ball, and heads out to a temple in order to tackle an assortment of levels and bosses not found in the main game - something that the game terms "the ultimate challenge of the Way of the Bomb".

Getting to revisit Saturn Bomberman is always good since it's one of the series' top games, and I've never played this mode before, so I've been looking forward to this one all week!

[+..••] Other stuff that I played this week;

!40 Winks
40 Winks (PSX)

!Atomic Bomberman
Atomic Bomberman (Proton)

!Chip's Challenge
Chip's Challenge (Lynx)

!Cookie Clicker
Cookie Clicker (Proton)

!Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (Mega Drive)

!Super Bomberman 2
Super Bomberman 2 (SNES)

!Worms
Worms (MD)

The storyline.…… There is no storyline so I get to make one up……. After being sued by the Doritos Pope, Nacho Nun and April O'Neil...... Mayor McCheese was not happy with Pengling…… And so he ordered the Emulationville Health Inspectors to go and shut down Penglings Cookie Bomb Bakery…….

There is a loud thud at the bakery door….. Pengling opens the door……. “Who is i…… NACHO NUN!…… WHAT ARE U DOING HERE?!?!?!?!…… Wait I dont care…… Piss off”……… Pengling then tries to close the door but Nacho Nun has her foot in the door preventing it from closing…….“As part of the settlement with the town of Emulationville…… I was made the lead health inspector” replied Nacho Nun with her smug setting set on full…… So you better let me in so I can shut you dow…….. Stat the inspection…… Thats right…… Start the inspection……”

Pengling reluctantly allows Nacho Nun into the bakery knowing full well she is up shite creek without a paddle either way…….. So she might as well go down the entertaining route…….

Nacho Nun makes her way to the cookie bomb preparation area……. Nacho Nun looks around a bit before opening a hatch on her chest and spilling oil on the ground…… “Oil on the ground……. Thats minus 8 points”…. Nacho Nun says with her smug setting in overdrive now…….. “Nacho Nun sprinkles Doritos Dust™ on the counter…… “Cross contamination…… Minus 8 points…… Again…….” Pengling is getting redder and redder in the face as she watches this farce proceed right in front of her…..

“Nacho Nun opens the hatch on her chest again and pulls out the foul smelling lifeless body of a Nina Turtle…….. She dumps it in the sink…….. “Dead turtle in the sink……. Another 8 points deducted…… Not looking so good Pengling……. You run a filthy ship………” Nacho Nun says with great pleasure her voice……..

“THATS IT IVE HAD ENOUGHT” Screams Pengling who has clearly had enough……. “You cant do this to me Nacho Nun…… I MADE YOU!!” Pengling pleads……. “While you did indeed “make” me……. I was not actually created until I found the all knowing mighty pontiff Doritos Pope…… His guidance and teachings is actually what created me……..” Nacho Nun replies with indifference in her voice…….

And with that Nacho Nun hands Pengling the report…….. “Here you go…… Penglings Cookie Bomb Bakery is now officially shut down until you bring this place up to the health standards Emulationville expects from you……” Nacho Nun says so smugly you would swear she was a Tesla driver…….

And with that Nacho Nun leaves the Cookie Bomb Bakery……. She puts a big chain and a giant padlock on the door so they cant be opened……. She also puts a sticker on the door announcing the closer of the bakery due to failing a health inspection…… Nacho Nun dusts off her hands and walks down the street feeling very pleased with herself as she starts whistling Camptown Races…….

OH NO TRUE BELIEVERS!!!!….. How will Pengling get out of this predicament???…… How will she pass any future inspections and what will the Doritos Pope do now that Penglings Cookie Bomb Bakery is now out of business????……. Tune is next time true believers to find out…….
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What will happen next, I wonder?

Its a pity that Shane Warne Cricket ‘99 on the PlayStation 1 is not just a bit better than this PS2 game…… Its a lot better than this game……..
Has it ever been topped? It feels like cricket has largely gotten quite duff video games...

!link
NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona (2002 Infogrames) – Nintendo GameCube - Sports (Racing)
That car looks awesome!

Now for my bad joke of the week……
Q: Whats the only game where you can hear a pin drop????......
A: Bowling.......
*ba dum.... tssssh…...*
HAHAHA!
Klaas 20 Jul 2024
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (Mega Drive)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrtz4iDDayw

So many glitches…
Pengling 20 Jul 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrtz4iDDayw

So many glitches…
I seem to recall that this was the game where the manual made an excuse about sometimes needing to reset because of "hidden traps", due to glitches where you could get stuck in walls.
Klaas 20 Jul 2024
I seem to recall that this was the game where the manual made an excuse about sometimes needing to reset because of "hidden traps"
Indeed. I've never looked at the original manual before. It's on page 27 of the US version. The Steam release comes with a heavily abridged (2 page per language) version.

https://info.sonicretro.org/File:Sonic3_MD_US_manual.pdf


Edit: “When Sonic is flashing (after being hit) don't let him travel too quickly.” That's an interesting way to say that the collision detection is garbage.

Last edited by Klaas on 20 Jul 2024 at 2:29 pm UTC
saysnoalot 20 Jul 2024
Team Fortress 2, Splitgate again!
StoneColdSpider 21 Jul 2024
!Saturn Bomberman - Master Game intro
My pick this weekend is the "Master Game" mode in Saturn Bomberman. This is a much shorter secondary single-player game that's separate from the standard story-mode, and it's designed around score-chasing and speedrunning.
I knew there would be more Bomberman this week to make up for the lack of Bomberman last week.......

Getting to revisit Saturn Bomberman is always good since it's one of the series' top games, and I've never played this mode before, so I've been looking forward to this one all week!
How can you revisit something you never left???......

!40 Winks
40 Winks (PSX)
40 weeks is coming up fast.....

!Atomic Bomberman
Atomic Bomberman (Proton)
GOD DAMMIT PENGLING........
Also "Bombflakes"....... Is that your new business venture after your Cookie Bomb Bakery was shut down???.......

!Chip's Challenge
Chip's Challenge (Lynx)
Great game..... I really need to play it to the end one day.......
*Added to the never ending list of games to play*

!Cookie Clicker
Cookie Clicker (Proton)
You cant play that anymore...... Your bakery was shut down......

!Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (Mega Drive)
The 5 Knuckle shuffle......

!Super Bomberman 2
Super Bomberman 2 (SNES)
GOD DAMMIT PENGLING x2.........

!Worms
Worms (MD)
Dynamite is a great way to eradicate worms......

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What will happen next, I wonder?
Looks to me like you opened a Bombflake factory.......

Has it ever been topped? It feels like cricket has largely gotten quite duff video games...
Nope...... The closest they came to topping it was Cricket 07 on the PS2....... (Yeah 6th Gen again..... I swear the 6th Gen was the golden age for sports games.......)
And yes cricket games are now largely forgotten with just the games made by Big Ant Studios left now...... And well youve seen the videos on those games...... They are pretty dreadful...... Even Shane Warne Cricket on the Mega Drive is a much better game than the current ones on offer.......

That car looks awesome!
That it is....... Though there are some great NASCAR liveries from that era....... So damn good.....

I seem to recall that this was the game where the manual made an excuse about sometimes needing to reset because of "hidden traps"
Indeed. I've never looked at the original manual before. It's on page 27 of the US version. The Steam release comes with a heavily abridged (2 page per language) version.

https://info.sonicretro.org/File:Sonic3_MD_US_manual.pdf


Edit: “When Sonic is flashing (after being hit) don't let him travel too quickly.” That's an interesting way to say that the collision detection is garbage.
Welcome back to the players club Klaas.......
Xpander 21 Jul 2024
WRC Generations
Tweaked my logitech G920 pedals. Swapped clutch spring to the throttle pedal. Feels so much better now as the default spring on throttle was way too light to press and i couldn't really feel it right. Now it seems great.

A video also where i started to get into the flow slowly with that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge1C9pw6gGw

No Man's Sky
Tried the update a bit, but i used my old save and i was quite lost in this game. Last time i played was 2 years ago and i didn't remember any of the resources i had :)

Last edited by Xpander on 21 Jul 2024 at 10:48 am UTC
StoneColdSpider 21 Jul 2024
WRC Generations
Tweaked my logitech G920 pedals. Swapped clutch spring to the throttle pedal. Feels so much better now as the default spring on throttle was way too light to press and i couldn't really feel it right. Now it seems great.
I used the GTEYE Throttle and Brake Springs in my G27...... They also make them for the G920......... I found them to be really damn good....... Might be worth checking out......

Also do you prefer WRC10 or WRC Generations???........
Pengling 21 Jul 2024
I knew there would be more Bomberman this week to make up for the lack of Bomberman last week.......
But I played AI matches in it last week... That was what inspired picking Master Game mode for this week!

How can you revisit something you never left???......
Saturn Bomberman has actually been one of my least-played games in the series until very recently.

40 weeks is coming up fast.....
Like I said in last week's thread, after the softlock bug that I encountered, I'm leaving it alone for the time being until I feel like redoing it all again.

GOD DAMMIT PENGLING........


Also "Bombflakes"....... Is that your new business venture after your Cookie Bomb Bakery was shut down???.......
I guess?

Great game..... I really need to play it to the end one day.......
*Added to the never ending list of games to play*
This is the list that doesn't end, yes it goes on and on my friend!

You cant play that anymore...... Your bakery was shut down......
Like I'm going to let the Nacho Nun dictate what I can and can't play!

GOD DAMMIT PENGLING x2.........
x2

Shouldn't this be x3, though, considering that my main pick for this weekend was also a Bomberman title?

Dynamite is a great way to eradicate worms......
I love how the default (at least in this Mega Drive version, and also the Game Boy one) is just to give you one stick of dynamite in a match - sometimes it can be very difficult not to use it right away, and try to save it for a better opportunity later on!

Looks to me like you opened a Bombflake factory.......
Apparently.

Nope...... The closest they came to topping it was Cricket 07 on the PS2....... (Yeah 6th Gen again..... I swear the 6th Gen was the golden age for sports games.......)
2007 is an extreeeeeeeeeemely long time ago just for a game to have come close to topping a game from almost a decade earlier!

That's actually pretty sad...

And yes cricket games are now largely forgotten with just the games made by Big Ant Studios left now...... And well youve seen the videos on those games...... They are pretty dreadful...... Even Shane Warne Cricket on the Mega Drive is a much better game than the current ones on offer.......
Yikes!

That it is....... Though there are some great NASCAR liveries from that era....... So damn good.....
The classic M&Ms designs are totally iconic, though.

Last edited by Pengling on 21 Jul 2024 at 3:32 pm UTC
Xpander 21 Jul 2024
I used the GTEYE Throttle and Brake Springs in my G27...... They also make them for the G920......... I found them to be really damn good....... Might be worth checking out......

Thanks for recommendation

Also do you prefer WRC10 or WRC Generations???........

I prefer WRC Generations because it has the newer Hybrid WRC cars and handling is a bit more on the simulation side also with lower front grip and better car weight.

WRC10 is decent also.

Both games sadly lack the sound quality compared to competition.
InaPhillips 16 Aug 2024
Might just be nostalgia talking, but WWF Smackdown! 2: Know Your Role is still one of my favorite wrestling games. Back in the day, I had no memory card, so I could never save my story mode progress, but I would always start over with a new wrestler. Had hours and hours of fun with SD 2.
StoneColdSpider 16 Aug 2024
Might just be nostalgia talking, but WWF Smackdown! 2: Know Your Role is still one of my favorite wrestling games.
No its not just nostalgia...... WWF Smackdown! 2: Know Your Role does still hold up very well today....... Its a really great fast action arcade style wrestling game...... Awesome fun...... Made even better with emulation thanks to save states and being able to up the emulation speed to shorten those awful PS1 loading times at the push of a button.........

On a side note my favourite wrestling game is actually WWE Smackdown! vs RAW 2007 on the PS2...... Another really good game thats more geared towards faster arcade style of gameplay...... The animation for that game are awesome too and really make the moves seem so violent and painful........ And the create a wrestler feature is actually really quite robust for a PS2 game........ Combined with a pretty good storyline mode and its a really good fun game..... As long as the controls are set to "classic".....

The current wrestling games are way to dull and boring with a never ending string of DLC crap for my liking......... "Realistic" wrestling games just dont work for me...... If you want a true authentic realistic wrestling game then it would be nothing but QTEs to make sure your in the right spot at the right time and doing the correct moves to stay on script while playing backstage politics to move up the card to be a main eventer........

WWE Smackdown! vs RAW 2006 is also fantastic as well....... And of course everyone raves about WWF No Mercy on the N64...... And its a good game for sure........ But I just didnt like it as much as SD2 or SvR 2007...... I think it has to do with the fact that the controls are way to complicated than they actually needed to be.........

I just like my wrestling games to be dumb, simple fun..... A bit like me........
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