Month: July 2022

Nothing about the Madden series has fallen off harder in the eyes of fans than the game’s franchise mode. What used to be the main selling point of the entire brand has for years remained largely underdeveloped in comparison to modes that are more lucrative, such as Ultimate Team, or an opportunity to offer fans live updates like Superstar KO. As a result, the hardcore players who love to go 20 years deep fine-tuning rosters and making dynasties have remained unsatisfied.

Could that possibly be changing in the near future? The devs over at EA Sports Tiburon want you to believe they are. Madden 23 is promising to be one of the bigger updates the series has seen with a huge gameplay update, but its also promising a deeper and improved franchise mode. On Friday, EA Sports released a video showcasing some of the new features to expect in the upcoming franchise.

The trailer highlights a handful of the bigger features coming to franchise in Madden 23 such as improved free agency, improved AI logic, and a process meant to involve players a little more while they’re in menus. When we got a chance to check out Madden 23 a little early back in May, Sr. Game Design Director Connor Dougan told us about how improving the gameplay loop was a point of emphasis for them while not only developing 22, but continuing that into 23.

“Franchise has been super important to us, and so last year we did stuff with weekly strategy, game planning, franchise staff, talents, and then we released scouting post-launch.” Dougan said to UPROXX. “The reason we did that in 22 was that we wanted to make the core loop stronger. But we also then started thinking about some of the other elements like the offseason and free agency. And so when we’re moving forward to Madden 23, we felt like, A – free agency and improving it was a top request from our core franchise players, and B – It is kind of a no-brainer because it’s such a huge part of football, that I think there was a lot of room for improvement in previous iterations.”

While franchise isn’t going to satisfy fans overnight, the addition of a deeper free agency mode is going to be huge for fans of the game because that is where a lot of the fun of franchise exists. It’s where we make our dynasties, dream teams, and take a struggling organization to Super Bowl contender status. It’s also an opportunity to make the game feel more realistic.

A feature that the developers of Madden are very proud of is the addition of tags. These will give players motivations and goals for why they may want to sign somewhere that goes beyond a salary. These motivations can still have money be the primary factor, but it could also be a desire to go play close to home or be on a Super Bowl contender. This helps avoid a situation where a player tells a team that they’re leaving in free agency to go play for a contender only to sign with the Lions or Jaguars.

“If you think about how you would emulate a real free agency situation where multiple teams are battling it out just to sign that coveted free agent, I think creatively it was a cool opportunity for us to try and build something like that.” Dougan said. “When you take into account things like what’s really behind players signing with different teams and then you start to look, and do some research, and it’s like, okay well, what’s motivating them. Obviously, financials are motivating them, right? But there’s so much more that goes into it when we talk about things that we’ve added like player motivations and player tags. It’s pretty cool because players are going to have different wants or needs…So, there’s lots of different motivations that we’ve added to our players to ensure that free agency became more than just whoever offers the most money [signs them].”

Is every fan going to be happy with the logic that inevitably ends up in free agency this year? Probably not, but everything we’ve seen so far tells us the series is heading in a new and better direction with franchise. It doesn’t feel like it’s the forgotten side mode anymore, but something that the development team is actively striving to improve and that’s exciting to think about.

Amazon may be one of the biggest companies in the world, but their streamer has always been jankier than the others. Where Netflix, Hulu, and even the Criterion Channel offer smooth interfaces with well-organized curation, Prime Video is more like one of those chaotic vintage stores where staffers still haven’t gotten around to separating used DVDs from copies of Dan Brown pageturners. But now the streamer that Jeff Bezos built is belatedly getting a facelift.

As per The New York Times, Amazon has started slowly rolling out a new interface some 18 months in the making. Not all subscribers have access to it yet, but those that do can see a more simplified main navigation page, as well as more direct routes to some of the newer parts of their library, including live TV and the new library of films and TV acquired from their $8.5 billion acquisition of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which includes all the Bond films (minus, of course, the non-canon Never Say Never Again).

What’s more, the new interface is more cinematic, with pop-up videos that one tends to find on Netflix.

The overhaul comes as some of Amazon’s bigger shows and deals are about to debut. That super pricey Lord of the Rings show bows later this month, while the company also forked out a fortune for the exclusive broadcast rights to Thursday Night Football. When those begin, subscribers won’t have to attempt to navigate an interface with a strong shrug emoji vibe. (It also comes at a time when one of their biggest competitors, Netflix, is still reeling from losing untold subscribers.) Something to think about the next time you want to watch Roger Moore in Octopussy.

(Via NYT)

Another day, another cringe-worthy embarrassing moment by the Dr. Oz senate campaign. In a new fundraising text sent on Monday, the Republican candidate (who just barely won the nomination) oddly declared that Donald Trump‘s “MAGA movement is dying.” At first glance, one might assume that Oz is attempting to further distance himself from Trump after noticeably scrubbing the former president from his campaign website. Instead, Oz appears to be running back to the MAGA well by urging Republicans to financially support his campaign and stick it to those pesky liberals for ol’ Trumpy boy.

Via Mediaite:

Liberals are winning the fundraising race, and the America First ProTrump movement feels defeated. If just 7 MAGA supporters step up right here, right now, we will be able to turn things around. Our nation cannot afford for the MAGA movement to die.

Friend, be a fighter for TRUMP.

Again, it’s a weird and seemingly desperate move by a guy whose campaign immediately got to work scrubbing Trump’s image from Oz’s campaign site after using the former president’s endorsement to win the primary. The fundraising text also arrives on the heels of Oz getting trolled by Snooki — yup, from the TV show — for pretending to be a PA resident.

On top of the Snooki burn, Pat’s King of Steaks in Philly got in the action by roasting Oz for not knowing how to spell the PA town he supposedly lives in after the TV doctor pretended to be a local resident. When beloved cheesesteak haunts are telling you to stay on your side of the Delaware River, it’s time to pack it in.

Meanwhile, Fetterman continued to dunk on Oz with no end in sight. The lieutenant governor mocked the TV doctor for pretending to be a lifelong avid hunter in a blatant effort to endear himself to the state’s vast sportsmen population.

(Via Mediaite)

After a move from the Indiana Fever waiving Bria Hartley and signing Rennia Davis on July 15th, speculation immediately arose about where Hartley would sign. We have that answer now, as Rachel Galligan of Winsidr reported earlier today that Hartley has signed with the Connecticut Sun, with the team confirming shortly after.

Hartley was a breakout player for the Phoenix Mercury during the WNBA bubble in 2020 prior to suffering an ACL tear late in the season, and has only played 26 games over the last two seasons. Returning late during a Finals team’s run, Hartley played a fairly minor role last season understandably, and that carried over this season in a showing of competitive polarity. Hartley came over late into the season for the Fever after a playoff run with her Turkish league club, Fenerbahce. Hartley played less than 100 minutes in Indiana this season, and it’s difficult to parse through who she is as a player at this time based off of her W season thus far.

My assumption is that Indiana already felt pretty set in their rotation, was comfortable leaning into their youth movement, and Hartley was primarily resting, rehabbing, and practicing. We’ve seen it happen a multitude of times in both the NBA and WNBA, so that’s my guess here. I’m more confident in that speculation considering her play in Turkey, which has me fairly bullish on her ability to impact a contending team as a bench guard.

Hartley played on a remarkably talented team in Fenerbahce, playing alongside Satou Sabally, Elizabeth Williams, Kayla McBride, and Amanda Zahui B. She’s at her best operating as more of a combo guard than a true lead guard, and she embodied that with her play on that roster. This is the quintessential Bria Hartley experience to me.

While Hartley isn’t the quickest guard (part of what makes her a combo) she pushes the break, generates a paint touch, and then relocates after moving the ball, culminating in a three point make. She doesn’t put a massive dent in the defense, but with her quick decisions and quality movement without the ball, she’s capable of starting sets and playing as a vital cog in an offense built around four players were ideally set up by a complimentary ball-handler.

That immediately ties back to the Sun and her fit with them. Alyssa Thomas has essentially performed as a quasi-creator for the Sun since Jasmine Thomas’ injury, but in the halfcourt, she’s at her best as a roller and screener. Jonquel Jones, DeWanna Bonner, and Brionna Jones are all fantastic offensive players in their own unique ways, but again, are ideally set up by a complimentary guard. Courtney Williams is more of a true two or scoring guard than a combo in my opinion, which is not a bad thing, but is much more of a pick and roll scorer than creator.
Natisha Hiedeman has factored in well as a starter for the Sun and I view Hartley in that same fashion: not truly a lead creator, but a player more than capable of stirring the drink, getting the ball to the right people in the right places, and being a threat off of the ball.

Much of the coverages Hartley receives are due to her shooting ability, so her playmaking reads are typically built off of her shooting gravity. She’s not routinely going to manipulate a defender with her eyes or a wild combo into a jump pass, but combined with sets involving multiple dynamic rollers, she can help generate quality looks. One thing that will be interesting to note: if defenses are willing to switch on Hartley ball-screens, how will Connecticut attack? Hartley is a decent pull-up shooter inside the arc and was a quality pull-up shooter from deep during her 2020 season, but if that shot isn’t there and switches are fairly airtight, what then? I’d counter and say that switching against the Sun is pretty haphazard, as switching a guard onto any of their bigs would be a sizable mismatch, but we’ve seen some routine issues of establishing halfcourt offense from the Sun.

Her defense is decent, particularly on the ball, but her screen navigation and off-ball defense can be a bit spotty at times, likely a residual effect of recovering from that knee injury still. The Sun’s overwhelming length and quality defenders makes this an ideal team to mitigate most concerns that can be sparked by a perimeter defender. If you can keep the ball in front to some degree, there are a bevy of All-Defense level players rotating and crowding the lane behind you.

For a team that has truly missed a stable eighth player since Thomas was injured earlier this season, this is a really good signing by the Sun and a great opportunity for Hartley to find her game in the W again on a team that lacks what she brings at her best.

There are a lot of topics one could ask Rick Ross about in an interview. The man is one of the most successful rappers and record execs in hip-hop, who also happens to have a taste for outlandish things like amateur lumberjacking and gifting his son a Wingstop franchise. There’s a lot to unpack when it comes to the polarizing hip-hop star, so why not ask him if he enjoys eating ass? Wait, hold up…full stop. That’s right folks, that’s where the hosts of the Beyond The Chair podcast went and Ross (who is starting his own podcast himself) didn’t hold back on his answer.

“Nah, I don’t really have no taste for ass,” Ross said. “I know what I like and I usually avoid the ass… I’m just letting you know, that ain’t a Rozay thing right there.” But it didn’t stop there.

When one of the hosts tries to get Ross to acquiesce by suggesting that, “I don’t like it but I’m gonna respect it?” Ross took the opportunity to talk about another kink that he might have an… errr, taste for. “That’s cool too but I want you to respect getting peed on from the neck down,” he replied. “And if I splash your face?” This could’ve taken an even wilder turn, but then Ross revealed how he’s not really into bondage and S&M, but prefers to go a different route in the sack:

“Chicks done asked me, ‘You ever watched 50 Shades of Grey?’ Nah baby, I ain’t watching 50 Shades. Nah, nah, nah… We ain’t gonna watch that,” he said. “I’mma have the weed lit, that goddamn Anita Baker gonna be playing and I may tug on that ponytail a little bit. And if your eyelashes end up on the marble floors, that’s cool too.”

Watch the full episode of the Beyond the Chair podcast with Rick Ross below, with the referenced portion of the conversation beginning at the 25 minute mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9JmqmoAxP0&t=1601s

Earlier this month, Chris Brown expressed frustration with his recent media coverage after releasing his tenth studio album, Breezy. Exasperated by the album’s mixed critical reception and a general lack of press despite it reaching No. 4 on the Billboard 200, Chris complained that it “seems like yall only invest in the negative stories” about him. Unfortunately for him, he’s made those the safer bet himself, as even when he tries to do good it seems that he can’t keep from tripping himself up.

Case in point: Today, NBC’s Click2Houston reported that Brown was recently sued for failing to perform at a charity concert to benefit victims of 2021’s hurricane season which saw four major storms cause $64.5 billion in damages. The organizer of the March One Night Only Benefit Concert, LeJuan Bailey, says Brown accepted $1.1 million to perform, then canceled at the last minute — literally, just after the show’s sound check.

Bailey, owner and vice president of DML Real Estate Investors and Construction, further says Brown has refused to return the money, calling his actions “parallel to pure theft.”

Speaking of bad investments, Digital Music News has also reported that Brown’s Breezyverse NFT collection, which was launched on the first of the month, has only sold 299 of the 10,000 tokens that were minted to start (only 297 sold in the first week). Part of this is probably just due to the (inevitable) crash of the crypto market, while at least some had to just have been poor planning on Brown’s team’s part. After all, there doesn’t seem to be much overlap between Chris Brown fans, who likely would have enjoyed VIP concert tickets and meet and greets with Brown, and NFT investors, from whom the primary draw is flipping them for profit.

Also, from what I’ve seen of the NFT community, they don’t look much like R&B fans, if you catch my drift. And while other pop artists have huge, rabid fanbases already built-in who buy into just about everything their fave does, Brown’s had… shall we say, a rougher go of it. But look, it’s not all bad for Breezy; his One Of Them Ones Tour with Lil Baby is apparently off to a solid start.

[This post contains spoilers for the Ms. Marvel finale]

Ms. Marvel was one of the most enjoyable Marvel Cinematic Universe projects in years. The lively Disney+ series was fun and refreshingly free of self-seriousness (Eternals), and it didn’t sag under the weight of having to connect to the rest of the MCU (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). In fact, it took until the post-credits scene of the finale for the only major MCU cameo: Captain Marvel.

Ms. Marvel directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah discussed how the scene came together with Collider. When asked if they shot it, El Arbi replied, “So, that was actually… Nia DaCosta shot that while she was shooting The Marvels. She was on set with Brie Larson and [star Iman Vellani], and she didn’t know that scene was going to be used for the post-credit scene. Marvel is very good in separating all the things.”

He continued:

So, we would always ask Kevin, “Yo, when’s Captain Marvel going to show up?” And he would always tell us, “Don’t worry about it. You’ll see.” Meanwhile, he has said to Nia DaCcosta, “Just shoot that scene. We need that. And you’ll see.” All of a sudden, when we were calibrating the final episodes after the credits, we said, “Oh. There’s Captain Marvel.” So that was a big surprise for us, as well. But it was pretty cool. It was pretty cool.

DaCosta, who also directed Little Woods and the record-setting Candyman, was tasked with helming The Marvels. The 33rd film in the MCU — but first with a possible cameo from bara Hulk and choti Hulk — comes out on July 28, 2023, after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (November 11, 2022), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February 17, 2023), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 5, 2023).

(Via Collider)

There are some things that people who aren’t online all the time will just simply not understand, like why Dr. Oz keeps getting dragged for eating at various tourist traps in Philadelphia or anything that Elon Musk tweets. Another thing is adding “-ussy” at the end of any word to turn it into a “thing.” Enter: the wonderful Jamie Campbell Bower who somehow got roped into learning what Vecnussy is.

In a video shared by Netflix earlier today, Bower, who plays the tentacle-y villain Vecna, was reading a series of tweets and memes about his character when he learned of the term “Vecnussy.” This, of course, stems from “bussy,” which is synonymous with a bunch of other stuff that you can probably assume for yourself.

“My vecnussy, what is it? I don’t even know where it is. I don’t know what it is,” Bower remarked after reading several memes about it. After a while, he seems to get the gist of the phrase “putting his whole vecnussy” into the character–basically meaning he gave it his all.

“I mean, I did. I put as much as I had of my vecnussy into Stranger Things,” he said. “If you could help me find my vecnussy so that I can then put it into something else, that would be fantastic.” Please don’t!!

Bower is right though, he did offer a fantastic performance of the gross demon who infiltrated the friend group. After all, the role required almost eight hours of makeup application every day, and he handled it like a champ. After playing various villains in both the Harry Potter and Twilight universes, maybe he can get a basic rom-com gig soon?

While the world’s sociopolitical balance seems to be crumbling before our very eyes, calling out injustice is nothing new at a Rage Against The Machine concert. Zack De La Rocha, Tom Morello, and company have always used their on-stage platform to spread awareness to a range of causes, corruption, etc. in well-articulated but incredibly pissed-off ways. And while the band hadn’t played a concert in 11 years before reuniting to perform again last week, they’re picking up right where they left off.

This past weekend at Ottawa’s Bluesfest, the band used their Friday night headlining set to bring awareness to the disproportionate violence against Canada’s Indigenous peoples population.

“In Canada, Indigenous women and girls are 16 times more likely to be murdered or to disappear than white women are,” one message read on the screen behind the stage. Another said, “An Indigenous person in Canada is over 10 times more likely to be shot and killed by a police officer than a white person is.”

The briefer messages they posted read “LAND BACK” and “Settler-colonialism is murder,” which spoke to long-standing mainstream issues surrounding Canada’s indigenous population and their rights to the land that is historically theirs. While Rage has stood up against the overturning of Roe v. Wade, they’re not one to loosen the grip on societal ills in other parts of the world as well.

With Rage Against The Machine, the purpose of these displays is not for shock value, but rather to educate and bring sheer awareness to pressing instances of injustice towards marginalized populations. And the responses on social media, show how much more widespread the band’s messages can be in the digital age than they were in the pre-internet era of the band’s early-’90s beginnings.

While Keanu Reeves is as synonymous with John Wick as he is with Neo from The Matrix, the role of the vengeful assassin almost went in an entirely different direction. According to a new (and excellently titled) behind-the-scenes book, They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog, Derek Kolstad’s script for the first film was originally written with a much older actor in mind. In fact, there were two names that were specifically being kicked around: Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford.

Here’s John Wick producer Basil Iwanyk described the original script in an excerpt provided to Entertainment Weekly:

“The lead was a seventy-five-year-old man, twenty-five years after being retired. It was the fun of watching Clint Eastwood kick ass. I thought, Okay, there’s probably one or two names you could do this with: Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford. Other than that, I’m not sure how I put this movie together. But the tone of the script for John Wick was subversive and really fun. It has a very clear emotional through line and a great premise for an action movie.”

Considering Eastwood is in his 90s now, it would have been interesting to see him pull off the gun-fu movies required for the film and its multiple sequels. Granted, Ford is knocking out a fifth Indiana Jones movie, so he probably would’ve fared only slightly better at John Wick’s almost ballet-like choreographed battles. (Would we still have paid to see both? You bet!)

As for how Reeves became involved, the actor’s agent was aggressively looking for projects to get him out of a career slump. When Reeves read the script, he immediately wanted in. And if you know anything about Reeves, the guy is an aggressive reader, so when something sparks his interest, you really know you got something.

“I see he has three hundred screenplays stacked on his desk, because he reads everything that UTA, WME, William Morris sends out. He reads them all,” Kolstad said while recalling his first time meeting Reeves at his house. “And so think that he read something on a Friday, in ninety minutes, and was like, ‘I want to do it.’ In that moment, before I met and really clicked with him, I was like, ‘Yeah, I really want to do it, too.’”

(Via Entertainment Weekly)