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EA removes 13 female players from 'FIFA 16' after NCAA concerns
EA is no stranger to issues with the NCAA, and this time FIFA 16 women's rosters are the culprit. The gaming studio announced today that following an NCAA notice, it would remove 13 players from the game that are currently on or "likely" to be on college rosters. "We believe this decision denies these 13 athletes the opportunity to represent their countries in the game, but we have removed them from FIFA 16 to ensure there is no risk to their eligibility," EA said in a blog post. While EA didn't compensate those players for appearing in the game, the NCAA says that including them would still jeopardize their ability to take the pitch for their respective schools. The group of players that won't make the game includes six players from Canada, six from Mexico and one from Spain (detailed info here). All 12 women's national teams are now playable with EA Access Play it First Trials.
RBI Baseball 14 slides to Xbox One and PS4 next week, updates this summer
We're over two months into the MLB's 2014 season and MLB Advanced Media is now re-re-introducing the RBI Baseball series next week on Xbox One and PS4. RBI Baseball 14 launched digitally on April 9 for Xbox 360, PS3, iOS and Android, and now it'll arrive on the next-gen platforms on Tuesday, June 24. MLBAM also announced plans to update the game "later this summer." The update will bring a new competitive multiplayer mode and a "special alumni pack" for all console versions of the game. The pack will add "60 former Major League stars from the earliest days of the RBI Baseball brand" to RBI 14. First announced in early January, RBI 14 is an arcade-style baseball game with unlockable retro jerseys and a simple two-button control scheme. Along with iOS and Android, the next-gen versions of the game will receive updated rosters to reflect roster changes this year, such as Emilio Bonifacio (Chicaco Cubs), Brandon Hicks (San Francisco Giants), Masahiro Tanaka (New York Yankees) and Jose Abreu (Chicago White Sox). It will cost $19.99 on Xbox One and PS4. [Image: MLBAM]
The Daily Grind: Should MMOs require minimum guild sizes?
A listener recently wrote in to Massively's podcast to express his frustration with recruiting in MMOs since so many players avoid chat and guild advertisements. The community situation in many games can make it difficult for smaller guilds that refuse to spam to build up enough players to access basic guild functions, like guild banks. I myself have been testing out a game with player-run villages that requires guilds to have 25 active guild members settled there lest it lose its instanced town, which is a lot of people for a tiny, indie game, and a number that almost requires players to artificially inflate their rosters. But the problem is that games impose arbitrary player minimums for guild charters and banks and ranks and so forth to begin with. For every Guild Wars 2 that lets you have a lonely solo guild if you want it, there's a World of Warcraft that requires you to summon 10 warm bodies first -- even if you then immediately boot the other nine, making the requirement a pointless and tedious exercise. What do you think: Should MMOs require minimum guild sizes? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
First MLB 14: The Show roster update misses opening day, set for April 8
Those looking to play along with the baseball season using up-to-date rosters this week on PS3 and Vita should take note: The first live roster update for MLB 14: The Show will arrive on April 8, Sony's San Diego Studio noted yesterday on the game's forums. The first roster update for the game traditionally arrives in time for opening day, the first day of Major League Baseball's regular season (which was yesterday). "Please understand that if we could have offered the live roster on April 1st, without jeopardizing other critical responsibilities we would have," the developer wrote. The game launched today on PS3 and Vita, and will arrive on PS4 on May 6. [Image: Sony]
Harada 'considering' Tekken X Street Fighter on Vita
Namco producer Katsuhiro Harada is leading up production of Tekken X Street Fighter -- he's the Yoshinori Ono of Namco, if you will. And like his Capcom counterpart, Harada has repeatedly taken to Twitter to answer fan questions about his current project, most recently telling one Twitter user that he's currently "considering" a Vita port of the title. He didn't mention much else, unfortunately, though he did take time to promote an upcoming community vote via the game's Facebook page, that'll allow fans to choose which characters end up in the upcoming fighter. One follower suggested both Final Fight's famed crossdresser, Poison, as well as Street Fighter Alpha 3's Karin. We're gonna go out on a limb and ask Harada for Ryu and Eddy Gordo. Those guys never get any time in the spotlight!
Top Spin 4 is Move compatible, but 'not Kinect'
When Top Spin 4 was announced in September, publisher 2K Games busted out accolades like "uncanny level of realism" and "all-new innovative controls," which certainly sounded like euphemisms for "you're going to play it with swinging motions." At the time, associate producer Michael Kelly told ESPN that support for PlayStation Move and Kinect was "something we are looking into, but I can't confirm or deny that it will be in the final product." Today, the publisher revealed Top Spin 4's box art, featuring Bald Agassi (his "Vintage" look will be available when you pre-order the game from GameStop) flanked by current stars Rafa and Serena. And the box art revealed that the PS3 version will be "PlayStation Move Compatible," which is corroborated by the Move logo's appearance in the new trailer. The Xbox 360 cover, however, is curiously devoid of any mention of Kinect, and a 2K Games representative confirmed to us that Top Spin 4 is "not Kinect ... but it is Move compatible." Considering the strong sales of both Kinect hardware and associated software since the device's launch in November, not to mention that there's no licensed tennis sim for Kinect on the market yet, 2K must have good reason for passing up this opportunity (though the company has "no further comment" at this time). Top Spin 4 is scheduled for release on March 15, 2011 for PS3, Wii and Xbox 360. Check out the full, 25-player roster and a new trailer after the break. %Gallery-114600%
Jax returns to Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat creative lead Ed Boon took to GameTrailers TV last night in order to reveal the latest character for the forthcoming series reboot: Jax. For the handful of you who've never made the acquaintance of the metal-armed gentleman, his Christian name is Jackson Briggs and he was first introduced in Mortal Kombat 2. Though he didn't end up with metal arms until Mortal Kombat 3, he'll be appearing in next year's MK fully kitted out. As for more characters in the series being revealed, Boon teases the final roster, saying, "It's gonna be somewhere in the 20s, but we don't have a final number." He also points out that DLC will bring more characters to the game's lineup, so you hardcore Noob Saibot fans can relax.
Guild size cap and the WoW Insider reader guild
I was a bit saddened when Blizzard announced that guilds will be hard-capped at 600 members as soon as patch 4.0.1 hits. We're going to have to break up our family into smaller guilds if we want to have new members. And we're going to have to do it soon, because 4.0.1. is on the PTR and could hit any Tuesday now. Blizzard says it looked at the data and reached the following conclusion: ...we are happy to say that this value covers more than 99.9% of all the active guilds in World of Warcraft But I believe their data is flawed. Their research cannot have taken into account the many guilds who have split themselves up in order to stay below the 500 member soft cap. For those of you who don't know, if you have a guild with more than 500 members, not all members show up on the roster, so you can't tell how many guildies you have online or even in the guild. It makes things clumsy and time-consuming when you need to promote or kick. Not only that, but there is no rhyme or reason as to who shows up and who doesn't. Recent invites may appear on the roster, whereas people inactive for months may not. So many guilds have chosen to split up and patiently wait for the bug to be fixed. Since there are no alliances and no checkbox for "part of a larger group of guilds" built in to the game, there is no way for Blizzard to gather the appropriate data. After the break, I'll be going into how this affects <It came from the Blog>, our staff/reader guild that has grown at points up to 1,700 members, and what our plans are for the immediate future. But first, have a poll: Note: This poll is for entertainment purposes only, of course. %Poll-53765%
NBA Jam East rosters revealed, legends included
"Mr. NBA 2K11" is still noticeably absent from NBA Jam's Eastern Conference roster, which does boast the likes of Bird, Dr. J and Jordan sidekick Scottie Pippen. Even Drazen Petrovic, who is said to haunt the original arcade game and was removed from console versions following his death in a car accident, has been resurrected as a Nets legend. Of course, the new NBA Jam will feature plenty of current players, including the Miami Thrice, when it's released next month for Wii and as a downloadable bonus with new copies of NBA Elite 11 for Xbox 360 and PS3. Each team has 3–4 active players, as determined by fan voting (with the exception of Gilbert Arenas, who made the cut but was left out of the voting after that handgun fiasco), explains ESPN, which obtained the complete game roster -- the West's stars to be posted next week [update: West rosters]. Additionally, most teams have a "legend" or two -- or three for the Knicks: Ewing, LJ and Starks (hey, they need help!) -- on hand, with a preference for the original arcade's stars (sorry Zo!). Some teams don't have a long or storied enough history to feature a legend, in which case EA has added the team's mascot to the bench -- or in the Pacers' case (a contractual hiccup with Reggie Miller), there's simply ... Schrempf. Some late summer trades also contribute to a few oddities in the final rosters, with Courtney Lee (now a Houston Rocket) still on the Nets and Al Harrington (now in Denver) still a Knick. It's unlikely the Wii version will be patched after release, and EA Sports community manager Alain Quinto recently confirmed (in response to the question) that it wouldn't feature online multiplayer either. Head past the break for the full Eastern Conference breakdown.
Seven fighters added to the EA Sports MMA roster
EA has just announced that a new round of pummelers and pummelees have signed on for EA Sports MMA. The game's site lists seven new fighters in total: Cung Le, Gilbert Melendez, Robbie Lawler, Ronaldo Souza, Matt Lindland, Scott Smith, and Josh Thomson -- a few of whom have participated in UFC fights in the past. Considering the UFC president's stance toward EA's game, we have to wonder if their participation jeopardizes their chances with the UFC in the future. We've also got a few in-game screenshots for you to train with. Practice your virtual arm bars by checking 'em out in the gallery below. [Via @EASPORTSMMA] %Gallery-80427%
WoW Rookie: Do you have time to raid?
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the basics of a good start in the World of Warcraft. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic, and be sure to visit WoW.com's WoW Rookie Guide for links to all our tips, tricks and how-to's.They're the names on everyone's lips: Lord Jaraxxus. Onyxia. Yogg-Saron. You're dying (literally!) to see these larger-than-life figures – but now that it's almost time to look for a solid guild and get about the business of raiding, you find doubt bubbling to the surface. Work, school, family, other hobbies ... Raiding is supposedly an intense pursuit. Do you have the time it takes to be a successful raider?The short answer: Yes, you do have time. If you want to raid, somewhere out there is a guild that will work for you. The player population of WoW is so immense that finding a raid that fits your goals and schedule is certainly within the realm of possibility (if not within the actual realm you currently play on -- pardon the pun). We obviously can't tell each and every one of you exactly where to look for a custom fit, but we can give you some starting points to help you identify what to look for in the first place.
Ready Check: Progression Recruitment and Roster Churn
Ready Check is a weekly column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, Vault of Archavon or Ulduar, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses. This week, we're LF24M Yogg-Saron hard mode PST.It's interesting to watch the flow of players into and around hardcore guilds, and how it changes during farm, progress and the area in between. Why are so many of these guilds recruiting, and how does it change the meta-game?There are two reasons for a hardcore guild to recruit: to expand the roster and gain flexibility, or to replace players who are leaving the raiding squad. But what effect does it have on the guild? Let's take a look.
Fight Night Round 4: (Most of) the Heavyweight roster
With EA returning to the big dance -- following a disappointing bout with cartoon combatants -- the question on everyone's mind was who would be coming to ring in Fight Night Round 4. Slowly feeding our interest in the sweet science, EA Sports has revealed all heavyweight combatants -- save for one, due to be revealed in the upcoming weeks.Who will the final "master of the sweet science" be? Online debates rage on, pointing to Fight Night veteran Rocky Marciano or "Gentleman of Boxing" Floyd Patterson -- although both might be considered Light Heavyweights in today's rulebook. While EA stays tight-lipped about the final pugilist, we're going to patiently stare at the current heavyweight roster -- which you can read about and watch after the break. [Video credit: Fight Night Nation]
Wii Warm Up: Super You-Choose-Em Bros
Yesterday, we spoke on the original Super Smash Bros, and lately, we've been eyeballing another fighter: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom ... and speaking of Capcom, we've even had a little chat about another fandom mashup fighting game. All this cross-game (and genre) rostering inspired today's question: who would be on the roster in your dream fighting game? Anything goes here, but let's stick to a list of ten fighters or fewer, just to keep things from getting really insane.
Breakfast Topic: Guild hosting
Liss on LJ wants to know, as do we: What is the best place to host a guild website? She's had good experiences with Guildomatic, while apparently lots of people like using Guild Launch instead. Most of the guilds I've been a part of have almost all used GuildPortal, but there are tons of sites out there, and even many more not linked here. What kind of experiences have you had at various guild hosting sites?And what exactly do you expect from them? It seems that pretty standard features on most guild sites have to include a blog of some kind (to track your guild's kills), a message board for both talking to the public and planning private raids, some time of roster software (powered by the Armory or otherwise), and a DKP tracker of some kind. Of course, even if you don't go with a hosting service, there are also lots of different apps that will let you do all of this on your own, as long as you're HTML and maybe even PHP ready.I'll tell you one thing I'd like to see in guild hosting sites that I haven't yet: a design that's actually easy on the eyes. I'm really proud you downed Vashj, guys, but next time, try raiding some web design fundamentals.
Wii Warm Up: On track
With Mario Kart Wii heading our way soon, we thought it might be a good time to get a little nostalgic over your favorite aspects of past games. Tracks, characters, tiny details -- what makes your favorite version of Mario Kart the one for you? What about track types? Maybe you love the beaches and jungles but hate anything with ice. There's a lot to discuss; regardless of how similar the games seem to be from system to system, there are so many differences to talk about!
Rumorang: The 'final' Smash Bros. Brawl roster
Rumors of the final Smash Bros. roster (past the 25 officially announced characters) are nothing new, but with the game's Japanese release nearing, such rumors seem to be reaching a fever pitch. The latest fuel for the fire is the above picture, which purports to show a final roster of 44 characters from the Japanese version of the game. The screen has been floated on a number of sites with varying degrees of credulity -- it was even included at the beginning of a very official-looking GameTrailers video introducing moves for three of the confirmed new characters in the game.So is this the holy grail of Brawl information? As much as we'd like to believe it so, we just can't. For one thing, the background seems to be taken directly from this official image of a much smaller select screen. Everything matches a little too perfectly, from the transparent background image to the floating cursor in the bottom left corner. For another thing, the images many of the "newly revealed" characters are 2D drawings that don't match up well with the 3D renderings for the officially revealed characters. Even for those that are renders, a closely matching source image can usually be found with a quick Google image search, suggesting an overzealous photoshopper.Still, we'd be more than happy to be wrong on this one and to be able to play with this impressive list of Nintendo favorites come March 9. For those who want to cover their ears and hold out a shred of hope, check out a full list of the supposedly "revealed" characters below the jump.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in, whether they believed it or not]
Friday Video: Now playing (except not)
It's tough to wait on that special game, and even worse when it was initially supposed to have been released already. We're sympathetic about delays; we understand that sometimes, it takes a little extra effort to deliver the best of all possible experiences. That doesn't make the waiting any easier, though. Video-creation-inclined Smash Bros. fans, however, have been busy over the past year, trying to make the time pass a little more quickly (or at least, less painfully) with video treatments, and we've got the latest in this week's spotlight.
Wii Warm Up: If it could be anyone ....
A reader who is as excited about Super Smash Bros. Brawl as we are suggested this excellent question to get the day started: if you could see anyone in the game, any character at all, who would you want? Or are you pretty satisfied with the current roster? That's a pretty tough one ... there are a lot of characters out there. Comedic answers will earn you both bonus points and respect.[Thanks, Alexander!]
Xbox Live update hurts online roster sharing
Innocent bystanders get hurt in every war. In Microsoft's war on online cheating, those victims are sports game fans that make and share customized rosters online.5WG did some digging and found that the latest Microsoft dashboard update stealthily disables hundreds of customized rosters that are shared on unofficial sites like 360gamesaves. Apparently, the new update checks all save files against a list of banned system IDs extracted from sharing sites. Files from banned systems will not work on other systems.Why does Microsoft care whose save files you use on your machine? We can only assume the move is an effort to stop players from getting Achievements without earning them by using downloaded save files. This is somewhat understandable -- Achievements are good for both bragging rights and real freebies, and it's important to keep that playing field level.The side effect, though, is the destruction of a small but vibrant community of players using these game saves to extend the value of their sports games. As 5WG points out, "there's no cheat here: just a group of people giving back to the community for little or no compensation."Hopefully Microsoft will come up with a solution that protects their Achievement system and allows for a healthy roster trading community at the same time.[Via ArsTechnica]
