Recently I got a chance to speak with Brandon Justice, Director of Game Design for Quick Hit Football which is a free-to-play football game. Quick Hit Football brings gamers a very unique experience combining strategy with RPG elements in a MMO space. The small team that created this game is compiled of people who worked on MMORPGs, strategy games, and console sports titles. Although this is new territory for the crew, everyone brings in a unique perspective and it definitely shows in the game. During my conversation with Brandon we talked about some new features recently added to the ever-growing title and we also discussed the future of the title.

For those who don’t know what Quick Hit Football is, do you mind giving us a quick rundown on the game and maybe some key features that set it apart from other football titles?

Brandon - Quick Hit Football is a free-to-play football strategy game in which you don’t control the players but instead you coach them. As you play games against the computer or another user you gain points which are called Coach Points (CP) that can be used to upgrade any player’s abilities on your team. During the game you will be picking plays and the actions are carried out by the players so your goal is to utilize the strengths on your team while trying to exploit the weaknesses of your opponent. Everything in the game can be earned though simply playing the game or you can purchase CP from the store. You also have the opportunity to add NFL Legends to your team if and when you have enough CP.

When creating the game we wanted to tap into the free-to-play market where there aren’t many players in the sports space. 5-8 million people buy Madden every year, yet 20 million people play fantasy football and 40 million people watch it every Sunday. It’s a small amount of people who play football games and even smaller gaming online. What we wanted to do is find a way to tap into the 20 million people who play a very stat based football product but won’t ever get on Xbox Live or PSN but love football. With Quick Hit we wanted a game that was accessible, intuitive and at the same time authentic. We tried to make the game less about being good with the controller and more about knowing the game of football. If you get the basics of what football is about and the chess game behind it, then this is really the game for you.

Was it difficult to create a football game with the mindset that you won’t be able to use the NFL License?

Brandon – When we first started we did a lot of surveys of users and obviously using the license will help. We found in these surveys that a lot of people, especially with the younger generation, care less about the license and more about the fact that it’s a free game and an authentic experience. We are rapidly approaching or just past the million user mark in less than six months. I think the work that we’ve done so far proves that theory and it wasn’t a random sampling of people who were trying to be nice. Obviously there is a challenge but they don’t call it the No Fun League for nothing. The license can often times be creative handcuffs and what we have is the opportunity to build whatever we want. In the short term, for us, the hardest thing is rethinking how the game of football is played, how to make it more casual, more so than worrying about the license.

When I first started playing Quick Hit, I noticed there were some ads mainly during time outs and in between quarters. Since then there has been the addition of ads whenever you are waiting for the opponent. Is this something that can be disabled with a paid subscription?

Brandon - We’re in the process now of doing some testing of what works and doesn’t work for the users. We’ve actually increased the frequency, decreased the frequency but increased the display time and now we working on making more event driven like after touchdowns, during time outs, after first downs rather than seeing them all the day. Free to play for sports games is completely new territory. We want to make sure we are able to monetize the product and keep it free but by the same token we don’t want to annoy the gamers playing the game. Subscriptions are something we are looking at and a lot of our customers are asking for that as well. We are looking at different options, what we want to do with it and what will a subscription entail. Would it just be add free or would there be special subscription services only available to subscribers? We are basically looking at different packages and focus testing all of those trying to figure out what makes sense.

I understand that you guys were able to meet with former Steelers coach Bill Cowher to get some insight about coaching. What was the one thing you learned from him, and more importantly, how intimidating is he when he’s not on the sidelines?

Brandon – The chin is legendary and I’m a big Cincinnati Bengals fan in real life and I made sure to give him the business but honestly Coach Cowher was a class act. He was very friendly very receptive and the one thing I really appreciate about him is he is a consummate professional and wants to be great at what he does. He’s just a very genuine guy and he’s very hard working. Everything we threw at him he just took it like a champ and put everything he had in him to do it well. In that sense if he ever came out of retirement and wanted to coach the Bengals I would have a little bit of a problem with it but I’d get over it. As far as what we learned from him, I think we learned a lot in our short time with him. Every single conversation we had he gave us good insight about what it meant to be a coach what it meant to build a cohesive unit as a team, how to evaluate talent and how to take that talent and make your team effective. In a lot of ways those themes is really what Quick Hit Football is all about. I’ve worked with a lot of different folks throughout the years that were cover guys for products and I would have to say working with Coach Cowher was probably one of the most insightful experiences I’ve had in my career.

Is a Facebook- or Twitter-type of integration something you are looking into adding to Quick Hit?

Brandon - Right now we are at a crossroads with the product, we’ve obviously got our first version up and there is a lot of different opportunities for us. For us finding a way to get on Facebook and to get more people is definitely what we are looking at. There aren’t any majors players in the sports arena in Facebook, there are folks like EA trying to get into that space but it’s a lot easier for us to get into that. Their entire market is based on disc based games. If you look at the reaction they received from micro transactions they tried to add in their games it’s much harder for them to establish themselves with that strategy having already established the disc based game. For us getting on these social networking sites is something we always wanted to do and not only that our product is free, just like these sites. The big challenge for us is what are the things that we can add to or take away from the game to make it a bit more appealing to the people who are only used to playing games like Mafia Wars or Farmville. We have some cool ideas for how we can do this but I can’t really get into that right now.

The best part about flash games like Quick Hit Football is being able to jump in and out of a game. Right now there isn’t an option to quit a CPU game and complete it at another time. Is this something that will be added in the future?

Brandon – That’s something that we are definitely looking at. In the interest of a short experience we are looking at training modes, mini games, sudden death mode and shorten quarters. We are looking at all of those things and seeing what makes sense. The ability to save the game and pick it up later is kind of a no brainer when we get into a season mode or franchise mode or ever tournaments. I think it’s something you’ll see from us.

This game seems like a fantasy football fans dream come true, and I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I would love the ability to import a fantasy league to Quick Hit and play it out in real time. With the EA exclusive license this isn’t an option but if that were to expire would this be an option in Quick Hit Football?

Brandon - That’s something that honestly we’ve already gone pretty far down the line in terms of designing it out and how we do it. It’s one of things were EA has the license but if that agreement ever came up and we had the opportunity to do that I think it would be something that would be mad cool.

After our interview we went into a game and Brandon showed me some new features recently added to the title. The first thing  gamers will notice when they sign in to Quick Hit is the Team Page. This brand new profile page will show you everything you need to know about your team. You will see expanded stats, player info and you have the ability to access other Coach’s profile if you want to scout your opponent. This new Team HUB allows gamers to access the best coaches on the leaderboards and see how they train their players, what plays they pick and try to learn from them by looking at their stats. Along with that they also added daily rewards. Every day you log in you will get free CP, you can earn anywhere between 1-50 CP points, giving you an incentive to log in every day.

In terms of gameplay there are a ton of improvements and new features. During the game you will notice there is a FP Meter on the bottom bar now which will show you how much longer you have to go for the next level, in real time. It’s centered at the bottom of the screen and I hate them for doing this. Now that you can see, in real time, how far you are from leveling up you’ll just want to keep playing if you are only a few FP from leveling. Definitely something that kept me up at night in my WoW days and will keep me up when playing Quick Hit. Play-by-play text display has also been added to the in-game hud. Since you are looking at the game from a top down point of view and the players names don’t show up on the screen, the play-by-play will tell you exactly who caught the ball and what the result of the play was. You can toggle this on and off along with the ability to chat in the same window. Again you are seeing the influences of the development team who has worked on MMOs.

There were also some balancing tweaks that were done for offensive and defensive lines along with improvements to pass coverage. The game itself is constantly evolving with updates releasing almost every two weeks, which can be found here. Brandon and Samantha (Director of Communications) stressed the fact that they are very hands-on with the community and they both actively play the game. In fact Samantha and Brandon are proud coaches of high ranking teams in the leaderboads. This is something I can attest to, as Brandon was able to mop the floor with my team.

The one thing I got from the conversation was the team at Quick Hit Football loves what they do and it shows up in the final product. When you have everyone actively playing the game and talking to the community like they do it’s no wonder the free to play title works as well as it does. Quick Hit Football lets fantasy football players utilize their knowledge of the sport and take it to another level. Being able to coach a team and groom your championship squad is something that I’ve always wanted in a football game. Quick Hit is quickly becoming by favorite football game on the market and for anyone who loves the strategy of football but can’t handle the complicated controls, this is the game for you.

I’d like to thank Brandon and Samantha for taking the time to discuss the title with us at Spawn Kill, and if you want to learn more about Quick Hit Football you can always visit their home page or you can head over to the developers diary for everything you need to know about the updates.

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Not too long ago FIFA Online started the first phase of closed beta testing. Those lucky enough to get a beta code were able to be the first to experience the new browser-style FIFA game. During the closed beta players were only allowed to play the World Cup tournament. Electronic Arts today announced that the second round of closed beta testing is now live and gamers will be able to try out a few more modes. If you were in the first beta testing you will be able to get into round two of the testing. Those who have still not been accepted you can sign up again at the FIFA Online website. Here is what you will find in Closed Beta 2:

• League Mode – Choose your favorite club and lead them to domestic league glory. Begin your campaign as the new manager with a mission to lead your club to greatness. Take on the challenge for turning around your team’s fortunes by winning matches, earning In Game Currency and using the proceeds to sign new players improve your chances of winning future games.Play offline against the CPU and measure your progress against friends. Showcase your football skills and management expertise and challenge friends to do better by earning Manager Experience Points (XP).

   

• Co-op Mode and Versus Mode – Join your friends in playing their league matches or challenge them to a 1 on 1 club match.

• Manager System – Slip on the old sheepskin coat and take control of your team. Man-manage your squad to get the best out of them. Select the first 11, choose the formation and make the key mid-match decisions that make the hallmarks of the next great club manager.

• 100% Mouse Play Controls – New fixes include:
  • New practice drills
  • More details in tutorials
  • New, intuitive controls for Through ball and Lob through ball
  • Mouse lock to window for windowed mode
  • Auto-Pause on Alt-Tab

• Inventory System – Earn special rewards at the end of each match in the form of Player Equipment. Improve your players abilities with boots that improve shooting, drinks that replenish fatigue and much more.

In just two weeks of Closed Beat 1, over 25, 000 matches were played in FIFA Online. With all these new modes I expect that number to double.  The closed beta will run till March 18th. As always stay tuned at Spawn Kill for our hands on impressions of Closed Beta 2!

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Spawn Kill and several other gaming outlets were recently invited to join in on a MLB 2K10 Developer Q&A session. Ben Bishop, Producer of 2K Sports, Jonathan Rivera, Gameplay Designer and Sean Bailey, also a Gameplay Designer for 2K Sports were all there to answer our many questions about the upcoming baseball sim. While there were a lot of questions about the additions to MLB 2K10, everyone seemed to just want to know one thing: Is it going to be like MLB 2K9?

Throughout the call no one from the dev team was shy about saying how disappointed they were with last year’s title and mentioned that MLB 2K10 is much improved. Though we didn’t get to have an open Q&A session at the end of the call the developers were able to give us some insight on what they did to make sure they don’t repeat the issues from 2K9.

Here are some of the highlights from the call and if you are interested in listening to the entire call we got that for you as well below the questions. Enjoy!

How much of 2K9 was used in 2K10 and was the game rebuilt from the ground up for the new release?

Sean: We completely rewrote everything from fielding, hitting, pitching, the physics, AI, camera views, swapped up all the animations. We had a lot of work ahead of us because I don’t think any of us were happy with last year nor should we have been. So rather than just trying to touch up last year’s game we just made sure the new game included all the fixes that frustrated people as well as a new, rewritten game.

What new additions were made to the franchise mode and how wide of a range of options are available to the player now?

Jonathan: The biggest new addition is the 40 man roster in franchise for September call up. The draft happens in the middle of the year. Another new addition is the trade finder. You can essentially add any player out on the trade block so other AI teams can make you offers for that player. In addition to that we have compensatory picks for free agents. So in the off season when you’re trying to sign a player you might risk losing a first or second round draft pick and if you lose a high rated player you will also get a compensatory pick.

Since gamers and industry critics have noted that early iterations of MLB series have struggled with technical issues surrounding pitching, hitting and gameplay, was this a primary focus of improvement for 2K10?

Sean: It’s almost an understatement to call it a primary focus of improvement. We didn’t just want to improve, we wanted to nail it. We knew that the core gameplay experience needed improvements across the board but when it came to pitching and hitting we really went beyond focusing on improving. We created an entirely new experience starting with the cameras, different strikes zones, different swing types, different analyzers, different replays and the physics were all rewritten. It was a huge primary focus of improvements.

Has there been improvement to the hitting component aside from the defensive swings? It’s either been too easy or too hard to make solid contact as the big hitters would almost always turn a fastball into a sure homerun and an average player could barely get it out of the infield.

Sean: It has been out of balance in the past. Aside from defensive swing we have made it all about the timing. The days are gone when you can simply hold the influence stick and just paint where you want the ball to go on every swing. It’s all about timing, which is very satisfying. The balls that are hit with more velocity in real life are the ones that are pulled or the ones that a right handed batter sends down the first base line weaker are late swings to the opposite field. The timing was done in a very realistic way that takes care of a lot of complaints of the past.

What determines whether or not the Batter’s Eye feature appears? Is it purely based on their real world skills or are there other factors involved such as the pitchers skills? How often can they see the Batter’s Eye appear in a game?

Sean: When this originally came up the problem we were trying to solve is we were trying to make certain players better in the video game that are good in real life at reaching base and getting walks but didn’t have that skill set in the video game. So what we did was come up with eye rating versus lefties and righties and the batters eye rating drives the frequency of the Batter’s Eye. So the guys that take a lot of walks they have a very high eye rating so they’re going to see it more often. It also helps if they have good timing.

Why did you add the My Player feature in this year’s game?

Ben: It really seems like across the board in all sports titles that are out there right now career modes in general are becoming the popular thing and something that people are expecting to see. It was a big focus for us to be able to add the mode this year. A lot of our early build up and planning went into making My Player in this year’s version. At the same time we had NBA 2K10 come out with My Player and so that was a basis for what we did too. We really felt like it was a hole that we needed to fill with 2K10.

In My Player can you give an estimate on how long it will take to get into the Majors?

Ben: That can really vary there is so much flexibility you can do. You have a lot of flexibility in terms of how you want to play the game. When you actually do play a game you are just playing the moment that your player is directly involved in. You can play though a game in 5 or 10 minutes depending on the situations you end up with. You can also simulate games entirely, you won’t get as many skill points through simulation but if you can do that. Simulating the game might take you a bit longer to get the call to the majors. Playing all the games can get you to the majors in as soon as 10-15 games.

Framerate and online lag was a big issue for last year’s title. What was done to fix the issue s for the upcoming game?

Ben: This was something that was important for us. We felt that there was room for improvement from 2K9. We definitely made sure that we got the framerate up to an acceptable level. That’s a huge part of making the experience good and you are in full control. If you get a little lag or framerate drops, it can take away some of that control from you. It was certainly important for us to make sure we were as optimized in those departments as we could be.

Is there a PC version and how did last year’s response to the PC version go?

Ben: We definitely have a PC version this year too. You will get all the same features you will get in the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. I think a lot of the responses were similar across the board, just a lot of room for improvement and we definitely took a lot of the criticism to heart. The PC version just like the other versions is very much improved. The series in general is going much more in the right direction.

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The word “rapture” has several connotations. Its most popular usage is to describe those who are wrapped up in a state of bliss or overwhelming ecstasy. To devout Christians, it’s the second coming of Christ. To the thriving community of gamers who eagerly devoured the critically acclaimed (and smash commercial hit) BioShock, the word’s meaning is absolutely concrete. “Rapture” is synonymous with the bizarre yet profound adventure that continues to push the bounds of what gaming can accomplish; Andrew Ryan’s obliterated utopia — the fully realized dream of one man who believed in the power of the power of the self. Rapture. The name sends chills down one’s spine.

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In Episode 02 of The Away Team, Eric (The Herp) and Gabe (Lethalwraith) talk about what we’ve been playing which includes Bad Company 2 and Tiger Woods Online. We will also be previewing MLB 2K10 and the first round of the closed beta for FIFA Online.  As always we’ll chat about recent news in the sports gaming world and share some of our opinions on in-game ad support in sports games. This is a very interesting topic which we hope to get Stephanie (Tigresa) involved in for a future podcast so we didn’t spend too much time on it. For those of you who are also playing Tiger Woods Online, we have a group created called Spawnkill The Away Team Cast if you are interested in joining.

Of course you can follow The Away Team on Twitter and for you iTunes users you can download and subscribe to the podcast here.  Enjoy the podcast!

@Theherp80 @Lethalwraith

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The PC indie hit is coming to Xbox 360 Live Arcade!  Enjoy exciting first-person brawling action, brought to you by the folks at Atlus.  The game will be available for XBLA March 31, 2010.

While you wait, why don’t you check out the fresh new screenshots, posted in the gallery below?  Or, you can check out a video in case you missed it.

[Source: Atlus]

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The previously announced Left 4 Dead 2 DLC, The Passing, has been given a late March release window for both Xbox 360 and PC versions. In a nutshell if you haven’t already read about it is that it will consist of the new team of survivors (Rochelle, Ellis, Nick and Coach) meeting up with ye olde L4D crew (Zoey, Louis, Bill and Francis) who will be non-playable characters that you meet up with during the campaign. A new uncommon infected will be added to the new campaign as well called the Fallen Survivors. These are those genius rat-bastard humans who thought they were immune to the infection and… weren’t. Valve has mentioned these infected will drop items such as med-packs or ammo.

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In an interview with Bloomberg Television President of EA Sports Peter Moore stated that we will be seeing a Madden NFL game on Facebook saying “We have to make Madden more accessible. You’ll see us on Facebook going forward.” Although no official statement has been made regarding Madden appearing on Facebook, every sign seems to point towards that happening. EA recently acquired Playfish the company behind such Facebook games as Pet Society and Restaurant City. If you need more proof, EA Sports has been very active in the online free-to-play market with the recently released Tiger Woods Online and the upcoming FIFA Online.

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With the unfortunate last minute release date delay, the Return to Ostagar content had the misfortune of following in the mighty footsteps of Mass Effect 2. Had it come out with time to spare before the wicked began feasting upon their precious space cargo, it may have seen better sales. I’m sure many are more than unwilling to switch back to BioWare’s “other” RPG that players may have pillaged and ransacked several times over by now. As much as I love Mass Effect from the bottom of my heart — I was willing to pop that glorious disc in and find out if it’s worth your valuable time (and money).

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With the winter Olympics just a couple of weeks away I was searching for a way to get ready for Olympic competition and video games seemed to be the perfect answer. Sadly the only one available is Vancouver 2010: The Official Videogame of the Winter Olympic Games. Developed by Eurocom and published by Sega, this Olympic title looks great and does a great job giving gamers the sense of speed you see in the Winter Games; however the title lacks any sort of depth and suffers from unforgiving AI, so much so that I have yet to get a gold in all events after playing for countless hours.
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Recently I got a chance to check out some of the multiplayer in the upcoming Alien vs. Predator title during a community event held at Astro Studios in San Francisco. The game’s set to release on February 16^th for the Xbox 360, PC and PS3 and was developed by Rebellion, the same company responsible for thee classics released in the 90s. The Alien universe, as well as Predator’s has a very hardcore fan base, something that I do not share the passion for. Even though I am not a diehard fan of either franchise, AVP’s multiplayer immediately sucked me in and I found myself actually enjoying something that had AVP in the title.

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SouthPeak Games is happy to announce that Blood Bowl has shipped to retail shelves throughout North America. The upcoming fantasy sports title is set to release next week for Windows PC and the Xbox 360. With the Super Bowl just around the corner, there is no better way to get ready for the big game than with a football game that features fantasy creatures from Warhammer. Yeah it sounds strange but this ultraviolent sports game is sure to bring in football fans and those who shun away from sports games.

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Electronic Arts recently announced the development of a free-to-play downloadable game titled EA Sports FIFA Online. Similar to their recent web based Tiger Woods Title gamers don’t have to install much to play the game; however FIFA Online at this point will require a download and will run as a separate program rather than in a web browser. Starting February 3^rd football fans across Europe will have first access to the closed beta to help shape the online title.
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It’s fairly common these days for the epic greats we all know in gaming to receive much more than just the standard game treatment. We receive comics and novels, anime spinoffs, soundtrack releases and figures, to bottom tier relevance such as bubble-breasted mousepads. With such a varied cast of characters whose relationship depends on every decision you make, and an incredibly vast world such as that of Dragon Age: Origins, it is no surprise that we’ve been already given two novels pre-dating the game’s storyline. The later and more recent novel, The Calling, does not require you to have read the first novel at all, nor need to have played the game. Is The Calling for you? (Spoiler-free!)

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Blood Bowl is set to hit store shelves next week and just in time to hold you over till Super Bowl Sunday. This Warhammer-inspired football game combines strategy, extreme violence, fantasy characters and Americas favorite sport to bring gamers a very unique experience. Blood Bowl tests your tactical and strategic skill as you try to march down the field to score a touchdown or kill the entire team to stop them. To get you ready for the release on Xbox 360 and PC here are some videos of the different races facing off in the game. We also have the full achievement list for your achievement hunters out there. Enjoy!

Achievement List:

• 25pts- There will be blood- Get a Star Player to join your team
• 30pts -Didn’t hurt a bit-Prevent 3 players from being taken-off prematurely thanks to the Apothecary
• 10pts -Bad luck- Cause at least 3 opposition casualties in a match
• 15 pts-No messing about!- Cause at least 6 opposition casualties in a match
• 30 pts-Simply the best…- Win a competition using the “Blood Bowl® Championship” Classic rules
• 30 pts-Thanks, I took it easy-Win a competition in Easy mode
• 40 pts-Thanks, I did that with one arm- Win a competition in Difficult mode
• 50 pts-Thanks, I didn’t break sweat- Win a competition in Normal mode
• 30 pts-The Art of Bribery- Use Bribery 3 times in a game
• 10 pts-No quarter- Cause at least 2 opposition deaths in a match
• 25 pts-Survival of the fittest- Cause at least 4 opposition deaths in a match
• 25 pts-Interceptor- Captor 3 successful interceptions in a match
• 30 pts-Pass Buster!- 2 successful interceptions in a match with the same player
• 10 pts-Soft skulled- Cause at least 6 opposition KOs in a match
• 25 pts-Cracked skull- Cause at least 12 opposition KOs in a match
• 10 pts-Showtime!- Cause at least 5 opposition casualties (through death or injury) in a match
• 15 pts-For the fans- Cause at least 10 opposition casualties (through death or injury) in a match
• 30 pts-Veni, vidi, vici!- Cause at least 15 opposition casualties (through death or injury) in a match
• 15 pts-Three’s a crowd- Start a competition match with the services of a Pogoer, Looney and Fanatic in your team
• 20 pts-Team play- 4 successful passes in a match
• 35 pts-Solid-gold Thrower- 4 successful passes in a match with the same player
• 10 pts-Discovery- Finish 1 match on Xbox LIVE
• 25 pts-Starter- Finish 10 matches on Xbox LIVE
• 25 pts-Experienced- Finish 20 matches on Xbox LIVE
• 30 pts-Devotee- Finish 50 matches on Xbox LIVE
• 35 pts-Pro- Finish 100 matches on Xbox LIVE
• 20 pts-Foul play!- Have 5 players sent-off by the referee and still win the match !
• 20 pts-Anyone for six?- Score 6 touchdowns in a match
• 25 pts-9 for the fun of it!- Score 9 touchdowns in a match
• 30 pts-A star is born- Score 3 touchdowns in a match with the same player
• 35 pts-Hero of the supporters- Score 5 touchdowns in a match with the same player
• 45 pts-That’s done!- Free-up all the tournaments in Campaign mode
• 10 pts-First of many?- Win 1 match on Xbox LIVE
• 25 pts-The start of a long series?- Win 10 matches on Xbox LIVE
• 25 pts-A road paved with victories- Win 20 matches on Xbox LIVE
• 30 pts-Any challengers?- Win 50 matches on Xbox LIVE
• 45 pts-A born winner- Win 100 matches on Xbox LIVE
• 20 pts-Team development- Gain at least 25 SPPs for the team in one match
• 35 pts-Explosive advancement- Gain at least 40 SPPs for the team in one match

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