Posts

Speculation regarding the future of two key men has rumbled on for several months at Emirates Stadium, with their respective deals allowed to tick down into a final year. Neither has committed to fresh terms as yet, with Alexis generating plenty of transfer talk ahead of the re-opening of another window. Former Premier League title winner Pires hopes both can be convinced to stay on, but acknowledges that fresh faces will also be vital after prioritising stability in the dugout by offering Arsene Wenger a new two-year deal....

A player of his quality didn’t deserve to be on the sidelines, and although CSK attempted to reacquire the man they clearly had faith in, the Gujarat Titans (GT) were more willing to splash the cash. Shelling out INR 3 crore, a massive increase from Sai Kishore’s base-price purchase during the previous auction, the IPL newbies snapped up the services of one of the brightest young bowling talents in the country....

In what could be an indication of how close City were to signing the Senegal international, a hyperlink titled ‘CITYZENS: NEW SIGNING - Ask Kalidou Koulibaly a question’ was posted at the bottom of a news piece that revealed Dias would be wearing No.3 at the Etihad Stadium this season. Dias’ signing was announced by City on Tuesday evening, with the defender penning a six-year contract after making a £62 million ($79m) move from Portuguese powerhouse Benfica, with veteran Nicolas Otamendi heading in the opposite direction....

@Evan_B22 asks: “think Chris Davis has a legitimate shot at the real home run record of 61?” The real home run record is 73, set by Barry Bonds. Yes, we all know what he did, but he still hit those balls over the fence, and they all still count. Anyway, I don't think Chris Davis is hitting 61 homers. I don't think he's hitting 50 again. Davis hit 31 home runs in the first three months of last season, a tremendous run of power hitting, but he slowed down to hit 22 over the final three months....

[HTML1] While DLC has proven a hot topic in recent years, as developers and publishers are accused of removing missions to be released later, or locking on-disc content for an extra charge, Ubisoft seems to be doing things right with Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. Instead of additional missions, the developers have crafted a standalone campaign surrounding a secondary character from Black Flag’s story. ‘Freedom Cry’ casts Adewale as the new hero, and the DLC’s launch trailer shows that the developers weren’t exaggerating when they called him “one of the most brutal assassins ever....

On a recent episode of “What’s Wright? With Nick Wright,” NBA analyst Nick Wright was asked how Sarver selling the Suns could impact the league. He said: Wright then recalled some of Sarver’s cheapest moments as an owner. This includes the time Sarver sold a first round pick when the Suns were trying to make a Finals run in the mid 2000s. Sarver could have traded the pick for roster reinforcements but instead, he decided to save money and that Suns core never made it to the Finals....

Following several hours of silence on behalf of the game’s development team at Studio Wildcard, Lead Community Manager Cedric Burkes has finally tweeted a small update on the situation. “Still playing the waiting game on the PlayStation build,” he told his 46,000 followers around 12:30 EST Friday afternoon. “You’ll know more when I do. I’m hopeful it will post today.” As those who follow ARK closely will know, the game has become infamous amongst community members for its disorganized update deployment schedule since its launch as a Steam Early Access darling in 2015....

ARK: Survival Evolved kicked off its highly anticipated Summer Bash event on Thursday across all platforms, but the launch was a bit less than flawless on console platforms like PS4 and Xbox One. In fact, matters have worsened as the supposed Xbox fix for issues has since resulted in the emergence of a significant crash. In other words, if you were hoping to farm some meat and craft summery cosmetics this weekend, you may want to make other plans....

ARK Update 2.11 Patch Notes - PS4, Xbox & PC Initiation of Winter Wonderland: Can be manually activated with: -ActiveEvent=WinterWonderland launch parameterIncreased rates to 2X Breeding (mating interval, egg hatch speed, and maturation)Increased rates to 2X Player XPIncreased rates to 2X HarvestingIncreased rated to 2X TamingAdded Event-themed wild dino spawnsThe Island has been given a makeover with a winter landscape and foliage. Coal and Mistletoe can be obtained from Raptor Claus gift drops...

Having faced intense criticism throughout the 2016-17 campaign, including regular protests against his reign, the French coach reached the end of the season with his future very much up in the air. Arsenal to beat BATE with over 4.5 goals 6/1 His contract was expiring and questions were being asked of his ongoing suitably to a role that he had filled for over 20 years. Wenger eventually signed a new two-year deal on the back of another FA Cup triumph, and Iwobi was among those relieved to see fresh terms agreed....

Lyon 2/5 to beat Montpellier Fekir, 24, has caught the eye after scoring 11 goals in as many Ligue 1 games so far this season, while also registering three assists. The attacking midfielder is thriving after being named Lyon’s captain at the start of the season and is reportedly on Arsenal’s radar as a result. However, Lyon chief Aulas has ruled out selling Fekir, who has also been linked with Barcelona and Real Madrid, during the winter transfer window, telling SFR Sport: “Of course [he will stay in January], and nothing says he’ll leave at the end of the season....

Eight surviving veterans came back last weekend to help open the Fortress of Peace, a park dedicated to the fallen heroes of the 92d, in particular Lt. John Fox. An act of Congress finally awarded him the Medal of Honor in 1997, more than half a century after he died in action. On Dec. 26, 1944, two crack Austrian companies attacked Sommacolonia. Fox, posted on the hill as a forward artillery spotter, called for direct shelling of his own position from a gun emplacement down below, commanded by his best friend, Otis Zachary: “There’s more of them than there are of us!...

There are so many non-fascinating storylines as baseball enters the stretch run. Let’s take a look and see which is the least fascinating. Who will lead the majors in grounding into double plays? Albert Pujols and Casey McGehee have both done it 21 times. The race for third place in the National League West. The Padres are threatening to run away with it! Can B.J. Upton, currently batting .209, finish the season above the Mendoza Line while somehow getting regular at-bats for a contending team?...

I think Trout is going to have a more exciting season because he does pretty much everything on a baseball field at a near-superhuman level, but be careful not to underrate Simmons’ potential at the plate. Although his .248/.296/.396 line last year was pretty uninspiring, he did hit 17 home runs, and he’s only 24 years old. Granted, Trout is 22, but Simmons, like a normal person, has room to improve as he gains more experience....

We’re not going to get into the debate over the definition of so-called ‘real games’ and their relationship to motion gaming, since the financial success of the Kinect is looking to make the differentiation an even less applicable one. Good games are good games, and Ubisoft has shown that they know how to put together interesting experiences. We spend our time thinking of games they haven’t even made yet, so the developer announcing that they plan on giving the gaming community even more of the same is good news any way you look at it....

Released in concordance with The Da Vinci Disappearance, an expansion to both the single and the multiplayer of Brotherhood, The Da Vinci Edition will be releasing in the UK (no word on a US release date) for £49.99. For those who might have missed the news, The Da Vinci Disappearance sees protagonist Ezio trying to rescue the famous inventor and painter from a sinister group known as the Hermetecists. By finding various paintings scattered around a new play area, Ezio will uncover the mystery of Da Vinci’s whereabouts....

[HTML1] North American game fans (and non-game fans alike) are, no doubt, getting ready for upcoming Fourth of July festivities - and to kick things off Ubisoft is unleashing a wave of new independence-themed Assassin’s Creed 3 info. Starting with the new “Independence” trailer (aka the official Fourth of July trailer) and continuing with a detailed breakdown of the North American Limited Edition, fans of Desmond Miles (and soon Connor Kenway) have a lot to celebrate this week....

[HTML1] The series of behind-the-scenes trailers in the lead up to Assassin’s Creed 3 have placed a great deal of emphasis on the historical accuracy that the game’s plot will follow - at least on the surface. the newest trailer takes a stylized look at one of the Revolution’s most pivotal events, and shows that the Templar influence, while subtle, may have shaped the conflict more than any would have assumed....

Chief among those is Kenway’s use of female companions for less-than-honorable means. Although Kenway has a wife — the mother of Haytham Kenway, and grandmother of Assassin’s Creed 3 protagonist Connor Kenway — he still enjoys the life of a pirate, and all that comes with it. As Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag’s lead scriptwriter Darby McDevitt explains, “There is a special women in Edward’s life, but there are also other not-so-special women as well....

Placing Adewale, the runaway slave and former confidant of Black Flag’s hero Edward Kenway as the new protagonist of ‘Freedom Cry,’ players will bring the values of the Assassin Order to bear on the African slave trade of the Caribbean. Can the DLC campaign, like Adewale himself, follow Kenway’s lead? First things first: it was a pleasant surprise to see the usual DLC formula flipped on its head with Assassin’s Creed 3, with the developers granting players a chance to see an alternate take on ‘The Tyranny of King Washington’ as opposed to merely more missions or locations....