IGN has posted the first look trailer for NCAA Basketball 10, due out November 18. On Monday, expect more “big announcements” for the game – which we expect will include word on features.
October 1, 2009
September 2, 2009
EA Sports & NASCAR Part Ways
While believed to be the case long ago, EA Sports President confirmed to GameSpot that the company has no new plans for a NASCAR title.
“There are no plans right now for NASCAR from EA,” Moore said. “We had a great relationship over the years that I thoroughly enjoyed when I first got here. Unfortunately…we had to make some tough trade-offs. We’ve had to redeploy some of those folks. A number of the NASCAR team has moved over now to EA Sports MMA, which will be shipping next year. [We're] still a huge fan of NASCAR, but no plans right now to develop any further games for NASCAR from EA Sports.”
EA Sports last produced the racing sim NASCAR 09 in 2008 and their last NASCAR-based title was the Wii title NASCAR Kart Racing, which came out in February of 2009.
Those looking to play NASCAR can look forward to the upcoming PlayStation 3 title Gran Turismo 5, which is tentatively scheduled for late this year and will include licensed NASCAR action in some form. Details are sketchy on that front.
September 1, 2009
NBA Live Gameplay Dev Video
In the latest NBA Live developer diary, Mike Wang shows off how Live 10 differs from Live 09 in several areas: passing, off-ball movement, and shooting styles.
August 26, 2009
FIFA 10 Demo Coming in September
EA Sports has announced information on the FIFA Soccer 10 demo:
“A full playable demo of FIFA Soccer 10 for the PLAYSTATION3 will be available for downloadable at the PLAYSTATION Store, for the Xbox 360 on Xbox Live Marketplace and for the PC at www.fifa.easports.com as of September 10 in Europe and September 17 in North America. Play as Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Marseille, and Chicago Fire and discover a soccer experience that will deliver a new standard for authenticity with gameplay refinements and innovations that will make it the most complete and intelligent simulation of soccer. In addition to playing an exhibition match, for the first time in a FIFA demo users will be able to upload created in-game videos to EA Football World.”
August 25, 2009
NCAA Football 10 Patch #2 Details
The second patch for NCAA Football 10 will be available soon for both X-Box 360 and PlayStation 3 users. EA Sports has provided us with a list of what the patch will address.
- Player Lock in Online Games will now move the camera behind the locked player (like Offline games)
- Greatly increased the quality of uploaded videos
- Fixed an issue with penalties on a change of possession in Overtime
- Fixed an issue where you would sometimes lose control of your player going offsides in no huddle situations
- Tuned holding chances on Field Goals and Extra Points
- Fixed a couple pass coverage issues with Wild Cat plays
- Tuned the chuck success chances to favor more neutral results. Wins and Losses are extreme and should occur less for both the offense and defense
- AI Tackle slider is now more effective
- Lead Blocking tweaks to fix some cases of pulling lineman ignoring defenders
- Fixed a few rare cases that would cause players in pursuit to run away from the ball carrier
- Tuned the CPU ball carrier to make some smarter choices
- Fixed a bug where the CPU would high step at inappropriate times
- Tuned player switching logic to give a more appropriate player
- Fixed an issue with Punts being spotted incorrectly when the punt went out of bounce
- Corrected an issue where pressing in man coverage would cause the CPU to throw the ball too early
- If the receiver caught a pass during a slip, rarely would he be ruled down after the catch (even if he got up before making the catch). This has been fixed.
- Fixed a bug where sometimes the clock would continue to run after hold on an extra point
- Forward pitches are now correctly tracked as passing and receiving yards for the players involved
- Receivers will now try and release to the appropriate side of the defender based on their route
- Fixed some problems that were causing defensive players to not always get back in time during hurry up plays
- Reduced the effect of the Run Block Slider on special teams plays
- Tuned how effective the slant route for running backs out of the backfield was
- Tuned how far away diving sacks will start from
- Fixed an online grieve with pausing the game
- Fixed a bug where using a TeamBuilder team as the away team would cause the team colors to be incorrect
- Fixed an issue where some Dynasty teams were only able to offer 15 scholarships. You will not have to restart your dynasty for this to take effect, the fix is for offline and online dynasties.
- Certain TeamBuilder teams were incorrectly being blocked by the profanity filter and showing up as XXXX, this has been corrected
- Fixed and issue where Punt was not the default selection on 4th down and punting distance
- Off-centered single digit jersey numbers are now centered correctly
- Fixed a crash in Custom Stadium Sounds when the list of files was too long
- TeamBuilder teams with & in the name can now be searched properly
- Fixed an issue where the “Online Dynasty Servers are Down” pop-up was showing up incorrectly
August 24, 2009
First Look at Madden 10 for the iPhone
EA Mobile has sent over info and a first look at Madden NFL 10 for the iPhone.
Among the game features:
- TAKE IT TO THE GRIDIRON ─ Dominate the field with packed rosters of your favorite NFL players from all 32 licensed teams.
- THE REAL DEAL ─ From Lambeau to Heinz, you’ll be impressed by the detail throughout this game. Play in authentic stadiums against life-like players on real NFL teams.
- CREATE YOUR OWN PLAY ─ Use touch controls to draw hot routes for passing plays, exclusive to Madden NFL 10.
- ACTION CONTROL TIME ─ This cool feature lets you adjust the speed of your game whenever you want, giving you time to pick the best moves for each play.
- SEASON MODE ─ Play a quick one-off game, or try the robust season mode, which features in-depth trades, stats and individual player rewards.
- ASSEMBLE YOUR OWN TEAMS ─ Detailed roster management gives you full control over depth charts, cross-team trading, and access to huge free agent pools.
- BROADCAST COMMENTARY ─ Hear the unmistakable voice of John Madden himself along with legendary announcers Tom Hammond and Cris Collinsworth.
August 22, 2009
WWE SvR 2010: Creation is King
The WWE Smackdown vs. RAW franchise continues on, looking stronger than ever. Due out October 20, SvR: 2010 has some huge new features, led by a design-a-storyline mode.
Users have control of everything, from matches that appear in your show, backstage fights, interviews galore, and the script Superstars will speak from. Features already in the game have also received upgrades, including 30% more content in the create-a-finisher feature.
The best part of having all of these creation options is the ability to share it online, which SvR: 2010 allows.
For more on Smackdown vs. RAW: 2010, check out Gamespot’s preview of the game.
August 21, 2009
NBA Live 10 Defensive Gameplay, Previews
NBA Live 10 producer Mike Wang shares some of the defensive gameplay changes coming to NBA Live 10:
As you know, it’s been quite a challenge in basketball games to create a strong onball defensive locomotion model that allows user controlled defenders to effectively stay in front of the ball. Usually the ball handler is given too many tools and is just too fast, making onball defense frustrating, and almost a chore to play. We really got sick of seeing people actively trying to switch away from the ball when playing defense, feeling that the AI could do a better job at guarding the ball than they could. Instead, we wanted to encourage users to stay active and not run away from the play, so to speak.
It sounds like the game has undergone significant improvements. It is clear that the Live team is serious about regaining the title of NBA King from 2K Sports. Check out the full blog here.
Several media outlets have received early builds of the demo and posted early thoughts on the game, of which they sound very positive:
Operation Sports – GameCinemaHD – GameZone – Gamespot – IGN
August 20, 2009
NBA 2K10 Preview
IGN has posted a hands-on report for NBA 2K10. Despite being the recent leader in the NBA gaming field, 2K has added items to enhance the gameplay and overall gaming experience.
In his report, IGN’s Nate Ahearn discusses:
- NBA Today. New feature which ties real-life NBA action into the game, allowing you keep tabs on the league and the current day’s games.
- Partnership with 82games.com. Similar to NBA Live’s partnership with Synergy Technologies, this allows the game to give realistic in-game tendencies to players.
- My Player. Single player career mode in which you can import your NBA 2K10: Draft Combine player or you can make a new one in NBA 2K10. Similar to EA Sports’ Be A Pro feature, you will get drafted and work your way up to become a starter, and hopefully an All-Star. There are no free agency or contract negotiations in My Player, but may be added to NBA 2K11.
- Gameplay changes: IsoMotion simplified, Turbo must be used sparingly to avoid depleting player energy, refinements to post-play, ability to access plays by position, defensive help additions (though Ahearn said he did not see this) and more. Another note-worthy addition is in-game saves. Often missing in next-gen sports games, this will allow gamers to leave their game if a pressing matter arrives and resume later.
NBA 2K10 Draft Combine Teaser Video
The NBA 2K10 Draft Combine hits XBL on August 26 and PSN on September 3. For just $5, this looks like a great way to get your basketball fix until NBA 2K10 (or NBA Live 10) hit store shelves.
