NBA Playoffs

The best time of the year in sports has arrived:  the NBA Playoffs.This year, we will all be witnesses to  have some of the greatest first round match-ups in the NBA, especially in the West. The most exciting series will predicted will be the Clippers vs. the Warriors, the Portland TrailBlazers vs. the Houston Rockets, and the Brooklyn Nets vs. the Toronto Raptors. Look for these exciting series, as these will probably be the most exciting ones. The West clearly has more very good teams this year. The Dallas Mavericks( the 8th and final seed in the West) had 49 wins in the regular season. The 3rd seed in the East (Toronto Raptors) had 48 wins. Those stats say enough.

From the gamer standpoint, most will be playing NBA 2K to celebrate the playoffs. Others may play NBA Live, or another good basketball game. Look for special playoff apps that celebrate particular teams, players, and cities. As a basketball fan , there is nothing like the NBA Playoffs.

NFL Slam Dunk: GONE

On March 25th, the NFL released a statement saying that any players that dunk on the goalpost will be fined. This is one a rule that I think alot of players and fans question. This type of celebration is in no way, shape, or form better for the league. For one, the celebration is not insulting to the opposing team when done. No one is getting offended because a player dunks the football.

Secondly, no one has gotten seriously injured by doing this touchdown celebration in the NFL. More players have gotten hurt due to running into the wall, items on the side, or photographers than they have with the goalpost. If any rule should be added, photographers would have to be further away from the sideline.

Lastly, the NFL seems to be taking the fun out of the game by adding this rule. In ANY type of competition, whether it be for job positions, college acceptance letters, or touchdowns, people celebrate when they are successful. The NFL has already taken out any possibility of being really creative. (Basically because of Chad Johnson and Terrell Owens) One of the last few types of a legal celebration is now gone.

While some may say that celebrations can be lengthy and prolong the game, fans want to be entertained. Majority of the NFL fans do enjoy seeing touchdown celebrations, especially creativity. If anything , one were to think that ratings would go up even more because people will view games just to see a touchdown games. I'm sure many fans used to watch Bengals games just to see Chad Johnson (Ochocinco) celebrate.

The touchdown celebration was once very big. There were even options of how to celebrate a touchdown in Madden 09. When something like that is incorporated into Madden you know it's making an impact on the NFL culture.

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Miniclip Basketball- Urban Basketball

Upon researching video basketball games, I stumbled upon a game created by Miniclip Games called "Urban Basketball". At first I had my skepticism, but as I began to play, it was surprisingly very good.

The first thing that I loved about the game was the theme. In order to win the game, you have to beat every team that developers have placed on their US map. As a gamer, it gives you feeling of truly being the best team in the country once you win. As a designer, I appreciate the theme in the fact that there is a pivotal balance between fun and challenging, which every developer aims for.

The gameplay was less like a NBA 2K or NBA Live game that consist of 5-on-5 play, and more like an NBA Jam. Each game consist of a 2-on-2. Alot of people are a fan of NBA Jam because of some of the crazy high-flying things that you could do in it. Possessing some similarities, I could relate to some of the boost given in the game. There is a point and time in the game that one of the players can get "hot". With that being said, it is fair since that "heat" does not last for a long time.

The animation quality was excellent. Playing the game on PC, I was impressed with the background and the characters themselves. They were to move up and down the floor smoothly. The ball went through the hoop clearly and the ball was dribbling very precisely.

All in all, this is a very solid production by MiniClip. While it's not perfect, it's definitely one of the better free basketball games on the market.I look forward to playing and writing about more games made by MiniClip in the future.

To play the game, check out: http://www.miniclip.com/games/urban-basketball/en/