Thursday, October 25, 2007

Madden 08 Patch coming.

The Madden 08 Producer's blog has been updated with information about an upcoming patch. Here are the highlights:

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.


Of note to me are the fumble fix and the DB AI. How a football game can be released where the DBs CAN react to the ball without seeing it is beyond me. We will have to wait and see if this patch actually makes the game playable. It might be worth a rent when this patch drops.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Xbox Live coming to India.

I wonder who they will outsource tech support to?

Microsoft India has announced that its Xbox Live service will be available in the country on November 5, with exclusive local content.

Live users will be able to download already-released UTV Bollywood films as well as trailers of 'Hanuman Returns' and content related to the upcoming Harman Baweja film 'Love Story 2050.'

As with Xbox Live services in other countries, there will be Silver and Gold memberships available.

Microsoft also announced a "rent a game" service for which the company has partnered with a film rental company called Seventymm. "Rent a game" will enable Xbox Live users to rent the latest Xbox 360 titles for a fixed number of days.

"We have just celebrated the first anniversary of Xbox 360 in the country this year and it is with a celebratory spirit that we offer our Indian consumers even more entertainment options on Xbox 360." said Robbie Bach, global president of Microsoft's E&D Division.

"This is not only a firm reiteration of our commitment to the Indian market, but also an exciting foray into connecting our Indian consumers to a world of 7 million Xbox LIVE members around the world."

PS3 Owners (all 12 of you) grab this while it's hot.

Bethesda Softworks Announces

The Elder Scrolls® IV: Shivering Isles™

PLAYSTATION®3 Retail Disc

Official Expansion Disc to Award-Winning Role Playing Game to be Available Next Month


October 24, 2007 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax Media company, announced today that it will release The Elder Scrolls® IV: Shivering Isles™ for PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system from SCEA at retail. This standalone disc will allow gamers who already own The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion to experience the award-winning expansion.

This new retail product follows the October release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion® Game of the Year Edition (GotY) for PLAYSTATION®3 system, which includes the Shivering Isles expansion. Originally released in March 2006 for Windows and Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and in March 2007 for PLAYSTATION®3 system, Oblivion has already earned countless awards from publications around the world and won numerous Game of the Year and RPG of the Year awards.

Oblivion features a powerful combination of free-form gameplay, unprecedented graphics, cutting edge AI, character voices by acting legends Patrick Stewart, Sean Bean, Terrance Stamp, and Lynda Carter, and an award-winning soundtrack. Gamers can choose to unravel Oblivion’s epic narrative at their own pace or explore the vast world in search of their own unique challenges.

With more than 30 hours of new gameplay, Shivering Isles allows you to explore an entirely new plane of Oblivion – the realm of Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness. Shivering Isles features a bizarre landscape split between the two sides – Mania and Dementia –filled with vast, twisting dungeons mirroring the roots of the trees they are buried within. Sheogorath himself looks to you to be his champion and defend his realm and its inhabitants from destruction as you discover all new items, ingredients, spells, and much more.

Shivering Isles for PLAYSTATION®3 system is scheduled to ship on November 20, 2007 and is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For more information on Oblivion, Shivering Isles, or The Elder Scrolls, visit www.elderscrolls.com.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Pirates of the Burning Sea

ARRR MATEYS!

PIRATES OF THE BURNING SEA™ RETAIL PRE-ORDER

TO START OCTOBER 23

WHAT:

Pirates of the Burning Sea, the MMORPG featuring high seas action and adventure in a bold world of pirates and plunder, is scheduled to be available for pre-order starting Tuesday, October 23rd at participating retail locations.

PRE ORDER

FEATURES:


Players who pre-order the game will receive the following:

* An invitation to the “Pre-Boarding Party” allowing them access to the live game up to 15 days prior to launch, and the ability to keep their characters, skills and equipment after launch with purchase of game and paid subscription (characters will have a level cap of 20 during the pre-boarding party)

* Captain’s Best Friend – a blue and yellow parrot
* Mighty Blades - Swedish Rapier, Old World Steel or Musketeer’s Matching Blades (depending upon which fighting style is selected)
* Original Game Soundtrack CD – 60 minutes of pirate themed music (comes in pre-order box)

WHEN:

Pirates of the Burning Sea is scheduled to be available for preorder in North America on Tuesday, October 23, 2007. A European pre-order date has not been set at this time.

For more pre-order information on Pirates of the Burning Sea log onto www.piratesoftheburningsea.com

ABOUT PIRATES OF THE BURNING SEA:

Pirates of the Burning Sea is an MMORPG featuring high seas action and adventure in a bold world of pirates and plunder. Set against the backdrop of the New World of the 18th Century, players can choose one of three nations – England, France or Spain – or choose the role of a Pirate and battle it out for glory and power.

With Halloween coming ....

Here is a little Even Stevphen for your viewing pleasure.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Bill Abner waxes elloquent on Sports Gaming...

"Sports gamers are trapped inside the industry's version of The Matrix. The fact we see "new" games every year almost guarantees only so much can be done, not only to add new features but also to fix problems from the previous edition. Each year, the hole gets deeper, and it gets harder for people not to see the spoon, as it were. As problems go unfixed, and new features are added, many of them also badly in need of fixes, it gets more and more difficult to justify spending upwards of $60 every year to buy the latest version.

This is all about money, obviously. In any sort of rational scenario, we'd see "new" sports games released every two years, and in the off years a roster update and a patch to fix the most egregious errors from the old game. But that's crazy talk!"


For the whole story go here.