-
Madden 10 Roster Update #9 Details
Following a three week absence the next Madden 10 roster update is slated to release on Friday. This will be the ninth of the year which puts them about a month behind the pace that they were delivered last year. Madden 09 had 13 roster updates out before Thanksgiving.
There is a lot of significant movement in this update considering there has only been one in the previous five weeks. Included are changes to the team overalls. Jay Cutler surprisingly drops only four points to an 82, Jarius Byrd leaps from a 78 to an 85, JaMarcus Russell has been benched and falls to 65, and Brett Favre is now up to a 91. Chris Johnson has also shot all the way to 96.
Continue on for the full list of changes and leave your thoughts in the comments.
-
NCAA Basketball 10 First Dynamic Update
One issue that was being seen with the launch of NCAA Basketball 10 was with the dynamic update not coming through. That meant a lack of authentic schedules and the inability to play online if experiencing a download error. EA has since fixed this by providing a working update to bypass the error however it does not include the authentic schedules.
After contacting EA for information on this I have been informed that the first real dynamic update will be released next Tuesday morning. This means that the authentic schedules for the game will not arrive until that time. Not only is it disappointing that the schedules weren’t in to begin with but now unfortunately consumers are forced to wait a week before they are implemented.
-
MLB 10: The Show Top Cover Candidates
Last year the cover athlete for The Show was leaked on December 10th and officially confirmed on December 22nd. In all likelihood the announcement for MLB 10: The Show will come around the same time. Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Howard, and David Wright have adorned the cover of the last three editions of The Show. What players are positioned to be considered for the cover for MLB 10?
-
Nominees for VGA Awards
Earlier today the nominees for the 2009 Video Game Awards were announced. You can vote in all of the categories here. Two of them are sports related with the “Best Individual Sports Game” and “Best Team Sports Game”. The show will air Saturday December 12th on Spike.
For the “Best Individual Sports Game” the nominees are Fight Night Round 4, Tiger Woods 10, UFC 2009 Undisputed, and Wii Sports Resort. The “Best Team Sports Game” options are the same as last year with FIFA 10, Madden 10, NBA 2K10, and NHL 10.
The most glaring omission is in the team sports category which did not include MLB 09: The Show. While I still take issue with the game’s poor online play it deserves recognition for everything else it does right. It is probably more worthy of being in the running than NBA 2K10 and NHL 10.
Last year the two winners were Shaun White Snowboarding and NHL 09 which goes to show the winners are not necessarily based on popularity. FNR4 will probably battle with UFC 2009 for the individual sports title while FIFA 10 may take the team sports crown if it can get enough support to top Madden 10.
-
NCAA Basketball 10 Release Thoughts
While NCAA Basketball 10 released today it has been difficult for many to find copies. Apparently some shipping issues have kept it from reaching stores and it will be arriving in most locations tomorrow.
One person who was able to get a copy is Chris Jacobs over at ncaaStrategies. He has been posting some impressions up and plans to get some more videos up soon (one after the break). Head over and check out this thread to read through and ask any questions about the game.
-
Week 10 Ratings Change Suggestions
After taking three weeks off from Madden 10 roster updates there should be one arriving on Friday. Given that gap and only one update being released in the last five weeks it should be a very significant one. Keeping up on developments of the last few games are the week eight and week nine articles.
Sidney Rice continues his emergence as a #1 receiver in Minnesota with 201 yards against the Lions. Three of his last four games have included 136 yards, 176 yards, and now 201 which makes his 82 rating look on the low side. Josh Freeman may not have big stats but he has helped the Bucs become competitive. His current 70 rating will probably move up 3-5 points. Similar situation in Tennessee where a 71 rated Vince Young hasn’t been lighting it up but the team is 3-0 with him starting. I’ll bring up Chris Johnson again as he had yet another explosive game with 136 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving.
Jay Cutler may see the biggest decrease in the update. He now leads the league in INTs with 17, passing by and running away from Jake Delhomme in just one game. The 86 he has now certainly can’t be justified and he should probably fall into the high 70s. The only reason he won’t go lower is he still has the potential to turn it around. Joey Porter should see a fairly large decrease also from his 94. Not only was he benched due to off-the-field issues but his play has been sub-par all season and he may not make it back into the starting lineup. As incredible as Adrian Peterson is he will probably lose some from his carry rating after two more fumbles this weekend.
Larry Johnson has joined the Bengals and should be included in the update. The move doesn’t make much sense given the statements that he’ll be 4th on the team’s depth chart. A handful of players have hit the IR including Ellis Hobbs, Roy Williams (Cincy), and Jordan Gross. Also affected by injury is Brian Westbrook who’s status for the remainder of the season is in question after yet another concussion.
-
Chat With Randy Couture
This past weekend Randy Couture came out victorious over Brandon Vera at UFC 105. Despite his current involvement there it is EA Sports MMA that will include Couture. With promotion of the game (release in mid-2010) gearing up EA Sports is featuring some of the fighters involved in chat sessions.
The chat will begin at 3PM ET/12PM PT today (Tuesday) and it will run for one hour. This is not for discussion about the game instead the focus is on interaction with Couture.
The easiest way to follow the chat and participate can be found right here. Just enter this article and the chat application will be available. Those familiar with the last live blog I ran will recognize the chat format. You will be able to make comments and submit questions but those coordinating the chat will select what ultimately appears.
-
Early NBA Season Surprises
We are now approximately 12% of the way into the NBA season at which point some trends can start to be analyzed. I thought it would be interesting to look at how the player ratings have changed based on the results from the start of the season. The easiest way to do this is look at those who are clearly outperforming expectations and those who are disappointing. How have their ratings changed in NBA Live 10 and NBA 2K10 since the start of the season?
-
Evan Longoria Gets MLB 2K10 Cover
Evan Longoria has been revealed to be the cover athlete for 2K Sports MLB 2K10. As first reported at Kotaku four potential covers were included to be chosen from in a marketing survey with all being different variations of a Longoria cover. 2K has not made any official announcement and may not still for some time. For MLB 2K9 the announcement came on November 11th which was earlier than usual to coincide with and take advantage of the news that Tim Lincecum had won the Cy Young.
Longoria was one of the top possibilities last year coming off a Rookie of the Year award winning season in which his Tampa Bay Rays went to the World Series. The two baseball games chose Tim Lincecum and Dustin Pedroia instead. Longoria had a great 2009 season statistically batting .281 with 33 HRs and 113 RBIs and won his first Gold Glove. This is the first time that 2K has gone outside of an area that houses a headquarters for the company having stuck with players from New York and the Bay Area in the past.
-
What The Cuts Could Mean for EA Sports
The recent job cuts at EA are unlikely to have much if any effect on the majority of the yearly sports titles but one aspect of the company’s new strategy could very well change the landscape of sports gaming. EA is cutting the bottom third of their software lineup based on potential profitability. While that mostly applies other divisions of EA there are some games under the EA Sports label which could be reevaluated based on current sales and future prospects.
by 