Which beard has what it takes to win the cup?

I had the privilege of participating in a conference call yesterday where the producers of NHL 2K9 fielded questions submitted by the gaming media. The whole thing has been recorded for your listening pleasure, with the exception of about 20 seconds in the middle where the call dropped out, most likely due to all this hurricane action we’ve been getting. Read more…

The most recent foray into simulated ball-smacking is 2K Sports’ Top Spin 3. Claiming to be an evolution over Top Spin 2 (a game that I played and enjoyed for about a month straight), Top Spin 3 has some pretty big tennis shoes to fill.

Before I continue, let me first give you some background information: I don’t like sports games. On top of that, I find tennis itself to be especially boring. I played tennis a bit in high school gym class and during “sports day” in the army, but only because the only other option was baseball which I find to be even lamer.

Given my feelings on the subject, it was an absolute triumph in game design that I could not only play Top Spin 2 without falling asleep, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The only other time I enjoyed tennis this much was playing the aptly named Tennis on my Game Boy when I was nine and always yelling at that lying bitch line judge Mario for calling my shots out.

That being said, how does Top Spin 3 compare? Read more…

Justin Blankenship, a former FTC lawyer, expresses concern regarding the potential EA and Take-Two merger. Specifically, he believes that the merger may violate antitrust laws due to the hold the company would have on the videogame sports sector. Read more…

It’s turning out to be a pretty big day for sports related gaming announcements. In what could be taken as a response to EA’s “All your NFL belong to us” press release, 2K Sports releases a list containing some new features for their MLB exclusive licensed title, Major League Baseball 2K8. Read more…

If there’s one word that defines this generation of sports games, it is complication.

I grew up during the advent of 8 bit gaming and the explosion of 16-bit. For hockey fans, this was a fabulous time to lace up pixelated skates. Between Nintendo’s Ice Hockey and Konami’s cult-classic Blades of Steel, the seeds of simple but fun hockey had been planted. In 8 and 16 bits the hockey games kept evolving, but the basics were what kept fans returning every year. Read more…

The news is in regarding All-Pro Football 2K8’s initial sales, and the numbers don’t look good. From a business standpoint, the numbers are very important to Take-Two and 2K Sports. The company has come out and said that they realize they are in competition with Madden. This caused many individuals to laugh at the remark, however we ask you this, if you thought you had a superior product that you had busted your butt working on, would you not stand up for it? Read more…

Fans of Major League Baseball will have yet another change up thrown their way this Fall from 2K Sports. Read more…

When skating around in the NHL, every bit of extra control finesse can help. Attempting to add a new layer of realism, this year’s NHL from 2k Sports introduces the ProStick. Registered trademark? You bet. Read more…

The Losers Court is now in session, the Honorable John Elway presiding…

If you own a copy of 2K Sports All-Pro Football 2K8 then you are probably among the many who are happy with the purchase. However, one owner wants to know if he can sue the company for misleading information on the back of the box. Read more…

Is APF 2K8 worth it, or are you better off waiting for Madden?

You take the snap and look up. A quick check to your first receiver, a glance at your second, and before you can release the ball you are picking chucks of turf out of your helmet.

Like to drop back, scramble for half a minute, toss one up through the clouds, over the sun, and back down into the hands of your money receiver who always seems to be open? Eh, well then maybe this game isn’t for you, but if you want to learn the game of football and are willing to take your lumps along the way in doing so then read on. Read more…

This is the second All-Pro Football video from 2K Sports and it features highlights of Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, Dick Butkus, and The Fridge. We definitely feel this one looks better then the first video so check it out. Read more…

So the question everyone seems to be asking us is “does the game include NaturalMotion technology?” Even internally here at ripten we agree to disagree as some of us think it may and others believe it won’t. That said we decided to take a closer look at the video 2K debuted on Spike TV the other day and compare it side by side to that of the football test animation video many of us have been speculating over for months now on NaturalMotion’s official website. We don’t have a firm opinion either way, but we thought we would make the screens available to our readers and get a feel for what they are thinking. Read more…

Fans of 2K Sports unique style of football have waited for this moment for a long time and we weren’t about to let them down. So here it is, 1:15 AM on the east coast and as far as we know we are the first site to publish this online after its debut on Spike TV just 10 minutes ago. Do we even have to type anything else here? Good, that means we can finally get some sleep. Enjoy.

Jerry: They look scared John. John: What do you think Barry? Barry: Yep.

If this years Madden doesn’t bring significant change, if the marketing hype surrounding it ends up being nothing more than the same old same old, then we can’t help but agree with Jerry, John, and Barry. EA may have reason to break sweat again, and this time 2K will be doing it WITHOUT the NFL license. You have to admire people that are willing to stare down a giant and challenge them head on. Read more…

NaturalMotion, the creators of breakthrough Dynamic Motion Synthesis (DMS) 3D character animation products such as Endorphin, Euphoria, and Morpheme, announced a partnership in February of 2006 with Rockstar games, best known for the Grand Theft Auto Series.

Take 2 Games is the parent company of both Rockstar and the 2kSports label. So what does all that mean? Well, in a recent interview regarding the application of NaturalMotion Read more…

IGN Interviewed Greg Thomas, President of Visual Concepts regarding All-Pro Football 2K8. Not much is revealed in this interview, mostly corporate double talk. Check it out, but don’t expect anything major here. Read more…

There is a nasty rumor floating around that a video containing footage All-Pro Football 2k8, by 2kSports, will be released to the public on June 1st. We spoke to a very reliable source today that denies that completely. Sorry fans, it’s just not true. Stay tuned.

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