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End of Year Community Awards Voting: Best Presentation of 2015
The voting for various categories in the Pastapadre Community Awards continues with Best Presentation. This is a category that has simply been owned by the NBA 2K franchise, having taken home the award all five years.
Now Open for Voting:Â Best Gameplay – Best Presentation
NBA 2K16 looks to be in strong position to extend that to six in a row, after adding pre-recorded cutaway interviews during games, featuring a studio show with three quarters of the Inside the NBA crew, and even the high production value of the Spike Lee career mode can be considered. Challenging is FIFA 16 which still represents the atmosphere and drama arguably better than any other sports game, and this year added German Bundesliga, new types of weather and new player celebrations. NHL 16 bounced back this year with authentic and unique arena atmosphere and further capitalizing on the NBC Sports broadcast package.
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The Line Drive for December 13
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦Check out the latest content created for Sporting News and Hit The Pass:
   •The biggest risers and fallers in NBA 2K16 so far this season
   •Taking a look at the new cards revealed for MLB The Show 16
   •Impressions of the first MLB The Show 16 news (video/podcast)
   •Holiday gift guide for the sports gaming fan
   •More great video content coming – subscribe to HTP Youtube channel!♦The annual Community Awards voting kicked off with Best Gameplay – more this week.
♦After last night’s win Conor McGregor joins Ronda Rousey on EA Sports UFC 2 cover.
♦NPD sales for November: Madden NFL 16 (#4), NBA 2K16 (#5), FIFA 16 (#6).
♦Upcoming NBA 2K16 patch will fix couch co-op that was broken with the last patch.
♦Still no word on when the Christmas jerseys will make it into NBA 2K16.
♦After a near seven week delay the creation mobile app is out for WWE 2K16.
♦Details on the latest patch to go out for WWE 2K16.
♦Details on recently released new content with a major patch for Need for Speed.
♦Trailer and first details for New Hot Shots Golf which was revealed at PSX.
♦Blu-rays this week include Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Ted 2. -
Paul George continues to rise in ratings with latest NBA 2K16 roster update
Steph Curry is understandably getting a lot of attention to his NBA 2K16 ratings, as he now stands among the all-time greats based on his current positioning, but there are many other players exceeding expectations this season as well as those who have fallen short of them. In a piece on Sporting News this week I went through the players who have moved up the most and those that have fallen most in NBA 2K16 since the start of the season.
Another roster update for NBA 2K16 went out today and one of the players already in the former category has received another significant boost. Paul George has been moved up two more points and now sits at 92 Overall. That rating makes him tied for the third highest rated player in the game with Kevin Durant, behind only Curry and LeBron James.
Other players moving in the update include DeMarcus Cousins (-2 to 88), Kyle Lowry (+2 to 87), Jimmy Butler (-1 to 87), Tim Duncan (+1 to 86), DeMar DeRozan (+2 to 85), LaMarcus Aldridge (-1 to 85), Tony Parker (+3 to 84), Isaiah Thomas (+2 to 84), Rajon Rondo (+1 to 83), Dwight Howard (-1 to 83), C.J. McCollum (+1 to 81), Kristaps Porzingis (+1 to 81), Derrick Rose (-3 to 79), and Kobe Bryant (-1 to 77).
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Fourth patch for FIFA 16 bringing significant changes to gameplay
Currently available on PC and arriving soon on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the fourth post-release patch for FIFA 16 looks as though it’ll have a tremendous impact on gameplay. Based largely on consumer feedback, EA Sports prioritized the improvements implemented in the latest patch through four key areas: penalties and referee decisions, passing, defensive pressure, and player positioning. Read more
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EA has created a Competitive Gaming Division headed by Peter Moore
Though late to the party Electronic Arts has been attempting to make a push into eSports, and that’s been evidenced by recent feature additions within Madden NFL 16 and FIFA 16, and others that will play a role in various EA Sports titles emerging in the space. Yesterday the company announced the creation of a Competitive Gaming Division which will be headed up by former EA Sports president and current EA COO Peter Moore, noting three “core pillars”:
Competition
To create highly-engaging competitive experiences with our games, officially supported by Electronic Arts.Community
To celebrate, connect and grow our community of players across all levels of expertise.Entertainment
To develop live events and broadcasting that bring the spectacle of competition to millions of people around the world.“(Moore) was an early pioneer in championing competitive gaming programs, such as the FIFA Interactive World Cup and the EA SPORTS Challenge Series, and (his) personal passions for the player experience, sports and competition, make him a tremendous leader for this new division. Peter’s team will partner with our development studios, marketers and publishing teams to bring this new platform to life.”
The Madden Challenge that recently kicked off joins the FIFA Interactive World Cup and Battlefield 4’s involvement in ESL One. Features are being built into other sports games like NHL and EA Sports UFC 2Â that make it clear the hope is to involve them as well down the line. It remains to be seen how much traction sports games will have in the competitive scene, but there’s no doubt EA and other publishers will be making great efforts for them to catch on.
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Madden NFL 16 Roster Update – Week 13
The roster update following week 13 of the season is now available in Madden NFL 16. Aaron Donald is the latest player to reach 99 Overall, making it now 8 players at 99, 9 players at 98, and 11 players at 97 – an issue of being top-heavy that may be addressed next year. Check out all the changes made in the roster update with the spreadsheet here.
Notable players on the rise include Ben Roethlisberger (+1 to 98), Cam Newton (+2 to 97), Michael Bennett (+1 to 97), Reshad Jones (+1 to 97), Geno Atkins (+2 to 96), Richard Sherman (+1 to 96), A.J. Green (+1 to 96), Eric Weddle (+1 to 95), Patrick Peterson (+1 to 95), Delanie Walker (+1 to 94), Greg Olsen (+1 to 94), Russell Wilson (+1 to 93), Charles Woodson (+1 to 93), Khalil Mack (+1 to 93), Doug Martin (+2 to 91), Andy Dalton (+2 to 90), Doug Baldwin (+2 to 90), Allen Robinson (+2 to 89), Zach Ertz (+3 to 88), and Delvin Breaux (+5 to 81).
Among the players to fall in the update are Ndamukong Suh (-2 to 96), Marcel Dareus (-2 to 94), Cliff Avril (-1 to 94), Adrian Peterson (-1 to 93), Drew Brees (-1 to 92), Aqib Talib (-2 to 91), NaVorro Bowman (-1 to 91), Vontae Davis (-1 to 91), Philip Rivers (-1 to 89), Derek Carr (-1 to 88), Jay Cutler (-1 to 85), Teddy Bridgewater (-1 to 84), and Eli Manning (-1 to 84).
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End of Year Community Awards Voting: Best Gameplay of 2015
With 2015 coming to a close it’s time to begin looking back on the developments that have taken place and award the various efforts in sports gaming. To start will be the first of the Community Awards. You can check out the winners from previous years here.
The categories to look forward to are Community Sports Game of the Year, Best New or Non-Yearly Sports Game, Best Online Play, Best Presentation, Best Franchise Mode, Best Career Mode, Best Post-Release Support, Best New Feature, Best Team-Building Mode, and Most Disappointing Game. Kicking it off today is voting for the Best Gameplay award.
The Best Gameplay category has been dominated by the NBA 2K series. It has won four out of five years, with only FIFA having snuck in for a single victory. NBA 2K16 hopes to keep the title in going up against the same challengers as last year. Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 has come on strong with the past two iterations in the series and MLB 15: The Show continued the franchise’s long-established excellence in the area.
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Steph Curry reaching an even more elite status in NBA 2K16
The start to the season for the Warriors and reigning MVP Stephen Curry has been unprecedented and unbelievable, and now NBA 2K16 is beginning to represent that. Ratings keep on rising and for Curry that means reaching a level that in the history of the league only includes a few players.
Now rated 96 Overall, Curry is tied with peak Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Shaquille O’Neal, and 1988-89 Michael Jordan. The only players above him now are peak Magic Johnson, LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (97) and of course peak Michael Jordan (99).
Other players on the rise in today’s roster update include Kevin Durant (+1 to 92), John Wall (+1 to 88), Draymond Green (+1 to 85), Klay Thompson (+1 to 84), Gary Neal (+2 to 76), and Robert Covington (+2 to 76). Among the names dropping are Russell Westbrook (-1 to 91), Karl-Anthony Towns (-1 to 81), Enes Kanter (-1 to 80), Jahlil Okafor (-2 to 77), and Kevin Martin (-3 to 74).
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