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Madden 15 cover vote starts, rookies packed into Ultimate Team
EA Sports kicked off its cover athlete vote for Madden NFL 15 during the first round of the NFL Draft last night, and is slated to end after four rounds of voting on June 6. The vote features just 16 candidates this year instead of the standard 32, which is an even more rapid decrease from Madden 25's two brackets of 64 football players. The first round's eight match-ups can be found after the break. The developers at EA Tiburon also celebrated the first round of the NFL Draft by inserting each of the first round's 32 draftees into Madden Ultimate Team card packs in Madden 25, starting today. It makes for a fine opportunity to check out the digital versions of each recruit without having to wait to play as them in Madden 15, which is due to arrive August 26 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Just don't trust Madden to predict which rookies will be picked by teams in the draft, it won't go well.
Madden NFL 15 hitting current and next-gen turf August 26
The next game in EA Sports' treasured football series, Madden NFL 15, will launch August 26 in North America and August 29 in Europe, the publisher announced today. The game will arrive simultaneously for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Madden 15 will include "an entirely new broadcast presentation that delivers Madden NFL game day like never before with dramatic all-new camera angles, as well as dynamic pre-game and halftime features," according to the announcement. EA will begin a cover athlete vote on May 8, starting with a special announcement at the NFL Draft. The accompanying release date trailer features Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly, who may be a popular choice for voters as he's the reigning NFL defensive player of the year. [Image: EA Sports]
Alexander Gustafsson selected as EA Sports UFC co-cover fighter
Swedish fighter Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafsson won EA Sports' cover athlete fan vote for EA Sports UFC. As a result, the number one UFC light heavyweight contender will stand next to current reigning light heavyweight champion Jon "Bones" Jones on the cover of the game, who is also shown in two new screens for the game issued by EA this week. Gustafsson beat Georges St-Pierre in the final round of the voting process, which accumulated over 11 million votes during the entire campaign, according to EA. The cover athlete vote began in early November with 16 fighters, which included heavy favorites like Ronda Rousey and Johny Hendricks. EA Sports UFC will launch in spring 2014 on Xbox One and PS4.
EA Sports UFC cover vote hits final round
EA Sports UFC's four-round co-cover athlete vote entered its final round today. The last two contestants left are Georges St-Pierre and Alexander Gustafsson, one of which will join reigning light heavyweight champion Jon "Bones" Jones on the cover of the PS4 and Xbox One game in 2014. The cover vote began earlier this month with 16 fighters, with heavy favorites like Ronda Rousey and Johny Hendricks exiting the fan vote in the first and second rounds, respectively. St-Pierre may be the new favorite to win a spot on the game's cover following his decision to step away from mixed martial arts for an undisclosed time after his successful welterweight championship defense against Hendricks at the UFC 167 event in Las Vegas. Coincidentally, St-Pierre's fans voted him past Hendricks in the second round of the EA Sports UFC cover athlete vote, which ends on December 1.
Jon Jones to share EA Sports UFC cover with fan-voted fighter
Falling in line with other sports games, EA Sports UFC will be embroiled in its own cover athlete contest, EA Sports announced. The winner of the four-round cover vote held on UFC's official site, which ends December 1, will share the game's box art with current light heavyweight champion Jon "Bones" Jones. The 16 candidates to share the spotlight with Jones are as follows: Demetrious Johnson, Chris Weidman, Dominick Cruz, Junior Dos Santos, Urijah Faber, Chael Sonnen, Jose Aldo, Michael Bisping, Anthony Pettis, Alex Gustafsson, Ben Henderson, Daniel Cormier, Georges St-Pierre, Ronda Rousey, Johny Hendricks and Miesha Tate. We like Rousey's odds at winning the vote as the women's bantamweight champion and the figurehead for the rising popularity of women's MMA, the representation of which is a core part of EA Sports UFC's feature set. We wouldn't be opposed to seeing a cheeky Chael Sonnen sharing the cover with the man he can't seem to overcome, however. EA Sports UFC will launch in spring 2014 on PS4 and Xbox One.
Deep Silver publishing NASCAR 14 in early 2014, starts cover vote contest
Deep Silver will publish the next iteration of developer Eutechnyx's licensed racing game in early 2014, NASCAR 14. Coming to PS3 and Xbox 360, the game will feature drop-in, drop-out online multiplayer races for up to 16 players as well as online league play with challenges, rankings and "dynamic statistics" support. Players can also play through the game's career mode, acquiring sponsorship and building their cars up to win races. NASCAR 14 is the first entry in the series published by Deep Silver, as Activision handled the distribution of the series since the 2011 release of NASCAR: The Game 2011, which followed EA's cancellation of the series in September 2009. Eutechnyx announced plans to self-publish the series in June, prior to Deep Silver picking up the game's publishing rights. Deep Silver launched a Facebook app to allow fans to vote on NASCAR 14's cover driver. The winning driver will be announced in early December.
Devils' Martin Brodeur named NHL 14 cover athlete
EA Sports' NHL series will see a goalie on the box for the first time since NHL 97, as Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils won the annual cover vote to become the cover athlete for NHL 14. Brodeur beat out runner-up Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets goalie. Brobrovsky won this year's Vezina Trophy, which is given to the goaltender that is considered the best in the league. The cover vote tallied over 22 million votes, though EA has not revealed how the votes break down. NHL 14 is coming to Xbox 360 and PS3 in North America on September 10, and will launch worldwide on September 13. %Gallery-192736%
NHL 14 cover vote goes to the sweet sixteen
EA Sports has announced the final sixteen players that have advanced to the next round of voting for NHL 14's cover. Each of the remaining players are lumped into a bracket format, competing head-to-head until the final match-up is decided and revealed during the 2013 Stanley Cup Final. According to EA, more than 12 million votes have been cast in the competition's first two rounds, "with daily vote totals up nearly 70% over the NHL 13 Cover Vote Campaign." Fans signed into their EA account can vote an unlimited number of times during this round until May 12 at 11:59pm ET. Votes can be doubled on Thursdays on Twitter and Instagram by using specific hashtags for each of the remaining players. NHL 14 launches in North America on September 10, 2013, and worldwide on September 13. My expert recommendations can be found in the image above.
NHL 14 asks fans to face off in cover vote contest
Following last year's successful demonstration of democracy through NHL.com, NHL 14 will ask hockey fans to once again vote for their favorite cover athlete. Fans may choose from an initial list of sixty players, with voting taking place across two rounds that will be followed by a 16-player bracket to narrow down NHL 14's cover captain.The winning player will be revealed later this year during the Stanley Cup Finals. The initial round of voting is going on now; you can see the full list of sixty eligible players through the source link below. Last year, over 25 million votes for the inaugural NHL Cover Vote campaign were registered, awarding the cover spot to Philadelphia Flyer's captain Claude Giroux.NHL 14 skates off to retail on Xbox 360 and PS3 September 10 in North America, September 13 in Europe.
Pirates' Andrew McCutchen wins MLB 13 The Show cover athlete vote
Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen was announced as the winner of the MLB 13: The Show cover athlete vote held on the MLB's official site. McCutchen garnered over 100,000 votes in the five-day poll.Second place went to New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia, who received just under 90,000 votes, while Detroit Tigers third baseman and triple crown winner Miguel Cabrera got third with 76,000 votes.MLB 13: The Show is set to launch March 5 for PS3 and Vita.
NHL 13 to feature Flyers' Giroux on cover
Claude Giroux was declared the winner of the NHL 13 cover vote, and was announced as the game's featured cover athlete earlier this week by EA Sports. The Philadelphia Flyers forward beat Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne to win the cover tournament.This was the first cover vote for the NHL series, which EA Sports said resulted in over 26 million votes. Unlike the Madden cover votes in the past, tournament voting was hosted directly on the league's website, underscoring the sense of value both the NHL and players have for the opportunity to grace the cover of the game.NHL 13 will launch September 11 in North America for Xbox 360 and PS3, and September 14 in Europe.
