Your thoughts on the short-term draft modes coming to EA Sports games
With the success of the Ultimate Team model in EA Sports games, the company is faced with not just how to evolve and keep that mode fresh, but the challenge of developing new modes that capitalize further on what they've learned from it. The first attempt at such a mode is being introduced this year in Madden NFL 16 and FIFA 16.
Draft Champions was announced at E3 while FUT Draft just premiered at Gamescom. Though they borrow conceptually from Ultimate Team they've eliminated the long-ter...
AFC Team Ratings in Madden NFL 16
Once the top rated players for Madden NFL 16 at each position were revealed it was expected that the entire team rosters with ratings would be sent out division-by-division, as that was the typical procedure for the rollouts in past years.
Unfortunately that isn't the case this time around and instead EA has been giving out the Overall Rating for teams, and spotlighting only some key players and their respective Overall Ratings, which doesn't provide much insight into either for those ...
EASHL beta extended through the weekend; new gameplay tuner already out
The EA Sports Hockey League beta for NHL 16 that had been scheduled to end has been extended until Monday morning. Feedback to the beta has already been applied in the form of a gameplay tuner, and the extra few days will allow for more evaluation of the mode in general but also the changes that have now been made.
Adjustments to gameplay include tweaking and balancing of the various player classes, faceoff success, goalie play, and much more. (more…)...
Blazers and Mavericks classic teams make it into NBA 2K16
A while back three new historic teams were announced for NBA 2K16. Now 2K Sports has confirmed there will be a total of 12 classic teams added with the upcoming game. Two of the remaining nine teams were revealed today.
The 1999-00 Portland Trail Blazers and 2002-03 Dallas Mavericks join the 1999-00 Toronto Raptors, 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers, and 2007-08 Boston Celtics. 2K will be unveiling two teams every Thursday, filling out the unknown seven over the next five weeks.
T...
NHL 16 EASHL beta impressions
The NHL 16 EA Sports Hockey League beta has now been open for a week - and it remains so through tomorrow - providing an unprecedented (for the sports gaming genre) glimpse at the game which isn't due out until mid-September.
EASHL was a mode that I found very compelling when it launched in NHL 09, and played heavily that year and a few that followed. However beyond then interest waned as it went largely unchanged and took on a microtransaction slant in the upgrading of player ratings.
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Konami acquires UEFA Euro license
Konami today officially announced that they have acquired the license to next year's UEFA Euro tournament. This is a license that had been held by EA Sports since 2000, with the publisher having released a game on the every-four-year schedule with the last being in 2012.
While the first three UEFA Euro games from EA were standalone retail products, the 2012 edition was an attempt at turning it into an expansion pack sold digitally through the FIFA of that year. It sold for $20 and was tre...
Presentation improvements for FIFA 16
The new FIFA Ultimate Team Draft Mode wasn't the only news to come out of Gamescom this morning related to FIFA 16. EA Sports also detailed some of the improvements that have been made to presentation for the game.
The most significant is an authentic presentation package for Bundesliga, similar to the treatment Premier League got last year. The game will also include updated likenesses, new crowd chants, sideline celebrations, and vanishing spray. (more…)...
FIFA 16 introducing a short-term draft-based mode of its own
Early this morning, out of Gamescom, EA Sports announced a new mode for FIFA 16 that is similar in nature to Draft Champions mode being introduced in Madden NFL 16.
FIFA Ultimate Team Draft will involve a process of team-building that has players selected through a draft format where five options are given to choose from at each turn. The team is then taken online or against the CPU for a series of up to four matches. After completion it's back to starting from scratch with a new draft th...