The transition from a standard Franchise mode to Connected Careers with Madden NFL 13 was widely enjoyed but also loudly opposed. Omitting features that segments of consumers were passionate about – many were patched in later but the damage had been done – and not being able to easily communicate the evolution of Franchise concepts made it a contentious situation for EA Sports to handle. Now with Madden NFL 25 the mode has been renamed Connected Franchise and a number of additions and improvements made with the hopes of satisfying those who took issue with the mode last year.

That Owner Mode was a major feature for Madden NFL 25 has been known for a month but now there’s confirmation of importing draft classes returning to work with NCAA Football 14. Offline control of all 32 teams is also back and a transaction log – perhaps the biggest mistake of all that was left out last year – has been added. Adjusted XP levels should help make progression rate more realistic and new legends have been added to play through careers controlling. No mention of presentation upgrades however and the lack of in-game ties to league standings and developments were a major deficiency that needed addressing.

Earlier this morning FIFA 14 was confirmed to be shown at the Microsoft console reveal event tomorrow. Though it comes in less specific terms EA Sports seems to be confirming UFC to appear there as well. No word however has come on Madden or NBA Live yet.

The social media accounts for EA UFC are teasing the first news on the game – which we know won’t be releasing before April 2014 and likely to be only for the next generation consoles – to be out tomorrow. There is no way they’d be doing something independently which would be completely overshadowed by the Microsoft press event. It’s safe to say then it’ll also be shown or talked about to some extent along with FIFA.

That now multiple EA games will be at the Microsoft press conference will add even more fuel to the fire of exclusivity. There is clearly a strong relationship being cultivated heading into the next generation. The extent of what that means will be realized tomorrow.

There have been plenty of indications that EA would have a presence at the Microsoft press conference which is set for tomorrow to debut their new console. That has now been confirmed as FIFA 14 will be shown off at the event. Whether Madden and NBA Live will appear remains unknown – it’ll either happen there or at an E3 press conference on June 10.

The rumors over some form of exclusivity to Microsoft from EA continues to be an intriguing possibility but it would be hard to believe FIFA would fall under that scenario unless it was limited to extra content. If anything Sony has been the stronger partner for FIFA which is a juggernaut worldwide. Microsoft nabbing FIFA even just for this event however is a big move and indicates a closer relationship with EA than maybe Sony would prefer.

The Out of the Park Baseball series has long been the gold standard of management simulations. Though the release of an iOS version the last couple years has led to some additional exposure OOTP has still relied on word-of-mouth over traditional marketing. That has allowed them to focus on doing one thing and doing it very well – appealing to the hardcore baseball or management fan – rather than diluting the product as most major titles are forced to do in order to reach the largest audience possible. 

There is no doubt that Out of the Park Baseball 14 will be initially intimidating to novices. Understanding all the options at hand, how to reach them through navigation of the interface, and how to enact the changes desired is a process that takes time. The sheer depth can feel overwhelming and for some that may be difficult to get past. Once comfortable with those things however it becomes a game that is very difficult to step away from.

Most crucially OOTP provides the tools to craft the experience desired whether that be handling everything from managing down to each pitch in every game along with having fingerprints on every aspect of the organization to just generally overseeing and guiding the league or team. While this is a game built for the hardcore crowd it can be altered to deliver an experience that is far less labor-intensive as well.

I’ve found my sweet spot to be somewhere in between. Simming through the games, managing the rosters in the majors and to a lesser extent with the minor league affiliates, and paying some attention to scouting and the draft. Going much farther down the rabbit hole leaves my head spinning. Analyzing players based on numbers and shuffling rosters constantly would seem too much. That’s just fine though because task automation is right there to take care of it all.

Statistically the numbers produced shake out very realistically which obviously is a critical element to a management sim. The game takes such care with that it even features categories such as WAR (Wins Above Replacement). The only thing that has stood out is the number of injuries and impact on big name players. I’ve had to constantly deal with severe injuries decimating the roster. In the first season my top two pitchers were knocked out for 4+ months and several other high profile players headed to the 60-day DL. The rate of injuries may be realistic – and filling the holes in the roster becomes a challenge that can be fulfilling to meet – but it’s just seemed especially rough on my team.

Among the different ways to play are starting up this season with the current rosters (including named minor leaguers), playing years from the past through the historical mode, setting up a completely fictional league with all sorts of customization options, and online leagues. Without having played extensively last year its difficult to identify all the differences but work done to the scouting system is definitely notable. Other improvements such as the expanded avenues of player origin and enhanced real-time simulation system are also worth mentioning.

Though the prospective number of those interested in a game of this nature may be somewhat limited what it provides for those who fully dig in and invest the time is one of the richest and most authentic experiences on the market. Out of the Park Baseball 14 is available on the PC and Mac for $40 through the official website.

The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, links, deal alerts, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their own postings.

♦Remember to look out for the special Press Row Hangouts and Podcasts this coming week!
♦EA has ZERO games currently in development for the Wii U.
♦Description for WWE 2K14 at Amazon mentions The Rock and Bruno Sammartino.
♦EA Sports has posted a blog going into more on Madden NFL 25′s defensive improvements.
♦EA Sports has posted a blog going into more on NCAA Football 14′s Ultimate Team.
♦A special Press Row Podcast w/ Ben Haumiller about Ultimate Team in NCAA 14.
♦EA Sports has posted a blog going into more on NHL 14′s skating enhancements.
♦Tiger Woods (14) fell out of top 10 sales for April after charting 4th in 2012 and 5th in 2011.
♦Google is adding achievements and cloud saves to Android’s gaming platform.
♦The Mavericks are crowdsourcing for designs of their new uniforms.
♦Check out what the new Vikings stadium is going to look like.
♦ESPN rolled out a new NBA score bug today – expect to see it in NBA Live 14
♦Deal on Bioshock Infinite for today only $40 for 360/PS3 or $35 PC.

News and content that may have been missed from the last week around the site.

♦DVD/Blu-ray Releases This Week. Headlined by Side Effects and True Blood: Season 5.
♦Arrested Development S4 Trailer. The series returns on Netflix May 26.
♦Theatrical Trailer for Pacific Rim. The robot vs aliens film will release on July 12.
♦Zombieland Series Dead. Amazon passes after poor reaction to pilot.
♦Trailer for Sleepy Hollow. TV series from the Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci duo.
♦Trailers for Agents of SHIELD. The Marvel series will air on ABC in the fall.
♦Trailer for Riddick. The third film in the franchise starring Vin Diesel.

Notable in the announcement of the Madden NFL 25 Anniversary Edition was nothing being included to celebrate the history of the franchise. For what is intended to mark a milestone anniversary that it contains nothing about the past or from it is certainly perplexing. Instead something that would have made perfect sense packed in is being sold separately. 

The documentary NFL Madden 25 will release on the same day as the game. The NFL Films doc will profile the 25 years from Madden’s inception to where it stands today.

Everyone loves MADDEN! From the everyday gamer, to celebrities, to NFL players themselves simply stated MADDEN has become a phenomenon. Originally endorsed, and inspired by former head football coach and color commentator John Madden, the video game has changed the way people experience NFL football. From program evolution to a cultural juggernaut, Madden 25th Anniversary celebrates 25 years of EA Sports MADDEN NFL video game and follows it’s rise from ‘just another game’ to an iconic force woven deeply into the fabric of sports history.

Compare the Madden 25 Anniversary Edition which has Ultimate Team Packs and (as the current terms stand a potentially deceptive) DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket offer to Madden 09′s 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition. That one included NFL Head Coach 09 along with a playable Madden 93 and special video content. Madden 25 AE goes for $100 while Madden 09′s was only $90. Needless to say the value provided by the two would be perceived as drastically different by the majority of consumers.

The documentary is currently listed on Amazon for $21 on Blu-ray and $15 on DVD. Tell me again why this is not part of the Anniversary Edition of Madden NFL 25?

With zero games in development – there will be no FIFA or Madden or any titles from EA on Wii U this year – the system is in dire straits with dreadful sales, weak to non-existent third party support, and no reason for optimism that things could turn around. Now some insight on why companies are abandoning their efforts for the console has come from an EA Sports engineer at the EA Canada studio who calls the Wii U “crap”.

The tweets have predictably been deleted but the series of them can still be read in this Neogaf thread. The comments include how the family market has transitioned away from Nintendo to mobile and how the markets that matter are next-gen and mobile rather than a system that is “less powerful than an Xbox 360″. There really isn’t anything that observers haven’t surmised but pertinent coming from inside a studio that produced a Wii U game last year.

At this point the “why” of the matter simply comes down to sales. If the Wii U was building an install base that would support third party titles companies would be making them. Its failure however has made it an unprofitable venture to even just port over games from the 360/PS3.

This amazing gif is courtesy of SunhiLegend at Neogaf

After lying dormant for eight months since posting the announcement of NBA Live 13′s cancellation EA Sports today sent out a message via multiple NBA Live social platform accounts that NBA Live 14 is “coming to a court near you”.

The timing is notable as the tease emerges just days before the Microsoft next-gen console reveal which could very well feature an EA presence and is rumored to include some element of exclusivity among the announcements. Should nothing with EA materialize at that event game announcements are expected at E3 through the Microsoft press conference and the EA press conference – both of which take place on June 10.

Recent comments suggest NBA Live 14 is headed to the next generation of consoles where it can start fresh and build for the future. It will be an uphill battle after severely deteriorating consumer confidence with the aborted releases of NBA Elite 11 and Live 13. It will also have to face an entrenched competitor that only solidified its place as a cultural force the last three years when it was the only sim basketball game on the market.

Amazon today posted listings for the Anniversary Edition of Madden NFL 25 which will be exclusive to the online retailer. The special edition will include 17 packs for Ultimate Team distributed over 17 weeks (each features 2 rare players, 4 silver, and 4 bronze) and exclusive offers that will benefit very few for NFL Sunday Ticket. The price will be $100. 

♦For fans who are not currently DirecTV subscribers but are able to receive DirecTV service, they will receive a promo code entitling them to $10 off per month for their first year of service and one year of NFL Sunday Ticket Max at no additional charge.

♦For fans who are already DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket Max subscribers, you can access NFL Sunday Ticket on your computer, tablet, and mobile devices using your current DirecTV username and password.

♦For fans unable to receive DirecTV service, each Madden NFL 25 Anniversary Edition will include a unique code to access the 2013 regular season (17 weeks) trial of NFL Sunday Ticket on computers, tablets, and mobile devices- including access to the award-winning Red Zone Channel.

Keep in the mind that the third group – “fans unable to receive DirecTV service” – would be very limited in scope and not those who simply have cable instead of DirecTV. That is for the people who can’t get DirecTV where they live. So the Anniversary Edition of Madden NFL 25 will really only appeal to hardcore Ultimate Team players and those starting new service with DirecTV or that fall into that specific group that can’t get DTV even if they wanted to.

For $40 the savings might make sense for them. For everyone else there would be no reason to buy the special edition over the standard one. It’s especially perplexing that the Anniversary Edition of Madden wouldn’t include anything related to the franchise’s history.

If you do decide to purchase any version of Madden NFL 25 through Amazon doing so through this link helps to support the site and future giveaways!

[UPDATE] Under the current terms posted DTV has the right to reject access to the mobile service for anyone that has the ability to buy their full service but don’t have it and for those who are already subscribers but not to Sunday Ticket. Regardless of whether EA says that will or will not happen (they say it won’t) DTV is the one who will end up making the call come September. Unless the terms on the product page are changed there is risk in purchasing with the expectation of taking advantage of the Sunday Ticket deal. Considering DTV’s history of business practices, and the intentional language throughout the terms to give them these very clear outs, the Anniversary Edition can not be recommended at this time.

[UPDATE #2] I’ve now called in and spoken to DirecTV representatives, as have others, and been told unless verification is made determining you are unable to get DTV service where you live (based on satellite positioning or living in an apartment building) you will not be granted access to the anything this deal offers. Again…buyer beware unless the language of the terms is altered.

The latest edition of the Press Row Podcast includes discussion on the panel’s most dramatic sports gaming losses, complete analysis of the Ultimate Team news for NCAA Football 14 and the prospects for the mode, and responses to some listener questions. It’s definitely one of the best shows yet!

Check it out through iTunes or with the embedded player at Operation Sports. With the big Microsoft event on Tuesday the 21st look for the Press Row Hangout to air live that night for initial reactions and a special edition of the podcast to come later in the week!