The season premiere of South Park focused on the epidemic of “sex addiction” spreading throughout the country which of course made Tiger Woods the biggest target.  There was a good deal of free publicity for EA Sports as the show made reference to the company and Tiger Woods 11 on multiple occasions. I mean, even look at the cover art there, they got it accurate with Rory McIlroy included. As Cartman states “EA Sports outdid themselves this time” with the version of the game they are playing. The game popped up at different times throughout the episode, but continue on to check out the opening segment!

Most everyone has expected the Seahawks to draft the QB of the future this year, with Jimmy Clausen being the intriguing option that could still be available when the 6th pick is on the clock. However earlier today the team traded with the Chargers to acquire Charlie Whitehurst. In giving up 20 spots in the second round and a 3rd rounder in the 2011 draft, along with a two year $10 million contract, Seattle has made it clear that Whitehurst is going to have the opportunity to be that guy for them rather than grabbing one in the draft.

From the Seahawks standpoint the trade makes a lot of sense, though the price comes across as somewhat steep, particularly if they weren’t enamored with Jimmy Clausen. Giving up the equivalent of the last pick in the second round they get a guy who has been sitting and learning with a coach known for developing QBs. He was never going to break though in San Diego with Philip Rivers there. Though he’ll be 28 at the start of the season he has high potential and could be the QB of the future for the franchise. In getting him the team doesn’t risk the huge contract and use of a top draft pick on someone that would be even more of an unknown, though depending on evaluations maybe have a higher ceiling.

This also increases the possibility that Matt Hasselbeck could be traded. While I don’t see that happening it isn’t out of the realm of possibility. He is going into the last year of his contract and has had difficulty the past couple years staying healthy. More likely he’ll stay, getting a 4th or 5th rounder for him would not be worth more than having him on the roster, and should he get injured Whitehurst would get the chance to play. Depending on how he performs he might not give the job back, in a situation reminiscent of how Hasselbeck took over for Trent Dilfer.

What this means for the draft is that the #6 pick could be up for grabs to a team that wants Clausen, should he be available. The most likely suitors could be Cleveland or Buffalo who would only have to move up one or three spots respectively to grab him. If Seattle does not involve either of their two first round picks in a deal to get Brandon Marshall then they will likely take some combination of Eric Berry, CJ Spiller, Dez Bryant, or an offensive tackle.

SCEA has announced that a second patch for MLB 10: The Show will be released tomorrow. It includes fixes intended to address some of the issues pointed out by the community including ones experienced in franchise mode and intentional walks causing freezes online.

While we won’t know if this patch was quickly created in response to some of the backlash that came after stating work wouldn’t start on it until the end of the month, all that matters is that it is being delivered in a timely fashion and everyone should be pleased with that. Continue on to view the changes arriving in the patch and leave your thoughts in the comments!

• Fixed issue with the auto-fix feature in rosters not working correctly all the time when a downloaded roster was used.

• Fixed issue to accurately show the number of games in progress when looking at the game/lobby room list.

• Fixed issue causing players placed on trade waivers to not be withdrawn if claimed by a user controlled team (offline season).

• Fixed issues with attendance.

• Make sure players placed on release waivers retain their contracts until they clear waivers.

• Allow teams to send down a reliever and keep 2 closers on the roster.

• Only allow the CPU to trade a player once per season.

• Unranked Online Games should not count towards points, win/loss nor stats.

• Fixed issue causing trades to be offered by the user’s team even when set to MANUAL trades.

• Fix catcher throw decisions when AUTOTHROWING is on

• Create a player gets additional stances/deliveries

• Scout challenge from certain locations addressed.

• Intentional walk Online gameplay issue addressed.

• Merged Sounds of the show fix. Fix for overflow problem when storing more than 255 songs. This is referring to storing the songs in a playlist.

• Exiting chatroom fix after completing the game.

• Fixed bug with ball warping into fielder’s glove from the outfield on a line drive.

• Fix exiting Bullpen issue.

• Addressed issue with large attendance numbers being displayed properly.

• Fixed bug causing position players to be in the bullpen leading to an issue in franchise and career mode.

The first trailer featuring actual game footage has been released for EA Sports MMA. I’ve also added 16 screenshots into the gallery which show off some of the fighters, arenas, and entrances. There is still no release date for the game but it is expected out in the October-December quarter and with the trailer stating “late 2010″ it most likely will fall in November. Continue on to watch the video and leave your thoughts in the comments!

UFC Undisputed 2010 will be providing exclusive content in the PS3 version of the game. As of now these extras will not be available for the 360 even via downloadable content, though that could change down the line. The PS3 version will be receiving exclusive fighters as well as exclusive “Ultimate Fights”. Though these additions seem unlikely to change someone’s purchase from one version to the other they are notable enough to mention.

The “legends” (pictured above) who will be available only on the PS3 are Dan Severn, Jens Pulver, and Royce Gracie.  Severn and Gracie are no longer active in the UFC but are Hall of Famers.

While the 360 and PS3 will share the same base 15 “Ultimate Fights”, which provides an opportunity to recreate the great fights of the past, the PS3 will have an additional five.

UFC 18- Carlos Condit vs Martin Kampmann
UFC 60- Matt Hughes vs Royce Gracie
UFC 66- Keith Jardine vs Forrest Griffin
UFC 68- Martin Kampmann vs Drew McFredries
UFC 102- Nate Marquardt vs Demian Maia

It is always worthwhile to compare different elements of competing games and the visuals are initially the easiest to do so. I went ahead and grabbed screenshots of 20 popular MLB players in order to judge how well their faces were rendered in MLB 10: The Show and MLB 2K10. The screenshots were captured using the same method so as to eliminate any difference in quality produced by the screenshot features of the particular games.

Continue on to check out 10 of the players up against each other from MLB 10: The Show and MLB 2K10. The final set of 10 players will be posted later this week. MLB 10: The Show images are on the top and MLB 2K10 are on the bottom. Vote in the polls for which you think are better and leave your thoughts in the comments!

Ryan Howard

Manny Ramirez

Joe Mauer

Jonathan Papelbon

Brian Fuentes

Alfonso Soriano

Evan Longoria

Roy Halladay

Tim Lincecum

Mark Buehrle

The patch for MLB 2K10 has gone live on the Xbox 360 and the prompt to download will be presented when starting up the game. The most high profile changes that arrive with this patch include the addition of check swings, adjustments to manager AI on pulling pitchers, and fixing of the problem that has been preventing online ranked games from being played. Unfortunately it appears the PS3 version is being neglected as 2K Sports is unwilling to commit to a patch and may be planning to roll the changes seen in this first patch in with a second patch down the line.

For the detailed list of what the patch is delivering click here. After playing the game with the patch applied make sure to leave your thoughts on it in the comments!

2K Sports has released the details of the upcoming patch for MLB 2K10. The patch is currently in certification for the Xbox 360 and should be out within the next two weeks barring any complications being encountered during the process. (Update) The patch is expected to be released as early as tomorrow.

The patch adds in check swings, attempts to fix the problem of CPU pitchers staying in the game beyond reasonable pitch counts, and supposedly will resolve the major issue that has prevented ranked online games from being started. Hopefully whatever was done to make manager AI better overall applies to My Player mode as well where pitchers are left in far too long. One disappointing thing is no change to fielder arm strength which has been a big topic of discussion even going back as far as the demo.

There will be another patch for MLB 2K10 after this one that will include more community feedback. The PS3 however appears as though it is being treated differently. Though a patch has been promised there seems to be no urgency to deliver one. Continue on for the full list of changes in the upcoming patch for MLB 2K10 and leave your thoughts in the comments!

General

• Fixed Inside Edge Batter Breakdown letter grade assignments on screen (cosmetic issue previously only)

• The correct ‘Player of Game’ was not consistently being chosen. It is now.

• Player of Game not consistent for all dialogs & audio, should be now.

• Fix for bug where head morphs changed when changing hair-style/length in create a player, also addresses extremely odd looking faces generated using randomize head option in create a player.

• Post Season pause menu stat issue – batting averages will be from the season, not post season as it should be.

• The loading screen would display a playoff *race* key game message, rather than a playoff key game message.

• In ReelMaker a wipe would not appear properly the first time, but it appeared if you played the reel again. Fixed.

• There was a case where the user had to press the button through button twice to advance to the next pitch. The intended behavior is to only have to press the button once.

• There was a stray camera cut after action replays, before advancing to the next batter.

• Fixes a bug with player stat leaderboards over specific timeframes: Last 10 Games, Last 30 Days, This Month, Last Month

• Breaking the consecutive game hit streak record was not being recorded and displayed on the Records screen. It is now.

• Bug where batting averages like .27777778 were not rounded up to .278 in the batter intro overlay when displaying split stats like “career vs. pitcher”.

• Bug where franchise and career modes would display the incorrect year that players won a Gold Glove (shown in-game as “Top Fielder”) award.

Gameplay

• Added Check Swings.

• AI Pitcher will no longer throw special pitches in a clutch moment (intentional walks, etc.).

• Fixed batter batting without a bat.

• Improved wall climbs and catches at the wall.

• Strike Zones are updated when a pinch hitter is brought in.

• User was unable to throw after queuing a throw before playing a wall collision animation.

• Composure is always affected on a mound visit.

• The fielding shadow was not drawing correctly vertically against walls.

• Show the pitch break arrows in two player games.

• CPU pitchers were staying in too long/throwing too many pitches.

• Sometimes a player wouldn’t do a celebration.

• Incorrect 1st baseman behavior when a runner tried to advance from 3rd to home just as the 1B caught the ball.

• Umpires faced the wrong way when a runner stole 2nd

• Players would occasionally be called out on 2-man steal/pickoff animations when the ball didn’t actually touch them

• There were several issues with double play behavior when one of the players was significantly out of position

• Players had a hard time making running tags

• Outfielders would occasionally play a casual-looking queued throw animation while there was a runner advancing

• The user would occasionally be unable to throw the ball to 1st base after fielding the ball and stomping on 2nd for a double play

My Player

• Fix for a bug in My Player where the “Break a MLB single season record” hall of fame goal was not being marked as completed when the user broke a single season record.

• Fix for a bug in My Player where broken pitching records were labeled as hitter records and broken hitting records were labeled as pitcher records on the timeline.

• The spotlight indicator option was not working, when you turned it off in My Player Setup Options it was still appearing.

• When playing as a catcher in My Player when you had to field bunts they were being hit to hard and the pitcher was fielding them.

• There was a crash when returning to landing screen after first round playoff games in career mode when you have a post season goal.

• My Player: The camera is fixed / focused on a patch of grass / the field as the Game recap screen transitions onto the screen at the ending of a My player game and

• My Player not always being put in appropriate place to see him when we draw the End Game recap in My Player games.

• Base coaches are in sitting pose during clutch moments in My Player.

Online

• Fixed bug that caused players to end up on team select screen with no controller icons when trying to enter a Ranked Online Game.

• Online divergence bug caused by split stats being enabled in online games.

The major shakeup that Mike Holmgren is making in Cleveland is leading to a higher probability of trading up in the first round to grab either Sam Bradford or Jimmy Clausen. Today Holmgren even said that the team would consider drafting a QB at #7 or trading up to get one. The Browns have amassed a ton of draft picks as they now hold 12 of them including three third rounders. That surplus of draft picks sounds great but it would be a lot to ask to pay every one of them.

Looking at the draft value chart the Browns would need to give up a third rounder in order to swap picks with the Chiefs. That would put the Browns at #5 and in position to take one of the QBs if available, most likely Jimmy Clausen in that scenario. The Chiefs would be able to draft a left tackle at #7 such as a Bryan Bulaga. This is an idea I first floated in my last mock draft and would be aimed at getting ahead of the Seahawks would could be looking to take Clausen or trade their pick to a team that wants him.

Moving up to #3 to jump ahead of the Redskins would cost 700 points in the draft value chart. That is the equivalent of a late first rounder, so something along the lines of a 2nd and 3rd rounder would be the value they would have to give up to do so. Should both Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy go at #1 and #2 then the Bucs would probably be open to dropping down. That would mean Cleveland in all likelihood would be targeting Sam Bradford before the Redskins could grab him.

The Browns now have Seneca Wallace and Jake Delhomme, either one of which could be asked to hold down the fort for a year while a rookie QB is groomed to take over. Which one has the inside track to be the starter is up in the air right now. Delhomme has been paid like a starter, getting $7 million for the first year of his two year contract. Wallace though has knowledge of the offensive system that is being transitioned to.

Some big name players, considered past their prime, have moved to new teams. There has also been considerably more trading in this uncapped year due to the lack of unrestricted free agents. Continue on for a look at the players in their new uniforms along details of the transactions and if you missed them check out the first set and second set of screens.

Thomas Jones
Signs with Kansas City Chiefs
2 Years $5 Million
Final Madden 10 Overall Rating: 89

Jamal Williams
Signs with Denver Broncos
3 Years $16 Million
Final Madden 10 Overall Rating: 90

Brady Quinn
Traded to Denver Broncos
Final Madden 10 Overall Rating: 72

Will Witherspoon
Signs with Tennessee Titans
3 Years $11 Million
Final Madden 10 Overall Rating: 86

Antonio Bryant
Signs with Cincinnati Bengals
4 Years $28 Million
Final Madden 10 Overall Rating: 84

Marlin Jackson
Signs with Philadelphia Eagles
2Years $6 Million
Final Madden 10 Overall Rating: 82

Maake Kemoeatu
Signs with Washington Redskins
2 Years $7 Million
Final Madden 10 Overall Rating: 76

Larry Johnson
Signs with Washington Redskins
3 Years (up to) $12 Million
Final Madden 10 Overall Rating: 82

LaDainian Tomlinson
Signs with New York Jets
2 Years $5 Million
Final Madden 10 Overall Rating: 86

Ben Watson
Signs with Cleveland Browns
3 Years $12 Million
Final Madden 10 Overall Rating: 80

Jake Delhomme
Signs with Cleveland Browns
2 Years (First Year) $7 Million
Final Madden 10 Overall Rating: 72

Brodney Pool
Signs with New York Jets
1 Year $1 Million
Final Madden 10 Overall Rating: 73

Chris Baker
Signs with Seattle Seahawks
2 Years $5 million
Final Madden 10 Overall Rating: 79

Kamerion Wimbley
Traded to Oakland Raiders
Final Madden 10 Overall Rating: 78