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Your thoughts on the first big Madden NFL 18 feature news
The first news on Madden NFL 18 rolled out late last week and brought some significant details to digest. Much more will be coming out of E3/EA Play next month, but in the meantime there were a number of intriguing features revealed. Read more
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NASCAR Heat sequel coming in September
The return effort of developer Monster Games was met with mixed reception when NASCAR Heat Evolution released last year. It was the studio’s first racing game since the early 2000’s after reacquiring the exclusive license which they had lost long ago.
Today the sequel was made official, and because not enough sports games release in mid-September it’s slated for the 12th of the month on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
NASCAR Heat 2 builds on the core experience of its predecessor, NASCAR Heat Evolution, with advancements from returning developer Monster Games. These improvements include enhanced online multiplayer, a deeper career mode, track updates, additional drivers and other features in line with the 2017 NASCAR-sanctioned national series formats.
Once again a promotion will determine the driver that appears on the cover. Last year Carl Edwards won the cover by being the first Toyota driver to finish in the Sprint All-Star race. This time around fans will vote for their favorites of four Toyota drivers, and the first to finish Stage 2 of the Monster Energy All-Star race on Saturday will get the cover spot.
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The Line Drive for May 14
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦Introduction of a story mode and three play styles lead Madden NFL 18 feature news.
♦Indication that Online Team Play could be returning in some form with Madden NFL 18.
♦This week’s Press Row Podcast all about NBA Playgrounds is also now on Youtube.
♦Here’s the full review of the new NBA Playgrounds which is a decently fun first effort.
♦Only one week left to claim your free VC and pack for NBA 2K17 through Amazon Prime.
♦Shaquille O’Neal will be featured on the special edition covers of NBA 2K18.
♦This week’s review of Diamond Dynasty content is a look at the seven April Awards cards.
♦New Tom Brady program rolled out in MUT 17 to celebrate his cover announcement.
♦Second round draft picks have now joined the first rounders in Madden 17 Ultimate Team.
♦The compensation for the server problems in MLB The Show 17 should be distributed now.
♦The first details on the new Need for Speed game that will be coming out this fall.
♦Complete details on the latest patch and content update that went out for Rocket League.
♦Dedicated servers and the big benefits they offer will be rolling out soon for Disc Jam.
♦Blu-ray releases this week headlined by the latest xXx and Resident Evil sequels. -
NBA Playgrounds – Review and Podcast
Arcade-style sports games have been making a resurgence as of late thanks to independent developers, but now for the first time one of them even has the backing of a professional league. NBA Playgrounds released this last week for just $20 with full league licensing and a deep roster of current players and legends, and it comes from Saber Interactive, a studio that has never before worked on a sports game.
The full review of the game has just gone up at Sporting News, explaining how it’s fun in bursts but may not have long-lasting appeal. For even more on NBA Playgrounds, the panel for this episode of the Press Row Podcast discuss the the aspects of that have been executed well, the flaws that have been identified in gameplay and design, and improvements that could be made in post-release support and for a potential sequel.
Check out the podcast through iTunes for iOS, on Android with the Stitcher app, or with Pocket Casts on iOS, Android, and Windows. The show can also now be found on the recently launched Google Play Music for podcasts. Subscribe and review to help support the show! You can also listen with the streaming player below.
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New Program and roster update details for May 12 in MLB The Show 17
It’s Friday and for MLB The Show 17 that means a new roster update and Diamond Dynasty content. This week there’s the addition of a Program and Flashback card tied to Mother’s Day.
The Nelson Cruz Breakout Program joins the three others available, and again requires meeting designated goals of wins, statistical achievements, and player collections. As with the others playing online games are required to take it to 100% completion, which eliminates those who prefer only to play the CPU or would rather avoid The Show’s poor online experience from reaping the final reward. A new 90-rated Postseason Flashback Jose Bautista can be earned by trading in 15 Mother’s Day equipment item cards.
Ratings movement in the roster update is far less dramatic than the last two weeks. Most notable are Chris Sale (+2 to 95) solidifying his place as a high Diamond, Jake Arrieta (-2 to 90) on the brink of slipping down to Gold, and Marcell Ozuna (+3 to 86), Charlie Blackmon (+2 to 86), and Jean Segura (+2 to 85) who have moved up to Gold.
Others on the way up include Anthony Rendon (+1 to 84), Brandon Maurer (+6 to 83), Andrew Benintendi (+4 to 83), Justin Wilson (+4 to 83), Eugenio Suarez (+6 to 82), Aaron Hicks (+5 to 81), Mark Reynolds (+5 to 80), Yonder Alonso (+11 to 78), and Tommy Kahnle (+10 to 78). Headed down are Andrew McCutchen (-2 to 83), Ben Zobrist (-2 to 83), and Jonathan Villar (-3 to 82). Those three players have gone from Gold to Silver.
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Tom Brady is the cover athlete for Madden NFL 18; Teaser Trailer confirms Story Mode
The riches continue to flow for the New England Patriots and fans of the team as Tom Brady has been named the cover athlete for Madden NFL 18. This marks the first time active players from the same team have appeared on the cover in back-to-back years. Rob Gronkowski of course fronted Madden NFL 17. Brady will be the first quarterback to grace the cover since Drew Brees did seven years ago. Read more
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First feature news on Madden NFL 18 and special edition details
The first official news on Madden NFL 18 is imminent but an early listing on Amazon has provided some details on the upcoming game. There will now be three different play styles (Arcade/Simulation/Competitive), a new “Play Now Live” mode to play the weekly matchups along with the season, Target Passing, Coverage Assignments, and visual improvements that come with the Frostbite Engine including “stadium exteriors surrounded by vast cityscapes.”
Pre-Order: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PS4 GOAT Edition, XB1 GOAT Edition
Copying a tactic employed by the NBA 2K series those who pre-order the game will get it early. While the details on that aren’t entirely clear, it may only be for the GOAT special edition, which is listed for release on Tuesday, August 22 while the standard edition is for Friday, August 25.
Though not active on the listings yet, Amazon Prime members who pre-order will also get 20% off the price, taking the $60 standard edition down to $48 and the GOAT Edition from $80 down to $64. The standard’s pre-order incentives are an Elite player from your favorite team and 5 Squad Packs for Ultimate Team, while the GOAT provides an Elite Player, 12 Squad Packs, 2500 Contracts, and a Uniform Pack.
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Compensation for server troubles soon to arrive in MLB The Show 17
One week after MLB The Show 17 released developer Sony San Diego promised compensation would be coming due to the severe problems being had with the game’s servers. Over a month later an apology in the form of compensation has finally arrived. The company will be providing all accounts that have played the game 10 Standard Packs and 11,000 Stubs. That amounts to a value of just about $20 worth of The Show’s in-game currency.
We’ve been working without pause to address a number of server and gameplay issues to restore the online experience we had hoped to achieve at launch. Some of these changes have been made visible to our community in the form of patches and in-game messages, while other upgrades haven’t been publicized, in the form of back end server updates.
The amount being given out is over twice the number of Stubs distributed for MLB 16’s problems last year. It’s the same number of packs but MLB 17 seemingly has much worse odds of pulling any Diamonds and Golds. The Stubs and packs will be making it to user accounts over the course of the next week. Server issues have remained a problem in MLB 17 to this day.
While the need to improve relations with consumers is pressing the developer must also balance the effect of flooding the marketplace by giving away too many Stubs, packs, or high-value players. While this compensation may not seem like much to those who have suffered simply trying to play the game or lost hours upon hours of their time to results that never posted it’s probably about the best they could do given the circumstances.
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