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The Line Drive for May 5
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦The first archived live stream for Madden NFL 20 all about Career and Franchise modes.
♦Recap of info on the two modes including screenshots released from Madden NFL 20.
♦This week’s developer live stream for Madden NFL 20 will focus on the Superstar Abilities.
♦All the ratings changes from this week’s roster update in MLB The Show 19.
♦Details on the latest content added to Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show 19.
♦Details on latest Ranked Season and new rewards in MLB The Show 19 Diamond Dynasty.
♦MLB The Show 19 has started offering Twitch Drops during live streams.
♦Feedback is being sought regarding free throw shooting changes for NBA 2K20.
♦Details on the latest content update that includes ratings changes in NBA Live 19.
♦The Golf Club 2019 will be made free later this month to XBL Gold subs on Xbox One.
♦Target is offering MLB The Show 19 on sale with price down to $40.
♦Amazon has NBA 2K19 on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on sale for $20.
♦Fire Pro Wrestling World is on sale for $30 or $25 w/PS+ sub on PlayStation 4.
♦An officially licensed PBA game will be coming to consoles and PC late this fall.
♦F1 2019 has secured Formula 2 licensing for season mode in the upcoming game.
♦Details on the latest patch to have released for Rocket League.
♦Epic Games has purchased Psyonix the developer behind Rocket League. -
More details on Madden NFL 20’s Franchise and Career Modes
Last week EA Sports kicked off the promotional cycle for Madden NFL 20 with announcements focused on Patrick Mahomes and a rebooted Career Mode that includes a college football element. Now they’ve followed up with far more detail on what to expect out of Face of the Franchise: QB1 along with additions and improvements made to Franchise Mode. Read more
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Press Row Podcast: First News on Madden NFL 20
Big news on Madden NFL 20 has brought Bryan Wiedey and Rich Grisham back together for discussion on the just-revealed rebooted career mode that includes a college football element – what that means for the series, the genre as a whole, and more. Other topics include Madden NFL 20’s abnormally early release date and special superstar abilities to differentiate player performance which leads back to the pure skill vs realism/fun factor debate. Also more thoughts on MLB The Show 19’s March to October mode.
Check out the podcast through iTunes for iOS, on Android with the Stitcher app, or with Pocket Casts on iOS, Android, and Windows. The show can now also be found on Spotify! Subscribe and give the podcast five star reviews to help support the show. You can also listen with the streaming player found below.
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The Line Drive for April 28
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦Colleges make another sports video game appearance now through Madden NFL 20.
♦All 32 NFL Draft first rounders have been added to Ultimate Team in Madden NFL 19.
♦Developer blog goes more into detail on the first revealed features for Madden NFL 20.
♦The first developer stream focused on Madden NFL 20 Face of the Franchise is on 5/2.
♦The Patrick Mahomes cover art for standard and Superstar Edition of Madden NFL 20.
♦Details on the latest content added to Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show 19.
♦The latest update out for NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 has added a Mars Playground.
♦Update on the efforts to improve gameplay responsiveness online in FIFA 19.
♦Details on ratings changes made in the latest roster update for NBA Live 19.
♦The big PS4 games sale including most of 2018 sports lineup continues until Tues.
♦New Press Row Podcast ep goes heavy the first news on features for Madden NFL 20.
♦Digital video Fighting W/My Family, Happy Death Day 2U, How to Train Your Dragon 3. -
Vlad Guerrero Jr. makes his debut through new MLB The Show 19 roster update
One of the most anticipated debuts for a prospect in recent memory occurred on Friday and surprisingly he was able to be included right away in the roster update that followed for MLB The Show 19. In the past, highly-touted prospects have on a few occasions been signed up even before making their Major League debuts and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays may have been another one of those special cases.
Guerrero is rated an 82 Overall (which is about as high as you’ll see a rookie rating) with an 86 Contact vs L and 81 Power vs R. A low fielding rating at third base of just 51 would be a concern.
Chris Paddack, the top prospect in the Padres organization, has also been added to the game though his wait was longer considering he first appeared on March 31st. Paddack has a 1.67 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 27 innings. He starts out at 75 Overall.
Notable ratings changes from the roster update include Chris Sale (-1 to 89), Christian Yelich (+2 to 88), Jose Altuve (+1 to 88), Josh Hader (+2 to 87), Corey Kluber (-2 to 86), Andrew Miller (-2 to 85), Blake Snell (+2 to 85, Upgraded to Diamond), Andrelton Simmons (-1 to 84, Downgraded to Gold), Cody Bellinger (+2 to 84), Jose Berrios (+2 to 81, Upgraded to Gold), Yu Darvish (-2 to 79, Downgraded to Silver), Jose Abreu (-2 to 79, Downgraded to Silver), Pete Alonso (+4 to 73), and Brandon Brennan (+19 to 65).
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Madden NFL 20 Superstar Mode will include 10 licensed colleges and the Playoff
Patrick Mahomes was predictably announced today as the cover athlete for Madden NFL 20 but the bigger news is the reveal of new features including one that he represents in the reboot of Superstar Mode and the return of a college presence.
Face of the Franchise: QB1 – New single-player, career campaign mode that allows fans to create their own quarterback and experience the journey of an NFL Superstar at the College Football Playoffs, the NFL Combine, the NFL Draft and ultimately playing for an NFL team.
10 College Football teams are licensed for inclusion in Madden NFL 20: Texas Tech, Clemson, Oregon, LSU, Florida, Florida State, Texas, Miami, USC, Oklahoma.
While college video games have been absent since 2013 there have been a few appearances in pro games since then, namely NBA 2K16, NBA 2K17, and Madden NFL 18. In the case of Madden two teams, Oregon and Texas, were licensed to appear in the game’s Longshot story mode along with the uniforms and stadiums for Ultimate Team.
Also included is a feature called Superstar X-Factor, introducing an all-new progression system that reveals special abilities for today’s most exciting NFL Superstars when certain objectives are met in games.
“The team this year wanted to ensure that the superstars of the NFL responded and played differently in all aspects in Madden, just as they do on the field every Sunday – we wanted to make sure the stars felt like stars.” said Seann Graddy, Executive Producer of Madden NFL 20. In addition, fans can expect new player celebrations, run/pass option (RPO) plays and unique playbooks.
Madden NFL 20 has a release date of Fri. August 2nd, with those who buy the special edition of the game getting that three days earlier on Tues, July 30. The “Superstar Edition” will include 12 Gold Team Fantasy Packs, a choice of 1 out of 32 core elite players from a favorite NFL team, one small training quick sell pack in Madden Ultimate Team, and a choice of one unique Legends Superstar ability for a created player in the new Face of the Franchise: QB1.
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Several sports games on PS4 among those on sale with PlayStation Plus
A new sale on PlayStation 4 for those with a PS+ subscription finds games on sale for as much as 80% off. Among the group are most of the big sports games to have released in 2018.
On the Xbox One side of things EA Access offers most of the EA Sports games already in the Vault with a subscription and various deals over the last five months have found the genre’s titles at deep discounts. For those with PlayStation 4, which still doesn’t have EA Access but is expected to get it later this year, new specials are available that find many of the sports games released last year at or near their lowest historical price.
NBA 2K19 for $18
NBA 2K19 & NBA Playgrounds 2 Bundle for $24
FIFA 19 for $18
NHL 19 for $18
The Golf Club 2019 for $30
F1 2018 for $18
WWE 2K19 for $18Â
Madden NFL 19 for $12
EA Sports UFC 3 for $12
Tennis World Tour for $15There are also special editions (which include bonus Ultimate Team content for example) and numerous bundles which probably won’t be as appealing at this point in time as just getting the base games of interest for the lowest price possible. The complete list of games eligible for the sale can be found here with the promotion coming to an end on April 30.
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The Line Drive for April 21
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦Details on the latest content released into Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show 19.
♦Minor patch includes a fix for a pack opening crash in MLB The Show 19.
♦New roster update for NHL 19 includes rookies that recently made their debuts.
♦Forza Street released free-to-play on Windows 10 and coming soon to mobile.
♦OOTP Baseball 19 put out a Negro League Greats set of cards in Perfect Team mode.
♦Details on the offensive side of Color Smash program for MUT in Madden NFL 19.
♦Details on the latest roster update and gear changes applied in NBA Live 19.
♦Free-to-play PGA Tour Golf Shootout launched for iOS and Android devices.
♦NBA 2K19 XB1 on sale for $19.80 with Xbox Live Gold or $24 w/o subscription.
♦MLS now expects to expand to 30 clubs from the 24 currently in the years ahead.
♦First info was revealed on the PlayStation 5 which is expected out sometime in 2020.
♦More games were added to the backwards compatibility list playable on Xbox One.
♦Blu-ray releases this week headlined by Escape Room and on digital Serenity.
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