Every Sunday, we will get you caught up on the sports gaming news you might have missed, during the busy week. This week it’s all about NBA 2K23, FIFA 23, Madden 23 and more.
Sports Gaming News
- F1 22 Patch 1.06 Addresses More Gameplay, Audio, Wheel & VR Issues – Patch Notes
- Juventus Returns to FIFA 23 in Exclusive Multi-Year Deal
- Diamond Dynasty: Finest Dontrelle Willis and More
- Diamond Dynasty Ranked Seasons 5 Delivers Awards Cody Bellinger and Finest Leiter
- World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing Releases on September 27 – Teaser Trailer and Some Details Revealed
- FIFA 23 Gameplay Details and Trailer Revealed – HyperMotion 2, Technical Dribbling, AcceleRATE & Much More
- Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 Coming to PlayStation Plus on August 2
- eSports Boxing Club Gameplay Video & Developer Roundtable – Judging, One Punch Knockouts and More
- WWE 2K22 Available to Play Through the Weekend with Xbox Live Free Play Days
- Gran Turismo 7 Patch 1.19 Adds Three New Cars and Two New Scapes Locations – Patch Notes
- MLB Perfect Inning: Ultimate Available For iOS and Android Devices
- Finest Andrew McCutchen Collection Reward and Much More
- NBA 2K23 Trailer Revealed – Gameplay Details Arrive Next Week
- NHL 23 Closed Technical Test Registration Begins For a Chance to Play in Late August
Operation Sports Featured Articles
Last year, HyperMotion was the lead marketing pitch. If EA was driving a virtual bus to a match, HyperMotion would be the first person off the bus. Touted as a gameplay enhancing system that could create animations on the fly and process information at a much higher rate than its predecessors, HyperMotion 2 is set to store over 6,000 true-to-life animations. We were shown a highlight reel featuring nutmegs, elasticos, and some nice looking animations. It’s been reported but not confirmed yet that the Xsens suits that were introduced last year will be supplemented by some enhanced match captures, improved upon machine learning, and a new change with dribbling to name a few elements of what we could read in more detail in EA’s next Deep Dive, which is scheduled for July 27.
When it comes to selecting the all-stars in any sport, there are always going to be dissenting opinions on which players are deserving of the honor (shout out to Dylan Cease). For instance, MLB The Show 22 doesn’t assess all of the players who made the cut this year to be on exactly the same level when it comes to their ratings in its card-collecting Diamond Dynasty mode. In all likelihood, this means that some MLB All-Star stock prices in Diamond Dynasty are bound to go up and down with their play. The fact that the MLB, like many other leagues, plays their All-Star Game in the middle of a season complicates matters further.
Here are some predictions regarding which Live series cards of All-Stars can expect to see their stock rise via roster updates as the rest of the season progresses, and which ones are showing signs that their value may have already peaked.
Power ranking SZN returns with my All-Stars of the Franchise power rankings. The MLB All-Star break has come and gone. With it, we’ve been showered in new All-Star and Home Run Derby cards to add to our DD squads. The heaviest of the new content comes from the new Featured Program, which showcases a 2022 All-Star from each of the 30 teams.
Breaking from the norm with the previous 30-card programs, we get to choose 18 of these new bosses for free versus the 12 we’ve been getting so far. There’s a pretty varied selection in terms of positions and the attributes, so your choices are more important here than the Future Stars program. All of these cards are sellable, so you’ll be able to buy the other 12 if you desire. This is important to note because of the 2022 All-Star Jackie Robinson collection, which requires every single one of these cards, plus 2022 Home Run Derby and All-Star Game cards that are quite a bit more expensive.
With all that said, let’s get into it.
Following the ratings reveals for the QBs in Madden 23, OS user canes21 started a thread talking about QB play in Madden 23 and asked fellow OS folks what they thought EA could do now and in the future to continue to make QBs feel different from one another. It’s a question that comes up in various forms every year, and I think it’s actually one of the more complicated questions out there to answer because of the various factions who play Madden. It’s also one of the most important questions to ask almost every year because it’s quite likely the most used position in the game by a mile. In the real NFL, no position gets more focus (and has more money poured into it), so logically it’s probably what a majority (or at least a plurality) of gameplay development time should go into each season to make it continuously feel new and unique.
Even though the trailer skips ahead to the women’s game, we’re going to get into Technical Dribbling and Machine Learning Jockey (ML-Jockey) since they are byproducts of Machine Learning. First up is Technical Dribbling, which was said to be immediately different and noticeable when compared to FIFA 22. Enhanced responsiveness (uh oh) and better visual quality (how the animations look on-screen when executed) look like the main selling points, but anytime someone says FIFA needs to be more responsive I get a little scared. While I’ll always agree that button input should be responsive, it’s the locomotion system that needs to chill out.
FIFA often looks photo-realistic at a standstill (that grass looks good this year!) but once in motion you can quickly tell it’s a video game. Some of this is down to the graphical style, but a lot can be attributed to how players run with and without the ball. For me, eFootball 2022 is the gold standard when it comes to dribbling. There aren’t many areas of that game where you can say that, but the way players take touches and control the ball allowing you to beat defenders without skill moves is what FIFA should strive for. Perhaps, like they did with Power Kick, EA might have taken a page from Konami’s playbook here to go that route.
