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The Saboteur Review

The video game realm has seen its fair share of World War II titles, though mostly in the shooter fashion, Pandemic and EA were ambitious enough to set an open world adventure in this era. Enter “The Saboteur,” set in Occupied Paris and the surrounding French countryside. “The Saboteur” is a new trick for an old genre though could have used some more refinement.

In the Saboteur, you play as Devlin, an Irish exile and race car mechanic turned driver, out for revenge against the Nazi’s who are responsible for the death of your best friend. While the story line takes some liberties with historical fact, the writers make them fit while you help set in motion the French Resistance.

Your character can do pretty much everything, sprint, climb, shot, swim and drive; though he doesn’t do any one thing particularly well, as goes the adage of a jack of all trades. While none of these user actions are out right broken, none are finely tuned delivering a solid mediocre experience. There is no health meter on the HUD (heads up display) though the screen will be splashed with blood, the darker means you’re close to dying. Finding cover or avoiding gunfire for a period of time, will restore your health.

What I found to be the most frustrating aspect of the game was the players interaction with enemies and vehicles. Pandemic did an honest job at giving Paris a truly occupied feel because you can’t openly carry a weapon, shoot or even look at a Nazi the wrong way without raising an alarm. There are Nazis and installments everywhere. The roofs have sniper towers, anti-aircraft guns, artillery cannons, while the coast and countryside are riddled with costal defenses, train stations, bridges, tanks, and rocket sights. When Devlin causes an alarm to go off, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to increase the warning. Alarms 1 and 2 are manageable and easy to escape where as this leads to motorcycled troops and cars to follow you, though after breaking sight with your pursuers, the alarm is quickly cancelled. Alarms 3 and 4 are frustrating and considerably harder to halt. The Gestapo, armored tanks, heavily armed soldiers, and Nazi Airships above the city will pursue your while shooting at you. Finally, on a level 5 alarm, the Luftwaffe will be added into the mix, strafing you with gun fire.

I will blame my lack of enthusiasm for driving to be on the time setting. 1930’s cars are no peach to drive, meaning accelerating and handling are clunky and frustrating, though after acquiring race cars, this makes traveling easier. Their complete lack “green” consideration makes the cars tolerable to drive while trying to escape from an alarm because they will take a considerable amount of damage before catching fire and exploding.

The main missions do their job and move the story along. The writers aren’t winning any Pulitzers, but the ending leaves it open for an unnecessary sequel. When you start out, the city of Paris is covered in a gloomy noir fog. The world is draped in black, white and gray, while some characters’ eyes or clothing, Nazi or SS flags and blood have color. As the story progresses and the people of Paris are “inspired” a shockwave of color give life to the area. This is normally accompanied by an explosion or gunshot in ending a mission.

Something that I noticed while playing through the story was that destroying Nazi installments will make missions easier. There was an area in a graveyard that had numerous towers, tanks, and a general. After destroying those emplacements there was a significant decrease in the amount of Nazis I had to face during the mission.

The Saboteur is the perfect example of a mediocrity. There’s nothing that you haven’t done before, just in a different setting. While the “Inspiration” is a nice addition to an open world game (that I’ve played) though what should have been a bigger determining factor of inspiration is completing the ambient free-play missions in opposition to strictly story mission completion.

OFR Rating: 2 out of 5 – Rent It: You’ll get some easy achievements, though they might not be worth the time you put in.

Review: Mass Effect 2: Nothing Lost in This Fight

Game:  Mass Effect 2
Developer: Bioware
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: Xbox 360 and PC (Reviewed on Xbox 360)    

Fight For The Lost

 It has been three days since I completed the main campaign in Mass Effect 2 (ME2) and I am still contemplating my final decisions in the game.  For a game to have that impact on me speaks to its massive emotional effect.  Okay, enough of the puns.  Mass Effect 2 is more of an experience than a game.    

You play Mass Effect in one of two ways:  you either begin or continue.  You can simply start a new game (which assumes decisions for you) or if you finished Mass Effect (ME), you could import your save file into Mass Effect 2.  I highly recommend the latter but it is not necessary to enjoying the game.  I imported a full paragon character from Mass Effect and wanted to continue along that path.    

Hot Stove Update: AL East

American League East:

Well all hail the Yankees in 2009, congrats, you bought the best team you’ve had since 2000. How sad is it that a decade is considered a draught in New York, and that we began and ended the decade with Yankees’ championships. At least now they have to begin defending their championship and while their core players haven’t moved, the supporting staff has left the champs. Boston has righted the ship and become a competitive force in the American League making themselves the perennial favorite for the East Title or the Wild Card. Since taking the East by storm two years ago, building a team from the ground up (and a name change) finally paid off for the Rays, though they were unable to replicate their American League title success though put together consecutive winning seasons for the first time in franchise history. The Orioles and the Blue Jays are in a perpetual rebuilding mode though the talent found in the O’s is starting to rejuvenate their fan base. Baseball in Toronto is waning and the departure of All Stars Roy Halladay and Alex Rios leave a vacuum of lackluster and aging talent.

Yankees:

Here’s the real question to all you Yankees’ fans, did your team improve this offseason? You’ve lost Matsui, Damon, and Cabrera while adding Curtis Granderson and Javy Vazquez. Once the spotlight is on Vazquez, he will always wet the bed; he proved that in his first stint with the Yankees, than brought his off-Broadway piddle-fest to Chicago and wilted in the 2008 playoff run and divisional series for the White Sox. Good luck with him, even though I expect him to be dropped of at Grand Central by the non-waiver trading deadline. Having seen Granderson play on a semi-regular basis, Detroit wasn’t doing him any favors. He’s a competitive five tool player though can struggle mightily against good pitching though will thrive in the spotlight and hit with pizzazz. He will be in a better lineup and will see better pitches. His defense is above average from what I can remember and is a superior upgrade from both Damon and Matsui because he can play everyday.

This year the Yankees have a target on their back and I fully expect them to be favored heads-up against Boston and Tampa for the division title. The biggest question will be how the pitchers will look after playing an extra five weeks after the regular season. All of the big signings last year paid dividends for their fans and could this be makings of a new dynasty?

Boston:

The Red Sox aren’t going to outspend the Yankees, frankly no one will, so this means that Boston has to out play New York. Boston has made some smart fundamental baseball decisions by not signing Jason Bay, while a solid offensive player, he’s as good as a brick of Swiss cheese in left field, and signing Mike Cameron as their center fielder allows Ellsbury to move to left field, which should make things easier for him. John Lackey, while pricey, was as good of a decision they could have made without mortgaging the farm for Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee.

Boston certainly doesn’t have the potent offensive combo of yesteryear and I would expect the Red Sox to look to trade for a bat by the end of May because Fenway is as much of an offensive field as it is a pitcher’s and they need to find a balance. Rumors have been churning since the winter meetings about the Red Sox acquiring the Padres’ Adrian Gonzalez. This would be a wonderful offensive move for the Carmines because this would allow Victor Martinez to be the primary catcher, Gonzalez the first baseman, and Youkilis the third basemen.

Rays:

Tampa isn’t going to wow anyone with blockbuster free agent signings and it isn’t a sexy destination for players. The best comparison I can make is that the Rays are Twins of the AL East; they draft good talent and have a strong focus on fundamentals and team spirit. Whether the Rays like it or not, they still a couple pieces away from making a strong stand against the East’s Elite. Those pieces would be an ace pitcher and a superstar infield presence. Evan Longoria may become that infield talent though he can’t do it alone.

The Rays made a couple of surprising moves early in the off-season, specifically in trading for Kelly Shoppach, former Indians catcher and signing former Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Rafael Soriano. After making these moves will allow Dioner Navarro to have more days off and/or have playing time at first base where as Carlos Pena can have more time and at bats at DH, or vice-versa. If Soriano can perform to his career statistics, this will be a solid addition to the back end of the bullpen, and the Rays haven’t been shy about sharing details of Soriano taking over fulltime closing duties.

The Rays fare well in their dome though the move to an outdoor park should be beneficial in a couple years. While the team is fundamentally sound that won’t be enough in this division. If the Rays were in any other division, they would certainly be competing for the top of the division on a perennial basis.

Orioles:

Ever since the departure of Cal Ripken Jr., the O’s have struggled, and struggled mightily to compete with the rest of the division. After years of mediocrity, they’re finally putting together the team for the future lead by the talented outfielder Nick Markakis. They’re upstart catcher seems to be leading the minor league pack soon to be bound for Baltimore, though poor front office decisions have hurt the organization.

Baltimore isn’t close to winning, and they know it. They’re focused on developing young talent and taking their cue from the Rays. The O’s best friend right now is their scouting staff. They can find great quality players and draft them early. Baltimore’s front office won’t shy away for an offer and took Seattle to the cleaners in trading Erik Bedard for Adam Jones among others. They have locked up their core players to fair contracts and if the right deal comes along, I wouldn’t be surprised if they traded some of their better players for rising stars.

Blue Jays:

Oh Canada, how your love for the American pass-time has fallen. Toronto was a force to be reckoned with in the early-mid 90’s in winning consecutive championships. Too bad that momentum has all but putter out, and Toronto is at the bottom of the East, even though north of the border. The Blue Jays are an aging team, Vernon Wells no longer has the protection of Alex Rios and their ace pitcher is now with the Phillies. They have a slugging second baseman in Aaron Hill, but that’s about it right now.

They’ve lost their two best pitchers in consecutive years leaving a gapping canyon in their wake. The best that the Jays can hope for is to draft well and maybe unload their best talent for some top prospects. Free agents have only gone to Toronto in recent years for the money, and right now, they’re not spending any of it. Vernon Wells’ contract has the front office handcuffed and I’m sure they’d gladly entertain any offers for him as long as they could get a team to pick up the remainder of his contract. Management showed their hand when they let the White Sox snatch Alex Rios for the contract and as soon as Rios was gone, Halladay had his passport in hand and was all but waiting at the airport wondering which city was next for him. In today’s economy I don’t expect MLB to buy back the franchise and move, only because there isn’t another market for them currently.

There is a clear divide between the five teams in the AL East: Two will via for the division title and wild card, two will be in a race for the bottom, while the other may compete or may join in the race for the bottom. The Yankees have tightened their diamond-studded belts, to the extent that the Yankees can, while the Red Sox are relying on good old fashion pitching and defense to win. The Orioles and the Blue Jays are years away from being competitive, and the Rays are out to prove they can compete with the big boys and weren’t just a flash-in-the-pan.

Hot Stove Update: NL East

National League East

The Phillies have set the pace in the National League for the past two years and only seem to be getting better each offseason leaving the rest of the division to play catch up. The Marlins are the model of an organization that has the right baseball minds in all the right places and that makes their team competitive every season and locking up rising star pitcher Josh Johnson. The Braves have stayed competitive by making the right trades at the right time and keeping their organization well stocked with replaceable talent. Bernie Madoff hasn’t been the only bug to bite the Mets, injuries plagued them all of last year and look to continue to at least as far as Carlos Beltran is concerned. Lastly, and historically, our nation’s capital looks to remain in Baseball Hell and won’t be getting out anytime soon, and Steven Strasburg still has yet to prove he’s the Nationals’ version of Tim Lincecum.

Phillies:

Philadelphia hit the jackpot at the trade deadline of last year by bringing in Cliff Lee, though as soon as the post season was over, they turned around and traded Roy Halladay while trading away Lee to the Mariners for prospects. This move has confused fans and the only reason that is left to be assumed is that unloading Lee was due to finances. The Halladay trade would only have gone through if the Phillies were allowed to negotiate a contract extension and were able to lock up the ace for another three years.

Since finishing dead last in 2000, the Phillies have had consecutive winning seasons, and going to the World Series twice in the last two years, winning it all in their first trip. The reason the Phillies have been one of the top teams in the National League boils down to the organizations’ focus on identifying and keeping a quality core group of positions players and pitchers. The Phils have one of the best, if not the best infields in the game currently, first base is the slugger Ryan Howard, at second, MVP candidate Chase Utley, and the short stop is the All-Star Jimmie Rollins.

The budget is currently the biggest concern with the Phillies and rightfully so considering they have a team of All-Stars. They were able to recently sign outfielder Shane Victorino though in a couple years will have to worry about the free agency of Howard, Utley and Rollins, Those players alone would make up the payroll of lesser quality teams and unless each takes a big time “home-town” discount to stay, at least one will end up leaving.

Marlins:

The Marlins are the perfect example of how to grow an organization from the ground up, within their first decade of existence; they won two World Series titles, something no expansion team has ever done. While doing this, Florida became the proving grounds for several All-Star, and multiple World Series winners including Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett, Mike Lowell, Juan Pierre, Derrick Lee, and Miguel Cabrera. The front office isn’t afforded the luxury of expansive payrolls meaning that team has an astounding knack for identifying young talent so much so that development time from minors to majors is next to nothing while the payroll is focused on the current rosters contracts.

You won’t find the Marlins get into a bidding war over free agents or arbitration and that has proven to be a successful strategy. If anything can be said against the Marlins, it’s the fact that they are willing to trade away their best talent in order to restock or over stock their minor league rosters. Their strategy is based in sound economics – buy low, sell high, and that’s something every team wishes they could do with their talent. Florida has put together a core group of players lead by Hanley Ramirez, Josh Johnson and Dan Uggla, though don’t be surprised if another team comes along willing to mortgage the future to bring in one of these top line baseball talents. The Marlins’ youth is their biggest question, will they be able to replicate the gusto from last season. Depending on their offensive and pitching consistency, they could very well be in the hunt for the Wild Card spot.

Braves:

As long as Bobby Cox is at the helm of the dugout, the Braves will always be a threat. For 14 consecutive years, the Braves were atop the NL East and won their division on the backs of some of the most formidable pitchers including John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine . The organization has always been dedicated to winning each year and understands that you can’t win next year’s World Series this year, and will trade away prospects for players that can help the team win now. In 2007, they brought in Mark Teixeira to add offense and then turned around in 2008 trading him to Anaheim in order to cash in. The Braves have also had an eye for quality players including the tenured Chipper Jones and Brian McCann.

Last offseason Atlanta retooled their pitching staff by adding Javier Vazquez and Derek Lowe, two veteran pitchers that helped them compete for the Wild Card. This year, the Braves sold Vazquez high to the Yankees, which will be his second stint on that team, and his third in three years, which is often a bad sign, but good for the Braves. I fully expect the Braves to be in the hunt for the Wild Card by September, and I won’t be surprised to see them make a mid-season deal to help themselves if they’re close.

Mets:

Cross your fingers Mets’ fans and hope and pray for the best; I’m guessing that the best they can do is hope for a recovery year and no more players get injured. Queens became the epicenter of injuries in the baseball realm last year effecting every All-Star and talent the Mets needed in order to be competitive, not to mention all of the off-the-field issues from ownership. While I’m not ready to ordain Citi Field as the new Wrigley, where a perpetual cyclone of bad or stupid luck has decide to reside, but karma in the baseball world is a funny creature, Bernie Madoff, Citi’s collapse and Injury riddled season – and who says bad things don’t come in three’s?

The Mets were all set to rival the Yankees as far as attention goes from the “booyahs” out East, but failing to execute in the playoffs in 2006 and missing them in 2007 and 2008 have become the one-two combo to destroy the mentality of the team. Not only in failing to execute to make the playoffs, the team has been burdened with unsightly and bad contracts. Locking up David Wright and Jose Reyes were smart though signing Carlos Beltran and Johan Santana to bloated deals has come back to bite them, and both of those latter players have failed in key situations. I know Beltran had a monster postseason in 2006, though was out-monstered by the master hitter known as Pujols. Omar Minaya is on thin ice and was given a pass in 2009 due to injuries though a poor showing in 2010 will officially punch his ticket out of town.

The Mets opened their pocket book in signing Jason Bay, though he’s rated poorly as a defensive presence in left and acquiring Gary Matthews Jr. as a Band-Aid until Beltran comes back, if at all, makes their outfield serviceable on paper. Looking ahead, I don’t believe the Mets have a team that can beat the Phillies straight up. Injuries aside, I expect the Mets to finish in the middle of the pact and if (and that’s a big IF) they get lucky, might be able to compete for the Wild Card spot.

Nationals:

It’s a shame that our Washington D.C. has become the Capital Wasteland regarding baseball. The organization formally known as the Expos of Montreal haven’t seen a winning season since coming to America and have been devoid of quality talent since the glory days of Vladimir Guerrero, Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson. While I’d expect Stephen Strasburg to be pitching for the team in about a year or two, the Nationals won’t be competitive for a long while.

Perplexing the baseball media, Jason Marquis signed a contract with the Nationals, and many figure this is to stay out of the spotlight and cash a check. The Nationals have also been linked to veteran second baseman Orlando Hudson, and the paycheck has to be the only reason, especially since they won’t be playing in front of sold out crowds on a regular basis. For both these players this is a huge competition downgrade in going from the ultra competitive NL West to the epitome of baseball hell. The Nats are easily, and a best-case scenario, five years away from having a competent core group of players and building the farm system now is their best option. If Ryan Zimmerman has decent numbers by June, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if hey traded him for some quality talent to help bolster their future. Sorry Washington, it’s going to be a long season.

Until someone proves they can beat this group of Phillies players, than the division title will go to them. While the season can’t be won in April, it certainly can be lost, and the Nationals know this better than any team in baseball. If the Mets get lucky than I would expect them to be in competition with the Marlins and the Braves fighting for a wild card spot.

Mass Effect Impressions

While I understand these are a little late, but better late than never, though with all the anticipation and buzz regarding Mass Effect’s sequel, I figured I should give the game a fair shake. As I said last week, I would power through Mass Effect, a game that frustrated and bored me to no end.

I’ve gotten past many of those glaring issues and have come to respect Mass Effect for exactly what it is, a solid RPG. It took about 30 long hours for something to happen that got me interested in the story and make the payoff worth that time.

I’d have to say that the most frustrating aspect of the missions is the repetitive internal environments. Each and every base had one of three layouts with enemies in relatively the same places. The most surprising nuance I’ve found is the ease in which enemies perish as my character has leveled. My character is a soldier class and after putting enough experience points into my weapons mastery, enemies started dying too easily. This is a double-edged sword for developers because if the enemy AI became too good, players including me would end up complaining that enemies are too overpowered.

While Mass Effect isn’t my style of RPG, I’m glad I’ve put the time in to play it and get the story done, that way when the sequel is in the bargain bin, I won’t hesitate to pick it up.

I’d like to say “Thank You” to my RPG savvy co-hosts, TinPan, BlueMan and Vladzhammer for encouraging me to play through it. VicJoh, all I can say is put your head down and power through it. I’d suggest sticking with the main storyline so you can decide to go through again and play the side missions.

Mass Effect is a solid 3 out of 5. I can’t say that the slow story and the poor vehicle control scheme are made up for by the ending; though the ending decision made me think more than previous RPGs’ I’ve played through before. The fact that the story gets intriguing at the end of the game is the biggest disservice that the game has for players. While I understand that mundane missions go along with RPGs, these should always be optional and not be tied into making the story progress, as is the case throughout the beginning. The best advice I can offer for a beginning would-be for players to put early talent points into weapons mastery because making battles shorter helps progress through the story faster. Mass Effect is worth a play-through and the hardest part is persevering.

We here at Open Forum Radio would appreciate any feedback or comments and you can do that by emailing us at OpenForumRadio@gmail.com.

Hot Stove Update: AL Central

American League Central Breakdown:

Since you all know that my emotions and loyalties lie with the White Sox, the most important division I consider would be the AL Central. This decade has seen four different division champions while only one of those taking the World Series. With all of the national media focused on the East Coast teams, the Central hosts the most mid-market and smaller market teams, yet its teams that execute basic fundamentals, timely hitting and build strong pitching rotations that win the division year in and year out. The Minnesota Twins have a lot to be proud of after coming back and knocking out the Tigers for last year’s title, and getting geared up for their inaugural season at Target Field. The White Sox have been busy throughout the off-season and are looking to set the pace for next season. The Detroit Tigers are in trouble, after the defensive blunders in the ’06 World Series to the collapse of the 2009 campaign, it begs the question have the players quit or were they just bad? After two consecutive seasons of selling off, the Indians are in full rebuilding mode and not looking to make any splashes in the division for a couple years. The Royals are the McDonalds of baseball, sure it’s cheap and it satisfies a hunger for baseball, but it leaves a bad taste in your mouth and too much can lead you to an unsatisfied life.

Twins:

The Twins are the model organization of how to play baseball in the modern era: they identify talent better than anyone, they make smart trades and they are always focused on having their players execute the fundamentals of the game. The Twins have won the division four times, this decade, most recently last year against the Tigers in game 163, a tiebreaker.

Minnesota wants to win every year. They’re a talented team with two of the league’s best hitters in the heart of their lineup in Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, though the team isn’t without its flaws: their streaky offense paired with streaky pitching. The Twins’ bullpen can be one of the best in the game highlighted by closer Joe Nathan, though their starting pitching and stop gap relievers can be spotty. Last year proved that the Twins were built for the soon to be extinct H.H.H. Metrodome and couldn’t play with any consistency away from there. How the Twins will fare in a new open air ballpark has yet to be determined because they are not a power based team, but rather slap hitters that used the Metrodome to its fullest, including the artificial surface.

When looking at their lineup, there are some notable gaps that will need to be addressed most notably what will be done in order to sure up the left side of the infield. Both the injury prone third baseman Joe Crede and the hyper-competitive Orlando Cabrera were left to walk to free agency yet again, both of whom were adequate at their positions but both too expensive. The Twins traded away centerfielder to the Brewers for former All-Star J.J. Hardy, though he was sent to the AAA level after failing to produce. He’s a big question mark though the change of scenery should do him good. The Twins will retain Carl Pavano and his veteran experience should help out a still developing rotation. Francisco Liriano hasn’t returned to his lauded form leaving people to wonder if he still has what it takes to be an effective front end of the rotation starter. It has often been said, when you need more offense, get another pitcher. This is what the Twins should try to focus on the rest of the offseason. Offensive production can be spotty but good pitching does more on a daily basis to win games than what any offense can provide.

Tigers:

After the 2006 season, the Tigers weren’t satisfied with being a middle of the road team; they wanted to win, though that hasn’t come easily for the Motor City. The Tigers gambled big in bringing hitter Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis over from Florida though that hasn’t been without problems. In the middle of the 2008 season, Willis completely self-destructed and had to accept an assignment to the Single A level farm team; this was followed by stories of off-the-field issues involving Miguel Cabrera’s personal life and trouble with alcohol and domestic abuse, and as Cabrera failed to produce on the field, the Tigers plummeted out of contention. Detroit’s front office hasn’t helped by getting locked into a lot of bad contracts which have hamstrung the team financially and what pieces they will be able to add in making a push for the postseason.

This is an aging Tiger’s team looking to get younger and for some reason, trading Curtis Granderson to the Yankees makes your team better, only the Yankees got better and the Tigers lost a big piece to their failing offense. The Tigers continued to dump players by trading pitcher Edwin Jackson to the Diamondbacks in exchange for prospects is another puzzling move. Jackson was a reliable pitcher and had great first half stats though the division seemed to catch on to his tendencies.

The Tigers bet big too early on aging players and are now paying the price. There rotation is full of unproven pitcher anchored by Justin Verlander and he could very well become the next “Roy Halladay” and want out of Detroit in order to pitch for a competitor.

Indians:

The Indians were one of the most fiercely competing teams in the division, though recent years have forced their anointed general manager to trade ace pitchers C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee in consecutive years, in addition to All-Star catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez, third baseman Ryan Garko, and Casey Blake.

Now that the ash has settled from the fire sales, the Indians can focus on rebuilding for the next decade and getting the organization in sync on all levels. The Indians hired sub-.500 manager Manny Acta to lead the team for the near future and they believe that having the organization set on rebuilding mode will be beneficial for the future. Cleveland did get some good prospects in return for Lee and Martinez last year and I fully expect Justin Masterson to pair with Carmona at the top of the rotation next year, though I don’t know if fans can expect them to become the next Sabathia and Lee.

Royals:

The Royals have been a troubled franchise in recent years. The team has seen managers come and go, players go on to all-star careers, yet the upper echelon of the organizations management is not committed to winning. The Royals have produced talent in the likes of Johnny Damon, Jermaine Day, Carlos Beltran and most recently, Alex Gordon and Zack Greinke.

Kansas City has a ways to go before being competitive. The team isn’t willing to spend good money to keep quality players on the team. That’s truly unfortunate considering the talent they develop. The AL Central is notorious for being frugal with payroll but the Royals set the standard in the American League. The only ones who lose in Kansas City are their fans. If a new ownership group was to come in and take the team over, I think it would be the best thing for the team. The Royals have good people in place to draft well and develop major league talent, though they never get to keep their talent. In helping prepare for the 2010 season, the Royals have just signed outfielder and former rival Scott Podsednik. This addition will give the top of the Royals lineup a speedy 1-2 punch paired with newly acquired second baseman Chris Getz, though I don’t expect the Royals to make a run at the division without a better pitching staff.

The AL Central has no clear favorite; how will the Twins adjust to their new stadium, can Detroit get their team together in the clubhouse and eliminate their off field issues and focus on winning, and how long will it take for the Indians and the Royals to be competitive? While nothing is certain with this division, I expect the White Sox and Twins to be in the thick of the division race though I won’t rule out the Tigers in making it difficult for these teams to run away with the division.

2010: 3D is in!

Cnet.com is laying on the coverage of 2010′s Consumer Electronics Show.  As we’ve been discussing on the podcast, 3D is going be the focus of electronics companies this year.  If you want to see the many companies bringing 3D home in 2010, click the link below.  Sound off in the comments.

2010: 3D is in!

Someone finally said it!

I just found a nugget over at IGN.com.  Scott Bromley rants on why he hates Final Fantasy and it is hilarious.  The content is rated M for mature as there are numerous curses spewn about.  However, if you can stand the heat, do yourself a favor and click the link.  Lets get it!

Why I hate final fantasy-via IGN.com

Happy New Year!

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

From all of us here at Open Forum Radio, We’d like to wish you all a happy and safe New Year.

Thank you for all your support and see you in the New Year!

- BlueManRule, TinPanAlley, VicJoh, Vladz & Patriot.