Coachmode

[The Coach]

It’s about that time of year again, when NCAA 08 and Madden 08 and NFL Football 2K8 (as much as they can) all come out. And once again I am saying to myself – cool! But…can I play in a true “coachmode”.

Can I play the game out of the box, or will I be spending hours setting sliders.

And will nothing I ever do change the fact I’ll see 20 fumbles in a game.

I say the same thing to myself (with different examples) when the baseball games come out. And basketball. And…

And I hunt around and no matter what I do it’s just painful to try to find the answers BEFORE you spend $60 or (if you’re smart) rent it first just to find that, nope, it’s pretty much another arcade game.

Often (not always!) still great games, with maybe some cool features that can make for an interesting simulation or the occasional arcade fun – but just not what I’m looking for as to how I really like to play. No right or wrong, coachmode is totally boring for a lot of people…we just all like to play different.

And so…there needs to be a home for us coachmoder(s) and manage only types. Where we can find out if a game is going to fit our style of play, where we can figure out sliders for that style of play, and talk about how to make the game fun for us too.

With that in mind I am looking for the level of interest in a new site: coachmode.com

Not setup yet – before I put the time and effort and $$$ into this I wanted to see how many people might be out there who feel that how we like to play has been lost. The initial idea is pretty simple: game reviews by coachmoders and for coachmoders – today’s games and those great games of yesterday (since more and more that’s all we got!), downloads for the same, and forums that focus on how we like to play the game.

Interested? Reply here or send me a note. If it seems like the interest is there I plan to move forward with the idea, if not – well…I’ll just keep working on my (getting a bit worse every year) hand eye coordination.

The Coach

[Spiritfusion]

If you have a PC try Eastside Hockey Manager 2007. You can do Management and Coach a hockey team on a on a 2D or 3D as they say game Engine. It's very realistic the stats are realistic and the Coaching and Management are realistic. It's complicated in the beginning however if you don't know the Main NHL Management rules. But since you want to be coach what you can do in that game is sim the days in vacation mode and your assistant GM will do all management tasks, and when a game comes up you can set your lines tactics and all that other stuff before and during the game and play as a coach. You can also be both a GM and a Coach or just be GM with a couple of clicks in the Option menu. You can watch and Coach games or you can sim them in a matter of seconds. There are also unlimited Seasons unlike the cheesy EA NHL Series that only lets you go 10 years. And EHM 07 is a simulation not some arcade bull. Only downside is you can't actually play the players, as in real life the caoch or GM has to let the players decide the game.