Red Wings NHL 09 Ratings

While many of you out there are still celebrating the recent Maddenoliday (myself included), new information is coming out on EA Sports' latest in their NHL series, which is arguably the best sports video game on the market. Unfortunately, most of my friends and co-writers completely ignore the remarkable beauty and skill of hockey, and therefore will miss out on this year's iteration of the 2007 Sports Game of the Year.

IGN just got their hands on the player ratings for this year. Here's the full list of teams, as well as a glossary so you know what the hell the ratings mean. This link will take you to the ratings for the Red Wings players. Although EA is still tweaking their system, and therefore doesn't provide overall rankings, we can take a look at the specific ratings that make up each player. Some jump out:

• Nick Lidstrom, deservedly, is an absolute animal. He's got a 96 rating for offensive awareness, passing, puck control, and defensive awareness. Norris, indeed.
• Pavel Datsyuk has a 98 deke rating and 95 puck control. Enjoy making the defense look silly.
• Datsyuk is better across the board (albeit barely) in almost every category than Henrik Zetterberg. While I don't necessarily disagree, I'm somewhat surprised.
• Tomas Holmstrom has a 97 deflection rating. That sounds about right, and I'm sure Western Conference goalies would agree (begrudgingly, if I had to guess). He also has 96 balance, which is useful for not toppling over when defensemen and goalies tomahawk chop you in the calves all game.
  
• Darren McCarty has a miserable 53 offensive awareness rating, a full 17 points below anyone else on the roster. What the hell?
• Chris Osgood has around 80-84 abilities almost completely across the board. His best rating? Poise, at 90. Those of you who remember him giving up three center-ice goals in the 1998 playoffs would never have seen that coming ten years ago.

If you're a video game fan, I highly recommend you check out the details of NHL 09. They've got some groundbreaking stuff going (including 6-0n-6 online games, where everyone is locked on to one player on the ice), and since EA doesn't have the exclusive rights to the NHL (2K Sports has also put out quality NHL games in recent years) they usually step up and put out a great game every year.

The game drops September 9th, and no, EA did not pay me to write this.

Madden NFL 09: Lions Ratings

Hopefully. (photo from www.operationsports.com)

Greetings, bloggers. First off, my name is Noah. I am Ace's friend (I think) and the most recent addition to the Ace of Sports writing staff. I currently write for Operation Sports, which specializes in sports videogames, but I figured I'd try to branch out and write about real sports (although not today). I'd like to thank Ace for adding me to this nifty little site, and I'd also like to apologize in advance for all the things I'm inevitably going to say that might piss people off. On second thought, I think I'll just thank Ace ;-).

Ok, Ace treated you all to a couple of posts about Michigan and NCAA Football 09, so I thought I could chime in with a little info about the Lions and the new Madden. Besides, it makes sense that the superior player between the two of us would talk about the superior game. Seriously though, neither of us will concede the title of better player, but Madden actually is the better game since it comes out later and EA actually tries. For those of you who might be discouraged by the buggy NCAA Football 09, I genuinely believe Madden is going to be off the hook this year. Believe that.

Anyways, the fellas over at IGN Sports have treated us to the player ratings for all 32 teams. About the Lions:

Our projected starters according to EA:
Offense -
QB: John Kitna, 84 overall
HB: Kevin Smith, 79 / Tatum Bell, 78
FB: Jerome Felton, 78
WR: Roy Williams, 92 / Calvin Johnson, 91 / Shaun McDonald, 87 / Mike Furrey, 84
TE: Michael Gaines, 79 / Dan Campbell, 78
LT: Jeff Backus, 84 (generous?)
LG: Edwin Mulitalo, 79
C: Dominic Raiola, 87
RG: Stephen Peterman, 80
RT: Gosder Cherilus, 79

Defense -
FS: Daniel Bullocks, 82
SS: Dwight Smith, 86
CB: Leigh Bodden, 90 / Brian Kelly, 82
MLB: Jordon Dizon, 78
ROLB: Ernie Sims, 94
LOLB:Paris Lenon, 84
LE: Jared DeVries, 82
RE: Dewayne White, 86
DT: Cory Redding, 91 / Chuck Darby, 83

Special Teams -
K: Jason Hanson, 91
P: Nick Harris, 81
KR/PR: Kenneth Moore (85 RETURN rating)

It could've been much worse. Our receiving core is nasty, and our young players have potential. For a franchise project, the Lions are the perfect candidate. Get a good HB and QB, shore up the O-line and a few spots on defense, and the Lions are ready for action. If only Matt Millen knew how to do any of those things.

Before I sign off, a couple ratings that made me really happy. Calvin Johnson, in addition to being 91 overall, has 97 speed and 97 spectacular catch. Glad to see EA pays attention. Also, Ernie Sims, who Ace could tell you I like a little too much, was granted 95 hit power to go with his 95 overall. If anything that's a little low but I like where their heads are at.

Madden NFL 09 comes out August 13th (or August 12th at midnight if you're like me and Ace). Check back to The Ace of Sports for more info on the Detroit Lions, virtual and otherwise.

More Michigan NCAA 09 Stuff

Picture via IGN Message Boards

I've already posted the spreadsheet for Michigan's (and every team's rosters) for the NCAA 09 video game. I decided to round up some more useful stuff for the Michigan fan who has a fair amount of free time and a social-life-crippling passion for video games (don't worry, you're not alone).

First, the in-game stadium sounds. Check out this post over at the Operation Sports boards. All you have to do is burn these songs to an audio CD (NOT an .mp3 CD, it took me a while to figure that out) and then rip them into your Xbox on the dashboard. For die-hard Michigan fans, your home game experience will be that much more authentic (there's nothing better than getting a big third- or fourth-down stop and hearing Tempation blare over your television speakers).

Michigan's official roster, complete with freshmen numbers, has been released. Check out Michigan Sports Center for the full rundown of what frosh is wearing what jersey. There's a lot of corrections to be made to the game, so if you want Boubacar Cissoko wearing #33 (instead of #12) as he shoots for the Thorpe Award in your dynasty, check out the link. For the full roster, check out Michigan's official site. Note the absence of Marques Slocum.

If you want a custom cover, check out the IGN Message Boards linked under the Jake Long pic. You can request specific covers if you link to a picture.

Michigan NCAA 09 Roster Ratings

In what has become a holiday of sorts, EA Sports' annual release of their NCAA Football video game series is tomorrow (or tonight at midnight, if you are a nerd like me). My buddy Noah, who writes for Operation Sports, just sent me a link to a full spreadsheet of the player ratings for NCAA 09. Some Michigan players of note:

• The QB situation is ugly. Steven Threet is 77 overall, and backup Nick Sheridan is a 74. Freshman Justin Feagin comes in at a lowly 68, though he does have solid 85 speed.
• Our best player? RE Tim Jamison, who is rated 92 overall. Didn't see that one coming. LE Brandon Graham, who was somehow a 99 overall last year, dropped to an 84.
• As for the running backs, Brandon Minor is the highest rated at a solid 89, followed by Kevin Grady and Carlos Brown, who both come in at 86. In one of the greatest crimes against reality ever perpetrated by EA Sports, Sam McGuffie (#34 in the game, which doesn't have the updated numbers for freshmen) only has an 82 jump rating. Sam respectfully disagrees:

• Brown is an intriguing possibility at quarterback for those who don't want to run the spread with Threet or Feagin. He has 84 throw power and 68 throw accuracy, which may be just enough to keep the defense honest if you want to use his 94 speed and acceleration to shred opposing defenses with the run.
• The Wolverines' greatest strength (by far) is the defensive backfield, comprised of CB Donovan Warren (91 overall), CB Morgan Trent (88), FS Brandon Harrison (90), and either SS Charles Stewart or Stevie Brown (both at 83 overall). Freshman CB Boubacar Cissoko, who will play nickel corner in the game, is also rated an 83.
• Kicker KC Lopata is a 58 overall. Seriously. He was 11-12 on field goals last year but is worse in the game than any player on Northwestern. What gives?
• Other players of interest: DT Terrance Taylor (89 overall), MLB Obi Ezeh, who was given #47 instead of #45 (85 overall), WR Greg Mathews (86), TE Carson Butler (82), P Zoltan Mesko (82).
• It is pretty tough to tell who the freshmen are, since the numbers don't match what they wore in the spring, and EA tends to make all the freshmen pretty unremarkable until they prove their worth on the field. McGuffie and Cissoko were the only freshmen who were easy to distinguish, so I won't attempt to put numbers next to the rest of them.

Here's hoping the EA Sports ratings don't play their way out on the real field next season (especially since Ohio State is a 99 overall in the game).

(Picture courtesy of Gamespot)