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Top Rated Goalies and Defensemen in NHL 15
EA Sports has now begun the process of revealing player ratings for NHL 15. In similar fashion to Madden NFL 15, they’re doing it by showing off the top five at each position before moving on to complete rosters. The first two positions are the goalies and defensemen. The most glaring omission is probably P.K. Subban, who despite making it to the finals of the NHL 15 cover athlete selection process gets shut out of the top five.
Goalie
Henrik Lundqvist + Jonathan Quick (93), Carey Price + Tuukka Rask (92), Pekka Rinne (91)Defenseman
Shea Weber (93), Duncan Keith + Ryan Suter (92), Drew Doughty + Zdeno Chara (91) -
Complete Madden NFL 15 Player Ratings for AFC and NFC North and South
EA Sports has released the complete base team rosters with player ratings for Madden NFL 15 from four of the divisions. A roster update will go out at release and another after the final 53 man rosters are set on August 31 and any shuffling is made in the lead-up to week one. However most player ratings are unlikely to change until the latter and even then there is some caution considered in making adjustments based on pre-season performance.
Check out the full rosters for AFC and NFC North and South divisions here. The remaining divisions will be rolled out over the next two days.
The Bengals lead the way in the AFC North with an 86 overall team rating followed by the Ravens (84), Steelers (78) and Browns (75). Â In the AFC South it’s the Colts (83), Texans (76), Titans (74), and Jaguars (73).
The NFC North is topped by the Packers (88) and trailed by the Bears (84), Lions (80), and Vikings (76). The NFC South is Saints (86), Panthers (84), Falcons (79), and Buccaneers (77).
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Microsoft Announces Xbox One Bundle With Madden NFL 15
With just three weeks until release Microsoft has unveiled yet another bundle for the Xbox One console and this one includes Madden NFL 15. For $400 it represents arguably the best value yet for an Xbox One and is well worth considering for anyone in the market for the system. Depending on how much individual importance was placed on Kinect the $450 Titanfall bundle had been the best deal until now.
The bundle comes with the standard Xbox One (no Kinect included), a download code for Madden NFL 15, special edition Madden packaging, and three bonus Ultimate Team Pro Packs. It’s available now for pre-order at Amazon.
With the recent announcement of EA Access a new consumer who buys this Madden bundle could subscribe to that soon after and get an early chance to play the upcoming games from the company (NHL 15, FIFA 15, NBA Live 15) and have immediate access to the games in the “Vault” (FIFA 14, Battlefield 4, and Peggle 2). That’s a pretty great way to start with a just purchased console that avoids having to shell out hundreds more on games at the same time.
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MLB 14: The Show Post-Trade Deadline Roster Update Available Now
SCEA today released the regular weekly roster update for MLB 14: The Show and this one stands out in magnitude due to the recent passing of the trade deadline. All the deals made last week are reflected in the new update.
The A’s and Tigers bolster their already strong rotations by acquiring Jon Lester and David Price respectively. Yoenis Cespedes moves to the Red Sox, Austin Jackson to the Mariners, and John Lackey to the Cardinals. The injury to Cliff Lee is also handled in this update. Read more
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The Line Drive for August 3
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦Make sure to get entries in for the latest giveaway as the winner is drawn this week!
♦2K Sports claims the first news on NBA 2K15 will arrive this coming week.
♦Screenshot released shows the new NBA basketball w/ Twitter handle in NBA Live 15.
♦Operation Sports has a strong article about the psychology behind card-collecting modes.
♦EA Sports announced they’ve lost licensing to Brazilian clubs heading into FIFA 15.
♦Check out the dominant rotations for the A’s and Tigers w/ MLB 14: The Show ratings.
♦An update has been released bringing improvements and fixes to OOTP 15.
♦OOTP 15 also now has a demo out providing an opportunity to try before buying.
♦EA Sports has completed a new set of transfers for Ultimate Team in FIFA 14.
♦EA Sports has released a new blog going over the “Vision AI” for NHL 15.
♦HB Studios has released a guide to the Sonoran Valley course in The Golf Club.
♦With lease expiring the Raiders are flirting w/ San Antonio as a relocation destination.
♦Check out the new alternate jerseys for Air Force that were just revealed.
♦Check out the new USA Basketball uniforms that were recently revealed.News and content that may have been missed from the last week around the site.
♦Blu-ray/DVD Releases This Week. Headlined by Divergent and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
♦Guardians of the Galaxy Opens Huge. $94 million weekend shatters August record.
♦Trailer for Battle of the Five Armies. The conclusion of The Hobbit trilogy.
♦Paul Feig Targeted to Direct Ghostbusters III. Will be female-led reboot.
♦Teaser Trailer for Mockingjay – Part 1. The next in The Hunger Games series.
♦Trailer for Mad Max: Fury Road. Footage stole the show at Comic-Con. -
Top Rated Cornerbacks and Safeties in Madden NFL 15
The slow drip of player ratings for Madden NFL 15 is reaching its conclusion with the top five rated corners and safeties. Soon EA Sports will begin rolling out complete rosters by divisions with two expected each day. Richard Sherman joins Calvin Johnson and J.J. Watt as the 99 rated players to begin this season. The Seahawks also have the highest ranked strong safety and second highest free safety.
Cornerback
Richard Sherman (99), Darrelle Revis (97), Joe Haden (95), Patrick Peterson (93), Vontae Davis (92)Free Safety
Jairus Byrd (96), Earl Thomas (95), Devin McCourty + Eric Weddle (94), Charles Woodson (86)Strong Safety
Kam Chancellor + Troy Polamalu (93), TJ Ward (91), Eric Berry (90), Reshad Jones (89)Previously Revealed
Top 13 Rookies
Top DT, MLB, OLB
Top WR, TE, DE, OL
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Press Row Podcast: EA Access, Ultimate Team Interview and More
The latest Press Row Podcast features the piecing together of a few different recordings. The show opens with a discussion dedicated to the announcement of the new subscription service EA Access. It then transitions to a few of the segments from last week’s Press Row Hangout (which can be also be watched in full here or clip-by-clip here). It ends with an interview about Ultimate Team for Madden NFL 15 with producer Joe Alread.
Check out the podcast through iTunes for iOS, Stitcher app for Android, and subscribe while there to help support the show! You can also listen in the streaming player below.
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The Golf Club Console Release Likely to Land on Worst Possible Date
HB Studios has announced the upcoming release for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of The Golf Club has been narrowed to a two date window. The company claims the likely date the game will be available digitally is August 26, with a slight possibility it could be a week prior. It has been out on PC through Steam Early Access since mid-April.
The Golf Club isn’t designed in a traditional manner where front-loaded sales will determine its success. The hope for it is to have legs driven by post-release support without it losing value at the typical rate those others see. Because of its unlicensed nature the necessity to buy day one isn’t the same as with most sports games. However the potential date is troublesome as The Golf Club will be swallowed up in the sea of big sports releases that begin on that very same day.
While it may not act as “competition” directly to other games certainly it has to fight for consumer dollars in a marketplace that is about to get flooded with blockbusters. Madden NFL 15 is set to release directly against The Golf Club. NHL 15 follows a few weeks later, then FIFA 15, and NBA 2K15. And those are just in the sports category. Two weeks later one of the most anticipated games of the year arrives in Destiny.
What that means is The Golf Club won’t get the same level of publicity it would have received had it released in a deader period like July. Word of mouth won’t travel as well either. Dollars are being spent elsewhere instead making what may be a $40 digital download a tough ask. It’s a rough draw for the game which can still capture a dedicated hardcore crowd but will now struggle more to expand beyond that.
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