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  • Midway: Tough Times Ahead for Wrestling, Hoops

    While Midway's financial troubles have been well-documented, it seems like the company is on the verge of rescue, thanks to a $33 million buyout from Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment. While that's probable good news for some in the company, the future of Midway sports titles is not as bright. Two of Midway's internal studios, Midway Newcastle and Midway San Diego, were not included in the sale and it's the latter that was responsible for the company's entry into the wrestling genre, TNA iMPACT!. According to Kotaku, while the Blitz license is part of the WB deal, Midway's arcade basketball series NBA Ballers and the TNA license are not. As pointed out in a recent Joystiq post, studios not named in the Warner Bros. deal have 60 days to find a buyer before they're shuttered.

    While the value of the Blitz brand is understandable, the future of the Ballers and TNA licenses are not so clear. Of the two, the Ballers series is clearly the lesser value--the last game in the series was poorly received by critics and fans alike and furthermore, the NBA license deal with Midway has apparently expired. To me, however, the larger problem is the genre itself. With EA Sports abandoning its NBA Street series (for now, at least), it seems that arcade hoops games have fallen out of fashion, making the likelihood of another Ballers game in the near future a slim one.

    Unfortunately, the same thing might just be happening in the wrestling genre as well. Last year's TNA iMPACT! was a decent debut, with a good roster of talent and gameplay that cast a pretty unfavorable light on the relatively ancient SmackDown! Vs. Raw engine. And if iMPACT's sales didn't impress (according to NPD, iMPACT! sold just under 300K copies on all platforms; by contrast, SmackDown! Vs Raw 2009 managed the same number on the Xbox 360 alone), at the very least, the game introduced some much-needed competition to the genre.

    Of course that was last year, and things have changed significantly since then. THQ has turned down the hype on the SmackDown vs. Raw series (we've yet to see anything significant on SmackDown! vs Raw 2010), instead focusing its sports marketing muscle on the newly introduced UFC Undisputed series. With THQ looking to gear up for a prolonged and fascinating fight with EA Sports' recently announced MMA game, and the ever-present licensing disputes between THQ, the WWE, and Jakks Pacific, it's understandable that the company wants to focus its energy on its hottest property and move the wrestling game into the background.

    None of this is particularly good news for Midway San Diego which is reportedly working on a follow-up to TNA iMPACT!. It's conceivable that someone could pick up the studio but, for now, it seems today's lean times--both for the studio and for wrestling games in general--will be tomorrow's lean times as well.

  • Tiger Woods PGA Tour: Less Van Pelt, More Online

    I've got some thoughts on Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and the upcoming browser-based Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online for PC and Mac. However, before I get to that, I've got to get this off my chest right now:

    Scott Van Pelt should not be in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11. The commentary in this year's game is rife with his flat-footed attempts at humor, his egg-headed wordplay, and his oily, winking delivery. Worst of all, a good chunk of the commentary is just plain wrong, having little to do with the action on screen. I'd sooner have a Greek chorus full of the shrieking harpy clones of David Feherty fill announcing duties in Tiger 11 than face the thought of SVP back in the booth for another season.

    Okay. I feel better. Now, on to my real point.

    --

    A good friend of mine, who hasn't played a console golf game since Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005, has become obsessed with Tiger 10. It's been interesting hearing his viewpoint on the game as someone who (unlike me) doesn't follow Tiger closely from year to year.

    More on Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online after the jump...

  • NBA 2K10: Ten Years of NBA 2K

    It's hard to believe that this year marks the ten year anniversary of the Dreamcast. I remember giddily anticipating the 9.9.99 release of what would be Sega's last hardware entry, if for no other reason than the release of NFL 2K, which still remains one of the most incredible sports games of all time. However, tucked just behind NFL 2K's September 1999 release was another sports game from the folks at Visual Concepts--NBA 2K, released in November of that year--which did nearly as much for basketball as its football brethren did for pigskin. Today, 2K announced a special limited edition version of its upcoming NBA 2K10--which, obviously, is the tenth game in the famed basketball series. To coincide with the announcement, we spoke with 2K's Vice President of Sports Development Jeff Thomas to get his thoughts on the history of the series, as well as what fans can expect from the limited edition version of 2K10.

    GameSpot: This being the tenth anniversary of the NBA 2K series, let's take it back to the beginning. What do you remember about the development of NBA 2K?

    Jeff Thomas: It was HARD! No, kidding aside, I remember being amazed at the power of the Dreamcast and what it was capable of doing. This was the start of it all.

    GS: What was building the team like? This being the first basketball game you made, how much "NBA 101" was required in order to get the team up to speed?

    JT: Building any development team is difficult but we were lucky to get people that had actual college basketball experience. I still hear the stories about taking "so and so" to the rim at the Purdue campus!

  • NCAA Football 10: Erin Andrews is Watching You


    If you're anything like me, you set aside a good chunk of your day in order to think about ESPN sideline reporter--and occasional EA Sports game personality--Erin Andrews. After all, what's not to like? She's smart, knows sports inside and out, and is a great interviewer to boot. Oh and she also happens to be attractive. Even if you spend too much time thinking about Andrews in real life, the tables will be turned in the upcoming NCAA Football 10, as Erin Andrews will be following you every step of the way in NCAA Football 10's newly rechristened career mode, known as Road to Glory.

    Road to Glory mode is essentially the old Campus Legend mode with a new coat of paint. From the outset, the goal is still the same here--you create a college player from scratch, take him through his high school playoffs, then get recruited by the school of your choice and begin your college football career. If that sounds familiar, the trappings that surround your player's journey have received a facelift. Here's some of the highlights:

    Erin is Watching You
    Erin Andrews hosts periodic Road to Glory updates that follow your progress every step of the way. From the moment you step on field at your school of choice, Andrews will be there to highlight your achievements in a series of video vignettes that put the focus squarely on your career.

    More on Road to Glory mode, after the jump...

  • Fight Night Round 4: Create a Boxer Highlights

    I first spotted this over at the great sports gaming blog, PastaPadre: a look at some of the amazing created boxers people are coming up with in Fight Night Round 4 using the photo face tools that first began in the Tiger Woods series. Our reviews editor Justin Calvert has been playing the game for the past few days and also mentioned to me some of the awesome user creations in the mode. Here's some of the highlights (or lowlights, depending on your point of view):

    Evander "Real Deal" Holyfield

    Rocky Balboa

    Barack Obama

    Borat

    Charles Bronson

    Chuck Norris

    Check out more of the highest-rated creations over at the Fight Night Round 4 section of the EA Sports World Web site.

  • iRacing: One Little Victory


    When playing iRacing, I'm reminded of a lyric from one of my favorite Rush songs, "One Little Victory":

    The measure of the moment
    In a difference of degree
    Just one little victory

    Starting out with this demanding PC racing sim, you take the victories where you can get them, even if they aren't victories at all. The sim--brought to life by cofounders John Henry (owner of the Boston Red Sox) and Dave Kaemmer (the long-time racing sim developer behind such classics as Grand Prix Legends and the NASCAR Racing series)--opened in August of last year to public use. Since then, it has amassed an impressive reputation and an even more impressive list of high-profile players, including such NASCAR stars as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and A. J. Allmendinger, as well as 1997 Formula One champion and 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve.

    Last week, the iRacing folks dropped by GameSpot HQ to give us a taste of the sim. I'd been aware of the game ever since its announcement--and wrote about it a few weeks back after the company announced a deal with NASCAR--but hadn't yet had a chance to try it for myself. And while speaking with Kaemmer about the game gave me some interesting insight into the technology behind the sim--particularly the laser-scanned tracks that minutely record and re-create every nook and cranny of such tracks as Laguna Seca, Road America, and Lime Rock Park--only cockpit time can give you the real story behind the game.

    Really, the term "game" doesn't fully apply to the PC-only iRacing.

    More on iRacing after the jump...

  • Cover Star: NCAA Basketball 10

    Name: Blake Griffin
    School: Oklahoma
    Position: PF
    2008/09 Stats: 22.7 PPG, 2.3 APG, 14.4 RPG, .375 3P%
    Accolades: John Wooden Award, Adolph Rupp Award, Oscar Robertson Award, AP All-American, AP Big 12 Player of the Year

    What do you think of Blake Griffin as the NCAA Basketball 10 cover star?

  • NHL 10: Talking Goals with Patrick Kane

    Patrick Kane remembers his first goals--both in the NHL and in EA Sports' long-running hockey series--with startling clarity. His first time finding the back of the net in the NHL was a shootout goal against an all-time great goaltender (more on that below). As for his first videogame goal, Kane remembers that one too.

    "It was probably [either] NHL 97 or NHL 98. I was a big [former Colorado Avalanche center and NHL 2004 cover star] Joe Sakic fan back then. So, I pretty much got him the puck every time and I'd try to [score with him]. It took me a couple of games to score my first goal when I first started playing, but the first goal I ever scored I was shooting with Sakic pretty much every time and I remember I think he was playing with [Sakic's teammate] Claude Lemieux and the shot I took--Sakic shot it, it went off Lemieux's pant leg and dribbled in, and that's the first goal I ever scored in my career."

    Of course, goals come pretty easily to Kane. The 20-year-old right winger with the Chicago Blackhawks has been impressive since his debut with the team back in 2007 (as the first overall pick in the NHL draft). This past season, he helped lead the Blackhawks to the playoffs and played in the 2009 NHL All-Star Game, his first of presumably many appearances in the game. During his hockey career, the Buffalo-native has locked up an impressive array of stats and acknowledgements, including the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's best rookie in 2008. This year, you can add another accolade to that list: cover star of EA Sports' upcoming NHL 10. This morning, I had a chance to speak with Kane over the phone as he and John Tavares (the concensus favorite to be the first overall pick in this year's NHL Draft) were giving interviews to the press on behalf of NHL 10.

    During our chat, Kane and I discussed videogames, his most memorable NHL moments so far, and scoring on Dominic Hasek.

    --

    GameSpot: You're in Toronto today doing press for the game. What's the day been like? Talk us through it.

    Patrick Kane: My itinerary said I had to play Tavares today, so I actually showed up a little bit earlier and practiced a little bit. I played a lot [of NHL 09] throughout the first half of the year, but the second half of the year I wasn't playing too [many] games. So I wanted to get all the [rough spots worked] out. The game is unbelievable. The cover I think is awesome--you know it's obviously an honor to be on that.

    But the game itself I feel is very realistic. You're playing along the boards, kicking the puck and things like that, which is very realistic to a real NHL game. You see the fans banging on the boards, the fans waving the towels in the playoff games. There are so many little things that are so cool. The fighting's a lot better. Last year, I think every pass was direct, tape-to-tape. [This year] If you can't make the pass tape-to-tape, you'll pass it into an area where the guy can get at it or go off the boards. There's a lot of good things that are a lot different that make the game more realistic.

    GS: The new first-person fighting is better than last year, but I would imagine it's not exactly the same as being in a real fight, right?

    Read Patrick's answer, and the rest of the interview, after the jump...

  • Fight Night Round 4: Send Your Questions

    We've been following the development of EA Sports' latest boxing game, Fight Night Round 4, very closely these last few months (most recently, in our extensive look at the game's Legacy Mode). With the game's release next week, I wanted to close down our preview coverage of the game by opening the floor up to you with what has now become a standard feature on this blog: Send your questions and I'll answer as many of them as I possibly can leading up to the game's release.

    While you're sending in your questions, I want to ask a few questions of you as well about the game:

    1) Where will you send the majority of your time in FN 4? In other words, what modes appeal to you most?

    2) Will you be using a real life boxer in Legacy Mode or will you be creating your own?

    3) Tell me about your plans for your created boxer? What weight class, what style of fighter, that sort of thing...

    So, what do you want to know about Fight Night Round 4?

  • NCAA Football 10: TeamBuilder Fixes and Dynasty DLC Update

    NCAA Football 10's road to release has been a rollercoaster so far. For every bit of good news, such as the release of the free-to-use TeamBuilder tool for creating schools from scratch, there's been a disappointing flipside, like significant roster problems in the game, or the news that we broke last week regarding microtransaction DLC in the game's offline and online dynasty modes. Today comes good news on all fronts: It seems that the NCAA team is listening to the considerable fan feedback that's come as a result of this news and are looking to make some changes.

    More on NCAA Football 10 after the jump...

  • NHL 2K10: First Look and Ovechkin on (Synthetic) Ice

    Las Vegas might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of the NHL, but that's just where 2K Sports held its latest motion capture event. In support of the its upcoming annual hockey game--NHL 2K10--the developers at 2K Sports set up an open-ice mo-cap event with 2K10 cover star (and Washington Capitals All-Star winger) Alex Ovechkin.

    I know what you're saying: Ice? In the middle of June? In Las Vegas? Outside? In this case, "ice" is a bit of a misnomer, as the outdoor half rink that was set up just in front of Caesar's Palace featured a synthetic ice that, at least from the look of things, skated like the real thing. During the event, mo-cap engineers looked to capture some of Ovechkin's best moves and, before the event began, 2K developers showed off an early build of their latest hockey game for the press.

    More on NHL 2K10 after the jump...

  • Fight Night Round 4: Hands-On With Legacy Mode

    The road to championship gold in Fight Night Round 4 is a long one, and that's no more evident than in Legacy mode. Like the rest of this fourth entry in the Fight Night series, Legacy mode is a revamp and reimagining of the straightforward career mode found in earlier versions of the game. And while there's nothing here that will totally reinvent career modes from the ground up, Legacy mode has enough significant improvements to make it one of the highlights in a game that looks to be filled with them.

    In fact, the nuts and bolts of Legacy mode are as clear-cut as can be: you create a boxer from scratch, train his skills on a periodic basis, enter him in as many fights as possible, and try to take his career from zero to hero. It's the refined presentation that tells the Legacy mode story--as well as the absolutely ludicrous amount of data the game records--that makes it so special.

    I started off my Legacy career by creating a heavyweight who was close to my 6'1" frame (a big mistake, I later learned, and will discuss a bit later).

    More on Legacy mode after the jump...

  • NHL 10: Emotion, Big Men, and Precision Passing

    Pick a fight with Sidney Crosby in NHL 10 and you'll get a fight, just not with Sid the Kid. More often than not you'll get Penguins' right-winger and notorious tough guy Bill Guerin quite literally in your face, thanks to NHL 10's first person fighting system. The "tough guy" aspects of NHL 10 come through loud and clear from the moment you step on the ice or, rather, as soon as the whistle blows. After all, just because a play on the ice is whistled dead doesn't mean it's over, as players will be able to get in a few good post-whistle hits just for safe measure.

    I saw NHL behind closed doors at E3 2009 a few weeks back. The very presence of the game at E3 was telling--despite the series has been on the rise over the past couple of years (including winning two straight Sports Games of the Year awards from GameSpot) its been absent from the show, until this year. Good critical response and good sales have contributed to that decision, but confidence in this year's entry certainly doesn't hurt either. While speaking with series producer David Littman at E3, the first thing we talked about was missing from NHL 09: emotion.


    "[Last year] we were missing that. We had really cool stuff you could do on offense, cool stuff you could do on defense. Every now and then you'd have a great game with your friends or you're playing in the EA Sports Hockey League, and its exciting. But the emotion wasn't in the game."

    More on NHL 10 after the jump...

  • NCAA Football 10: Microtransactions in Dynasty Mode

    It looks like NCAA Football 10 will be getting into the microtransaction game. This morning, while rummaging around the game's dynasty mode menus, I came across an option to "Add a Pipeline State" while setting up my Auburn dynasty. Clicking on that option took me to an XBL menu where, for 150 MS points (or roughly $1.87), I could add a maximum of one more pipeline state (of my choosing) to my recruitment map.

    Here's the description for the "Pipeline State Addition" as it appears in the game:

    "Pipeline States can help you recruit in an area while playing Dynasty Mode. After purchase you will be able to select a Pipeline State anywhere in the nation to give you another state to help you sign the top recruits. This will affect every team you control in Dynasty Mode and Online Dynasty Mode."

    In addition to choosing to buy the "Pipeline State Addition" boost individually, the game menu also gives you the choice to purchase "all dynasty accelerators". Choose this option and you're taken to another XBL menu where, for 1000 MS points ($12.50), you can purchase all of the dynasty mode boosts in the game.

    More on the dynasty mode microtransactions in NCAA Football 10, after the jump...

  • NCAA Football 10: Send Your Questions

    Christmas in June has arrived, as playable code of NCAA Football 10 was dropped on my desk today. Over the next few weeks, I'll be writing as much as possible on the game as we prepare for its release in mid-July. In the meantime, if you've got questions about the game, your favorite team or players, or anything else NCAA 10-related, put them in the comments below and I'll be glad to answer as many of them as I possibly can.

    One caveat to the above: All information on Road to Glory mode is under embargo until June 29 so I won't be able to answer anything about it until then. Other than that, fire away!

    Check out these exclusive gameplay movies of NCAA Football 10:

    Auburn vs. Arkansas #1

    More NCAA Football 10 gameplay movies after the jump.

  • Backbreaker: Every Play is Different

    While the makers of Backbreaker are loathe to make direct reference to the Madden series when talking about their game, the very fact that they're creating a football game in 2009 means that such comparisons are inevitable. The unlicensed football game, under development by the folks at NaturalMotion (better known for its behind-the-scenes game technology, namely the Euphoria 3D simulation engine that has been used in such games as Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Grand Theft Auto IV), is not just the first stand-alone retail game from the company, but one that is being carried as a football sim--one that looks to try to take back some of the market share dominated these last few years by EA Sports' juggernaut sports franchise.

    It's an uphill battle, to be certain. Not only does EA possess an exclusive stranglehold on arguably the most valuable sports license in the country (if not the world), but the Madden series has more than 20 years of development momentum behind it, with a loyal fan base of hardcore football experts and casual armchair quarterbacks alike. Announced several years ago, Backbreaker has only been seen behind closed doors--I last saw a very limited tech demo of the game back at the 2008 Games Convention in Leipzig. Last week, in Los Angeles for E3 2009, NaturalMotion representatives showed off the latest build of the game for the press; one that shows promise but still has a way to go before it's ready to be taken seriously as a Madden contender.

    The one aspect of Backbreaker that intrigued me above all else was the development team and, in particular, the team's country of origin.

    More on the game after the jump...

  • Pete Sampras Interview: Wimbledon, Nadal, and Grand Slam Tennis

    "Hey Brian, do you want to interview Pete Sampras?"

    The call came with just about ten minutes to go before the start of the EA press conference last Monday, just a day before the opening of E3 2009. I had found a good seat near the front at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles where the press conference was happening, had whipped open my laptop to take notes, and had my camera at the ready to snap photos. Then the call came in on my cell and threw me for a loop: Was I interested in interviewing the legendary tennis player, the best of his era, and arguably the best player of all time?

    Hell yes I was interested.

    Check out the full interview after the jump...

  • Madden NFL 10: Did EA Inadvertently Announce Online Franchise?

    Today, EA dropped the news that Madden NFL 10 will include online co-op play in the latest Madden documentary (see video below for details). And while that's news by itself, a phrase mentioned by senior designer Ian Cummings during the video drops a tantalizing hint as what's yet to come in Madden 10. Here's the relevant quote from the video:

    "[Online co-op] might attract a lot of different people to try out online who maybe they'll go try out online franchise after that."

    Look for more information on Madden NFL 10 on Monday, as well as a live demo of the game during GameSpot's E3 2009 stage show.

  • Fight Night Round 4: Hands-On With the Demo

    It's been a good week for the fight fans around GameSpot HQ. On Tuesday we had our GameSpot Community Game Night, featuring THQ's UFC 2009 Unleashed and today the demo for EA Sports' upcoming Fight Night Round 4 was released on Xbox Live. I also have preview code in my possession of Fight Night 4 but, due to embargoes, I won't be writing about the larger game until the week after E3.

    The FN 4 demo, which comes in north of 700 MB, features a full tutorial (using Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao) that gives you a basic run-through of the controls. From there, you can take play a three-round welterweight fight between Hatton and Pacquiao, which are the only fighters available in the demo. Interestingly, despite his reputation as perhaps the greatest pound-for-pound boxer in the business, Pacquaio is only rated an 85 overall (compared to an 81 overall for Hatton). The demo's sole fight venue is the Boardwalk Hall.


    A few of observations after playing several fights in the demo:

    Speed Kills
    No doubt about it, Fight Night Round 4 is running at a crisp 60 frames per second; one toe-to-toe flurry of punches in the center of the ring will tell you that. When compared to UFC and, especially, Fight Night Round 3, FN4 plays like a different beast altogether, with punches flying faster than round 1 of Hearns vs. Hagler.

    Check out the rest of this entry, after the jump...

  • Madden NFL 10: Updated Top Ten Position Players

    Last month, we had a chance to head to NYC to check out the unveiling of Madden NFL 10. At a special EA Sports reception that week, we got also got our first glimpses of the top ten player ratings at each position in the game. Today, ESPN released an updated list of the top ten players at each position and it seems like there have been some notable, if not mind-blowing, changes to the list.

    Some of the most notable changes:

    Quarterbacks
    Tony Romo, previously rated seventh overall, slipped to a tie for eighth position in the updated rankings, with an overall rating of 87. Eli Manning, previously rated #10 overall, has dropped out of the top ten QBs in the updated ratings. Carson Palmer, who was previously not rated in the top ten, now comes in tied for eighth overall with an 87 overall rating.

    Running Backs
    Brandon Jacobs, previously not rated has moved into the top ten RBs, with a 90 overall rating, as has the Jets' Thomas Jones (90 overall). In addition, Maurice Jones-Drew and Marion Barber have dropped out of the top ten.

    In addition, there were several notable ratings changes:

    - Adrian Peterson has moved from 98 overall to 97.
    - Michael Turner has moved from 97 overall to 95.
    - Brian Westbrook has moved from 97 overall to 94.
    - DeAngelo Williams has moved from 95 overall to 94.
    - Clinton Portis has moved from 94 overall to 93.
    - Steven Jackson has moved from 93 overall to 92.
    - Frank Gore has moved from 93 overall to 91.

    Tight Ends
    Zach Miller has moved into the top ten tight ends, with an overall rating of 86. Jeremy Shockey also enters the top ten with an overall rating of 86.

    - Heath Miller has moved from 90 overall to 88.

    Wide Receivers
    Wes Welker, originally rated a 93 overall has dropped out of the top 10. Terrell Owens, who was previously missing from the top 10 WRs, has now entered as the #10 overall with an overall rating of 91.

    Defensive Players
    Kevin Williams, Ray Lewis, and Julius Peppers enter the top 10 with 97 overall ratings. James Harrison, Adrian Wilson, and Justin Tuck have moved out of the top ten. They were previously rated 98 overall.

    - Jared Allen has moved from 99 overall to 98.
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