Event Starts at 2:00 PM EST. Check out the details of the USTREAM party for NHL 11 below along with a link to the video and chat for tomorrow.

While the game launches on Tuesday September 7th, one week before Launch we will have our NHL 11 USTREAM Launch Party where we showcase the entire game. We will be broadcasting LIVE on Tuesday, August 31st from 2-4PM EST from the NHL 11 Rookie Challenge event in Toronto. Not only will you be able to see NHL 11 in its entirety, you will be able to chat with some of the top draft picks from the 2010 NHL draft. Along with that w…e will give away tons of prizes including 2 games an hour that you will have on launch day. Make sure you are a fan of the EA SPORTS NHL Fanpage and RSVP for your chance to win. See ya next week!

Update – August 26th

Here’s a list of the players that will be taking part in the tournament. We hope to have a few of them come by our set to take questions from the community! Feel free to leave your questions for a specific player here and we’ll see if we can ask it live for you.

Mattias Tedenby – NJD
Zach Hamill – BOS
Kyle Beach – CHI
Kevin Shattenkirk – COL
Tomas Tatar – DET
Chet Pickard – NAS
Magnus Svensson Paajarvi – EDM
Jacob Markstrom – FLA
Mats Zuccarello-Aasen – NYR
Jonathon Blum – NAS
Erik Gudbranson – FLA
Nazem Kadri – TOR
Taylor Hall – EDM
Tyler Seguin – BOS
Ryan Johansen – CBJ
Scott Glennie – DAL
Calvin de Haan – NYI
Ryan McDonagh – NYR

We’re also planning a special Online Game between Rammer (twitter.com/easportsnhl) and Operation Sports (twitter.com/operationsports) forum admin Chris Gunter (twitter.com/millenniumOS) for some serious bragging rights! Make sure you tune in as it should be an exciting battle!

The NHL 11 Demo is out for the Xbox 360 and will be available for the PS3 later today.  Click here to add the demo to your download queue.

The second patch for NCAA should be available now.  Read the full story to check out the details of the patch detailed in a blog post by Producer Russ Kiniry.

Hello again NCAA Fans!

I’m Russ Kiniry and I’d like to welcome you to Client Update 2 for NCAA Football 11.  You should be able to download the update now (it will automatically download when you start the game).   Roy talked about this update coming a while back in his blog ‘Thank You’ and I brought it up again when we released Live Tuner Pack 1 last week.   I am happy to finally say it is here, and we’ve got a long list of tweaks, tunes, and fixes.   Many of these changes were requests straight from you, the fans of NCAA Football, so it was very important to us to get them in the update.   Enough words, let’s get to the list!

Graphics

-          Uniform degradation has been fixed.
-          Fixed a graphical issue with TeamBuilder sideline home uniforms.
-          Fixed several camera bugs (pulled back on field goals, blurry cameras, and replays after a change of possession)
-          Fixed helmet numbers for Rice and Wake Forest

Online
-          Resolved an issue with Season Showdown, allowing us to turn it back on, so you’re upload failure message every time you go in/out of game is gone!
-          Fixed a couple freezes related to lobbies
-          Fixed voice communication in Online Dynasty Hub on PS3
-          Fixed an issue that could lead to a disconnect in online play during play calling

Offense
-          Fixed an issue on a couple plays where the QB would miss a hand off and run backward
-          Reduced the chance that the ball will be knocked out when a receiver is hit at the time of the catch
-          Tuned the CPU ball carrier so that they will break to the outside more often when appropriate
-          Tuned how the CPU ball carriers utilize leans and special moves so that they won’t be used in situations when they shouldn’t (e.g. a HB in the open field will not put his shoulders down when running forward)
-          Tuned pass accuracy and the ability to lead a receiver
-          Tweaked sideline catch animations in the end zone so that they have a bit more room to play
-          Fixed an exploit where backwards passes could be overly effective

Defense -          Fixed defensive reaction to pump fake to be more balanced. Skilled defensive backs will not be as easily fooled by pump fakes.
-          Tuned the Aggressive Defensive Line Gameplan to have more risk of jumping offsides
-          Removed a hesitation from defensive lineman pass rush on screen plays
-          Improved flat zone and deep zone coverage
-          Tuned man coverage reaction to the run
-          Adjusted CPU pursuit angles in some specific cases where they weren’t being aggressive enough

Special Teams
-          Tuned onside kicks to be less predictable
-          Fixed an issue where catching a kicked ball after hitting the goalpost would result in kicking team getting the ball back
-          Fixed an issue where the punter could line up out of place
-          Adjusted cross bar collision on field goals and extra points

Other
-          Tuned CPU clock management where they would let the clock run out in some cases they shouldn’t
-          Fixed a bug with time of possession tracking
-          Adjusted substitutions to be more intelligent (previously would see some weird players in the game with lots of aggressive no huddle)
-          Fixed a couple places where the wrong custom stadium sounds would play
-          Fixed a bug that caused Road To Glory to be simulated day by day near the end of the season
-          Tuned Kick Power and Kick Accuracy of progression of kickers and punters in Dynasty Mode
-          Fixed a couple infrequent game lock-ups

Again, I want to thank you for providing us with all the feedback you have thus far, and encourage you to continue to do so. It’s safe to say this is the biggest update in NCAA History.  We wanted to be sure that we continue to improve your experience while playing NCAA Football 11, so this update touches almost every area of the game.   You can look forward to more Live Tuner Packs for NCAA Football 11 in the near future.

This update is for you Mr. Passionate-NCAA-Football-Gamer.

A blog released today by NCAA Football 11 Producer Roy Harvey talks about the new Live Tuning feature and second title update for the game. Check the blog out below.

It’s been a while since my last blog (see: A New Game Plan – March 2010) where I outlined our philosophy for the game and the new approach our team took in developing NCAA Football 11.  An approach centered on three key elements, Core Gameplay, Collegiate Presentation, and Innovation.  Based on the response to the game so far, it seems like we’re on the right track.  Your response has been fantastic and it certainly wouldn’t have been possible without all the great feedback, suggestions, and support from you, our community of passionate college football fans.  I want to personally thank everyone who’s taken time to send us an email, complete a survey, or post their feedback on the various game forums.  The input we receive, both positive and negative, helps us continually improve the game experience today and moving forward.

IT’S THE SOUND YOU’VE WAITED DAYS TO HEAR…

With a nod to my favorite NCAA Football intro video, first things first…  I’m happy to report that a title update is coming soon.  Look for this in about two-to-three weeks or so (currently estimating mid-August).  We’ll communicate the official dates as soon as they’re locked in.

This new update covers a variety of fixes and improvements.  The team will release more details in the coming days, but I wanted to provide a few highlights as well as discuss one final game “feature” that we have yet to formally announce.  First some background…

WHY BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD FOOTBALL GAMES

Some of you may wonder, and rightfully so, “how did they miss that bug?!!”  The same thing goes on here at the studio, “HOW DID WE MISS THAT BUG!!” usually with some colorful expletives thrown in for good measure.

But why does this happen?  To start with, software development is a complex science and this is why nearly every game and software company on the planet is continually challenged and often frustrated in the pursuit of software perfection.  Windows Service Packs, multiple iPhone O/S and application updates, etc.  You get the picture…

Now let’s consider video games.  Sports games are some of the most complex video games in existence today, and I’d argue that the logic and sophistication of football rivals them all.  The real-world game of college football is complicated enough with its massive and constantly evolving rulebook, schedules, and even conference realignments*.  Now try to imagine the complexity of a video game in full HD running at 60 frames-per-second while attempting to mimic not only visual photorealism in 5.1 stereo but believable simulated behavior of 22 individual players, refs, coaching staff, broadcasters, and fans.  And now connect that same experience to hundreds of thousands of players through a broad array of servers and databases across the country all in real-time over a far-less-than-perfect Internet.  This is also why features that seemed almost trivial in the last generation of consoles, seem to be advancing slower with this new generation.  Hardware, connectivity, and the scale of “HD” just make everything much more complex to properly develop and execute.  To give you some perspective, the NCAA Football 11 codebase contains more than 10 million lines of source code and script combined with over 350 gigabytes of graphics, sound, and data files.  This all then gets compiled, compressed, and packaged into what you’ll find on your game disk.

Over the past year we logged tens-of-thousands of hours of QA on the game in addition to tens-of-thousands of hours more in scripted game testing through networks of automated game consoles here at the studio.  And even for all that testing, anomalies, exploits, and bugs can still happen.   Consider that within days of game launch, more than 1,000,000 games will be played – more games than can be possibly exercised by an army of testers in a single year.

This isn’t an excuse for not getting things right the first time, but I did want to provide some context.  Sometimes the problems are edge-cases; sometimes it’s an issue of massive online scale that can’t be reproduced in a lab, or simply plain old human error.  But when problems are discovered please know that we as developers, and true longtime fans of the game, also share your frustration.  We take bugs very seriously.  Our number one goal is to always deliver the highest quality and most enjoyable game of simulated college football possible.  Which brings me to the last unannounced feature you’ll find in NCAA Football 11…  One way in which we’ve been working to improve the game experience for everyone this year.

NEW FOR NCAA FOOTBALL 11 — LIVE TUNING PACKAGES

A number of you have already noticed that we do a check for “Online Gameplay Tuning” when connecting to our online servers.  Some of you may also have found a new “Tuning” category in the Files menu.  This is a new technology for NCAA Football 11 that allows us to not only live update and tune core gameplay parameters — like fumbles, throw accuracy, and juke success ratings — but it also allows us to rebalance certain core features such as recruiting logic, blocking, even control the intensity of shadows cast by the football on a sunny day!

These new Live Tuning Packages (LTPs) contain literally 1000′s of key parameters which drive the heart of our game; parameters that live well below the level of specific player or team ratings.  With our new LTPs we can often turn changes around in a few days.  It can’t solve everything, and some issues will still require a traditional client update, but for many items it’s definitely a more powerful and faster strategy for tuning throughout the season.

Our first LTP should be arriving next week along with detailed notes on what the update contains.  I can tell you that based on the collective feedback we’ve received, we will be carefully down-tuning the athleticism of defensive lineman and reduce the number of impressive picks by the big guys.  We’re also looking to address a few important dynasty progression and recruiting issues.

NCAA FOOTBALL 11 ONLINE SERVER UPDATES

The NCAA Football Live Team, a group dedicated to server-side health and maintenance, has been very busy over the last two weeks since launch.  We apologize for any issues you may have experienced in recent days.  The team has been upgrading hardware, tuning databases, and fixing web issues as they arise.  Most of these changes happen behind-the-scenes on a daily and nightly basis.  Here a few of the most visible fixes so far:

– Fixed online leaderboard exploit
– Fixed potential crash at online team-select screen
– Fixed post-game email formatting
– Optimized various database queries
– Various hardware upgrades and backend optimizations

Work will continue on server optimizations throughout the season to ensure a fast and enjoyable online experience for everyone.  We’re also working to do a better job of communicating upcoming fixes and outages so that everyone has a better handle on what’s happening.  And by the way, just to dispel a common myth, if you have lag issues when playing an online opponent, it’s unlikely to be an EA Server issue.  Our matchmaking system works by telling your consoles to directly connect to each other for the game and then report back the results.  The network traffic doesn’t go through our servers like an MMO.  If you have problems or disconnects, it could be your ISP, local networking gear, or simply someone unhappy about the way the game is going and pulling the cord.  It happens.

NCAA FOOTBALL 11 CLIENT UPDATE 2

More details on the client update to come, but here are three of the big ones we’ve solved:

– RANDOM PLAY ACTION CRAZINESS – Sure it looks funny, but annoying as heck when it costs you a drive or a game. We’re sorry we missed this one as well and apologize for the issue.

– SEASON SHOWDOWN STATS REPORTING – The season showdown warning is harmless right now and this issue and related lobby problems ultimately get fixed with the update.

– UNIFORMS THAT NEVER NEED WASHING – This is one of the more painful ones for us given all the work on visuals this year.  The game actually does degrade uniforms; unfortunately we broke something in a final build that made the impact way too subtle.  Consider this one solved with the update.  And we want you to know that we’ve really been enjoying the great “Art of NCAA Football” threads.  It’s clear we have some incredible photographic talent in our community!  So I expect things will go next-level when the update rolls out.  For example, this shot comes straight out of the updated game:

LOOKING AHEAD

My apologies to longtime fans like ODogg who can’t find peace without dreadlocks.   Or others who’ve been aggressively petitioning for broadcast cameras or bowl patches.  We just weren’t able to get them into NCAA Football 11 given all the other work we had to take care of this year.  And unfortunately, these aren’t things that we can simply “patch in”.  I can tell you they’re on our wishlists as well and we hope to get to them in a future version.  Look for a link to a new Satisfaction and Feature Request Survey in my next blog.

Thanks again for the great support!

Roy
NCAA Football 11
Executive Producer

PS — You can still email me at NCAAFootballFeedback@ea.com.  As always, given the incredible amount of email I get daily, I don’t always have time to reply, but I do promise I’ll read everything you send.  Please keep it civil and spam free

* Conference changes for next year’s real-world NCAA College Football season didn’t officially happen until after our game was completed and off to manufacturing.

Check out the full story for Excel files containing full player ratings for the NFC East and West.  Also check out the season preview videos.

NFC East

EA has released a new blog bringing more info on FIFA 11 including 7 new screen shots.  Check out the full story for the blog and the new images in our Screen Shot Gallery.

A video and new screenshots showcasing EA Sports MMA Career Mode has been released.  Check out the full story for the video and visit our Screen Shot Gallery for the new screens.

2K Sports has just announced a new mode for NBA 2K11 called “The Jordon Challenge”.  Check out the rest of the story for the details on the new game mode and a video.

New mode in NBA® 2K11 allows gamers to relive Michael Jordan’s greatest career moments

New York, NY – July 22, 2010 – 2K Sports today revealed The Jordan Challenge, a new game mode for the latest iteration of the top rated and top selling basketball simulation franchise*, NBA® 2K11. This new mode will allow players to relive 10 different legendary games from Michael Jordan’s illustrious career and challenge them to replicate what he did on the court in NBA 2K11.

“Fans of the series are going to be thrilled to know that in NBA 2K11 Michael Jordan is much, much more than just a cover athlete,” said Jason Argent, vice president of marketing for 2K Sports. “We’re excited to start talking about the ways that Michael will be used in the game and there’s still a lot more to come.”

While playing The Jordan Challenge, fans can try to stun the world in Jordan’s self-described greatest game by torching the Cavaliers by 69 points in March of 1990; attempt to battle back from the flu to defeat the Jazz in Game 6 of the 1997 finals; or leave the world wanting more as they relive one of Jordan’s finest performances during his last game as a Chicago Bull on June 14, 1998. In addition to The Jordan Challenge mode, gamers will have the unique opportunity to play as some of the greatest teams in NBA history, including the ‘85-’86, ’89-’90, ’90-’91, ’94-’95, ’95-’96, ’96-’97, and ’97-’98 Chicago Bulls.

NBA 2K11 is not yet rated by the ESRB and will be available October 5, 2010.

Update:  Here is a list of the moments you can replay.

The Arrival
When: April 20, 1986. Game 2, 1st round playoffs vs. Celtics
Goal 1: Score 63+ points
Goal 2: Shoot 50%+ from the field
Summary: Jordan made his mark with this 63 point playoff game against a heavily favored Celtics team.

69 Points
When: March 28, 1990. Regular season game vs. Cavs
Goal 1: Score 69+ points
Goal 2: Shoot 50%+ from the field
Goal 3: Win the game
Summary: This time Jordan gets the win by dropping 69 points and putting a dent in the Cavaliers’ playoff plans.

Shootout
When: Any date in 1990. Regular season game vs. Hawks
Goal 1: Outscore Dominique
Goal 2: Hold Dominique under 25 Points
Goal 3: Win the game
Summary: Jordan and Dominique Wilkins face off in some of the all-time greatest scoring performances of the era.

Bad Boys
When: May 26, 1990. Game 3, Eastern Conference Finals vs. Pistons
Goal 1: Score 47+ points
Goal 2: Win the game
Summary: Jordan showed the Pistons and the world that no defensive strategy could stop him for long.

When: June 2 thru June 12, 1991 vs. Lakers
Goal 1: Average 31.0+ points
Goal 2: Shoot 55%+ from the field
Goal 3: Win the series
Summary: Jordan silenced the doubters by coming back from a game one embarrassment to thrash the Lakers in these Finals.

The Shrug
When: June 3, 1992. Game 1, 1st round playoffs vs. Blazers
Goal 1: Score 35+ points in the first half
Goal 2: Make 6+ threes in the first half
make 6+ threes in the 1st half
Goal 2: Hold Drexler to under 20 points
Goal 3: Win the Game
Summary: Just to prove a point, Jordan sets the tone for the series by dominating the first half of this first Finals game.

Double Nickel
When: March 18, 1995. Regular season game vs. Knicks
Goal 1: Score 55+ points
Goal 2: Shoot 55%+ from the field
Goal 3: Win the game
Summary: After a stint with the bat, Jordan returns to New York to tear up the Knicks for 55 points and an unforgettable pass.

Father’s Day Victory
When: June 16, 1996. Game 6, 1996 Finals (last game of series as Bulls won 4-2) vs. Sonics
Goal 1: Score 22+ points
Goal 2: Grab 9+ rebounds
Goal 3: Win the game
Summary: Michael ran the table over the entire league but this fourth title would prove to be just as special as his first.

The Flu Game
When: June 11, 1997. Game 6, 1997 Finals (not the last game of the series as it went to 7) vs. Jazz
Goal 1: Score 38+ points
Goal 2: Grab 7+ rebounds
Goal 3: Win the game
Summary: A very ill Jordan still manages to both dominate the game and hit the winning shot in the last seconds of the game.

Michael’s Last Dance
When: June 14, 1998. Game 6, 1998 Finals vs. Jazz
Goal 1: Score 45+ points
Goal 2: Get 4+ steals
Goal 3: Win the game
Summary: With one final resounding shot, Jordan seals both his legacy and the fate of the Jazz’s championship hopes.

Click here to view an all new blog by EA Sports about the goalie gear in NHL 11.

Hey guys. This is Gurn Sumal, one of the producers on NHL 11 and I’m going to be doing a weekly blog for the next month about the goalie equipment in our game. Like many of you, I am a HUGE gear guy. Luckily, our artists are big gear guys as well which means we’re able to squeeze in a few extra sets of equipment. Being a goalie myself, I made it a priority to implement as many sets of equipment as possible and so this year we have a total of 32 different sets in the game.

If you’re wondering how we’re able to put this much equipment in for the goalies as compared to what we put in for skaters, it’s all based on memory used in game. For goalies, there are only ever four goalies in the rink at any one time as opposed to 36 different skaters. We have to account for every single skater and goalie potentially having a different piece of equipment, which can add up quickly. The more equipment we have to load, the longer our load times are and once in the game it will affect the framerate. Not to mention, when you play online and all the equipment information has to be shared so everyone is seeing the same thing.

Back to the gear, one of the biggest changes to the goalie equipment this year is that we’ve increased the amount of recolorable zones to nine (for sets that are complex). This also includes the older equipment that has been in the game in previous years like the Bauer X: 60 or the Vaughn V3 sets. Even with 9 zones some of the equipment may still be a little off due to the sheer amount of customization that a specific set may have but we’ve tried to make it as close to real life as possible. So why not add more zones for more authenticity? See the paragraph above on load times, memory and framerate!

So with all that being said, let’s get to the good stuff and talk about the sets that are in the game. This week I will be starting with the Vaughn goalie sets, as Vaughn is one of the more popular goalie brands around. Vaughn has a total of 8 sets in the game which are:

• V3’s (Updated to support Tribal Graphics)
• V4’s (Supports Tribal Graphics)
• Epics
• SLW’s
• Velocity icebergs (new design)
• 7700’s (Price Graphics)
• Pulse(Updated to support Top “pulses” to be colored)
• Velocity(updated to support Michael Neuvirth’s Set)

Nicklas Backstrom of the Minnesota wild in his V3 pads

Steve Mason in his V4’s

Habs goalie Carey Price in his all White EPICS

Calder Finalist Jimmy Howard in his Icebergs

My favorite set up of the bunch, Kari Lehtonen in his SLW’s (His Atlanta set was better )

Two time Calder Cup winner Michal Neuvirth in his Vaughn Velocity pads

Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes in his Half Pulse half Epic set up

Tyler Plante of the Amerks in his Vaughn Pulse set up

Hope you enjoyed the 1st edition of my gear blog that will be running until the game launches. Stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter pages for your latest NHL 11 news and videos.

-Gurn

Click here to jump to the blog.

EA Sports pulls back the veil on the next installment in everyone’s favorite boxing series. Click here to read about the new title from EA sports on IGN.

Fight Night Round 3 set the gaming world ablaze with its gorgeous E3 demo back in 2005. Now EA Sports is returning with the fifth iteration in the sports franchise, dubbed Fight Night Champion coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2011. And, just in case you’re wondering, this is not an expansion to Fight Night Round 4. Fight Night Champion will be its own standalone disc when it launches at retailers. When that will be in 2011 is anyone’s guess.

The developers at EA Canada in Vancouver are touting a new single-player mode as the biggest innovation in the game, saying, “Fight Night Champion will break the mold of what is expected in a single-player sports game. Players will be introduced to an entirely new way to step between the ropes and experience the drama, emotion, excitement and tragedy of world championship boxing.”

Goodnight, Winky. Hello new level of brutality.

Brian Hayes, Gameplay Producer on Fight Night Champion said, “It’s something people won’t expect from an EA Sports game” about the game’s big new mode. He quickly followed that remark with “Our lips are sealed for the time-being about that” for fear of the wrath of the EA Sports PR representative.

He did tell us that the game will be “the full meal deal with desert and a toy. The whole enchilada. All that and a bag…” when asked if Champion was being treated as an expansion pack or a full retail release. It would stand to reason that the price tag would follow suit, but don’t quote us on that.

There will be between 60 and 65 boxers on the roster for the final product and users will implement the new “Full Spectrum Punch Control” to move the combatants around the ring and throw some of the most devastating punches ever seen in a Fight Night game. At least that’s the impression I get from looking at that bloody Manny Pacquaio screenshot.

Manny has seen better days.

EA Sports touts the new control method as delivering both “the most realistic punching system ever seen” while still allowing Champion to be “the most user-friendly title in the franchise’s history.” Interpret that however you like, but you can bet that there will be an option for players to use face buttons and face buttons alone to throw punches.

We weren’t able to glean any other juicy tidbits of gameplay details other than the game will include new online features to go along with the headlining single-player innovation and control scheme. Being a huge Fight Night fan myself (and an even bigger cheerleader for solo gameplay when compared to taking the game online), I’m certainly excited to see the sort of new career experience Fight Night Champion is going to provide.

For more information on the Fight Night series, be sure to check out our reviews for Fight Night Round 4 and Fight Night Round 3. We’ll have more details on Fight Night Champion later this year. For now, you’ll just have to enjoy the pair of screenshots above. Expect to see the game drop onto shelves sometime next year on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

IGN: Source