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New MLB 15: The Show Trailer Will Get You Ready for Opening Day
SCEA today released another new trailer for MLB 15: The Show. It’s fairly short, and doesn’t offer anything new besides the footage, but does spotlight a few things of note including licensed equipment, seasonal sun and shadows, and the inclusion of legends. Just a week now until the game releases and under two weeks for the MLB season to begin.
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The Line Drive for March 22
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:
   •Offseason winners and losers for Madden NFL 16
   •Rory McIlroy takes Tiger Woods’ place with PGA Tour
   •Most anticipated features for MLB 15: The Show
♦For those who haven’t yet get entries in for the MLB 15: The Show giveaway!
♦The NCAA’s appeal of the O’Bannon decision was heard this last week.
♦Don’t miss John Oliver’s takedown of the NCAA and mockery EA Sports.
♦HB Studios finally clarified details on the Collector’s Edition of The Golf Club.
♦Gamestop has an exclusive towel pre-order bonus for The Golf Club CE.
♦Price Ranges in FIFA Ultimate Team are now separated according to console.
♦One consumer wants to sue Microsoft over $4500 racked up in FIFA Ultimate Team.
♦New trailer for the upcoming Blood Bowl 2 follows an entire drive.
♦Check out some off-screen alpha footage of Mutant Football League.
♦EA Sports released details on a new roster update for NBA Live 15.
♦Developer blogs on MLB licensing in OOTP 16 and different ways to play.
♦Publisher sale on Steam has many games including NBA 2K15 heavily discounted.
♦Here are the list of achievements for the free Xbox game Forza Furious 7.
♦The free Mazda MX-5 car pack DLC has gone out for Forza Horizon 2.
♦Blu-ray releases this week headlined by Hobbit, Into the Woods, and Unbroken. -
Press Row Podcast: Hangout and More
The latest Press Row Podcast is a good demonstration of just how much can change over the course of a single week. The entirety of last Sunday’s Press Row Hangout is included and accompanied by follow-ups pertaining to two of the subjects: the Rory McIlroy PGA Tour announcement and Joe Montana Football 16 screenshot.
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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Online Servers for MLB 14: The Show Being Shut Down in June
SCEA has announced that online functionality for MLB 14: The Show will cease on June 18 for all systems. The server shutdown will occur with only 13 months having passed since its release on PlayStation 4 last May. It also means MLB 15 will be on the market for only 10 weeks by the time MLB 14’s online is closed.
Recently 2K Sports announced that NBA 2K14 would have online servers shut down after just 16 months had passed since releasing on the new systems. That one had the potential to be more impactful given it was built essentially as an “always-online” game. With NBA 2K11 the company announced its servers would be pulled after 13 months. They relented after heavy backlash (2K12’s online was worse than 2K11’s) and left them up for five additional months. Then the next year they took the servers for 2K12 down without advance notice after just 13 months. EA Sports generally leaves servers up for at the very least two years.
With MLB 13 the servers remained active for 20 months so this is a significant departure from that. Once it takes place users with MLB 14 will no longer be able to compete in online games, Online Franchise and Diamond Dynasty, or use features like Roster Share.
Yes, it could be argued that no one will really care about MLB 14’s servers being taken down. That there won’t be much backlash even with it pulled so soon. The online for the game was awful, and because of that very few would have invested time in attempting to play online, and even fewer still be doing so over a year later. Regardless it’s unfortunate that the game won’t be supported for the standard length of time that consumers expect out of these products.
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Press Row’s Most Anticipated Features for MLB 15: The Show
In the past few months interest towards MLB 15: The Show has been gauged through a number of polls. A few related directly to features (check out results here) and now along with fellow Press Row panelists Rich Grisham and T.J. Lauerman we’ve settled on our consensus five features being looked forward to the most.
The piece went up at Sporting News today and is accompanied by the Press Row Hangout Short discussing the top five anticipated features and improvements as well as a few other personal favorite items to expect out of the game.
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OOTP 16 Available Tomorrow for Pre-Orders; Last Chance to Do So Today
Out of the Park Baseball 16, which will for the first time in the series feature MLB.com and MiLB licensing, will release tomorrow for all those that have pre-ordered the game. The early access period lasts for the weekend as come Monday it’ll go out wide with its traditional launch. Check out the new features and improvements for OOTP 16 here.
It’s still possible to pre-order the game and receive it tomorrow. There is no longer the $5 discount, given to those who pre-ordered prior to mid-February, but the early release can still be had by securing it by the end of the day.
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Your Thoughts on Potential Interest in Unlicensed Football Games
It’s been nearly five years since a console football game last released that didn’t carry with it NFL and NFLPA licensing. Backbreaker in 2010 followed All Pro Football 2K8 from 2007 and neither received a sequel. The last truly successful unlicensed game was Blitz: The League which came out in 2005. The limited market, greater development costs, and higher consumer expectations have made projects such as those increasingly difficult to justify and stay alive beyond the conceptual process.
Joe Montana Football 16 though looks to be the next to try it and could learn a lot by assessing what worked in those past attempts and what failed. The image released earlier this week was seemingly intended to quash the rumblings that the game would include NFL licensing. There’s also Mutant Football League apparently still coming down the line.
Vote in the poll and leave your thoughts in the comments. Will you consider purchasing future unlicensed football games? If yes, what specifically do you need to see from an unlicensed product to buy in? Poll results and analysis will be posted early next week.
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Most Improved and Weakened Teams This Offseason for Madden NFL 16
In a piece put together for The Sporting News today I broke down the five teams that have benefited the most, and the five that have taken the biggest hit, in terms of how appealing their rosters will be for Madden NFL 16 following trades and the first stage of free agency.
The AFC East, other than the reigning champion Patriots, have really improved their stature for the upcoming game. The Jets and Bills still don’t have a good quarterback but they do have two options to consider now based on preferred style of play. The Eagles and 49ers have suffered the most this offseason. The former may be fielding the most fragile team in Madden history, with the latter suffering from the retirement of significant contributors.
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