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Unlock the real NFL teams in All-Pro 2K8 [update 1]
2K Sports' latest venture into the football game market All-Pro Football 2K8 has been met with a mediocre response from both reviewers and fans alike. Yes, it could be because the game has gameplay issues or because it lacks many common features, but we like to think that subconsciously people have been hard on the game because it doesn't include NFL teams. We're thinking the lack of recognizable NFL team names is causing everyone to hate on All-Pro 2K8, but friends we have a solution. Phil tipped us off on a simple way to get your favorite NFL team imported into the game, simply by entering a code. Just find your team's code on his website, enter it into All-Pro Football 2K8 and soon you'll be playing as your favorite NFL team. Yup, it's that easy. Now you can go back to enjoying your time with All-Pro 2K8 that is unless the game is fundamentally flawed, then we've just helped you put on a new coat of paint to hide its dents and dings.Update 1: It looks like these "unlocks" are simply codes to download fan made uniforms that mirror that of the NFL teams. They are still nifty, but not quite official. Sorry for the confusion.
APF 2K8 and Nascar demos hit Marketplace
If you've been on the fence about purchasing either All Pro Football 2K8 or Nascar 08 -- we wouldn't blame you if you were -- you'll be happy to know that there are now demos for both available on Xbox Live Marketplace. You might want to clear a little space on the the ol' hard drive if you want both of 'em. Nascar 08 will set you back about 600MB and All Pro Football 2K8 will take up nearly 700MB. Unless, of course, you're rocking the 120GB HDD, in which case you can download these demos with impunity.
APF 2K8 reel editor now on XBLM, why?
An interesting item has popped up on Xbox Live Marketplace for All Pro Football 2K8. The item is a called the "reel editor." This item, as its name implies, allows players to create and edit replays in order to create personal highlight reels. Sounds pretty cool, right? We actually think it's a great idea. We have one question, though: why is this on Xbox Live Marketplace? Shouldn't this be an included feature in the game? Considering the game has only been out for a few days, we find it hard to believe this reel editor couldn't have made it into the retail disc. What's more, we're expected to pay 400 points for it? Sounds like unnecessary roughness to us.
New MLB 2K7 stadiums will cost you
Previously, 2K Sports treated you to a free Olympic Stadium MLB 2K7 download, but now they're going to make you pay. Up on the Marketplace are six new stadiums to download for MLB 2K7 offered up in four convenient packages. The six stadiums (Sportsman's Park, Forbes Field, Griffith Stadium, Shibe Park, Polo Grounds and Crosley Field) can be purchased bundled together for 800 Microsoft points or in three seperate "two packs" for 300 Microsoft points each. So, if purchased together you'd save 100 Microsoft points making each stadium roughly 133 points. In "two packs" it works out to be 150 points a stadium. Get that? If you have the extra cash and really think paying a few bucks for a stadium is worth it, then go baseball fan go and spend away.
Win Cult of Rapture gamer pictures
The uber exclusive and Bioshock worshipping Cult of Rapture trusted us enough to giveaway a set of rare Cult of Rapture gamer pictures to one lucky fanboy. These gamer pictures are only available to the most honorable and fanatical of Bioshock fanboys and are not purchasable off the XBLM. Let's just say you'd be the belle of the Bioshock fanboy ball if you sport these gamer pictures.Anyway, the Cult of Rapture wants us to giveaway the gamer pictures to one worthy Bioshock fan and so, this is how you can win. From now until tonight at 9:00PM eastern, comment on this post telling us exactly why you're worthy of representing the Cult of Rapture and Bioshock. Tonight, we'll randomly choose a winner and send them the code. And, if you're curious, you can preview said gamer pictures over at the Cult of Rapture's website. Only the most hardcore of Bioshock fanboys need apply ... comment away.
1UP: 360 football games to run faster than PS3
Football is a game of split second decisions, and simulating the sport on the Xbox 360 will soon let you split those seconds more finely. 1UP is reporting that this summer's major pigskin simulators -- EA's Madden NFL 08 and NCAA Football 2008 and 2K Sports' All-Pro Football 2K8 -- will run at 60 frames per second on the Xbox 360 and 30 frames per second on the PS3. The move represents a jump from previous Madden games, which ran at 30 frames per second on all platforms, including the Xbox 360 and PS3. While the additional frames mean smoother, more fluid animation in the 360 versions, it's still unclear how the jump will impact graphical fidelity or resolution. A comparison between both versions of last year's Madden 07 conducted by Gamespot showed the 360 version had "sharper textures on the character models in the close-up shots shown between plays." In comparing this year's games, 1UP simply stated that "All-Pro Football 2K8 definitely runs better on Xbox 360." The reasons behind this frame rate difference are hard to pin down. Todd Sitrin, EA Vice President of Marketing Sports Branding, told 1UP that there are trade offs in designing football simulations and that "every company making a football game this year made a decision that the best experience for the Xbox 360 included 60fps whereas the best experience for the PS3 was 30fps." Extra time and familiarity with the Xbox 360 hardware could have influenced the development, as could the purported difficulty in programming for the PS3's multi-processor architecture. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
60 FPS: Football will be better on the 360
1UP is reporting that all the heavy hitting football games coming out this year (Madden 08, NCAA Football 08, and All-Pro Football 2K8) will be running best on the Xbox 360. 30 frames smoother to be exact. 1UP says that they've confirmed with developers that the 360 versions of each football game will run at a buttery smooth 60 frames per second while the PS3 version will have to settle for 30 frames per second. What does that mean? Well, it means animations will be smoother, faster and less jarring than the PS3 version. And that's a good thing.We aren't sure why the PS3 versions of the games are stuck at 30 FPS, but we're thinking the dev teams just didn't find it worth the extra cash to optimize it for the platform. But even if that were the case it should still put a feather in Microsoft's ego cap, because it would just further prove that the 360 is easier to develop for.
Video: the legends of All-Pro Football 2K8
A new trailer for All-Pro Football 2K8 has surfaced (the debut trailer is now available on Marketplace as well). This latest trailer introduces gamers to some of the legendary players that will be available in the upcoming game. The video shows off Joe Montana, Dick Butkus, Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, and William "The Refrigerator" Perry. According to the video, the final game will boast over 240 legendary players, which we're assuming means there will be less than 250. We have to admit, at this point, we're really digging the presentation of All-Pro quite a bit.
Free Olympic Stadium download for MLB 2K7
It's time to dust of your copy of MLB 2K7, because there is free content to download. Make your way to the XBLM and download the Olympic Stadium for free as it's the first of presumably more in the MLB 2K7 stadium Classic Collection. And our European friends will be happy to know that the free stadium download is only available to US and Canadian Xbox Live members. But it's not like you've ever been shafted before. Honestly, we just worry that the 2K Sports labor strikes didn't make this in-game stadium structurally unsound or prevent it from having a retractable roof. That would just be bad.
Watch Ace Combat 6 and The Bigs on XBLM
A couple of new trailers landed on Xbox Live Marketplace this morning. First we have a trailer for Ace Combat 6, it's the same cheesy trailer we saw released before, with lots of American pride and important-sounding music (think Armageddon). Our favorite moment is when a woman's voice breaks through the chaos: "I don't know a whole lot about war, but there's something I need to tell you." Yes, the cheese-factor is strong with this one. The Bigs trailer, on the other hand, is straight up balls-to-bat action (still no demo, by the way). You've got big, beefy players, flaming baseballs, and home runs so powerful that they could bring down small aircraft. For those of you without access to your 360, we've embedded it at the top of the post. Enjoy.
Get The Darkness for only $49.99
Doing a second pass over our Sunday newspaper ads, we noticed that Circuit City is offering The Darkness for ten bucks cheaper than retail. This week, both online and in-store, The Darkness is available for the low, low price of $49.99, but doesn't include the 2K Sports Darkling like Gamestop offers. Oh well, $10 is $10, so save some cash and pick the game up over at the city of circuits unless you are hell-bent on getting the 2K Sports Darkling. If you are, we understand.
Rumor: Experience The BIGS next week
The Xbox Domain is reporting that after a 2K Sports conference call they learned that a demo for The BIGS will making its way onto the XBLM sometime next week. No exact date was given, but the game's developers did confirm that the demo would include three innings of gameplay. In the conference call 2K Sports also made it very clear that The BIGS is not a next generation version of Midway's Slugfest almost as if Slugfest was an airborne virus that 2K Sports wants to avoid. Actually, Slugfest may be an airborne virus that we should recommend everyone stay away from. Stay tuned.[Via Game Stooge]
2K football rises again, 2K8 debut trailer
It's been a long time coming, but 2K football is back. GameTrailers has posted the debut trailer of All-Pro Football 2K8. The trailer is heavy on the hip-hop, which is to be expected based on the game's previously announced soundtrack (not to mention other 2K sports soundtracks). The All-Pro engine looks nice, with plenty of jukes, spins, and tackles on which to feast your eyes. We have to wonder though, can any non-licensed football title stand up next to the Electronic Arts Madden juggernaut? How about you? Assuming All-Pro delivers where it counts, will you pick it up over Madden?
All-Pro Football cover art and mad beats
2K Sports just released All-Pro Football's official box art, the game's full roster and announced the complete soundtrack. So, let's dig in. The cover art is mildly dull featuring what look to be painted caricatures of NFL legends Jerry Rice, John Elway and Barry Sanders. We say "meh". The game's roster is a little more impressive with a slew of retired NFL stars including Troy Aikman, Gale Sayers and coach Mike Ditka. Finally, the All-Pro Football soundtrack features mash-up tracks done by DJ Z-Trip and is very heavy on the hip-hop flavor. All-Pro Football cover art, soundtrack track listings, and complete roster posted after the break.Read - SoundtrackRead - Box Art and Roster
Soundtrack and other info on The BIGS
Take 2 has let loose a flurry of new details on their upcoming Wii slugfest The BIGS, revealing a number of songs that are to be featured in the game, as well as revealing some of the unique characteristics that come from having your game on the Wii. Utilizing the Wiimote's unique control scheme, players will be able to exhibit their own unique swings, as well as pre--at-bat waggles. On the mound, players will be able to control pitch speed and variation, depending on wrist and arm movement. Not only that, but fielding and base running will also be affected by use of the Wiimote and nunchuk, allowing the player to perform a variety of Baseball's most common moves in an uncommon way.%Gallery-3430%Read - Features for The BIGSRead - Soundtrack info
NMS: Up close and personal with The BIGS
Colin Torretta headed out to the Nintendo Media Summit for the Joystiq Network to get a little hands-on time with a lot of games, including the upcoming baseball blowout from Take-Two's 2k Sports, The BIGS. The BIGS is a baseball game, sure, but it's not your average game. It's baseball made bigger, better, faster, and completely awesome ... unless, of course, you want a fully realistic experience. But come on, you can get that anywhere. Sometimes it's nice to wallow in a string of heart-wrenching moments of baseball badassery -- and that's what The BIGS promises. And according to Colin's impressions, The BIGS delivers exactly as promised in most ways ... but not in one highly-anticipated extra. The controls sound fluid (like a beefier Wii Sports Baseball), and judging from the screenshots, we don't have much issue with the look of the game. But it seems that the promised online mode is missing from the Wii game. It's a shame, but we're starting to get used to inviting people over to enjoy the Wii at this point. %Gallery-3430%
Today's swing-for-the-fences video : The Bigs
As baseball players keep bulking up in unnatural ways, we wonder if this extreme version of the sport is what fans want to see; upcoming 2K Sports baseball game, The Bigs, seems to take that pro-girth approach. ("Big" is right there in the title.) Two trailers for this NFL Blitz- and NBA Jam-style baseball title show some of the flashy effects.And maybe we shouldn't connect The Bigs with the current state of baseball; if we want straight simulation, we can play another title. See the trailers and decide for yourself after the break.
Take-Two saga continues: no buyers yet
It seems Take-Two just can't catch a break. After the golden towers of Take-Two were ransacked by angry shareholders demanding that CEO Paul Eibeler step down, Take-Two announced that it was postponing its annual meeting to come up with alternative solutions. Alternative solutions, in this case, means selling the company. TeamXbox has received word from Take-Two that the company is "unlikely to present alternative courses of action prior to the annual meeting on March 29th." In other words, it looks like Take-Two hasn't managed to find a buyer (not even Microsoft).Expect more Take-Two drama to unfold during the company's annual meeting this Thursday.
Rumorang: Microsoft not buying Take-Two
Quelling rumors that Microsoft is bidding on the ailing Take-Two, Shane Kim has confirmed to CNN that Microsoft has no such intention. According to the CNN article, taking over an independent publisher that creates games for multiple platforms would actually create a revenue loss, as all Take-Two's development would be shifted to the 360 alone. Said Kim, "We could never launch an acquisition bid at a third party publisher."As for parties that are interested in the company, speculation ranges from Ubisoft to Elevation Partners (of which U2's Bono is a member) to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The article also suggests, as others have suggested in the past, that Take-Two may be sold in pieces, offering up divisions like 2K Sports and Rockstar Games instead of Take-Two being sold as a whole.[Via DCEmu]
MLB 2K7 is going, going, gone gold
On Friday, 2K Sports announced that upcoming sports game MLB 2K7 has officially gone gold. In their press release, they also confirm the February 27th release date that we reported on earlier. Now discs can be pressed, no more bugs can be fixed, and those signature style animations cannot be tweaked, because baseball is upon us. We know this game has potential, but is anyone buying MLB 2K7 guaranteed? Though, if you're a MLB baseball fan you don't have much of a choice.[Via Game Stooge]
