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
- More Fighters Announced For eSports Boxing Club Roster
- Madden NFL 21 Server Maintenance Scheduled For Tomorrow, April 6 at 6:00 AM ET
- NBA 2K21 Patch #6 Available For PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S – Patch Notes
- FIFA 21 Patch #13 Available Now on Consoles – Patch Notes
- Decision to Bring MLB The Show 21 to Xbox Game Pass Came Straight From Major League Baseball
- Bassmaster Fishing 2022 Releases This Fall
- EA Sports PGA TOUR to Exclusively Have All Four Majors
- PGA TOUR 2K21 Introduces New TravisMathew and PUMA Golf Gear
- DiRT Rally 2.0 Patch 1.18 Available – Patch Notes
- NBA 2K21 Roster Update Available Today – Full Details Here (4-8)
- NBA 2K21 Patch #8 Available For PlayStation 4, Xbox One – Patch Notes
- Next WWE 2K Title Will Be Announced at WrestleMania 37
- EA Sports UFC 4 Patch 10 Adds Ciryl Gane, Rob Font, All-New Venum Kits & Gameplay Updates
- Hot Wheels Unleashed Gameplay Trailer
- Next-Gen Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 Showcase by Digital Foundry
- eFootball PES 2021 Data Pack 5 & Patch 1.05 Available – Patch Notes
Operation Sports Videos
ESBC has started to make it a habit dropping buckets of news over the weekend. With that in mind, Prince is back once more to discuss the latest gameplay update, plus chat about the latest roster additions.
He touches on the gameplay trailer that showed off some of the fight mechanics, and he chats about the Sunday roster reveal that made Vasyl Lomachenko’s inclusion official.
In this video, Matt breaks down the six pillars WWE 2K producer Patrick Gilmore introduced when he took over as head of the series’ direction in 2020. We got the first teaser for WWE 2K22in an announcement this week, and we know we’ll find out at least a little more during WrestleMania weekend in the upcoming WWE 2K22 trailer.
Matt also talks about where WWE 2K needs to improve and also maintain its place moving forward. We don’t expect this WWE 2K22 trailer to blow us away with information, but we hope there are some kernels of information here we can dream on for a bit before the news really starts to trickle out later this year.
Well, it’s here. We knew the trailer was coming during WrestleMania weekend, and it showed up tonight during night one of WrestleMania 37. We broke down what we want out of WWE 2K22 in the longer term earlier this week, but tonight was more about just showing how the game was looking on (presumably) next-gen consoles.
Operation Sports Featured Articles
The first publishing project from Netmarble’s Los Angeles based subsidiaries Netmarble US and Kung Fu Factory, NBA Ball Stars is an all-new (free to play) puzzle-based mobile basketball game that will soon be available to iOS and Android users. I have had a chance to toy around with this free-to-play NBA mobile game, so I thought I would give some early thoughts before the launch.
Candy Crush, Pro Basketball Manager, and FIFA Ultimate Team all come to mind with this sleek and intuitive mobile game. NBA Ball Stars takes a page from each game and combines them into an addictive mobile game that’s simple enough to pick up quickly yet deep enough to keep you locked in if you’re a fan of the sport. At its core, NBA Ball Stars gameplay is similar to Candy Crush, the wildly popular mobile game from 2012 that focuses on matching up gems. Whether you’re on offense or defense, matching up two or more gems builds up your percentages to either score or force a turnover/miss on defense.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 was my choice for Sports Game of the Year in 2020, and that comes from someone who spent hundreds of hours in MLB The Show 20. In other words, I’m more than happy to play Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 again on next-gen consoles. So, is it worth it? Well, let’s talk about that by first going back to the initial release one more time.
When I reviewed THPS 1+2 for OS, I praised it for not only recapturing the timeless magic of the franchise, but also for getting the entire reboot right. How often do we theorize what it would be like if one our favorite titles just received a re-release as-is on modern consoles? Vicarious Visions did that, and then so much more.
Every time I think about FIFA’s Pro Clubs mode, I utter this phrase to myself: “What could have been?” The mode that should have been what esports is centered around, Pro Clubs combines the best of both worlds. Firstly, it’s a mode that gets you online and playing with friends. Considering the times we live in, and taking into account that most gamers don’t play locally with friends anymore, Pro Clubs has been offering online play for nearly a decade now. Secondly, it’s made for promoting an 11-on-11 environment, you know, like how the actual sport is played. Watching two esports players go head-to-head, often utilizing the same tactics and approach, can get tiresome. However, watching two teams full of 11 players each all working in unison would be a welcome sight. Over the last few years we’ve been promised some additions to Pro Clubs only to be let down. When the most meaningful change is being able to change your kits pre-match to avoid kit clashes, you know how much love the developers have for this mode. Still, in this FIFA 22 Pro Clubs wishlist below, I will be chatting about how Pro Clubs can still push forward on next-gen consoles.
San Diego Studio had its MLB The Show 21 stadium creator and next-gen feature premiere earlier today, but the showcase was almost entirely dedicated to the stadium creator tool itself. The team really focused on how innovative the creator will be, driving home the point it should be easy and fun to use for just about anybody.
Jon Ramsey, the lead engineer for the tool, joined the premiere to talk about what was essentially framed as his baby. Ramsey and his team began kicking around the idea of a stadium creator back in 2016, but due to challenges in functionality and how the tool would perform when moving to new platforms, was shelved in official development until 2019. At that point, the team started officially working on the feature to gear up for a next-generation release.
While franchise mode carryover saves will be going bye-bye for this first PS5 version of MLB The Show 21, the hope is the roster vault and such will live on and continue to carry on into the next-gen games. If the roster vault gets reset, then there are going to be folks who will stick with the PS4 version of The Show because the amount of community creations that are still uncovered here is nearly limitless. I highlighted the Strat-O-Matic ’80s roster last time around, but this time I have two MLB The Show classic roster sets featuring the 1987 and 1993 seasons.
