Following a three week absence the next Madden 10 roster update is slated to release on Friday. This will be the ninth of the year which puts them about a month behind the pace that they were delivered last year. Madden 09 had 13 roster updates out before Thanksgiving.

There is a lot of significant movement in this update considering there has only been one in the previous five weeks. Included are changes to the team overalls. Jay Cutler surprisingly drops only four points to an 82, Jarius Byrd leaps from a 78 to an 85, JaMarcus Russell has been benched and falls to 65, and Brett Favre is now up to a 91. Chris Johnson has also shot all the way to 96.

Continue on for the full list of changes and leave your thoughts in the comments.

One issue that was being seen with the launch of NCAA Basketball 10 was with the dynamic update not coming through. That meant a lack of authentic schedules and the inability to play online if experiencing a download error. EA has since fixed this by providing a working update to bypass the error however it does not include the authentic schedules.

After contacting EA for information on this I have been informed that the first real dynamic update will be released next Tuesday morning. This means that the authentic schedules for the game will not arrive until that time. Not only is it disappointing that the schedules weren’t in to begin with but now unfortunately consumers are forced to wait a week before they are implemented.

Last year the cover athlete for The Show was leaked on December 10th and officially confirmed on December 22nd. In all likelihood the announcement for MLB 10: The Show will come around the same time.  Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Howard, and David Wright have adorned the cover of the last three editions of The Show. What players are positioned to be considered for the cover for MLB 10?

Top Position Players

1 – Joe Mauer, C, Twins
.365 AVG, 28 HR, 96 RBI

Very well could win the AL MVP. Led both leagues with a .365 average and won the Gold Glove at catcher. Helped lead the Twins to a comeback in the AL Central eventually winning the division in a one-game playoff. All around player that is well liked and could be easily marketed. Would allow The Show to feature a cover with a player outside the northeast region.

2 – Mark Teixeira, 1B, Yankees
.292 AVG, 39 HR, 122 RBI

Along with Mauer is at the top of the list of possible AL MVPs. Not only did he tie for the AL lead in home runs with 39 but he also won the Gold Glove at first base. A new face for the Yankees that helped power them towards the World Series victory. If someone from the Yankees was chosen for the cover though it would seem that an the World Series would have offered the perfect opportunity to announce it.

3 – Albert Pujols, 1B, Cardinals
.327 AVG, 47 HR, 135 RBI

Likely NL MVP winner making that the third time to come away with the award. His 47 home runs were tops in baseball.  One thing that could hold back Pujols is his history with other games. Generally, but not always, the companies look for a fresh face especially one that hasn’t been with the competition in the past. He has been on the cover of EA Sports’ MVP 2004 and 2K Sports’ The BIGS.

4 – Ichiro, CF, Mariners
.352 AVG, 11 HR, 46 RBI, 26 SB

Finished second in batting to Mauer with a .352 average and is another in the ranks of Gold Glove winners. Ichrio became the first player in history to have nine consecutive seasons with 200+ hits. In some cases a foreign player doesn’t make much sense to be a cover athlete especially when it comes to the promotion of the game. Generally companies would want someone with good English speaking skills. Ichiro is extremely marketable though and has proven himself to be entertaining as an interview and in commercials.

Top Pitchers

1 – Zack Greinke, SP, Royals
16-8, 2.16 ERA, 6 CG, 3 SHO

Greinke had to deal with playing for the Kansas City Royals and facing powerful AL lineups throughout the year yet still put up those stellar numbers. Ultimately it is hard to envision a Royals player making a cover though. There just isn’t a big enough following of the team. Even as a Cy Young winner he won’t be immediately recognized by the casual baseball crowd.

2 – Mariano Rivera, RP, Yankees
3-3, 44 SV, 5 Post-Season SV

A future Hall of Famer would make for a great cover. Coming off a year where he closed out the World Series makes him even more appealing. As with Teixeira though an opportunity to make an announcement during the WS passed which could be a sign that the cover hasn’t gone to a Yankees player.

3 – Felix Hernandez, SP, Mariners
19-5, 2.49 ERA, 2 CG, 1 SHO

Any other year Hernandez would have won the Cy Young. Tied for the league lead in wins with 19 but had only five losses on a team that did not have much offensive output. Young player that is coming into his own as a true staff ace.

4 – Roy Halladay, SP, Blue Jays
17-10, 2.79 ERA, 9 CG, 4 SHO

As steady as they come had another great year on a poor Jays team. Name was in the news throughout the season due to trade rumors. That may continue to be the case in 2010 which could be a positive or a negative depending on how you look at it. Probably hurt somewhat by playing in Toronto.

Prediction: Joe Mauer seems to be the most likely choice. For a dark horse selection Mariano Rivera.

Earlier today the nominees for the 2009 Video Game Awards were announced. You can vote in all of the categories here. Two of them are sports related with the “Best Individual Sports Game” and “Best Team Sports Game”. The show will air Saturday December 12th on Spike.

For the “Best Individual Sports Game” the nominees are Fight Night Round 4, Tiger Woods 10, UFC 2009 Undisputed, and Wii Sports Resort. The “Best Team Sports Game” options are the same as last year with FIFA 10, Madden 10, NBA 2K10, and NHL 10.

The most glaring omission is in the team sports category which did not include MLB 09: The Show. While I still take issue with the game’s poor online play it deserves recognition for everything else it does right. It is probably more worthy of being in the running than NBA 2K10 and NHL 10.

Last year the two winners were Shaun White Snowboarding and NHL 09 which goes to show the winners are not necessarily based on popularity. FNR4 will probably battle with UFC 2009 for the individual sports title while FIFA 10 may take the team sports crown if it can get enough support to top Madden 10.

While NCAA Basketball 10 released today it has been difficult for many to find copies. Apparently some shipping issues have kept it from reaching stores and it will be arriving in most locations tomorrow.

One person who was able to get a copy is Chris Jacobs over at ncaaStrategies. He has been posting some impressions up and plans to get some more videos up soon (one after the break). Head over and check out this thread to read through and ask any questions about the game.

Unfortunately because of the lack of media (outside of having a demo) or community interaction with NCAA Basketball 1o the first indications of how it has turned out may come from reviews. Websites have been embargoed from releasing reviews until tomorrow though IGN’s leaked early. They have given it a 7.8 basically stating that it is a collegiate version of NBA Live 10 with the enhanced presentation. One other issue being discussed amongst those with the game right now include the lack of authentic schedules. That should be fixed by the dynamic updates but the first should have already taken care of this.

Based on the demo I wouldn’t necessarily agree completely with the IGN description. While the games sharing an engine means they share some of the same problems, NCAA felt more wide-open and wasn’t as half-court based as Live. The most disappointing thing about the game to me is the lack of features. Live had Adidas Live Run, Online Team Play, and Dynamic Season. NCAA does not have any variation in online modes and didn’t implement an Online Dynasty or a career mode in the mold of Road to Glory. The game really needed to have some kind of pull outside of just implementing TV style presentation.

As I discussed in my earlier article the game just seems like it is being sent out to die. There is very little promotion and absolutely no hype around it even in places where you would expect some to be. While the market for college basketball games is tiny I would still expect to see more support from EA especially if they have plans for it to continue in the future. Again it calls into question whether the NCAA Basketball series will go on past this year. I do think it is likely there will be another “March Madness edition” available for download come tournament time though.

After taking three weeks off from Madden 10 roster updates there should be one arriving on Friday. Given that gap and only one update being released in the last five weeks it should be a very significant one. Keeping up on developments of the last few games are the week eight and week nine articles.

Sidney Rice continues his emergence as a #1 receiver in Minnesota with 201 yards against the Lions. Three of his last four games have included 136 yards, 176 yards, and now 201 which makes his 82 rating look on the low side. Josh Freeman may not have big stats but he has helped the Bucs become competitive. His current 70 rating will probably move up 3-5 points. Similar situation in Tennessee where a 71 rated Vince Young hasn’t been lighting it up but the team is 3-0 with him starting. I’ll bring up Chris Johnson again as he had yet another explosive game with 136 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving.

Jay Cutler may see the biggest decrease in the update. He now leads the league in INTs with 17, passing by and running away from Jake Delhomme in just one game. The 86 he has now certainly can’t be justified and he should probably fall into the high 70s. The only reason he won’t go lower is he still has the potential to turn it around. Joey Porter should see a fairly large decrease also from his 94. Not only was he benched due to off-the-field issues but his play has been sub-par all season and he may not make it back into the starting lineup. As incredible as Adrian Peterson is he will probably lose some from his carry rating after two more fumbles this weekend.

Larry Johnson has joined the Bengals and should be included in the update. The move doesn’t make much sense given the statements that he’ll be 4th on the team’s depth chart. A handful of players have hit the IR including Ellis Hobbs, Roy Williams (Cincy), and Jordan Gross. Also affected by injury is Brian Westbrook who’s status for the remainder of the season is in question after yet another concussion.

This past weekend Randy Couture came out victorious over Brandon Vera at UFC 105. Despite his current involvement there it is EA Sports MMA that will include Couture. With promotion of the game (release in mid-2010) gearing up EA Sports is featuring some of the fighters involved in chat sessions.

The chat will begin at 3PM ET/12PM PT today (Tuesday) and it will run for one hour. This is not for discussion about the game instead the focus is on interaction with Couture.

The easiest way to follow the chat and participate can be found right here. Just enter this article and the chat application will be available. Those familiar with the last live blog I ran will recognize the chat format. You will be able to make comments and submit questions but those coordinating the chat will select what ultimately appears.

We are now approximately 12% of the way into the NBA season at which point some trends can start to be analyzed. I thought it would be interesting to look at how the player ratings have changed based on the results from the start of the season. The easiest way to do this is look at those who are clearly outperforming expectations and those who are disappointing. How have their ratings changed in NBA Live 10 and NBA 2K10 since the start of the season?

Here are some of the players that have stood out to me or were suggested by others on Twitter. Their current and original overall ratings are listed.

Fast or surprising starts

Brandon Jennings 25.6 PPG, 5.1 APG
NBA Live 10: Current 70. Original 70. (No Change)
NBA 2K10: Current 74. Original 64. (+10)

Steve Nash 17.1 PPG, 11.8 APG
NBA Live 10: Current 88. Original 88. (No Change)
NBA 2K10: Current 80. Original 80. (No Change)

Tyreke Evans 16.8 PPG, 4.3 APG
NBA Live 10: Current 69. Original 69. (No Change)
NBA 2K10: Current 71. Original 71. (No Change)

Carmelo Anthony 29.7 PPG, 6.3 RPG
NBA Live 10: Current 90. Original 90. (No Change)
NBA 2K10: Current 91. Original 88. (+3)

Chris Kaman 22.0 PPG, 9.3 RPG
NBA Live 10: Current 74. Original 74. (No Change)
NBA 2K10: Current 72. Original 72. (No Change)

Slow or disappointing starts

Elton Brand 9.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG
NBA Live 10: Current 79. Original 79. (No Change)
NBA 2K10: Current 74. Original 77. (-3)

Shaquille O’Neal 11.3 PPG, 6.8 RPG
NBA Live 10: Current 83. Original 83. (No Change)
NBA 2K10: Current 81. Original 81. (No Change)

Hasheem Thabeet 0.6 PPG, 1.6 RPG
NBA Live 10: Current 72. Original 72. (No Change)
NBA 2K10: Current 57. Original 57. (No Change)

Stephen Curry 8.3 PPG, 4.4 APG
NBA Live 10: Current 73. Original 73. (No Change)
NBA 2K10: Current 69. Original 69. (No Change)

Kevin Garnett 13.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG
NBA Live 10: Current 90. Original 90. (No Change)
NBA 2K10: Current 87. Original 90. (-3)

Overall Analysis
Both the Synergy auto-updating for NBA Live 10 and the single person in charge of updating rosters for NBA 2K10 are somewhat unreliable. In Live’s case while Synergy is updating the rosters and tendencies after each game it has not resulted in any overall ratings changes which is very disappointing. Meanwhile NBA 2K10 is at least seeing adjustments to some players but others seem largely ignored and online play still uses the default roster as opposed to the most recent one. (Update) EA has stated that a full ratings update is coming this week.

Evan Longoria has been revealed to be the cover athlete for 2K Sports MLB 2K10. As first reported at Kotaku four potential covers were included to be chosen from in a marketing survey with all being different variations of a Longoria cover. 2K has not made any official announcement and may not still for some time. For MLB 2K9 the announcement came on November 11th which was earlier than usual to coincide with and take advantage of the news that Tim Lincecum had won the Cy Young.

Longoria was one of the top possibilities last year coming off a Rookie of the Year award winning season in which his Tampa Bay Rays went to the World Series. The two baseball games chose Tim Lincecum and Dustin Pedroia instead. Longoria had a great 2009 season statistically batting .281 with 33 HRs and 113 RBIs and won his first Gold Glove. This is the first time that 2K has gone outside of an area that houses a headquarters for the company having stuck with players from New York and the Bay Area in the past.

]]> http://www.pastapadre.com/2009/11/15/evan-longoria-gets-mlb-2k10-cover/feed 57 http://www.pastapadre.com/2009/11/14/what-the-cuts-could-mean-for-ea-sports http://www.pastapadre.com/2009/11/14/what-the-cuts-could-mean-for-ea-sports#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:31:52 +0000 pastapadre http://www.pastapadre.com/?p=13209

The recent job cuts at EA are unlikely to have much if any effect on the majority of the yearly sports titles but one aspect of the company’s new strategy could very well change the landscape of sports gaming. EA is cutting the bottom third of their software lineup based on potential profitability. While that mostly applies other divisions of EA there are some games under the EA Sports label which could be reevaluated based on current sales and future prospects.

EA has already gotten rid of Nascar from the slate and experiments like NFL Head Coach are not going to return. We’ve also seen the arcade offerings shift to the downloadable only method and that is likely to continue. There is the possibility of the WWE license being picked up and in a couple years EA will be back with an MLB game. The yearly sports titles are very lucrative with EA going out of their way to state that they are protecting them and most are going to be just fine but clearly there are some changes on the way.

Safe
Madden
FIFA
NCAA Football
EA Sports MMA
NHL
Tiger Woods
EA Sports Active

In Danger

NCAA Basketball – College basketball games have never sold well, thus why 2K Sports dropped their College Hoops franchise. The question now becomes whether there is enough support for even one game. NCAA Basketball is probably the most likely of these titles to get cut after this year unless the sales come in and are encouraging. Support for NCAA 10 in areas such as marketing have been weak and it almost feels like it has been sent out to die. That is not a good sign and the resources put into the game have clearly been limited. There is a legit chance that there will be no college basketball game out next year.

NBA Live – The top 20 NPD was released and NBA Live 10 did not even chart with the 360 version. That means the 360 sold about 100K leaving it to finish behind Madden 10’s third month and FIFA 10 on the PS3. Essentially it has gained little to nothing in sales while falling considerably farther behind the competition and now owns just 32% of the NBA gaming market. The cost of the NBA license and the money invested in this franchise has been heavy the last couple years.

If Live survives to have a Live 11, which indications right now are that it will, that will probably be the make-or-break year for the franchise. After gaining some ground this year in customer perception if it does not start to show significant progress in sales it will quite possibly be gone or there may be a reinvention to offer something totally different than the competition.

Fight Night – The first three iterations of Fight Night were huge. Then came FNR4 which never got any positive momentum and disappointed in sales. Signing boxers individually is costly. Sharing some resources with MMA will save some in development costs. Fight Night will probably not see a big revamp the next time around like it received for Round 4 to try and turn more of a profit. I don’t think Fight Night will go away as it will keep the every other year rotation with MMA but the resources may be regulated better next time around.

Madden Wii – No matter what EA does with Madden on the Wii it just can’t gain any traction. Despite the console continuing to sell at extraordinary rates Madden actually dropped from a meager 150K-ish opening month for every year of the Wii to just 60K in the first month this year. The NFL license may require that EA produces a game on the Wii and if they continue to force that look for the game to try something completely new yet again. It could just end up being a collection of mini-games which is about all that sells for 3rd party companies on the Wii.

Likely Cut

Grand Slam Tennis – Was originally planned to come to the 360 and PS3 but after a lukewarm reception on the Wii the momentum stalled and it was indefinitely delayed. Based on their comments a game like this would not make sense.