Every Sunday, we will get you caught up on the sports gaming news you might have missed, during the busy week. This includes the latest videos from our content team and featured articles from the staff.
Sports Gaming News
- Becky Lynch & Bayley Added to Ultimate Rivals: The Court Roster
- New Forza Title Available Soon For Forza Panel Members – Sign Up Here
- NHL 21 Available Now in EA Play Member Play List
- Skater XL Free Skate Multiplayer Open Beta Available Now
- Madden NFL 21 Patch Fixes Ultimate Team Challenges Issue
- WRC 10 Announced, Releasing on September 2 – Trailer, Screenshots & Some Features Revealed
- RiMS Racing Announced – Trailer, Screenshots & Some Details
- MLB The Show 21 Quick Q&A Video – Diamond Dynasty
- NHL 21 Trade Deadline Roster Update Available
- MotoGP 21 Gameplay Video – Portimao
- FIFA 21 Patch #14 Available Now on PC, Soon For Consoles – Patch Notes
- F1 2021 Launches on July 16 – Trailer & Some Features Revealed
- OlliOlli World Releases This Winter
Operation Sports Videos
The developers for eSports Boxing Club took to their Discord to answer some questions from fans. Prince attended the Discord to scope out the ESBC developer Q&A, and he is bringing back some answers to the questions, including an update on console release.
It’s cool to see so much activity from Steel City when it comes to mentioning things about the development process. If you’re a new franchise, being this “open” can potentially hurt in the end if the final product is not solid, but it’s a good way of building up goodwill in the here and now. The updates are sure to continue in the coming days and weeks.
Brian has put together a video showcasing the PS4 and PS5 version of MLB The Show 21 so you all can see a graphics and gameplay comparison at a glance.
We take a side-by-side look at the PS5 version of MLB The Show 21 compared to the PS4 version. All of the footage was captured on a PS5 in 4K, so the two games should be coming through near their ceiling of visual fidelity. We also did a comparison last year for MLB The Show 20 being played on the PS5 if you want to use that as another benchmark for comparison.
Take a look at this slideshow that shows every MLB The Show 21 legend playing with the franchise he was with at the time. There are more than 150 legends and some of the players have multiple versions. All legends were captured in 4K.
Take a look at all the uniforms available for all 30 teams in MLB The Show 21. There aren’t a lot of new options, but it doesn’t appear many ones from MLB The Show 20 (if any) have been removed.
We also posted a look at every legend available in MLB The Show 21, and showed off a graphical comparison between the PS4 and PS5 version of The Show.
Operation Sports Featured Articles
Even though PGA Tour 2K21 has established a reputation for realism dating back to when the game was originally The Golf Club, that doesn’t mean that everything needs to be true to life. When it comes to things like ball physics and competitive gameplay, it continues to be appreciated how developers attempt to re-create the game of golf as accurately as possible without players being able to use any sort of power-ups or maxing out of their attributes (this is especially surprising now that 2K is involved in the game). Still, if you’re looking to escape at least some of the restrictive confines of reality while playing the game, there are plenty of fantasy courses out there. With that in mind, I’ve put together a list of the best PGA Tour 2K21 fantasy courses you can download right now.
Team6 Game Studios is a smaller development house that churns out racing games at a solid clip, and with Taxi Chaos the studio is hoping to be the spiritual successor to an old friend by the name of Crazy Taxi. For those not familiar with Crazy Taxi, it was a game that was originally developed by Hitmaker and published by Sega. It first appeared in arcades, and then was ported over the Dreamcast and many other platforms through the years. The Sega Dreamcast version is the one I and many others fell in love with, and it’s why I was excited to scope out Taxi Chaos. It is looking to capture the fun, style, and excitement of the original classic. However, that’s a tall order for any developer, so let’s get in to how it all came together in this Taxi Chaos review.
If it takes a village to raise a child, then it certainly takes a community to make a great sports game. Very few games, if any, rely on the community more than Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer. For years, the community has done incredible things to help create an authentic footy experience. Through the use of option files and mods, the PES community has been churning out customized gameplay experiences for years, several of which can be found in OS’ own Option File thread.
Released for mobile platforms via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store on April 6, NBA Ball Stars mixes the league’s superstar players with gem-bursting puzzle gameplay. You take charge of an NBA team, create customized lineups, and strengthen your roster as you make a run for the championship. As you bang out the puzzles, you power-up players, increase offensive and defensive skills, and unlock signature moves. From the developers at Netmarble, most known for games such as MARVEL Future Fight and The King of Fighters, this is the company’s first go at making an NBA game. While my early copy did not have access to all of the modes — namely “Versus” — I was able to play through the mode after the full release. With that in mind, I can now give a full NBA Ball Stars review.
There are a ton of great contributors out there who put together helpful tips and guides for MLB The Show, and as of late CBrev has been doing yeoman’s work when it comes to prepping folks for Diamond Dynasty. As it relates to MLB The Show 21, Diamond Dynasty is going to go through some rather big changes if the Q&A from SDS is anything to go by. We will learn more about those changes tonight during the final feature premiere, and then we’ll get to play around with those changes when MLB The Show 21 early release begins at midnight EST. In the meantime, if you’re new to The Show on Xbox, you’re a seasoned vet looking to pick up a couple marketplace tips, or you just are getting ready to play Diamond Dynasty for the first time overall, these Diamond Dynasty guides from CBrev are a good primer before launch.
MLB The Show’s Diamond Dynasty mode is incredibly popular and that certainly showed in the feature premiere talking about all the new improvements coming this year. With the addition of Xbox players and an entirely new console generation, San Diego Studio pulled out all the stops to ensure this year’s Diamond Dynasty was one to remember. In MLB The Show 20, I often felt overwhelmed with just how much stuff there was to do and cards there were to collect. This year, with MLB The Show 21 Diamond Dynasty it feels like that feeling will be amplified in a very good way.
The 1st Inning Program is ready to go here at launch for MLB The Show 21. Programs are mostly unchanged this year from a structural standpoint, but it does appear the influx of stuff to do will vary slightly now with no Showdown at launch. In addition, you’re not chasing 300 stars anymore but rather XP totals. To get to the 1st Inning bosses, you need 350,000 XP. On top of that, the rewards are more robust here since there are no more long-term XP programs to chase. Lastly, programs now have finite end dates on them. This 1st Inning Program ends 21 days from now, which would place the end date right on May 7.
The Nation Of Baseball Conquest map is the Conquest map we all know from prior years of Diamond Dynasty. This time around, SDS has just given us more reasons to replay the map where you conquer all 30 MLB strongholds. The initial reward is a Diamond Albert Pujols and gold Bryce Harper, but you also get six gold Prospects each time you complete the MLB The Show 21 map as well (one from every division). I just want to give you all the gallery of images for these prospects, so you can figure out who you want to pick each time through.
The Topps Now April set in MLB The Show 21 is something we’re joining in progress since the season began before The Show came out this time around. With that in mind, there are eight Topps Now players currently available, and you can acquire four for free by knocking out the available Moments so far.
The streamlined Team Affinity programs have been one of the better changes to Diamond Dynasty so far in MLB The Show 21. Knocking out a couple Showdowns or just playing some games feels much more rewarding this go around. With that in mind, we just want to highlight the 30 Team Affinity Season 1 players. They are all part of the 42 Series, along with the 10 pre-order players.
The first two packs for MLB The Show 21 right now are the Headliners Set 1 pack and the Space 1 pack. The Headliners Set 1 pack is highlighted by Postseason Josh Donaldson. The Space 1 pack is highlighted by Prospect Wander Franco, 2nd Half Heroes Felix Hernandez, and Milestone Jeurys Familia.
Ranked Seasons has returned for yet another year in MLB The Show 21. The change with Ranked Seasons 1 in MLB The Show 21 is that you can now get the World Series rewards by hitting a total wins threshold rather than just getting to the WS rank. We’ll outline the whole rewards structure below, but first let’s cover the rewards themselves.
The first World Series diamonds are All-Star Prince Fielder, All-Star Ryne Sandberg, and 2nd Half Heroes Nolan Ryan. The first Pennant Race rewards are Breakout Paul Molitor, Breakout Duke Snider, and Veteran Lee Smith.
The MLB The Show 21 Battle Royale Season 1 rewards take on a new structure here for ’21. You can still get one of the best rewards with a 12-0 Flawless run, but now there’s also a points program in play for those of us who can never approach a Flawless run. If you reach 50 BR points in a season you can also pick one of the 12-0 Flawless rewards. The 12-0 Flawless players for Season 1 are Veteran Vlad Guerrero, 2nd Half Heroes Mike Schmidt, All-Star Tom Seaver, Postseason Lou Brock, and All-Star Billy Wagner.
Events are back for MLB The Show 21, and the Welcome To The Show Event (Part 1) should be very comfortable for those who have grown used to events through the years in DD. The structure is exactly the same, and Part 1 ends on April 27. The top reward in Part 1 is an All-Star Miguel Cabrera.
There will at least be two parts to this first event in MLB The Show 21.
