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The Daily Dish for 12/6/14
Featured in this episode of The Daily Dish is an appearance by T.J. Lauerman (@ThatSportsGamer) to discuss the naming of Yasiel Puig as cover athlete for MLB 15: The Show. Also examined are the EA Sports UFC legends coming to the game soon, the latest Madden NFL 15 roster update, and recent NBA 2K15 roster updates.
Referenced in the video
♦Yasiel Puig Cover of MLB 15: The Show
♦Madden NFL 15 Roster Update
♦NBA 2K15 Ratings Changes
♦EA Sports UFC Legends -
NBA 2K15 Week Six Ratings Changes
After releasing roster updates nearly every day since the game came out 2K Sports has dropped off a bit with the consistency of them for NBA 2K15. The game went nearly two weeks without any ratings changes and at one point went 10 days with only one update (rotations, accessories) provided. Still the pace is far ahead of where the company has been in the past and easily exceeds what the competition is doing.
2K appears to be falling into the same trap that has plagued other sports games that release frequent updates. The number of players and attributes being boosted are not being properly balanced with downgrades. In the latest updates 37 players have gone up vs 22 down accounting for an overall ratings net gain of 33 points. Check out all the ratings changes from week five and six in the spreadsheet here.
The last few days though have brought a lot of ratings changes. Most notably Anthony Davis, who’s having an MVP-caliber season, is up to 94 overall. He began the season as an 88 so that’s a meteoric rise to say the least in just six weeks of play. Kobe Bryant, Marc Gasol, Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler, and Pau Gasol have also been upgraded. Those taking a hit include Rajon Rondo, Goran Dragic, and Kenneth Faried.
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MLB 15: The Show Cover Goes to Yasiel Puig
SCEA has just announced the cover athlete for MLB 15: The Show. The honor goes to Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig.
Puig does have a history with SCEA as he was part of a live stream promoting the PS4 version of MLB 14 prior to its release back in April and he’s a big personality. However he may be considered an odd choice given his divisive nature and inability to act as a strong spokesperson for the product – not to mention his poor performance late in the season that led to him being benched in the Divisional Series loss to the Cardinals. He finished the year .296 with 16 HR and 69 RBI but struck out 8 times in 12 postseason at-bats.
Stronger cases easily could have been made for names like Madison Bumgarner, Mike Trout, teammate Clayton Kershaw, and many others. However the cover has never solely come down to selecting the best player from the previous season.
It’s unclear whether there will be any additional news related to MLB 15 this weekend out of the PlayStation Experience. The past two years the cover reveal has been accompanied by some significant feature news but SCEA has not hinted at more than the cover in recent days.
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Press Row Podcast: 2014 In Review
In the latest Press Row Podcast the panel takes a look back on the year in sports gaming – revisiting the biggest stories and those that will be remembered on a more personal level. Two weeks from now will be the Sports Game of the Year episode!
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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Four Legends Coming to EA Sports UFC
Four legends will be making their way into EA Sports UFC in an update that could arrive as early as next Tuesday though the official release date has yet to be announced. Brock Lesnar, Matt Hughes, Mark Coleman, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will be added to the game.
Outside of that details from EA have been slim. It doesn’t appear there will be any sort of new mode rather just these four legends to expand the current roster. They’re also expected to be free though again that remains unconfirmed as well.
It’s an underwhelming announcement given the “Legends are Coming” promotion from the company. Not only is it limited to just four fighters but all of them have been in the recent UFC games from THQ. Lesnar actually was on the cover of UFC Undisputed 2010.
Still it’s another positive development for a game that got off to a rough start with EA putting a lot into post-release support in order to solidify their positioning of UFC as a potential long-term franchise. Five patches have turned around the gameplay and delivered 14 other fighters to the roster. Given that the game was just available for under $14 it makes it silly to complain about any free content being offered now or in the future.
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Madden NFL 15 Roster Update #15 Details
Ray Rice won his appeal against the NFL and is officially a free agent but EA Sports apparently did not return him to the game in the new Madden NFL 15 roster update which arrived today. Rice was stripped out completely even from Ultimate Team back in September yet despite similar circumstances Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy have remained active in the game. Check out all the changes in the latest roster update with the spreadsheet here.
Notables on the rise include Richard Sherman (+1 to 98), Calvin Johnson (+1 to 98), Gerald McCoy (+1 to 97), Luke Kuechly (+1 to 97), Robert Quinn (+1 to 97), Jason Peters (+2 to 96), Drew Brees (+1 to 96), Philip Rivers (+1 to 94), Andrew Luck (+1 to 94), Julio Jones (+1 to 93), DeAndre Levy (+1 to 93), Ezekiel Ansah (+3 to 89), Justin Forsett (+2 to 88), Joe Flacco (+2 to 88), DeAndre Hopkins (+3 to 87), Matt Stafford (+3 to 85), Will Hill (+3 to 85), Ryan Fitzpatrick (+3 to 82), Kenny Stills (+3 to 80), and Donte Moncrief (+5 to 75).
Among those dropping in the update are Joe Thomas (-1 to 97), Eric Weddle (-1 to 96), Jimmy Graham (-1 to 95), Aldon Smith (-1 to 95), Matt Forte (-1 to 94), Trent Williams (-1 to 92), Brandon Marshall (-1 to 92), Tony Romo (-2 to 91), Justin Smith (-2 to 91), Antonio Cromartie (-1 to 91), Patrick Peterson (-1 to 89), Maurkice Pouncey (-2 to 88), Steve Smith (-1 to 88), Colin Kaepernick (-2 to 86), and Kawann Short (-3 to 82).
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The Daily Dish for 12/3/14
In this episode of The Daily Dish potential features for NHL 16 have been floated through a consumer survey, the digital “Holiday Edition” of Madden NFL 15 is available now, a second post-release patch for NBA 2K15 will be out soon, an Amazon deal on 2K15 for $35 runs through the end of the day, the racing/soccer game Rocket League was announced for PS4, and the release date and price of Super Mega Baseball has been revealed.
Referenced in the video
♦Potential NHL 16 Features Revealed Through Survey
♦Madden NFL 15 Digital Holiday Edition Available Now
♦Next Patch for NBA 2K15 On The Way
♦Deal on NBA 2K15 at Amazon Active Through Today
♦Rocket League Announced for PS4
♦Super Mega Baseball Price and Release Date Announced -
NHL 16 Survey Lists Possible Features
A consumer survey backed by EA Sports has been making the rounds with the goal in mind to gauge what features should be prioritized for NHL 16. Operation Sports posted an image first of the survey over the weekend.
Among the options, of which participants can choose their respective interest levels, are an offline fantasy mode, team creator, World Cup of Hockey, and Owner mode. Four other features relate to Ultimate Team and there are two arcade-style features in Zamboni Racing and Big Head Hockey. EA Sports Hockey League is also listed but that one is guaranteed to be back regardless of the survey results. Read more
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