Sports

Wow! 2K Sports is on a roll for PC sports game fans. Earlier this week it announced it would port their NBA 2K9 title to the PC later this month and today the publisher officially announced plans for MLB Front Office Manager, a general manager/fantasy baseball sim game for the PC and other platforms.

Developed by Blue Castle, the game will have two different modes. A Career mode gives the player the power of a Major League Baseball general manager as he manages a team through 30 years. The Online Fantasy mode pits up to 30 virtual general managers in a league as they compete to see who can field the best team. The game will ship to stores sometime this winter.

Check out this video for NBA 2K9 to coincide with today's announcement that the critically acclaimed basketball game will be releasing on the PC. This trailer demonstrates the Living Rosters feature, which updates the stats and unlocks different animations for each player in accordance to their performance during the current season's games. NBA 2K9 is scheduled to release on the PC on October 21.

Download HD NBA 2K9 Living Rosters Trailer (59 MB)
Download HD NBA 2K9 Trailer #2 (90 MB)
Download HD NBA 2K9 Trailer #1 (139 MB)

Electronic Arts may have decided not to release an NBA basketball title for the PC this year but 2K Sports apparently saw an opening as they officially announced plans to release their own pro basketball game, NBA 2K9, to the PC platform. The console versions ship to stores this week and the PC version ships to stores on Oct. 21.

This is the first time any 2K Sports title has been ported over to the PC. 2K Games claims, "The PC version will please even the most dedicated basketball fans with the same level of quality simulation we've become known for in the console versions of the NBA 2K franchise." It should be interesting to see if this port is successful for 2K Sports as they might bring other games like NHL and their Major League Baseball franchise to the PC.

[Via email press release]

Earlier this week we reported on the upcoming shut down of the free-to-play MMO RF Online. Now another long running small scale persistent online game has apparently shut its doors but has given no explanation as to what happened. That game is Cal Ripken's Real Baseball, the MMO-like online baseball game that for several years was known as Ultimate Baseball Online.

The game launched in beta format in 2004 and was rebranded as Cal Ripken's Real Baseball in 2007. However the game's web site now simply states, "The service for Cal Ripken's Real Baseball is currently halted until further notice. We apologize for any inconvenience." Furthermore the developer/publisher of the game, Netamin, has vanished as well with its web site now leading to one of those "Site under construction" pages. Simply put it looks like it's the game is over and the lights in the stadium have been turned off.

[Via Blue's News]

This is the demo for Pro Evolution Soccer 2009.
Updated: The Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Demo Tweak allows you to modify camera angles and match times

"Players will be able to select fully licensed Manchester United, Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Barcelona club teams, or the licensed Italian or French national sides. The demo will allow users an early taste of the all-new elements set to further bolster PES 2009's reputation as the definitive football game. All new visuals with completely remodeled players and animations, and new physics routines to ensure the ball behaves more realistically have been included, while the AI of the CPU sides has been enhanced to provide an ever evolving challenge.

The PES 2009 demo will also include promotional videos detailing the new game's "Become a Legend" and online "Legends" modes, which see the player controlling just one player within a team and attempting to forge a career in football. Starting as a promising 17-year-old, players must force their way into the first team and produce a series of blistering performances which will ultimately result to a move to one of Europe's biggest sides. Or, on the flipside, poor performances can see a player struggling in the lower leagues and eventually being released."

Download Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Demo (1.05 GB)
Download Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Demo Tweak (64 KB)

Konami has confirmed that a demo for its upcoming soccer franchise, Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, will be released for PC and console users on Thursday, October 2.

Included in the demo is a five minute preview of the exhibition mode, multiplayer, and will also include promotional videos for the new "Become a Legend" and online "Legends" modes. Comparable to the "Be a Pro" mode which was included in FIFA '08, "Become a Legend" puts gamers in the control of one player throughout a match.

Featured in the upcoming demo are the complete licenced teams of Liverpool, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and the Italian and French national teams. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is set to hit retail on October 17.

Perhaps as a response to some of the comments made about the PC version of FIFA 09's graphics compared to the console version, EA Sports released this video. In it, the developers talk about the features that make the PC version unique to the platform and recount their favorite FIFA memories.

Download the HD FIFA 2009 PC Features Video (48 MB)
Download the FIFA 2009 Demo (1 GB)

You smell that? I love the smell of Napalm in the morning. It smells like.... victory.

- Lieutenant Colonel Willard, Apocalypse Now

This is sure to be the first of an ongoing series of incendiary grenades on the subject, stoked, in this case, by some remarks made on the EA Sports forums regarding FIFA 09.

On the one hand, we have folks complaining about two different versions of the game being delivered -- one for the PC, and one for the console market. When, at first blush, BI was made aware of the impending brouhaha, the gloves came off, the eyes turned red, and a whole lot of words that won't be appearing in this space for fear of earning an M rating came pouring in a napalm-flavored from torrent our keyboard.

The sanitized version goes something like this....

Last summer you may remember that the newly formed publisher Activision-Blizzard decided not to take a number of games from the old Vivendi Games line-up along for the ride, including World in Conflict: Soviet Assault, Brutal Legend and others. Now it appears a currently running online PC sports game may in fact be the latest victim of the merger.

That game is FreeStyle Street Basketball, the persistant online basketball title from Vivendi Games' Sierra Online brand and developed by Korean company JC Entertainment. The game's official web site has posted up word that Friday, September 25 the game's servers will shut down. No reason was given for the closing but it's more than possible that the new Activision-Blizzard team didn't want to keep supporting the title.

[Via Blue's News]

Warhammer Online is getting a lot of attention this week but Games Workshop has other franchises that are being developed into PC titles. One of them is Blood Bowl and this week new screenshots of the fantasy sports-strategy game were released on the Interweb tubes tor all to see.

Developed by Cyanide Studios and published by Focus Home Interactive, Blood Bowl will allow gamers to compete in a American football style sports game, only with Orcs, wizards, spells and general mayhem. The new screenshots are really impressive with a couple showing off some true chaos on the field. Eh, who needs Madden on the PC anyway? Blood Bowl is due out in early 2009.

The developers of FIFA 09 explain how the Live Season feature downloads real-world statistics into the game as the sports season progresses, always giving players up-to-date player performances.

Download the HD FIFA 09 ADIDAS Live Season Video (48 MB)

Those who love the fast-paced, nose breaking, action of NHL 09 hockey can get psyched with this trailer before heading out to get the game.

Download HD NHL Launch Trailer (35 MB)

"Powered by the third generation of the EA SPORTS football engine, FIFA 09 features more than 250 core gameplay additions and enhancements that deliver the most responsive, intelligent and realistic action ever for the series. Enjoy turning defenders with more controlled dribbling and ball control, snapping off precision shots with improved first-time shooting mechanics and firing beautifully timed passes with greater accuracy, placing the ball exactly where you want it. With new player momentum physics the speed and weight of the player determines everything from the distance of a slide tackle and the power of a header to the severity of player collisions and the height of a player's jump. Plus, players now behave according to their physical attributes with larger, stronger players dominating collisions, battles for control of the ball, and position in challenges for two player headers."

Download the FIFA '09 Demo (1 GB)

A few months ago, we reported on a new online PC sports developer/publisher called Play Hard. The Boston based company was founded by former Turbine CEO Jeff Anderson with plans to fill in some of the gaps in the PC sports game genre that were left when EA Sports decided to cut back on their PC products.

Today, Play Hard announced that they have hired a number of new team members, including two former EA Sports members. Brandon Justice will be the company's new director of game design. He previously worked as lead producer for EA's Madden 2006 and 2007 titles and also worked on a number of 2K Sports titles. Also Stephen Rozner, who worked on a number of EA Sports games as lead software engineer, has joined Play Hard as their director of game technology. Play Hard has yet to announced specifics on their PC game plans.

[Via email press release]

Gold Slam, a free to play online tennis game, just entered open beta and invites players to jump into the action. go to goldslam.aeriagames.com to create an account and start playing.

Download Gold Slam (335 MB)