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The Line Drive for February 21
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦The players that improved and declined the most over the season in Madden NFL 16.
♦For the first time Out of the Park Baseball will have the complete suite of MLB licenses.
♦The teams helped most by trade deadline moves for NBA 2K16.
♦The real All-Star Weekend experience is missing from basketball video games.
♦Cardinals safety Tony Jefferson is pleased by his ratings surge this season in Madden.
♦Details on post-beta changes being made to ground and pound in EA Sports UFC 2.
♦New game NBA Live Mobile has launched in Canadian stores and coming soon to US.
♦Details on the latest roster update to go out for NBA Live 16.
♦Psyonix has laid out the content roadmap to expect for Rocket League on Xbox One.
♦How to unlock the Xbox One exclusive Warthog vehicle in Rocket League.
♦Article goes into the behind-the-scenes of the making of Rocket League.
♦Article goes into the process of rating and updating players in the FIFA series.
♦Blu-ray releases this week headlined by The Good Dinosaur.
♦Amazon Prime members can still pre-order EA Sports UFC 2 for $48 or $56 Deluxe.
♦Amazon Prime members can still pre-order MLB The Show 16 for $48 or $56 MVP. -
First screenshots for MLB The Show 16
More often than not screenshots are the first media seen on an upcoming sports game. But despite multiple trailers and streams, and the majority of features having been revealed, it wasn’t until now that SCEA provided the first actual official screenshots for MLB The Show 16. Check out all 20 of them in the FB album.
There are a few things to look for specifically in these, including the “physically based rendering” that improves the look of objects around the stadium, and the name text on the back of jerseys that now allow for lowercase letters and apostrophes.
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Out of the Park Baseball 17 features revealed; MLBPA licensing debuts in series
The terrific PC management franchise Out of the Park Baseball will now feature the complete suite of Major League Baseball licensing. It was announced today that Out of the Park Baseball 17, due out on March 22, will include the MLBPA licensing. Last year the series added the MLB.com and MiLB licenses.
While the MLBPA has not been necessary for real player names in the series there are features that can now be provided that otherwise would not have been possible. The big one is called FaceGen and delivers player portraits that not only look like the real-world players, but age over the course of a career and display their emotional states at the given time.
Pre-orders are now open, with $5 off the $40 price through March 1, and four days early access to the game. Continue on for the complete list of new features! Read more
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Trade deadline roster update for NBA 2K16
The rosters have now been updated in NBA 2K16 and include all the player movement that led up to the trade deadline. While only minor deals were made the Pistons and Clippers came away with the best pieces for 2K16 purposes. Among the players who are now found on their new teams are Jeff Green (Clippers), Tobias Harris (Pistons), Courtney Lee (Hornets), Channing Frye (Cavaliers), and Markieff Morris (Wizards).
In addition to the transactions there were some player ratings changes in today’s roster update. Most notable are Kawhi Leonard (+1 to 91), Kyrie Irving (+1 to 87), Mike Conley (+1 to 83), DeAndre Jordan (-1 to 83), Darren Collison (+2 to 81), and Bradley Beal (+1 to 81). Surprisingly Aaron Gordon, who wowed at the Dunk Contest, did not receive an adjustment to his Dunk Rating. He’s currently tied with 15 other players as only the 17th best dunker in the game.
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MLB The Show 16 stream on Diamond Dynasty and online gameplay balancing
In a developer stream held today the improvements to Diamond Dynasty detailed earlier this week were examined in greater detail. Those include the new types of cards and the effect of Inside Edge on daily ratings. Additionally, online play in general was discussed, with exploits related to things like quick-pitching, steals, and bunts having been addressed. Read more
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A look at Career Mode in EA Sports UFC 2
A new developer video went out today that goes through many of the improvements that have been made for Career Mode in EA Sports UFC 2, before transitioning to a description of the game’s Online Championship Mode.
Career Mode
Having a solid training camp and team to work with can help you win your next fight. Prepare by balancing your regiment to gain the greatest edge without risking injury. For the first time in a UFC game, create a female fighter and guide them to UFC greatness. Fight your way through the ranks in the hopes of becoming the next UFC Champion. Along the way, meet career-defining moments that will make your journey even more unique. From epic battles to long-lasting rivalries, your path to the championship will be a memorable one.Online Championships
Our Title Chase mode lets you test your skills against others from around the world for the shot at becoming a champion. Online features a division progression system to make sure you’re always facing off against a suitable opponent.Please enable Javascript to watch this video -
Madden NFL 16’s biggest ratings risers and fallers for the complete season
Who were the most improved and most disappointing players during the 2015-16 NFL season? Based on the ratings movement in Madden NFL 16, which was updated gradually with weekly attribute changes, those players can be identified by comparing the opening day ratings to the final ones that went out following the Super Bowl.
Leading the way in gains were Thomas Rawls and Richie Incognito, followed by the likes of Doug Martin, David Amerson, Carson Palmer, Kawann Short, and Eric Berry. Among those with the sharpest declines were DeMarco Murray, Brandon Browner, Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Dwayne Bowe, Nick Mangold, and Darrelle Revis.
Check out the piece on Sporting News for a full position-by-position breakdown of the players who’s ratings rose and fell the most over the course of the season!
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Details on improvements to Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show 16
While the refresh of Diamond Dynasty was warmly received last year in MLB 15 – winning the award for Best Team-Building Mode – what quickly became apparent was that everyone eventually reached a point where teams were comprised of all the same players. For the mode in the upcoming MLB The Show 16 new features have been added to provide incentive for rosters to be put together with a wider variety of players.
New this year is the ability to play against friends with Diamond Dynasty teams, a partnership with Inside Edge for daily ratings, Flashback Cards, Missions, and Captains.
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