News & Updates
  • Madden NFL 21 added to EA Play and Xbox Game Pass
    by
    Posted March 2nd, 2021 at 12:45 pm No Comments »

    Madden NFL 21 has been added to the EA Play subscription service on PlayStation and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on Xbox and PC. This is the first of the 2020 EA Sports games to be provided in full to subscribers and it includes all versions last-gen and next-gen.

    The timing this year was much later than has been the case in the past. The later releases of Madden on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X caused EA to pause the typical rollout prior to the Super Bowl and wait just about a month later to introduce the game to subscribers.

    EA Play, previously EA Access, launched on Xbox One in 2014 and finally on PlayStation 4 in 2019.  For $30 a year or $5 month-to-month, members get unlimited access to the back library of EA games on the console plus 10 hour trials with every EA game that begin five days before release and 10% savings on all digital purchases whether it be the actual games or microtransactions within them. In late 2020 EA Play rolled into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate which is arguably the best value in all of gaming retailing for $15 a month though deals are found often.

    Still to come are NHL 21 and FIFA 21 and they’ll likely find their way in sometime in April followed by EA Sports UFC 4 this summer.

  • Press Row Podcast: College Football is Back!
    by
    Posted February 3rd, 2021 at 7:00 am No Comments »

    EA Sports today announced that college football will be making a return to their portfolio of sports games. So that begs the questions like when will it arrive? What teams? What players? What history? Will there be a Dynasty Mode? Will there be Ultimate Team? Will it be a yearly release? We don’t have any of those answers definitively yet – but we take our best guess at them anyway while outlining expectations going forward.

    Check out the podcast through Apple Podcasts for iOS, on Android with the Stitcher app, or with Pocket Casts on iOS, Android, and Windows. The show can now also be found on Spotify! Subscribe and give the podcast five star reviews to help support the show. You can also listen with the streaming player found below.

  • EA Sports announces return of college football
    by
    Posted February 2nd, 2021 at 9:15 am No Comments »

    A nearly eight year stretch with no licensed college football video games will be coming to an end in the near future. EA Sports today announced college football is making its return. Read more

  • MLB The Show 21 to feature cross-platform play between PlayStation and Xbox
    by
    Posted February 1st, 2021 at 9:00 am No Comments »

    While the cover leak over the weekend confirmed what had long been expected – Fernando Tatis Jr. as the cover athlete and debut on Xbox – that has now been made official along with some additional details. MLB The Show 21 will release on April 20 with a price of $70 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and $60 on PS4 and Xbox One.

    The big news today is that The Show will be the first major licensed sports franchise to feature cross-platform play. Those on PlayStation will be able to play online with those on Xbox. Until now Rocket League and Super Mega Baseball were the titles to feature that ability.

    Also noteworthy is that year-to-year saves will no longer be supported for MLB 21. While this was a feature a small number of people have been utilizing and has been greatly appreciated, it has also to an extent prevented modes from being improved in dramatic fashion. Hopefully in exchange for losing year-to-year saves the likes of Franchise and Road to the Show will make a significant leap forward.

    The release date is about a month later than would be typical. There’s still uncertainty around the actual MLB season – when it’ll start, whether it’ll have a universal DH and expanded playoffs and other proposed changes – so that may be with that in mind to make adjustments in the weeks ahead that can then be ready for launch.

  • MLB The Show 21 leak confirms cover athlete and Xbox release
    by
    Posted January 30th, 2021 at 2:30 pm No Comments »

    Back in late 2019 MLB and Sony announced that the MLB The Show series would be going multi-platform in 2021. While details were scarce then and nothing new has been provided in the over 13 months since, the expectation has been that MLB The Show 21 would be making its debut on Xbox. Only the pandemic threw some uncertainty into the equation.

    Now thanks to a leak of the cover athlete, who in absolutely no surprise is Fernando Tatis Jr., it appears those on the Xbox Series X/Series S/One will have only a matter of weeks to wait for that to be realized. Read more

  • Details on second big Franchise Mode update for Madden NFL 21
    by
    Posted January 6th, 2021 at 8:00 am No Comments »

    The second of three planned updates to enhance the long-neglected Franchise Mode through Madden NFL 21 is scheduled to go out tomorrow. The first, which released in November, was significant in that it was the start of what was promised to materialize over the coming months but was far from being satisfying to those eager for improvements. This update though offers much more substance in the form of commissioner controls and draft logic improvements.

    The final patch is planned for February and will deliver improvements to trade logic and the addition of the tracking of each league’s history. Read more

  • Details on release of the first big next-gen patch for NBA 2K21
    by
    Posted December 16th, 2020 at 10:00 am No Comments »

    2K Sports this week pushed live the first significant update to the next-gen version of NBA 2K21 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. The patch has impact across the various major modes as well as on gameplay. Read more

  • Press Row Podcast: Next-Gen Madden and FIFA Impressions
    by
    Posted December 7th, 2020 at 8:00 am No Comments »

    Next-gen sports gaming is here in full! Rich and Bryan talk about their early impressions of Madden and FIFA on the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 – what’s different, what’s interesting, and what’s the overall feel?

    Check out the podcast through Apple Podcasts for iOS, on Android with the Stitcher app, or with Pocket Casts on iOS, Android, and Windows. The show can now also be found on Spotify! Subscribe and give the podcast five star reviews to help support the show. You can also listen with the streaming player found below.