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A look at dribbling and team styles for FIFA 18
The first promotional push for FIFA 18 was largely centered on year two of The Journey. Now EA Sports is starting to get into the meat of gameplay details with two trailers that spotlight increased player personality, overhauled dribbling, and more authentic team styles. Read more
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The top rated players in Madden NFL 18
Only three players will start Madden NFL 18 rated at 99 Overall. Cover athlete and Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady is joined at the top by Von Miller and Aaron Donald.
The group at 98 Overall features Rob Gronkowski, Julio Jones, Aaron Rodgers, J.J. Watt, and Luke Keuchly. That’s a drop out of the 99s they finished at in Madden NFL 17 for Gronk, Watt and Keuchly while Rodgers has jumped up and Jones remains the same. Coming in with 97 Overall are two Steelers – Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown – along with Khalil Mack.
Through the end of the week I’ll have breakdowns by position posted on Sporting News. First up today is the quarterbacks which followed the full set of first round rookies.
With Brady at 99 and Rodgers 98 next up at the position is league MVP Matt Ryan with a 96 Overall. Drew Brees makes a big jump to 92, Ben Roethlisberger is 91, and Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck begin at 90. Next in line are Derek Carr (89), Cam Newton (88), Matt Stafford (87), Dak Prescott (86), and Kirk Cousins (85). QB ratings are up across the board, with most starting the season 1-4 points higher than they ended the last one.
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Madden NFL 18 Rookie Ratings
The reveal of ratings for Madden NFL 18 begins today with a look at all the rookies that were selected in the first round. As always, certain positions have an advantage when entering the league, and you’ll see positions on the offensive and defensive lines and running back trend higher than those like quarterback.
#1 pick Myles Garrett leads the way at 83 Overall. He’s the highest rated rookie since Jadeveon Clowney got an 83 in Madden NFL 15. Second is tight end O.J. Howard who has the well-rounded attributes to jump him from his selection at #19 over all those taken before him. Running backs Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey, who offer very different styles, tie for the ranking as third highest rated rookie in the game. Read more
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Online beta for NHL 18 has begun
The NHL 18 online beta is now underway on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Those who signed up to participate will receive a code to their registered email address along with two bonus codes that can be given away.
Three different modes are featured in the online beta. Play the new arcadey NHL Threes, standard head-to-head, or EASHL in traditional 6-on-6 or the new 3-on-3 format.
While sign-ups for beta codes are currently closed it’s likely that it will be opened to all within a few days as EA looks to increase server load for testing purposes. Scheduled to run through August 1, the last two betas for NHL have ended up being extended beyond their planned week, so that’s something to look for possibly happening yet again also.
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Third update for NBA Playgrounds includes new mode and more players
With two significant patches already out for NBA Playgrounds the development team at Saber Interactive has been working towards another content update which is already out on PS4 and PC and expected soon for Xbox One.
Featured in the latest patch is a brand new online three-point shootout mode and another 33 new players. Those include additional versions of current players plus legends from the past including Tim Duncan, Baron Davis, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor.
Also notable is that packs are said to be better balanced to reduce the number of duplicate players received and a new rebounding system has been introduced.
Earlier patches have added 50 players, the Seattle Sonics as a team, and four tournament locations while improving gameplay by implementing a shot meter and reducing inbounding wait time. The Nintendo Switch finally got the first of the two patches earlier this month. It’s no surprise that this new patch is out first for PS4/XB1/PC with no clear timetable on when to expect it for the Switch version.
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First screenshots for NBA 2K18 feature a look at new Nike jerseys and ads
2K Sports has released three screenshots for NBA 2K18 featuring players who are tied to the game’s marketing campaign. Paul George with the Thunder, Canadian cover athlete DeMar DeRozan, and Isaiah Thomas get the push today. That leaves standard edition cover athlete Kyrie Irving, Karl-Anthony Towns, Damian Lillard, Joel Embiid and Devin Booker still to come.
This is also the first opportunity to see the new Nike jerseys for the respective teams along with the debut of advertisements being displayed prominently on them. These are the “Association Edition” which is the white option every team will have of their four new jerseys.
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Press Row Podcast: Pick One
The start of the sports gaming season is nearly upon us and in this episode of the Press Row Podcast the panel looks ahead by playing a game called “Pick One.” Each person picks the one sports game they would choose this fall – and only one – then choose the one sports game franchise as their ‘gotta have it.’ Also discussed: impressions of Fire Pro Wrestling World and the latest with MLB The Show 17.
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 also now be found on the recently launched Google Play Music for podcasts. Subscribe and review to help support the show! You can also listen with the streaming player below.
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The Line Drive for July 23
The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.
♦2K Sports and Konami may need to make cover changes for NBA 2K18 and PES 2018.
♦NBA 2K18 soundtrack fully revealed and features Kendrick Lamar and Damian Lillard.
♦How to play with rookies and fully updated user-created rosters in NBA 2K17.
♦Waiting on reveal of new Nike uniforms is one reason why little seen yet of NBA games.
♦EA Sports released the first gameplay trailer highlighting features for Madden NFL 18.
♦Every team’s offensive playbook has been updated significantly for Madden NFL 18.
♦Germany’s third division 3.Liga is expected to be featured as a new league for FIFA 18.
♦The consensus on the game speed for PES 2018 in the beta has been very positive.
♦The form can be found here to submit feedback from the PES 2018 online beta.
♦FIFA vets unfamiliar with PES should consider changing the controls to “Type 2.”
♦The online beta will run through the end of the month for PES 2018 on PS4/XB1.
♦Details on new content introduced to Diamond Dynasty this week in MLB The Show 17.
♦Details on a minor patch that went out last week for MLB The Show 17.
♦RBI Baseball 17 is going to release on Nintendo Switch and at a much higher $30 price.
♦Roster of 32 drivers revealed for Camping World Truck Series in NASCAR Heat 2.
♦Blu-ray releases this week are headlined by Ghost in the Shell.
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