Feature announcements for upcoming sports games are an annual tradition out of E3. This year EA Sports has revealed a major new mode for FIFA 17 and a bevy of improvements and additions for Franchise mode in Madden NFL 17. In this episode of the Press Row Podcast presented by Hit The Pass those announcements are covered with guests from the development teams of both games.

Up first from FIFA 17 are Matthew Prior and Aaron McHardy to discuss the just announced story mode "The Journey" and what the new Frostbite engine will mean for the game. Then Madden NFL 17 designer John White joins the show to go through what's new for Franchise mode this year, which includes a new way to play through games faster and a real-time score ticker.

On the show this episode:

Bryan Wiedey (@pastapadre), Pastapadre/Hit The Pass/Sporting News
Rich Grisham (@richgrisham), Out of the Park Developments/Hit The Pass
Matthew Prior, EA Sports
Aaron McHardy, EA Sports
John White (@EA_White), EA Sports

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Take a look at wishlists for almost any annualized sports game and you'll see fans requesting changes to commentary. It's an area of the video games that is one of the most difficult to reproduce from actual televised broadcasts. Once a commentary team is in place developers hesitate to make major changes, as the audio libraries continue to build year-by-year and priorities inevitably are directed elsewhere. Scrapping and starting over is rare.

The Madden NFL series is one of the few that has done so however - and multiple times in the last decade. The latest is about to take place as Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis will be replacing Jim Nantz and Phil Simms with Madden NFL 17.

Rich Grisham interviews Gaudin and Davis, along with Madden producer Christian McLeod, in this episode of the Press Row Podcast presented by Hit The Pass. The group discusses everything from how the antiquated commentary system has been "blown up" for Madden 17, why Gaudin and Davis were selected for their respective positions in the booth, how commentary may differ from mode-to-mode, examples of some bizarre lines they've had to record, and the work that will be done regularly during the season to update commentary.

On the show this episode:

Rich Grisham (@richgrisham), Out of the Park Developments/Hit The Pass
Charles Davis (@CFD22), Fox Sports/NFL Network
Brandon Gaudin (@BrandonGaudin), Georgia Tech/Westwood One/Turner
Christian McLeod (@CMcLeod_EA), EA Sports

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While basketball fans may be excited that NBA 2K17 will be out earlier than ever before with its move up to mid-September, it only further compresses the window where the majority of the sports games for the year are released. Within a four week span, six major sports games will go out, and there may be even others still yet to be announced.

In this episode of the Press Row Podcast presented by Hit the Pass, the discussion centers on what has led to this situation coming about, how it affects publishers and consumers, whether it's unhealthy for the sports gaming genre going forward, and how it could possibly be fixed.

On the show this episode:

Bryan Wiedey (@pastapadre), Pastapadre/Sporting News/Hit The Pass
Rich Grisham (@richgrisham), Out of the Park Developments/Hit The Pass
Owen Good (@owengood), Polygon

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1) Follow the show on Twitter at @PressRowPodcast and @HitThePass and send us tweets
2) Email the show at PressRowPodcast@Gmail.com

With EA Play and E3 nearing the promotional cycle for the next Madden has gotten underway. There's a lot to be excited about already for Madden NFL 17 including long-overdue work to Special Teams, a new defensive AI system, special moves for ball-carriers, and a "renewed focus on Franchise mode."

In this episode of the Press Row Podcast, Bryan Wiedey, Rich Grisham, and Kat Bailey discuss all the news, the concern over "Tackle Battles", and what is being hoped for with Franchise mode.

On the show this episode:

Bryan Wiedey (@pastapadre), Pastapadre/Sporting News/Hit The Pass
Rich Grisham (@richgrisham), Out of the Park Developments/Hit The Pass
Kat Bailey (@the_katbot), USgamer

Send us your feedback! We love to hear from you. Do it one of these ways:
1) Follow the show on Twitter at @PressRowPodcast and @HitThePass and send us tweets
2) Email the show at PressRowPodcast@Gmail.com

On the show this episode:

Bryan Wiedey (@pastapadre), Pastapadre/Sporting News/Hit The Pass
Rich Grisham (@richgrisham), Out of the Park Developments/Hit The Pass
Ian Cummings (@iantcummings), Third Time

Ian's game Photo Finish Horse Racing can be downloaded for iOS devices through iTunes and for Android devices through Google Play.

Send us your feedback! We love to hear from you. Do it one of these ways:
1) Follow the show on Twitter at @PressRowPodcast and @HitThePass and send us tweets
2) Email the show at PressRowPodcast@Gmail.com

EA Sports has been unable to recover from the attempted reboot of NBA Live as NBA Elite while at the same time seeing their competition flourish to become a juggernaut. It's been six years but the company has yet to produce a quality and compelling product since that fiasco and in the process consumers have lost all confidence in the Live brand. The series simply can't escape its past.

Knowing that a shake-up was necessary EA yesterday confirmed the first report of Live being pushed back to 2017. Despite that acknowledgement uncertainty will continue to surround the series as there's no guarantee it will again see the light of day on consoles. If it makes it back as currently scheduled the form in which it does could be very different than what consumers have become accustomed to with traditional annualized sports games.

On the show this episode:

Bryan Wiedey (@pastapadre), Pastapadre/Sporting News/Hit The Pass
Rich Grisham (@richgrisham), Out of the Park Developments/Hit The Pass
Owen Good (@owengood), Polygon

There's been a heavy focus with recent episodes of the Press RowPodcast on the two big games that released in March, but nowattention turns to some news relating to titles that are still offin the future and a favorite that has just been updated. The triothis week discuss the first features to have been revealed forNHL 17, how EA Sports is considering adding VirtualReality to the next UFC game and what that might mean forothers out before then, and how a basketball mode is the latestsuccess from Rocket League.

On the show this week:

Bryan Wiedey (@pastapadre), Pastapadre/Sporting News/Hit ThePass
Rich Grisham (@richgrisham), Out of the Park Developments/Hit ThePass
Kat Bailey (@The_Katbot),USgamer

In addition to all the other listening platforms the PressRow Podcast can now also be found on Google Play Music!

Send us your feedback! We love to hear from you. Do it one ofthese ways:
1) Follow the show on Twitter at @PressRowPodcast and @HitThePassand send us tweets
2) Email the show at PressRowPodcast@Gmail.com

Team-building modes in sports games are intended to be played for months on end, if not year-round, making them initially tough to assess when in the early days following their respective releases. With over three weeks now having been spent playing Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show 16 there's a lot more that has been evaluated following the coverage in the review roundtable episode, so host Bryan Wiedey and frequent guest T.J. Lauerman discuss everything there is to do with the popular mode in an all-new Press Row Podcast presented by Hit The Pass.

Whether it's the new card types, Captains, Missions, Collections, Battle Royale, Conquest, and the Inside Edge daily ratings adjustments, everything that's new in Diamond Dynasty is covered. Additionally, server-related problems slowing down menu navigation and causing "Challenge Failed" errors require mentioning as the experience has been considerably hampered and necessitated multiple emergency patches. The duo also goes over their current lineups, the decisions that have been made in constructing their rosters, and sleeper picks to consider using on your own teams out there.

On the show this week:

Bryan Wiedey (@pastapadre), Pastapadre/Sporting News/Hit The Pass
T.J. Lauerman (@ThatSportsGamer), ThatSportsGamer

In addition to all the other listening platforms the Press Row Podcast can now also be found on Google Play Music!

Send us your feedback! We love to hear from you. Do it one of these ways:
1) Follow the show on Twitter at @PressRowPodcast and @HitThePass and send us tweets
2) Email the show at PressRowPodcast@Gmail.com

MLB The Show 16 represents another year forward for a series that knows its many strengths and continues to build on them but may not be doing enough to bolster its areas of weakness. All the while a new issue has emerged in recent days with crippling server drag being felt throughout all the menus severely hampering the experience for all consumers. This review roundtable panel discussion on MLB The Show 16 extensively covers gameplay, graphics, Road to the Show, Franchise, Diamond Dynasty, and much more!

On the show this week:

Bryan Wiedey (@pastapadre), Pastapadre/Sporting News/Hit The Pass
Owen Good (@owengood), Polygon
Samit Sarkar (@SamitSarkar), Polygon
Kat Bailey (@the_Katbot), USGamer
T.J. Lauerman (@ThatSportsGamer), ThatSportsGamer

Send us your feedback! We love to hear from you. Do it one of these ways:
1) Follow the show on Twitter at @PressRowPodcast and @HitThePass and send us some tweets
2) Email the show at PressRowPodcast@Gmail.com

With the release of several sports games this month the start to the 2016 campaign is here! Former host Rich Grisham returns this episode for an early impressions discussion on MLB The Show 16 that covers new features in Diamond Dynasty, Road to the Show, Franchise and more! It's also the start of something potentially big with shipping of Virtual Reality headsets getting underway. The conversation transitions into thoughts on VR, whether sports games will play a role in its success, and what it could mean for the industry as a whole.

On the show this week:

Bryan Wiedey (@pastapadre), Pastapadre/Sporting News/Hit The Pass
Rich Grisham (@richgrisham), Out of the Park Developments

Send us your feedback! We love to hear from you. Do it one of these ways:
1) Follow the show on Twitter at @PressRowPodcast and @HitThePass and send us some tweets
2) Email the show at PressRowPodcast@Gmail.com