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Downloadable content available for NBA Street: Homecourt
Some of the NBA Street: Homecourt downloadable content that has been advertised as coming soon since launch time has finally made its way to the Xbox Live Marketplace.
Melo’s Cloverdale Court is available for free. Perkins Park and the Street Legends & Brand Jordan Apparel are 300 points each. The Legends include all six that are shown on the game’s official website.
Rucker Park, which was supposed to be released for free right after the game made its way to stores, still has not appeared.
The downloadable content for Homecourt is exclusive to the Xbox 360.
Click the thumbnails below for the full size screenshots.
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First video from NCAA Football 08
It appears that the first gameplay video from NCAA Football 08 has made its way out. While it is tagged as being PS3, the icons on the screen show that it is from the Xbox 360 version.
The video shows off Campus Legend mode as a QB. Although it seems the default camera is used while the QB has the ball, it drops down closer to the perspective of the player after it is released. It is a relief to see it has improved on the unplayable camera angle from Madden’s Superstar mode, and hopefully that is the case with every position.
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OJ Simpson in All-Pro Football 2K8
When the list of names for APF 2K8 were released on the official website, one stood out and immediately created a stir. That person would be OJ Simpson. Is it right that someone who was found not guilty criminally but is still heavily suspected of committing double-murder by the majority of the public be featured in the game?Just recently Simpson was asked to leave a restaurant by the owner who simply didn’t want him there. The reaction from the rest of the patrons? Applause after he left. That goes to show the general feeling about him even now so many years after everything went down.
The game is heavily centered on legends of the NFL, which he certainly is one. Should off the field issues keep someone out of a game that is based on what they did on the field? Thoughts on that are going to vary from individual to individual. It is certainly understandable why it would upset some people that he is included in this game. He fits in terms of what the game is about, yet the smart and respectful thing to do would have been not to include him.
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Applications for Madden Nation Season 3
The third season of the ESPN reality show Madden Nation is now in the process of casting and the application can be found here.This is a show that does a disservice to Madden fans, EA Sports, and gamers in general.
The spotlight falls on ego-driven, immature, brash and annoying individuals who will do anything it takes to win games. That includes exposing flaws in Madden and using those advantages to win a videogame contest. Stereotypes confirmed! It’s not a test of who is the best at Madden, it’s all about who can cheat the game the most effectively.
ESPN is the only winner here producing a show that is relatively cheap to make and gets enough viewership to be profitable. Unfortunately this sensationalist brand of show does the numbers needed to keep it going and not force a change to the formula.
I will not be watching another minute of Madden Nation. The couple times I have tried to, it has almost made me nauseous and ashamed to be a part of the online Madden community that people see those on the show as representing.
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All-Pro Football 2K8 is still an unknown commodity
Recently there was a media event for APF 2K8, at which it was expected the first glimpses from the game and heavy details on it would be revealed. Ultimately that didn’t materialize, as all that was shown was a very short video displaying a few different plays and a question and answer session that didn’t really reveal anything that people are really curious about.The most interesting omission from all the media site writeups of the event was reaction to the video. No one actually mentioned being impressed with the video, or even just that it was good. Apparently it was far too short and didn’t show anything that was noteworthy, as well as the graphics being so mediocre that there was practically no mention of them.
After the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the Game Informer preview, there now seems to be some going back on statements and contradictions. After stating that consumers wouldn’t be able to replicate the NFL and to “shut up and play the game” apparently now customization is an important factor in “practically every aspect of the game”. Obviously you won’t be able to adjust ratings (since there are none) and probably player names. It would be helpful to know exactly what was customizable and to what extent instead of the very generalized statements put out there thus far.
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The Bigs trailer
Here is the first trailer for The Bigs from 2K Sports.
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The game appears to be shaping up really well from from what has been shown (the screens and this trailer). The MLB Slugfest franchise was always enjoyable although it became stale pretty quickly. Yet with the addition of online play this game could really end up being a lot of fun. Hopefully some actual gameplay video will surface in the near future.
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First look at NBA Live 08
Recently I was invited to visit the EA Canada studio in Burnaby BC to check out some of the titles that are currently being worked on for release later this year. Granted, the builds are at a very early point in development and EA isn’t revealing all the details on them, however it offers a great opportunity to see the direction that they are headed and the focus that is going into them.It is no secret that NBA Live 07 didn’t end up being the product that the developers and consumers had hoped for. Ultimately, no matter how many new additions are made feature wise, if the gameplay is disappointing and the game isn’t fun to play those things aren’t going to matter.
The Producer for Next-Gen NBA Live Brian Ulrich spoke to many of the criticisms from last year as well as demonstrating what had already been done for 08. The focus is on the “10 fundamentals of basketball”. Those are passing, shooting, rebounding, offense, defense, two player collisions, locomotion, ball physics, post-whistle actions, and dunks/layups. From what was shown from the build (which was described to be around 35% complete) it was readily apparent that the problems of year’s past were being addressed. Those aspects of the gameplay were already greatly improved despite being far from complete. While the core gameplay is the focus this year, there still will be new additions to the game, however EA is not speaking about what those things might be just yet.
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Albert Pujols chosen for cover of The Bigs
“The BIGS celebrates the heroes of Major League Baseball and the epic moments of professional baseball”, said Erik Whiteford, Vice President of Marketing at 2K Sports. “Throughout his career, Albert Pujols has delivered unforgettable plays at the most amazing times. His larger-than-life abilities and flair for the dramatic embody the spirit we are striving to capture in this game, making Pujols the perfect cover athlete.”
“I’m honored to represent this revolutionary new baseball title from 2K Sports,” said Albert Pujols. “I’ve been blessed to have played in some monumental baseball games in my career and it’s amazing to see how The BIGS captures the most dramatic plays and brings them to life in a baseball video game.”
As the youngest MLB player to hit 250 home runs, Albert Pujols has garnered many accolades in his young career. With three Silver Slugger awards, Pujols added his first Gold Glove in 2006 playing for the 2006 World Series Champions, the St. Louis Cardinals. The bigger the moment, the greater Pujols performs, making him a natural choice as the official representative player for The BIGS.
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