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Latest Articles Posted to Sporting News
Considering how offended Doug Baldwin gets by being called average, one has to wonder how he’d react to Madden NFL 15’s evaluation of the Seahawks wide receivers. They rate out one spot from the bottom of the league, even behind a team like the Chiefs that went a whole season without a receiver catching a single touchdown! Maybe they shouldn’t be higher, but there’s a number of teams then that are slightly or significantly overrated at the position.
Russell Wilson had the worst game of his career in the NFC Championship game and still led the Seahawks on three consecutive touchdown drives to pull off the miraculous victory. He leads the league in 4th quarter comeback and game-winning drives since 2012, and has sent the team to the Super Bowl with late touchdown passes in two consecutive championship games. So how do you reflect that in Madden? He’ll be the next to get the “Clutch” trait even though his general attribute ratings dropped after the game.
The new and likely final patch for EA Sports UFC is available now. It includes four new fighters for the roster. Anthony Johnson (who after his victory last weekend will be next to challenge Jon Jones), Eddie Alvarez, Holly Holm, and Rafael dos Anjos. That brings the total number of fighters added to EA Sports UFC since release to 22.
Nothing new has come out on MLB 15: The Show since the PlayStation Experience event in December, and nothing significant is expected until some point in February. However an early preview takes another look at the previously announced features.
Out of the Park Baseball will release this year with the MLB.com and MiLB licenses featured for the first time. The game is due out in March for PC and likely April for the mobile version that’ll be called MLB Manager 2015.
♦Analyzing the standing of Seahawks receivers in Madden
♦Russell Wilson earning the “Clutch” trait in Madden
♦EA Sports UFC update adds four more fighters
♦Early preview of known features for MLB 15: The Show
♦Out of the Park Baseball series gets the MLB license -
Retail Release for The Golf Club May Be Coming in Late April
It appears that GameFly may have leaked the planned upcoming retail release for The Golf Club on Xbox One and PS4. The website has “Golf Club Gold” listed for release on Tuesday, April 28. Maximum Family Games is cited as the publisher. Until now HB Studios has only floated the idea that they could take the game to retail without confirming it as a certainty.
A retail release would represent a significant move in attempting to reach a wider consumer base. The Golf Club went through a holiday period where it couldn’t be given directly as a gift and that hurt its potential. Retail availability can also act as a “second launch” and bring additional exposure to the game. The release could also be targeted to coincide with or follow shortly after the next major feature update which will include a Career mode.
The Golf Club came out last August to mostly positive reviews. Strong post-release support, in not just fixing issues but adding new features, has helped legitimize it further as the price tag for a digital-only game was perceived as too hefty by some. The value has certainly been there however for those that took the plunge in hopes of getting a very sim-minded golf game.
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The Line Drive for January 25
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦Check out some of the recent articles I put together for Sporting News: Russell Wilson and the Madden “Clutch” Trait – How Madden Views Seahawks Receivers – New Fighters for EA Sports UFC – Licenses Acquired for Out of the Park Baseball
♦The Seahawks NFC Championship game-winner was recreated in Tecmo Bowl.
♦A new blog has gone out on the latest work being done for The Golf Club.
♦EA Sports detailed all the player transfers made in FIFA 15 Ultimate Team.
♦EA Sports released a new tutorial video on shooting for FIFA 15.
♦EA Sports released a new tutorial video on formations for FIFA 15.
♦The latest Press Row Podcast is a discussion with NBA 2K’s “Da Czar”.
♦A server update was made in NBA 2K15 to address Got Next/matchmaking issues.
♦2K is giving out VC refunds for purchased shoes that can’t be equipped in NBA 2K15.
♦DMi Games has acquired the Nascar license and will release first in 2016.
♦EA Sports offering two free HUT holiday packs through Wednesday in NHL 15.
♦EA Sports released details on the latest roster update for NBA Live 15.
♦Another significant patch with improvements and additions has gone out for Driveclub.
♦The Mariners will be the first team to have LED lighting in an MLB ballpark.
♦Check out the new uniforms and other changes for the Mariners this season.
♦The must watch Bad Lip Reading is back with its third NFL edition.
♦Microsoft announced new experiences coming to Xbox One with Windows 10.
♦Blu-ray releases this week headlined by Fury and The Judge. -
NBA 2K15 Week 13 Ratings Changes
Naturally the two teams that right now are the best in the league, Golden State and Atlanta, have benefited the most through recent roster updates for NBA 2K15. Klay Thompson’s record-breaking performance last night has yet to be reflected in the ratings but will in the coming days.
All the player movement through trades and signings, rotations, and injuries have been taken care of in the rosters as well. Net gain over the period was 48 overall points, compared to the last check which was 112 overall points, so that remains a serious concern. Check out all the ratings movement from the last two weeks worth of updates in the spreadsheet here.
Players on the rise include Steph Curry (+1 to 93), John Wall (+2 to 89), Klay Thompson (+2 to 87), Al Horford (+2 to 86), Kemba Walker (+2 to 83), and Kyle Korver (+2 to 82).
Among those that have dropped are Russell Westbrook (-2 to 91), Kyle Lowry (-1 to 89), Joe Johnson (-3 to 80), Nick Young (-2 to 77), and Jose Calderon (-3 to 75).
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Madden NFL 15: Super Bowl Edition Offers Discount and Ultimate Team Bonuses
EA Sports today released a “Super Bowl Edition” of Madden NFL 15 as a digital download on Xbox One. The game is being offered for $24 to Xbox Gold subscribers and $60 to those without it. It’ll be made available for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 on Tuesday, January 27.
The “Super Bowl Edition” is the standard Madden 15 but comes with $20 worth of Ultimate Team content. That includes 10 Pro Packs and a Super Bowl Pack that feature rookie versions of Joe Montana, Reggie White, and Michael Irvin. The deal will be active until Monday, February 2.
Madden 15 can currently be purchased new for $40 through Amazon and even back over the Black Friday period it only fell to $30. Those also wouldn’t include any Ultimate Team bonuses.
That makes the “Super Bowl Edition” at $24 a pretty solid deal, unlike the earlier rip-off “Holiday Edition”, but comes at a point in the year where market interest in Madden is just about to die off completely. That makes it a smart move for EA as they may be able to generate some additional sales out of this and of course getting anyone new hooked into the Ultimate Team ecosystem is a win for them as well.
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Out of the Park Baseball Will Feature MLB.com and MiLB Licensing
Despite its popularity among a hardcore group of fans the management game Out of the Park Baseball – which has been a mainstay on PC and in recent years expanded to mobile – has struggled to break out sales wise beyond that dedicated and passionate group.
One reason for that could be chalked up to a lack of Major League Baseball licensing. While real player names could be used (similar to how fantasy baseball services can utilize them without a cost involved) there was no MLB branding, team logos or team names included in the product.
Out of the Park Developments announced today that both the MLB.com and MiLB licenses have been acquired and will first appear in Out of the Park Baseball 16. They will also apply to the mobile version (iOS and Android) which will be titled MLB Manager 2015.
The games will now feature official league logos, team logos and jerseys for all 30 MLB teams, over 150 MiLB team logos, historical MLB logos, and all 30 current MLB ballparks.
Downloadable mods created by users for adding in team names and logos have always been available for the PC version but having the actual license is a tremendously different animal. As much as some might believe creation and sharing options are a substitute for licensing that’s just not the case for general consumers and casual sports fans. The exposure and marketing potential that comes with having MLB attached is critical for reaching a wider audience.
Those that pre-order the game prior to February 16 will get it for $34.99 which is $5 off what will be the regular $39.99 retail price when it releases in March. Continue on to check out the full slate of new features! Read more
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Madden NFL 15 Roster Update #20 Details
The latest roster update for Madden NFL 15 released today on all systems which follows the Conference Championship games and leads into the Super Bowl. Only the four teams that competed are affected by this update. Check out all the changes that have been made in the spreadsheet here.
Players on the rise include Marshawn Lynch (+2 to 97), Darrelle Revis (+1 to 97), Josh Sitton (+1 to 97), Devin McCourty (+1 to 96), John Kuhn (+2 to 93), Rob Ninkovich (+3 to 89), Jamie Collins (+1 to 89), LeGarrette Blount (+3 to 83), and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (+3 to 81).
Among those that have taken a hit to their ratings are Michael Bennett (-1 to 94), Andrew Luck (-2 to 91), T.Y. Hilton (-1 to 91), Russell Wilson (-1 to 89, and still doesn’t have the “Clutch” trait which is undoubtedly deserves), Mike Daniels (-1 to 88), D’Qwell Jackson (-2 to 83), and poor Brandon Bostick (-2 to 70).
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Perfect Golf Available Now Through Steam Early Access
Independent developer Perfect Parallel released its first game today through Steam Early Access for PC, Mac, and Linux. Perfect Golf aims to offer an “immersive experience centered on stunning visuals and hyper-realistic game play”. The game is being sold for $20 while in the Early Access period. It’s expected to be $30-35 when it reaches its retail release several months down the line.
Given that Perfect Golf has already been through bug testing community feedback is what’s being primarily sought after out of Early Access. The company will be making a determination on new features to add to the product. Some of those under consideration: Read more
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