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The Line Drive for July 1
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦The season will begin with 7 players rated 99 Overall in Madden NFL 19.
♦New developer blog goes over improvements to the visuals made for Madden NFL 19.
♦Images of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 control schemes for Madden NFL 19.
♦Soon to be adapted by all sports games FIFA 19 will display pack odds in Ultimate Team.
♦Details on the latest Programs and Missions rolled out in MLB 18 Diamond Dynasty.
♦Details on new Career Arcs and Legends introduced into DD in MLB The Show 18.
♦Minor patch went out addressing some crashes and freezes in MLB The Show 18.
♦A new trailer goes over the primary features for Fire Pro Wrestling World.
♦Fire Pro Wrestling World PS4 can be pre-ordered on Amazon discounted to $40 w/Prime.
♦Super Mega Baseball 2 is 20% off down to $24 on PC with the Steam Summer Sale.
♦Sensible World of Soccer (1994) has received backwards compatibility on the Xbox One.
♦DiRT 4 is among the games being added in July to the Xbox Game Pass.
♦Details on the latest patch to have gone out for AO International Tennis.
♦Blu-ray releases this week include Blockers and on digital Ready Player One. -
Press Row Podcast: A New Crew
This episode of the Press Row Podcast features extensive discussion on the brand new open-world racing game The Crew 2, a change to the commentary team for NBA Live 19, and the first player ratings for Madden NFL 19. Additionally listener questions are followed up on, which include thoughts on changes to the way games will be monitized going forward and what’s happening with the mysteriously-delayed NBA Playgrounds 2.
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 below.
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How to pre-order and save big on NBA Live 19
Last year EA Sports attempted to entice consumers to try NBA Live 18 by aggressively dropping the price post-release. Prior to that though they also hoped to generate some pre-orders by discounting the price of the game for day one down to $40 (it went up to $60 upon release). Even at the lower price it was probably asking too much to expect all but a few to commit to a game that wasn’t guaranteed to be up-to-par given the history of the series over the last decade.
Now though, coming off the most well-received iteration since 2009 and with a sense of some stability in place, there is likely to be a far more considerable crowd that is confident enough in the upcoming NBA Live 19 to put money down on it early. In that case there’s another opportunity to get the game at a significant discount.
NBA Live 19 can now be pre-ordered at a price of $40 or even lower for EA Access subscribers on Xbox One where it comes in at $36. For now at least the catch is that the purchase has to be made through the link to the store from within NBA Live 18. It’s unclear whether the deal will open up to other avenues later as there were no restrictions on how or where to pre-order last year.
For those who already own the game or have it through EA Access on Xbox One that’s not a problem. However there isn’t a great option at the moment to capitalize and save money if needing to purchase NBA Live 18 right now. The game was available on multiple occasions to buy for as low as $5 but unfortunately that isn’t the case currently as it’s listed on the PlayStation Store and XBL Marketplace for $30.
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Additional NBA Live 19 details include new commentary team
NBA Live 19 wasn’t able to generate much buzz out of EA Play, despite some announcements related to features for the upcoming game that had little to do with the actual NBA. The series was able to get back onto solid footing last year but even while EA was practically giving it away it didn’t gain a whole lot of traction with consumers. Strengths are looking to be capitalized on with NBA Live 19 by expanding The One career mode while introducing Real Player Motion, the new animation technology featured in all EA Sports titles.
Now though thanks to retailer listings more on NBA Live 19 has been discovered including a new adaptive AI system, new commentary team, and interactive environment. No mention is made of Franchise Mode however, which was by far the weakest aspect of Live 18. Read more
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Full list of features for The Golf Club 2019
Last month developer HB Studios made a splash by announcing the upcoming third iteration in The Golf Club series will feature the PGA Tour license for Career Mode with six real-life courses. Prior to that there was only some vague details on what The Golf Club 2019 would feature over last year’s edition: online Skins Matches with virtual currency on the line, a new single player Career Mode, “SpeedTree Technology” for improved visuals, more character customization options, and enhancements to the Course Creator.
Now though more information has been unveiled for the game that is slated to release in August but has not yet announced the specific date or the price. Read more
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NBA Live 19 cover athlete is Joel Embiid
The last few years has seen EA Sports attempt to attract consumers with cover athletes that would go on to win league MVP in James Harden and Russell Westbrook, but the NBA Live series is going back to its traditional roots of selecting a young player still very much on the rise as Joel Embiid will appear on the cover of NBA Live 19.
Embiid would seem to be the ideal representative for the series given his social media reach, likable and scrappy personality, and his place on a team that rebuilt from scratch the way NBA Live has too attempted to come back from multiple times now. The 76ers finally broke through last season and EA Sports is hoping Live will do the same in 2018. Embiid can help by bringing additional awareness to a series that failed to sell last year even as its price point was discounted at release and dropped sharply in the months that followed.
Features for NBA Live 19 include the new animation technology Real Player Motion that’s found in all EA Sports titles this year, a new progression system in The One career mode, a street pick-up mode called Build Your Squad, and dynamic commentary updated throughout the season. NBA Live 19 is set to release on Friday, September 7 and will be available for its EA Access trial on Xbox One five days earlier.
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The Line Drive for June 24
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦An early look at the top player ratings as they currently stand for Madden NFL 19.
♦Don’t be surprised if the Madden NFL 19 closed beta opens to everyone next week.
♦Details on new Diamond Dynasty Programs and Missions in MLB The Show 18.
♦Full details on the latest roster update that went out for MLB The Show 18.
♦The Press Row Podcast is now also featured on Spotify.
♦Details on the loyalty offers being given to consumers that buy NHL 19.
♦Details on the latest gameplay tuner update out now for EA Sports UFC 3.
♦Details on the new Rocket Pass progression system coming to Rocket League.
♦More classic cars including the 2009 Brawn are featured in F1 2018.
♦For the first time the F1 series will be on mobile out later this year.
♦Suggested soundtrack submissions are being sought for NASCAR Heat 3.
♦Sign up to participate in the open beta for The Crew 2 this weekend only.
♦Motorsport Manager Mobile 2 is on sale for just 99 cents for iOS devices.
♦Out of the Park Baseball 19 is currently 50% off down to $20 until July 5th.
♦Digital video releases for this week will include A Quiet Place and Rampage. -
Press Row Podcast: Settling Back In
Following the avalanche of video game news out of EA Play and E3 things in the sports gaming world calmed down for a few days. However it wasn’t long until business picked back up with the official reveal of NHL 19 and new info on Madden NFL 19.
This episode of the Press Row Podcast includes discussion on NHL 19’s new features and Madden NFL 19’s presentation improvements, plus responses to a handful of listener questions on topics such as Madden’s currently-running closed beta, cross-platform play, boxing games, and more!
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 below.
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