Flay

I received my Network Adaptor at 11:57 a.m. today and I've been testing it on and off for a while.

Setup:

Quite simple. You attach the adaptor to the back of the PS2. That takes about a minute. Start up the PS2 with the Startup disc and start setting up your ISP. ISP registation takes about 5 minutes, unless you have a usb keyboard plugged in already.

The setup files are saved to your memory card. I think it took up 137K. I have broadband, so the registration was probably quicker than someone with dial-up.

Sample Videos:

The Tribes video was very cool. ATV and TH4 vids were ok. Auto Modelista looks pretty neat.

Demos:

I already have Madden, but I decided to play the demo to check it out. You do get to play a full game, but there are several drawbacks. The quarters are very short, the playbook is very thin, and your stats are not recorded.

You are able to enter a game quickly and see everyone's connection. It's easy to spot the 56Kers with their red dots for a bad connection. You can challenge people or wait to be challenged. All in all, it's a decent taste of Madden.

Frequency Online only has 4 levels and it's not that much fun. I was bored pretty quickly. I probably won't be playing that again.

Mail In card

I knew the mail in card for Twisted Metal Black was coming, but it still sucks to get it. Why didn't they just include the game with the NA? It's frustrating. Anyway, I will be mailing it off tommorow and we will see how long it takes to ship it to me.

Madden Online (full version)

I've started 13 games so far today, but only finished 3. Why? Freaking quitters. All it takes is an early 7 point lead to drive away the person on the other end. Out of the 10 games, 6 quit in the first quarter, 2 in the second, 1 in the third, and 1 ten seconds before the end of the game because he didn't convert on 4th down.

Screw the dissconnect percentage. Quitters need to take a loss on the game and give me the win by default.

The 3 games that I've completed have been a blast. I'm 2-1 with Tampa Bay. The lag was only prevelent in 1 game and it really wasn't too bad.

Advice for anyone buying the Network Adaptor:

1. Buy a USB keyboard. I can't stress this enough. The ability to communicate in the start-up rooms and within the game is a godsend. I will be buying one this weekend.

2. If you are on 56K, don't expect anyone with broadband to accept your challenges. I turned down several people because their connection was laggy crap.

Overall Impressions:

I'm semi-satisfied. It's been a decent overall experience, but I want games like Tribes and TMB now. There is not a whole lot out there right now to choose from unless you want Socom or a football game. Plus the quitters in Madden are incredibly frustrating.

Static Cling

quitters.

Do they show some sort of disconnect percentage or any other indicators of who the quitters are? I thought of that being a downside when I heard about Madden being an adaptor game.

BradJ

What was the setup like for broadband? does the cable just plug in? or do you need to go through the cable modem with a router?

Flay

Yes. When you select someone's name before you challenge them, you can see their win/loss/disconnect percentage.

The problem is that when people challenge you, you have to immediately decide without being able to see their stats. Also, EA doesn't update the stats too frequently, so far anyway.

I can understand if you have to quit because you can't play anymore. Unfortunately, the majority go right into another game hoping for a quick lead.

Heck, one moron even challenged me again after he quit on me when I returned the opening kickoff for 7. I wish I had a keyboard to let him know how I really felt about him.

Flay

I've already got a router so I just pluged it in from there. I didn't test it directly from the cable modem, but I'm sure it would work that way.

The setup was easy. You just select high-speed ethernet and it automatically detects eveything. It took me about 30 seconds to get through that part.

TaTTooD

i'm very happy with it so far...i havent run into any quitters mainly because i keep getting my ass kicked. the thing that bothers me is all the "cheese" people use and how unsportsmanlike some people are when i play em. i might play randoms for awhile longer but otherwise i might just stick to people i know and dvdtalk people from the soon to be madden league. no lag at all for me really. one game didnt even start cause it was lagging so badly but i've played 8 games with no lag at all.

RockyMtnBri

That's how I feel, TaTTooD. I may grab a $10 USB keyboard, but it'd need an extension cord.

Static Cling

What kind of "cheese" are you talking about?

Flay

2 items of interest:

1. Bad news for those trying to connect to Socom right now. The few available servers have the capacity for 1000 people and the number of people in each waiting room is hovering around 750. The servers have been going up and down and online play has been very laggy. Hopefully, Sony will add more servers tomorrow, otherwise it's going to get really ugly.

2. AOL users need to watch out. Apparently, AOL is offering a a 4.95/month premium service for PS2 online users. It's unclear if this charge is mandatory or not. I will try and find out the specifics.

Trigger

So how does someone else quitting a game on you effect your win/loss/disconnect ratio? Does that give you a disconnect too? Sounds like a bunch of n00bs. Hope Xbox Live isn't like that.

Josh H

Quitters suck. They were the main reason I quit playing NFL2K1 online, and the main reason (other than lack of broadband) that I'm not giving online gaming a shot this generation.

Trigger

Seeing as how you're mainly a Gamecube guy, you don't really have much of a choice anyway.

Josh H

I have a PS2 as well.

Trigger

I know - it was just a joke... laugh...

kurupt

I've got mixed feelings about the quitters. On one hand, the fact that you don't get a win on your record really sucks. On the other hand, it feels good to "beat someone into submission", so to speak. Unless, that is, you go through the trouble to start a game and someone quits after the opening kick-off. Oh well, in a perfect world, those that quit will have a few too many disconnects on their record and won't get challenged to that many games.

Flay

No it hasn't affected my disconnect ratio. I guess it's the first guy to quit that gets the bad mark.

XBox Live will vary game to game. The people Beta testing NFL2K3 on Live have stated that a disconnect is counted as a loss and the other guy wins be default.

TaTTooD

cheese is the term for people that use BS plays or just do unsportsmanlike things all game. someone that runs the same play all game, someone that stacks the line to do a super blitz, someone that doesnt punt on 4th down on their own 20...there's a ton of things that make a person considered to be cheesy. one example of this i experienced was against some dude who was using atlanta. michael vick is one of the fastest players in the game and this guy was running sweeps with vick just about every other play if not more. no matter how i lined up my guys it wouldnt matter cause no one could catch him. i even did a line shift outside with both my D line and linebackers and took control of my safety and i still couldnt stop the guy. stuff like this is considered cheese. when i play i want a game thats realistic. i dont care if i get my a$$ kicked as long as the game is played realistically and its fun. i can honestly say i had fun in a game if its cheese free even if i get my a$$ kicked.


another jacka$$ i played was up by 35 (dont ask ) with about a minute left...i was out of time outs and the guy was still using his to run up the score....after he scored to make it 45 he went for an onside kick. he could have easily just run out the clock and it would have been cool. its $hit like that that really pisses me off

actyper

Why is punting on 4th down on your own 20 cheesy?

Josh H

I'm guessing he meant not punting. That was another thing I hated about playing NFL2k1 online. Tons of people would never punt regardless of the situation.

TaTTooD

yeah...my bad...thats a typo i meant not punting

Obey The D

We should start a list of people to aviod like the plauge when playing online. I can't stand it when people move the ENTIRE defense around manually before every single play.

RockyMtnBri

Can we create our own room on-line, like the DVD Talk Forum League? That way, we know that we're playing with folks we "know". It may be a little exclusionary, but it could be an option.

TaTTooD

the only problem with that is the room goes away if no one is there so i guess if someone goes online they'd have to wait around in an empty room in hopes of someone going online at the same time and running into them.

another option i was thinking of is on the madden league site i made we could just have one page of contact info for all dvdtalk members that want to play madden online. we could list their AIM, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ or whatever contact info their is and people could set up games that way.

CreatureX

Great impressions Flay. I think the reason Twisted Metal Black Online was not included in the package was due to its "Mature" rating.

RockyMtnBri

TaTTooD...

Yer really thinkin', man! In fact, nyr4321 and I have a game tonite, and we're using AIM to coordinate it!