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End of Year Community Awards: Best New Feature of 2016
Every year new modes are added to sports games or features introduced to enhance enjoyment of the ones being carried over. The second-to-last category to open up in the annual Pastapadre Community Awards is for Best New Feature. NBA 2K, Madden, and MLB The Show have all won this award in the past, with The Show on a streak of three straight victories over the field.
Madden NFL 17 debuted weekly commentary updates from the new broadcasting duo of Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis. NBA 2K17 added two new Franchise features with the ability to expand leagues to as many as 36 teams and begin a new MyLeague campaign with the current day’s standings and statistics. EA Sports UFC 2 showcased its ‘Knockout Physics System’ through its new KO Mode. MLB The Show 16 made Diamond Dynasty a mode for everyone thanks to the daily ratings fluctuations provided by Inside Edge.
Other categories now open for vote
Best Gameplay
Best Mobile Game
Best Career/Story Mode
Best Presentation
Best Team-Building Mode
Best Online Play
Best Franchise Mode
Best Racing Game
Best Post-Release Support
Best New/Non-Yearly Game -
The Line Drive for January 8
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦Coming up on last week to vote in all the various categories of the Community Awards.
♦Still to come are the awards for Best New Feature and Sports Game of the Year.
♦Summarized all the biggest sports gaming stories of 2016 for Sporting News.
♦Discussed many of 2016’s most important stories on the latest Press Row Podcast.
♦That episode of the Press Row Podcast can now also be found on Youtube.
♦The 2017 NBA All-Star uniforms have just been added to NBA 2K17.
♦Full details on all the ratings changes in the latest roster update for NBA 2K17.
♦The Cavs got the 6th best overall 3pt shooter in NBA 2K17 by trading for Kyle Korver.
♦Calendar of content coming to Diamond Dynasty in January for MLB The Show 16.
♦Rocket League was remarkably the most downloaded game of 2016 on PlayStation 4.
♦Forza Horizon 3 had its Rockstar Energy Car Pack go out last week.
♦New teaser trailer was released for the upcoming Old Time Hockey.
♦Old Time Hockey announced 10 new teams that have been created for the game.
♦Still can rent any movie with one-time use of 99 cent deal through Amazon Video.
♦Blu-ray releases include The Accountant, Deepwater Horizon, Mr Robot S2 this week. -
Playoffs content opens up in Madden NFL 17 Ultimate Team
With the NFL Playoffs kicking off this weekend EA Sports has introduced Playoff-related content to Ultimate Team in Madden NFL 17. The Predictor went live earlier in the week while these new additions include the ability to earn special Team Leader cards and turn in extras for special cards featuring players appearing in the Playoffs.
The Team Heroes for the month are gone and in their place are Playoff Team Leaders. Adding all 10 of a team’s Playoff Players to their respective set will unlock that Team Leader rated at 94 Overall: LeGarrette Blunt (NE), Marcus Peters (KC), Mike Mitchell (PIT), A.J. Bouye (HOU), Rodney Hudson (OAK), Jarvis Landry (MIA), Zack Martin (DAL), Vic Beasley (ATL), Jimmy Graham (SEA), Mike Daniels (GB), Eli Manning (NYG), DeAndre Levy (DET).
The Man of the Playoffs card is a 97 Overall Tom Brady. He’s earned by turning in all 12 Playoff Leader cards. You can also earn a Playoff Elite by completing a set with 40 Gold and 20 Silver items from non-Playoff teams. Each Playoff team also has a trade-in set with 20 Gold and 10 Silver cards in exchange for an Elite Playoff Player.
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Madden NFL 17 roster update details heading into Wild Card Weekend
The roster update following the end of the regular season is now available to download in Madden NFL 17. After two weeks without updates this one obviously takes on more significance with greater ratings movement across the entirety of the league. The MVP-like push from Aaron Rodgers finishing with 6 straight wins from the Packers moved him up 2 more points to 96 Overall matching where he began the season. On the other end of things last year’s MVP, Cam Newton, dropped another 3 points finishing down 10 points for the season at 84 Overall.
Other notable ratings movers include Marshal Yanda (+1 to 96), Eric Weddle (-1 to 95), Travis Kelce (+1 to 94), Chris Harris Jr. (+1 to 94), Aqib Talib (+1 to 94), Kelechi Osemele (+3 to 93), Odell Beckham Jr. (+1 to 93), Devin McCourty (+1 to 93), Landon Collins (+1 to 92), Zack Martin (-2 to 92), Matt Ryan (+2 to 91), Malcolm Butler (+2 to 91), Drew Brees (-1 to 89), Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (+2 to 89), Damon Harrison (+4 to 88), Darius Slay (-2 to 88), Mike Daniels (-3 to 87), Marcus Peters (+2 to 87), Adrian Peterson (-2 to 87), Jay Ajayi (+2 to 85), Darian Stewart (-6 to 84), Mason Foster (+4 to 83), Vic Beasley Jr. (+2 to 82), and Zach Zenner (+3 to 74). View all the ratings changes made throughout the league with the new form here.
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End of Year Community Awards: Best New or Non-Yearly Sports Game of 2016
Only a few categories remain to be opened in the annual Pastapadre Community Awards and the latest to do so goes to the best of the sports games that either made their debut in 2016 or don’t release on an annual schedule. Previous winners in the category include Rocket League, The Golf Club, and UFC Undisputed 3.
Casey Powell Lacrosse 16 was a pleasant surprise, with accessible and fun gameplay, Career Mode playable as both ‘Coach’ and ‘Player,’ and a well-designed sharing system with community created files that can deliver the real 67 college and 9 MLL teams.
EA Sports UFC 2 improved on the deficiencies of the first series effort by EA Sports, providing an immensely more satisfying gameplay experience with a deep roster of fighters. The sequel much better respected the sport of MMA and the new KO Mode was a fun diversion that showcased impressive knockout physics.
Steep was the best of the mountain sports games in 2016 offering greater variety by featuring snowboarding, skiing, wingsuit flying, and paragliding. An expansive social system and large open-world setup provided considerable content and reason to keep playing.
Other categories now open for vote
Best Gameplay
Best Mobile Game
Best Career/Story Mode
Best Presentation
Best Team-Building Mode
Best Online Play
Best Franchise Mode
Best Racing Game
Best Post-Release Support -
Press Row Podcast: Biggest Stories of 2016
Every year it’s important to look back on developments within the sports gaming genre, not just as a reminder of what has happened, but as insight into the direction individual franchises are going and the trends within the industry that will impact them all. Bryan Wiedey and Rich Grisham discuss some of the most important stories of 2016 in the new year’s first episode.
Reference Link: The biggest sports video games stories of 2016
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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Madden NFL 17 has its commentary update heading into Wild Card Weekend
The 19th commentary update for Madden NFL 17 has gone out with the broadcast team of Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis reflecting on the events taking place and storylines that have emerged as the Playoffs begin. Madden has been receiving these real-world commentary updates regularly throughout the year which apply to Play Now and Online games. The duo has also recorded additional audio for modes like Franchise and Ultimate Team.
Another commentary update is out in Madden NFL 17. Here's just a sampling of what's new heading into Wild Card Weekend. pic.twitter.com/e9HUSFsRDi
— Bryan Wiedey (@pastapadre) January 4, 2017
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NFL Predictor opens in Madden Ultimate Team
The latest promotion in Madden NFL 17 Ultimate Team arrives in time for Playoffs. It involves completing new Solo Challenges that give out True or False tokens and then placing those into the new Sets that are related to the the four games that will take place on Wild Card Weekend.
Two Solo Challenges are currently open and upon completion each awards an NFL Predictor 8-Pack with those badges then turned into the Sets. The predictions that can be made are not just based on the results of the games but also statistical outputs of specific players. The Coin rewards are based on the odds of each event happening as some will payout more for certain outcomes than others. Each set predicted can be worth from 250 to 2,500 Coins. Those who manage to get all 16 right will also get a 50,000 Coin bonus.
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