It’s no secret that playing at The Swamp is a nightmare for opposing teams, and the upcoming EA Sports College Football game reflects that.
With only a few weeks left until the release of EA Sports College Football 25, more information about the game is being released to drum up even more hype for the first college football title to hit consoles in a decade.
Rankings Week, as EA Sports is calling it, began with Tuesday’s announcement of the “toughest places to play.” Naturally, Florida’s iconic Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, also known as The Swamp, made the list at No. 10.
EA Sports previewed its Homfield Advantage feature in its gameplay deep dive.
“Audio and in-game modifiers such as blurred routes, incorrect play art, confidence and composure affects, and screen shaking are some of the immersive impacts away teams and players will be forced to contend with.”
Kicking off #CFB25 Rankings Week with the Toughest Places to Play
The development team used historical stats such as home winning percentage, home game attendance, active home winning streaks, team prestige, and more to determine the Top 25 toughest Place to Play.
Kyle Field – Texas A&M
Bryant-Denny Stadium – Alabama
Tiger Stadium – LSU
Ohio Stadium – Ohio State
Sanford Stadium – Georgia
Beaver Stadium – Penn State
Camp Randall Stadium – Wisconsin
Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium – Oklahoma
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Here are the biggest winners and losers from the latest Nintendo Direct, which featured an awesome look at Metroid Prime 4.
Summer is traditionally the dead part of the video game calendar.
It’s almost as if companies understand people are spending more time outside in warmer weather, so they don’t necessarily plan blockbuster releases to keep folks from soaking in some sunlight. Fortunately, for those of us waiting for the colder months, summer is also the time of year when game companies start diagramming their upcoming slates like Microsoft recently did for the Xbox.
It’s like going to the movies and enjoying every second of the 20 minutes of trailers but for video games!
On Tuesday, Nintendo showcased its latest Nintendo Direct, highlighting its plans for the rest of 2024 and the near future. And hoo boy, was it an absolute barnburner. I don’t care how cynical our world has become. If you love video games, Tuesday’s presentation definitely made you feel something.
Let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers from the June 2024 Nintendo Direct. All featured images courtesy of Nintendo unless noted otherwise.
1. Winner: Anyone who has wanted to play as Zelda for years
In almost every entry of The Legend of Zelda franchise, you step into the boots of Link, the “link” between the player and the game world. You are almost always following the story beats of the “damsel in distress” trope to save Princess Zelda from the clutches of the evil Ganondorf in some fashion. The games have remained fun and inventive even though they’ve left a lot of meat on the bone with other potential protagonists.
Nintendo is finally flipping this formula on its head.
Coming later this year is The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Without me saying anything else, I’m sure that sounds really cool and like a bog-standard mysterious Zelda game title. (What are the echoes? Whoa!)
The catch is that this top-down adventure puts you in Zelda’s shoes this time as she tries to rescue Link after he loses to Ganondorf in battle. Gasp! Perhaps more importantly, Zelda will not actually play like Link in swinging a sword or shooting arrows around. Instead, she’ll utilize a magical “Tri Rod,” an all-encompassing item that creates and copies different objects in the world.
The 2D-esque Zelda games have been somewhat due for a shake-up for a while. It certainly looks like Echoes of Wisdom will provide that creative opportunity. It’s coming later this fall in September.
2. Loser: People holding their breath for Hollow Knight: Silksong
Credit: Team Cherry
Admittedly, this isn’t only on Nintendo, as the next entry in the instant classic Metroidvania Hollow Knight series will be multiplatform. So, theoretically, any one of Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, or even developer Team Cherry has the keys to giving us a morsel of information that the highly-anticipated sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong is on the horizon.
Still, in a press event featuring several Nintendo heavyweights bringing their best, it would’ve been nice to finally get any inkling that Hornet’s solo adventure was still coming. I would’ve taken a smattering of screenshots, a 10-second teaser with no gameplay footage, anything!
I blame Team Cherry first and foremost, but c’mon, Nintendo, pull some strings here.
3. Winner: The most patient Metroid fans
It had been 17 years since Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the last entry in Nintendo’s primary 3D series for its Metroid franchise. Seventeen very long years and two separate console generations since we had last seen Samus Aran’s colorful, dynamic first-person perspective on a strange alien planet.
Our long wait is mercifully over.
To cap this Nintendo Direct, the company revealed a comprehensive look at Metroid Prime 4: Beyond in a remarkable announcement trailer. While it’s still not coming until sometime in 2025 (grumble, grumble), at least we got this taste to stave us off until then.
4. Loser: Gamers who wanted a proper NEW entry to the 2D Donkey Kong franchise
Look, this is more of a personal gripe, as I consider myself one of the biggest fans of the Donkey Kong Country franchise. They are simultaneously some of the most challenging and vibrant games I’ve ever played. They perfectly capture that arcade feel with any one of the Kongs in your control.
So, with that being said, it’s been over a decade since the release of Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze … a game that came out for the Wii U and was remastered for the Switch a few years ago. It has been over a decade since we last had some fresh new platforming worlds for DK and Co. to navigate.
Our reward? Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, another remaster of a great game, this time from the Wii, but it’s nothing new or inherently fresh. Don’t get me wrong. I’m probably gonna play the heck out of this game and squeeze out every last drop until I can’t feel my fingers come January 2025. But I’ve been waiting for DK to embark on a new 2D story for years!
And I can’t imagine I’m the only one.
5. Winner: People who only break out their Switch when they have company
I love the Mario Party franchise. There’s nothing quite like this mini-game-based, virtual board game centered almost entirely around laughs and random luck in the Mushroom Kingdom. It’s chaotic and rowdy in the best possible ways.
But, like most folks, I really only play Mario Party if I have friends or family over who are willing to join in on the frantic fun. That happens maybe several times a year at most. (Side note: Have you ever played Mario Party solo? It’s not a rewarding experience!) Anyway, for us gamers who are occasionally social with their video games comes Super Mario Party: Jamboree, the latest full-fledged entry to Nintendo’s flagship party series.
It will feature five new boards, 110 minigames, and an online component that will let you play with up to 20 people (!). I’m not sure how the logistics of that will work, but I’m excited to find out and broaden my horizons by stealing stars from strangers I met 15 minutes ago.
This selection raises a clearly very important question about the video game’s future that we should tackle right now: Who will be on the next Madden cover?
There’s no shortage of great options. You’ve got an established star quarterback. You’ve got a hyped-up rookie poised to revitalize a dormant franchise. You’ve even got a host of elite playmakers tailor-made for the video game treatment with their unique blends of personality and explosive game-breaking ability.
Let’s rank the five most likely Madden cover athletes in the NFL.
5. Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
The flashy Chase has been in the conversation for the NFL’s best playmaker every single year of his young career. The Bengals star already has nearly 4,000 career receiving yards while amassing almost 30 touchdowns. He’s also a dynamite playoff performer for a Cincinnati team that expects to play into late January.
4. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Williams has yet to throw a single pass in a game, and I think his NFL hype should be tempered … for now. After his upcoming rookie season, where Williams is set up to succeed and shine as a first-year signal caller, all bets are off. The first real superstar Bears quarterback in decades would be a marketing dream.
3. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
I’m honestly kind of surprised Kelce wasn’t on this year’s Madden cover. He’s arguably the greatest tight end of all time, he’s the second-best player on a bona fide Chiefs dynasty team, and now he’s dating one of the most famous and successful women in the world. Kelce is getting up there in NFL years, but he’s aging like a fine wine.
2. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer /USA TODAY NETWORK
An injury-riddled 2023 season aside, we can’t forget Joe “Cool.” At his best, Burrow elevates the Bengals into a heavyweight Super Bowl contender. He’s also a magnetic personality who oozes charm and charisma.
1. Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
A receiver has appeared on the Madden cover just four times in the game’s history. If anyone were going to join that exclusive club, the obvious selection would be Jefferson, the most productive NFL receiver for his age (24) ever. The 2022 Offensive Player of the Year is a matchup problem for every single defense in pro football every week. It helps that he’s impeccably likable, too.
Christian McCaffrey joined a very exclusive club by getting picked for the Madden cover.
As is tradition, getting picked for the annual Madden cover is the best sign an NFL player has become mainstream. That should make San Francisco 49ers Christian McCaffrey’s selection for Madden 25 not the least bit surprising.
What is surprising is that McCaffrey’s running back position hasn’t been featured on the famed video game cover in a long time. In fact, with McCaffrey’s selection, he is the first tailback to be the official Madden athlete since Adrian Peterson and Barry Sanders’ joint selection for Madden NFL 25 in 2014. That is likely a statement on how runners have been de-emphasized in the NFL over the last decade, making McCaffrey’s cover boy look all the more impressive.
In other words, running backs are making their comeback! (Maybe.)
With McCaffrey officially representing Madden now, here are the six other running backs to appear on the worldwide cover in the game’s illustrious, extended history.
1. Madden 2001 — Eddie George, Tennessee Titans
The first Madden on the PlayStation 2 featured George, a four-time Pro Bowler and former First-Team All-Pro for the Tennessee Titans.
2. Madden 2003 — Marshall Faulk, St Louis. Rams
Near the end of “The Greatest Show on Turf” offense in St. Louis, the Rams finally had their rightful poster boy in do-it-all running back Marshall Faulk.
The 2005 MVP finally got his virtual flowers with a Madden cover later that summer.
4. Madden 12 — Peyton Hillis, Cleveland Browns
At the height of his bruising phenomenon in Cleveland, Hillis won a fan vote to notch this early 2010s cover.
5. Madden NFL 25 — Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings (Xbox One and PlayStation 4)
In celebration of Madden’s 25th anniversary, the decorated Peterson debuted on the then-next-gen cover.
6. Madden NFL 2000/25 — Barry Sanders, Detroit Lions (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)
Sanders is the rare NFL star to have technically been featured on two Madden covers. He was in the background of Madden 2000 and then won a fan vote for the 25th-anniversary edition on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions.
We’re looking at all Madden NFL covers from the last two decades.
Editor’s note: This post was updated for 2024.
The Madden series has been around since EA Sports released John Madden Football on MS-DOS in 1988.
For the first decade, Madden himself graced the cover. The Super Bowl-winning coach-turned-fan-favorite-broadcaster-turned-Turducken-evangelizer is also something of a master at building a personal brand. Even though he hadn’t broadcasted a game since 2009, he remained a household name thanks to EA’s best-selling franchise.
After 2000, Mr. Madden finally started to share the screen with NFL superstars. Here’s a look at every player who’s been on a Madden cover. And remember: Patrick Mahomes is among the athletes to show the “Madden Curse” is just a myth.
Here are the most exciting new Xbox games coming soon.
With the summer in full swing, Sunday was an opportunity for Microsoft to show off what it’s got in store for Windows, the Xbox Series X, and the Xbox Series S. That’s right, we’re talking about the Xbox Games Showcase 2024.
Boy, did it not disappoint. That’s putting it lightly.
From reconstructions of classic franchises to inventive sequels that promise to reinvent the wheel to a certain degree, there looks to be a lot of fun stuff coming up in the Xbox family. Let’s rank the most exciting video games revealed during the 2024 Xbox Showcase.
All footage and screenshots courtesy of Microsoft/Xbox.
6. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
A remake of the PlayStation 2 classic, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater thrusts you back into the shoes of Naked Snake, a.k.a. “Big Boss.” The word “Delta” is in reference to Konami wanting to remake gameplay and story elements but not otherwise changing key structure.
Here is the latest trailer:
Expect to dive back into some good old Cold War stealthy chaos sometime later in 2024.
5. State of Decay 3
In a zombie genre that can be stale and stagnant, the State of Decay franchise has been a welcome breath of fresh air. The latest entry (release date to be announced) promises to once again challenge players’ leadership abilities as they manage the throes of a zombie apocalypse.
And let me tell you, the trailer already promises an incredibly intense affair:
I am shuddering (with fear and anticipation) just watching that.
4. Perfect Dark
It’s been over a decade since we got to kick some major you-know-what with Joanna Dark. Judging by the latest gameplay reveal of the series’ reboot — set in a future torn apart by climate change — it was well worth the wait.
Seriously, this footage makes this Perfect Dark look like a proper next-game:
While a release date is still unclear, I, for one, cannot wait for this wonderful first-person adventure led by Ms. Dark.
3. Gears of War: E-Day
It wouldn’t be a genuine Xbox console without an entry to the classic Gears of War series. After a half-decade absence, Gears of War: E-Day will serve as an origin story for Marcus Fenix and Co. That’s right, we’re going back to the first day the Locust horde emerged onto the surface of Sera and waged war on the humans.
Oh, baby:
Folks, at the risk of stating the obvious (Gary Jules voice): It’s a very, very mad world (mad world, mad world). Whenever this comes out, we’ll be ready.
2. Fable
At this point, the Fable franchise is just about two decades old. And it has gone through no shortage of face-lifts, reboots, reimaginations, and, unfortunately, declines.
The role-playing video game space is crowded and innovative these days. The trailer makes it apparent that this Fable reboot is prepared to step its game up in a comprehensive way come 2025:
One thing certainly hasn’t changed — an impeccable sense of humor from this franchise.
1. DOOM: The Dark Ages
With all due respect to the other games on this list, there is nothing quite like the feel of a polished DOOM game. id Software’s rebooted trilogy that resurfaced in 2016 and 2020 is proof in this pudding. The latest DOOM takes the Doom Slayer and transports it to a Medieval realm with the appropriate elements.
Imagine this hyper-violent series with swords, crazy traps, and aptly new malevolent monsters. No, really, visualize it because it’s happening:
I’m sorry, but was the Doom Slayer … FLYING A DRAGON??? The year 2025 cannot nearly come soon enough. Holy cow.
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win! Thank you so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you.
Did anyone else get extremely hyped up on Wednesday when EA Sports’ College Football 25 reviews started trickling in from around the internet?
The developer invited some reporters and YouTubers to its Orlando offices to give the game a test run for a couple of hours. It’s still not complete yet, according to The Athletic’s Chris Vannini, with a few bugs popping up here and there and some of the ratings still incomplete. That’s natural for a game still going through its development lifecycle.
Even with that, there’s so much reporting out there that makes this game seem like it’ll be awesome.
The pros: Everything from the college football traditions included to the fact that you’ll be able to sign name, image and likeness deals with your created player has me giddy. This is the college football sim I’ve always wanted.
Road To Glory mode is back (this is one of my favorites). You’ll be able to create your player again and put them on a team of your choosing. Your player will also be able to snag NIL deals, per IGN’s Taylor Lyles, and those deals will influence your rating in some way. How is not exactly clear yet.
Dynasty Mode (this is the big one) is largely the same as it was previously, but this time you’ll have to deal with the Transfer Portal and NIL deals yourself as the director of your school. I can’t wait to steal all of Georgia’s players away from Kirby Smart.
Roster updates will be part of the game throughout the season. That makes a ton of sense for a modern sports game, but we’ve never experienced this on an NCAA game before. And, I’ve got to say, it sounds awesome.
The cons: Because nothing in this world is perfect, there were some things in the news that I was not as excited about.
Road to Glory doesn’t have that truncated high school season mode anymore where you’d have to play your way up to get recruited by the best schools, Lyles says. Instead, you just pick your star level and school now. BORING.
You’ll also be unable to export draft classes from College Football 25 into Madden if that’s something you’re into. Madden isn’t my cup of tea, so I wasn’t as concerned about this. But it still would be a nice feature to have.
I’m not going to lie, folks. I was very worried about this game. Those of you who play Madden know — the experience has been extremely buggy and glitchy over the years. I was so afraid that this game would just be a copy and paste job by EA, bringing all of the qualities of Madden over to the college football world.
But the big takeaway from everything I’ve sifted through on this one so far is that this game is not Madden. They are built on the same engine, but the gameplay is different. This game is its own beast. That, alone, has me extremely pumped to play this.
July can’t get here quickly enough.
JJ Redick? Seriously?
(Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)
If you’d told me at the beginning of this NBA season that, by the time it was over, JJ Redick would be in the lead spot as the Lakers’ next head coach, there’s no way I would’ve believed you.
As a first-year head coach with no prior experience on an NBA bench, JJ Redick coaching a LeBron James team sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
"I will be very surprised if their next Head Coach is anybody but JJ Redick. Everything that I'm hearing is JJ Redick. From what I know he's doing some background, calling some assistant coaching candidates who might be able to join his staff."
“Everything that I’m hearing is JJ Redick. From what I know he’s doing some background, calling some assistant coaching candidates who might be able to join his staff … I’m pretty positive it’ll be JJ.”
That’s a tough sell for me. JJ is a very smart basketball mind, obviously. But for his first head coaching gig to be coaching LeBron James’ Lakers? Sheesh, man. That’s a lot.
He could be pretty good on the bench but this just feels so risky. We’ll have to wait until after the NBA Finals to see if he’s the guy.
A new champion in a new league
(Photo by Troy Parla/Getty Images)
Wednesday was a big night for hockey and not just because the Oilers tied up their series at 2-2 against the Stars with a stunning 5-goal rally (though that’s a pretty big deal, too).
The big news here is that the PWHL just crowned its first champion: Minnesota. On Wednesday, Minnesota beat Boston 3-0 to win it all. This is Minny’s first championship squad since the Lynx won it all in 2017.
The crowd after last night’s game was electrifying. The arena was packed wall-to-wall.
HOW IT WAS MEANT TO BE!! 🏆🥹 Congratulations, @PWHL_Minnesota 🌟
P.S. This is how we are celebrating right now
P.P.S. ignore the minor details and the date this was taken and the home ice and the purple home jerseys btw pic.twitter.com/eerDESG4GH
EA Sports is paying out college for to use their likeness based on AP Top 25 finishes over the past decade.
Players who appear in the upcoming EA College Football video game are going to receive $600 and a copy of the relaunch title as compensation for EA Sports’ usage of their name, image and likeness, but the schools are also going to get a check for appearing in the game.
According to Cllct.com, the payments are being made to all 134 teams based on an objective tier system. The four-tier system will be broken up by AP Top 25 finishes.
Finishing the year in the AP Top 25 grants a team at least one point. Below is the provided information from Cllct’s FOIA request.
Tier 1: 6-10 points ($99,875.16)
Tier 2: 2-5 points ($59,925.09)
Tier 3: 1 point ($39,950.06)
Tier 4: 0 points ($9,987.52)
According to the figures above, the majority of college football programs will receive less than $10,000 to appear in a game that’s going to profit in the hundreds of millions.
UPDATE: Electronic Arts is guaranteeing, between players and schools, at least $12.7 million in royalties for the use of their names, images, likenesses and logos for the new College Football gamehttps://t.co/86yqGAVT5Spic.twitter.com/EPRB9FDM2W
EA Sports brings back their college football franchise this summer.
If you are a college football fan and a video game fan, the return of EA Sports’ college football video game franchise is like Christmas in the summer. There’s been no official release date set, but we expect it to be in mid-July. May 16 is supposed to be the official date for the cover image release, but the MUTLeaks X account appears to have leaked the cover a day early.
According to the image they put out, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, Colorado cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter and Michigan running back Donovan Edwards will be the trio of cover athletes. EA’s college football franchise returns after more than 10 years.
𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: The main cover of College Football 25 has apparently LEAKED 👀
EA Sports is reviving its college football video game franchise this year, and the Gators are getting some love in the pre-release teasers.
EA Sports is relaunching its college football series this year, and the latest teaser features the University of Florida’s logo.
Over the weekend, the game’s deluxe edition appeared on the PlayStation Store featuring a handful of star players.
Michigan running back Donovan Edwards, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and Colorado cornerback Travis Hunter are the dominant trio in the photo. Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, Notre Dame wide receiver Jaden Harrison, Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins and Alabama‘s Jalen Milroe are also featured prominently.
— David Waters – Gators Breakdown (@GatorDave_SEC) May 10, 2024
As for Florida, the Gators’ flag is one of several at the upper third line of the photo. A quick Where’s Waldo search makes it relatively easy to find an orange and blue helmet as well (zoom in between the Notre Dame and Texas helmets).
A countdown timer title with the heading “Official Cover Reveal May 16” also appeared on EA’s website. The timer will expire at noon on Thursday.
Most sports titles these days offer alternate cover art for the standard edition and deluxe editions of games, so that artwork could look different from the one posted above.
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