EA GameShow impressions

I have a major problem with EA Sports GameShow. It is way too addictive. I didn’t expect to be, but I got hooked on it within minutes of firing it up. I had planned to feel it out and run through a couple of the sessions, but ended up staying on for almost four hours right through the end of the live broadcast portion of the day.

I used to enjoy trivia type games. I loved the different versions of You Don’t Know Jack when I was younger, but I didn’t anticipate having that same interest now. I had followed along with some of the info on GameShow but almost felt indifferent towards it. But now having tried it out, it has far exceeded my expectations in every area and I really didn’t want to stop playing. And that isn’t a feeling that I’ve had much of over the past couple years.

As I mentioned in the previous posting, it took about 6 minutes to download the program and was quick and easy to install. After a minor hiccup with the EA ID I started it up and right away was amused that they have some funny statements that display as its loading (such as Chuck Norris “facts”).

Once in you’re asked for a state you want to represent. It doesn’t have to be your home state, but I’d assume most would choose theirs as I did. After that, one of your available rooms will be for that state. You can also go in and edit your options which includes selecting your favorite teams for different sports. Once I entered in mine new rooms appeared in my list for each. So for example I could’ve gone into a room for Washington or Seattle Seahawks. I believe you can set up private rooms as well. No matter what room you are in you will represent the state/region you originally signed in with.

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Details on the Madden patch

As I previously posted, the second (and more significant) patch for Madden 08 is on the way. In a producer blog the details of what will be fixed with this patch were revealed.

Fumble Fix - Reduced fumble chances in certain situations. This has been tested thoroughly and we feel that people will be happy with a more realistic (and more fun!) number of fumbles. This was priority number 1 for us.

DB Reactions- changes to the way that DBs play man coverage. Defenders in man coverage won’t be able to react to passes that they cannot see. This should make it easier to throw against man coverage.

Favre “Moonwalk”- I love the names that you guys come up with for issues such as this one. You can rest assured that you won’t see Farve (or any QB) dancing toward the sideline anymore.

Hook Zone Flip Bug- I saw a post on a community forum talking about this bug and it turns out the fix was very minimal risk. You can now flip plays with hook zones without the players leaving their zones.

Franchise - Fixed NCAA import issue where players would turn 26

Franchise - Fixed bug where HOF Unlocked players cannot be released in Franchise.

I’m looking forward to going back and playing the game now that the fumbles will have been adjusted. That was one of the first things I noticed at the Community Day and has hampered the experience for me ever since. I just wish they had toned down the kickoff power and frequency of injuries also. The change to DB reaction comes as a pleasant surprise. I’m checking into franchise freeze issues (which weren’t listed) and will post up when I hear back on that subject.

*Update* EA has clarified the details of the patch. It does in fact include the fix to franchise mode. Click here to see the remaining items the patch fixes.

EA GameShow has fully launched

It appears that the launch of EA GameShow has come and gone under the radar. It had been in closed beta for a short while but now is fully operational and open for anyone to play. The free sports trivia PC game is now available for download at the official website.

You’ll need to create an EA ID, but if you already have one you’ll be able to skip that step. I have no idea how my EA ID wasn’t already registered but it didn’t come up so I had to do that anyway. Then download and install the program. The 161.5 MB download took about 6 minutes for me.

The live host aspect of this is really cool (I’ve added the times below for that) and the rest of the time it goes through “reruns” where the point totals you can score aren’t as high as during the live periods. Trivia sessions amount to 15 questions over the span of about 15 minutes. There are a few 15 second ads that will play after a handful of questions as GameShow is free due to the advertising support.

If you try it out make sure to return and post your feedback on it. It’s something that I could pass along to the team working on it and I’d be interested to hear what everyone thinks. I’ll be posting my impressions once I get enough time in with it, and I’ll be on during some of the live session today.

Live-Hosted Session
Monday 7pm - 1am
Tuesday 7pm - 1am
Wednesday 7pm - 1am
Thursday 7pm - 1am
Friday 5pm - 2am
Saturday 6pm - 2am
Sunday 6pm - 1am

Music-only Sessions (no host)
2 hours before and 1 hour after every normal, live-hosted session

No Programming Session (no music or host)
All other times

PC Requirements
Windows XP (SP2) or Windows Vista
DirectX 9.0c or later
512MB of RAM (1GB for Windows Vista)
A processor speed of at least 1.4GHz*
Video card with 128MB VRAM (ATI or NVIDIA recommended)
Broadband Internet connection (Cable, DSL, etc.)
500 MB of hard drive space

A ton of details on FIFA Street 3

There is an excellent interview over at Totalvideogames with FIFA Street 3 producer Joe Nickolls. It goes into great detail on many aspects of the game from the technical side (such as using the NBA Street: Homecourt engine and using the AI from the FIFA series) to talking about many of the game modes and how it can be compared to the previous FIFA Street games. You can check out the full interview here.

Various media sites have also posted up their hands-on impressions which are a little more general but come from a different perspective. 1Up, Gamespot, and IGN all posted up their initial previews.

I have submitted some questions of my own and hope to hear back on those soon as well.

March Madness 08 top 25 teams and demo details

EA has revealed the top 25 rated teams for March Madness 08 as well as given information on the upcoming release of a demo.

The demo, which will be available for both the 360 and PS3, will come out in November. It will feature #6 Louisville vs #8 Kentucky. (November 19th is the day)

EA SPORTS today named the University of Memphis Tigers, an NCAA Tournament Elite Eight finisher a year ago, the top rated team in NCAA March Madness 08. EA SPORTS named the Tigers No. 1 based on a computer-generated preseason poll from the NCAA March Madness 08 game engine that ranked the Tigers as the top team in NCAA Division I men’s basketball, followed by UCLA (2), Georgetown (3), North Carolina (4) and Kansas (5).

This year the development team at EA SPORTS worked with ESPN college basketball analyst Doug Gottlieb, research staff at ESPN and college basketball coaches across the country to determine detailed ratings for every team in the game in order to create accurate ratings that deliver an authentic experience while playing NCAA March Madness 08.

Continue on to view the top 25 list.

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FIFA 08 online team play download nearing release

In an interview at letsplayfifa.com with producer Joe Booth, the Be a Pro mode is discussed including the downloadable update that will allow for any combination up to the five on five online play.

This update had been targeted to come out 6-8 weeks following release of the game. However it now appears that it is going to be here early.

Be A Pro: Online Team Play is going to be downloaded content released in late October/early November. When you log-on through your console on that date the game will tell you this mode is now ready to download, and most importantly, it is going to be free.

In the interview he goes on to detail how different the game feels when played through that mode.

I’ve been playing FIFA a long time but to be able to play with a group of friends – and you have to organize yourself well – is a very different experience. The Offline Training helps you understand what your responsibilities are in the game but it is not until you get in that live situation where you have your teammate shouting at you that it really starts to replicate the pressure of a real-world game. It is really cool.

And that is something that I definitely agree with after playing co-op with The BIGS. It is a totally different experience when you have to rely on teammates and they on you. I know a lot of people worry about ball hogs or various forms of troublemakers being on their team but when you have a good group of people together it will really take it to another level. You feel a certain level of pressure not to screw up because you don’t want to let your teammates down and take flak for it later. This mode should be a lot of fun, and if it works properly with minimal to no lag, I’m certain it will be received very well.

Complete details of Madden 08 roster update #4

The next roster update (#4) for the 360 and PS3 versions of Madden 08 came out on Wednesday October 24th. There are a bunch of changes to weapons and ratings along with transactions and moves to the IR. There are even explanations included for each change this time!

Details on all roster updates released throughout the year can be found here.

Continue on to view all of the details of the latest roster update.

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Patch for Madden 08 nearly here

I have been able to confirm that the highly anticipated patch for Madden 08 (360 and PS3) has reached the certification stage. That means should the testing be completed smoothly it will be released in the very near future. I would expect it within the next two weeks.

This coming patch, as I noted about a month ago, is expected to address more highly publicized issues than the first patch did. That includes the abnormally high rate of fumbles and freezes in franchise mode. Once it is released I should have a detailed list of what the patch addressed.

FIFA Street 3 details, trailer, and screenshots

Today brought the release of the first details on, screenshots, and official trailer for FIFA Street 3. The game, which is due out sometime in Spring, will be making the jump to the 360 and PS3.

The third chapter in the FIFA Street series creates a fast-paced and larger-than-life arcade football experience for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. FIFA Street 3 creates a hyper-real world that merges the game’s biggest stars with environments that pulsate to the music in exotic locales around the world.

Featuring over 250 of the world’s best players representing 18 of the top international teams, each player has been rendered into a stylized caricature with heroic qualities. Decked out in authentic training kits, every player boasts their own, distinctive style of play with unique abilities to match. Whether you’re after brawn, brains, silky skills or crunching tackles to complete your team, the perfect street player is out there. Choose from Tricksters, Enforcers, Playmakers and Finishers to give you different options on the ball and make your mark on the street.

Using the same engine as the critically acclaimed NBA STREET Homecourt basketball arcade game, combined with the market-leading AI from FIFA 08, FIFA Street 3 delivers animations and ball control that enables you to take complete control of your players with a responsive and intuitive control system that makes it easier than ever to pull off sensational moves. Use the simple button configuration and analog stick to seamlessly combine moves – providing you with hundreds of different ways to show off your street skills. Fill up your all-new Game Breaker to power your ultimate abilities and express yourself like never before. Maneuver your players to leap past defenders, flip off walls, or perform gravity-defying one-timers to score spectacular goals.

I never played the first two FIFA Street games and from what I’ve read I don’t think I really missed out on much. I still think that there is always potential for a game such as this to be fun as some fans of the sport as well as general sports gamers may not have interest playing as methodically as the regular simulation FIFA games require.

Check out the screens in the gallery and continue on to view the trailer which features a solo Ronaldinho performing tricks.

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Comparing the player faces in the NBA games

Gamespot has posted a feature comparing the faces of a handful of players in the three NBA games and allowing for readers to vote on which is the best. You can check it out here.

While the general consensus is that Live 08 has the best overall graphics of the three, 2K8 does have a better representation of some of the players, and NBA 08 is just plain out of its league in every comparison to an embarrassing degree.

I pretty much agree with the way the voting went on each player, although I may prefer Live’s version of Dwyane Wade. Overall out of the 12 players featured, Live and 2K8 split it evenly.