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Cover Tournament Expands to 64 Players for Madden NFL 13
The cover tournaments and voting campaigns have been a huge success for EA Sports. It gets the game in the news increasing awareness over a much larger span of time than a simple cover announcement while engaging fans at an early date.
For Madden NFL 13 the cover tournament is being blown up even bigger. 64 players will be eligible – 2 players from each team will face off in the entry round with the winner moving on to fill out the bracket of 32. The announcement of what players are eligible will come on March 7th.
What players do you hope are included from your favorite team? Leave your thoughts in the comments on who you’d like to see involved and who will be the favorites in the tournament!
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Ultimate Team in FIFA 12 Raking In the Cash
In an earnings call discussing the third quarter of fiscal year 2012 (October-December 2011) EA announced that through the first three months of release Ultimate Team mode in FIFA 12 generated $39 million in digital revenue. That represents an increase of 69% over the same period last year with FIFA 11. Combining with both FIFA 11 and FIFA 10 in the last year Ultimate Team mode has made EA over $100 million and the company expects FIFA 12 on its own to eventually generate $100 million in digital revenue.
The boasting over Ultimate Team’s success is still somewhat awkward considering how much it has been in the news due to the association with account thievery over the last four months or so. Both EA Sports and Microsoft will absolutely have to close the loophole that made FIFA such an attractive source of making money for those who gain access to the accounts of others.
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Madden NFL 12 Roster Update #21 Details
The second to last roster update for Madden NFL 12 is expected to go out for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 on Friday. Heading into the Super Bowl it primarily reflects the results of the Conference Championship games and those four teams that were involved while sprinkling in changes for a few other teams and also adjusting depth charts and removing injuries for the off-season.
Patrick Willis goes back up to 99 overall and two more players have joined the “clutch” trait club as in Justin Smith and Jimmy Graham. In terms of net players gaining over losing the Giants get a huge +15 with the Patriots +11 while the two losing teams take slight hits as the Ravens go -4 and 49ers -1. Continue on for all the details on this week’s Madden NFL 12 roster update and leave any thoughts in the comments! Read more
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Offensive Lineman Getting Extra Ratings Attention for Madden NFL 13
Though there is little to go on at this juncture regarding the extent to which it will ultimately develop a tweet from Donny Moore has revealed that ratings for offensive lineman will be getting worked on for Madden NFL 13. One of the gameplay interns is Clint Oldenburg, a former NFL and UFL offensive lineman, who apparently will be taking on the task of making lineman ratings more meaningful and better reflective of their true impact and influence. That’ll probably require a revamp rather than simply adjusting ratings under the current system.
This could amount to a significant enhancement to gameplay as the action in the trenches has been somewhat neglected over the years. Some would argue that ratings have meant absolutely nothing for offensive lineman – and regardless of whether the case or not it’s been obvious that there was little to no differentiation between them whether in performance or style. Either the offensive lineman would get beat terribly or they would hold their ground and either they would miss an assignment or they wouldn’t.
At the very least it’s encouraging to hear that offensive lineman ratings are going to be addressed in some manner but whether that is ultimately seen through completely and effectively will been open to interpretation down the line.
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Breaking Down the Various Pre-Order Options for UFC Undisputed 3
It has become the norm for retailers to offer pre-order incentives and in some cases exclusive ones. That is the case for UFC Undisputed 3 which presents consumers with a very difficult decision between the best value, the strongest content, and the biggest savings. Choosing one means giving up something else and that makes for a frustrating situation. Here is a summary of what is on the table for those considering a purchase of UFC 3.
•Amazon – Best Initial Value
A $10 promotional credit towards a future purchase at the online retailer is the main pull – while the deal also includes the “Ultimate Knockout Artist Boost Pack” to help build up a created fighter faster. Amazon doesn’t charge tax in most states, and release day shipping is free for Prime members or just $1 for non-members, so essentially up to about $16 could be saved when factoring those things in along with the promo credit. (360 – PS3)•Gamestop – Strongest Base Content
The offering made here is for four exclusive fighters (Nick Diaz, Phil Davis, ‘Mayhem’ Miller, and Brian Stann). They won’t be obtainable any other way until three months have passed when they’ll be offered as paid DLC. The downside is having to purchase from the worst retailer of the bunch and pay full price and tax. If those fighters are important though then it may be worth it.•THQ Store – Biggest Overall Savings
For those who plan to buy a good deal/all of the downloadable content the THQ store will present the best savings over the long run. Pre-orders there get the “season pass” for free (which will likely end up being worth $12-15). Though the store offers free shipping there is no delivery guarantee and many consumers were stuck waiting for weeks recently on orders of WWE 12 to arrive. So getting all the DLC (minus the four exclusive fighters) is appealing but probably only for those who won’t be stressed if the game doesn’t arrive on or immediately after release day.•Others: Walmart ($10 eGift card and “Knockout Pack”). Best Buy: Exclusive “Early Access Pack” for unlockables. Kmart: Still unknown.
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Giveaway: Guess the Super Bowl Score and MVP For Chance to Win $50 Gift Card
For a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card send me your predicted score and MVP winner for the Super Bowl by kickoff! In the case of a tie the MVP selection will be used to help break it and if that doesn’t do it then the winner will be randomly selected from qualifying entries.
For contact purposes all predictions directed at me on Twitter, posted on the Facebook page, or commented on Google Plus will qualify. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments but only entries that come through those social outlets will be considered for the contest. Good luck!
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Most UFC Undisputed 3 Fighter Ratings Now Available for Viewing
A few weeks ago the first fighter ratings for UFC Undisputed 3 made their way out with the focus primarily on the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. Today THQ made a sweeping update to their roster profile page which now includes the ratings breakdown for every fighter in the game - speed, strength, cardio, and footwork along with the nine offensive and defensive individual skill categories. Eight heavyweights, eight middleweights, and the majority of the Pride roster are still to come as the site gets completely updated.
Some of the fighter ratings appear to have just slightly changed for the final version. Jon Jones comes in still as the highest at 94 overall, Anderson Silva and Jose Aldo follow right behind at 93, Georges St-Pierre and Dominick Cruz top their respective divisions at 92, while Urijah Faber, Frankie Edgar, and Cain Velasquez sit at 91.
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NBA Jam: On Fire Edition Finally Gets Its First Roster Update
It took until practically a third of the NBA season was complete, and pressure from outside sources, but EA Sports has finally met their obligation to provide at least one roster update for NBA Jam: On Fire Edition after advertising it as a feature. An update arrived today and can be grabbed by going to the ‘Online Arena’ section of the game.
Don’t expect much out of this roster update though. Players have been moved around – the Chris Paul and Blake Griffin tandem is now available – but as anticipated it’s all the same players and no new ones (such as any rookies) have been added to the mix.
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Your Anticipation Towards February’s Games
After a four month void of new sports game releases – it’s hard to believe it has been that long – February essentially kicks off the 2012 season with a trio of offerings. The 14th brings UFC Undisputed 3 after nearly a two year gap in the series as well as EA Sports’ Grand Slam Tennis 2 (their first tennis title on 360/PS3) while the reboot of the popular SSX series arrives on the 28th. Vote in the poll on which game or games you’re looking forward to and plan to buy and leave any thoughts in the comments!
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Madden Bowl XVIII to be Broadcast Live
The live Madden Bowl broadcast last year was widely ridiculed and rightfully so (see my review). It was an unmitigated disaster. Not only was the programming dull – primarily filler with very little footage of the athletes actually playing Madden – but obscene messages were on full display throughout the evening.
EA and ESPN will hopefully be better prepared and provide more relevant content for Madden Bowl XVIII which takes place in Indianapolis on Thursday. Coverage begins at 9ET/6PT on ESPN3 – which can be accessed through the Xbox Live app (which has proven to be excellent) or on the web.
Once again teams of three will compete in Online Team Play mode. That makes it possible to involve more athletes and celebrities but in turn has taken some of the personality out of the competition while Team Play was more relevant last year as a new feature than with Madden NFL 12. Grouping in this manner also means fewer total games which is part of what made the previous Madden Bowl rely so much on unrelated fluff pieces and interviews.
Will you be tuning in to Madden Bowl XVIII on Thursday night – or do you have no interest or lost it after last year’s debacle?
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