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World Series Champion Cubs celebrated with new Diamond Dynasty content
The season may be over but support for Diamond Dynasty mode in MLB The Show 16 continues. Today a new Chicago Cubs Champions Pack and missions tied to a trio of new flashback cards were added.
Obtaining the three new flashbacks and completing statistical tasks will unlock Prime Matt Garza. Andrew Cashner (Rookie Flashback) needs to accrue 10 strikeouts, Marlon Byrd (Prime Flashback) must get 5 hits, and Darwin Barney (Prime Flashback) requires 10 fielding assists.
Currently on the marketplace Cashner can be obtained for around 4,300 Stubs, Byrd for 5,000 Stubs, and Barney for 7,300 Stubs. That’s pretty reasonable for working towards the reward of Garza but he’s only rated 87 Overall so it’s not exactly a huge prize.
The new cards can also be found in the limited time Cubs Champions Packs. Those are being sold for 3,000 Stubs and include 4 player cards with an increased chance at pulling them. For cheap as they are on the marketplace however it would be unwise to chase them in packs.
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Madden NFL 17 roster update details out of week nine of the season
The roster update following week nine of the season is now available in Madden NFL 17. The standout performances of the week on offense came from Melvin Gordon, Jimmy Graham, and Matt Ryan, however only Gordon received a boost with 2 points up to 82 Overall. This week’s update is a bit heavier on those going down than those who have been increased.
Notables on the move include Greg Olsen (+1 to 97), Khalil Mack (+1 to 94), Eric Weddle (+1 to 94), Harrison Smith (-1 to 94), Desmond Trufant (-2 to 90), Jamie Collins (-4 to 88), Terrell Suggs (-3 to 87), Thomas Davis (-2 to 87), Clay Matthews (-3 to 86), Ezekiel Ansah (-3 to 85), Karl Joseph (+4 to 83), Maurice Alexander (+11 to 82), Patrick Chung (-4 to 82), Jalston Fowler (-7 to 79), Reggie Nelson (-6 to 79), Tavon Young (+8 to 76), and Tahir Whitehead (-6 to 73). View all the ratings changes throughout the league with this new form.
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EA Sports UFC 2 now included in the EA Access Vault
The latest sports game to arrive in the EA Access Vault on Xbox One is EA Sports UFC 2. Originally released back in March, EA UFC 2 was much better received than the first effort with the series but has struggled to find an audience beyond the most hardcore of MMA fans. The revenue-generating version of Ultimate Team didn’t prove especially compelling either which is something publishers have now come to depend upon. UFC 3 is expected in 2018 and some idea of feature plans have already leaked out including VR and Draft Champions.
EA Sports UFC 2 joins the likes of Madden NFL 16, FIFA 16, NHL 16, NBA Live 16, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, and SSX which have all been added to the Vault this year.
EA Access is currently exclusive to Xbox One (and now a separate service on PC with Origin) given that Sony continues to refuse the service for PlayStation 4. For $30 a year or $5 month-to-month, members get unlimited access to the back library of EA games on Xbox One which in addition to all the sports titles from earlier years include others such as Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, Battlefield Hardline, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. There’s also the 10 hour trials with every EA game that begin five days before release and 10% savings on all digital purchases whether it be the actual games or any microtransactions within them.
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Skate 3 now backwards compatible on XB1
Despite the pleas of fans Electronic Arts has shown no signs of bringing the Skate franchse back to life for the new generation of consoles. A consolation prize though arrives today as Skate 3 is now among the library of backwards compatible titles on Xbox One.
Skate 3 originally came out in 2010 and actually was the lowest rated edition of the series finishing with an 80 on Metacritic. Some of the complaints were related to the proximity of releases as the three Skate games were produced in a 32 month span. New features for Skate 3 included Skate School tutorial, skate park creation, and co-op career mode.
Skate 3 is currently $10 for Xbox Live Gold members and the San Van Party Pack DLC is being offered for free until November 20.
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NBA 2K17 roster update begins ratings adjustments and returns Steve Nash
The second roster update for NBA 2K17 has just gone out and not only does it deliver the first ratings changes for the season but one legend has been returned to the game. Steve Nash is once again on the classic 2004-05 Phoenix Suns and 2002-03 Dallas Mavericks teams. He was in 2K16 with their addition but was absent from both rosters for the launch of 2K17.
Kawhi Leonard is now the second highest rated player in the game. In moving up 2 points to 95 Overall, Leonard has surpassed Stephen Curry who remains at 94, and now trails only LeBron James who sits at 96. Several superstars have risen early in the season led by former teammates Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook who are both up a point to 94. Also having been lifted in the update are James Harden (+1 to 91), Anthony Davis (+1 to 91), DeMar DeRozan (+1 to 88), Dwight Howard (+2 to 86), and Joel Embiid (+2 to 80).
Taking the biggest hit to start the season is Klay Thompson down 2 points to 88 Overall. Shooting a horrid 21% on three-pointers has led to Thompson dropping 9 points in 3pt Contested and 6 points in 3pt Open attributes. Other notables going down are Andre Drummond (-1 to 86), Derrick Favors (-2 to 83), and Rajon Rondo (-2 to 79).
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Madden NFL 17 has its commentary update from the ninth week of the regular season
The 12th commentary update for Madden NFL 17 has gone out with the broadcast team of Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis reflecting on the events that took place and storylines that emerged from week nine of the season. Madden will be receiving these real-world commentary updates regularly throughout the year which apply to Play Now and Online games. The duo is also recording 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 coming out of week 9. pic.twitter.com/3KTZImsfQG
— Bryan Wiedey (@pastapadre) November 8, 2016
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Madden NFL 17’s midseason biggest player rating risers and fallers
Now at the mid-way point of the season the progression and regression of players through Madden NFL 17 can be assessed. As one would expect, the NFC-leading Cowboys have been the biggest beneficiary of the weekly updates, while the Panthers starting 1-5 resulted in them taking the most extreme damage with the impact seen throughout the roster.
It’s obviously easiest for players who begin rated low to move up, and Denver has seen their QB, C, and FB rise by 14-15 points. Zach Brown, Lorenzo Alexander, and DeShawn Shead have also climbed significantly this season. Taking a swing the other direction are Patrick DiMarco, Johnathan Joseph, and Mychal Kendricks who are all down double digits. Check out the full look at the biggest ratings gainers and losers in the piece over at Sporting News today!
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Press Row Podcast: Winter is Here
There’s a long wait ahead until the next major sports game releases at the end of March with MLB The Show 17. Despite that there’s always news and developments to react to and some of those are tackled in the latest episode of the Press Row Podcast.
Topics discussed include the recently released snowboarding game Infinite Air, the selection of Ken Griffey Jr. for the cover of MLB 17, story modes driving the success of NBA 2K and now FIFA 17, troubled post-release support with NBA 2K17 (some issues solved in the new patch), and the impending release of the NES Classic Edition. All that is then followed by a segment dedicated to the NHL-licensed PC game Franchise Hockey Manager 3.
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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