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Press Row Podcast: Sports Game of the Year for 2015
The most anticipated Press Row Podcast episode on an annual basis is here as the 2015 Sports Game of the Year is named! In a year that had fewer options than ever but the quality of those available was exceptional, will it be Rocket League, NBA 2K16, Madden NFL 16, or MLB 15: The Show that comes out on top and takes the prize home?
Check out the podcast through iTunes for iOS, on Android with the Stitcher app, or with Pocket Casts on iOS, Android, and Windows. Subscribe and review to help support the show! You can also listen with the streaming player below.
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Madden NFL 16 Roster Update – Week 14
The roster update following week 14 of the season is now available in Madden NFL 16. Check out all the details on changes made in the update with the spreadsheet here.
Notable players on the rise include Ndamukong Suh (+1 to 97), Khalil Mack (+2 to 95), Cliff Avril (+1 to 95), Earl Thomas (+1 to 95), Kam Chancellor (+1 to 95), Odell Beckham Jr. (+1 to 95), Russell Wilson (+1 to 94), Josh Norman (+1 to 94), Kawann Short (+1 to 94), Alshon Jeffery (+1 to 94), Vontae Davis (+1 to 92), Everson Griffin (+2 to 91), Johnathan Stewart (+1 to 91), Golden Tate (+1 to 90), and Kurt Coleman (+2 to 86).
Among those who have fallen are Julio Jones (-1 to 97), Mike Daniels (-1 to 97), Calvin Johnson (-1 to 96), Richie Incognito (-1 to 94), Dez Bryant (-1 to 93), Charles Woodson (-2 to 91), Demaryius Thomas (-1 to 91), Chandler Jones (-1 to 91), NaVorro Bowman (-1 to 90), Doug Martin (-1 to 90), Travis Kelce (-1 to 90), Darrelle Revis (-1 to 89), Philip Rivers (-1 to 88), Amari Cooper (-1 to 84), and Stefon Diggs (-2 to 80).
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End of Year Community Awards Voting: Best Career Mode of 2015
The voting for various categories in the Pastapadre Community Awards continues with Best Career Mode. The single player path that generally begins on a low level of competition and progresses into a professional career has, outside of NBA 2K, not gotten much attention in recent years. The category has been won three times by the series with MLB: The Show capturing the title in two other years.
Now Open for Voting: Best Gameplay – Best Presentation – Best Post-Release Support – Best Career Mode
NBA 2K16 went big bringing in Spike Lee to write and direct the game’s story mode, which after the first year in the pros transitions into an even more enjoyable career mode. Though fundamentally the same, FIFA 16 and MLB 15: The Show’s modes were primarily improved upon by outside forces relating to gameplay, and for The Show a year-to-year saves rollover allowed for continuing MLB 14’s careers into MLB 15.
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2015 Pastapadre Community Awards Preview
The annual Pastapadre Community Awards are back, offering an opportunity to reflect upon the year in sports gaming and recognize developers for their accomplishments in specific areas of the games and as a whole. In today’s video Rich and I discuss the basis for the Community Awards along with all the categories and respective nominees.
Now Open for Voting: Best Gameplay – Best Presentation – Best Post-Release Support –Best Career Mode – Best Team-Building Mode – Best Online Play – Best Franchise Mode – Best New Feature – Best New or Non-Yearly Sports Game
Still to come is the big one, the Best Sports Game of the Year!
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Your most anticipated new feature so far announced for MLB The Show 16
Though the first news on MLB The Show 16 turned out to be somewhat less substantial than the first reveals of recent years, there was still plenty to chew on, particularly when realizing there are still well over three months until the game releases.
Whether it’s the addition of retractable roofs, return of classic stadiums (Polo Grounds, Griffith Park, Forbes Field, Sportsman Park, Shibe Park, Crosley Field), new “bullet time” type feature called ShowTime as an option in Road to the Show and Player Lock, improvements to RTTS that include not needing to go back to the menu after every game, new cards for Diamond Dynasty, or two new modes that will be announced at a later date, there’s a lot to consider already.
Vote in the poll below and leave any additional thoughts in the comments – of the new features announced to date which are you most looking forward to?
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Latest NBA 2K16 patch fixes some more issues
As far as post-release patches go, NBA 2K16 has now received three of them, with the latest having gone out today on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The first patch was primarily intended to get Pro-Am working, while the second one had wide reach influencing pretty much every mode in the game with changes based on community feedback.
The new patch delivers a number of fixes to the game, including getting the couch co-op that was broken with the previous update back to being functional, and affects various modes along with some minor tinkering done to gameplay. Read more
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End of Year Community Awards Voting: Best Post-Release Support of 2015
The voting for various categories in the Pastapadre Community Awards continues with Best Post-Release Support. These days publishers can’t get away with simply releasing and moving on. Consumer expectations include multiple patches, to just not fix any glaring problems but further improve the game and offer new content, along with constant updates in areas such as rosters and team-building modes.
Now Open for Voting: Best Gameplay – Best Presentation – Best Post-Release Support
To date EA Sports has provided four post-release patches for Madden NFL 16. Besides better balancing gameplay, new features have been introduced including “Ranked” Draft Champions, the ability to play friends in Draft Champions, and XP sliders in Franchise, along with weekly roster updates and a ridiculous number of card variations in Ultimate Team.
There have been three significant patches for NBA 2K16, as community feedback has largely influenced almost every mode in the game, while new uniforms and even alternate courts have been provided in addition to regular roster updates.
Rocket League has been patched multiple times, offered up both paid and free downloadable content, and continued to expand what makes the game so fantastic in the process with unique ways to play – all the while remaining balanced due to paid DLC only being cosmetic in nature.
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New mode for Rocket League transforms the soccer into hockey with Winter Event
Last month developer Psyonix released free “mutators” for Rocket League with a dedicated playlist featuring the new twists on the game. At the same time another one was announced, for many maybe the most intriguing of them all, as the soccer foundation of the game would transform into hockey with a special new mode.
That hockey form of Rocket League debuts today with the “Snow Day” playlist on PS4 and PC along with new holiday-themed drop items that are earned by playing games: “Xmas” Rocket Trail, “Blitzen” Topper, “Christmas Tree” Topper, “Sad Sapling” Topper, “Santa” Topper, “Candy Cane” Antenna, and “Holiday Gift” Antenna.
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