The Madden 20 ratings reveal continues. Following EA’s announcement of all the highest-rated rookies, the company has now revealed Madden 20’s four 99-rated players. These are the best players in the game, and that’s before factoring in the new X-Factor super-abilities.
The four 99-rated players in Madden 20 (at launch) include Houston Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins, Los Angeles Rams DT Aaron Donald, Seattle Seahawks ILB Bobby Wagner, and Chicago Bears OLB Khalil Mack. These ratings, and those of everyone else in the game, can and most likely will change over the course of the real NFL season, depending on on-field performance.
Madden 20’s new X-Factor system grants highly rated players super-abilities that can be used at key moments, and these 99-rated players all have them. As Pasta Padre reports, “Hopkins wins aggressive catches against single coverage. Donald can place pressure on the QB even while still engaged in a block. Wagner gets tighter coverage and a higher chance of picking off a pass on contested catches. Mack’s pass rush leads to quicker block shedding.”
The rest of Madden 20’s ratings will be revealed throughout July leading up to the game’s release at the end of the month. Keep check in back with GameSpot for more.
Madden 20 launches on August 2 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
New Releases takes a look at some of the biggest video games launching each week, and it’s a good time to be a PC or Nintendo Switch gamer. The Switch-exclusive Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order arrives this week, alongside a Switch port of survival horror game Distrust. Meanwhile, the smash-hit tabletop game Gloomhaven is getting its own PC game. For those of you who prefer to game on PS4 and Xbox One, don’t worry–this week is also home to Lost Orbit: Terminal Velocity and Lost Ember.
Distrust — July 16
Available on: Switch
Survival horror game Distrust takes cues from John Carpenter’s The Thing. A helicopter crash strands you in a research center in the Arctic, where strange monsters attack the crew. Fortunately, you can survive together in co-op, so you and a friend can choose from the 15 survivors, each with their own special skills.
More Coverage:
Lost Orbit: Terminal Velocity — July 16
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch
Terminal Velocity is the definitive version of Lost Orbit, coming to some new platforms. But it’s still the story of Harrison, a man stranded in space who just wants to get home. With no working ship, you’ll have to slingshot your way around planets, stars, and other heavenly bodies as you fling your way back.
More Coverage:
Gloomhaven — July 17
Available on: PC
Gloomhaven is based on the mega popular tabletop game of the same name, where a band of mercenaries moves through randomly generated dungeons. Combat is tactical and turn-based, so you can’t rely on dumb luck to get through. That said, the PC game does include a new roguelike mode, so you might still want a bit of good juju on your side.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order — July 19
Available on: Switch
The latest in the Ultimate Alliance line is set in a totally different universe, but it still lets you slam bad guys as the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and more. As the name implies, you’ll be going up against Thanos and his Black Order to save the world. Post-launch, you can join the fight with additional DLC heroes from Marvel Knights and the X-Men.
More Coverage:
Lost Ember — July 19
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Lost Ember sees you in control of wolf, and this wolf can actually take over the bodies of other animals. As you shift between birds, fish, and other species, you’ll be able to explore all different corners of the world, uncovering the ancient civilization that once existed here. A Nintendo Switch version is planned for later.
Real-life WWE power couple “The Man” Becky Lynch and “The Man’s Man” Seth Rollins, team up tonight at WWE Extreme Rules for a collision with the bizarrely-dressed Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans, and I’ll be running down the PPV action all evening here for IGN!
There was a lot of damn pro-wrestling this weekend – from AEW’s Fight for the Fallen to Evolve’s 10th Anniversary Celebration (which streamed on the WWE Network) to the B Block matches from NJPW’s G1 Climax 29. Extreme Rules, which is hardly extreme and contains barely-present rules, almost feels like an afterthought. But it is WWE’s final stop on the road to SummerSlam. And it’s also the only card to feature THE GRAVEYARD DOGS! Yes, that’s a real moniker and the tee’s available at Shop Dot Com. Along with “The Man’s Man” shirt. And probably a whole “Brock Party” section marked 30% off.
Gears 5 will not feature any depictions of smoking as part of a move to avoid glamorizing the addictive and deadly habit. Rod Fergusson, the head of developer The Coalition, said in a series of tweets that he has been against depictions of smoking in Gears “from the beginning.”
He pointed out that the concept art for the character Dizzy from Gears 2 was shown with a cigarette. But in the final game, the character doesn’t smoke. That’s because Fergusson stepped in and “stopped it.”
Some Gears of War games have featured depictions of smoking, but Gears 4 had no smoking and Gears 5 will not either. Fergusson said as long as he’s in control of the Gears series, smoking will never return.
Some stories have suggested that Gears 5 at one point featured depictions of smoking and were later removed, but this isn’t true, Fergusson said. He said there is “no censorship” because Gears 5 never had smoking to begin with; you can’t remove what was never there.
People on Twitter commented that this is a strange take because the Gears franchise is a Mature-rated series with brutal depictions of violence and alcohol abuse. Why focus so much on smoking? Fergusson said he isn’t trying to be the “moral police,” but instead he wanted to cleanse Gears of smoking to avoid glamorizing smoking and because of his own personal connection to lung cancer.
“I didn’t want to glamorize something that is addictive and kill you,” he said. “Wasn’t trying to me any moral police, just reflecting my beliefs after losing friends to lung cancer. If you had the ability to create a world, what would you change?”
My dad smoked. He died of a heart attack at age 38. I was 4.
According to Variety, the anti-smoking group Truth Initiative approached the TV company Turner–which broadcast this weekend’s Gears 5 Summer Series event–to discuss smoking in Gears 5. According to the report, “Turner collaborated with The Coalition to strip out smoking from the game,” but something seems to be lost here, as Fergusson pointed out Gears 5 never had smoking to begin with so it couldn’t have been removed.
The Truth Initiative has for years now called out video games for glamorizing smoking. The group criticized Blizzard for putting a cigar in Overwatch hero McCree’s mouth. “The creators of Overwatch may not realize that their choice to depict a hero with a lit cigar sends an influential and potentially addictive and deadly message to the young people who play the game,” the organization said.
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It’s almost here: Amazon Prime Day 2019 begins tonight at midnight and runs for 48 hours. While this is Amazon’s event, other retailers want a piece of that gigantic pie, and are muscling in with the Prime Day deals of their own.
Walmart’s deals are already live, and they’re pretty excellent. In fact, they’re the first deals you’re going to see listed below, because Amazon doesn’t start until later.
Who needs Amazon Prime Day, when Walmart has the coolest deal of them all, a Street Fighter 2 Arcade1up cabinet for $100 off, with free shipping direct to your door!
Street Fighter 2 Arcade Machine for $199 at Walmart
The arcade dream lives on thanks to great units like these. This Arcade1Up machine features three versions of Street Fighter 2 (Champion Edition, New Challengers and Turbo), comes with a popping LCD screen, classic two player control layout and doesn’t cost a single coin to play!
It’s time to get extreme! WWE’s annual celebration of hardcore, Extreme Rules, has arrived and the pay-per-view event is bringing with it plenty of matched with a variety of stipulations–and several championship title defenses. The show is airing live on the WWE Network, along with traditional pay-per-view, and kicks off 7 PM ET/4 PM PT. Before that, though, Extreme Rules also features a one-hour kickoff show, launching at 6 PM ET/4 PM PT.
Among the 10 “extreme” bouts that will be featured on tonight’s show is a No Holds Barred match that pits Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre against Roman Reigns and a returning Undertaker. Elsewhere on the card, there’s a last man standing match, an Extreme Rules mixed tag team match–with the WWE Universal Championship and Raw Women’s Championship on the line–and a handicap match that sees Bayley defending her Smackdown Women’s Championship against Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. We’ll also, finally, get Aleister Black in action after Cesaro finally answered the call to be his opponent.
You can take a look at the full card for Extreme Rules before. Also, make sure to stay tuned to this post as it will be updated throughout the night with all of the Extreme Rules results you could possibly need. Join us for the fun starting at 6 PM ET/3 PM ET.
Match card:
Becky Lynch & Seth Rollins vs. Lacey Evans & Baron Corbin (Extreme Rules match for the Universal and Raw Women’s Championships)
Roman Reigns & The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre (No Holds Barred match)
Kofi Kingston vs. Samoa Joe (WWE Championship)
Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross (Handicap match for the Smackdown Women’s Championship)
Daniel Bryan & Erick Rowan vs. Big E & Xavier Woods vs. Heavy Machinery (Smackdown Tag Team Championships)
Ricochet vs. AJ Styles (United States Championship)
Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley (Last Man Standing match)
The Revival vs. The Usos (Raw Tag Team Championship)
Aleister Black vs. Cesaro
Drew Gulak vs. Tony Nese (Cruiserweight Championship)
Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens
Finn Balor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Intercontinental Championship) – Kickoff Show
