Sports Gaming News Weekly Wrap-Up (Feb 14 - Feb 20, 2021)

The biggest selling point in March to October for MLB The Show 21 seems like it will be more user control of the team as you push for a World Series run. Some changes detailed in the trailer include the ability to tinker with your team’s depth chart, your team’s farm system, as well as “massive” improvements to the player logic system. The “massive” improvements statement came with video of a trade screen.

When SDS announced the “Full Minors” feature coming to MLB The Show 20, it came with massive hype from the community. After all, it was a big moment for the community as a whole since this had been a hub for the “full minors” before it was officially picked up by SDS. Now, in year two for MLB The Show 21, the question becomes how does it improve from here?

In preparation for the release of NHL 21, the development team over at EA Sports highlighted — through Instagram @easportsnhl — their player ratings and attributes for NHL 21. Like always, those NHL 21 ratings garnered a ton of reactions and included a high level of criticism from fans and critics of the series. I found myself in disbelief over most of their top 10 lists, especially when it came to their list of “top 10 deking” players, which I’ll reference specifically with this article (and critiqued before right here). That said, instead of just criticizing, I now want to put together my own top 10 list of players to use for shootouts in NHL 21.

Skatebird‘s gameplay and controls also felt more refined. The bird had apparent weight to it, which was not something I necessarily noticed in my previous playthrough. Tricks looked better than ever, and things just felt more natural — or as natural as controlling a bird on a skateboard can feel. Another added dynamic to this demo compared to the last is the beginning of what the developers refer to as the actual story.