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Release of Madden NFL 25 Player Ratings Begins With Offense
This year EA Sports waited until only a little over a week remained before the release of Madden NFL 25 (through Season Ticket) to start revealing player ratings. The four teams in the demo have all their ratings available to peruse through but the company began trickling out numbers and now a spreadsheet can be viewed for all players on offense. Read more
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First School States Intention of Withdrawing From College Video Games
When the NCAA pulled its licensing from college sports video games it became not just a possibility, but a probability, that conferences and individual schools would follow. Yesterday the conferences began to make known they would no longer license themselves out for video games. Now schools are starting to follow. Read more
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NHL 14 Demo Set for August 20
EA Sports has announced details on the NHL 14 demo. Set to arrive next Tuesday the demo will feature a rematch of the Stanley Cup Finals (though limited to the third period), the ability to try out the NHL 94 mode which delivers the presentation and effects over top current day gameplay, and the opportunity to start up Hockey Ultimate Team.
A bonus HUT pack will be given in the retail version for completing a game and winning the tournament against the four teams (Halifax Mooseheads, Grand Rapids Griffins, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks) included within the demo. Read more
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Release Day Patch for Madden NFL 25 Will Fix Invisible Players
With the Madden NFL 25 demo releasing earlier this week one bug of great concern has stood out from others in significance and rate of occurrence. Many gamers on the PS3 in particular have experienced players disappearing on the field leaving only their shadows visible. Social media and forums are filled with reports of it occurring and images of the problem. Read more
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Features List for NBA 2K14
2K Sports has released the full features list for NBA 2K14 specific to the Xbox 360 and PS3. The company has yet to address next-gen in any fashion but did confirm today that Crew mode won’t be available on the Xbox One or PS4.
New in this release are daily attribute and streak updates for players, “Smart Play Button” to make an automatic situational play call, six new “Signature Skills”, and some gameplay specific improvements. Nothing new is cited for Association, no confirmation of legends and classic teams returning, and Path to Greatness mode is not referenced so details on that will instead come at a later date. Read more
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Crew Mode Confirmed But Only Coming To Current Generation Versions of NBA 2K14
As many suspected over recent days Crew mode is back with NBA 2K14. The news first came through discovery of the achievements for 2K14 – the list is almost identical to 2K13 except for one relating to Crew and two for the Path to Greatness mode – and 2K Sports has since confirmed its return. Read more
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Dominoes Falling as SEC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 Follow NCAA in Withdrawing from Involvement With Video Games
The SEC and Big Ten will no longer license their brands for college video games. The Pac-12 is now also out. The news comes about a month after the NCAA made the same decision.
That does not mean members of the three conferences will be gone from the newly renamed College Football 15 from EA Sports. Like with the NCAA it means there will be no references to or logos for the SEC, Big Ten, or Pac-12 in the game. The conferences would get made-up names.
The ramifications go beyond that however. The more parties that pull out the more others will examine whether they should as well. Other conferences could follow suit and the Big 12 reportedly is one on the fence. Once the cover of the NCAA and conferences are gone schools become even more exposed.
This does not prevent schools from individually negotiating their place in the game or being involved with the CLC which has the agreement with EA. It is another domino however in what reportedly has already caused some institutions to decide the money received for being in a video game it is not worth the risk of being sued down the line.
[Update] AL.com has some quotes from conferences and schools regarding their involvement. Numerous other conferences appear to be on the way out while Kentucky and Arkansas are making no assurances about their staying in video games.
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First EA Sports UFC Gameplay Footage Coming Next Week
EA Sports has already revealed they’ll be announcing additional information on how they plan to ease the transition to the next generation at Gamescom during their press briefing on August 20 at 10AM ET/7AM PT. Now they’ve let it be known that the first entry in their UFC franchise, scheduled to release next spring on the Xbox One and PS4, will be making an appearance.
The first look at pre-alpha gameplay will be on display at the event. Though a fairly significant amount of info about the game has already been dispersed including the foundation of eight gameplay features the only footage to date has come from the pre-rendered trailer.
With no current-gen release to compete with EA has the flexibility to promote the game early and often. That same opportunity is present for NBA Live 14 which makes its own presence at Gamescom logical but as of yet remains unconfirmed for the show.
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