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Press Row Podcast: Belief and Hype
The latest Press Row Podcast features guests Ryan Lewis and Cicero Holmes. I had the week off from recording a show. Topics include their gaming preferences, opinions on the sports gaming landscape, and the mystery around Joe Montana Football 16.
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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Pre-Order Incentive for Rory McIlroy PGA Tour
Rory McIlroy PGA Tour will be out July 14 and now retailers have listed the pre-order incentive for the game. Amazon, Gamestop, Best Buy and Walmart are all advertising TPC Scottsdale as a bonus course. In addition both Gamestop and Amazon will be including three $20 off coupons for use at a website that specializes in tee time reservations.
EA Sports’ golf series has a history of breaking up content among various retailers and making consumers choose where to buy based on what they want, so at least with McIlroy it’s the same no matter where the game is purchased. Read more
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EA Sports UFC on Mobile Awkwardly Still Fronted by Jon Jones
The first UFC game for mobile was released by EA just over a week ago and the company already finds themselves in a pickle. Jon Jones was arrested this week after alleged involvement in a hit-and-run. He’s since been stripped of the light heavyweight title and replaced in next month’s UFC 187 by Daniel Cormier who will fight Anthony Johnson for the vacated belt.
EA took a risk by plastering Jon Jones all over the new mobile game given that he tested positive for cocaine in January. That was followed by a stint in rehab that reportedly lasted just a single day. Jones shared the cover of the console version with Alexander Gustafsson but that was prior to his reputation and marketability taking such a massive hit.
Reebok has already terminated their endorsement with Jones and EA Sports will likely follow – or at the very least minimize his presence representing the game. Currently Jones appears prominently in the app icon, loading screen, and on the store pages.
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Screenshots of Rookies Being Added Into Madden NFL 15 Ultimate Team Mode
Earlier this week EA Sports released a patch for Madden NFL 15 that added likeness scans for incoming rookies Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota. That was followed by Winston being added as a free card with inflated ratings for anyone to have in Ultimate Team.
More rookies will be making their Madden debuts in Ultimate Team but it seems those two are the only ones who had their faces scanned. As each draft pick is announced this evening EA is releasing screenshots of them in their new team’s jerseys. After Winston and Mariota all the shots have notably obscured faces. Check out images of all the rookies, updated throughout the evening as they go out, in this Facebook album.
These players can be obtained in Ultimate Team by completing NFL Draft Sets in the mode. They’ll also be making their way to the Auction House once people have them so that will act as the alternate way to acquire them.
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MLB 15: The Show Has Yesterday’s Orioles-White Sox Game To Play With No Crowd
The Show Live Mode in MLB 15: The Show has it’s share of issues but it can still capitalize on unique events over the course of the season. One of them unexpectedly appeared yesterday when the Orioles took on the White Sox with no crowd in attendance.
Select the April 29 game between the two teams, which Baltimore won 8-2, and you’ll get to play the game with empty stands. Crowd sounds are turned off for this also. There are some stragglers in standing room areas but otherwise it’s pretty impressive that SCEA would not only be able to throw this out there on such short notice, but that they’d care enough to do so.
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Get Jameis Winston For Free in Madden NFL 15 Ultimate Team Mode
Yesterday a patch went out for Madden NFL 15 that included likenesses for incoming rookies Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota. Today EA Sports released the former into Ultimate Team mode and anyone can add him to their roster. The 92 Overall rated Winston is free simply for logging into Ultimate Team.
Winston’s card is considered a “Madden Season Bonus Player” which means the ratings are inflated for a limited time. This was necessary to do to make him a worthwhile addition that many would choose to utilize. Teams in the mode obviously become stacked with highly rated players as time passes making lower rated ones obsolete.
In a few weeks his ratings will drop significantly to something that is more in line with his skills and inexperience. The current ratings however include 97 Throw Power, 94 Mid-Accuracy, 92 Deep Accuracy, 92 Short Accuracy, and 86 Speed.
Look for a number of other rookies to be added to the mode as early as tomorrow night to coincide with the NFL Draft. In the past anywhere from 10-40 rookies have been introduced into Ultimate Team. Those will be acquired through purchasing packs or the Auction House.
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MLB 15 Online Franchise Problems Possibly Identified; Broken Ones to be Deleted
The most common issues being encountered in MLB 15: The Show Online Franchise relate to game “challenges” that fail (even against the CPU) and games/dates that won’t sim preventing leagues from advancing. It appears they’ll be addressed soon but the solution is far from ideal.
We have continued to see issues in certain Online Franchises. We believe we have finally identified the underlying causes and are taking steps to resolve them. Unfortunately, affected Online Franchises are not retrievable and will be removed from the system. We apologize for the inconvenience and remain endlessly appreciative of the community and its tremendous support for MLB 15 The Show.
This would not be the first time Online Franchises in MLB 15 were unceremoniously deleted. SCEA already did that with all of the franchises that were started in the first few days that followed the game’s release.
While it would be a positive development to have issues halting Online Franchises fixed, anyone who loses their progress, all the hours they spent in the mode just wiped away, have a right to be upset about that and will be less likely to return to the mode in the future.
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MLB 15: The Show Diamond Dynasty Market Report for April
One of the things that allows MLB 15: The Show’s Diamond Dynasty to stand out among the card collecting modes of other sports titles was the decision to use “living” cards. Rather than putting out updated versions of players on a regular basis, Diamond Dynasty cards can change week to week depending on how well, or poorly, their real life counterpart is playing.With the April 27th roster update players received their first attribute boosts. Let’s take a look at some of the players who’ve had significant changes to their overall ratings and see how they compare to their real life stats. Read more
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