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More Feature Descriptions for Madden NFL 16
Retailer information earlier provided a hint of what was to come with Madden NFL 16 regarding new controls related to receiver-defender interactions. Now expanded details have gone up that describe more to do with that aspect of the game and it’s accompanied by vague improvements to presentation and Connected Franchise. Read more
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Details on the Second Patch for MLB 15: The Show Which Went Out Today
Three weeks ago the first post-release patch for MLB 15: The Show went out and that one focused primarily on fixing bugs and exploits. The latest patch available for PS4 and PS3 appears to be somewhat of an extension on that one rather than a more comprehensive patch that incorporates consumer feedback in executing adjustments and improvements.
This update includes more being done to reduce the effectiveness of bunting, the elimination of another exploit that had been harming the online experience, the online pause timer being increased by a minute, and fixes instituted to reduce the number of crashes. Read more
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MLB 15: The Show Diamond Dynasty Market Report for Mid-May
The May 11th roster update for MLB 15: The Show is out and the changes made have shaken up the market in Diamond Dynasty Mode. The update includes two changes that even affect the players required to complete team collections.
Zack Greinke has jumped from an Overall Rating of 89 to 92. That eliminates the need to acquire him to finish the Dodgers Collection and receive the team’s legend Orel Hershiser. The Rockies Collection however will now require Carlos Gonzalez with his drop from 85 to 82 (began the season at 87) in order to get Dante Bichette. Read more
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Latest FIFA 15 Patch Involves Ultimate Team
Another patch released for FIFA 15 today on all systems and for the most part it only affects Ultimate Team mode. Support continues on the game, which was notably just added to EA Access, because of Ultimate Team. The rest of the game isn’t being hampered by it (at this point) because complete focus would have turned to FIFA 16 long before now otherwise.
The launch of “Team of the Season” had been delayed due to the desire to address more coin exploits with this patch. Some dramatic changes have been made in recent months to try and curb the “black market” that had emerged.
Xbox One. PlayStation 4, and PC
♦Improved security against coin farming
♦Fixed Transfer Market search functionality in FIFA Ultimate Team.
♦Added ability to reset tournament progress in FIFA Ultimate Team as a workaround for being stuck in a tournament tree.
♦Various stability fixes to improve the FIFA 15 experience.Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
♦Improved security against coin farming
♦Added Origin Login Verification
♦Fixed Transfer Market search functionality in FIFA Ultimate Team.
♦Added ability to reset tournament progress in FIFA Ultimate Team as a workaround for being stuck in a tournament tree.
♦Various stability fixes to improve the FIFA 15 experience. -
MLB 15: The Show Week Five Roster Update
The fifth in-season roster update for MLB 15: The Show arrived today. The most significant new rookie additions to the roster are catchers with Austin Hedges and Blake Swihart both getting ‘A’ Potential. In terms of ratings changes the biggest surges have been made by Matt Harvey (+3 to 94), Zack Greinke (+3 to 92), and Andrelton Simmons (+4 to 88). Read more
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The Line Drive for May 10
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦Check out this week’s articles written for Sporting News:
   •With FIFA 15, EA Access now has all 2014 EA Sports games
   •Four players up for the cover of Madden NFL 16
♦Seems that a true soundtrack will be returning with Madden NFL 16.
♦EA released an infographic with some gaming stats from the last quarter.
♦Developer blog goes over the latest on the big update coming to The Golf Club.
♦Developer blog details changes being made to Handicap ratings in The Golf Club.
♦New screenshots have been added to the FB album for Rory McIlroy PGA Tour.
♦Pink bats are featured in MLB 15: The Show Franchise and The Show Live today.
♦Road to the Show items are half off this weekend in MLB 15: The Show.
♦Some minor adjustments were made in a server update for MLB 15: The Show.
♦MLB 15: The Show Tips goes over ratings change predictions for Diamond Dynasty.
♦The poorly reviewed NBA 2K15 mobile game is now on sale for $3.
♦EA Sports released details on the latest roster update for NBA Live 15.
♦New $5 Alpinestars car pack has gone out for Forza Horizon 2.
♦Movie releases this week include Blackhat and Kingsman through instant video. -
Press Row Podcast: The Age of Ultimate Team and Social Media
The latest Press Row Podcast features panel discussion on the prevalence of Ultimate Team and other revenue-generating modes in sports games, and how publishers are utilizing social media and the generally poor relationship they have with consumers on those platforms.
Check out the podcast through iTunes for iOS and the Stitcher app for Android – subscribe while there to help support the show! You can also listen with the streaming player below.
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FIFA 15 Now Available in EA Access Vault
FIFA 15’s addition to the EA Access “Vault” today brings the total number of titles offered by the service to 11. Like NHL 15 last month FIFA 15 has been introduced before its “season” has even come to a conclusion. In the case of FIFA we’ll just refer to the Premier League in that sense which still has a few weeks to go – though its champion is a foregone conclusion.
The Vault now contains all of 2014’s EA Sports games: FIFA 15, NHL 15, Madden NFL 15, NBA Live 15, and EA Sports UFC. All of them have been added since December propelling the subscription service to a place of remarkable value.
The EA Access service is currently exclusive to Xbox One as Sony opted not to allow it for the PS4 citing, of all things, “lack of value” for consumers. It’s $30 for a full year or $5 month-to-month. Members get unlimited access to the Vault which contains older EA games: 2013’s slate of sports titles, Need for Speed Rivals, PvZ Garden Warfare, Battlefield 4, Peggle 2, EA UFC, NBA Live 15, Madden 15, NHL 15 and FIFA 15. There’s 10% savings on all digital purchases and five days of limited (six hours) early play before each EA game releases.
Once again it makes some sense to put these sports games in the EA Access Vault, in a sense almost taking on a free-to-play model, because they’re not selling at a significant rate at that point in their cycle anyway. It introduces people to games they may not have played otherwise – and that could get them spending money in Ultimate Team or even could hook them into buying the next edition in the series.
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