Leverkusen out of UEFA

The game happened a little while ago and if you are a Leverkusen fan you may not want to relive it, but i am going to give my thoughts on it.

First off the game was boring. Hardly anything happened in the nearly 2 and a half hours that it lasted. Not because the teams played bad, but the opposite. Both teams had great defense and really put all they had into the game. The only goal scored was because it bounced off defender Topraks leg and into the goal. Leno would have had it had it gone the trajectory it was heading. Upsetting yes but he had good intentions.

That goal was fairly early on. The rest of the game had maybe 4-5 more chances but not much. Extra time eventually led to nothing. If you are familiar with the two teams, you know who was already going to win in PK's. Athletico missed their first kick surprisingly but Leverkusens Calhanoglu fired it straight down the middle, easy for the keeper. Griezmann scored, Rolfes scored, Suarez scored, then Leverkusen had Toprak go up, probably feeling like he needed redemption and he whiffed bad. That mistake and subbing Son off instead of Calhanoglu were the two big mistakes of the game. Kokes kick was blocked by a great save and Castro scored aswell. Finally Torres scored leaving Kießling with too much pressure, leading him to miss. Devastating to all Leverkusen fans when they had such high hopes coming off a 1-0 victory after the first matchup. If they continue to do well in the Bundesliga, they will get another chance next year, where hopefully they can make it to at least semi-finals.

Smart Watches

I'm not sure if smart watches are becoming a fad or not. I've never seen a single person wearing one, I don't know many people who would want to wear one, but yet every tech company out there is feeling the need to make one. I think the lack of need is a reason I don't see them around. If we didn't already have smartphones than sure, these would be huge! But we do. Why would you buy an overpriced gadget that does everything your phone does, except instead of putting it in your pocket, it goes on your wrist. The price really isn't that big of a deal. Every new tech is insanely expensive when it first comes out. Phones were, tvs were, and nowadays VR headsets are. Eventually they will all drop in price once enough are on the market. A good question to ask is will everyone be picking them up once they become affordable, or will they never completely catch on. The I-Pad is a good example of a product that nobody needed, yet it caught on. Nobody would have bought an i-pad if the tagline was "your phone with a bigger screen and without the ability to call." It was sold as something new and a must have item. Can apple pull the same with the smart watch or are people smart enough not to fall for the same kind of product twice. My opinion is that it will catch on when the price drops, but not as much as companies want. It will be kind of big but you may just seem rich and snooty if you decide to purchase one and wear it in public, if it can shred that connotation that it has with it then it will get bigger. If not, it will stay as a cool idea but not something people need, unless they want to talk into their wrist like Buzz Lightyear or in Star Trek...

Goal-line Technology

In recent times, newer technology has been used in the world of soccer. One of these devices is a measurement system around the goal, called goal line technology. It lets refs check and see if the ball has passed the goal-line and constitutes as a goal or if it was cleared beforehand. It is a bit controversial in soccer for one main reason. Referees have always been the deciding factor in this sport. If someone is pulled down or fouled, the ref intervenes. This is the reason why players often flop on the ground, they are trying to fake out the ref, hoping to get a free kick. The same goes for offsides. The ref may sometimes call things that are wrong, and that is just how soccer is, it is why it stays entertaining, it keeps the game human. Controversial calls are great fun to watch and experience so why take them away. This is why so many fans are upset about this technology, it would eliminate one of the human elements of soccer. In soccer one goal can turn it from a win to a loss, so this is a huge talking point. It's terrible when a team loses because of a goal that wasn't really a goal. An example can be pulled from a Bundesliga match recently. Stefan Kiessling had a header that looked like it missed the goal, but ended up inside the goal. As confusing as it was the referee called it a goal, only to later find a hole the ball had made on the outside of the net! Even though it was found DURING the match, the goal still counted. Bayer Leverkusen ended up winning off of that goal, even though it wasn't technically a goal.

That is why I am afraid of new additions to soccer like this. Events like that could easily go away if new technology like goal-line is added in. One of the cooler parts of soccer is that calls like that can be made, even if they are wrong, but I can see both sides of the argument. Do you think this tech is OK in soccer and is necessary to keep everything fair, or do you think it destroys something that soccer has always had, tradition. Feel free to leave a comment.

Some Fussball Changes

I have put some thought into a new decision for this blog. So far, my 40plus blogs have pertained mostly to science fiction, hence the name Sy-Fience. Slowly and slowly I obviously run out of things to say or type about. I want the quality of my blogs to stay somewhat premium so at this point I may trickle in a few other posts that do not have anything to do with science fiction. Since I am a huge fan of soccer, it will be mostly soccer related things. I will still make science fiction posts, just not every single one will be syfy.

It has gotten progressively harder to write long, decent posts in the science fiction department and that is the main reason. The soccer posts will mostly stay in the realm of the German Bundesliga, since that is what I love following and watching. With constant action up until the end of May when the season ends, I am sure I will be able to keep a steady flow of posts coming into this blog. I doubt I will change the name of the blog due to this change. It is a pretty cool name, plus there is little need to change the name, who cares. Thank you for your understanding and stay tuned.

Lasers

Lasers are something that many people know, and are familiar with, or are they. Pew, Pew may not ACTUALLY be the sound a laser makes, nor does it create a giant red, luminous beam. Think of a Star Wars blaster. If that is what you think of when you think laser, I am sorry, but you are wrong. Not only are Star Wars blasters not lasers, a real world laser would function nothing like that. A laser would travel at the speed of light basically, because it is light. Unless it was heated an incredible amount, it would burn through things either. A perfect example of what a laser is, is just a laser pointer. The beam is nearly invisible, but you can see where it hits. Like light itself, so next time you think about lasers going pew pew, blowing stuff up, leaving burns, think of plasma instead, because that's probably what is really behind it all.

Sounds

Sounds are something that we dance to, laugh to, and maybe cry to. Sadly, someone who lives out in the vacuum  of space would never get to hear or experience any of that. Music is plentiful here on Earth, but would be non-existent in space. The fact that nothing is heard in space is not only sad, it's kind of creepy. Like being deaf, it is a sense that would be greatly missed. Imagine watching Star Wars and all of the space battles had zero sound. Do it, it is eerie and just feels/sounds wrong, even though it would be scientifically correct. Isn't it odd that something that is true, would look or sound wrong. Curious.

Battlefront III

I know I don't do many video game related blogs, but there is nothing really science fiction about some video games and I do want to try and stay on topic. But I do blog about Star Wars quite frequently, and about a year ago, they announced that developer DICE would be working on my favorite video game franchise, Star Wars Battlefront. Now in case you don't know what Battlefront is I will give you some info. In Battlefront you are an infantryman (Clones, Droids, Stromtroopers, Rebels) battling on major planets in the Star Wars universe like Naboo or Tatooine. The game doesn't have much beyond that. The battles can be online or offline against AI bots. What I love most about this game is the scope of it. There aren't huge numbers of players on each team but it feels like you are fighting a battle with hundreds of people. The game still holds up and you could pick it up real cheap online or on Steam.

But back to Battlefront III. There hasn't been much information about the game since the announcement. A few trailers have come out but all we really know is that Hoth and Endor will be in it along with AT-ST's and speeder bikes. Not much. Since not much is known about the game, and it does have a 2015 release date, I think some speculation wouldn't hurt anyone.

One reason this game is so huge is it has been made before. We were promised a sequel after Battlefront II and Battlefront III was in development, but that was nearly 8 or so years ago. A third game in the franchise was nearly complete, and there are leaked trailers showing off the game and it looks incredible. Some fallout happened within the company and the game sadly had to be canned. So when EA announced they would be making it, that was a huge deal. From the trailers of the dead Battlefront game we can see some pretty cool things that hopefully will be featured in the new game.

First is ground-to-space combat. In the movies, along with a battle going on planet side, on was also occurring in space, so it would make sense (and be really cool) if you could get in a ship and fly down to help your allies on the ground and vice versa. It's every Star Wars fan's dream really. Another thing that would almost be necessary with ground-to-space battles is large amounts of people to fight. I am not talking Battlefield's 64 man teams, but 100 to 150 man teams. We have the technology and playstation exclusive MAG had 300+ people in games so it isn't impossible. Also, I really hope they add destruction. It is something that Battlefield creators, DICE, are famous for so you would think it is a given but we will see. Imagine for a second, a spaceship blowing up in the atmosphere, the plummeting and crashing into the ground, destroying everything in it's path, the thought is almost hyping this game too much but still. Lastly, a cool mode could be a jedi hunter-type mode. A small team of jedi have to survive a large team of stormtroopers or bounty hunters or something similar, kinda like Hunt from BF II. Really what would be nice is just a different mode. Battlefront II had the conquest, CTF, and the normal multiplayer game types, but I would like something different, in case I got bored with normal matchmaking. A mode like Hunt or Assault, but those modes could only be played on a handful of maps. Anything off this list is just a hope, the game could still be fantastic without these things.

Now just in case, I also want to talk about features that were in the old one that are important to me and need to make in to the next installment. These are things that deserve be in the next game. Obviously, 3rd person needs to be in the game. Battlefront is a game that could really only be played in the 3rd person. I know there was a 1st person, but nobody used it, and I don't care if they add in a 1st person, but just don't leave out the cornerstone to the game that is a 3rd person perspective. Along with that is another thing that you'd think is a given, but I am worried about. Please do not release the game with nothing at all from the prequels... The reason I say this is I have seen nothing in the slightest about the prequels from the trailers they have shown. The 2nd Battlefront focused on the prequels and thats not really necessary, just don't leave them out. I know and I have talked about peoples feeling toward the prequels, but they ARE Star Wars, even if some of you won't believe it, and that being said they must be in the STAR WARS GAME. Yes, they have only shown 2 trailers, but all of this focus on the original trilogy really has me worried that it will be skipped over entirely, or worse, thrown in as DLC! YIKES! Continuing from that little tangent, split-screen multiplayer should be showcased in the full game, hopefully 4 player. Not many games lately have had 4 player splits-screen and its a shame really. I mean you've got Halo, COD, a handful of party games, and that's really it. With less and less games having this feature, I think it would help the game stand out and stay at its roots. I spent so much of my childhood playing the split-screen with friends or family, so make it happen. Along with that being said, I would like it to continue to have an offline Instant Action against bots, whilst still boasting a better multiplayer. Since I played so much split-screen offline, I didn't spend much time in multiplayer. It wasn't bad, it was fine for it's time, but it doesn't have dedicated servers at all anymore and it's just a shame, and quite hard to find good matches these days. But I'm not worried about the multiplayer because matchmaking is a staple for games nowadays.

If you are someone who like me, has been dreaming of this game for almost a decade, don't worry, more official news is coming Spring 2015. Just the fact that this game is happening is enough for me, it's a miracle that it is coming out this year. The game still is shrouded in mystery, which could lead to delays (fingers crossed though). Think of Dying Light, that game is supposed to come out in a few days but it was shown off at E3 2013, so hopefully us Battlefront fans won't be waiting until late 2016 to get our fix. Until then, I'll just have to wait for what seems like forever for the greatest Star Wars game of all time.