a new type of football video game

The most popular football video game has been the Madden series for a few years, but I’d like to see one that has a lot more funny and random features.  They’ve got the realistic / simulation aspect covered.  I want a game where I can do whatever I want.

Let’s see, if I created a football video games, what would I add in as options…

  • Control the weather.  If I want them to play in 12″ of snow, then I’ll make it happen.  Or if I’d rather the field be muddy from 8″ of torrential downpours, let that be an option.  And of course the gameplay has to reflect the difficulty of the weather.
  • Choose from hilarious broadcasters.  I don’t want the same old play-by-play that most of these games feature.  I want someone with a lot of character and personality, who isn’t afraid of showing it.  It’s a video game, not real life, so let it loose.  Have someone who makes comments like, “His uniform should have number 2, because that’s how crappy his playing is.”  Another announcer could have lots of attitude, saying things like, “I know he didn’t!” and “If that was me, I wouldn’t tolerate that crap.”  Make it lively.
  • When fights break out, zoom in and let the gamers control the fighting between individual players.  Let them get suspended, but allow the fighting.  (I suspect most teams would have some “expendable bench players” who tend to fight a lot.)  🙂
  • Have a cheat code where you can make the center rip a loud fart while the quarterback is calling the play, then hear players chuckle.  (You know this feature should be in the game!  There would probably be casual fans buy the game primarily because of this.)
  • Be able to customize the fields.  I know, most football stadiums are very much alike, and the fields are all the same size, but that can be boring.  I want to change the size of the field, the shape, and put random objects out there.  How about putting a mudhole the width of the field between the 10 and 20 yard lines?  Seems like it would add drama to the game.  I’d also put a flock of sheep at one end.  The options are endless.  This would increase replayability.

If you have any other suggestions, put them in the comments section.

Desktop Tower Defense

I recently came across a new Flash-based game called .  This is quite a fun game, and it requires some strategy to get high scores.  The basic premise is that you build towers to keep the “creeps” (aliens/robots/ships/whatever they are) from getting across the screen.  Actually, that’s the whole premise.  But there are 6 different types of towers, each with unique strengths and weaknesses, and there are variances among the “enemy”.

If you’ve ever played Age of Empires (AoE) or Empire Earth, you should be familiar with building towers for defense.  If you’re like us, you’ve tried to build a “Path o’ Death” that the enemy could not get through, so you wouldn’t have to do any work while your defenses protect you.  In this game, all you do is build a path of death.  It may sound simple, and the concept is, but making it work on the advanced levels isn’t quite so easy.

A little trivia on this game : it was developed by a Visual Basic programmer who had no professional experience with game development, yet now he’s making, by his estimate, high four figures per month for this fun, little game, all from ad revenue.  (Perhaps this is what I should be doing!)  This shows that you don’t need fancy graphics and high-dollar budgets to develop a fun, profitable game.

Feel free to post your high scores (along with what difficulty you were on) in the comments section.   Instead of having to create a screenshot if you get an outrageously ridiculous high score, you can submit it to the online scoreboard (except on the Easy setting).  It’ll prompt you to enter your name, and when you get a chance to enter a group, put : Buffet_o_Blog.  (If it doesn’t prompt you, then your score wasn’t high enough to be considered and you will just have to practice more.)

Have fun!

how to fall asleep quickly, according to TV

Does your restless mind keep you awake?  Do you lie awake at night, wondering how to fall asleep?  If that’s you, then you should let some butterflies into your room at night.  It works in the commercials — those people go to sleep quickly, instantly even.  Although the butterflies are glowing, like they’re radioactive.  I don’t know where you can get any of those, though…  Even if you could get some, it might be a violation of federal law to use them in a manner inconsistent with their labelling.  And helping you fall asleep is probably not one of the intended uses for mutant butterflies.  Although those commercials have been on TV for a while now, so maybe they’ve found some loophole or something.  But I still don’t know where you can acquire any of those mutant butterflies…

a new sighting of Nessie

An amateur scientist has shot video of what he suspects to be , the Loch Ness Monster.  The legend continues…

Follow this link for a video news report, including an interview with the man who shot the footage.

I could provide more details from the news story, but this isn’t a news service.  However, this is worth mentioning here because we have something that the leading brand news sites don’t have : a story about a group of explorers that find Nessie.  Yes, in our current free-for-all story, the Explorers Extraordinaire have found Nessie, along with several other unexpected things.  The events occurring in the story might not all be validated by scientific research, but they are funny.  🙂  Okay, so maybe none of it has really happened, but that’s because it’s fiction.  But it’s a good read.  And, at the time of this writing, it’s still not finished, so anybody can contribute the next piece of the story.  You should check it out.  It’s a good time.  It’s funny, random, and very much unpredictable.  It’s also fresh, original humor that you can’t find anywhere else.  And, it also makes you wonder what might be in the depths of the Loch, in the unexplored regions…