OT: I've Got It (ESPN NFL 2K5)

[mrsimperless]

I just picked it up from my local EB. I didn't preorder it and had no trouble getting it. Unfortunately I'm now hearing that I may have to stay here at work late. Sonofa...

I will post some impressions if I ever make it home and get to play it!

[SirFozzie]

Great. Where are you, so I can kill you and steal your game?

[RainRaven]

My local Eb said they would have the game in tomorrow..... damn

[Sun Tzu]

yeah, I got the same answer. Looks like it's UPS tommorow.

[Swaggs]

Great. Where are you, so I can kill you and steal your game?

You said that outloud, Foz.

[SirFozzie]

Oops. My bad.

[Sun Tzu]

Gamestop said that if you haven't already pre-ordered it, you better do so now. Apparently the phone has been ringing off the hook all day with people asking about this game. Good to hear. :)

[mauchow]

I haven't received a call from my local GameStop about it coming in! Pitiful! I am off to work now :(

[mckerney]

Preordered at gamestop and it's still "Processing"

At least I have overnight shipping for when they do finally send it out.

[FBPro]

I'll have mine at 6:00 pm tonight, just got the call.

[kingnebwsu]

Mine will be here tomorrow morning at 11 AM. I'll be snagging it when I get up! :)

[JeeberD]

I'll probably swing by Walmart in a couple of days and pick it up. I need some practice time so that I can whup on mckerney when he gets back to school... :)

[ISiddiqui]

Mine says "Shipped" on Gamespot, but the tracking shows it's been in Indianapolis since 1:19 PM yesterday and it's waiting for "Future pickup/delivery requested". They better have it for me tomorrow since I asked for overnight shipping! Grrrr

[GoldenEagle]

Jeebs, do you have a XBox?

[ISiddiqui]

What'd ya know... just a few seconds ago it said it's shipping! I should have it tomorrow... Weeee!

[Joe Canadian]

I had mine pre-ordered at EB, but all the St. John's Wal-Mart's got them today so I said screw EB. I'm playin it now and it's AWESOME!!!!!!!

David Arquette (sp?) just phoned me to challenge me to a game!

[Sun Tzu]

What's with Best Buy and getting all of the big new releases 7-10 days later than everybody else?

btw my gamestop order shipped too. Can't wait to play it tommorow :)

[Kodos]

David Arquette (sp?) just phoned me to challenge me to a game!

I'd hang up on that moron. He's just GOTTA be a cheeser... :p

[Easy Mac]

What's with Best Buy and getting all of the big new releases 7-10 days later than everybody else?
Must just be yours. I swung by my Best Buy last Tues. and got NCAA 2005. They had at least 50 Xbox copies and another 50 PS2 copies on a stand, and it was 5 pm.

Now Circuit City, I went by every day from Tues. to Thursday, and they had 0 copies.

[ice4277]

I just got a call from the automated Gamestop call thing, saying mine would be in tomorrow. I will be pretty busy the rest of the work week, then going to Chicago on the weekend, so I won't have much time to play it until next week anyways.

[JeeberD]

Jeebs, do you have a XBox?


Yup :)

[Tigercat]

Got the game earlier today. Never played a 2k game before, thus far I am very impressed. I have been a Madden/NCAA player all my life, and I am stunned how the players in this game react more like actual real life players. In Madden and NCAA, it seems like the AI consisted of the computer player doing its pre assigned job(coverage to a certain area, blitz, ect) and then when the play suddenly comes to said player's area, the player instantaniously goes to a new sequence. There was no transition, and if you watch madden/NCAA players long enough you realize that they can often act like robots in that respect.

The players in this game are fluid in what they do. They really look like they are being controled by little humans(fuckin gnomes in my xbox). A computer AI player doesnt *Suddenly* realize the ball is coming his way, stop his old pattern suddenly, and try to make a play on the ball. In this game he gradually transitions from one action to another. This just makes for a much more realistic football experience. This game rocks. If you ever enjoyed football video games and have a console, buy this sucker.

[Troll]

Called gamestop @ 5pm and they said they will be there in a few minutes, but that they may go fast. The phone had been ringing off the hook. I got there about 530 and got the very last copy. Got it on PS2 and it rocks. Haven't played against the CPU yet, but my friend and I had one hell of a game. The passing game is great. Much more realistic than anything I've ever seen on a videogame. Instead of having all day to pass, you drop back and if they are rushing you, you better get rid of it. As I say that it may not sound like a good thing, but it is very realistic. I was the 9ers and Rattay was 7-11 for 142 yards when he got hurt. Was sacked for the 2nd time and it was a nasty looking hit that broke his arm. Dorsey came in and was 3-7 for 97 yards, 1 int, 1 td. My friend was the lions and Harrington was hit and miss. He made some bad passes. However they were not bad in EA senses. In an EA game the bad pass would have missed by 10 yards. These passes missed by a few feet or a yard making them ripe pickings. This seemed very realistic. Harrington was 14-21 252 yards, 1 td and 1 int. The running game takes some getting used to. We both thought it was kinda stupid, but then I figured out that you have to charge the red meter untill it was full and then press a button to do a job. The first half Kevan Barlow averaged 2.1 ypc. Obviously that had me crying foul. But in the 2nd half I adjusted the running sliders a little bit and figured out the above point and was getting 2-7 yards per. At the end his was up to 4.6 ypc. My friend busted a long 62 yarder for a td. This game is VERY realistic and I'm sold on it. College football will be hitting the shelf, this game is for real. However if I have one complaint it is the kicking meter. It seems WAY too easy to make field goals. btw I won 20-14.

[Eaglesfan27]

I've never tried an ESPN Football game, and I'm really excited to try this game tomorrow night. Thanks for the impressions.

[Troll]

And to clear something up, during the post game and half time reports your game highlights are in still pictures(on PS2). However I simmed some weeks and ran a sports center. The CPU games actually have video highlights. I went to week 12 and saw mel kiper's section on sportscenter and it underwhelmed me. He only mentioned 2 players and they both had the same picture.

[MizzouRah]

As I sit here at work waiting on HP to order a system board for a down server at SBC, I have to smile reading comments like these. Nothing against Madden, as I've had plenty enjoyment out of the series, but I really want Sega to succeed with ESPN 2k5 and from comments I've read on various boards, I'd have to say.. maybe just maybe, they've succeeded in their drive for this years version.

I can't wait until tomorrow!


Todd

[Kodos]

The running game takes some getting used to. We both thought it was kinda stupid, but then I figured out that you have to charge the red meter untill it was full and then press a button to do a job. The first half Kevan Barlow averaged 2.1 ypc. Obviously that had me crying foul. But in the 2nd half I adjusted the running sliders a little bit and figured out the above point and was getting 2-7 yards per. At the end his was up to 4.6 ypc. My friend busted a long 62 yarder for a td.

I hate the charge up meter. I may try to set the sliders so I can get a decent run average without using it. It's just such a stupid way to do it. Real life players don't charge up before making a move... RRRRRRgggh.


That being said, I am still very anxious to get my copy tomorrow. :)

[MizzouRah]

Don't they have kicking sliders as well? That should make the kicking game harder if you mess with those. Not sure if they do or not though. NCAA does.


Todd

[GoldenEagle]

Yup :)
Hopefully I can save up and get an Xbox then. I jut have to figure out how to justify spending the $300 on the system, games, and live to my girlfriend which will not be easy.

[JeeberD]

Well, I think that most Live enabled games come with a free trial. So get yourself a refurbished system and this game and that's way below $300... :)

[MizzouRah]

Yep refurb is the way to go!

Todd

[GoldenEagle]

Can I trust a refurbished system and how much do they run for?

[kingnebwsu]

I'll be snagging mine in about 12 hours, and I'll be playing it tomorrow night. Look for KingNeb on XBL, and PM me if you wanna play tomorrow night (after 1 AM EST). Also, Thursday night after 6-7 PM would be good too. Catch everyone there!!! :D

[MizzouRah]

Can I trust a refurbished system and how much do they run for?
Mine's worked like a champ and although I traded in my ps2 for it - I think they go for $119 with a free game like Halo, Hitman, etc..


Todd

[MizzouRah]

dola,

this post summed up my excitement for tomorrow..

FootballForever said:
I've been playing the game more the last hour, and I must say that I can't be happier with my purchase of this amazing game. I can't put it down, the graphics are just great, really some times I can't believe what i'm seeing. The gameplay is tight, when playing on Allpro the game is really challeging, I didn't even touch the sliders. For those who don't have it yet, your gonna love it. http://forums.operationsports.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif

Todd

[ice4277]

Mine's worked like a champ and although I traded in my ps2 for it - I think they go for $119 with a free game like Halo, Hitman, etc..


Todd
Sometimes you can get an even better deal than that. I ordered a refurbed unit off of Gamestop.com for $119, and it came with Splinter Cell, KOTOR, and Morrowind. I didn't even need to buy a game, those were plenty to keep me busy!

[Sharpieman]

I'm a very, very loyal Madden fan. I wouldn't have even made a purchase of ESPN if it was the same price as Madden. But 20 bucks is basically nothing so I might as well. I always have this thought that Madden is made for the ps2 and ESPN is made for xbox. Why? usually, it seems those people who own ps2 give Madden higher marks, and those with the xbox give ESPN higher marks. Since Sony won't be coming out with their system late next year or even 2006 and xbox is supposed to come out before the new ps comes out. It will benefit ESPN. ESPN seems like it works better with a better system like xbox, while the ps2 and Madden fit together. My prediction is that ESPN will OWN Madden when the new xbox comes out, because Madden will still be friendly to the ps2. Of course, being a homer, I think Madden will easily kick ESPN ass this year. Madden was a better game last and it will be a better game this year.

[LionsFan10]

Cool, my thread has caught on like the "Alright Boyz ..." threads.

[akw4572]

I'm a very, very loyal Madden fan. I wouldn't have even made a purchase of ESPN if it was the same price as Madden. But 20 bucks is basically nothing so I might as well. I always have this thought that Madden is made for the ps2 and ESPN is made for xbox. Why? usually, it seems those people who own ps2 give Madden higher marks, and those with the xbox give ESPN higher marks. Since Sony won't be coming out with their system late next year or even 2006 and xbox is supposed to come out before the new ps comes out. It will benefit ESPN. ESPN seems like it works better with a better system like xbox, while the ps2 and Madden fit together. My prediction is that ESPN will OWN Madden when the new xbox comes out, because Madden will still be friendly to the ps2. Of course, being a homer, I think Madden will easily kick ESPN ass this year. Madden was a better game last and it will be a better game this year.

I had ESPN for PS2 last year, and I traded in Madden to get it. I got sick of winning against the AI with 65 yard bombs while sitting around waiting for the rush to get me. ESPN plays like a football game, not like an arcade game. To each his own I guess.

[RPI-Fan]

What is the procedure for calling places up to see if they have this in stock? If they give me some company line, how do I find out if I can drive there tonight, and pick up a copy?

I'm planning on calling up this afternoon and if I find anywhere that has it, heading out after work to get a copy.

Also, how likely is it that somewhere will have a copy?

Thanks,
~rpi-fan

[mrsimperless]

Ok, here are my thoughts after an evening with the game. Now keep in mind that I'm a Madden guy. And when I say I'm a Madden guy I don't mean I'm a Madden guy, I mean I'm a NCAA guy. But same difference. I bought MAdden last year and didn't even play one stinking game - I jsut played around with franchise mode and kept on playing NCAA.

I would have to say that NFL 2K5 is probably the coolest sports game I've ever played as far as graphics and presentation goes. The weekly sportscenter highlights are something I've wanted in games for years. I find it really hard to stay abreast (har har) of the rest of the league and having the highlights helps to keep me in touch and not feel like an island. The franchise mode seems really well put together aside from a few disappointments relating mainly to console vs. pc limitations. It even has one feature that I've wanted in FOF for quite some time - a way to look down the road and see what your cap situation will be like in the years to come.

Having said all that, I just CANNOT get into the gameplay. Even if I were to get over the minor annoyances with the button differences between NCAA and this game, it just doesn't FEEL right. I don't feel like I am in control of the players as much as I am in NCAA. Also, some things feel a bit choppy and unresponsive. For example I play as the SS on defense, and when you move around before the snap it looks completely ridiculous.

I'm not giving up on the game yet as I'm sure a lot of my complaints stem from differences between EA and Sega, but overall the gameplay could be a killer for me. But for $20 it definitely has enough redeeming value to go out and pick up.

[MizzouRah]

I'm a very, very loyal Madden fan. I wouldn't have even made a purchase of ESPN if it was the same price as Madden. But 20 bucks is basically nothing so I might as well. I always have this thought that Madden is made for the ps2 and ESPN is made for xbox. Why? usually, it seems those people who own ps2 give Madden higher marks, and those with the xbox give ESPN higher marks. Since Sony won't be coming out with their system late next year or even 2006 and xbox is supposed to come out before the new ps comes out. It will benefit ESPN. ESPN seems like it works better with a better system like xbox, while the ps2 and Madden fit together. My prediction is that ESPN will OWN Madden when the new xbox comes out, because Madden will still be friendly to the ps2. Of course, being a homer, I think Madden will easily kick ESPN ass this year. Madden was a better game last and it will be a better game this year.
Your boy is on the box of ESPN! Show some respect! :)

I think you've made an assumption without even playing either game yet.


Todd

[Sharpieman]

Your boy is on the box of ESPN! Show some respect! :)

I think you've made an assumption without even playing either game yet.


Todd

Damn TO! Is there a curse for being on an ESPN cover?

Also, I think a lot of people have been making assumptions without playing either game. Most of them have been pro-ESPN. My post is just my opinion, I might very well be totally wrong.

[NoMyths]

Heh...I went to Best Buy this morning and was told they wouldn't be getting the game in until around noon. After I told the salesguy that I wouldn't be able to make it back until tomorrow, he asked me to promise I'd come back. :)

I said we'd see. Then I drove over to the mall and got a copy at Babbages. :D

[MizzouRah]

After 2 hours of sleep my daughter tells me the FedEx guy is here. :)

I had to play one game before going back to bed and well, I'm in awe. I think the gameplay is great. In fact, I wonder how much I can get for NCAA 2k5 at Gamestop on trade? I honestly don't think I can go back to NCAA's style of football after I really get used to ESPN's. They are totally different, as always, but NCAA was played immensly last year while Madden was traded in and ESPN was only bought because later on it was cheap. Enough Madden vs ESPN - I honestly think both games will be top knotch and well, for $20... yada yada..

The presentation is THE BEST of ANY sports game I have ever played. I thought 2k4 was a good start, but 2k5 is unreal. Getting into a franchise is going to be so easy for me. Can you say 'immersion'? Yes, only one measly game and the presentation has really made me wonder how they fit all of that onto a CD? I played Cardinals at Rams and on default AP - no slider changes - the game had everything I've wanted in a game (I know small sample, but if it plays like this, I'm happy).

Passing has never been so fun and real. I could pick apart the Cardinals secondary at first, until they started adjusting, but it just felt so right throwing the ball to Holt as he made his cut, hitting Faulk out of the backfield in stride, throwing a strike to Maulmalmaua for a TD on a play action. By far the best passing module in any game.

They show stats and more stats during gameplay, breaking down just about everything that has to do with your game. At halftime, Berman recaps the first half, which is really done well. I found myself calling my wife and saying, check out this TD to my tight end in the corner of the endzone. :)

Once I figure out how much time to make the quarters, my franchise is getting started. I also need to see if you have to adjust the time for simulated games.

Forget sleeping, I'm getting back to this game. I really don't see the need for anything else to be in my Xbox's CD tray but this game. I know I sound fanboyish, but so be it. I'm very happy with this game right out of the box. Running is also a blast as are the hits. Each team also has the VIP for the coach you are playing that week. (It would be neat if coaches got fired and hired so you could see different teams use different VIP's and change up their way of playing football - this is the wave of the future, I can see games having coaches who have VIP's for drafting players, signing certain types of guys, etc..) I played against Dennis Green and I could see his style of play with the Cardinals, which made me think to play a more wide open defensive attack against his passing game.

Off to play some more... I wish I had surroud sound, the hits/tackles are brutal. :)


Todd

[mrsimperless]

Another complaint I forgot to mention. For those of us who hate some of the micromanagement aspects of TCY, FOF, etc. do NOT turn on the weekly preparation in franchise! The amount of options available for you to work on is completely insane! You can do all sorts of things from train players every day, to have the coach give a team meeting, to ahve position coaches review film, etc. and within each activity are tons of different options. There are about four or five different things you have to decide on when giving a team meeting. One of them is the tone of your opening comments. There are about seven levels from happy to yelling and screaming. When you train your players you can train a position group and/or select individual players within each group. You decide what muscle groups they work on and how many reps. You must decide all of this stuff EVERY DAY for the ENTIRE WEEK. Some VERY cool options, but I did not have the patience manage all of the crap. It was TCY hell all over again.

I could see myself MAYBE taking the time to do this if I didn't have to do it for every single day of the week! Luckily, you can easily turn this option off when you set up your franchise.

[mrsimperless]

Dola - One of the cooler NCAA and ESPN comparisons I noticed. New to NCAA this year is the gatorade/water being dumped on the coach. Pretty cool little addition. But when ESPN does it, they do it in style! Once it hits the coach in the back he immediately tries to avoid the rest of it and run away. The players happily chase him down and give him a friendly pat on the back. They are laughing and having a gay ole time. NCAA's "gatorade celebration" seems pretty vanilla when compared to ESPN. And why are the players drinking jello that evaporates upon hitting the atmosphere in NCAA? Weird stuff.

[Kodos]

I wonder if the FedEx guy has delivered it yet?

Being at work sucks.

[Cards4ever]

I wonder if the FedEx guy has delivered it yet?

Being at work sucks.

hehehe, look at how quick they are, here's my tracking notes for my order!


Date/time

Status

Location

Comments


Jul 21, 2004 7:36 am

On FedEx vehicle for delivery

BLOOMINGTON MN




6:42 am

Arrived at FedEx Destination Location

BLOOMINGTON MN




4:29 am

Left FedEx Sort Facility

INDIANAPOLIS IN




4:13 am

Left FedEx Ramp

MINNEAPOLIS MN




4:11 am

Arrived at FedEx Ramp

MINNEAPOLIS MN

[MizzouRah]

mrsimperless,

I think once you setup your weekly preparation it stays the same, so you just have to tweak things from week to week. I haven't tried that option yet.

One more thing, did I say the passing game is beautiful? It is. Just hit Bruuuuuce.. on a nice strike when I noticed him in single coverage on a post pattern. They show him on the bench and the players are congratulating him. Also, about halfway through the 3rd quarter, they show a breakdown on the field of Bulger's passing stats inside boxes on the field. I also love how after the play, the field view zooms out, but continues on while you choose your next play.

Todd

[Troll]

best, passing game, ever.

[Troll]

dola, anyone find a good quarter length yet?

[Eaglesfan27]

After 2 hours of sleep my daughter tells me the FedEx guy is here. :)

I had to play one game before going back to bed and well, I'm in awe. I think the gameplay is great. In fact, I wonder how much I can get for NCAA 2k5 at Gamestop on trade? I honestly don't think I can go back to NCAA's style of football after I really get used to ESPN's. They are totally different, as always, but NCAA was played immensly last year while Madden was traded in and ESPN was only bought because later on it was cheap. Enough Madden vs ESPN - I honestly think both games will be top knotch and well, for $20... yada yada..

The presentation is THE BEST of ANY sports game I have ever played. I thought 2k4 was a good start, but 2k5 is unreal. Getting into a franchise is going to be so easy for me. Can you say 'immersion'? Yes, only one measly game and the presentation has really made me wonder how they fit all of that onto a CD? I played Cardinals at Rams and on default AP - no slider changes - the game had everything I've wanted in a game (I know small sample, but if it plays like this, I'm happy).

Passing has never been so fun and real. I could pick apart the Cardinals secondary at first, until they started adjusting, but it just felt so right throwing the ball to Holt as he made his cut, hitting Faulk out of the backfield in stride, throwing a strike to Maulmalmaua for a TD on a play action. By far the best passing module in any game.

They show stats and more stats during gameplay, breaking down just about everything that has to do with your game. At halftime, Berman recaps the first half, which is really done well. I found myself calling my wife and saying, check out this TD to my tight end in the corner of the endzone. :)

Once I figure out how much time to make the quarters, my franchise is getting started. I also need to see if you have to adjust the time for simulated games.

Forget sleeping, I'm getting back to this game. I really don't see the need for anything else to be in my Xbox's CD tray but this game. I know I sound fanboyish, but so be it. I'm very happy with this game right out of the box. Running is also a blast as are the hits. Each team also has the VIP for the coach you are playing that week. (It would be neat if coaches got fired and hired so you could see different teams use different VIP's and change up their way of playing football - this is the wave of the future, I can see games having coaches who have VIP's for drafting players, signing certain types of guys, etc..) I played against Dennis Green and I could see his style of play with the Cardinals, which made me think to play a more wide open defensive attack against his passing game.

Off to play some more... I wish I had surroud sound, the hits/tackles are brutal. :)

Todd

I purposefully saved this thread for last, and still have some posts to read in it. However, this sounds like a great first impression :)

[Troll]

very bad CPU trade AI. Got into my franchise and simmed the preseason. I get a notice that a huge trade that will impact the entrie league took place. The Charges sent Phillip Rivers to the Bucs for Kerry Jenkins. In looking at the trade Jenkins is a 7th year vetern rated 81 @ RG. He was the bucs best gaurd but they got a couple of younger guys that can step in that are close. Jenkins becomes the Chargers best gaurd, while Rivers will backup Johnson this season and the Chargers lose their best QB, a rookie QB that could have been their franchise. Makes no sense to me.

[jaygr]

I am not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but for those of you who have the game, take a look at the back cover.

Look to the very first and largest screen shot. For those without the game, it is a screen shot of T.O. stiff arming Ray Lewis to the ground. That got me thinking, I bet this was intentional. Anyone else think that it is more then a coincidence, considering that T.O. is the cover boy for ESPN this year and Ray Lewis is the cover boy for Madden? Heh, it just made me laugh with all the hype this year of ESPN trying to beat out Madden in the market.

[MizzouRah]

very bad CPU trade AI. Got into my franchise and simmed the preseason. I get a notice that a huge trade that will impact the entrie league took place. The Charges sent Phillip Rivers to the Bucs for Kerry Jenkins. In looking at the trade Jenkins is a 7th year vetern rated 81 @ RG. He was the bucs best gaurd but they got a couple of younger guys that can step in that are close. Jenkins becomes the Chargers best gaurd, while Rivers will backup Johnson this season and the Chargers lose their best QB, a rookie QB that could have been their franchise. Makes no sense to me.
Yes, I've been reading this over at OS. Can trading be turned off during the season and then back on during the draft?


Todd

[MizzouRah]

I purposefully saved this thread for last, and still have some posts to read in it. However, this sounds like a great first impression :)
Thanks, now that I re-read what I typed, it's kind of jumbled.

This is one of those games you have to see to believe. The only negative I've heard of is the trading, which hopefully can be turned off. I know it might suck for drafting, but...


Todd

[NoMyths]

I've never played a sports title with more immersiveness. The halftime and postgame shows are great, and the players actually look like the real thing on replays. The clips going into the playscreens are very cool as well...actually feels like a field full of individual players. Waiting to get home from work to try out the Dynasty mode, but for a one-game reaction, I'm very impressed by the gameworld.

As far as gameplay...it's different than the NCAA-style I'm used to, but I'm liking some things better...tackles and such seem to have realistic results (e.g. Priest Holmes falling or twisting forward). The game looks better (and by better I mean I feel closer to watching a telecast than ever) after the whistle blows and it zooms in, but overall I think that will some acquired taste, I'm going to be playing the hell out of this one. The pass rush is much improved from NCAA, that's for sure...players don't feel like they're being held by marshmellows. :)

[MizzouRah]

I just ran towards the OL with Faulk when I push to the left, no room up the middle - he side steps to the left and goes for 8 yards. The animations are so nicely done.


Todd

[Bearcat729]

I picked up my copy earlier today. Just finished a game against the Lions andI beat them 37-14. Harrington threw 4 INT and Suggs ran for 170 yards

[ice4277]

Reading these comments really makes me wish that I wasn't smack in the middle of a 15-hour workday.

[MizzouRah]

I turned every penalty all the way up, so far, so good. Shawn Alexander just ran a 60 yard TD on me, I was like.. shit, how did Archeletta get taken down.

Flag, the replay shows him getting pushed down by Koren Robinson to spring Alexander for the TD.

Awesome stuff!

Todd

[Bearcat729]

I really wish Steve O would stop calling me. You would think he should have something better to do

[MizzouRah]

HA! Archeletta just picked one off and Hasselbeck threw his helmet! :)

ALSO, on your playcalling screen they have a 'favorites' where you can store your favorite set of plays you call more often than others.


Todd

[MizzouRah]

When you goto gamecast stats by pausing the game, you can select ANY play you had during the game and replay it. Neat.


Todd

[MizzouRah]

Found a weird bug. Alexander's run got called back, now it shows him at -60 yards rushing for today.


Todd

[GrantDawg]

I just picked this up, and a HD. Just getting the HD good to go before trying the game out.

[Troll]

These trades are getting out of hand. There is a trade about every week. Can't wait till the deadline. This week the panthers trade minter for kenard lang? wtf, why would they trade their best db for another DE who is now 3rd string. This may become a deal breaker to the franchise mode.

[MizzouRah]

EDIT:

It was a 90 yard TD, typo there.

He ran for 15 more yards on 3 carries, now he has -75 yards for the day and my team has allowed -75 yards for the game. Shit!


Todd

[GrantDawg]

Of course this and the trade thing only comes up after I bought the game. :(

[Troll]

No trades this week, thank god. I love the weekly prep, and yes, after you make the plans once they stay the same every week, you just have to make minor changes. Mainly just press conference policy, team meeting attitude, scouting, and rehab decisions.

[GrantDawg]

I was about to complain about the manual, but now I see it has an in-game manual. Handy.

[henry296]

Troll,

PS2 or Xbox?

[RPI-Fan]

No trades this week, thank god. I love the weekly prep, and yes, after you make the plans once they stay the same every week, you just have to make minor changes. Mainly just press conference policy, team meeting attitude, scouting, and rehab decisions.

Do you see this being TCY-like, where it's fun for about an hour, and then just gets tedious? Or does it look like making these changes will actually have a significant, tangible impact on the game?

Also, how are the custom soundtracks working? That's something that interests me greatly.

[Troll]

i got the ps2 version so I don't know about custom soundtracks. But the weekly prep could get tedious, but as little time as I'm spending on it each week, like 30 seconds to 1 mintue after the initial 1st week investment I really don't see it getting too tedious.

[Maple Leafs]

You guys are killing me. I have the damn thing sitting in my car, but won't get to try it until tonight at the earliest.

For those who are playing it and enjoying it, are you doing any slider tinkering or is it pretty much playable right out of the box?

[Troll]

Ight more on the franchise mode. A pointless trade was made between the Eagles and Falcons. The eagles got Rod Coleman a 6th year DT rated 80 and the Falcons got Darwin walker a 5th year DT rated 83. Thats a pretty good indication of how smart the trading AI is. Also the panthers have Julius Peppers on the trading block. He is rated 92, they are asking for a CB or a TE rated 50 or better.

[MizzouRah]

I use 10 min quarters and every penalty turned up to max. Seems about perfect to me thus far. Nothing else has been touched. It's great on AP out of the box - pro is default.

* The bug might just have to do with Clipping calls.. I know, I know.. but hey, we can turn them off.. although why does this shit always happen with a potential excellent game?

I know you can't catch everything in testing, but didn't anyone see a clipping call on a running play and notice the negative yardage?

I'm up 14-0 against Seattle, Hasselbeck has 3 INT's thus far.


Todd

[MizzouRah]

Troll, can that feature (trading) be turned off?


Todd

[Franklinnoble]

Sounds like trading needs to be turned down a bit... there just aren't that many trades in the NFL these days.

[MizzouRah]

Turn off Clipping... everyone so far that has seen that bug has had a clipping call.

They need to have a way to send patches to console's.


Todd

[SirFozzie]

They do, on Xbox at least ;)

[Bee]

Does the strange trades have anything to do with salaries? Perhaps teams are unloading big contracts? Just a thought...

I'm debating on whether to get it or not, but the trading issue may be a game killer for me (and the messed up running yardage from Todd doesn't help).

[MizzouRah]

They do, on Xbox at least ;)
I have an Xbox, patches? How they do dat?


Todd

[Eaglesfan27]

I have a very short break in my workday, and I'm catching up. I really hope that trading can be turned off if the trade AI is so bad. Has anyone been able to turn AI trading off in the franchise mode?

edited to add: Only about 4 more hours til I get home to play this game :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Does the strange trades have anything to do with salaries? Perhaps teams are unloading big contracts? Just a thought...

I'm debating on whether to get it or not, but the trading issue may be a game killer for me (and the messed up running yardage from Todd doesn't help).

I'm planning on turning clipping off if it will solve the running yardage problem. That will be annoying, but I'd rather have no clipping than have those big negative yards.

[Troll]

I haven't found a way to turn trading off, but if you would like stupid ass trades all year there is an option for no trade deadline.

[Franklinnoble]

Maybe move the trade deadline up to week 1? That might reduce the # of trades...

[SirFozzie]

I have an Xbox, patches? How they do dat?


Todd

Through XBox Live. There was a patch for NFL 2K4 last year.

[GrantDawg]

Grrrrrr....

The thing I hated about this game 2 years ago is still there. If you are say looking at free agents, and you go to whatever position you are looking at, if you select someone and then go out, the stupid game puts you all the way back to "All Positions"! Why can't it just stay where you were? That is so annoying that it might end up put this game on the shelf for me.

[ISiddiqui]

Being at work sucks.

Ditto. At least it's delievered. Now I have to get home before my leasing office closes!!!

[Kodos]

:D

12:18 pm

Delivered

MUNDELEIN IL

No signature required - release waiver on file


12:18 pm

Delivered

MUNDELEIN IL

No signature required - release waiver on file


10:07 am

On FedEx vehicle for delivery

WAUKEGAN IL




6:37 am

Arrived at FedEx Destination Location

WAUKEGAN IL




5:25 am

Left FedEx Sort Facility

CHICAGO IL




4:59 am

Left FedEx Sort Facility

INDIANAPOLIS IN




2:47 am

Arrived at Sort Facility

CHICAGO IL




1:15 am

Left FedEx Sort Facility

INDIANAPOLIS IN




Jul 20, 2004 2:24 pm

Left FedEx Origin Location

INDIANAPOLIS IN




Jul 19, 2004 1:19 pm

Pickup status

INDIANAPOLIS IN

Future pickup/delivery requested

[GrantDawg]

How many minutes should you sim to get realistic stats?

[Maple Leafs]

i got the ps2 version ...Do you have the hard-drive? If not, are the highlight shows still fun or are they pointless?

[mrsimperless]

Is there even an option to set the sim quarter lengths different from the quarter lengths used when playing? I don't remember seeing this option, but I could have overlooked it.

Assuming you can set both, we need to find optimums for both. Mizzou has already recommended 10 minutes for playing. Anybody have any idea on simming length or if it can even be changed? (stuck at work right now)

[sabotai]

Does the strange trades have anything to do with salaries? Perhaps teams are unloading big contracts? Just a thought...

This thought occured to me too. (My game won't be deleivered until tomorrow or the next so I can't check.) Maybe several teams start off in really bad financial states and need to unload cap money (similar to how EWR's WWE would dump half their roster when starting a new game)? Perhaps one of you could be so kind as to "quick sim" a couple seasons ahead and let use know if the stupid trades continue years later?

[Kodos]

Is there even an option to set the sim quarter lengths different from the quarter lengths used when playing? I don't remember seeing this option, but I could have overlooked it.

Assuming you can set both, we need to find optimums for both. Mizzou has already recommended 10 minutes for playing. Anybody have any idea on simming length or if it can even be changed? (stuck at work right now)

I'm 90% sure that you could set different sim and play lengths in last year's version.

[henry296]

Is there even an option to set the sim quarter lengths different from the quarter lengths used when playing? I don't remember seeing this option, but I could have overlooked it.



The last version I had was 2k3, but to change the sim lengths, you would play your game for the week with one setting for quarter length. Then you would go back into the options and change it to 5 for simming to get comparable results. It was a small pain, but I don't know if it works the same way for 2k5.

Todd

[GrantDawg]

You can set quarter length differently in Franchise mode (between sim and play). The question still is what is the correct sim length? (I don't understandf why they haven't made it 15 minutes. That is another thing I always found irritating about this game).

[gstelmack]

I'm 90% sure that you could set different sim and play lengths in last year's version.
I'm pretty sure I did precisely that. You wanted 5 minute quarters for simming, but longer quarters for the games you played.

[gstelmack]

Assuming you can set both, we need to find optimums for both. Mizzou has already recommended 10 minutes for playing. Anybody have any idea on simming length or if it can even be changed? (stuck at work right now)
Can you save in-game? I felt last year that 10 minutes was about right for playing as well, but you could not save while playing a game, and 10 minute quarters takes something like 1.5 hours of uninterrupted play time. With an 18-month old I don't have many 1.5 hour blocks for uninterrupted play time. That was one advantage of NFL Fever.

[kingnebwsu]

I played a pro-level game vs the AI and won 31-28. It was a great game, though I gave up 350 passing yards. I was up 14-0, then down 28-21, then threw my biggest passing play of the game with :22 left to WIN!!! It was exciting. I only completed like 4/18 passing or something, but most of those were me being stupid. The LB's were amazing, and picked off some passes when I didn't even see them.

XBL gamertag: KingNeb. Look for me after 1 AM tonight!!!

[MizzouRah]

No in-game saves.

I've read they corrected the sim stats and you should use 12? Don't quote me on that.


Todd

[GrantDawg]

What are good boards for 2k5 info besides OS? I registered there but they still haven't sent me a confirmation.

[GrantDawg]

What are good boards for 2k5 info besides OS? I registered there but they still haven't sent me a confirmation.
No one know?

I'm testing out coach mode right now (that's right, this game has a real honest to goodness coach mode). I'm trying it on All-Pro. So far in less than two quarters I have seen 5 ints (3 by my QB and 2 by the CPU). That is not good.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

I would love more updates on the coach mode. Last year the computer did not run nearly enough on Coach mode.

[GrantDawg]

I would love more updates on the coach mode. Last year the computer did not run nearly enough on Coach mode.
So far it looks like the CPU is running fine. I've started a new game and checking how it goes, but the CPU is running.

[Troll]

Do you have the hard-drive? If not, are the highlight shows still fun or are they pointless?

I do not have the hard-drive. The half time and post game shows where they show highlights of your game are pointless. But sportscenter shows highlights of other games in video. It just can't take highlights from the games that you play. I believe all the plays that are pulled up for sportscenter are pre programmed onto the disk. Although I haven't seen the same play twice, yet.

[Eaglesfan27]

No one know?

I'm testing out coach mode right now (that's right, this game has a real honest to goodness coach mode). I'm trying it on All-Pro. So far in less than two quarters I have seen 5 ints (3 by my QB and 2 by the CPU). That is not good.


You might try ESPN videogames forum, but that board is hit or miss for good information. Sometimes I wonder if they delete out anti-ESPN posts. OS is my standard visiting place for info on games like this.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola - Who were the QB's in that game? Are other coach games producing similar results.

[ahbrady]

No in-game saves.

I've read they corrected the sim stats and you should use 12? Don't quote me on that.


Todd

I know you said to not quote you, but I couldn't resist.

I was using 15 minutes for the games I was simming and was getting crazy stats like 360 receiving yards, so I put the sim time down to 8. That has seemed to work pretty well so far, although I must admit I haven't simmed very far at all. I was just posting this to see if anyone else has found a sim time that seems to work well. 12 seems a bit high to me.

[mrsimperless]

Maybe we'll get lucky and can use ten for both? I'll give it a shot tonight.

[akw4572]

I play coach mode only. Played my first game, with 9 minute quarters and stats came out ok. Running wasn't good, so i need to bump up the blocking. The coach mode is awesome.

[Eaglesfan27]

I played this game for the last few hours and I'm amazed. The passing game is just a wonderful thing. The presentation is excellent. I'm having trouble running, but I imagine that will come with time or some slight slider adjustment. However, playing on All-Pro I'm finding it challenging but not in a cheesy AI cheats sort of way. I feel like if I really read the defense I can pick them apart. This is especially true because Terrell is a tough WR in this game to match up with one on one. However, I can't just rely on him. If I throw into double coverage, it is usually going to hurt my team. Also, I find that zone defenses seem realistic, you can find the seems in them if you know where to look. Man coverage it really matters who the WR is and who the CB is and what their respective skills are.

I love the fact that McNabb actually throws some wild passes. They aren't *usually* really far off target, but just a little bit behind the receiver or a little bit high. Seems life like to me (unfortunately.) Occasionally T.O will reach behind him and make a spectacular catch but sometimes McNabb's inaccuaracy causes me an interception. Brian Westbrook had an amazing jumping catch for one of McNabb's high passes. Of course, the time that it took for him to do that left him wide open for a viscious hit. He held onto the ball amazingly. I'm not having insane numbers of INT's and the numbers seem right so far with 9 minute quarters. However, I also fell asleep twice and am sleep deprived so I guess I will have to see how it plays tomorrow when I'm at 100% efficiency. Getting back to hits, big hits will make receivers drop balls. Throwing the ball a bit behind them will make them drop balls. Throwing the ball too hard will *occasionally* make them drop balls (at least if they are a very good WR) They don't just drop balls for no good reason from what I've seen.

Then again, my sample size is 3 short exhibition games (2 of which I fell asleep during due to no fault of the game) ;)

I want to keep playing so bad, but I know when to listen to my body. That being said, I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and play some more :)

As far as the "extra" presentation, it is amazing.

The only things I don't like about the game. I hate that I have to tap A quickly to make my players run fast. I also am not sure that I like having the charge button. I don't think players have to charge up to do powerful moves, and I'm worried it might be too powerful when you use it. However, I need to play with it more to be sure about that. Other than needing to tap the A button to run fast, I haven't found a single major complaint (although I haven't had the misfortune of seeing a penalty reduce my RB's rushing numbers and I haven't seen the bad trade AI as I've only played quick games so far.)

Anyway, I'm off to crawl into bed. Hopefully, someone will have some better idea of the best sim times for games tomorrow as I'm looking forward to starting an Eagle's Franchise game in the near future :)

[hukarez]

I managed to stop by and pick up my pre-order, after a few eventful delays. In any case, I'm having 2K4 flashbacks with gameplay - a good thing for me, especially since it's been awhile when I last played a console football game.

In any case...the weekly preparation thing seems like a blast. Too bad I suck horribly at it. (horrible!)

I guess I'm not much of a good planner, seeing as my players are actually losing points, instead of gaining any! Anyone come up with a decent regimen yet? Or have folks been bypassing this?

I've been spending quite sometime on it, and I'm just barely in the second week of pre-season. :eek:

[Pumpy Tudors]

Carmen Electra kicked my ass. :(

[Bearcat729]

Carmen Electra kicked my ass. :(


I've got to play Funkmaster someone and Steve O. Beat them both but the Funkmaster was a close game 17-7. I beat Steve O 56-7

[mckerney]

Two bugs I've noticed so far:

1. After a short gain on a run was called back due to a clipping call, Michael Bennett was credited as having run for a 31 yard loss on the play.

2. The other team had the ball at about the 17, Chris Claiborne came up with a pick and was downed at the 2 yardline. Flag on the play for roughing the passer, but the half the distance to the goal was taken from the spot Claiborne was downed, first and goal at the one.

[RPI-Fan]

I've played the tutorial mode, and two online games, both 5 minute quarter verse relatively weak/inexperienced players (much like myself). Let me preface this by saying I'm very bad at video games, and my experience with football games is minimal. I played a decent amount of NCAA 2k4 last year with my buddy in the dorm (we loved doing GT verse FSU), but before that I played about 2 hours worth of NFL 2k0 on Dreamcast, and that's it.

So I decided before doing anything I better learn the controls. Having had a fairly busy day at work, I wasn't in the mood for reading the manual, so I went to the tutorial mode. It did a solid if unspectacular job of teaching me all the basic buttons, in 15 minutes or less. Definitely liked the way it worked.

From there, I was ready to play online. So I started up an unranked game on 5 minute quarters, and was ready to rumble. He was the Browns, and I was the Falcons (living in Atlanta for half a year piqued my interest in them).

I won a fairly close game, and I'll run through my thoughts (keep in mind, these are not comparisons to any other game, just thoughts):

-The animations are a bit slow/unresponsive for my liking. Meaning, personally I'd like to sacrifice a bit of animation detail in return for immediate responsiveness. When I hit the juke, I'd like to see the juke happen right away; currently there is a small delay. Realistic or not, it's not my preference. However, far from a gamebreaker - this is probably one of those things I'll like better when I get more experience with the game.
-The passing game has been tricky for me, so far. With Mike Vick, I had a slightly easier time because he was able to escape the pocket so well, but generally things were a little tougher than I'd like. It might be possible, but it sure has heck doesn't feel natural to step up into the pocket. I'm thinking that will take a lot of practice to learn to do... but who says that's a bad thing? For right now, I had a hard time watching the blitzers/DLine and receivers at the same time, but as with NCAA 2k4, I'm sure that will come with experience.
-I like the module for escaping the pocket. All you need to do is hold down the R button, and you can let go to get back the passing icons. This makes for a very easy escape if you have the right QB. For now, it was very well balanced for me, but before long I think it might be too easy to get out of the pocket.
-The running game is tricky. But the nice thing is, I definitely feel like it will be one of those practice-makes-perfect things. That's ideal for video games, IMO, and I'm fairly confident it's present here.
-I haven't touched custom soundtracks yet. That is a very good sign. Considering they are something I was really looking forward to, the fact that I played two games before even looking at them is promising.
-Again, I haven't touched the VIP profiles. See above for why this is a good thing.
-On defense, I feel a bit lost. I don't really know if there's anyway for me to have an impact on the play. Granted, I played as the Texans and Falcons, so I didn't ever have a real star on defense. With the Texans, I had some modest success with Kylie Wong as a de facto DE in the 3-4, but that's about it. Hopefully with some mastery of the controls I'll be able to learn how to have an impact from the defensive backfield as well as DLine.
-Small complaint here... on Offense, you can hold the L or R trigger to see the whole field and (in the case of L) all your routes diagramed. On defense, you can't do the same thing (where you see your players' responsibilities), as far as I can tell. Now, I may be missing something, but I don't think I saw that option.

That's all I've got for now; sorry for jumping around so much.

So my opinion, in summary, is as follows...

I'm not all that enamored with the game right now, but I can definitely envision it growing on me VERY quickly. I simply love the idea of online play, and the VIP profiles will just enhance that so much. There are little/no gameplay flaws that I've experienced, which combined with the VIP system will make this game potentially brilliant.

So, right now, for me: C+
Future potential: A/A+.

Hope this is helpful to some people,
~kyle

[GrantDawg]

The cheerleaders boobies jiggle. I guess that's something.

[Flasch186]

the highlights are way off, wrong team on Defense from what Berman says. Wrong score quoted. One time during sportscenter the highlight showed the Chicago QB hand off to the other teams rb....not sure wy this is happening but its discouraging...game is certainly fun though.

[GrantDawg]

the highlights are way off, wrong team on Defense from what Berman says. Wrong score quoted. One time during sportscenter the highlight showed the Chicago QB hand off to the other teams rb....not sure wy this is happening but its discouraging...game is certainly fun though.
There does seem to be many annoying little bugs like that.

[kingnebwsu]

Click the white/black button on D to bring up their assignments. It's the button on the left ;)

Gonna go online and see if I can find a FOFC'er to play against!!!

[MizzouRah]

Get some rest EF! Doctors orders!!

I just got back from another great night of work! You have to love those DAT drives.

Anyhow, more with the game tomorrow...


Todd

[kingnebwsu]

Just had a good game with Pumpy. 17-7 game on all-pro online, and it seemed to be pretty good. Our connection wasn't that good, and it disconnected with 2 minutes left...:( Oh well.

Game seemed more solid on all-pro as opposed to pro (which I was playing vs the AI). This game was a steal at $20 :)

Hopefully I'll be playing SackAttack momentarily!

[Pumpy Tudors]

Good game, Neb. I have to remember to plug in my mic before I sign in, otherwise it won't work. I couldn't stop Palmer from scrambling, and I had no running game to speak of. Maybe next time!

[aquatix]

I can't seem to buy enough time in the pocket to find my wr's!

[Sun Tzu]

3 or 5 step drop, then throw. Try to get into the habit of throwing as soon as you finish your drop back and plant your feet.

[scooper]

Just had a good game with Pumpy. 17-7 game on all-pro online, and it seemed to be pretty good. Our connection wasn't that good, and it disconnected with 2 minutes left...:( Oh well.

Game seemed more solid on all-pro as opposed to pro (which I was playing vs the AI). This game was a steal at $20 :)

Hopefully I'll be playing SackAttack momentarily!
Give em hell, King. Who Dey!!!!

By the way, I was face to face with the 88 and 82 AFC Championship trophies yesterday.

[Maple Leafs]

My thoughts after a few hours of trying it (note: I've never played the series before, so I'm sure some of this has been around for years).

- OK, let's get this out of the way first: the presentation is spectacular. Quite simply, it's going to be hard to go back to Madden after seeing how ESPN does it. SportsCetner has some hiccups, but it's going to be great to watch it every week and really feel like I know what's happening in the league (injuries, transactions, etc). Could this finally be the game that gets immersion right?

- Like all of you, I'm having a lot of trouble with the running game. Barlow averaged about 1.5 ypc in my first game. In Madden, I felt like it was pretty simple: wait for the blockers, see the hole, and accelerate through. In ESPN it seems like the RB drops on first contact almost every time (the CPU's Tomlinson only averaged about 3.0 ypc). Looks like I'll need some slider settings. Sigh.

- Speaking of sliders, would it kill these game companies to make it clear what to do with them? If I want more of a rushing game, do I increase Human Run Difficulty? Or decrease it? And do I move the CPU slider on the same screen the same direction or the opposite? Am I just supposed to move them, then play again to see if I guessed right?

- Finally, on the running game: I'm new to the series and maybe I'll get used to it, but I don't like tapping the button to speed burst and I don't like the charge feature. Just seems too arcadey to me.

- As much as I didn't like the run game, I loved this passing game. Just the little touches, they're perfect. I love the way the QB will take his drop without me doing anything. It just makes the whole thing so much simpler. And as others have mentioned, the one-button QB scrambling is done perfectly. I know it's essentially the same concept as Madden, but this one just "feels" right.

- I had a terrible game passing, with four INTs and only 200 yards. But as someone mentioned above, for some reason I didn't feel annoyed or like the AI was cheating me. I just felt like I played bad. Contrast that to Madden, where I felt like the AI was just getting silly on pass coverage. This is a good sign for ESPN.

- I'll echo what someone said above: everything feels like it happens just a fraction of a second too late. In my case, I really notice it when I'm trying to get off a quick pass (due to a blitz, broken play, etc). It doesn't seem like it's possible to do anything quickly. I'm playing as the 49ers, so maybe Rattay just has a slow release, but throw the ball already dammit!

- (P.S. Man, does it suck to be a 49ers fan this year. Just no good players. I guess years of Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens and HOF QBs have spoiled us. I won't win a game with these scrubs.)

- I don't understand the point of the Cribs feature, but my wife thought it was the coolest thing she'd ever seen. Take that for whatever it's worth.

- The crowd noise: like most sports games, the crowd doesn't seem to know what's happening until it happens. Kick a long field goal and the crowd sits silently until the ref puts his arms up, then it suddenly explodes. I wish they'd worked this out a little better.

- Speaking of kicking: what the hell am I doing wrong? I tried a couple of field goals and missed both by a mile. Isn't the ball supposed to go in roughly the direction of the little drifty arrow thing? Or is there some whole other component I'm not seeing?

- Overall, so far so good. Once I get the running game sorted out (either through sliders or just experience) I think the game will be a lot of fun. And if it is, the immersion level could make it dangerously addictive.

[NevStar]

Got the PS2 version, don't have a hard drive. Disappointed by SportsCenter still showing stock footage for other games & only a couple each week; I thought they were going to show real clips for all games (does this happen with the hard drive). The horrible UI when navigating free agents is back, but signing them seem to be a bit better.

Couldn't care less about Carmen Electra challenging me to a game.


Gameplay hasn't changed much from last year, which is a good thing. It just LOOKS more like a football game. Hooray Gang Tackles!

Secondary AI seems much improved. In my first game, Grossman threw 3 INTs in 5 minute quarters, and this was on Varsity sliders.

[Bee]

Do the celebs challenge you in dynasty mode? That just seems really cheesy to me.

Also, can someone elaborate a little more on the coach only mode?

[mrsimperless]

Do the celebs challenge you in dynasty mode? That just seems really cheesy to me.

I was challenged by Ms. Electra while playing in dynasty mode as I got a notice that I had a call on my "celebrity telephone". However, if you accept the challenge it is played as an exhibition game. Her team is an all-star team anyway.

[Tzar007]

A question for guys who played ESPN NFL of last year and this year: does the gameplay feels really different this year? I have tried ESPN NFL 2004 last year and it just did not feel that right for two reasons:

A) Gameplay: it’s not bad, but it did not feel right. I wasn’t able to get into it. I should say however that I am a hardened Madden player so I guess I have trouble getting into a new type of gameplay. The passing, the running is different in terms of control, feel and even after a few hours of gaming I still wasn’t comfortable. Perhaps I would have needed days of gaming before getting into it.

B) Graphics: I am mostly a PC player, and TV graphics suck, period, and nobody will ever convince me of the contrary (perhaps the high-definition next gen consoles coupled with a HD TV will put an end to that ugly difference between TVs and monitors but for now, TV graphics suck). I have to admit that close-up of player models in ESPN (after a play or during a replay) are surprinsingly great, but at the line of scrimmage, it really looks bad compared to Madden on a PC.

[Eaglesfan27]

Todd, I just slept for 12-13 hours relatively uninterrupted and I'm feeling great.

RPI-fan, I'm glad to hear you aren't a dominant player in this game, sounds like we could have a good close match-up online today (assuming I'm not busy playing host to Ms.Eaglesfan's friend - I really hope she goes and sees some of her other friends today so I can play.)

I also used the tutorial to learn the basics of playing. I think it is very well done. It took me a while to get the maximum passing to work, but every other drill was easy but informative.

After playing this game, I can definitely see how some NCAA/Madden guys are having trouble with the conversion, but I think it is going to be well worth the effort. However, there are certain things I still prefer about NCAA/Madden and I will keep playing them as well.

Has anyone determined the "best" sim length for accurate league stats yet? Also, has anyone simmed ahead to see if the crazy trades stop once teams get themselves in a decent financial situation?

If not, besides playing some exhibition games, I'm going to at least attempt to answer those questions today.

[RPI-Fan]

Todd, I just slept for 12-13 hours relatively uninterrupted and I'm feeling great. RPI-fan, I'm glad to hear you aren't a dominant player in this game, sounds like we could have a good close match-up online today (assuming I'm not busy playing host to Ms.Eaglesfan's friend - I really hope she goes and sees some of her other friends today so I can play.)


Glad to hear you're feeling a little better.

I did indeed ride my bike to work today (~5 miles), so I won't need to worry about exercise. There's a chance I'll go out with a friend after work, but I think I'll probably just want to go home and play ESPN.:) So, game-on for 6pm EDT, still? (assuming you don't have to entertain your friend)

[JeeberD]

Just played the first quarter of my first game and I'm really liking it so far. No problems with the running game like some of you folks are talking about, Julius Jones ripped off a 25 yarder and is averaging about 3.1 per carry besides that one run. A little low, but I have run into d-lineman a couple of times. I feel like I have a pretty good shot of gaining yardage just about every time.

I've only played one series on D so far, so don't have muchto say about that.

Q is having a good passing game,though Antonio Bryant dropped a perfectly catchable TD pass earlier... :mad:

All in all, I'm really enjoying it so far!

[Eaglesfan27]

Glad to hear you're feeling a little better.

I did indeed ride my bike to work today (~5 miles), so I won't need to worry about exercise. There's a chance I'll go out with a friend after work, but I think I'll probably just want to go home and play ESPN.:) So, game-on for 6pm EDT, still? (assuming you don't have to entertain your friend)

As long as I'm not entertaining our house guest, I have that time reserved to play you :)

[JeeberD]

No problems with the running game like some of you folks are talking about, Julius Jones ripped off a 25 yarder...

And on the first play of the second half he just ran for a 77 yard TD! Hopefully he's this good IRL... :)

[Franklinnoble]

And on the first play of the second half he just ran for a 77 yard TD! Hopefully he's this good IRL... :)
Not likely... unless he happens to be playing my Redskins. http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/frown.gif

[JeeberD]

Julius Jones:

25 carries 230 yards 3TD

Hell yeah! :D

[Franklinnoble]

Somewhere, SkyDog sheds tears of joy and pride.

[Eaglesfan27]

You know something else I like about this game?

WR reverses actually work! Not all the time or even most of the time, but a realistic percentage of the time they work! (at least it seems that way to me)

I've gotten everything from a -4 yards to a 70 run just practicing reverses with Terrell Owns (with him as the slot receiver in a 3 wide out set) I just made the 70 yard play where he ran over one guy, stiff armed another, and then turned on just enough speed to beat out the last defender (it probably doesn't hurt that I'm playing the fairly low rated Giants defense in scrimmage mode - but I am using All-Pro)

Most of the reverses were 1 or 2 yard gains, a few 4-8 yard gains, quite a few stopped for slightly negative yardage or 0 yardage, and now this big play! :)

I still hate tapping A to run faster, but I'm starting to really enjoy the running game.

[Sun Tzu]

Is it just me, or can you not change the controller setup? I've been trying to switch up what a couple buttons do on defense (the speed burst and switch to closest player are swapped from EA's setup), but aparently you can't change the default defensive controls. UGH. Also, does anybody have any good All-pro running sliders?

[mgadfly]

- Speaking of kicking: what the hell am I doing wrong? I tried a couple of field goals and missed both by a mile. Isn't the ball supposed to go in roughly the direction of the little drifty arrow thing? Or is there some whole other component I'm not seeing?

- Overall, so far so good. Once I get the running game sorted out (either through sliders or just experience) I think the game will be a lot of fun. And if it is, the immersion level could make it dangerously addictive.

I've found that when kicking the ball I always have to aim a little more to the left than I thought I'd have to. Whenever I kick it "straight" from my perspective, it always seems to veer off to the right. I've missed an extra point in both of my first two regular season games. The first one didn't matter, but the second one totally sucked. Tampa Bay had the ball at the one yard line. I stuffed them on the first two plays and it brought up 3rd and goal from the two. The QB faked the hand-off and tried to throw it to the TE in the right flat. My SS stepped up, snagged the pass and went 100+ yards for the TD. That put me up 13-0 in the 2nd Quarter, but I missed the extra point. They scored the next four touchdowns (I couldn't stop their passing game-I did a complete redraft and they had Culpepper and three good WRs-Moss, Moss and someone else). I found myself down 28-13 going into the fourth quarter. I drove for a score with 3 minutes to go and decided to go for two (I'd have to either on that possession or the next) and missed it. I got the ball back and scored again and lost 28-26. Stupid kicker (I actually had driven to the 34 yard line on the last possession but didn't think I had a chance at a 51 yard field goal if I couldn't even make extra points, so I went for it).

My running game was too easy on Pro mode (76 yard run the second play of the game) but is now a little too tough on the next level up. Maybe I should give it time since I still don't use many moves except for juke (right or left) and tap A for speed.

I like the game and am hoping that I can get connected to XBox Live later today. I have DSL, but nothing ever works right when I try to hook stuff up.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm just running through each of the plays in the Eagle's playbook to get a feel for the playbook. I think the playbooks have more plays than Madden. Least it feels that way to me (I haven't counted the number in each game.)

I'm enjoying practice mode quite a bit. I just tried the flea flicker play, and I love the variety of things that can happen on the play. Very rarely, the DT breaks through and hits the running back (I had it happen once in 20 plays or so), most of the time the RB manages to pitch the ball back without problem, however, occasionally the RB just gives a bad pitch causing a fumble. I think that is so cool. Also, sometimes the flea flicker fools the safeties and they come charging in (leaving T.O. or Pinkston somewhat open for a deep bomb - I got a 70 yard TD pass to T.O. thanks to that) othertimes they aren't fooled and they stay back in their zones. That is great. It's not a predetermined reaction to the play each time. Also, sometimes my receivers break off their patterns and McNabb starts scrambling, I'm not sure why this is happening, but it is interesting.

Also, from practicing so far, I love how the QB does his automatic dropbacks. It gives you an idea of when you should pass to the primary receiver (although I better be sure to alter my timing if he is covered and I'm throwing to someone who needs more time to make their "move" on their route.) Also, the automated dropback gives me time to scan the field better, rather, than worrying so much about how far I'm dropping back.

Also, I'm really enjoying using the right stick to shrug off potential sackers. Usually I'm scanning upfield so I don't have time to do this, but occasionally I see someone coming at McNabb and I can usually flick them off (hopefully the implementation of this is realistic - McNabb is good in real life at breaking tackles, I wouldn't expect a much smaller, less mobile QB such as Koy Detmer to be able to do this nearly as often) I like how it takes some time for him reset his feet to be able to throw again.

Despite the bugs I've read about here in this thread and on OS, this game looks like a great keeper especially for 20 dollars.

[Maple Leafs]

What do people do in the run game? I mean you ESPN veterans. I feel like the game wants me to be doing something -- spinning, juking, something -- and when I don't do it my RB just decides to lay down.

Should I be using this "shoulder charge" or whatever it's called when I hit the line of scrimmage? Stiff arming? Just speed-tapping all the way?

Help me, oh wise ESPN veterans....

[Eaglesfan27]

As a former high school offensive lineman, I just saw the most beautiful thing yet in this game. I was running my practice playbook, and there is a play that calls for a weakside trap. It's a beautiful thing :) I'm like, oh no, he isn't going to make it that DT is going to nail me, but then the center moves over and traps the big DT creating a nice little whole for my HB to squirt through. So far, this is my most consistently successful run play (I don't hit any buttons on that play Maple Leafs, except juke or A if I break through - I actually juke the linebacker and ran past the safety for a 70 yard TD run using this play once.) However, true to real life, sometimes the guys mess up and don't pull off the trap successfully in which case my RB gets hit hard behind the line :)

Now, I have to quit playing the game to take my wife and our guest out to lunch :(

Oh well. Hopefully, I'll be able to play some more this afternoon/evening :)

[JeeberD]

What do people do in the run game?

Not an ESPN veteran, but in my 230 yard game with Julius Jones the only thing I did was the speed tap. Of course, it probably helped that I was playing against the Texans, but that's all I had to do for a big game...

[GrantDawg]

I picked this weekly schedule up from Gamespot forums. The guy claimed that no one on the team went down using these. He said just tweak them for the team you're playing and your weaknesses.


Monday:
Meeting- Happy
Conference- Happy
Coaching- Coverages
Film/ 2/ ALL WRS/ Coverage
Film/ 2/ All DTs/ Pass blocking schemes
Film/ 3/ All DEs/ Route combinations
Film/ 1/ All TEs/ Fronts
Film/ 1/ All QBs/ Coverages
Film/ 3/ All CBs/ Route Combinations
Film/ 3/ All Cs/ Blitz Packages
Film/ 2/ All Gs/ Blitz Packages
Film/ 2/ All Ts/ Blitz Packages
Film/ 1/ All FBs/ Blitz Packages
Film/ 1/ All OLBs/ Pass Blocking Schemes
Film/ 1/ All FSs/ Route Combinations
Weights/ 2 /All DTs/ hamstring and quads
Weights/ 1/ All SSs/ arms
Weights/ 1/ All CBs/ hamstring and quads
Alternative/ 2/ All SSs/ Stretching/Flexibility

Tues:
Full Drill/ 1/ 2nd team /no pads
weights/ 1/ all dts/ arms
pos drill/ 1/ all olbs/ beat the block
7 on 7/ 2/ all/ partial pads
full drill/ 2/ 1st team/ no pads
film /2/ all wrs/ coverages
pos drill/ 1/ all cs/ run blocking
pos drill/ 1/ all gs/ pass protection
pos drill/ 1/ all dts/ pursuit drills

Weds:
Pos drill/ 2/ all wrs/ wide receiver release
7 on 7/ 1/ all/ partial pads
full drill/ 2/ 2nd team/ partial pads
full drill/ 2/ 1st team/ partial pads
pos drill/ 3/ all ts/ the big sled
pos drill/ 1/ all des/ recognition

thurs:
7 on 7/ 1 al/l full pads
pos drill/ 1 all dts/ special move focus
film/ 3 all wrs/ man/zone tendencies
full drill/ 1/ 3rd team/ no pads
weights/ 1/ all/ cbs/ calves and ankles
pos drill/ 1/ all/ cs/ enemies at the gate
pos drill/ 2/ all/ gs/ enemies at the gate
full drill/ 1/ 1st team/ partial pads
pos drill/ 1/ all cbs/ pattern recognition
film/ 1/ all sss/ run/pass distribution
pos drill/ 1/ all des/ get off the ball
weights/ 1/ all dts/ arms

Fri:
film/ 3/ all ilbs/ run blocking schemes
pos drill/ 1/ all wrs/ pattern depths
pos drill/ 3/ all ts/ pass protection
7 on 7/ 3/ all/ no pads
pos drill 3 /all tes/ the gauntlet
pos drill 2 /all fbs
pos drill/ 3/ all fs/ ball reaction

[hukarez]

Thanks for the info, GrantDawg. I've been trying to recover those lost points over pre-season!

[Maple Leafs]

Anyone played around any more with the practice schedule? (Edit: thanks Grant Dawg, didn't see the list until I'd posted.)

I love the concept, but the implementation... yech. It takes forever to set it up the first time, and I really have no idea what sort of strategy I should be using. They do a good job of showing you each week whether your plan hurt or helped, but I'm not seeing any feedback as to why it worked or didn't. Too much weight-training? Not enough? It's a mystery.

Why, or why, can these big-budget game companies not figure out what little guys like Jim already know: if you're going to do something in-depth like this, you need to have an "Ask the Coach" button to set up a default the first time around. If I could know I was starting from a normal setup I'd feel comfortable tinkering with it. As it stands, I just feel like I'm probably harming more than I'm helping, and I'm tempted to turn it off.

[Maple Leafs]

Not an ESPN veteran, but in my 230 yard game with Julius Jones the only thing I did was the speed tap. Of course, it probably helped that I was playing against the Texans, but that's all I had to do for a big game...All-pro?

Note to self: trade for Jones.

[JeeberD]

Yup. Didn't mess with the sliders at all except to turn off clipping...

[GrantDawg]

After one week in Pre-season...everyone went up, BUT durability and stamina went down for everyone also. That is not good. I don't know what whould vhange, but my guess is there shouldn't be as many two-a-days. They also probably need some cardio. I don't know how to get enough time for everyone but I'll tweak it as I go.

[GrantDawg]

Who it didn't help was the third string guys. If you have guys low on the depth charts, they are not getting benefits. I might see about adjusting the depth chart at the begining of the week to try and make sure everyone is in a two postition somewhere.

[Franklinnoble]

I bought this game last night on the way home from work. I stopped at my local Best Buy for it... they didn't have it on the shelves, but I asked one of the dudes working there about it, and he said, "Oh, yeah, we have it. They're still in the back." I'm sure ESPN loves that. Anyhow, I got my copy, but haven't broken the hymen on it yet... my mother in law came over for dinner last night, and there's no getting busy with the PS2 when she's around. :(

I'm hoping I can put off fixing the dishwasher and give it a spin tonight, but I'm not holding my breath.

Still, I think their $20 price tag is a stroke of genius. If this game is any good at all for me, I won't even bother shelling out $45+ for Madden.

[Buzzbee]

Anyhow, I got my copy, but haven't broken the hymen on it yet...

I don't like the Quote of the Moment feature generally, but this line ALMOST made me petition SkyDog for its return.

[Sharpieman]

Where do you go to use the weekly preparation stuff????

[Maple Leafs]

Where do you go to use the weekly preparation stuff????
In franchise mode, go to simulate a game. If you have the feature turned on, you should enter a "simulate week" type screen with all the days listed.

[Sharpieman]

ah now I see thanks a lot

[GrantDawg]

Why is it on coach mode you can audible the defense completely, but you can't even put someone in motion on offense? I don't like that.

[bamcgee]

In response to the question about how to be effective at the running game, I can comment that in last year's version (this year's is still in the mail), I relied solely on the speed tap and the juke. Consequently, I tried to pick backs who matched this set of skills. I noticed that when I wasn't really paying attention and not really tapping very fast, I didn't get nearly as good results as when I was furiously tapping like a madman. It makes a difference. Madden players probably aren't used to this, since their players coast along like their on skates.

so my game arrives anytime, but I leave tomorrow for a wedding. Then I get back, and it's the week of my own wedding. Do you all think my future bride will understand when I ignore her requests to buy a guestbook or write thank-yous because I wanna play ESPN football??

I don't either. :(

[Kodos]

I just turned the weekly prep off. It sounded like a pointless pain in the ass.

I played a few games last night, and have mixed feelings about the game. Like everyone, I love the presentation, and the highlights are cool, even though they seem disjointed. They'll show a long pass play, but then not show the resulting score. They just seem to jump around, rather than give you a real feel for the game.

I'm also struggling on the ground, probably because I don't use the damn charge up button. I'm also suffering from being Maddenized. I don't know the buttons well for this game, and when I want to tuck the ball and run, I don't know how.

It also doesn't seem to recognize classic player names like Marino, and the create a player has only a few faces. I don't see why you can't just distort existing faces like you can in Madden for more variety.

I'm also annoyed by the lag between the QB's head bob and when you hear his cadence, not to mention the lip synch problems for anyone who speaks. How hard can that be to get right?

Anyhow, I like the game, but have my gripes. I imagine in the end I will like the new Madden better.

[Maple Leafs]

I didn't get nearly as good results as when I was furiously tapping like a madman. It makes a difference.Ugh. I was hoping the answer was going to be button-mashing. Seems like a poor way to handle things.

[GrantDawg]

I also can't go no huddle in coach mode. That stinks bigtime.

[jeff061]

Stiff arms and shoulder charges are my tools of choice.

[Kodos]

Oh, that's another thing. The players get back into position in the no huddle way too fast.

[Sun Tzu]

Is there any way to speed up the Quarterback getting under center? It bugs the hell out of me watching Rattay stand there looking at the defense while 4-5 seconds tick off the clock.

[henry296]

Sun Tzu there was in NFL2k3... but I don't remember... I think on the XBox it was X or Y.

[Maple Leafs]

Is there any way to speed up the Quarterback getting under center? It bugs the hell out of me watching Rattay stand there looking at the defense while 4-5 seconds tick off the clock.I remember seeing a "hurry to the line" command in the manual, although I can't remember what it was.

(P.S. Let me know if you figure out any way to score any points with the 49ers.)

[Eaglesfan27]

There is also an Online manual in the "Extras section." I haven't read it yet, but I plan on it for two reasons. One, it will likely have some useful information. Two, as much as I'm ashamed to admit it, I find the Cribs feature intriguing and under my info I see that I can get crib points for reading the online manual (or more likely at least going to it.)

However, I suspect the command to rush to the line will be in there if it is not in the print manual (which I've only skimmed.)

[jeff061]

A(Xbox) hurries him to the line.

[kingnebwsu]

I also have my complaints, and while some issues with past versions haven't been fixed...there are a lot that have been. The game is quite impressive, even though I wish you could turn off replays for online games. The games take frickin' forever and last night I wanted a mid-game save so bad...but I kept playing. So so tired today ;)

The secondary AI makes me cry sometimes, but that was just usually against a VIP all-pro team (Moss, Owens at WR). Also I'm the Bungles.

I'm having a lot more success at running the ball than I am at passing. The whole game seemed more polished when I played it on all-pro. I only played the first few games on pro (and when playing the stupid VIP all-star teams). I can't wait to play online again tonight!!! :D

[GrantDawg]

Update on weekly schedule: I erased everything on Friday and gave the team a day off, and that ended the stamina/durability problem, but there was still negatives across the board on the third string. So, I then gave the team a half-day off on Friday and added a full scrimmage for the third team (full pads). That gave them a point or two.

The only negatives I'm seeing now is in consistancy, and that is not uniform. Mostly it is a -1, so I'm not concerned. I also am not getting any bump up or down for SS. I might find some time to work them.

[Sun Tzu]

(P.S. Let me know if you figure out any way to score any points with the 49ers.)

Although I'm 0-3 in my franchise thus far, the last two games I did lost 9-7 (on a 51 yard FG with no time left...damn!), and 28-21. Brandon Lloyd decided it would be fun to get hurt for the entire season after 1 quarter of regular season play. My game plan thus far consists of running 15-20 times a game (which has proven to be futile), and passing the ball 25-30 times. I usualy put up fairly decent numbers with Rattay.

[mgadfly]

If anyone is around and wants to try to play a game (I can't seem to get it to work) I'd appreciate it.

[mgadfly]

Also, when looking for a game online does anyone know what the colors mean in the "Ping" column?

[RainRaven]

The Green bars indicate a good connection... the more red lines the worse the connection. I just played a game online and got my ass kicked 28-7. He was a very fair player so it was my horrible skills and no cheese that beat me.

[mgadfly]

So when I see my name on there with solid red bars, that means I'm not going to have much luck getting a game?

[HighandOutside]

Coach mode guys - Is is still difficult to run for over 3.0 yds/avg? I found it impossible to establish a running game in 2k4.

[Logan]

Any updates on all the CPU trading during franchises?

[Troll]

Any updates on all the CPU trading during franchises?

its still pretty bad, and for some reason the cards cut boldin b/f week 14. He had 1041 recieving yards when they cut him. The Texans gave him a huge contract.

[Logan]

its still pretty bad, and for some reason the cards cut boldin b/f week 14. He had 1041 recieving yards when they cut him. The Texans gave him a huge contract.

Ouch.

Is this not a showstopper for those with the game?

I was planning on giving this a shot once the NFL season gets underway, but if I can't play a franchise, it's pointless.

EDIT: I guess at $20 though, if some just enjoy it only for playing against friends and online its still worth it.

[mgadfly]

I like the game. That said, my biggest problems/complaints:

1) I can't get XBox Live to let me into a game. It is probably something about my setup, but it still sucks.

2) Stupid AI Moves (Trades/Releases)

3) The draft: I haven't played this game before this version, so I'm not sure how it worked in the past. But now they give you 7 "hours" for 4 days to scout out guys at the combine. The problem is that besides looking at their raw speed, lifting, shuttle run, and GPA's, I'm not sure how to tell good guys from crappy guys. With so few hours I don't have time to scout more than one or two positions and when it comes to the draft (post combine) I still feel completely blind. I'd like, at the very minimum (and maybe there is something that I'm missing), a mock draft, or a list of the top ten prospects according to USA Today (at each position) prior to the combine so that I don't waste my time scouting the super-fast, but can't catch, WR who ends up with an overall rating of 46.

4) The salary cap (bug?): I simmed out a season with me coaching the Patriots. (I went 14-2 during the regular season, and then won the super bowl--not that it was any of my doing except setting the depth chart and the "game plan.") At the beginning of the next season the cap is somewhere in the upper 80M range. Then I make a trade, go back to my cap management screen and the cap has changed to 59M. So, I simmed a season with the Seahawks (15-1, lost by 35 points to Philly in the playoffs) and made a trade during the renegotiation phase of the game. The cap once again dropped from the 85+M range to this time 69M. This sucks.

The coolest thing so far? Downloading a coaching file from one of the top ranked on-line players to practice against. I beat the profile, but it was easy because the guy blitzes on every play. He also blitzed a lot with the guy he controlled (FS) and so I'd just wait until he blitzed along with whoever he had blitzing to begin with and threw to the uncovered receiver. I couldn't run against him, but the passing game was the easiest I've had in a game (started 11-11 with Hassleback).

[mgadfly]

One other thing I really liked is that I had a 10 year veteran that was due to make $9M but I was struggling to get under the cap. He was a CB and still pretty good, but at that price no one was interested. I was hoping that I could move him for a 7 or 8 year veteran in the 5 to 6 million dollar range to free up a little room for my incoming rookies (after all, I was trying to get my payroll down to 59M). But, the computer-GMs recognized him as an old money sucking leach, even though he was still rated highly.

[Flasch186]

how the F*N hell do I validate the online default roster!! argh!!

[mgadfly]

I'm not sure how you fix that. I didn't have that problem this afternoon, but I had tonight. I think I'm going to unplug my DSL Modem and start fresh, see if that helps.

[mgadfly]

I finally got it to work online. I played a pretty fun game with someone, but then I got a "quit" on my record with 22 seconds to go. I feel like such a jerk. He was ahead 10-3 with 45 seconds to go and I was out of timeouts and instead of just downing the ball and letting the clock run out, he kept trying to throw the ball downfield. So I just kept jumping offsides (I was going to help him get close to the endzone and let him score).

It was stupid, and I wanted to apologize to him but he put me on permanent mute. The good thing I learned is that if you have too many consecutive penalties in a row, you get a "quit" and the other player gets a win.

Now I feel bad... I guess I've learned that I'm not mature enough to play online against people (the sad part is that it was a fun game up until the last 45 seconds).

[Eaglesfan27]

I just hope I can get it to work online tomorrow after I purchase the network extender, router, etc that I listed in my other thread. I really can't wait to try this game against other people.

[Sharpieman]

Although I'm 0-3 in my franchise thus far, the last two games I did lost 9-7 (on a 51 yard FG with no time left...damn!), and 28-21. Brandon Lloyd decided it would be fun to get hurt for the entire season after 1 quarter of regular season play. My game plan thus far consists of running 15-20 times a game (which has proven to be futile), and passing the ball 25-30 times. I usualy put up fairly decent numbers with Rattay.
In, my franchise with the Niners I am 1-3 (somehow we beat Vick and the Falcons). I strickly try to play a ball position game even though its hard to run most of the time. Also, try to use a lot of roll outs and play-action to catch the defenses off guard. Since the Niners have a weaker team, I feel it useful to do a lot of play-action plays to try to create something. It worked against the Falcons in week one, but no luck the last 3 games.

[SackAttack]

Biggest thing I like about ESPN right now is the fact that, in franchise mode, you get a six year view of your salary cap situation.

I know that's a small thing in the overall scheme of things, but for me that's huge. Jim, are you listening? I like that "cap used next year" screen, but if there's another version of FOF next year, I would LOVE some sort of screen that shows a breakdown of the salary cap over a 7 year period, even if it's just an overall total (as opposed to the way Fast Break does (did?) it, where every player's contract status is shown for 5 years, or 7 years, or whatever).

I'd buy the next version for that alone, as cheesy as I know that sounds.

[Maple Leafs]

I have learned something important about this game: I am terrible at it.

Through three pre-season games, I'm 0-3 and have managed 14 points, half of that on defence. I'm struggling on offence big time, and having the 49ers doesn't help (why do I even throw the ball to Johnson? He never catches it! Cath the ball you idiot!)

Some notes:

- I have missed every field goal I've tried, and it hasn't been close. I'm either wide left or wide right by about twenty yards, even though the arrow looks like it's right down the middle. This is not good.

- The CPU has made every field goal its tried, which also may not be good (shades of the year that Madden AI never ever missed), although I haven't played enough to say for sure.

- I hate the idea that in franchise mode I have to choose how long the simmed games should be. Shouldn't they just be whatever will result in normal stats? Are there really people out there who want their simmed games to have non-realistic stats? Argh.

- There are too many INTs in this game, at least on All-Pro. Mine I can understand since, as already established, I'm clearly terrible at this game. But even the CPU is throwing three or four picks a game. Unlike Madden, the INTs at least feel realistic in this game -- no LBs leaping three feet in the air to pick off a ball intended for someone twenty yards downfield. But there are just too many of them. Slider time?

- I'm really dreading getting further into the year and see some of these wacky AI moves. I'm a forgiving guy, but if this game got out the door with a trade AI that's as badly damaged as people are saying, someone needs to lose their job.

- I've played three games and I'm already sick of some of the commentary. What did they record, five phrases? And can we please get all the game companies to agree to stop using the phrase "The defence was asleep on that one!" Why do these games refuse to accept that the offense can make a nice play? Why does it always have to be some monumental defensive screwup? OK, I'm ranting...

[gstelmack]

Note: I'm playing All Pro, default sliders, 8 min quarters (which takes too long with no mid-game save, so I'm going to have to back off on that). Results are from 1.5 games played, so a teeny tiny sample. I played 2k4 to death, though.

- I have missed every field goal I've tried, and it hasn't been close. I'm either wide left or wide right by about twenty yards, even though the arrow looks like it's right down the middle. This is not good.
I went 1-for-3 last night, missing two just barely. It takes a bit to get used to how far off center the arrow should be. Don't look at the arrow as where it's going downfield, look at it as the direction off center the kicker will kick (if I concentrate on the arrow, I do okay, but if I look downfield while setting it I never get it right).

- The CPU has made every field goal its tried, which also may not be good (shades of the year that Madden AI never ever missed), although I haven't played enough to say for sure.
The computer went 0-for-1 in my game, missing a 51 yarder.

- There are too many INTs in this game, at least on All-Pro. Mine I can understand since, as already established, I'm clearly terrible at this game. But even the CPU is throwing three or four picks a game. Unlike Madden, the INTs at least feel realistic in this game -- no LBs leaping three feet in the air to pick off a ball intended for someone twenty yards downfield. But there are just too many of them. Slider time?
I threw 3 picks yesterday, with two being all my fault (misjudging at the snap which way the LB would break), and one being a hail mary late in the game where I just threw it up and prayed. Favre threw 1 INT at the start of the second half, and it was Mike Minter making a beautiful break on the ball.

What team are you playing with? I wonder if that has anything to do with it: sucky QBs may throw too many more INTs than non-sucky QBs. But my game last night felt pretty right.

[Maple Leafs]

The computer went 0-for-1 in my game, missing a 51 yarder.Did he miss it wide, or short? In Madden the CPU would miss short (and in fact had no concept of how far it could actually kick) but never wide.
What team are you playing with? I wonder if that has anything to do with it: sucky QBs may throw too many more INTs than non-sucky QBs. But my game last night felt pretty right.The 49ers, who are awful. I think when I decide to start my "real" franchise I'm going to sim through year one to get to the off-season and try to build them up. No point spending three weeks to go 2-14 just to get to the good stuff.

[gstelmack]

Did he miss it wide, or short? In Madden the CPU would miss short (and in fact had no concept of how far it could actually kick) but never wide.
Wide right. It was close on distance but I think it had enough.

[Franklinnoble]

I finally got to play this game last night for a little bit. Here's my review, in concise, bulleted format:



I just about wet my pants when I saw the option to select throwback uniforms before the start of each game. That alone was worth the $20 price tag.
The announcers SUCK. I mean, SUCK. Why couldn't they have gotten the crew from Sunday Night Football or something? Are Joe Thiesmann, Mike Patrick, and Paul Maguire really that busy in the offseason? Or maybe dust off Pat Summerall and Frank Gifford... anything.
I did not have much luck with the passing game. Maybe it's because I'm playing with the Redskins. I dunno. I dialed the difficulty down to "rookie" and still didn't do very well with it. On the plus side, I left it at that setting for the rest of the game and had about 400 yards rusing with Clinton Portis.
Switching from the Madden controls isn't too terrible. Yeah, the button-mashing for the burst of speed is a bit annoying... but I got over it.
I LOVE the way the running game works. Especially how the backs make sharp cuts when you flip the analog controller in the opposite direction suddenly. Late in the game, 3rd and short, I've got Portis running a quick pitch to the weak side (with the guard pulling and throwing a sweet block...droooool). It looks like I'm heading for the sideline, and the safety launches at me as I'm about to go out of bounds... boom... I cut, change direction, he flies right by, and I'm up the field for another ten yards after making him miss bad. With this game, if you run at the defense, you're going to get tackled (and the tackles look good). If you make one or two guys miss, you're going to break off a nice gain. Just like real football.
The "burst of speed" while on defense is nice.
The AI does cheat a bit when it's down. I'm beating up on Tampa Bay, and I can hardly complete a downfield pass to save my life, yet I'm running a dime defense and Brad Johnson is completing passes to receivers who are in tight double coverage. Riiiight.
I could really do without the Cribs feature. In fact, I don't really know why people who buy sports games need this sort of secondary reward. I don't get anything out of being able to buy a team logo sofa or a Champ Bailey bobblehead doll for my artificial codominium. Now, if there were chicks hanging around the place, and maybe an actual bedroom, then I'd get into it... but then it'd just be "The Sims."
No comment on the AI trades. I didn't see any, but then, I only played one week in franchise mode.
Watching the QB throw his helmet on the sideline after I picked him off was pretty sweet. Even better was when I'm driving late in the 3rd quarter, and the defense can't stop me, and the camera goes to the offense on their sideline, and you see guys looking frustrated and saying, "Come on, you guys... man..." That was gold.
I have a feeling the SportsCenter feature would be a lot better if I had a hard drive. Whatever. I'm not paying $100 for a PS2 hard drive just to watch highlights of the video game I just played.

I'm sure there's more to it... I only got to goof around with it for about an hour and a half last night. The bottom line: This game is a steal at $20. Period. I'm not even going to buy Madden this year (because I don't spend much time on console games anyway, and this is more than enough to get my fix).

Now, if this game were priced the same as Madden, I'd buy Madden, because of the familiarity, and the better announcers. I would never buy both. But for what I'm missing in Madden (not much... except, well, John Madden), it's definately not worth the extra $25 that EA's offering will cost.

If ESPN can get better announcers, they're going to give EA a serious run for their money - especially if they keep the cost of this game down. Overall, I'm a satisfied customer, and I'd recommend it to anyone else.

[cincyreds]

Two bugs I've noticed so far:

1. After a short gain on a run was called back due to a clipping call, Michael Bennett was credited as having run for a 31 yard loss on the play.

2. The other team had the ball at about the 17, Chris Claiborne came up with a pick and was downed at the 2 yardline. Flag on the play for roughing the passer, but the half the distance to the goal was taken from the spot Claiborne was downed, first and goal at the one.

I just got the game this morning and I haven't played a down yet. Can anyone else confirm as seeing these 2 bugs??

I would be disappointed if this happened alot.

[Eaglesfan27]

Those two bugs have been reported in this thread and other places. Turning off clipping is highly recommended to work around the first bug. The second bug is more rare, but it does occur (and I don't know a work around for it.)

[Bee]

I read someplace else that turning off clipping disables the "Crib" feature, is that true?

[Franklinnoble]

When I shut off clipping, it gave me a pop-up message that certain Crib features might be disabled, or something.

Like I said above, I can do without the Crib, so I didn't care. I still was able to use my "crib" points that I had earned after the game.

[Bee]

I wouldn't be interested in the Crib thing, but I just wasn't sure how one would affect the other. Seemed strange to me and I just wanted confirmation. Thanks.

[Samdari]

Hopefully I can save up and get an Xbox then. I jut have to figure out how to justify spending the $300 on the system, games, and live to my girlfriend which will not be easy.

Can I say I love my wife. Last night I was bemoaning the fact that this one was not made for GameCube. Her response, "You know, I have been thinking we might have bought the wrong system. We should just buy an XBox."

You know, honey, I think you are right, we should.

[Franklinnoble]

Can I say I love my wife. Last night I was bemoaning the fact that this one was not made for GameCube. Her response, "You know, I have been thinking we might have bought the wrong system. We should just buy an XBox."

You know, honey, I think you are right, we should.
Lucky bastard.

[Maple Leafs]

Question: if the offense runs a play on second down and at the end of it the defence is flagged for a five yard facemasking, is it still second down?

[scooper]

It should be, yes.

[gstelmack]

No, it shouldn't. It gets added on to the result of the play.

[Maple Leafs]

No, it shouldn't. It gets added on to the result of the play.That's what I thought. But in ESPN, it seems to result in the down being played over.

[Bee]

Wouldn't it depend on if the 5 extra yards would be enough for a 1st down?

[Kodos]

I played game 2 of my Falcons dynasty. I'm not taking the dynasty seriously, as I traded Brooking to get Zach Thomas, one of the DE's to get Ogunleye, and I traded Ladanian Tomlinson for Atlanta's big back (whose name I am forgetting at the moment), grabbed Jerry Rice and Randle El at WR. (Note: I changed the rosters before starting the franchise, so this doesn't have anything to do with poor trade AI.)

Anyhow, in 2 games, my rookie CB (Deangelo Hall maybe?) whose name also escapes me has 4 or 5 interceptions, with three of them returned for TDs. He is my leading scorer. The sad thing was, 3 of them came in the first half of my game last night. So the interceptions are a bit ridiculous, but I guess that's nothing sliders can't fix.

It seems like there are frequent screwups in the highlights. I think Berman said the wrong team got a touchdown in one of the segments, and it just seems like there are blatant errors frequently. Also, like I said yesterday, the highlights seem disjointed. It just seems to pick big plays without mentioning what ultimately happened after them. You'll go from a highlight of Vick hitting Rice (traded for Price) to one of Tom Brady throwing the other way with no mention of what happened in the Atlanta drive.

Also, I must have had that "Well they got a few yards, but I'm sure they were hoping for a little more" comment 5 or 6 times in one game. I agree that having the Sunday Night Crew would be much appreciated over the generic fake announcers.

Anyhow, I'm getting a little more used to the controls. I still hate the tap/charge up button. And I hate the drifting kick arrow. But the game is still impressive in terms of immersion.

I get the feeling that Madden will end up getting the majority of my play time this year. I was reading some hands-on impressions at Madden Planet, and it sounds like the gameplay will be really polished for Madden. The main guy, AndyP, said Madden 2005 represents the biggest leap in the series since it went from PS1 to PS2.

[Maple Leafs]

Hey, is anyone else seeing a lot of plays where the receiver is hit as he catches the ball, drops it, and it's ruled a fumble? So far in three games I've seen it happen four times, including at least once where the receiver only had a single hand on the ball for about a second. Three of the four were over-turned on challenge, but it still seems odd.

[Bee]

I was reading some hands-on impressions at Madden Planet, and it sounds like the gameplay will be really polished for Madden. The main guy, AndyP, said Madden 2005 represents the biggest leap in the series since it went from PS1 to PS2.


Watch it Kodos, you might pull something pimping Madden that hard. :D

[Eaglesfan27]

That's what I thought. But in ESPN, it seems to result in the down being played over.

I've gone to several web sites and I can't find any clear statement, but several sites such as NFL.com imply that the down is replayed but from the new spot after the 5 yard penalty unless a 1st down is the result of the play.

[Maple Leafs]

I've gone to several web sites and I can't find any clear statement, but several sites such as NFLrules.com imply that the down is replayed but from the new spot after the 5 yard penalty unless a 1st down is the result of the play.OK. In that case I guess they got it right. I just didn't think you could have a play where the yardage of the original play counted, and you got the down back.

[Kodos]

Watch it Kodos, you might pull something pimping Madden that hard. :D


Y'ouch. Just reporting what I read. :)

Honestly, I think some of my issues with this game come from being hardwired to expect Madden gameplay after all these years. Like I said, I think I will end up spending the most time on Madden this year. And the jury is still out, obviously, since I haven't played Madden 2005 yet. But I was encouraged by what I read over at Madden Planet.

[scooper]

I've gone to several web sites and I can't find any clear statement, but several sites such as NFL.com imply that the down is replayed but from the new spot after the 5 yard penalty unless a 1st down is the result of the play.
Where did you find it on NFL.com? I found the rules digest but could not find clarification on that.

[Eaglesfan27]

Where did you find it on NFL.com? I found the rules digest but could not find clarification on that.

In the rules digest, it seperates penalties which have the loss of down (combo) penalties and no loss of down. I also went to several other sites which talk about rules, and they all implied that interpertation, but I could not find an explicit clarification.

[scooper]

Thanks.

[GrantDawg]

As an update to weekly prep...

I have changed Friday and am getting good results across the board. Here is the Friday schedule:

7-on-7 Drills/3/all/no pads
Day off/all/half
film/2/ilb/Run Blocking Scemes
Pos Drills/1/fs/ball reaction
pos drills/1/ss/pattern recog
film/1/hb/Man/zone tendencies
film/1/olb/run/pass distribution


I just wish that you could audible with the offense in Coach mode. This would be a great game with that and without the computer trade bugs.

[Bee]

I saw someplace else that they think the computer trade issues are associated with the weekly coaching prep. (As in, if you turn off the weekly coaching thing the trade AI functions more normally). Maybe someone here can either verify or discount this?

[GrantDawg]

I saw someplace else that they think the computer trade issues are associated with the weekly coaching prep. (As in, if you turn off the weekly coaching thing the trade AI functions more normally). Maybe someone here can either verify or discount this?
That would figure.

[Flasch186]

Why in the heck would one have to do with the other? And why now damnit do i have to start my franchise over, again? And why on Xbox live do I seem to go head up against people with very little, or a menial grsp of the English language. Now before I get slapped and you say, "Well hey, they speak Japanese." NO, they spoke English but remember Brad Pitt from Snatch...like that but with a "twang". Horrible, lots of silences on the headset. Great concept, just wish they'd match you up with someone who could speak.

BTW my handle is Flasch186

[Maple Leafs]

Why in the heck would one have to do with the other? And why now damnit do i have to start my franchise over, again?You'll need to start over if the AI has already been making bad trades, but you can turn the weekly prep off in mid-season.

[Sun Tzu]

I'm 0-5. In my last game against the Cardinals I tied the game up 14-14 with 15 seconds left. They only had time for a hail mary, so I called prevent defense. For whatever reason my guys decided to cover everybody EXCEPT for Boldin, and he caught the pass and ran for an addition 30 yards down to the 10 yard line. Cardinals call timeout, kick a field goal, I lose. WTF is wrong with this team? I've lost <i>three</i> games in the last thirty seconds due to idiotic defensive backs that apparently don't like to follow what the play diagram tells them to do.

[Kodos]

I had Jerry Rice catch a hail mary between 4 defenders last night. Of course, I was down by multiple scores and still lost so it didn't matter, but he shouldn't have caught it when he was literally surrounded by 4 guys. ;)

[LionsFan10]

So it seems like after the initial shock of the presentation/graphics of this game wears off, the game quickly becomes "okay." That sucks, I was really hoping this game would be better then Madden's same ol', same ol' every year.

Ah well.

[Kodos]

It does have a real WOW effect from a presentation standpoint, but yeah, the game play itself hasn't knocked my socks off. Of course, as I've said before, it's probably a matter of personal taste. I'm used to Madden, so any other scheme probably would seem "off" to me.

But then, many of the issues that have been brought up have little to do with personal tastes.

[GrantDawg]

Played my first game online. It was on Pro level. I won 14-7 with a pass to Price in the last 10 seconds. The guy I was playing made me look good. He started by just running the ball, and then he would just roll Quincy Carter out and tack off. He did that about three times in a row until I remembered the "bear" package where you can blitz the ss on one side and the olb from the other. Then he got to where he would run backward and throw off foot. I picked up three interceptions. It just goes to show how bad I am that I only scored twice. :)

[sabotai]

I just played two games.

The first was Giants vs. Denver. That game was ended as I exited the game because they were winning 24-0 and I thought it'd be a good idea to find those tutorials. :D

Afterwards, I started up a franchise. My first pre-season game was vs. the Texans. I won the game 17-13 despite Warner throwing 5 INTs (With I'd say 3 or 4 of them because of my n00bness with ESPN Football). Two big goalline stances by my defense was another reason. I played on All-Pro and the stats were (to someone who plays NCAA and Madden) surprisingly ultra-realistic. On a default difficulty setting (9 Min Quarters). Who would have thought it possible?

As for gameplay, WOW! I am really impressed. And it's the little things. It's the running back stumbling for a few yards occasionally after knocking someone down with a shoulder or stiff. It's the defense actually getting called for pass interference. After getting an average 0.02 penelty calls per game on NCAA, it was nice to see some flags thrown. Still low, as I think I only had 3 or 4 in the game, but it was nice to see them (and to see them against the AI opponent).

Another thing that really bugged me about Madden and NCAA was when the play would result in a TD, the player stopped almost immediately after hitting the goalline, stand there for a second or two and then go into whatever post-scoring animation was called in. In ESPN, it's all one fluid motion, with the runner still running after he passes the goalline for a couple of yards.

I'll post more thoughts later. Next up in Week 3 of pre-season, Green Bay.

[Kodos]

Heh. I had a cool endzone thing last night where the CPU runner barreled into the endzone and then went a couple more steps to smash into my CB who was still engaged in a block for good measure. :D

[Franklinnoble]

Anyone else had any luck with late hits? I had one last night that I didn't get flagged for... I'm still waiting for a late hit - ambulance sequence.

[sabotai]

Well, so far my only really big complaint is that Challenges are defaulted to OFF. I didn't see that until Tiki got the 1st down one a 4th down try but was given a piss poor spot and it was a turnover on downs.

"What the fuck!? Why isn't the Challenge option lit!? Is it an option?....WTF? It's OFF!?"

That's it so far.

[Kodos]

Don't you mean "What the f*ck!?"





;)

[sabotai]

Oh sorry, actually I meant "W**t **e fuck!?"

[Kodos]

Or "What the fuc*!?"

[jeff061]

Lack of late hits is fine by me. In 2k4 I'd always try to switch to a DB to hit a reciever but I'd try and change to fast, and end up hitting the QB and getting flagged.

[cincyreds]

anyone see uniforms get dirty yet?

[Eaglesfan27]

I have seen plenty of uniforms get dirty. The wierd thing is the QB's uniform seems to clean itself just as he steps under center, unless that is just my imagination.

[MizzouRah]

So it seems like after the initial shock of the presentation/graphics of this game wears off, the game quickly becomes "okay." That sucks, I was really hoping this game would be better then Madden's same ol', same ol' every year.

Ah well.
You might be right. I haven't had much time with the game, but some of the little glitches get on my nerves. I HATE having to turn clipping off due to the fact a RB can get sprung for a long game while your CB gets smacked in the back.

I'm wondering if the early release date hampered this game somewhat? Seems like they thought.. well, we don't care if it's ready or not, we need to beat Madden out the door this year.

I took back some old games and reserved Madden, I was going to rent it, but I usually get all football games anyway. Lets just say I'll have plenty of football games to keep my busy this season. :) I also like the fact of taking NCAA players and drafting them into Madden.

One more thing.. having to set quarter lenghts for sim stats really pisses me off. Why can't they get that right?


Todd

[Eaglesfan27]

I guess I missed it. Todd, what length quarters are you using for simulations and what length for played out games?

I haven't gotten to play this game much, and I'm still in the awe stage at the presentation aspects.

[gstelmack]

What's the deal with wanting to turn clipping off? Did I miss a post? I've played 4 games so far and haven't seen a single clip called yet. I'm playing All Pro with no sliders or penalties adjusted.

[henry296]

When clipping is called your RB gets negative yards.

[MizzouRah]

I guess I missed it. Todd, what length quarters are you using for simulations and what length for played out games?

I haven't gotten to play this game much, and I'm still in the awe stage at the presentation aspects.
I think 9 mins for played out games, but I need some more playing time as 10 was looking ok as well. Sim games I don't know about yet, I haven't started a franchise yet, but I'll find out and post it here.

I'm at the Ozarks this weekend, so no Xbox. I'm hoping to get a franchise going on Sunday... and I'll find out what people are using for sim games.


Todd

[sabotai]

Now I have a really big problem with this game. One that may have me running to Madden.

Picture it. NYG vs. WAS, the Redskins are winning 17-13 at the 2 minute warning. Eli Manning, in his second season, takes the snap at the Washington 15, drops back and hits Toomer for the TOUCHDOWN! New York now leads 20-17.

Washington gets the ball, drivs the field and with 1:05 left misses a long FG attempt. NY gets the ball, runs three plays forcing Washington to use all 3 time outs. But they get no where and have to punt the ball. Washing manages a first down or two but with no time outs are left with just 11 seconds left as Ramsey spikes the ball at the NYG 35 yard line.

Ramsey takes the snap, throws a bomb, it's COMPLETE! To the New York 32 yard line but with only 5 seconds left, not enough time to run up and spike the ball and the game is over....

But it's not. Up comes with play call screen with the AI's FG attampt already selected (no time runs down), I pick FG block thinking "wtf....", to the game where the AI lines up and snaps the ball with 1 second left and hits the FG to send into overtime.

Not possible. Not even remotely possible. It's possible for receivers to drop 12 balls in a single game (which happened twice to me in NCAA). It is outside the realm of possibility for a FG unti to come onto the field, have the OL from 30 yards back run up, set up, and snap the football in under 5 seconds. It's just not possible.

I hit Simulate to end (I lose).....I don't save it. I turn off my XBox.

Good thing this game only set me back 20 bucks...

[Flasch186]

can this stuff be fixed via download through xbox live?

[Pumpy Tudors]

can this stuff be fixed via download through xbox live?

Can it? Yes.

Will it?

[Eaglesfan27]

Now I have a really big problem with this game. One that may have me running to Madden.

Picture it. NYG vs. WAS, the Redskins are winning 17-13 at the 2 minute warning. Eli Manning, in his second season, takes the snap at the Washington 15, drops back and hits Toomer for the TOUCHDOWN! New York now leads 20-17.

Washington gets the ball, drivs the field and with 1:05 left misses a long FG attempt. NY gets the ball, runs three plays forcing Washington to use all 3 time outs. But they get no where and have to punt the ball. Washing manages a first down or two but with no time outs are left with just 11 seconds left as Ramsey spikes the ball at the NYG 35 yard line.

Ramsey takes the snap, throws a bomb, it's COMPLETE! To the New York 32 yard line but with only 5 seconds left, not enough time to run up and spike the ball and the game is over....

But it's not. Up comes with play call screen with the AI's FG attampt already selected (no time runs down), I pick FG block thinking "wtf....", to the game where the AI lines up and snaps the ball with 1 second left and hits the FG to send into overtime.

Not possible. Not even remotely possible. It's possible for receivers to drop 12 balls in a single game (which happened twice to me in NCAA). It is outside the realm of possibility for a FG unti to come onto the field, have the OL from 30 yards back run up, set up, and snap the football in under 5 seconds. It's just not possible.

I hit Simulate to end (I lose).....I don't save it. I turn off my XBox.

Good thing this game only set me back 20 bucks...

That situation is just terrible. If that happens frequently, that would kill my enjoyment of my franchise.

[SirFozzie]

Well, I'm 2-0 online, with a 16-10 OT win. Whattagame

[JeeberD]

I'll probably be on later this evening and will be looking to play my first on-line game...

[Joe Canadian]

Can someone explain how the cap works in the NFL? It's been awhile since I've played FOF or TPF, and for some reason I've forgotten everything...

Why is it that when I trade a $9 Mil guy for a $400 K guy, my Cap status gets worse instead of better... same thing when trading Big Salary guys for just picks?????