In an earnings call discussing the third quarter of fiscal year 2012 (October-December 2011) EA announced that through the initial three months of release Ultimate Team mode in FIFA 12 generated $ 39 million in digital revenue. That represents an boost of 69% over the very same period last year with FIFA 11. Combining with both FIFA 11 and FIFA 10 in the final year Ultimate Team mode has created EA more than $ 100 million and the company expects FIFA 12 on its own to eventually create $ 100 million in digital revenue.

The boasting over Ultimate Team’s achievement is nevertheless somewhat awkward considering how significantly it has been in the news due to the association with account thievery more than the final 4 months or so. Each EA Sports and Microsoft will definitely have to close the loophole that produced FIFA such an appealing source of generating money for those who obtain access to the accounts of others.

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The cover tournaments and voting campaigns have been a huge achievement for EA Sports. It gets the game in the news escalating awareness more than a much bigger span of time than a basic cover announcement whilst engaging fans at an early date.

For Madden NFL 13 the cover tournament is becoming blown up even larger. 64 players will be eligible – two players from every team will face off in the entry round with the winner moving on to fill out the bracket of 32. The announcement of what players are eligible will come on March 7th.

What players do you hope are included from your preferred team? Leave your thoughts in the comments on who you’d like to see involved and who will be the favorites in the tournament!

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Even though there is tiny to go on at this juncture regarding the extent to which it will ultimately develop a tweet from Donny Moore has revealed that ratings for offensive lineman will be getting worked on for Madden NFL 13. 1 of the gameplay interns is Clint Oldenburg, a former NFL and UFL offensive lineman, who apparently will be taking on the activity of producing lineman ratings far more meaningful and better reflective of their correct impact and influence. That’ll possibly need a revamp rather than just adjusting ratings beneath the present program.

This could quantity to a substantial enhancement to gameplay as the action in the trenches has been somewhat neglected over the years. Some would argue that ratings have meant totally nothing for offensive lineman – and regardless of whether or not the case or not it’s been obvious that there was small to no differentiation amongst them whether or not in performance or style. Either the offensive lineman would get beat terribly or they would hold their ground and either they would miss an assignment or they wouldn’t.

At the quite least it’s encouraging to hear that offensive lineman ratings are going to be addressed in some manner but regardless of whether that is ultimately seen by way of totally and successfully will been open to interpretation down the line.

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It has grow to be the norm for retailers to supply pre-order incentives and in some situations exclusive ones. That is the case for UFC Undisputed 3 which presents buyers with a really tough choice in between the greatest worth, the strongest content, and the greatest savings. Picking 1 means giving up some thing else and that tends to make for a frustrating circumstance. Right here is a summary of what is on the table for those considering a acquire of UFC 3.

•Amazon – Finest Initial Worth
A $ 10 promotional credit towards a future buy at the on the web retailer is the principal pull – whilst the deal also includes the “Ultimate Knockout Artist Increase Pack” to support develop up a designed fighter more rapidly. Amazon doesn’t charge tax in most states, and release day shipping is cost-free for Prime members or just $ 1 for non-members, so essentially up to about $ 16 could be saved when factoring those items in along with the promo credit. (360 – PS3)

•Gamestop – Strongest Base Content material
The offering produced here is for 4 exclusive fighters (Nick Diaz, Phil Davis, ‘Mayhem’ Miller, and Brian Stann). They won’t be obtainable any other way until 3 months have passed when they’ll be supplied as paid DLC. The downside is getting to purchase from the worst retailer of the bunch and spend complete price tag and tax. If those fighters are important though then it may possibly be worth it.

•THQ Shop – Largest General Savings
For those who strategy to acquire a great deal/all of the downloadable content material the THQ retailer will present the best savings over the long run. Pre-orders there get the “season pass” for free (which will most likely finish up getting worth $ 12-15). Although the retailer provides free of charge shipping there is no delivery guarantee and a lot of buyers were stuck waiting for weeks lately on orders of WWE 12 to arrive. So finding all the DLC (minus the 4 exclusive fighters) is appealing but possibly only for those who will not be stressed if the game does not arrive on or immediately following release day.

•Others: Walmart ($ 10 eGift card and “Knockout Pack”). Best Purchase: Exclusive “Early Access Pack” for unlockables. Kmart: Nevertheless unknown.

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A few weeks ago the initial fighter ratings for UFC Undisputed three produced their way out with the focus mainly on the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. Right now THQ created a sweeping update to their roster profile page which now contains the ratings breakdown for each and every fighter in the game - speed, strength, cardio, and footwork along with the nine offensive and defensive individual ability categories. Eight heavyweights, eight middleweights, and the majority of the Pride roster are nonetheless to come as the website gets fully updated.

Some of the fighter ratings seem to have just slightly changed for the final version. Jon Jones comes in nonetheless as the highest at 94 overall, Anderson Silva and Jose Aldo adhere to appropriate behind at 93, Georges St-Pierre and Dominick Cruz top rated their respective divisions at 92, while Urijah Faber, Frankie Edgar, and Cain Velasquez sit at 91.

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After a 4 month void of new sports game releases – it’s challenging to believe it has been that long – February basically kicks off the 2012 season with a trio of offerings. The 14th brings UFC Undisputed three immediately after almost a two year gap in the series as nicely as EA Sports’ Grand Slam Tennis two (their first tennis title on 360/PS3) although the reboot of the popular SSX series arrives on the 28th. Vote in the poll on which game or games you are searching forward to and plan to buy and leave any thoughts in the comments!

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The reside Madden Bowl broadcast last year was widely ridiculed and rightfully so (see my assessment). It was an unmitigated disaster. Not only was the programming dull – primarily filler with very tiny footage of the athletes actually playing Madden – but obscene messages had been on complete display throughout the evening.

EA and ESPN will hopefully be far better ready and give much more related content material for Madden Bowl XVIII which takes place in Indianapolis on Thursday. Coverage begins at 9ET/6PT on ESPN3 – which can be accessed by means of the Xbox Live app (which has confirmed to be exceptional) or on the internet.

Once once more teams of 3 will compete in On-line Team Play mode. That tends to make it feasible to involve a lot more athletes and celebrities but in turn has taken some of the personality out of the competition even though Team Play was more relevant final year as a new function than with Madden NFL 12. Grouping in this manner also means fewer total games which is portion of what produced the earlier Madden Bowl rely so a lot on unrelated fluff pieces and interviews.

Will you be tuning in to Madden Bowl XVIII on Thursday night – or do you have no interest or lost it right after final year’s debacle?

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The Line Drive is a weekly collection of news, hyperlinks, and updates that didn’t necessarily warrant their personal postings.

•The chance to claim Alistair Overeem for UFC three has been extended till release day.
•2K Sports has released the initial trailer for MLB 2K12.
•EA Sports has released a new trailer for FIFA Street.
•New Grand Slam Tennis 2, FIFA Street, and SSX screenshots in the gallery or FB albums.
•Release day delivery – free of charge with Prime or $ 1 otherwise – has been added for the following upcoming games at Amazon that are providing $ 10 promotional credits: UFC Undisputed 3 (360 – PS3), Grand Slam Tennis two (360 – PS3), SSX (360 – PS3).

Side-blogs on Google Plus tackling industry topics – add to a circle and +1 whilst there! Also outcomes of any ‘quick polls’ held on Twitter and Facebook.

•On EA’s attempt to implement Kinect in Tiger 13.
•On SCEA’s selection to split dev time with MLB 12: The Show.
•On the MLB titles possibly lacking new playoff structure and division tiebreaker game.

News and content that may have been missed from the final week around the website.

•DVD/Blu-ray releases this week. Headlined by Drive, The Factor, and In Time.
•NBC Plans Dwight Schrute Spin-off. He’ll leave The Workplace mid-subsequent season.
•Trailer for Lockout. Action thriller starring Guy Pearce.
•Trailer for Jeff, Who Lives at Residence. Comedy starring Jason Segel.
•Oscar Nominations Announced. Led by Hugo and The Artist.

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From all accounts the PlayStation Vita version of MLB 12: The Show is shaping up to be superb – not only as a standalone item on par with the PS3 version but by providing the capacity to save on one particular and continue on the other for these who get a copy on every. The downside to this is the exact same development team was tasked with working on the two versions of the game.

That means time and resources that would have went into the PS3 rather were siphoned off in favor of working on the Vita and the cost of performing so was the loss of considerable potential capabilities. A rep for SCEA in a posting more than at Operation Sports had the following to say:

The PS3 version of the game has much more attributes this year than last year. Vita improvement only stopped us from carrying out another key lighting update, a significant franchise overhaul, and new grass patterns for the most element.

Most customers aren’t going to miss what isn’t there but still SCEA risks the perception that not sufficient was carried out from MLB 11 to MLB 12 and that has been a concern facing the series the last handful of years. That more would, or at least could, have been completed otherwise for the PS3 version will make the decision to invest time on the Vita side (where indications don’t have the handheld coming out of the gates powerful sales sensible) at the extremely least a questionable one.

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It is turn into clear in recent days that Peyton Manning is unlikely to return to the Colts next season. Whether that will be due to his release (he’s owed $ 28 million guaranteed if kept on the roster come March 8th) or his retirement due to health issues – Indy looks to be organizing a fresh commence with a new coach, GM, and Andrew Luck.

If his wellness permits him to return there are a number of teams that, by adding Peyton Manning, would grow to be instant contenders. Here is a look at these who could consider generating a play for his services beneath the correct circumstances. 

Miami Dolphins

•Reasons for: Been searching for a franchise QB forever. Normally excellent weather at property.
•Reasons against: Could be in a position to get a QB high in the draft could be targeting Matt Flynn. AFC East will be tough challenge every year.

Arizona Cardinals

•Reasons for: Property indoor environment. Team was profitable with Kurt Warner late in his career. Larry Fitzgerald.
•Reasons against: Cash going to Kevin Kolb (and trade capital they gave up for him) but he could too be released in March.

Seattle Seahawks

•Reasons for: Lots of young talent on offense and an emerging defense. Just need to have a franchise QB. Available cap room.
•Reasons against: Doesn’t fit the preferred offensive method which values mobility at QB. Team could want to groom a rookie for long haul.

Washington Redskins

•Reasons for: Team is recognized for signing high profile/pricey free of charge agents. Need to have an answer at QB.
•Reasons against: Not a lot talent on offense. May choose not to play in circus of the NFC East and against Eli twice a year.

San Francisco 49ers

•Reasons for: Alex Smith had a very good year but limitations had been seen in the NFC Championship game. Dominant defense.
•Reasons against: Nevertheless could have produced it to the SB despite Alex Smith. Require support at WR.

There are only a handful of teams that wouldn’t ideally enjoy to have a healthy Peyton Manning so any number of sleepers for his services could emerge. The New York Jets would adore an upgrade more than struggling Mark Sanchez but that doesn’t appear to be an appealing alternative for Peyton (dysfunctional locker room and brash leadership, sharing crazy NY marketplace with Eli). The Broncos, Chiefs, and even Ravens may make some sense too but would appear to be lengthy shots.

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