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Chase Becotte

Home Town: Nomads don't have home towns
Sports: A bunch
Games: Too many to list
Teams: Sixers, Flyers, Pirates
OS Username: ChaseB
Tags: PS3: Slizeezyc / 360: Slizeezyc
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
07:57 PM - December 7, 2010. Posted by ChaseB. Written by Chase Becotte

Eric Brown, Electronic Arts' CFO, pointed out today at the UBS 38th Annual Media and Communications Conference that fans of FIFA Ultimate Team mode are willing to pony up the cash to improve their teams with virtual soccer cards, according to Gamespot.

Quote:
"We see people spending $500, $600, $700 on digital card packs to play Ultimate Team simulation mode," Brown told investors.

Spending that amount of virtual space bucks on virtual cards obviously makes it clear why EA was intent on adding the Ultimate Team mode to other sports franchises like Madden and NHL. And while Brown did not point out how much money the Madden and NHL series have brought in on the Ultimate Team front, the increasing amount of profits brought in by FIFA Ultimate Team show that UT mode is at least a successful model for the footie franchise.

Quote:
For FIFA 09--the first game to introduce Ultimate Team mode--EA brought in $15 million in digital revenues thanks to the Ultimate Team trading-card packs. Brown pegged the development cost of adding the mode in the single-digit millions. The following year's game brought in roughly $30 million, and while FIFA 11 numbers aren't final yet, Brown said he expects that growth trend to continue.

Overall, EA expects $750 million, or about 20 percent of its revenue, to come from the digital business. So we should probably expect more DLC rather than less in our sports games in the future.

Source - EA expects 20% of sales to be digital (Gamespot)

Monday, December 6, 2010
07:46 PM - December 6, 2010. Posted by ChaseB. Written by Chase Becotte
It's becoming clear that Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is not enamored with franchises that are released annually, according to Gamasutra. At the UBS 38th Annual Global Media and Communications Conference in New York City, Strauss Zelnick discussed the risks of an annualized franchise.

Quote:
And "reasonable people can disagree about this, but my belief is even a very, very high-quality annualized franchise runs the risk of burning customers out."

However, IGN points out that Zelnick is still backing yearly sports titles.

Quote:
With the exception of its sports titles, Take-Two has no interests in bringing out annual iterations of its major franchises every year. Zelnick says he feels consumers can get burned out after awhile, which ultimately lowers the value of the franchise.


If there was a company out there that might lean towards a biennial release schedule for its sports games, it would be Take-Two. After all, the company has been very successful with downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto and Borderlands -- Gamasutra points out that Take-Two is on pace for "its first profitable year without a numbered GTA release" -- and it has become known as a company that is unafraid of delaying marquee titles.

But if Zelnick is not even considering biennial sports franchises, it might be time to retire the discussion for now. At best, we might continue to see alternative sports games like Skate or The Bigs come out every two years, or we might continue to see something like EA MMA and Fight Night alternating with each other on the yearly release schedule.

06:13 PM - December 6, 2010. Posted by ChaseB. Written by Chase Becotte

The developers at Criterion did a great job with post-release DLC for Burnout Paradise, and they obviously want to continue that trend with NFS: Hot Pursuit.

Titled the "Super Sports Pack" and coming to consoles at an unknown date and price, this DLC pack will include six cars -- really just three because each of the three will skinned as a cop car and racer car -- as well as at least 12 new events spread across the cop and racer careers. And, yes, Trophies/Achievements will be connected to these DLC events.

GamerZines reports that we should watch out for updates about the release date and price at NeedForSpeed.com, the official site for NFS: Hot Pursuit.

Source - EA announces new premium DLC for NFS: Hot Pursuit (GamerZines) via (1UP)

Game: Need for Speed Hot PursuitReader Score: 8/10 - Vote Now
Platform: Xbox 360 / PS3 / PCVotes: 10 - View All
03:23 PM - December 6, 2010. Posted by ChaseB. Written by Chase Becotte

One of the items included in the Xbox Live Marketplace deal of the week is 3 on 3 NHL Arcade. For this week only you can procure this frantic, big-headed, power-up fest for 200 Microsoft Points (equal to about $2.50).

For half its regular price, I feel 3 on 3 NHL Arcade is more than worthy of its price tag. I had a blast with the title when it was released many moons ago, and if you missed out on it originally, play it with a couple friends and enjoy. But hey, you could always read our review of the game and go off that, too.

Source - Deal of the Week (Major Nelson) via (Joystiq)

Game: 3 on 3 NHL ArcadeReader Score: 7.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: Xbox 360Votes: 9 - View All
Friday, December 3, 2010

Take-Two Interactive's chairman Strauss Zelnick believes the company could walk away from its third-party MLB exclusivity deal when it expires in 2012, according to Reuters. At this point, he feels like Take-Two is not reaping enough benefits from the current deal.

Quote:
"It's a losing proposition and we don't have any interest in pursuing losing propositions."

While that comment almost makes it seem like it's a foregone conclusion that Take-Two will walk away from the MLB deal in 2012, Zelnick also made it clear he was not opposed to renewing the exclusivity agreement if the terms changed.

Quote:
"He said the company is open to renewing its game licensing agreement with Major League Baseball, but only if the economics change."

The "economics" he is hinting could deal with how the game sells in the coming years or how much cash has to be doled out for the license, but in the grand scheme of things that does not really matter.

In fact, I could have just typed "blah blah blah blah MVP Baseball 2013 could happen blah blah blah blah" and it would have sufficed here, especially for Xbox 360 owners out there who have not been able to get their grubby green hands on The Show during this generation of consoles.

Source - Reuters Summit-Take-Two sees opportunity in digital (Reuters) via (Kotaku)

Game: Major League Baseball 2K11Reader Score: 5.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: Xbox 360Votes: 17 - View All
Thursday, December 2, 2010
06:19 PM - December 2, 2010. Posted by Steve_OS. Written by Chase Becotte

In what will probably amount to being the closest we will ever get to deciphering the curious cancellation of NBA Elite 11, Kotaku's Stephen Totilo recently got a chance to sit down with EA head honcho John Riccitiello and get the boss' take on what exactly happened with Elite during its development cycle.

There are a bunch of interesting nuggets to dig through within this fascinating interview, but it's interesting to note that Riccitiello had the final say when it came to ending Elite 11's existence.

Quote:
“There aren’t many decisions that are essentially squarely on my desk," said Riccitiello. This was one.”

Clearly Riccitiello's ban hammer is strong, but the most intriguing part of the interview might have to deal with the actual deadline chaos surrounding Elite. Everyone (including me) has a theory about what what was the final straw for this game, but EA has been adamant that the demo itself was not the final straw, but rather people knew even as the game was being printed that there were issues that might halt the game's release.

Quote:
"We’re in the middle of a nail-biter. The demo goes out. We final the game. We do an internal review. We’re not happy. Interaction between the label and sales organisation says the game is likely to be a 60 [on Metacritic] or something along those lines essentially for the fact that it wasn’t finished. What do you do?"

Read the entire interview to see everything there is to offer, just try not to snicker while reading this Riccitiello tidbit.

Quote:
"To be honest with you, I don’t want to sound self-satisfied, but I’m pretty proud of our ability to make that decision. Because, I don’t think the consumer was served badly by buying 2K. It’s a good game. And I think we’re better served. We were originally going to put Jam in our package. By separating it out people got to see what a good game that is."

Oh, and you should still bet on NBA *insert name here* by EA Sports releasing in 2011.

Source - How A Big Video Game Was Killed (Kotaku)

Game: NBA Elite 11Reader Score: 2/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes: 5 - View All
01:53 PM - December 2, 2010. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chase Becotte


Gold: MLB '09: The Show


The long-term success of any baseball game is based around the perpetual nature of the pitcher-batter duel, and MLB 09: The Show nailed that aspect. Working the count, painting the outside corner and sitting on a fastball all felt quite fitting in MLB 09. In fact, you could even pitch the ball according to the signs the catcher put down. Beyond that element of the game, the sheer amount of in-game cut scenes added an incredible amount to the game. While a player shooting a snot rocket out of his nose has nothing to do with realism, it certainly adds another layer that player attributes alone can't quite nail. Of course the AI also played a major role in the realism. AI pitchers seemed to learn from what you were trying to do, and each game had a different feel to it because the CPU tried to keep you on your toes at all times. Simply put, MLB 09: The Show defined realism.



Silver: NHL 10

Board play and 360-degree passing were major developments in NHL 10, but Tuner Sets were what made NHL 10 great. The developers found a way to create a great game out of the box but then constantly improved upon it with tuners. These were not "patches" but rather simply tweaks that could be made by the developers on the server side of things. As users made recommendations or complained about certain things in the game, the developers were able to tweak and play the game without having to go through a long "certification" process. By the end of 2009, gamers were playing a title that had been tuned and calibrated to such a fine degree that it was hard to figure out what should be changed next. The day more developers start including "Tuner Sets" in sports games will be great moment for all gamers.

Readers Choice': MLB '09: The Show

It seems there was a tie in the Most Realistic Game of the Decade category -- between MLB '09: The Show and the rest of the field. The Show received 50 percent of the votes, which means it simply ran away from the rest of the pack. None of the other games in this category received as much love from fans, making MLB '09: The Show the choice between the staff and the readers.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010
08:05 PM - November 23, 2010. Posted by ChaseB. Written by Chase Becotte

2K Sports' own Ronnie 2K has revealed the details and fixes in the upcoming NBA 2K11 patch.

Approximate Launch Date/Times

Playstation 3: Wednesday, November 24th, 2010 - 2 AM PST
Xbox 360: Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
PC: TBD

Quote:
General Game Features

-Fixed a soft hang that would occur when loading an in-game save that was created during a timeout situation. This change also affects in-game saves created in the various game modes (Association, My Player, etc.). It addresses the My Player freeze issue that some of you have run into: http://www.2ksports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=272363.

-Fixed a hang on startup (when the game went to load files) that would happen when the user had a large number of saved files on the hard drive/storage device.

-The Cleveland Cavaliers court floor has been updated to reflect the design being used for the 2010-11 season.

-The ‘My Rookie of the Year’, ‘One for All’, and ‘Not Over Yet’ Achievements/Trophies should now properly unlock once the necessary conditions are met.

-Long socks should no longer appear visually corrupted during gameplay.

-Correct player signatures are now shown on Pressbooks that are uploaded to the 2K Sports server.

-The ‘Player Progression’ menu (Located in Features -> Living Rosters) should now properly work when new Living Roster updates are applied. Please delete the ‘Player Progression’ save file after the patch is released so the system can bring the file up-to-date.

Gameplay

-Improved Shot Stick shot release timing and consistency across offline and online games.

-Fixed a rare hang that would occur when intentionally fouling the inbounder.

-Dunks will now branch into mid-air collisions, resulting in contact layups and changes in shots.

-Big men with low vertical ratings will now jump the appropriate height when rebounding and contesting shots.

-Addressed an exploit when using the Hopstep Dunk. Players will now branch to a contested shot animation when defenders are nearby.

-The ballhandler will no longer pick up his dribble when a ‘take charge’ attempt fails.

-Users are now able to execute the Crossover move when using the ‘Alternate A’ controller configuration.

-Added high trajectory shots when the shot is taken along the baseline. This will reduce/eliminate baseline shots that just hit off the side of the backboard.

-Addressed a playcalling issue where non-stars are getting a bulk of the plays run for them during specific situations.

-Queued pass/shot commands are now deleted when a fumbled catch occurs.

-Improvements have been made to the directional passing system with the end result being more accurate pass targeting.

-Tuned under-basket shots such that big players are no longer overpowered by smaller defenders, thus forcing a bad shot.

-Body-ups have been re-tuned such that good dribblers do not ‘lose’ during a mismatch or by taking good angles.

-Queuing a fake pass command when catching the ball will no longer result in a touch pass.

-Missed and inaccurate passes will now play at an appropriate rate when passing out of a shot or contact shot.

-Long range passes have been re-tuned to fix a gameplay exploit. Also, improved defender reactions on such passes so that they are properly contested.

-Users are no longer able to call a timeout when they are bobbling the ball.

-Improved AI logic for boxing out, ensuring that players go into boxout situations when appropriate.

-Players boxing out their opponent should no longer be called for Over the Back fouls.

-Tuned ‘Take Charge’ logic such that charges will now be properly called when the defender is set. This includes a fix for the pro-hop exploit where charges were not being called.

-Fixed an issue with player swapping during rolling inbounds; users will no longer be stuck controlling a player with the inability to switch players.

-AI defenders will no longer closely guard bad shooters far from the hoop when not necessary.

-Improved AI steal behavior and tuned the overall steal frequency/difficulty; defenders should now only attempt steals when they are actually looking at the ball.

-On the ‘Casual’ game style only, defenders are now slightly slower to react on passes, thus limiting the number of pass deflections.

Presentation

-Fixed a long hang that would sometimes occur at the end of the highlight reel between quarters.

-When an Arena Music event is triggered, it will now randomly select one of the available songs instead of always playing the first song in the list.

-Addressed a few minor audio issues including instances where the commentators would call a few players by the wrong name, instances where a commentary line would cut out mid-sentence, instances where the commentary would refer to a missed shot as a made shot, and clean-up in the Doris Burke analysis during playoff situations.

-The commentators will now tell Coach ‘stories’ during gameplay. These stories tie-in with the Player/Team stories for an increased presentation experience.

-Users are now able to button through lengthy substitution overlays and get right back to gameplay.

-Fixed a very rare hang that would happen during the Player of the Game segment at the end of the game.

-Fixed an occurrence where the incorrect portrait was displayed for a created/generated player.

Online

-Voice Chat improvements have been made to eliminate/reduce the amount of background static that can be heard in Team-Up/Pick-Up games.

-Users are no longer able to substitute in injured/fouled out players during Crew games.

-Opponents can no longer see Pick and Roll and Play Calling icons during online games.

-Addressed a game disconnect issue when one user would call a timeout, quit out of the game, and attempt to start another game.

Association Mode

-Addressed a hang that would occur in the transition between the 1st and 2nd quarters in the weeks leading up to the All-Star break.

-Injured players will no longer lose their Player Role due to an injury, which ultimately led to may unhappy players around the league.

-Fixed an issue that caused a decrease in trading activity in future years. This same issue also resulted in valued free agents not signing during the free agency time period of the offseason.

-Home court advantage (for simulated games) has been toned down during the regular season, and even more so during the playoffs (this fix also applies to My Player mode).

-Participating in Intra-Squad Scrimmages will no longer disable Intentional Fouls during regular NBA games.

-Addressed an issue where trade values would drop to 1-star when a Weekly Practice was scheduled.

-Fixed a bug where coaches would get fired continuously (this fix also applies to My Player mode).

-Users are now able to properly waive players in the Training Camp period of the offseason when there are more than 15 players signed to the team.

-Corrected an issue where the Qualifying Offers period was automatically getting skipped, thus not allowing users to make qualifying offers to their restricted free agents.

-Addressed an issue where Potential values weren’t being properly updated in the player progression system.

-Existing NBA players should no longer have their signature animations changed at the end of every season based on their skill progression/regression (this fix also applies to My Player mode).

-Fixed an issue where generated players would be created with the award history of a player currently in the Hall of Fame (this fix also applies to My Player mode).

-Tuned rookie generation code such that incoming talent is more in-line with players already in the league. Other generation improvements were made as well, including better secondary position logic along with adjustments to the size of the incoming players (this fix also applies to My Player mode).

-Users are now able to call plays during Intra-Squad Scrimmages in the Live Practice feature.

-Players who have the ‘Prospect’ player role are now much more forgiving of their role, meaning they will no longer become upset when they are in the role until they have reached a high rating.

-Addressed a number of other smaller issues within the mode (better CPU logic when accepting/declining Team Options, undrafted rookies should no longer sign larger than expected contracts, etc.).

My Player

(A number of issues that also affect My Player mode were listed above in the Association section. Those issues were noted as such.)

-Addressed a hang that would sometimes occur when completing a game during the NBA time period.

-The user’s team will now be more efficient in finding a trade to one of the requested teams when a Trade Request is made.

-The Rookie of the Year Milestone should now properly unlock when the conditions are met.

-Addressed a playcalling issue where the dribbler would hold the ball until the last second during My Player games.

-PlayVision art is now drawn on the floor when the CPU calls a play, easily enabling the user to follow the action on the court.

Game: NBA 2K11Reader Score: 9/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PC / PS2 / PS3 / PSP / Wii / Xbox 360Votes: 108 - View All
Friday, November 19, 2010
05:13 PM - November 19, 2010. Posted by ChaseB. Written by Chase Becotte

There's not much in the way of racing in the latest Test Drive Unlimited 2 trailer, but it still serves to show off some of the extracurricular activities that will be available in the DLC portion of the upcoming TDU2.

By taking some risks you can win cars, clothes and money, and then take all your winnings and take a ride on the track that also comes included with the Online Casino DLC.

Test Drive Unlimited 2 is set for a US release in February 2011.


Source - Test Drive Unlimited 2 gets Casino trailer (VG247)

Game: Test Drive Unlimited 2Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PC / PS3 / Xbox 360Votes: 4 - View All
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
04:48 PM - November 17, 2010. Posted by ChaseB. Written by Chase Becotte

While the news was bleak for Bizarre Creations and its 200 developers yesterday, the Activision-owned development studio behind Blur and the Project Gotham Series might yet be able to survive.

Develop has heard from sources within Bizarre that multiple parties have inquired about the studio. To be more specific, Microsoft was a studio mentioned to have at least shown some interest in Bizarre.

One source at the studio said, "Microsoft aren’t stupid. They know we’re talented and have spoken to Activision about us."

If Microsoft did purchase the studio, it would be an interesting turn of events considering the fact that Bizarre and Microsoft did not always get along. According to Develop, another outcome to all of this is that Microsoft could simply bring over some of the Bizarre employees and still let the studio close its doors.

Source - Bizarre mood lifts with several keen to buy (Develop) via VideoGamer

03:47 PM - November 17, 2010. Posted by ChaseB. Written by Chase Becotte

The NPD results for October were released yesterday, and while the news about NBA 2K11's successful launch was the big story, some other sports games disappointed. To be more specific, NHL 11, EA Sports MMA and Tony Hawk: Shred all struggled during the month of October, according to analyst firm Cowan and Company.

In an article published by GamesIndustry.biz, Cowan and Company points out that Tony Hawk: Shred sold just 3,000 units during its first month at retail. Yikes.

The Tony Hawk franchise has struggled for a couple years now, so it's no surprise that Shred did poorly at retail, but 3,000 copies is frighteningly low. Robomodo, the developer of the last two peripheral-based Tony Hawk games recently underwent staff cuts and is off the Tony Hawk series, so it will be interesting to see how Activision tries to breathe life back into a once-dominant sports franchise.

EA Sports MMA sold 45,000 copies, which may explain why I have trouble finding anyone to play online that is anywhere close to my skill level. As has been said before, this is not entirely surprising news given the lack of a "true" license backing the title. It will be interesting to see how much of a tail there is to the EA MMA sales because word of mouth has been strong here at OS and on Metacritic. Perhaps we may see a TV-style situation where a critical darling gets a second chance.

Finally, what I found to be the most interesting part of this sales analysis is that Cowan and Company places some of the lack of industry software growth on the shoulders of NHL 11.

Quote:
Cowan also noted that the low 6 per cent in software growth for the month was largely due to poor continued sales of games released in September, including Halo: Reach and EA's NHL 11.

This seems strange to me because NHL 11 actually was in the NPD's top five for September 2010, and that was after it did not even break into the top 10 during September 2009.

Source - Tony Hawk: Shred flops with only 3000 units sold in US (GamesIndsutry.biz) via Joystiq

Tuesday, November 16, 2010
02:34 PM - November 16, 2010. Posted by ChaseB. Written by Chase Becotte
Sure, Manny Pacquaio just beat Antonio Margarito, but some might not realize how he became one of boxing's greats. This is a man who has fought for everything in his life, and he wants to make sure all of you know how he became the boxer he is today.


Source - Cubed

02:19 PM - November 16, 2010. Posted by ChaseB. Written by Chase Becotte
For those of you out there looking to snap necks and cash checks on a whole new set of devices, then never fear THQ executive VP of core games Danny Bilson is here.

Quote:
UFC Undisputed comes to iPhone and iPad this Thursday. Gives Tap Out new meaning!
Bilson just signed up on Twitter on November 14, so clearly he knew he had to make an impact by bringing the release-date thunder. And for those out there who are already on Twitter, Bilson might be worth a follow.

Quote:
Uh oh...just noticed our PR people are following my tweets...this could get interesting cause they never know what I might announce

Source - Twitter, via CVG

Game: UFC Undisputed 2010Reader Score: 6/10 - Vote Now
Platform: iPhoneVotes: 17 - View All
02:00 PM - November 16, 2010. Posted by ChaseB. Written by Chase Becotte

One THQ executive just told us that game prices are too high, but Danny Bilson, THQ's executive vice president of core games, wants to tell us again. While speaking with IGN, Bilson talked about the $40 business model a bit more.

Quote:
I'm really excited what we're doing with MX vs. ATV. We're going to put out the best MX ever at $40 retail. We're not going to lock the used guy out of any online, they're going to have a full ticket to all the functionality. Within the game there's going to be an online store where we're going sell items to people where they can build at their choice. You can wind up paying more than $60 or less than $60. That model is really exciting to me; a game where you can build and invest as much as you want is great.

At a glance it almost seems like he's joining with Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick in criticizing EA's "Online Pass" idea. However, that would not make much sense since Bilson oversees the Smackdown vs. Raw franchise and the UFC Undisputed series -- two franchises that use a model that is not unlike the Online Pass prototype. So the only conclusion is that he's talking about the future.

Quote:
I'm really excited about digital model going forward in terms of putting out a sort of buffet of game and letting people shop how they like. Somebody with less money can still play and somebody with a lot of money can be passionate about it. That solves a lot of these problems. You're going to see on that game, the used gamer isn't locked out of anything; he unlocks everything and the store. That's the future, that sort of a buffet game.
All right Bilson, but I'm still kind of confused. Are you saying you didn't like that UFC Undisputed made used gamers pay for Online Camps and Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 made used gamers pay for online access? If so, what are you going to do about it? When will we see this model in other games beyond just the new MX vs. ATV?

Quote:
I have it planned for another franchise as well. What's cool about it is it's good for retail and digital. It doesn't say we're going all digital and not selling our games at your stores anymore. People are used to and want to go to into a store and buy the box, than can actually buy it for $40 instead of $60 then they can shop online for more of it. I like it because it feels like it works for everyone and punishes no one. It's a very friendly model.

Since the next UFC and Smackdown games are not coming out in the near future, I have to assume "another franchise" is not one of those titles. However, if all goes well with MX vs. ATV, maybe we will see full-featured UFC and Smackdown titles at $40 this time next year.

Source - THQ's $40 Plan to Solve Used Games (IGN)

Friday, November 12, 2010
06:24 PM - November 12, 2010. Posted by ChaseB. Written by Chase Becotte

Do you like music? Do you like classic arcade games? Do you like when both those things are smashed together to create a mixtape that is meant to create mind-blowing nostalgia in the hearts of us all? Well, if you're into that type of thing, and you have not yet picked up NBA Jam Wii, then celebrate the looming release of NBA Jam on the PS3 and Xbox 360 (Nov. 16 people!) by downloading this mixtape created by Mick Boogie.

Titled 93 Til' Infinity, this mixtape includes 27 tracks that are meant to tap into the year that was 1993. At that time we were putting our hands, slathered in just the right amount of pizza grease, on joysticks everywhere to play NBA Jam for the first time in arcades everywhere -- who cares if I was only six at the time, I was there man.

If the mixtape doesn't hit the spot for you, at least head here and check out a couple fantastic NBA Jam t-shirts.

Source - Mick Boogie – 93 Til’ Infinity Mix… Inspired by NBA JAM (Mixtape) (Nah Right)

Game: EA Sports NBA JAMReader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Wii / Xbox 360Votes: 16 - View All