Next Generation Rugby Games (for PS3 and Xbox)

First topic message reminder :

Like London buses, you wait for ages for one and then two pop up at the same time!

I know there was a lot of chat on 606 (RIP) about Rugby games for PS3 and I thought I would bring some news about two games that have been confirmed for August 2011.

Firstly, there is Rugby Challenge, produced by Sidhe:

http://rugbychallengegame.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_Challenge

https://www.facebook.com/pages/All-Blacks-Rugby-Challenge-Game/162875610443414


I think this is an update from the 'World Cup Challenge' produced just after the 2003 World Cup and may be a descendant from Jonah Lomu Rugby.

The screenshots look very impressive.

They have confirmed licences for the All Blacks, Wallabies, ITM Cup and Super 15. There has been no confirmation of whether they have any European national teams or leagues - which is a bit of a downer - but, going by the Wiki link, there seems to be an extensive editing mode.

In addition, the team behind the game seem very 'on the ball' and have opened up a fans forum asking for advice and answering any queries:

http://forums.sidheinteractive.com/forumdisplay.php?f=85

I would advise going on there and giving the details for your favourite team!


The other option is the RWC 2011 Official Game which is made by HB Studios:

http://www.rwc2011game.com/

https://www.facebook.com/RWC2011game

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_World_Cup_2011_%28video_game%29


This game is a direct descendant from Rugby 08, 06, 04, etc. - I don't know whether this is a good thing! Although they were fun games, they were very limited

I presume that this will have licences for all teams at the RWC 2011 (this is, however, disputable due to Rugby Challenge claiming to have exclusive licenses to the All Blacks, Wallabies and Super Rugby) but I am not sure about the gameplay outside of that.

I haven't seen any screenshots for this game.


So which game are people going to buy?

I'm kind of torn because HB Studios should, in theory, be able to make the best game but it remains to be seen whether this will be another rush job just to maximise sales while the RWC is on.

My only issue with Rugby Challenge at the moment is what licences they will have for Northern Hemisphere rugby.

Has anyone else got info on these games?

I reckon I should be on commission.

p.s. - if you hate it, not my fault!

red_stag wrote:Ok bottom line - buy it yes or no. I have 50 burning a hole in my pocket do I buy it or FIFA?

I'd say get this. I'm enjoying it a lot. You'll find the same problems we've all found with out of date rosters for NH teams and ridiculous offloading, but apart from that it's the closest rugby game to actual rugby I've played. And it's very customisable so you can always add guys in.

Im kinda a rugby anorak so I wont mind the editing (I think)

HongKongCherry wrote:propdavid, I completely agree that it is poor that they haven't taken the effort to give this season's squads or vaguely realistic stats (I know I am bias but surely Sharples is faster than a 67 rating??). As I suffer from OCD I am going to have to edit the lot to bring it all up to true levels.

Not released until Nov 1st here, pre-ordered mine guessing that there will be pretty limited numbers here in North America. I'm supirsed they are actually bothering to bring it out over here, wasn't expecting it. As a fellow OCD sufferer I'm now resigned to the fact that I will spend the first few weeks (or months by the sound of it) editing everything to make it correct. Might actually get to play a game by Christmas if I'm lucky.

I found a list of the Irish players names put into their real names by some guy on the sidhe forums but I have seemed to have deleted it by accident Tryed to find in again but I can get into the website for some reason but it was helpful, I'm sure there has been some done for other countries and if anyone would put them up here it might help us struggeling OCD sufferers

are the club players names all wrong or is it just the international sides?

Just international but you cant move players from the Pro12 or Top14.

How do you resolve it

You have to edit the international players names, they largely have the same stats as the real players.

You can guess most of the team I'd say, more annoying is the lack of kits that look like the real thing for the unlicensed international teams.

Also, the lack of ability to transfer players from the Pro12 or Top14 outside those leagues is annoying.

I have (created) a BaaBaas team with just Aviva Prem and Aussie/Kiwi based players! My dream Barbarians team would take a lot of editing with these licenses

Though I suppose in real life, players are also unavailable for the BaaBaas; ironically it's Aviva Prem players who aren't picked.

I found the thing with the Irish team and it seems fairly close, Thank God

Spoiler:

Argentina:

Spoiler:

France:

Spoiler:

Wales:

Spoiler:

Italy:

Spoiler:

Those are the only ones I can find at the moment and sorry if any are wrong I didn't do them people on Sidhe did. I'll put up more when I find them.

So, here, let me explain what I've done.

I have a PS3, and downloaded Project Novo. So all the international teams are fixed and so on.

What I then did was turn my attention to Ulster. I moved in Afoa, Stevenson, Payne, McComish, moved out McCrea, O'Connor, Anderson, Young, and whoever else.

Then I had a thought.

I created very rough, clumsy approximations of Callum Black, Niall Annett, Jerry Cronin, Craig Gilroy, Paddy Jackson, Luke Marshall and James McKinney, All the DOBs, positions, (official) measurements and so on, and added them. So what I have is the correct Ulster roster, with some faces that looked a bit like the actual players on the wine-sodden night I made them, but are now vaguely baffling. (In fairness, one or two are alright. Once you've got Paddy Jackson's uber-ginger curly hair, you'll always know who it is. )

I then saved it. So all new players' stats are at 75 (the default for created players). I didn't change them at this stage for two reasons; I don't really trust myself to be fair in accurately reflecting an Ulster player's ability and talent in stats, and that I wanted to use these guys for career mode, and stats don't change, so I am attempting the ridiculous task of second-guessing Luke Marshall's Offload skill in five years' time. I have since settled on numbers I deem appropriate, which I changed after that save.)

What I was did, though, was save this onto a USB, so there's a file with Project Novo teams and Ulster with the 2011/2012 roster. Now, if I sent that by email or FTP or whatever to one of you wonderful rugby true believers, who was prepared to update the Glasgow roster, say, and save it in a similar manner, and then forward that to a Dragons fan, who did the same - well, after twelve people, we could end up with up-to-date Pro 12 rosters with everyone only having to do the roster of one team (presumably the one they support). At the end, if we all loaded up the final save file, all the rosters would be correct. Imagine!

We could have a bit of a discussion about Paddy Jackson's General Kicking stat, or Tommy Seymour's Strength afterwards, to try to, by consensus, do justice to these created players. And where we disagreed, we could do just chat - disagree, and change the stats for our own saved profiles. But the line-ups would be right. (Ulster only have 32 senior contracts this season (hence our implosion), and so currently Callum Black is in the "No Competition" category, but I have created him - the line-ups can be changed by the individuals after we pool our collective knowledge.)

Would anyone be prepared to do that? Only ground rule necessary would be no changing stats.

(A disclaimer - before I thought of this, I also raised Rory Best's Offload and Passing. Man's got great hands. If you want to lower it back down to inaccurate levels - for shame! - please do.)

don alfonso, thats a lot of editing youve done.

i havent got the game yet but i would do the blues when i get it. i didnt realise there was so much editing to do.

i hope some other v2ers are up for this.

ive been having a look on you tube, get an idea of what to expect. i cant wait much longer before i get challenge.

the england kits is horrible.

commentator pronounced czekaj 'chickash' wtf?

i believe i can cope.

any other big boobs in the game, and i dont mean streakers

Irish Curry - thanks for the effort in finding the teams. Much appreciated (I wouldn't know where to begin looking).

A line from the commentry has made to purchase totally worthwhile for me. Taken exactly from the original Jonah Lomu in 1995 with Bill Mclaren commentating!

"Ooh that tackle cold have put him in ward 4"
- "I hope not, that's the maternity ward!"

Classic

Yeah, I was pleased to hear that little historical tribute/easter egg pop up in the commentary!

B91212 - No Problem

I found some more too.

Scotland:

Spoiler:

South Africa:

Spoiler:

I might also suggest Project Novo for ps3 (Not sure if its on x-box) it does the editing for you, you need a usb stick though I think which is annoying for people like me who dont. http://projectnovo.freeforums.org/post272.html

Ok I've tried 6 shops in Munster and message is clear - its completely sold out and theres a waiting list to get it.

I bought Rugby Challenge last week from Amazon for £39.99 and must say I really like it.

The lack of proper player names and are a bit of a pain for the International sides, but that is easy enough sorted by the free downloadable updated file that was mentioned earlier in the thread. I am currently playing as Glasgow Warriors in the league the game play is very good, the club sides are all mainly licensed, think only South Africa is not so all the strips and players names are ok, bad the odd glaring error (easily fixable).

It’s not as polished a game as Madden 2012 or I imagine FIFA 2012 and that is hardly surprising, but it’s by far and away the best Rugby game I have played so it’s a great start, if the game is to be a series.

Plus Points
*Easy to pick up and play.
*Not a OTT button bashing game.
*Scrum and Lineout are two separate skills to learn in the game.
*Good Graphics.
*Plays Online very well.
*Lots of competitions available, to keep computer play interesting.
*Easy enough to edit any annoying mistakes in a player positions etc

Negative Points
*Not been fully tested enough, a number of glaring errors (ie. ghost balls can appear at times) that in 2012 should have been ironed out long before going on sale.
*Commentary is average at best. Lots of errors with this as well, talking about it being a full penalty offence when it's clearly a scrum.
*Random players appearing in the line at rucks. More often than not you will find the Fly-Half standing out on the wing and not waiting to receive the ball, with the Tight Head waiting to take the ball from the scrum half.

A few things in the game are a bit strange, like the fact that everyone is able to offload in the tackle. However I don't mind these kind of things as they keep the game moving and although it makes the game a bit more arcade than a proper simulation, it stops the game from being a constant button bash as teams go from one tedious ruck to another.

icantwaittogetthisgame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have a deadline next monday. i might get paid soon there after.

i read a guardian review and it said you cant swap players from club to country, that gethin couldnt be swapped from the blues to wales. is that right. it'll take me ages to rename all the 6N teams. martincastrogiovanni with a controler

[quote="dogtooth"]icantwaittogetthisgame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have a deadline next monday. i might get paid soon there after.

i read a guardian review and it said you cant swap players from club to country, that gethin couldnt be swapped from the blues to wales. is that right. it'll take me ages to rename all the 6N teams. [b]martincastrogiovanni with a controler [/b]

[/quote]

Lucky for you you would as that is only the case for the Top14 and Pro12, its still a pain though

Some of the players can be swapped, ie anyone in an Aviva team can be put into an international team, along with a few others

If anyone wants to add me on the PS3 to play online feel free -

hotdogsfortea

I want to thank whoever said pressing L1 & R1 at the same time passes to the fly half/nearest available player with a good kicking stat...such a life saver. I can now miss out deiniol jones and let parks kick it ;-)

Anyone have any more tips?

Particularly on the tackling element, which seems hit and miss to me

Well 'A' is regular tackle and then 'Y' is a hard tackle but can result in penalties for high tackles etc.

One thing i do is when making a tackle, i instantly select the nearest player and hover around as it's possibly to do a double tackle or if the player breaks free, you have another guy selected to make the tackle.

Other tips? Uhm...

When holding down a kick button and everything has slowed down, if there is nothing on with the kick or if there is a player too close to you that a kick would not be completed, press L1 or R1 and the guy will pass to the nearest player.

In the line out, for guaranteed front ball - move your front jumper towards the 5metre line, he will only move a little bit but the computer jumper won't, so you're instantly in front of him and more likely to get the ball at the front.

I assume everyone knows about holding the pass button and then pressing A to miss one, B to miss 2 and Y to miss three as that's in the tutorials.

If i remember any more or find any more, will let you all know.

I know what the button are, I was just fining it hard, and often teams were running right through my defence, often with the player not responding with a tackle when i hit the button

The best tip I can think is to not get carried away with offloading. If you find you offloading allot and not going forward, take the ball into contact an try again.

Always run at the gap between two opponents, that way you draw two tacklers then offload.

If your playing to win, always drop goal if your just outside the 22 and going no where. Turnovers are pretty frequent in this game.

Work on the slow mo grubber kick, you can create so many opportunity's from nothing.

Dont try a kick from deep with a forward, as they are poor at kicking out of hand the ball never goes where you intend. An you may face a counter attack when your defense is a mess.

Oh an if your in the opponents in goal area with the ball and their players are nearby, touch the ball down straight away. Its quite easy for them to hold you up and prevent the try.

How do you contest the ball at a Ruck?

I can do it when I play the computer at Hard level and its a fair fight for the ball. However when I play online I can't seem to win the ball, even if I tackle an isolated player, the other guy manages to keep the ball.

Do you need to press the x or o but once or hit it all the time? I have tried both and neither works.

Id press X first (quick bind) so the player isn't isolated then O (heavy bind) to win the ball

youngguns6 wrote:Id press X first (quick bind) so the player isn't isolated then O (heavy bind) to win the ball

Thanks! I do this against the Computer and it works ok, it just seemd impossible for me to win the ball against human controlled teams.

Also it depends where your forwards are. If they are close Heavy Bind (forwards only) if they are not too close Quick Bind (nearest player).

Also due to the Heavy Bind being just forwards it makes it easier to get a set of backs running off the ruck, whereas if you light bind there is a higher risk of having a prop in the back line.

gcBlues wrote:I want to thank whoever said pressing L1 & R1 at the same time passes to the fly half/nearest available player with a good kicking stat...such a life saver. I can now miss out deiniol jones and let parks kick it ;-)

Are there any buttons which actually stops Parks from kicking?

Just don't play him!

Well i brought in a winger before the HC started and he had 100 kicking so it usually defaults to him not parks

ScarletSpiderman wrote:Also it depends where your forwards are. If they are close Heavy Bind (forwards only) if they are not too close Quick Bind (nearest player).

Also due to the Heavy Bind being just forwards it makes it easier to get a set of backs running off the ruck, whereas if you light bind there is a higher risk of having a prop in the back line.

Thanks!

I played last night and was far more competitive, won my fair share of ball, just don't know what to do with it.

Word of warning - if you want to edit players, make sure you do it before starting a league.

I started that Rabbo with Edinburgh and edited some players after 5 games. Turns out their stats weren't updated in the league because I had already started it, but they were updated for friendlies etc and if I started again.

Bit annoying but lesson learned!

RDW - Another thing to remember is that you can't transfer Rabo players to INternatinal, so editing a Rabo player will not update their international counterpart. However if you edit the international player and then transfer them to the Rabo the when the stats get edited both international and Rabo player's stats get editted. I that makes any sence.

RDW_Scotland & ScarletSpiderman - again thanks for keeping the editing tips coming, along with Irish Curry your going to be saving me a lot of time in the editing process.

Should get my copy delivered on Tuesday and not going to get into full league mode until my OCD is 100% satisfied!

Just a thought after editing some of the squads, is there any way of getting the commentators to say the players actual name. For example I have edited one of the Irish players to O'Brian, who's name is recorded in the game but dispite this being his commentary name in his profile it is not said in the game. Its the same for all other players, has anyone else come across this or come up with a way to stop it?

Irish Curry - i have noticed that too. Also the Project Novo thing does that to the regional players who appear in the international sides too. I prey there is a way to sort it as I am tempted to go back to the random names just to avoid having to listen to "the 1st 5/8" or "he off loads to the second 5/8". I wouldn't mind if they called them by the NH positions instead

I thought you can change the commentary name? Usually when you change it, it defaults to 'position'. Then you edit his name in there and it should work that way...unless you have done that and it's not working, then who knows

gcBlues - yeah even though the player name has been changed to for example Jones, and in the box for comentary name it say Jones, 'Nesbo' and the other muppet (sorry they really annoy me) will only say the SH position names.

Does anyone else still prefer ea rugby 08?

I think I may have solved it but I am not 100% sure, when I was editing the Argentinain squad I edited the [b]commentary[/b] name first on the player. I got bored of it after a while and just did the surname first but when I played them in a match and low and behold Nessbit said his name!

It was only once but it still happened. The other thing I noticed is that most if not all of the real names are in the fake players names so you could just edit their stats and faces and all that which would take for ever, but hey who knows

-gcBlues, On mine it normally defaults to the name I've changed it to but if I go back to check it it has gone to position.

Samoa:

Spoiler:

yeah, i don't like the SH position names. Never understood this 1st 5/8 lark?

On the commentary names, the thing in my first post seems to work only for a few players while the following works for all of them, Once you have edited the player(s) names to the real life ones, go back to the edit players menu and edit thoseplayers again. Once you have done this edit their commentary name to the surname and save. That solves it once and for all and as far as I knoe you don't have to repeat this again if you edit the players name another time.