In a normal situation where you are the only player playing the game, chances are, you’ll be controlling the ball handler (or, in defense, controlling the player who is marking the ball handler). What that means is that the movements of the other 4 players on your team are controlled by the CPU, with the player having somewhat limited control on what they do (setting screens, posting up etc). By only playing as the ball handler, the only decision you need to make within the game is whether to shoot, pass, or drive with the ball.

Learning when to shoot/pass/drive the ball is quite similar in real life as compared to a video game. In real life basketball, this is a part of the game that is definitely coached with emphasis, because most of the attention is given to the ball and getting it into the basket.

Playing NBA2k9 in a multi-player setting makes NBA2k9 become a totally different game. Players are required to move without the ball, and the decision becomes more complicated because the player needs to figure when he should move, and where he should move to so that he can be the most effective. Often my experience with playing this way is that players run into each other and games become a lot tougher.

Why is that? Is it because in our basketball training (both formal training and also informal training done in the playground) we don’t put enough emphasis on moving without the ball? Is it because we simply do not know what to do? Or do we all think and do the same thing so that we run into each other?

In my experience, whenever we train in this area (think offensive/defensive systems), not only do we need to know where we need to go, but we need to be aware of where our teammates are as well. Unfortunately, being on the court, sometimes we don’t have the perspective to see all 5 players at once. One possible solution is to watch video footage of past games or scrimmages, but then what then becomes lacking is the lack of interactivity, and the players are stuck watching the tape not being able to make adjustments on the spot.

This is where I think a video game can help. Of course video games can’t train us in the areas of basic skills and fitness, but I think video games can help in coaching effective offensive and defensive systems. The only requirement is that the game is realistic enough so that things that you would do normally (such as setting screens, performing various spins and moves) are also possible through the game. Also the game physics and mechanics also need to be somewhat realistic for any of this training to be worthwhile (so that, for example, being able to successfully defend a shooter means that the shooter will have a much lower shot percentage, and that boxing out opponents will get you more rebounds).

The advantage of using a video game is that it gives better perspective to the player so that he can see what the other 4 players are doing, and this also develops his court awareness and communication skills. Plus it’s fun to play video games on a rainy day!

PS. It’s currently pouring outside the office…

Of course the biggest thing for me (and probably a lot of my high school friends) is the release of the long-long-long-long awaited TeamFortress 2.

I’ve already clocked up 10 hours of gameplay and have reinstalled mIRC to rejoin #oztf . Quite surprising that some of the regulars remember my nickname. I wonder if I’ll have the time to join a clan and play some matches.

Read on for a few observations about TF2 and how it’s different from TF:

• Biggest change is the removal of gren1 and gren2s from the game. This balances the classes somewhat (to the better I guess) but this really gimps some of the weaker classes (sniper/scout/engineer) because all they have is their gun to defend themselves. While scouts have the new scattergun and the engineer has a shotgun that’s quite reasonable in short range, the sniper is stuck with a pussy nailgun. What this means is, when you miss a shot as a sniper and your enemy sees you, you don’t have much of a chance surviving.
• Medic class has been totally revamped, and so he comes as a true support class (like a priest in WoW) – unlike a priest however, the medic’s DPS is quite weak (the supernailgun from Quake1 is now some pussy syringe launcher). However, medics when paired with soldiers and HWGuys are a force to be reckoned with – and are able to break just about any defence.
• CP maps are now the norm – rather than the exception. I like the 5-point CP maps a lot – especially cp_well. I especially like the attack/defence map setup where one team is dedicated to attack 3 CPs while one team is dedicated to defend them. TC_Hydro I don’t like that much – most of the time it just seems like a DM match in the caves.
• Sentries are now much harder to kill because of the lack of grens. The only viable ways to kill a sentry now is:
  • Snipe it (rare as a sniper would hardly get anywhere near the enemy base without getting fried).
  • Rocket it (also quite difficult because it takes quite a bit of time via strafing in and out of the sentry’s line of sight. During this time more likely than not an enemy demoman/soldier comes your way and disrupts your sentry-killing by killing you instead)
  • Sap it with a spy (most common).
• Because of teleporters, there’s a tendency for clever engineers to build sentries inside the enemy base (I’ve also played a game where sentries from my team were being set up in the enemy flag room). Having teleporters enable the engineers to resupply very quickly, and allows the sentry to play both the role of attack (by supporting scouts who run into the flag room) and also defence (by stopping enemies from capping their flag) at the same time. While I made at least 3 scout runs as a result of this defensive/offensive setup – I didn’t find it fun at all. The concept of base defence gets thrown out the window when we have engineers setting up shop in enemy’s bases and all the non-engineers spend their time beating down those enemy sentries in their base rather than helping out their own engineer.

Enough for now. Now because of this stupid game I’m thinking of upgrading my computer again.

Here’s a list of games that I’ve tried out:

• Warioware: Smooth Moves
• Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2
• Naruto
• Super Monkey Ball
• Super Paper Mario
• Trauma Center: Second Opinion

I’ve found Trauma Center to be lots of fun, but I’m stuck on the same level as on the DS version.
Warioware was lots of fun but I finished it a bit too quickly, but this will be great as a party game.
Dragon Ball Z was just too hard to play. It’s actually more like Virtua On or Gundam than a normal fighting game. Maybe I just need to spend more time on it.
Naruto is fun only because I’m a fanboy, but it’s not technically very advanced. The controls are generic – all the characters are essentially identical in usage, except that the jutsus that they perform. The game is graphically amazing. The Naruto animators manage to use cell shading to its maximum potential (much like the anime).
I only had a brief session with Super Monkey Ball, and I only played a few of the mini games. Some of the games are really fun, but then some are totally “wtf?”.
Super Paper Mario is kinda fun too, but it’s too slow paced for me, because it plays kinda like an RPG. And the story element is just plain silly (which is to be expected I guess).

Here’s a list of games that I have but haven’t tried out yet:

• Bleach
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight princess
• Metal Slug Anthology
• Need for Speed: Carbon
• Pokemon Battle Revolution

Here are the games that I’m still downloading:

• Red Steel
• Super Bombermanland