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Madden NFL 19 roster update details following week five of the season
The roster update for Madden NFL 19 featuring ratings changes based on regular season performance through five weeks has gone live to download all systems. After breaking the all-time passing yards record Drew Brees has been boosted all the way up to a 99 Overall. Presumably this is just a temporary form of commemoration given that he was 92 Overall going into the Monday Night Football win.
Other notables on the move this week include Von Miller (-1 to 98), DeAndre Hopkins (+1 to 96), Travis Kelce (+1 to 96), Aaron Rodgers (-1 to 96), Harrison Smith (-1 to 95), Melvin Gordon (+2 to 91), Linval Joseph (+1 to 90 and +12 in Speed), Philip Rivers (+2 to 89), Matt Ryan (-1 to 89), Cam Newton (-1 to 87), Janoris Jenkins (-2 to 85), Josh Norman (-2 to 85), Graham Gano (+4 to 84), Isaiah Crowell (+1 to 81), and Mason Crosby (-2 to 75).
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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Fight Night Champion has been added to the EA Access Vault
Fight Night Champion was added to the list of backwards compatible titles on Xbox One back in May. At the time it was unclear when, or even if, FNC would find itself available in the EA Access Vault for subscribers. While Skate 3 had done just that being moved into the Vault after several months had passed following its introduction to backwards compatibility, NBA Jam: On Fire Edition has never made its way to the subscription service making it seem that licensing may have led to complications that prevented it from doing so.
After nearly five months the question around the fate of Fight Night Champion has finally been answered. The well-regarded game that released back in 2011 and still stands as the last licensed boxing title on consoles has now been added to the EA Access Vault.
Subscribers have full access to Fight Night Champion including its Story Mode which can be at least partially credited with the move towards narrative-driven modes being offered in sports games since then and was even broken off and sold separately at one point. FNC was, like the Fight Night series in general, an excellent technical and visual display with a deep roster of fighters and the ability to create more which could be shared. Where it was lacking was in the traditional Career Mode, presentation, and online options.
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New patch for NBA Live 19 adds features and addresses other consumer feedback
Already having been (temporarily) found at a massive discount, NBA Live 19 can now also offer a series of improvements to the game that have some real substance behind them. While they won’t help Live 19 become more of an NBA game, the update does fill in some of the gaps otherwise with the addition of player editing for Franchise Mode, the ability to practice on your created court with your created player, new signature animations for a number of players, and considerable tuning having been done to gameplay. Read more
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The Line Drive for October 7
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦Details on an expansive first post-release patch out now for NHL 19.
♦A follow-up patch was released for Madden NFL 19 consisting of a few fixes.
♦Elite Nike gear has been added for three favored players and as an edit option.
♦Madden NFL 19 is still on sale for $40 on PS4 through Amazon.
♦An arcade-style cricket game has been announced for release in late November.
♦EA removed NBA Live 19 from its PS4 two week-long sale after just a single day.
♦The NBA 2K19 mobile game has released on iOS with a premium $8 price.
♦NBA Playgrounds 2 will introduce vanity items for characters available for purchase.
♦A look at the coming new stadium and DLC packs for Super Mega Baseball 2.
♦EA closely monitoring the situation with face of the FIFA franchise Cristiano Ronaldo.
♦FIFA 18 has finally been added to the EA Access Vault on Xbox One and PC.
♦Details on the latest patch with gameplay improvements for EA Sports UFC 3.
♦Also added are two new fighters in the latest update for EA Sports UFC 3.
♦Franchise Hockey Manager 5 has released with a 10% discount until October 12.
♦Details on the latest content for Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show 18.
♦Recap of all the Forza Horizon 4 and Forza 7 news of the last week.
♦Details on the first patch to have released for NASCAR Heat 3.
♦The Press Row Podcast can now be found among the featured podcasts on Spotify.
♦Blu-ray releases this week include Skyscraper and Eighth Grade. -
Press Row Podcast: Review Season with a dash of NASCAR
This week Bryan and Rich catch up on all the different sports games on the scene right now and their two varying approaches to them. Also, they talk about the challenges that they do (or did) have as reviewers, and how the importance of reviews has changed as the gaming industry – and sports games in particular – have evolved. Plus! Our resident racing game expert Greg Sewart stops by in a bonus segment to dive into the new NASCAR Heat 3, and whether or not racing game fans should give it a shot.
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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Madden NFL 19 roster update details following week four of the season
The roster update for Madden NFL 19 featuring ratings changes based on regular season performance through four weeks has gone live to download all systems. Khalil Mack is the first player to rise to 99 Overall this year after beginning the season at 95. Meanwhile Patrick Mahomes continues his meteoric rise having gone from 79 to now 87.
Other notables on the move this week include Aaron Rodgers (-1 to 97), Todd Gurley (+1 to 94), Ezekiel Elliott (+1 to 92), Tyrann Mathieu (-2 to 91), Myles Garrett (+1 to 90), Matt Ryan (+1 to 90), Xavier Rhodes (-2 to 90), Adam Thielen (+1 to 89), Marshawn Lynch (+2 to 87), Jared Cook (+1 to 87), Jarvis Landry (-2 to 86), Jared Goff (+2 to 85), Byron Jones (+2 to 85), Marcus Mariota (+1 to 80), and Mitchell Trubisky (+1 to 77).
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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New PGA course added in free update for The Golf Club 2019
The Golf Club 2019 has been out now for over a month and while the game has received hearty praise from fans and decent reviews, there were some significant aspects of the game that required tuning and fixes. Now some of those will come today with the first post-release updates that include the addition of Atlantic Beach Country Club and new character customization options through free DLC plus a number of fixes based in part on consumer feedback. Read more
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With the season still weeks away, NBA Live 19 is already being offered at a deep discount
Last year NBA Live 18 was sold for $40 pre-release, jumped back up to the contractually obligated $60 on release day, and then three weeks later was dropped down to $30 by various retailers. With NBA Live 19 there was a similar pre-order offer and now, again three weeks after release, the opportunity to get the game on sale but for even cheaper than that.
Currently a digital copy on PlayStation 4 has seen the price has dropped to $30, but for PlayStation Plus subscribers an additional 20% comes off that making it just $24. The sale runs through October 16th which is when the NBA season tips off.
If future deals follow the same pattern as played out last year, NBA Live 19 will hit $15 on Black Friday in late November and drop below $10 in January.
NBA Live 19 suffers from a bit of an identity crisis as it has gone away from being a true NBA game. The One, its comprehensive career mode, is really well executed and refreshingly lacks the pressure through monetization found in the competitor. However it is severely lacking on the NBA side of things with the worst Franchise Mode of any annual sports game and an uninspired Ultimate Team that lags behind its fellow EA Sports titles.
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