Lurker > KCF0107

Former Super Bowl Champions

The Dallas Cowboys have been the league's most talented team for half of the league's existence. However, I institute a limitation on collective annual player expenses (called a salary cap) that is lower than what the game gives, and taking over the Cowboys would mean you would have your work cut out for you getting them under the salary cap. You would still end up with a Super Bowl-caliber team, but it is starting to get top-heavy.

The Miami Dolphins have an almost equally-talented team than the Cowboys, and they too have financial issues related to the cap that would require some work but not to the same level as the Cowboys. Like the Cowboys, you would still end up with a team that would be among the Super Bowl favorites given their depth and balance.

The Denver Broncos are uber-talented on defense, but the offense could use some help in the form of depth, and have a small issue with the salary cap.

The Minnesota Vikings have a balanced talent level similar to the Dolphins, but they are in much better financial health, and had among the most cap space in the league.

The reigning champion Columbus Pioneers are easily the least talented of the bunch, but the defense has had a major turnaround the past two seasons, and while overall the offense has been playing at a high level, injuries and talent issues show that this is far from a consistent, sustainable unit. They are in excellent financial health for the time being.

Perennial Playoff Teams

The St. Louis Rams have made the playoffs 11 times in 14 seasons, the second most in the league. They are in decent financial health and have a nice mix of veterans and youth. The defense has been one of the league's best, and the offense has had some turnaround of late. The OL is getting very old though.

The Baltimore Ravens have won the AFC North and finished 10-6 in four straight seasons, but they have some talent issues at various positions. Every team in the division has nipped at their heels during this run of theirs, so they would need to navigate the offseason well enough with their annual salary cap issues.

The Portland Express have gone 31-17 the past three seasons with three playoff wins, and their team has gotten quite a bit younger, especially on defense, and is overall on the rise. They too have been in great financial health, so if you want a non-powerhouse that has a high floor but plenty of room to grow, this might be the best option.

Playoff Caliber

The New York Jets are coming off of three straight losing seasons, but the underlying stats peg them as arguably the league's unluckiest team having suffered among the most injuries and games lost due to injuries but still proceeding to finish above average or better in most major team categories. They will have another Top 10 pick this draft, so they could be ready to break out next season.

Work In Progress

The offense of the Seattle Seahawks can be elite, but injuries to their top two QBs and an ineffective running game for the first half of the season really hurt their rankings. However, the defense probably needs a reboot. It just hasn't been playing up to its talent level, and most of the starters are in their 30s. You can probably be competitive in the short term because of the offense, but the defense will likely take multiple seasons to get it together.

The San Juan Orcas play in the league's worst division, but they haven't made the playoffs since S2. They've been a Jekyll and Hyde team in alternating having a great offense/defense while the other among the league's worst. However, these past two seasons have shown that the defense, while aging, is the identity of this team because that offense was downright putrid after starting five different QBs last season. That is unacceptable with the OL that they have. A new QB/HB combo will be necessary for them to take the step forward that I have long been anticipating from them.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Here are the 32 teams in the league by division. I have made notes for any team that has relocated since this started. A team in bold is one that is occupied by a user who will be coming back in season 15. A team in italics is one that is currently occupied by a user who has yet to inform me of their plans for season 15. A team that is neither bolded nor italicized is open (you can also tell because there's no username to the right of them) for the taking. If an italicized team is the one you want the most, you can sign up for X open team with the stipulation that you would like to change to Y team if their incumbent user does not return.

AFC West
Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs - Ranlom
Oakland Raiders - Bloodychess
Portland Express (formerly Washington Hawks and San Diego Chargers)

AFC East
Buffalo Bills - stevr
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots (formerly Birmingham Cougars and New England Patriots) - Jukkie
New York Jets

AFC North
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals - Muffinz
Mexico City (formerly Cleveland) Browns - VI
Pittsburgh Steelers - Shattered

AFC South
Columbus Pioneers (formerly Houston Texans)
Indianapolis Colts - mccheyne
Jacksonville Jaguars - Sultan
Tennessee Titans - Socko

NFC West
San Francisco 49ers - Scare
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams
Toronto Wildcats (formerly Arizona Cardinals) - prof

NFC East
Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants - Eddv
Philadelphia Eagles (formerly Las Vegas Pumpkins and Phildelphia Eagles) - Pennywise
Washington Redskins - Wiz

NFC North
Chicago (formerly Los Angeles, Richmond, and Chicago) Bears - Stan
Detroit Lions - Nee
Green Bay Packers - Tangicide
Minnesota Vikings

NFC South
San Juan Orcas (formerly Anaheim Lightning and New Orleans Saints)
Atlanta Falcons - MMX
Carolina Panthers - Emerald
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Chris

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

In the OP of every topic we have, there are four links you will see. They are as follows:

1. Hub Spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10gIP0JkVqOaoUc4aQX_NyDM8dB31FOPm_dUx6DVTWPk/edit?usp=sharing

This is where you will find all pertinent information on the current state of the league. In it you will find several sheets, most of which should be self-explanatory if you understand the NFL. You might want to look at to get familiar with it and if your choice of team depends on its roster and not fandom. If your choice of team does depend on the roster it unfortunately is not fully accurate.

Due to the amount of time it would take to update each time players' ratings change, ratings for all teams are reflected based on what they were entering the preseason unless a player was signed or traded after it. Also, the team financial sheet which gives you contract info and ages for all your players are only shown for user teams based on how much time and effort it takes to work on it. Do not hesitate to ask me any questions regarding any teams you might be interested in taking over.

2. Word Doc
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RVeEIyjqIiEkS0VYvbsI02dWMDXyOgdVQAgThNJyIfc/edit?usp=sharing

This was re-worked, but it still a very wordy 14-ish pages worth of info that should be helpful to understand how B8NFLL works within Madden 06. I wouldn't say it is essential and it doesn't cover everything, but I think it covers most of the important stuff and might answer many of the questions you have.

3. Wiki Page
http://board8.wikia.com/wiki/Board_8_National_Football_League_League

This is starting to get ridiculously long and may prompt me to move it elsewhere as I can't seem to make new articles on the B8 Wiki, but the basic history (such as who was in charge of what team each season, final regular season records, playoff results, award winners, and end-of-season stat leaders) of every season of B8NFLL is on record here.

4. Previous Topic
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79099207

That topic covers the entirety of the regular and postseason, so you can check it out at your convenience to see how everything during that span is presented. We are also part of the B8 Discord and can be found in the B8NFLL sub-channel under Sports.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Board 8 National Football League League (B8NFLL) just wrapped up its 14th season where the Columbus Pioneers defeated the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl. That means its time for new blood or old blood returning to be able to get in on the action for Season 15. Signups will last until late March or early April, so there's no rush.

What is this?
B8NFLL is a simulation league using Madden 06s franchise mode where users build rosters while managing the salary cap to have fun and/or accomplish something over the course of multiple seasons (no hard figure, but the game can't exceed around 30 seasons)

What do we do in a season?
Here is an oversimplified breakdown of what we do each season:
1. Offseason
- Ownership changes <---- We are here
- Player retirements
- Restricted free agents
- Unrestricted free agents
- NFL Draft + signing draft picks
- Free agency
2. Preseason
3. Regular Season
4. Postseason

The beginning of the offseason is the only time that I can change ownership of teams, and I personally think that it makes most sense to end the season with the playoffs, so this is where we begin. The majority of your work in this league will be in the offseason. The pre, regular, and postseason are basically seeing the fruits of your labor and making any adjustments that you see fit. You can ask questions now if you have any about the offseason events, but I go over them in full detail when the time comes.

This is the kind of project where you can be as active or inactive as you want. I of course like to see it when people put in a lot of effort, but I totally understand that people have different lives and schedules that might affect the amount of time they are able to put into this. We've had a wide variety of successful levels for those active and inactive. We've even had users who literally did nothing all season who went on to win Super Bowls or make it far into the playoffs. If you are interested in joining this but are hesitant based on your availability, let me assuage some possible concerns. I end up doing like 95% of the work on this project, and I give users plenty of time to do their tasks. A large number of offseason segments I give users at least a week to complete. Should you idle during any of those segments, I have very forgiving rules in place. Your team will not be screwed over if you ever forget to do something.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

You can play as a Piranha Plant in Super Mario Odyssey

You can play as Petey Piranha in a bunch of stuff like Mario Kart Double Dash and Mario Golf Toadstool Tour

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

As long as the first person to win a B8 rumble in 2021 also gets in on the money

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Whiskey_Nick posted...

*notices Wigs MitB briefcase*

*notices Wigs unconscious outside the ring*

*notices KCF celebrating*

*looks at briefcase*

*looks at ring*

*looks at briefcase*

*grabs briefcase and enters the ring*

I AM CASHING ON THE RUMBLE!!!!

#36. Nick - 10
#26. KCF - 2

HURTS KCF
DOUBLE HURTS KCF

I WIN THE RUMBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I never!

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs - Ranlom
Oakland Raiders - Bloodychess
Portland Express

Buffalo Bills - stevr
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots - Jukkie
New York Jets

Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals - Muffinz
Mexico City Browns - VI
Pittsburgh Steelers - Shattered

Columbus Pioneers
Indianapolis Colts - mccheyne
Jacksonville Jaguars - Sultan
Tennessee Titans - Socko

San Francisco 49ers - Scare
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams
Toronto Wildcats - prof

Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants - Eddv
Philadelphia Eagles - Pennywise
Washington - Wiz

Chicago Bears - Stan
Detroit Lions - Nee
Green Bay Packers - Tangicide
Minnesota Vikings

Atlanta Falcons - MMX
Carolina Panthers - Emerald
San Juan Orcas
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Chris

I will totally remember to put up the board-wide sign up topic in the next day

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

I am now up to around 55% on HZD with around 11 story missions finished as well as a ton of side quests and all but two each of the bandit camps and cauldrons. I finally defeated one of those stupid Stormbirds. It took me around 100 arrows, but I was lucky to find one in the jungle area that was secluded, so I could focus solely on it. The toughest fight that I have faced up to this point though was a Stalker-Infested Corruption Zone where I ended up having to fight five of them. I died twice, so it ended up taking me 30 or so minutes.

That reminded me that I didn't die for the longest of time, and my first time that I died was when I intended to rapel down from one of the protruding branches from a cliff, but either I had to jump off at a very specific point or the prompt never showed because I just straight up plummeted to my death. I don't particularly care for the saving system in this game, but in that instance, I didn't lose much progress.

Also, I have yet to face a boss, so I am confused as to what darkx is talking about. I have fought a few named NPCs from side quests, but they were basically the same as the normal enemy that they are most similar to. Are you considering scripted fights with normal machines like the Rockbreaker in Blood on Stone or the Corruptor in The Womb of the Mountain to be boss fights?

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

#44 Last Window: The Secret of Cape West (DS, 2010)


The follow-up to Hotel Dusk: Room 215, this takes place one year after the events from that game with Kyle Hyde back at his LA apartment and informed he is to be evicted with the building set to be demolished. While it maintains the same stunning rotoscope character art and point-and-click gameplay from before, it is less of a noir and more of a thriller as you go down quite the engrossing rabbit hole discovering truth behind multiple mysteries, including the game's title.

Back when I did a character ranking project around 2010, Kyle Hyde came in fourth or fifth. He is largely a no-nonsense, keeps-to-himself kind of guy you would frequently come across in noir stories, he has quite a few endearing qualities that help him stand out. How can you not smile yourself after witness him smile? I do like his no-nonsense demeanor a lot though because the segments where you grill other characters, and you'll know because the accompanying music basically screams it, are my favorite parts in the series. Characters are a lot more come-and-go in the sequel, and while there are some I would have liked to see more (or less), it did serve the plot better that way given everyone was living their own lives and shoehorning in the more likable characters would have just undermined it all.

This was only game that I ever imported when I bought it for myself for $25-30 in 2012 as a graduation present. I had never considered importing a game before that, and I haven't since. I really wish that Cinq could have held on a bit longer to give us at least a third game. I own or have played other games that they made including Trace Memory and Monster Rancher DS, but Hotel Dusk/Last Window were clearly their best works.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

They have been talking about experiences from playing with each other on Discord

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Spades

I wanted it to be clubs

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

#45 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2, 2002)


While Vice City gives up the more sandbox appeal that I felt III had, and the addition of the RC missions sucked, it is the much better game. They absolutely nailed the 80s vibe from the characters, vehicles, clothing, and licensed music all the while being in a much more memorable story and setting that cranked up the satire to 11. More than anything, I loved just messing around here.

I would go to the golf course, grab a golf kart, and just be the asshole who drives that shit (illegally) on the road. I would go around to beaches making life a living hell for everyone, and I would just cruise around looking for something to spark my imagination, usually at the expense of someone else. Much like III, it took me several years to actually get through the game because Rockstar was so good at keeping me entertained just experiencing what their world had to offer.

Apparently the limitation for uploading images and stuff is very small, so imagine that I posted the Lance Vance dance

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

#46 Far Cry 3 (Xbox 360, 2012)


I like open-world games for having the choice of how I want my journey to unfold and how they can be ripe for some personal experiences that I and I alone will experience. I like the idea of collectibles in games if they are fun to get (bonus points if they have a functional purpose). Far Cry 3 had an excellent combo of a large, beautiful island full of collectibles that require you to do all sorts of things to grab. I enjoyed how many times in the pursuit of relics or letters that it put me out of my comfort zone. Do I want to swim in shark infested waters or go through dark caves where a crocodile could be lurking in the water or a jaguar lurking around the corner? The answer is yes I do. I will be a giant baby, but I ultimately love it in the end.

This was also the peak of the series' penchant for randomness and absurdness. As much fun as it is to take down an entire outpost by yourself, it is more fun to release a caged bear from a distance, zoom in the camera, and watch it rip everyone to shreds, clearing the outpost without ever setting foot inside of it. I was bummed when they nerfed the power of animal "helpers" in 4. While many open-world games offered a high amount of unscripted events, I feel like Far Cry's are funnier than others. My favorite from 3 was when an enemy jeep and I met up on the road, and we all got out of our vehicles. Before any of us could shoot, a flaming tire came barreling down a slope and nailed the entire team. That's on the extreme side of things, but there will be random animal ambushes, explosions, are just stupid junk that just crack me up, even if I get killed as a result.

Far Cry 3 began the formula that the series uses to this day, but none have been able to come close to surpassing it, and I have my doubts that they ever will.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Rocket League and PoP: Sands of Time are still my favorite champions for being fantastic games while also being unconventional choices on B8.

Disco Elysium might also fit the mold, but I have yet to play it.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Disappointing puzzle elements (aka a very bad trial and error) and mediocre characters as a whole (luckily most of the main cast is good) but when it all comes together, it has an interesting story even if you have to wade through some abysmal stuff.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

extra hurt emerald

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Extra hurt nee

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Hurt Stifled

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Hurt Apollo

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Hurt Stifled

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Hurt Dp

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Hurt and double hurt david

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Hurt Inviso

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Hurt Soul

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Hurt Apollo

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Hurt Stifled

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Monthly Progress
GRIS - Metal, Ark, KCF
Horizon
Ys II

Nominations
Abacus - Quantum Conundrum
darkx - Yoshi's Woolly World
KCF - GNOG, Sayonara Wild Hearts, A Case of Distrust
JONA - VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action

Supports
Metal - Sayonara

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

I'm up to 37% in HZD. I've only done about 10 story missions, but even with having purple weapons, I still struggle with certain machines (I don't want to see another giant bird for awhile). Thus, I have been doing some side quests/errands and going through bandit camps and cauldrons for extra experience and capabilities. I don't really like the caludrons from a gameplay standpoint, but I like the rewards.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Damn, I felt good about my 238 deaths in Cuphead. Grim Matchstick was responsible for over a third of them.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs - Ranlom
Oakland Raiders - Bloodychess
Portland Express

Buffalo Bills - stevr
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots - Jukkie
New York Jets

Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals - Muffinz
Mexico City Browns - VI
Pittsburgh Steelers - Shattered

Columbus Pioneers
Indianapolis Colts - mccheyne
Jacksonville Jaguars - Sultan
Tennessee Titans - Socko

San Francisco 49ers - Scare
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams
Toronto Wildcats - prof

Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants - Eddv
Philadelphia Eagles - Pennywise
Washington - Wiz

Chicago Bears - Stan
Detroit Lions - Nee
Green Bay Packers - Tangicide
Minnesota Vikings

Atlanta Falcons - MMX
Carolina Panthers - Emerald
San Juan Orcas
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Chris

All AFC users are returning

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

#47 Mario Party 3 (N64, 2000)


I do not understand how this is not the overwhelming favorite N64 Mario Party game on B8. I know it is subjective, but it is crystal clear to me that it has the best collection of maps and mini-games of all types. It has its own special story mode that incorporates the great duel mode.

In duel mode, you face off against one opponent, and the goal is to get their HP down to 0 by going around the map strategically to attack them using common Mario enemies called partners. The mode has its own special mini-games too. MP3 also took the lackluster item system from the second game and expanded on it in a way to make its inclusion meaningful.

They even added Waluigi!

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

#48 Max Payne 3 (PS3, 2012)


After a decade-long hiatus, Rockstar took over for Remedy Entertainment and subsequently took Max Payne out of the neo-noir, winter NYC and placed him into the sociopolitical, sunny So Paulo. A stark change for sure, but it turned out to be the right move by not only giving the series a refreshing change but also providing you with a vider variety of environments to test and play around with the improved gameplay.

If there was one thing the original games could have used, it was a cover system. It's a simple addition on the surface, but paired with the series' famous bullet time and sensational body physicals using the RAGE engine, you would be like me and take every opportunity you could to force the middle-aged Max to dive every which way, guns drawn.

To top it off, you still get the same (lovable) old cynical Max Payne with his biting commentary on the everything swimming in his head, and the game's final sequence is one of the best in a video game, including a perfect song choice. What more could you want?

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

You can see the list just a few posts above. It was Super Mario RPG

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

I'm with MSG on this, and I am pretty sure that we had this conversation like five or so years ago

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Wasn't this the case last season? If so, all non-playoff teams end up in the lottery as usual.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

#49 WarioWare Gold (3DS, 2018)


Gold may not have the multiplayer of Party Game$ or cool extras or platform-centric features of Touched, but Gold is the definitive WarioWare experience, adding the series' highest replayability to boot. It takes a substantial amount of games from the rest of the series, sprinkles in some of their own, and it just takes off from there with its interesting setup. The story mode is sectioned off by leagues, and each league has a theme (mash, twist, touch, or combo) that revolve around the method of completing the microgames. Each league has several characters that you face off against playing microgames of a certain flavor. Jimmy T will have sports microgames, 9 Volt will have Nintendo microgames, and so on. Having similar microgames in a match reduces some inherent frustration while avoiding feelings of staleness. It truly is remarkable.

The very first 3DS game that I played was Super Mario 3D Land, and for seven years, it was my #1 game on the system. I believe that WarioWare Gold was the final, original game that Nintendo made for the system, so if I'm correct, that was one hell of a swan song.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

#50 Forza Horizon (Xbox 360, 2012)


For almost 20 years, my favorite genre was as healthy as could be with a wide breadth of options coming out on an annual basis. Things began to change in the late-00s/early-10s. The cost of making games continued to rise, the indie scene was exploding, and new genres and ways to play games were forming to where racing games were being left in the dust. Great developers like Bizarre Creations, Black Rock Studios, and SCE Studio Liverpool were shut down, Forza Motorsport hadn't yet hit its stride with me, Polyphonal Digital wasn't the same, Mario Kart was coming off of a bit of a dud, and the indie scene wasn't really coming out with many, let alone memorable, racing games. Codemasters was basically all I had. That was until Microsoft and new-to-the-scene Playground Games came out with a spin-off in late 2012 called Forza Horizon.

This is how you do an open-world racer! It takes place in gorgeous Colorado where you will in the desert, on the plains, in the forests, and in the city under numerous setups (rally, lap, point-to-point, etc...). While you try to come on top in each event, there's a sub-system in place. The overall goal is to be the #1 ranked racer. Winning events certainly will help you rack up a bunch of ranking points, but so does racing in style. They encourage you to string together moves like drifting, racing at high speeds, playing chicken with oncoming traffic, and otherwise play a risky game to accrue massive point combos to add to your ranking points. I can't even begin to count the amount of times that I raced in a way to see my combo meter rise to a staggering level only to mess up and crash into something. I regret nothing.

The style points extend to outside of events as well. The map is huge, so by simply exploring, soaking in the sights, or going to and from events, you will be earning style points. Sometimes you don't realize that you are in the midst of stringing a nice combo together. There were times I would be on my way to an event but completely blow past the event marker and go halfway across the map because I was in the middle of a sick combo. The sooner you treat the land as your playground, the sooner will be head over heels for the game.

The backdrop of the game is that this takes place in like a racing/concert hybrid festival, and I don't know, I just loved it. The whole thing is chill, but racing is something that I focus hard on, so it is a great palette cleanser to race then just go explore and mess around the area finding secrets or pulling off sick combos before going to another event. Because of the festival theme, they have a deep selection of licensed music with various stations playing a single broad genre type. I suppose if you dislike contemporary music, it might not be your thing, but I certainly enjoyed listening to The Naked and The Famous and Porter Robinson.

The quantity of racing games aren't there anymore and likely won't change, but as long game like Forza Horzion make sure the quality doesn't dip as well, then I will be just fine.


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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

23. Beat a sports game

Super Blood Hockey

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Super Blood Hockey (PC)

And another Secret Santa game is down. Like LineWay, I had played it soon after receiving it, but just didn't play for over a year.

Franchise Mode is interesting in that I prioritized health over development. My team was always the least skilled on the ice, but I never suffered a fatality nor an injury that needed rehabilitation.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Hades

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

LineWay (PC)

I made a list of all the games from previous Steam Secret Santas that I received and haven't beaten but planned to. Just nine more to go!

This is a cool, brief, and relaxing puzzle game by the way.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

37. Beat a game you'd dropped or had a long hold on
LineWay

I got this from our Steam Secret Santa, played it for a little while, and I inexplicably didn't play it again for a year.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Sealab 2021 was the greatest. Emerald, I am both sad and envious that you have never seen that or SNL Celebrity Jeopardy and can watch them for the first time.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Okay, I have sent out PMs to everyone but @TheKnightOfNee because they have three unread PMs from me already and am unable to send more.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs - Ranlom
Oakland Raiders - Bloodychess
Portland Express

Buffalo Bills - stevr
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots - Jukkie
New York Jets

Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals - Muffinz
Mexico City Browns - VI
Pittsburgh Steelers - Shattered

Columbus Pioneers
Indianapolis Colts - mccheyne
Jacksonville Jaguars - Sultan
Tennessee Titans - Socko

San Francisco 49ers - Scare
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams
Toronto Wildcats - prof

Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants - Eddv
Philadelphia Eagles - Pennywise
Washington - Wiz

Chicago Bears - Stan
Detroit Lions - Nee
Green Bay Packers - Tangicide
Minnesota Vikings

Atlanta Falcons - MMX
Carolina Panthers - Emerald
San Juan Orcas
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Chris

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

RIP former Express/Cowboys/Seahawks HC Marty Schottenheimer

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

Hades

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

#51 Super Mario 64 (N64, 1996)


With the leap to 3D, there were some growing pains for Nintendo series. Some fared very well in their foray into 3D (Star Fox, Pilotwings) while others struggled (Mario Kart, Legend of Zelda) to various degrees. Super Mario was the rare case of a series coming off a string of high-quality titles and then began the 3D era with another high-quality title worthy of the name.

Making Super Mario 64 an open-ended experience was an astounding choice. From the moment you gain control of Mario, the choice is (for the most part) yours. I mean, there are progress requirements to open doors throughout the fantastic Peach's Castle, but you do have substantially more freedom to craft your own path than games before it.

I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but it feels great controlling Mario. I also hate to use the same buzzwords, but fluidity and responsiveness has always been a staple of the series, and they didn't lose that going to the N64. With additional threats that can come from all sides, added moves like the punch, jump kick, and ground pound were just as fun and easy to get used to.

Something that I feel is overlooked is how great and varied the methods for getting stars are. Until Odyssey came along, 64 might have received my vote for being the best in that department. It was almost as if they wanted to test out all they could do in a 3D space as the hardware and their minds allowed.

Not everything is a home run, and there were some frustrating hiccups (some related to the jump to 3D, some not), but relative to the time/era it came out, this is one of the most impressive games of all-time.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu

#52 Mass Effect 1 + Mass Effect 2 + Mass Effect 3 (Xbox 360, 2007, 2010, and 2012)


This is my mega cheat entry, but really, they all go hand-in-hand to where separating them seems wrong. They live and die together.

I've never been too interested in sci-fi stuff despite my interest in astronomy. I wouldn't even say that I gave it much of a shot, so let's assume that I haven't read or watched most of the famous stuff. Knowing that, the Mass Effect series is probably my favorite in the genre. The first game was great at introducing and getting me sucked into the lore. It helps having fully realized characters with great voice actors delivering well-written lines. I tend to speed up or outright skip some dialogue in other games, but I wanted to hear every last syllable with these games.

In what is probably a controversial opinion (shocker coming from me I know), the first game is my favorite in the trilogy. It set the tone, built the world, and gave you so many great characters to begin with the likes of Wrex, Liara, Tali, and Garrus. A strong first impression can be pretty huge for me, and it's something that future installments in a shared storyline don't have the luxury of benefitting from. It is also tells a complete, mostly self-contained story while hinting at a bigger picture, something that I don't think it gets enough credit for as the following games followed a different approach. I know gameplay was refined in future installments, but it was more than servicable to begin. Exploring planets in the Mako was easily the weakest thing about the game, but it was hardly something you had to do, so I just skipped it after awhile.

2 started things off in a rather unique way so to give the game a fresher feeling from the start. It introduced three of my favorite characters in Thane, Samara, and Mordin, and brought back many others in new roles. I respect them for not keeping things the same and have different squad members for practical and creative writing purposes, but I wanted my Wrex back dammit! They completely overhauled how to acquire planetary resources for the better, and while I realize that is an optional thing, that was a big deal to me. In general, this game was more character centric, and for that, it has my vote for best dialog writing among the three, but it came at a cost. In spite of having a perilous final act that did feel tense the whole way through, the game basically felt like one giant interlude with the game basically boiling down to recruiting new squadmates, gaining the loyalty of said squadmates through sometimes oddly-forced character arcs, and oh yeah the unverise is in danger, so let's get to saving it. Plot-wise, this was disappointing, and the main reason why I have as my "least" favorite in the trilogy.

After two strong entries, there were high expectations for the third game, and for me, it delivered. The gameplay and planetary resouce gathering were at their finest, the wide cast of characters were given proper closure, it had the awesome fanservice Citadel DLC, and I felt like my 100+ hours spent on it ended with a sense of accomplishment. I played the final game after the ending was re-worked, so I never felt embittered by what they originally had, but I was content with how my story ended.

I actually went through the series twice. I don't stick to binary decisions in the dialogue tree, but in my first playthrough, I was a mostly paragon male vanguard Shepard and a renegade-leaning female adept Shepard the second time. BioWare did a great job at making your classes feel distinct. They felt like completely different experiences in combat, and when you through hundreds of encounters in over a hundred hours of content, that replayable factor goes a long way.

It's hard to pull off a series like Mass Effect with its interconnected games where decisions in one game have a profound effect in a future one, and it's even harder to do it as well as they did. That and financial reasons are probably why they are so rare, but if if someone can pull it off even half as well as BioWare did with Mass Effect, I would buy it regardless of the subject matter.

I am prepared to eat those words.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu