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The Line Drive for February 1
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦The deal on Xbox Live Gold 12 month subscriptions for $40 is still available.
♦Don’t miss the Super Bowl breakdown through Madden NFL 15 player ratings.
♦Digital deals available on XB1 and PS4 include NHL 15 and NBA Live 15.
♦Reminder: Madden NFL 15 Super Bowl Edition only available into tomorrow.
♦EA released an infographic on the popularity of their games over last quarter.
♦The first MLB 15: The Show gameplay live stream will take place on Thursday.
♦New tutorial video goes over basic and advanced defending tactics in FIFA 15.
♦Developer blog details the process behind the next patch for The Golf Club.
♦The culmination of the Breaking Madden season is here with the Super Bowl.
♦Check out the Rockets and Warriors upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year unis.
♦Sony has announced Spotify will be coming to PS4 sometime this spring.
♦Blu-ray releases this week headlined by John Wick and Dracula Untold. -
All-Star Update for NBA 2K15
With the complete rosters for the 2015 NBA All-Star Game having been officially announced earlier this week 2K Sports has now released an update for NBA 2K15 that reflects them. Not only are the Western Conference and Eastern Conference All-Star rosters accurate but the new jerseys and the court have been added to the game.
For the West DeMarcus Cousins has been inserted due to the injury to Kobe Bryant while Dwyane Wade might need to be replaced on the East squad. Should his spot be filled another update will bring in the new player (likely to be Brandon Knight or Kyle Korver).
This year’s All-Star uniforms have a fairly simple look to them with the West wearing black while the East wears white. The back of the jerseys though are unique in that they feature the both the first and last names of the players.
Unfortunately the first names are not placed on the jerseys in NBA 2K15. The Christmas jerseys had all sorts of problems and were never fixed so it seems there must be some sort of limitation preventing 2K from depicting them properly.
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Pre-Super Bowl XLIX Press Row Podcast
The Press Row Podcast heading into Super Bowl XLIX includes a variety of topics featured in separate segments. Leading off is a Super Bowl preview with myself and Stephen Gibbons of MaddenTips. That’s followed by a discussion on the current state of NHL 15, another on the news of the Nascar license being transferred to a new company, and then an Out of the Park Baseball interview regarding its acquisition of the MLB license.
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 in the streaming player below.
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How the Super Bowl Teams Stack Up in Madden NFL 15
Super Bowl XLIX is now just a couple days away! After two weeks of analysis and media obsession over deflated footballs and a player’s decision not to speak to the press the game is almost here. Make sure to get your fill of Marshawn Lynch though along with Rob Gronkowski in the latest Conan O’Brien “Clueless Gamer” segment which is hilarious.
My latest piece for Sporting News breaks down how the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks players are rated in Madden NFL 15 and which team has the edge at each positional unit. The final outcome favors the Patriots 5-3-1. The result would have been the same however in last year’s Super Bowl as Madden leaned towards the Broncos then and everyone saw how that game turned out. It’s still interesting to review how players are positioned in Madden based on attributes alone and where advantages and disadvantages for the teams can be found.
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Compete Features List for MLB 15: The Show
SCEA today released the full fact sheet for MLB 15: The Show. The game is now just two months from its March 31 release so this represents a significant amount of information to have already. It allows the company to expand on and showcase features and improvements in the coming weeks rather than “revealing” them each step of the way.
The fact sheet includes more details on previously announced features and various improvements for the game. That includes licensed equipment, save migration, legends, graphical improvements, and Diamond Dynasty changes.
There’s a ton to get excited about yet those hoping for a new commentary team, innovation within Road to the Show, or anything online-related may come away disappointed. Continue on to check out all the features and leave your thoughts in the comments! Read more
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EA Looking Towards Future of “Free-to-Start” Console Games
EA’s stock hit a seven year high yesterday following the report of third quarter fiscal results which highlighted soaring digital revenue. The primary drivers behind that success have been the Ultimate Team modes in sports games and free-to-play mobile games.
The inevitability of free-to-play reaching consoles has never been more evident than now. CEO Andrew Wilson essentially laid out plans for that during the quarterly investor call. Gamespot noted the comments in an article earlier this week. Read more
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Release of EA Sports PGA Tour Now Confirmed to be Moving Back
Last month it was noted that retailers were listing EA Sports PGA Tour for a June release. Having not discussed the product for months EA had given no indication of a delay though the absence of promotion spoke for them in this regard. Multiple retailers listing its release date in June was obviously no coincidence.
Out of yesterday’s investor call EA released the schedule of games that will have released through the end of the fiscal year. In past quarterly reports PGA Tour was listed for a Q4 2015 release (January-March) but this time it was no where to be found. After following up with the company they’re now calling it a Q1 2016 release (April-June).
EA Sports PGA Tour will not include Tiger Woods in any capacity and now it’s worth questioning whether The Masters will remain in the product. A disastrous reveal at E3, having centered on fantasy courses, could have led to a shift in development focus resulting in this delay.
Regardless of the reasoning EA has a big window open until Madden NFL 16 releases in late August. They have the freedom to move PGA Tour around and find an ideal date that gives it room to breathe while delivering the best quality product. The only downside to that is missing the opportunity to capitalize on The Masters in early April when interest in the sport is peaking.
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Previewing Super Bowl XLIX with Madden 15
The top seeds from the AFC and NFC meet in compelling Super Bowl matchup on Sunday that appears basically even as it’s considered to be a pick’em at this point. The Seattle Seahawks are looking to become the first team to repeat as World Champions since the New England Patriots did so 10 years ago.
Rich Grisham and I got together to discuss Super Bowl 49 while playing it in Madden NFL 15. The full game with commentary is below along with a video highlight package for those who’d rather get the quick recap of events.
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