Madden 09 Custom Team Online Competition

So when I got to figuring out what type of event I’d like to run for Madden 09 there were several possibilities. With how enjoyable the NCAA online dynasty has been this would be something to look forward to.

The first thought was an online league given the addition to the game this year, but ultimately those are almost guaranteed to fail and more frustrating than fun. I definitely wouldn’t have the time to commit to running one.

But then I fell back on something I did last year regarding the use of custom teams online. It incorporates the idea drafting a team, though not going to the extent of drafting every player.

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Paint Booth Contest

Through 6/22 I will be accepting entries for a Nascar 09 Paint Booth contest. The great thing about this is you don’t even necessarily need the game to create designs. To take part you’ll have to be a registered user of EA Sports World and from there go to the Nascar page and follow the instructions on how to create a skin for a car. You can choose from the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, or Craftsman Truck Series.

The goal is to create a car that represents and/or advertises pastapadre.com and there will be no limit to the number of entries any single person can send in. Using the Paint Booth feature create the design and then email me the dds file. I will then upload the file to EA Sports World and take screenshots of them to use for the voting. The address to send them to is pastapadrecontest@gmail.com

In the week after the 22nd I will be posting up a handful of my favorite car designs along with a poll for the community to vote on which is the best. All entries sent in will be displayed in the forum even if they weren’t selected to be in the final voting so everyone can check them out. The pastapadre.com car design with the most votes will be awarded a $30 gift certificate for Amazon.com which will be sent via email once the winner is declared.

Good luck, have fun, and I’m looking forward to seeing the creative designs that roll in!

NBA Live 08 OTP night one

This evening brings the first PP NBA Live 08 OTP night (360) and thanks to the voting we have the matchups for the two scheduled games. The time to be there is 5pt/8et with the first game starting up promptly (even if not completely full).

Head to the user created room pastapadre and the password will be OTP. From there I will create the game and send invites. I believe I’ll have to invite from my friends list so once in the room and situated send me a friend request if you aren’t already on my list. At that point the other nine participants for the game will be determined (first come first serve basis). Anyone who makes it in late is of course free to run another game.

Based on the voting the games for the evening will be:

1. Magic @ Celtics (approximately 5pt/8et)
2. Mavericks @ Suns (following the end of the first game)

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MM08 online event taking place tonight

Utopia College Sports is coordinating a March Madness 08 online event that will take place Thursday January 24th and includes both the 360 and PS3. Meet up with fellow members of the March Madness community as well as some EA Sports employees and get some good quality games in.

To join in head online between 7pm and midnight eastern (4-9PT) and enter the created lobby room named Utopia. The password will be: challenge.

For more information or to post game recaps visit the thread over at Utopia.

First NBA Live 08 OTP nights

The voting has been going now for a few days and it has come in strongly towards Friday and Saturday. So this week lets shoot for opening up a lobby room on both nights and trying to get a couple good games of Online Team Play in on the 360.

360 permitting (status is questionable right now) I’ll be able to hop on both evenings at 5pt/8et and play through at least one if not two games. I’d likely record at least one to post up on the site soon after completion. Spots won’t be held they’ll just be filled until all 10 positions are controlled or until the group decides to go ahead and start. If there are more people looking to play there could always be more games running.

Given that most of the team matchups I’ve been involved in so far were somewhat boring lets vote on the first game. I think I’ll be happy as long as San Antonio and Cleveland aren’t used. I’ve added a few pairings that seem like they’d be fun and would keep everyone interested regardless of position controlled. After the first game it could just be determined on the spot what teams are used but I figured it would be a good idea to plan ahead on the first one. Late on Thursday or early Friday I’ll post up more details on the first night as well as a poll for the first game to be played on the second night.

NBA Live 08 OTP Night

With the recent release of Online Team Play for NBA Live 08 on the 360 it seemed natural to coordinate a night where everyone can hop on and find some quality OTP action. I’m going to be posting up my impressions of the mode by Monday but after having completed a couple games I can say it’s an extremely fun and a unique experience.

There may be some prizes given away randomly however this is not so much a competition as it is a get together just for some fun games. Hopefully we’ll be able to have some full five on five contests going and get good variety in teams used and positions/players controlled. I may even record some of the games and post recaps along with them.

I’ve added a poll below. The night with the highest % of votes will likely become the PP NBA Live OTP Night. Generally the time to meet up will be somewhere in the 8-10 ET range although that can vary based on demand.

NFL Tour Tournament Results

Thanks to everyone who took part in the tournament. It went relatively smoothly and turned out to be a lot of fun. It was nice having a large group in just enjoying the games. The lack of time commitment for each one was a real benefit to coordinating and completing the tournament successfully.

Here is the final bracket.

After starting with 15 teams it came down to the championship game which saw pigskin18 (Cowboys) taking on elmira express (Seahawks). By a score of 29-20 it was elmira express with the victory. He wins the Kevin Durant autographed March Madness 08 cover and 360 copy of the game.

In his four games, elmira express won by an average of only 4.25 points. Two of the victories were by only two points. Elsewhere in the tournament there were only a couple blowouts. For the most part the games were very competitive with several coming down to the final play.

Then elmira took me on in a bonus game which I recorded. Continue on to watch the videos as broken down by half. The game turned out to be a great one that also went down to the wire.

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NFL Tour Tournament Details

Here are the final details for the NFL Tour Online Tournament taking place this evening. Make sure to read through them and then check out the bracket at the end.

-Games are to be played on default settings (ranked games) and with Tour passing. If both players were to decide to use classic passing that is fine, otherwise Tour passing should be used.

-Meet in the lobby room I will have set up. Go to the lobbies and scroll down to user created. The name will be pastapadre and the password will be tour. The room will be up from 15 minutes before the tournament starts throughout the end. If it is not up feel free to open it up. If you advance to the next round head right back to the room to get set for your next game.

-A no-show will result in a forfeit advancing the team that was available to play at the scheduled time.

-Please go to the My Tour section in the online menu, my online info and enter your email address and change forward end of game stats to yes. Following your game please forward me that email. I would like to have the scores and stats to post in the tournament recap. This isn’t required but would be nice to have.

-The winner of each game should send me a text message through Xbox Live or a message in the lobby room following the game just saying they have won so I can update the bracket as things progress.

Below is the full bracket with players (by gamertag), teams used, and schedule. Two players were randomly drawn to receive the byes in the first round. However if anyone else signs up for the tournament before the start I can add them in and remove the byes. (UPDATE: Only one bye remains.) The remaining seeds were determined via random draw as well setting up the matchups. Times listed are eastern.

NFL Tour Online Tournament

NFL Tour Online Tournament

I am hoping to organize an NFL Tour Online Tournament for the Xbox 360 on the evening of Friday January 11th. If a date next week works better for the majority of people it can be switched until then. However in the meantime we’ll shoot for tomorrow night.

The tournament will be made up of up to 16 participants and will begin at 9pm ET/6pm PT. Because NFL Tour games go by so quickly (most end up being about 10-15 minutes) the potential time commitment would not be that great. You would need to plan to have at the most two hours free.

The prize for winning the tournament is a March Madness 08 cover autographed by Kevin Durant along with a copy of the game for the 360.

The winner of the tournament will also then have the opportunity to play me for the right to win a small bonus prize. This game will be recorded and posted on the site following its completion along with the complete results of the tournament.

In order to be considered please send me an email with information such as your name, Gamertag, assurances that you’ll show up and be available for approximately 1-2 hours beginning at 6pm PT on Friday night (or a better night next week if you can’t make it), and your top four choices of team to use.

I will post an update with the finalized date/time, game rules/settings, and tournament bracket early on Friday.

Update: Looking for at least one, but also could be three or five more entrants. Currently have 11. Feel free to send me an email with your information if you’d like to participate and I will get back to you by early afternoon with the latest.

Utopia EASW Bowl Photo Challenge

Through January 9th Utopia College Sports is running an EA Sports World photo contest. Simply take a screenshot from one of the Bowl matchups and post it in the contest thread. By doing so you are entered for a chance to win prizes which will be randomly drawn. More than one submission can be made to increase the chance of winning a prize.

You can check out the thread with the full details, view other entries, and post your own by visiting here.

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