Pastapadre on NCAA Strategies Podcast

Time for another podcast as I joined Chris Jacobs from NCAA Strategies to discuss NCAA Basketball 09 as it nears release. Topics were pretty wide-ranging and include general demo impressions, the perception of the game and apathy towards it, whether enough was done to pull in the abandoned College Hoops crowd, and how college games have a distinctive disadvantage compared to their professional counterparts.

For all ways to listen to the podcast you can check out the posting on NCAA Strategies.

Fight Night Round 4 Updates

The first official Fight Night Round 4 footage will be shown during the broadcast of Spike TV’s Video Game Awards (VGAs). That is held live on December 14th at 9ET/6PT. If you haven’t seen the footage that leaked out of a Gamestop convention a couple months ago you can check that out here.

Some of the game’s developers set up a Youtube channel. For a short time it actually contained a look at in-game Mike Tyson but that was quickly removed. As of now it doesn’t have any game videos and probably won’t until after the Spike unveiling.

As to an official release date one has still not been set. Gamestop has adjusted the date in their system to 7/1 which is likely just a placeholder. FNR4 is still expected to be out sometime in Spring 2009.

NBA 2K9 Dominates Basketball Sales

The full Top 20 in sales for October has been released by NPD. NBA 2K9 placed at #9 with the 360 version selling 202,000 copies while the PS3 version came in at #17. Not even the 360 version of NBA Live 09 was able to reach the Top 20.

This is a huge increase year over year for the NBA 2K series. 2K8 didn’t make the Top 10 last year meaning it sold less than 117,000 copies on the 360. While many sports titles haven’t seemed to grow much with increased user base clearly this isn’t the case here. 2K9 has practically doubled 2K8’s first month results.

For the sake of comparison with another 2K Sports title, MLB 2K8 (360) sold 237,000 in it’s first month. However that was as a console exclusive. If NBA 2K9 had been the only basketball title available on the 360 it probably would’ve sold more in the area of 300,000+.

While it is no surprise that 2K9 would outsell Live on the 360, I doubt many would’ve expected 2K9’s PS3 version to top Live’s 360 as well. This is generally what happens though when a game starts being widely regarded as the preferred choice. Despite 2K9 not having the flashy features or marketing push it appears to have widened the margin between the two. Next year will show whether all these new purchasers will be loyal ones or if some of the problems that have been experienced so far this year (primarily with online play) open things up for Live to regain some ground.

2K Looking At Micro-Transaction and Subscription Possibilities

Amongst discussion on how multiple companies including EA are attempting to combat the lost revenue from used sales comes more talk on the subject, this time from the head of Take Two Strauss Zelnick. The presentation at the BMO Capital Market’s Conference was accompanied by the image above which uses the example of 2K Sports’ MLB series and how they could benefit from micro-transactions.

When EA Sports canceled many of the PC offerings for this year I predicted a move towards free-to-play with micro-transaction and subscription based or advertising supported gaming in the future for the PC. It’s what has been done successfully in Asia with games such as NBA Street Online. While that shift has been used to counter piracy the same goals behind it could provide another way to compensate for the lost sales that are largely being caused due to the practices of Gamestop.

EA’s NBA Live 365 may be a blueprint of what 2K is looking at providing in the future with their mention of “updated player and game stats”. EA’s initial hope was to provide the feature free this year via code and then charge for it in the future. I think right now it has become apparent that while it is an excellent feature, few would pay for it on top of the regular purchase of the game. It is a fine line to walk in offering expanded content but avoiding alienating the general consumers.

EA Sports doesn’t have much of a different view from Take Two on where things are headed. In an interview with Peter Moore he stated that the future of gaming includes “the EA Freestyle label, subscription-based gaming, heavily online-oriented titles, content creation tools, and digital distribution.”

Ultimately it is the consumer that will decide the direction these companies take. If the game is good, and the offered additional content is good, people will probably support it. If the game is a disappointment or if the content isn’t compelling then people won’t pay for it and the companies will take notice of that.

The DNA of a Trade

Lets look at the early returns from the Allen Iverson - Chauncey Billups swap through the latest in NBA Live 09 DNA via 365. As the year goes on it’ll display a more precise picture of how the trade changed the Nuggets and Pistons but it’s interesting to look at it even on the basis of the first couple games. Will the teams adapt more to the new player or the players to the system?

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Spots Open in Online Dynasty

There are now several spots open in the PP NCAA Football 09 online dynasty and I’m hoping to take on a few new owners. We are currently about 3/4 of the way through the second season and advancing at a rate of about every other night. You can check up on the dynasty through EASW at this link and putting in pastapadre as the commissioner (though the game results are often displayed with reverse outcome).

For anyone who is interested in joining the dynasty (360) leave your gamertag in the comments and top three preferred teams. Please understand that the dynasty will continue to move at about the pace of every other night with little deviance from that. If tasks remain uncompleted they will be simmed through and if an owner hasn’t attended to their team after a few weeks they’ll be removed. Also any teams currently in the dynasty’s Top 10 are not eligible to be chosen by new owners and I am hoping to keep things balanced to create as few head-to-head games as possible.

So I would place any new members with the team from their top three that would make for the best fit. Should you be taken on as a new owner I’ll send a message through XBL when the invite has been sent.

NCAA Basketball Info Rolling In

Fred over at SportsGamer has received a copy of NCAA Basketball 09 and is providing a good deal of content. Included are screenshots and video highlights via EA Sports World which you’ll have to view in the respective thread as they are not visible via the main areas of EASW as of yet. There are also basic impressions and dynasty details, lists of all the classic teams included, and the chance to ask questions about the game or ratings.

Questions and Impressions
EASW Vids and Screens
Ratings
List of Classic Teams

Madden 09 Roster Update #11 Details

Here are the details on the next roster update for Madden 09 which is set to be out on Friday. Included are all the transactions, ratings up/down, and injuries for the 11th update of the season. Not sure there is anything as significant in this as in prior ones with the possible exception of DeAngelo Hall joining the Redskins. Impressively they were able to jump on the latest transactions even including a signing that was announced only hours ago (Jason Babin with the Chiefs).

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Next EASHL Night

With the NHL 09 patch (details here) now out I wanted to arrange for another EASHL night. Hopefully Club Pasta Padre can string together a couple more wins. So meet up in the the dressing room beginning at 8et/5pt on Friday night. If you would like to join in and need an invite to the club (360) go ahead and leave your gamertag in the comments and I’ll get that out before start time. I’m looking at recording at least one of the games and posting it up on the site over the weekend.

MLB 2K9 Cover Goes to Tim Lincecum

Only hours after posting up the top candidates for the baseball game covers 2K Sports revealed their selection and cover art. It is Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants. With an 18-5 record and 2.62 ERA he was dominant on a poor team. He was selected to the All-Star team and was likely to be the starter but missed the game due to an illness. Earlier today he was announced as the NL Cy Young Award winner.

I left Lincecum out of my preview thinking he wasn’t recognizable enough, especially as a starting pitcher as the companies tend to go for offensive players. Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels seemed the most likely starters if one was to be taken. But Linecum’s numbers certainly justify his choosing. The one thing not factored in that probably should’ve been is that he plays nearby the 2K offices. Visual Concepts, which is now developing the series, is based just outside San Francisco.

Given that Lincecum grew up in my area and went to Washington I like the selection even though it is somewhat of a surprise. Needless to say it is refreshing to have 2K move away from New York teams. What are your thoughts on Lincecum’s selection?