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End of Year Community Awards: Best Racing Game of 2018
With 2018 coming to a close it’s time to start looking back on the developments that have taken place in sports gaming and acknowledge the various efforts that have been made in the genre with the 10th Annual Pastapadre Community Awards. You can check out all of the PCA winners from previous years here.
The categories will include Sports Game of the Year, Best New or Non-Yearly Sports Game, Best Mobile Game, Best Racing Game, Best Gameplay, Best Online Play, Best Presentation, Best Franchise Mode, Best Career Mode, Best Post-Release Support, Best New Feature, and Best Team-Building Mode. All winners will be announced in early January!
Next up for 2018 is Best Racing Game, which includes the two series that have previously won the award in F1 and Forza Horizon. The former looks to go back-to-back with another strong effort from F1 2018 while Forza Horizon 4 has wide audience appeal. NASCAR Heat 3 breaks in as a nominee for the first time since the series began three years ago.
Categories now OPEN:
Best Story/Career Mode – Best Gameplay – Best Franchise Mode – Best Team-Building Mode – Best Online Play – Best Racing Game
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End of Year Community Awards: Best Online Play of 2018
With 2018 coming to a close it’s time to start looking back on the developments that have taken place in sports gaming and acknowledge the various efforts that have been made in the genre with the 10th Annual Pastapadre Community Awards. You can check out all of the PCA winners from previous years here.
The categories will include Sports Game of the Year, Best New or Non-Yearly Sports Game, Best Mobile Game, Best Racing Game, Best Gameplay, Best Online Play, Best Presentation, Best Franchise Mode, Best Career Mode, Best Post-Release Support, Best New Feature, and Best Team-Building Mode. All winners will be announced in early January!
Next up for 2018 is Best Online Play, a category dominated by Madden which goes for its 8th consecutive win this year. Madden NFL 19 will again be challenged by Rocket League, which pushed it last year with strong support, along with a first time nominee in the category NHL 19.
Categories now OPEN:
Best Story/Career Mode – Best Gameplay – Best Franchise Mode – Best Team-Building Mode – Best Online Play
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End of Year Community Awards: Best Team-Building Mode of 2018
With 2018 coming to a close it’s time to start looking back on the developments that have taken place in sports gaming and acknowledge the various efforts that have been made in the genre with the 10th Annual Pastapadre Community Awards. You can check out all of the PCA winners from previous years here.
The categories will include Sports Game of the Year, Best New or Non-Yearly Sports Game, Best Mobile Game, Best Racing Game, Best Gameplay Best Online Play, Best Presentation, Best Franchise Mode, Best Career Mode, Best Post-Release Support, Best New Feature, and Best Team-Building Mode. All winners will be announced in early January!
Next up for 2018 is Best Team-Building Mode, a category entering just its fourth year which has only ever been won by MLB The Show. There have been some close calls over that time though generally due to server stability that found Madden nearly pulling off a win but last year MLB was able to dominate the voting. Reception towards Diamond Dynasty was not quite as warm with MLB The Show 18 as it has been with past entries in the series, possibly opening the door to the other nominees this year – Madden NFL 19’s Ultimate Team or Out of the Park Baseball 19’s Perfect Team – to break through and capture the crown.
Categories now OPEN:
Best Story/Career Mode – Best Gameplay – Best Franchise Mode – Best Team-Building Mode
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The Line Drive for December 23
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦Cast your votes for the first set of open categories in the annual PCAs!
♦Details on the latest roster update ratings changes made in NBA 2K19.
♦NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 on PS4/XB1/Switch remains on sale for just $20.
♦Mutant Football League Dynasty Edition is on sale for just $20 through Amazon.
♦A year subscription to Xbox Game Pass remains on sale for $70 which is $50 off.
♦Details on the latest patch to have gone out for FIFA 19.
♦NBA Live 19 is on sale for $10 for XBL Gold members on Xbox One.
♦Details on the latest patch to have gone out for Super Mega Baseball 2.
♦A new stadium via DLC has been released for Super Mega Baseball 2.
♦Details on the Ghosts of Madden Past players added into Ultimate Team.
♦Out of the Park Baseball 19 is currently on sale for just $5 for a limited time.
♦New version of PES Mobile through iTunes and Google Play has released.
♦PES 2019 will be getting Ibrox Stadium and Celtic Park added in February.
♦Details on the latest content for Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show 18.
♦The arcade-style cricket game Big Bash Boom has launched on Steam for $40.
♦Die-cast Hot Wheels Rocket League cars will go on sale at retailers later this month.
♦Don’t miss the Sports Game of the Year episode of the Press Row Podcast!
♦The Press Row Podcast can now be found among the featured podcasts on Spotify.
♦Blu-ray releases this week led by White Boy Rick and digital gets Halloween. -
Press Row Podcast: 2018 SGOTY Episode
With 2018 coming to a close the Press Row Podcast hands out its annual award for Sports Game of the Year! The panel for what is always one of the most anticipated episodes discuss the state of the genre, the strengths and weaknesses of the contenders, and then react to the final results.
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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End of Year Community Awards: Best Franchise Mode of 2018
With 2018 coming to a close it’s time to start looking back on the developments that have taken place in sports gaming and acknowledge the various efforts that have been made in the genre with the 10th Annual Pastapadre Community Awards. You can check out all of the PCA winners from previous years here.
The categories will include Sports Game of the Year, Best New or Non-Yearly Sports Game, Best Mobile Game, Best Racing Game, Best Gameplay Best Online Play, Best Presentation, Best Franchise Mode, Best Career Mode, Best Post-Release Support, Best New Feature, and Best Team-Building Mode. All winners will be announced in early January!
Next up for 2018 is Best Franchise Mode, a category in which NBA 2K19 is looking for a fifth straight wins for the series. No other game has won it since Madden did in 2013. NBA 2K offering two (arguably three now) different “Franchise” modes with MyLeague and MyGM makes it an obvious favorite yet again. Going up against it this year is Madden NFL 19 which delivered a number of valuable improvements and FIFA 19 having incorporated Champions League.
Categories now OPEN:
Best Story/Career Mode – Best Gameplay – Best Franchise Mode
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Madden NFL 19 roster update details following week 15 of the season
The roster update for Madden NFL 19 featuring ratings changes based on regular season performance through 15 weeks has gone live to download on all systems. Rob Gronkowski has fallen out of the exclusive “99 Club” which now just features four players (Khalil Mack, Antonio Brown, Aaron Donald, Bobby Wagner).
Notables on the move in ratings this week include DeAndre Hopkins (+1 to 97), Todd Gurley (-1 to 96), Christian McCaffrey (+1 to 93), Philip Rivers (+1 to 93), Zach Ertz (-1 to 93), Patrick Mahomes (+1 to 92), Davante Adams (+1 to 92), Aaron Rodgers (-2 to 91), Drew Brees (-1 to 92), A.J. Green (-1 to 91), Chris Jones (+2 to 90), A.J. Bouye (-2 to 89), Darius Leonard (+1 to 84), Leonard Fournette (-2 to 84), Jared Goff (-1 to 84), and Zach Brown (-4 to 82).
Check out full details on current ratings and any changes in this week’s update through the form on the official Madden NFL 19 website.
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Latest lawsuit faced by NBA 2K is over dances
It’s not just legal action regarding copyrighted tattoos that Take Two, the parent company of 2K Sports, is having to fight off in court these days. Now it’s the potential that NBA 2K is utilizing copyrighted dances without authorization.
The latest filings come from actor Alfonso Ribeiro (The Carlton), rapper 2 Milly (Milly Rock), and the owner of a popular Instagram account (The Floss). Take Two is joined by Epic Games’ Fortnite as defendants which also prominently features recognizable dances. That’s two of the biggest video games in the world with publishers that have deep pockets.
There is some debate over whether a dance move can actually be copyrighted. Essentially the name can be trademarked but the moves themselves are thought not to be protected. Where the real question arises is when money is being made off something that is undeniably recognizable as someone else’s creation. The Carlton is a great example of just that. Everyone knows where and who it originated with and just taking it for use elsewhere may constitute infringement.
Fortnite did recently partner with the NFL to bring in team uniforms, and that led to speculation that some of the player celebrations from the league could also make their way over in due time. Along with NBA 2K, and any other games that look to replicate potentially copyrighted material, publishers may need to approach doing so more delicately in the future or reach specific deals for their inclusion ahead of time.
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