Author Bio
Chris SannerHome Town: Bethany, OK
Sports: Football, Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Wrestling
Games: The Show, NCAA Football, NHL, FIFA, NBA 2K
Teams: The Sooners, Rangers, Thunder, Chiefs
OS Username: MMChrisS
Tags: Live: MMChrisS PSN: OSChrisS
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
05:30 PM - December 30, 2015. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chris Sanner
EA Access has been a thing for awhile -- but it hasn't been THIS big of a thing until 2015.
Thanks to a growing library of games in the Vault and even more consumer friendly policies in terms of the early play period, EA Access is now one of the best deals in gaming at $5/month.
If you recall, I wrote on this very site quite skeptically about the actual value access offered. I'm not afraid to admit I was wrong on the program, as it's become perhaps THE system seller for the XBox One.
For $5/month you get a vast library of games in the vault and you get to try out most every new EA game for roughly 10 hours before you have to decide upon buying it.
Sports gamers in particular will find value in the vault or the early access, as you get the chance to play games you wouldn't normally buy to see if they're for you. Not a fan of hockey but want to try NHL out? No problem.
For some sports gamers, a year old version of a game from a sport you really don't care about (think: Most Americans and Soccer) won't be a huge deal.
Regardless, 2015 marked the arrival of EA Access as a huge thing in gaming with a real and incredible value.
What do you think of EA Acccess' value and are you a subscriber?
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
12:09 PM - December 29, 2015. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chris Sanner
After what was a tumultuous 2014 of two steps forward and one step back as sports gamers, this year was quite a contrast.
Most games launched without terribly major problems -- with most issues being cleaned up within a month of launch.
What was once thought impossible happened in MLB The Show having an amazing online experience. NBA 2K avoided its major woes of years past, though there were some hiccups. Madden and FIFA both chugged right along.
Adding to the quality this year was surprise hit Rocket League, which took the concept of cars playing soccer and made something great out of it. The Golf Club got better, and other independent games were more than solid.
Most notably, NBA Live 16 and NHL 16 made big strides in quality.
All in all, it seemed as if quality was on the rise in 2015.
What did you think of the overall quality of sports games this year? What do you think we'll be talking about in regards to the quality of next year's lineup?
Monday, December 28, 2015
01:11 PM - December 28, 2015. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chris Sanner
The Sports Gaming release calendar was a little, ahem, compact this year.
Madden NFL 16 released on August 25. Within a couple of weeks NHL 16 and PES 2016 were out. Then the next week FIFA 16 was out.
Then the very next week it was time for both NBA games to release.
And those were just the major titles -- all within a month's span. You still had independent titles, smaller sports titles, and (oh by the way) all of the other non-sports games.
Compacting the release schedule like this was completely unnecessary and likely cost each game in terms of overall sales.
The fix seems simple enough. FIFA and PES should both be moved back into the summer when most leagues globally are getting ready to launch. NBA games should be pushed back to mid-late October and Madden should probably be pushed back a week or so to Mid-August vs. Late-August.
When combined with EA's annual June release of UFC or Rory -- you'd have sports games from April to October releasing every month but May. And when you get down to it, May is a great time for independent studios to fill a void.
That calendar would give us one new sports game per month to enjoy, break down, play in online leagues, and spend our hard earned money on Ultimate Team.
Instead we got everything within a 6 week window. What a shame.
Let's make a change in 2016 publishers.
Thursday, December 24, 2015
04:25 PM - December 24, 2015. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chris Sanner
The Sports Game of the Year OS Reader Voting has begun! The second round of polls went up this afternoon with four new categories up for voting.
All polls will close on January 1 where we will tally the votes and reveal the winners on January 2!
Follow the links below to cast your votes!
- Best Single Player Experience
- Best Online Experience
- Best Post-Launch Support
- Most Innovative Feature
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
09:24 PM - December 22, 2015. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chris Sanner
The folks at Dynasty League Baseball Online have added several new cards to the game in their 2015 season player card release. Here are some details:
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08:28 PM - December 22, 2015. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chris Sanner
The Sports Game of the Year OS Reader Voting has begun! The first round of polls went up this afternoon with some big categories up for voting. We'll be adding several other polls tomorrow for additional voting.
All polls will close on January 1 where we will tally the votes and reveal the winners on January 2!
Follow the links below to cast your votes!
- Sports Game of the Year
- Indie Sports Game of the Year
- Best Gameplay of 2015
- Best Presentation of 2015
- The Best Card Collecting Mode of 2015
Friday, December 18, 2015
10:53 AM - December 18, 2015. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chris Sanner
Although the word "FAST" is written in capital letters across its title screen, and is prominently displayed above each level's finish line, FAST Racing Neo contains a surprising amount of design decisions that bog down its blink-and-you're-dead driving style.
Most of the game's 16 courses are narrow, curvy and filled with risky jumps, forcing players to relinquish the death-grip on their accelerator to avoid scraping against walls or veering wildly off-road and exploding into pieces. On the lowest of FAST Racing Neo's three speed settings (Subsonic, Supersonic, Hypersonic), a trained eye can satisfyingly fly through each stage using only the left joystick to steer and the left/right triggers to hop sideways. But upon unlocking Supersonic speed, you'll have to start braking like a Formula One driver just to keep the heavier of the game's 10 available hovercrafts intact.
Read More - Fast Racing Neo Review (Wii U)
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
12:31 PM - December 16, 2015. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chris Sanner
The Stevies are coming up in a few weeks, and we're busy preparing the vooting booths for everyone and getting everything together for what could be one of the more fun years we've had deciding Sports Game of the Year.
This year's quality has been off the charts, with just about every major game with a strong (or improving performance) thus far. Executive Editor Chris Sanner checks in with a brief preview of awards season in the video above.
As we review categories to award Stevies to -- we are also opening the floor for suggestions on award categories this year. Be sure to sound off in the comments if you think we should consider opening up Sports Game of the Year Awards voting in any specific categories!
Friday, December 11, 2015
01:17 PM - December 11, 2015. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chris Sanner
Yesterday, Judge Claudia Wilkin granted $18.8 million of the $60 million of the EA/NCAA video game settlement to the plantiffs lawyers. That equates, as Jon Solomon reports, to 31.3% of the total money awarded to the Plantiffs.
Now that this part of the settlement is moving forward, we are still left with the age old question of when we can expect to see NCAA video games back on the market.
The answer, as we've reported on before, is simply whenever NCAA member schools decide to vote on the possibility of players being paid for their likenesses. It is possible EA and NCAA member schools could partner to create a generic college football video game (it won't be called NCAA Football as there is very little chance the NCAA and EA partner with each other again) -- but such a game would have to be completely clear of any possible litigation. That would mean completely generic rosters, no roster editing, and every detail managed.
The other option is simpler: NCAA member schools (at least the power five conferences) vote to allow for player likeness licensing in video games and then we're off and running.
For now, neither seems an immediate thing -- so we are likely still at least two to three years away from any return of college sports as AAA video game titles.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
01:54 PM - December 9, 2015. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chris Sanner
Pro Evolution Soccer has done it.
In case you missed the news, PES is the first major sports game to try a free to play model, which released today.
This model includes seven teams you can play free of charge, including Bayern Munich, Juventus, AS Roma, Brazil and France. It also includes a full training section, and perhaps most importantly, the full experience of the MyClub feature.
Read More - PES Takes a Step Forward Into a Potential Subscription Release Model
Thursday, December 3, 2015
04:19 PM - December 3, 2015. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chris Sanner
We recently go a chance to correspond with Cat Daddy Games' own Harley Howe about NHL Supercard and what the new update is bringing to the table. Check out our interview below:
Operation Sports: What would you say the core gameplay experience is for NHL Supercard? What do you want gamers to come away from the game thinking?
Harley Howe: Great question. At its core, NHL SuperCard is a collectible card game where you collect your favorite NHL stars and play them in battle against other players. From a moment-to-moment standpoint, you're playing matches against folks from around the world and afterwards you're collecting cards from a virtual draft board. There's a great strategic layer as well that lets you level up your cards to make them stronger and customize your cards by adding buffs.
We worked hard to make something that feels authentic to the NHL experience. We wanted everything, from the card stats and card art all the way to the animation, to feel like the NHL. It's a way to enjoy the NHL even more, you know? And that's something that's been resonating with the game's community.
How does Road to the Cup work?
HH: It's a live event (currently one of the two cycling events in the game) that follows the arc of an actual NHL team as it historically battled for its Stanley Cup championship win. Think of it as one part historical, one part celebration of a tremendous run.
It's a points-based event where you compete against the "teams" of a Stanley Cup winning team. As you progress (and earn some awesome cards) the match-ups you face get more and more competitive. At the very end, you get to collect a powerful card based on that historic Stanley Cup winning team.
How can you develop your roster in the game?
HH: Decks -- and deck strength -- are important components. The key is to keep finding better cards by building up the ones you have currently. As you collect more and more cards off the Draft Board, you get a higher and higher chance of collecting a card within your tier. When that happens, you'll want to switch that card into your deck. You can even collect duplicates to combine and form "Pro" versions that make your cards even more powerful. There's also a level up component, too. By training cards into your best cards, you can make your cards even stronger.
We want to thank Harley for taking a brief bit of time to answer our questions. You can find NHL Supercard in the App Stores for both iOS and Android today!
04:16 PM - December 3, 2015. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chris Sanner
NHL Supercard, the hugely popular iOS/Android card game from 2K Sports, has a new update out today which basically changes a lot about how the game plays. Check out the list of additions
ROAD TO THE STANLEY® CUP – Compete against opponents, gain points and unlock cards in the game’s second event-based mode;
SEASON CHAT – Communicate with other players throughout current seasons;
DAILY LOGIN REWARDS – Log in to play a certain number of times each month and unlock new cards;
NEW PACK SALE OFFERS – Take advantage of individual pack sales in the game’s Get Cards menu.
Additional NHL SuperCard features include the following:
EXTENSIVE ROSTER – Explore a lineup of more than 450 current and legendary NHL players, including NHL SuperCard cover athlete Zach Parise alongside Paul Coffey, Doug Gilmour, Brett Hull, Cam Neely, Jacques Plante, Felix Potvin, Luc Robitaille, Jeremy Roenick and Scott Stevens;
QUICK GAME – Participate in quick battle games and add new players to starting lineups;
SEASON MODE – Compete against others in week-long NHL season simulations and earn significant rewards;
RIVALS CLASH EVENTS – Pick a side and join likeminded players to compete against rivals for rewards;
PLAYER TRAINING – Train player cards in playmaking, stick handling, focus and skating to perform at their maximum potential;
CARD ENHANCEMENTS – Increase player ratings through acquisition of various enhancement-driven cards.
Also we just posted a few dozen new screenshots of the game, which you can check out here.
Friday, November 20, 2015
07:28 AM - November 20, 2015. Posted by Steve_OS. Written by Chris Sanner
If you are EA Sports, what do you do just after you release what you claim is your biggest patch ever?
The answer is, believe it or not, give Madden to anyone who wants it for a weekend free of charge.
EA is offering gamers on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One a chance to play the full version of Madden NFL 16 for free -- and if you decide to buy the full game after your trial expires all of your progress will carry over.
Xbox One users will have 10 hours of playtime while PlayStation 4 users will have an unlimited amount of time to play. Check it out and let us know what you think of the game if its your first time playing this season!
You can queue them up from the following sites
Thursday, November 19, 2015
04:45 PM - November 19, 2015. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chris Sanner
EA Sports Posted the above tweet earlier today, with a 15 second clip of a 'mystery' entrance being worked on for EA Sports UFC 2.
Any guesses on who is being modeled here?
09:50 AM - November 19, 2015. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Chris Sanner
In an attempt at the ultimate make-good, Konami announced on their blog today that all existing users of PES 2016 will get UEFA Euro 2016 content free.
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First off, good for Konami for realizing things haven't gone well and trying to find a tangible way to make things better for existing customers. The UEFA Euro 2016 content is going to be very valuable and its not just a small thing to give what could have been a huge revenue booster away.
Secondly, hopefully this whole thing has been a wake up call to the folks behind PES to make sure that this doesn't happen again. As you may recall, updated rosters in PES 2016 didn't come with the game -- and subsequent updates didn't fully resolve the issue.
With this move though, it looks like Konami is on the path towards recovery, which is good news indeed!
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