For the past few weeks, I've been playing a very different kind of RPG. There aren't any Paladins, or orcs, or castles, or magic, or even potions. There are just ten sweaty men doing battle in an arena. It's one of the best RPGs I've ever played.
FiveThirtyEight are in the middle of a fantastic look behind the scenes at EA Sports. One particularly cool bit is a series of sliders that let you assemble your own Madden rating, based on your own terrible athletic skills.
There's a legend in Iceland that 1000 years ago a guy called Orms fláttr Stórólfssonar (or Orm Storolfsson) put a 1400lbs/640kg mast on his back and took three steps with it. It endures as a heroic test of strength in the region, but this week a real man took up the challenge and kicked Orms' ass.
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Matt Simon, a teenage basketball fan, is currently battling a "debilitating disease". Not that you'd know this, since he also just hit the free agent pool in NBA2K15, meaning anyone with the game can now have him go face-to-face with (or put him in the same lineup as) LeBron James.
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In video games we do many things. We run, we jump, we punch, we shoot and we climb.
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Sony won't renew its sponsorship deal with FIFA, citing rising costs. However, the company is among a number voicing concerns over negative publicity surrounding the organisation.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2015's motto is "The Pitch Is Ours". It's a rallying cry to purists, fans of the sport who want their game to play like the real thing, not just look like it. It's also accurate: in almost every respect, Konami's game plays better than EAs. But that doesn't matter.
As you can see, minor glitches can help NBA 2K15's sideline reporter do really efficient in-game interviews.
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NBA 2K15's face-scanning tech sure looked fancy when shown off last month. But now that it's out, it's making creatures that shouldn't exist in this world. Or any other.
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FIFA 15 is out already. And while he's in the game, notorious Uruguayan strike Luis Suarez has had his availability cut to match the suspension he received in the real world for biting during the World Cup.
Or any kind of game with character creation, for that matter.
This kind of thing shouldn't be possible in real life. It's the kind of silly thing you can only do in a video game like Trials. Right?
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Who could have guessed that in between choking dudes and fighting his kids Darth Vader would find the time to be a video game baller.
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Thanks to the power of modding, I have few doubts that you'll soon be able to play every single game inside of Dota.
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This from the head of the network that streamed DOTA 2's 10 million dollar The International championship. OK then.
Donny Moore is in charge of determining player ratings in Madden (and rates them on Twitter, too). Sometimes he ranks people too high, and sometimes he ranks people way too low:
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Could LAX bros finally be getting their own Madden or FIFA-level lacrosse video game? Simon Parkin documented one game developer's tireless quest to make a hit game based on his favorite sport in an excellent piece for Eurogamer. It's well worth your time regardless of whether or not you're a Lacrosse fan.
It's not just that UFC glitches are hilarious—it's that the commentary would have to match the absurdity. I'd love to watch real UFC commentators trying to process actual UFC fighters glitching the hell out.
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Yeah, one of them is a bit more dramatic. Inspired by Kuroko no Basket, squishguin's video is really spot on with all the talking and small details. This could work with any kind of sport.
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Here, visualized, the results of a poll that are as interesting as they are unscientific. Click expand and commence arguing over what makes something a sport as opposed to a game or an activity.
