A Gaming Diary
PSP
Football Manager Handheld
Apr 27th
Three games at lunchtime, two wins and a draw. That’s taking us up to seventh – which is a play-off spot. Now we just have to hold it…
Football Manager Handheld
Apr 27th
Another two matches on the bus this morning.
First was a comfortable away win, second was a 2-2 draw away at Grimsby. Was happy with that. They’re above us in the league and I was resting three or four of my first team regulars who were starting to look a bit shagged out.
We’ve not been able to climb above 11th in the table, but I’m hoping we’ll get there. I really want a play-off place.
Loco Roco Demo
Apr 26th
It’s very, very replayable.
There are still secret areas I can see but not get to. And probably ones I can’t see.
Football Manager Handheld
Apr 26th
That’s better!
I had the idea that maybe I needed more presence in midfield, so should move back to 4-4-2 from 4-3-3. Posted about my collapse on the official forum and received the same advice from one of the nice developers of the game, who really should know.
So I tried it out and – hoo-rah! – we’re winning again.
Six games in January. Four wins, a draw and a loss. And the loss was an FA Cup match against Hull, who are two divisions higher than us, so that wasn’t too much of a shock.
This game is bloody great.
Football Manager Handheld
Apr 26th
I don’t know what’s going on.
I played through December this lunchtime. Lots and lots of league games, of which we lost all but one, which was a 1-0 win over Shrewsbury. League win is nice, but one out of six matches, or however many it was, is just rubbish. We’re down to 14th now.
And an LDV Vans cup match against Swansea, a division higher than Torquay. We won it comfortably.
The board won’t give me money for new players. And they won’t pay high enough wages to tempt any good players in. And talking of the board, instead of being delighted with my performance as manager, they’re now only pleased. Slippery slope?
Maybe I should see if there are any jobs going…
Football Manager Handheld
Apr 26th
A tale of two matches on the bus this morning.
First up, away to Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup. We thrashed them 4-1 without seeming to break much of a sweat.
Then a league match away at Boston Utd. We lost 2-1, with the consolation goal coming with virtually the last kick of the game.
Same old story. Cup, good; league, bad. We’re down to seventh now. Okay, so the league match was only two days after the cup match, but I was hoping the euphoria of the big win would be more important than tiredness. I guess not.
It’s weird and annoying, this form. And what’s with Walton? An absolute star in cup matches – in his five cup appearances he’s got man of the match twice and hammered in goals – he just doesn’t do a thing in the league.
And we’re really missing Woods in defence. I’m having to play Lloyd out on the right and he was much happier on the left. He’ll probably just get used to playing on the right when Woods gets fit again and I swap him back.
Loco Roco Demo
Apr 25th
Those lovely people at Sony have released a demo of Loco Roco for the PSP. I’ve just spent a good forty-five minutes or so playing it. And it’s wonderful. It’s a 2D platformer at heart, where you control a blob and try to get from left to right, eating fruit to make you grow. Left shoulder button tilts the world left, right one tilts it right, pressing both makes you jump. Press O quickly to split your big blob into little ones, hold O down to recombine them. It’s got lots of charm, bags of fun and tons of secrets. The obvious comparison has to be Katamari Damacy. Hoepfully this’ll be another – gnng – “wacky” game that crosses over to a larger audience.
(Well, at least in the States Katamari seemed to crossover. Over here it just seemed to die, as far as I can tell.)
It’s a sure buy for me, though I can see it getting too hard later in the game and making me cry.
If you have a PSP and you don’t mind updating your firmware then you really need to go and get this. Instructions over at Eurogamer should see you through. Go, go, go!
Football Manager Handheld
Apr 25th
Oh dear. A few more injuries has exposed the lack of depth in my squad.
This lunchtime I played through four games. Three of them were league games, all three were defeats. But at least the win in the other game means I’m now through to the quarter finals of the LDV Vans Throphy…
One problem is fitness. I’ve been neglecting the fitness training, so now a lot of players don’t recover to top condition between matches. But training fitness any harder leans to more injuries.
I’ve got my two first choice central defenders out, Kuffour’s still out, Bedeau was out for the matches I played this lunchtime but is okay now and we’ve got a few others out, too.
Hopefully Bedeau coming back will help. He was a great asset in midfield and we’ve really felt his loss. At least, I hope the loss of Bedeau was the problem. If not, we’re stuck.
I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that the PSP has seen that I’m better in attack than defence and has reacted accordingly. Though maybe that’s paranoia. But it does seem that I’m facing more teams coming out to smack me down in the first half before locking up tight in the second.
Football Manager Handheld
Apr 25th
A fraught bus journey into work today.
Just one game, but it was the FA Cup tie against Cambridge City. An easy game, so I rested Woods and Connell, who weren’t at peak fitness in the run up to the game. Connell especially has been getting tired lately, so I thought the rest might do him good. (If not, I’ll have to put him on fitness training for a while.) Put Goodwin in for Woods, who I think is the only player I’ve signed who has actually played in the team.
I’m trying not to blame him for the fact that Cambridge City went 1-0 up almost immediately, as I’ve got no proof it was his fault. I’m also trying not to blame for the fact that after we equalised they went ahead ahead again half way through the first half.
I took him off at half time and we ended up winning 5-2, much to my relief. Can I lay the early trouble at Goodwin’s door, or is it just a case of Cambridge City coming out fighting but not having the legs to see the game through?
Anyway, we’ve been drawn against Bristol Rovers in round two who, like us, are jostling for space at the top of the League Two table. I’ve got a decision to make – do I concentrate on the FA Cup or the league? League does make more sense. We’re not going to win the cup, so getting through another round or two would be ultimately meaningless. But there’s something about the cup that fires the imagination. Maybe it’s just that each match is so meaningful, unlike the league where the odd defeat can be shrugged off. I’m not sure. Maybe I should treat the next cup tie as a normal match, with no special preparations at all.
I shall ponder.
Football Manager Handheld
Apr 24th
Well, I should be happy. Two league wins on the trot have seen us go top of League Two. Priso got a 10 out of 10 rating in one of those matches, my first of the game. I’ve just won Manager of the Month for October. We’ve been drawn in the FA Cup against Cambridge City.
All good things. But putting a downer on all that is the fact that Jo Kuffour got a calf strain in the last game which is going to see him out for two months. I’m really not sure how we’ll do without him. He always seems to be mixed up in the action, even if he’s not scored an awful lot.
