Tecmo Bowl 2008

[MizzouRah]

From IGN: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/787/787604p1.html


Next, Tecmo Bowl...

7:23: Seriously, Tecmo Bowl? People at the press conference cheer. Mr. Inaga, Vice President of Tecmo Inc, takes the stage. Inada takes the stage and jokes that the title of the game wasn't supposed to ahve been revealed until the end. "Just pretend like you don't know that it says Tecmo Bowl here" (pointing to the logo on the screen) "Instead of telling you about it, we're going to s how you a video that is very memorable."

The video begins. The video shows Tecmo employees (including Inada himself) playing SNES Tecmo Bowl. Jumps to a trailer for the full game. Set for release in 2008. But, no footage of the game itself ... just a logo. And no platform announcement, intentionally. "I can't tell you what platform we're making it for. But I can tell you that it's probably not going to be on the platform that you're expecting... if that makes any sense." This 2008 game will not be a port. It's a band new game for one of the new systems. But which one?!? "That's one thing I can tell you for sure. This is going to be a brand new game for one of the new systems ... We're confident that the new Tecmo Bowl is going to be the talk of the town in 2008."


Forget Madden, forget NFL 2k8, this IS what football was all about years ago baby!

Now I'm really wondering which console this is coming out for. :confused:

I'll take a guess and say PSP (better hold on to mine now).

[molson]

I never got the obsession with that game - but good for them for cashing in on it.

[rkmsuf]

meh, they'll never recapture the magic

[Chubby]

they should just fo a port of the SNES version with updated rosters and make a killing instead of another failed redo of the game (like the PS version was)

[Celeval]

My long shot guess: A Virtual Console game for the wii.

[Kodos]

Maybe I'll finally get to play it. :)

[cthomer5000]

Just port the NES Tecmo Super Bowl version with updated rosters. Best game eva.

[Hurst2112]

I always wanted a stand alone, hand held game of TSB3. Just a nice clean walkman sized game. Replaceable battery for stat saving. Nothing more, nothing less. They could sell it for $100 and I would buy it in a minute.

[Chubby]

Just port the NES Tecmo Super Bowl version with updated rosters. Best game eva.

That too would be fine.

I really don't see many differences between the NES and SNES versions (tho I have both right now, I'm playing the NES one through a Bills season) outside of bigger playbooks.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

If it's not on a system that I already own, it will be a system seller for me.

It's actually a perfect time to release a new Tecmo football game. Madden isn't doing anything innovative. 2K Sports doesn't have a franchise mode. Tecmo could heat up the competition in a hurry if they do things the right way.

[Hurst2112]

That too would be fine.

I really don't see many differences between the NES and SNES versions (tho I have both right now, I'm playing the NES one through a Bills season) outside of bigger playbooks.

the season to season with FAs was the biggest upgrade IMO. Unlocking old school players and being able to sign them was pretty cool too.

[Chubby]

the season to season with FAs was the biggest upgrade IMO. Unlocking old school players and being able to sign them was pretty cool too.

I thought that was only with TSB III:Final Edition or whatever the last TSB on SNES...

[Hurst2112]

I thought that was only with TSB III:Final Edition or whatever the last TSB on SNES...

you are right. I don't think I ever played the SNES version of regular TSB. Wait, I might have once or twice. All my memories of regular TSB was on the NES.

[JediKooter]

Next to Micro League Baseball, Techmo Bowl probably 'wasted' more hours and days of my youth than just about anything else at the time.

Nice to see something is going on with it.

[Hurst2112]

In the immortal words of Geoff Tate:

I remember now

http://www.allgame.com/cg/agg.dll?p=agg&sql=1:14153

[Julio Riddols]

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.. Oh boy.. Oh shit..

Please give us old school tecmo with franchise mode. That is all.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

[MizzouRah]

If it's not on a system that I already own, it will be a system seller for me.

It's actually a perfect time to release a new Tecmo football game. Madden isn't doing anything innovative. 2K Sports doesn't have a franchise mode. Tecmo could heat up the competition in a hurry if they do things the right way.

I might have to concur here. My wife would kill me, but daym!

[Anthony]

with today's rosters, who would be the equivalent of Bo Jackson?

I say Vick or LT.

[Chubby]

with today's rosters, who would be the equivalent of Bo Jackson?

I say Vick or LT.


Vick = QB Eagles
Urlacher = LT
L Johnson = Bo (career wise most def, I don't put anyone on par with Bo in the physical running style)

[tanglewood]

Johnson = Okoye
LT = Bo
Harrison = Rice
Brady = Montana
Manning = Marino
Reed = Lott
Peppers = White

[Chubby]

Johnson = Okoye - this fits too
LT = Bo - don't have a problem with this, tho I would make LT = Thurman
Harrison = Rice - yup
Brady = Montana - you're on drugs
Manning = Marino - no way, QB Bills MAYBE
Reed = Lott - sure
Peppers = White - sure


See above.

[Passacaglia]

You Super Tecmo weirdos. Give me my 8 men and uninterceptable "Pass 3" with San Fran any day of the week.

[Julio Riddols]

Roger Craig had to be PISSED that he only had one play in the playbook..

[Izulde]

This is the single best news I've heard all week.

[JeeberD]

Oh hell yes. I may have to get a next gen console after all...

[Maple Leafs]

I think it will be hilarious when they released a full-fledged next generation 3D football game, and everyone just plays it in "classic" mode.

P.S. I would buy a system just to play Tecmo with updated rosters.

[Pyser]

um, doesnt ea own nfl players names exclusively?

[Pyser]

dola

so, bo=chargers rb

not as exciting, unless its hackable

[sooner333]

um, doesnt ea own nfl players names exclusively?

Yeah, but maybe Tecmo still has the rights to the rosters they bought in the respective years the games came out. I'm just speculating and could very well be wrong, but maybe they could just release a game with 1991 rosters once again. They did that for game boy when they released Tecmo Bowl in '91 with the '87 rosters.

[Big Fo]

"I can't tell you what platform we're making it for. But I can tell you that it's probably not going to be on the platform that you're expecting... if that makes any sense."


It doesn't make sense to me, what would be the platform that we are expecting?

[Logan]

I never got the obsession with that game - but good for them for cashing in on it.

Pretty simple actually. It was a fun game that didn't care about being realistic (not that running Bo back to the 1 and then having him go 99 yards for scores couldn't really happen), but also provided for full season play with stat tracking. That last part allowed for just enough "realism" where you could just have a blast playing through your season.

[MJ4H]

This and baseball stars were pretty much the best thing ever.

[JeeberD]

MJ4H just wrote the most perfect post evar.

[Rizon]

Vick = Jack Trudeau (but with speed)

[Kodos]

EA doesn't own former player names. Just current guys.

[Atocep]

Pretty simple actually. It was a fun game that didn't care about being realistic (not that running Bo back to the 1 and then having him go 99 yards for scores couldn't really happen), but also provided for full season play with stat tracking. That last part allowed for just enough "realism" where you could just have a blast playing through your season.

This is dead on.

It was the first game on the nintendo that used real players and had full season mode with stats. The fact that it was tecmo bowl and its focus was fun, not realism, meant the insane stats you'd see much more easy to swallow. The AI could be a challenge when you'd meet a good team that was amped up and it made for some incredibly tense games.

To this day, nothing I've played on a console has come close to being as fun as grabbing a friend and playing a season on Tecmo Super Bowl and trying to meet in the Super Bowl.

I'm very skeptical that the same format could work today. It does appear to be nothing more than trying to cash in on the Tecmo Bowl name.

[Shkspr]

"I can't tell you what platform we're making it for. But I can tell you that it's probably not going to be on the platform that you're expecting... if that makes any sense."


It doesn't make sense to me, what would be the platform that we are expecting?


They probably expect that we'll expect it to be a PS3 or 360 game, and so I expect they expect we won't expect a Wii version.

The only problem I expect is that if they expect us to expect that they expect we won't expect a Wii version, we might expect that...so they might expect we wouldn't expect them to expect us to expect that Wii edition...so maybe we should expect it for the PS3.

[Big Fo]

Yeah man, it boggles the mind as to what Tecmo meant with that statement. Watch it be a PSP game or something. Whatever platform they choose this could be the best thing ever or a gigantic letdown.

[wade moore]

I had to be mr. naysayer, but does anyone really think that a new Tecmo SB would really be that fun? There is tons of nostalgia going here that I'd be shocked if we actually like/approve of the game that comes out.

The whole Tecmo SB phenomenae is hilarious to me... We all complain about the minor problems that Madden has yet Tecmo was just so far from reality..

*shrug*.. this just screams of things like the new Excitebike, etc, etc... I just don't see it being a good game...

[Logan]

The whole Tecmo SB phenomenae is hilarious to me... We all complain about the minor problems that Madden has yet Tecmo was just so far from reality.

That's the point though...Tecmo didn't try to be real, Madden is. And it can surely be entertaining to play Madden now, but is it really "fun" like Tecmo was? Not in my opinion.

And there's plenty of arcade-type games like Blitz that people love because it's not real and it's just fun to play. Just like how there's plenty of people who will have a blast playing Madden because one guy and a buddy could have a 87-84 barnburner where Manning and McNabb throw for 9 touchdowns each.

[MJ4H]

It's sort of like the problem with "realistic" computer graphics and/or animation like in that Final Fantasy movie awhile back. When they try to make it super-realistic, we tend to notice the flaws more because they stand out so much from the actual real things we observe every day. Things start to just seem freaky or bizarre instead of realistic.

[Julio Riddols]

Tecmo was easy to pick up and get good at, but relatively hard to master. The controls weren't complex, and the game produced realistic stats in its own universe. Meaning, the CPU could rack up numbers damn near as good as a human could. Everything about it was fun, and it made no pretensions about being a "realistic" game.

The players were larger than life, the superstars really played like superstars, and the drama of the game was untouchable. You never felt out of a game late when you were pinned deep in your own territory, because you just knew that there was always that chance you could launch the ball 90 yards in the air and your receiver could win the (cut-screen for added effect) jump ball in the opposite end zone. That didn't feel like a fluke either. That was just how tecmo was.

If I could get a game with generic but editable rosters, franchise mode, and the same gameplay of that 1991 masterpiece of sports gaming history, I don't think anyone would know I existed anymore. I would get totally lost in the Tecmo universe.

[Logan]

The players were larger than life, the superstars really played like superstars, and the drama of the game was untouchable. You never felt out of a game late when you were pinned deep in your own territory, because you just knew that there was always that chance you could launch the ball 90 yards in the air and your receiver could win the (cut-screen for added effect) jump ball in the opposite end zone. That didn't feel like a fluke either. That was just how tecmo was.

This gave me wood.

[Maple Leafs]

It's sort of like the problem with "realistic" computer graphics and/or animation like in that Final Fantasy movie awhile back. When they try to make it super-realistic, we tend to notice the flaws more because they stand out so much from the actual real things we observe every day. Things start to just seem freaky or bizarre instead of realistic.
The "Uncanny Valley". Absolutely applies to Tecmo.

[wade moore]

That's the point though...Tecmo didn't try to be real, Madden is. And it can surely be entertaining to play Madden now, but is it really "fun" like Tecmo was? Not in my opinion.

And there's plenty of arcade-type games like Blitz that people love because it's not real and it's just fun to play. Just like how there's plenty of people who will have a blast playing Madden because one guy and a buddy could have a 87-84 barnburner where Manning and McNabb throw for 9 touchdowns each.

You help to prove my point. I mean, how popular was Blitz really? I just don't see how Tecmo can hope to reach more than the status that Blitz did...

[Logan]

You help to prove my point. I mean, how popular was Blitz really? I just don't see how Tecmo can hope to reach more than the status that Blitz did...

Blitz had a nice run from the arcade stage in the mid-90's all the way into the early 2000s. That's nothing to sneeze over.

You know how we always tell people like our resident EA Sports basher that Madden will never try to improve upon its game because 99% of the population (with the 1% being people on this board and other forums that discuss sports games) doesn't care, because they will keep buying it anyway?

Well here's a game that us hardcore football people would buy. And the arcade seekers would buy it too. Tecmo is a huge brand name, despite it not having been made for 15 years.

[Maple Leafs]

Honestly, I enjoyed the original Tecmo so much I'd probably spend $50 on a new one just on principle.

[wade moore]

Blitz had a nice run from the arcade stage in the mid-90's all the way into the early 2000s. That's nothing to sneeze over.

You know how we always tell people like our resident EA Sports basher that Madden will never try to improve upon its game because 99% of the population (with the 1% being people on this board and other forums that discuss sports games) doesn't care, because they will keep buying it anyway?

Well here's a game that us hardcore football people would buy. And the arcade seekers would buy it too. Tecmo is a huge brand name, despite it not having been made for 15 years.

I don't think that most hardcore football people would enjoy it - that's my exact point. Some might buy it out of nostalgia, but that is not for hardcore gamers.

[Logan]

I don't think that most hardcore football people would enjoy it - that's my exact point. Some might buy it out of nostalgia, but that is not for hardcore gamers.

No, you're still missing it. The "hardcore gamers" I noted, and you're describing, was in reference to the "1% being people on this board and other forums that discuss sports games," and not the "99% of the population" who don't care about realism because they're always buying Madden.

[stevew]

Ideally it will be a "party" type game and come out on the wii. Imagine some sort of interactive "tackle breaking" paper rock scissiors style head to head matchup every time one of the players is about to be tackled. The real fun of the original was in the limited play calling, and trying to outthink who you were playing.

[Maple Leafs]

That was the great thing about Tecmo. You could be at a party and some guy who had never seen the game in his life could pick it up, try it for one game, and be ready to have a competitive game with just about anybody. It was that simple.

Compare that to current EA games, where the learning curve is always so steep. I used to love the NHL games but I have no desire to play one today against someone who owns the game because I'll get destroyed. And don't even bother with Madden, I feel like I need to take a night school course for a few weeks just to understand what all the button combos do. Not fun anymore.

[wade moore]

No, you're still missing it. The "hardcore gamers" I noted, and you're describing, was in reference to the "1% being people on this board and other forums that discuss sports games," and not the "99% of the population" who don't care about realism because they're always buying Madden.

We'll see when it comes out, but I believe strongly that this will not be a commercial success and that most people on this board will bitch about it not meeting their expectations...

We can dredge up this thread when it comes out and I'll be more than happy to admit I'm wrong if I am.

[MJ4H]

Some of the best memories I have of gaming were the NHL 95 and NHL 96 leagues we had in our dorm. I distinctly remember scoring the game-winner late in the third period of game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals with the Flames against a friend of mine with the Red Wings, standing up and pointing at the screen and yelling THATS THE CUP and the place erupting in laughter and hollering. Even our Doom2 LAN parties couldnt touch that league.

[MrBug708]

Some of the best memories I have of gaming were the NHL 95 and NHL 96 leagues we had in our dorm. I distinctly remember scoring the game-winner late in the third period of game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals with the Flames against a friend of mine with the Red Wings, standing up and pointing at the screen and yelling THATS THE CUP and the place erupting in laughter and hollering. Even our Doom2 LAN parties couldnt touch that league.

NHL 95 was probably my favorite sports game for a console.

[stevew]

We'll see when it comes out, but I believe strongly that this will not be a commercial success and that most people on this board will bitch about it not meeting their expectations...

We can dredge up this thread when it comes out and I'll be more than happy to admit I'm wrong if I am.

Yeah, I pretty much think the same way.

I hope they make the effort to go out and sign guys like Barry Sanders and Bo Jackson to be in the game. Maybe this time we could actually have Randall Cunningham in the game as well.

[Maple Leafs]

Some of the best memories I have of gaming were the NHL 95 and NHL 96 leagues we had in our dorm. I distinctly remember scoring the game-winner late in the third period of game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals with the Flames against a friend of mine with the Red Wings, standing up and pointing at the screen and yelling THATS THE CUP and the place erupting in laughter and hollering. Even our Doom2 LAN parties couldnt touch that league.
We had pretty much the same deal with NHL95, except we actually had a draft. If you're thinking "I don't remember a draft feature in NHL95", there wasn't one. You had to actually recreate the roster via trades. And to drive home how pathetic we were, we even did the trades in such a way that nobody had their numbers screwed up.

Then we made a schedule and played 20 game seasons, complete with trades. I remember finalizing a Federov for Hull deal by sliding a handwritten note under a guy's door as he was, um, "with" his girlfriend.

I won all five seasons... I don't know what colr my wife's eyes are but I could tell you who most of the players on squad were.

[sterlingice]

We'll see when it comes out, but I believe strongly that this will not be a commercial success and that most people on this board will bitch about it not meeting their expectations...

We can dredge up this thread when it comes out and I'll be more than happy to admit I'm wrong if I am.

And I'm guessing it will be for the smallest things, too. You just can't go home again as the cliche goes. People are going to bitch that it just doesn't feel right or that it has 10 play choices instead of 8 or that they took away X or Y. They can either try to improve it and tick people off that way or make it identical to the original with modern players and a mediocre franchise mode and then the complaints will be that there's nothing new about it.

SI

[bulletsponge]

I won all five seasons... I don't know what colr my wife's eyes are but I could tell you who most of the players on squad were.

theyre Brown. next time look into her eyes when your banging her

[MizzouRah]

At least you didn't have to "finish" the game for developer with 50 sliders.

[wade moore]

And I'm guessing it will be for the smallest things, too. You just can't go home again as the cliche goes. People are going to bitch that it just doesn't feel right or that it has 10 play choices instead of 8 or that they took away X or Y. They can either try to improve it and tick people off that way or make it identical to the original with modern players and a mediocre franchise mode and then the complaints will be that there's nothing new about it.

SI

My thoughts exactly.

[Logan]

We'll see when it comes out, but I believe strongly that this will not be a commercial success and that most people on this board will bitch about it not meeting their expectations...

We can dredge up this thread when it comes out and I'll be more than happy to admit I'm wrong if I am.

Well it can easily miss. All it has to do is go the way of All Pro in the "we're different from Madden, but we're doing it half-assed."

[wade moore]

Well it can easily miss. All it has to do is go the way of All Pro in the "we're different from Madden, but we're doing it half-assed."

This is essentially what I'm saying.. this analysis is basically guaranteed no matter what the game looks like.

[stevew]

I think they expect that everyone would think it would be a Wii game, which means that it's probably going to be a X360 game. I wonder if this new release announcement is tied into the VC release of Tecmo Bowl last month. Which must have had strong sales.

[Eaglesfan27]

I think they expect that everyone would think it would be a Wii game, which means that it's probably going to be a X360 game. I wonder if this new release announcement is tied into the VC release of Tecmo Bowl last month. Which must have had strong sales.


That is my guess as well. I suspect it will be a 360/PS3 game which would be unexpected.

[MizzouRah]

I still think handheld... but a 360 verison would be interesting to say the least.

[Maple Leafs]

Anyone remember the PlayStation version of Tecmo?

[stevew]

Anyone remember the PlayStation version of Tecmo?

Yeah, I bought it used, and wish I wouldn't have lost it. It may not have been as memorable as the snes/genesis version, but it was still tecmo, and still played basically the same.

[nilodor]

A teaser trailer has been posted

hxxp://www.kotaku.com/gaming/still-no-bo%3F/teasin-for-tecmo-bowl-260444.php

Love the music

[MizzouRah]

A teaser trailer has been posted

hxxp://www.kotaku.com/gaming/still-no-bo%3F/teasin-for-tecmo-bowl-260444.php

Love the music

Awesome!

[TroyF]

At least you didn't have to "finish" the game for developer with 50 sliders.


Not really fair on this one. The glory days of EA were made by fun games. It was still at the stage whre we really didn't give a flip about realism in anyway. I remember winning some games in NHL '95 by scores of 14-2. I always had at least one guy in the penalty box and it never really mattered because of how you could pound people. Same thing with the Madden games. You could watch QB #12 run around for 45 minutes.

The slider tweaks we make to the games today are rarely designed with the idea of making a game more "fun." They are designed to make the game more realistic. If you go back to that point in time when you were 12 and you didn't care if Jeremy Roenick scored 220 goals in a season, you'll find a majority of the current games don't require a slider tweak.

Sliders are a good thing for the people who want them. The people who don't rarely need to use them anyway.

[albionmoonlight]

http://www.tecmo-bowl.com/

[Kodos]

That's just sad.

[Big Fo]

On gametrailers.com they had the game coming out on 360, PS3, and Wii but that's probably wrong considering what was said at the beginning of the thread.

I still don't see how they are going to update the game while retaining the charm of yesteryear yet I can't help but be excited about it.

[Hurst2112]

Anyone remember the PlayStation version of Tecmo?

I still have it. I was so damn excited to play it when it came out. Got home, turned it on and realized you could make free trades, essentially making a super team. The allure of the whole FA system and trade scheme was gone.

I may turn it on again, for old times sake.

Actually, now that I think about it, My copy of NHL Open Ice is in the same case.

Now THERE was a fun 2 player game!

[KWhit]

http://www.tecmo-bowl.com/

I am also available for tap dance and comedy shows.

[MizzouRah]

Not really fair on this one. The glory days of EA were made by fun games. It was still at the stage whre we really didn't give a flip about realism in anyway. I remember winning some games in NHL '95 by scores of 14-2. I always had at least one guy in the penalty box and it never really mattered because of how you could pound people. Same thing with the Madden games. You could watch QB #12 run around for 45 minutes.

The slider tweaks we make to the games today are rarely designed with the idea of making a game more "fun." They are designed to make the game more realistic. If you go back to that point in time when you were 12 and you didn't care if Jeremy Roenick scored 220 goals in a season, you'll find a majority of the current games don't require a slider tweak.

Sliders are a good thing for the people who want them. The people who don't rarely need to use them anyway.

I disagree and The Show is a perfect example for me. Veteran is too easy, and all star pitching is too hard (for me). Now, tweaking sliders is what comes next, and that I hate.

[TroyF]

I disagree and The Show is a perfect example for me. Veteran is too easy, and all star pitching is too hard (for me). Now, tweaking sliders is what comes next, and that I hate.

That's just it Mizzou, are you tellling me NHL '95 wasn't to easy?

I could take any team in NHL and win repeatedly with them. There was no challenge at all. The thing was, it didn't matter to me. Trying to get a realistic score of 3-2 wasn't relevant to what I was trying to do.

If you raised the difficulty level, the game would just cheat to make it more equal. (I'm sure we can all remember Barry Sanders running out of gas about 20 yards into the open field if you had Madden on one of the top two difficulty levels.

So, again, in the good old days of these types of games, you'd have scored 220 goals with Roenick in a season (I keep saying that because that was my record with him on all star level), went 78-4 and not have thought something was off for a second. Now? You score that many goals with a player, you are pissed. So you raise the difficulty level. The game, like all games, cheats to make it harder for you to win, which makes the game seem to easy or to difficult.

To overcome that, the games now allow you to tweak some sliders. If you are pitching terrific, but you are hitting average. . . you tweak the pitching sliders to make things more difficult.

Yeah, it may take a few minutes to do it, but it'll get worked out in the end if it's that important to you. Were I 12, I'd just keep winning baseball games 16-5 and be ok with it. Now I want more realism and it forces me to tweak some sliders for an experience that's a little more realistic. (High Heat was terrific with the tune file)

I personally wouldn't want to go back to the days without sliders. I understand why you feel the way you do and if somehow you were able to create any realism at all solo with NHL '95, then you were a better man than I. :)

[cthomer5000]

http://www.tecmo-bowl.com/

I'm taking this challenge. Emailing the guy now.

edit: email sent

[Kodos]

I'm taking this challenge. Emailing the guy now.

edit: email sent


Go Get 'Em, CT! Take him down in the name of FOFC! Too bad it doesn't have David Conti...

[cthomer5000]

Go Get 'Em, CT! Take him down in the name of FOFC! Too bad it doesn't have David Conti...

Maybe I can talk him into palying me on my ROM IHOF version. Conti and 1 WR versus a whole team. :)

[MizzouRah]

That's just it Mizzou, are you tellling me NHL '95 wasn't to easy?

I could take any team in NHL and win repeatedly with them. There was no challenge at all. The thing was, it didn't matter to me. Trying to get a realistic score of 3-2 wasn't relevant to what I was trying to do.

If you raised the difficulty level, the game would just cheat to make it more equal. (I'm sure we can all remember Barry Sanders running out of gas about 20 yards into the open field if you had Madden on one of the top two difficulty levels.

So, again, in the good old days of these types of games, you'd have scored 220 goals with Roenick in a season (I keep saying that because that was my record with him on all star level), went 78-4 and not have thought something was off for a second. Now? You score that many goals with a player, you are pissed. So you raise the difficulty level. The game, like all games, cheats to make it harder for you to win, which makes the game seem to easy or to difficult.

To overcome that, the games now allow you to tweak some sliders. If you are pitching terrific, but you are hitting average. . . you tweak the pitching sliders to make things more difficult.

Yeah, it may take a few minutes to do it, but it'll get worked out in the end if it's that important to you. Were I 12, I'd just keep winning baseball games 16-5 and be ok with it. Now I want more realism and it forces me to tweak some sliders for an experience that's a little more realistic. (High Heat was terrific with the tune file)

I personally wouldn't want to go back to the days without sliders. I understand why you feel the way you do and if somehow you were able to create any realism at all solo with NHL '95, then you were a better man than I. :)

It was, but I didn't care. :)

I always wonder, "what slider tweak do I need" when playing games now, and I hate that. ;)

[mrsimperless]

FYI, the Wii VC version of tecmo no longer has the real players. I learned this the hard way.

[Julio Riddols]

... And here I thought someone had new info or screens from the game in progress or something.

Damn.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm wondering how the new game will be able to have real players.. will it be as fun without real players?

[Big Fo]

FYI, the Wii VC version of tecmo no longer has the real players. I learned this the hard way.

Tecmo Bowl <<<<<<<<<<<<< Tecmo Super Bowl anyhow. You can change your plays, all the teams from the time, stat tracking, everything was much improved. It's a shame the licenses don't carry over on these virtual console games, having stuff like RBI Baseball or NBA Jam: Tournament Edition would be sweet.

And yeah hopefully the new Tecmo Bowl has an editor and the ability to use other people's created rosters.

[MizzouRah]

I'm wondering how the new game will be able to have real players.. will it be as fun without real players?

Could they do legends? Maybe Tecmo Super Bowl, "The Legends"? Bring back Bo Jackson baby!!!

[wade moore]

I'm wondering how the new game will be able to have real players.. will it be as fun without real players?I think they could get away with it the same way that Solecismic does and Fantasy sites do - they just couldn't have real team names.

[Eaglesfan27]

I think they could get away with it the same way that Solecismic does and Fantasy sites do - they just couldn't have real team names.

But Tecmo Bowl has graphical representations of the players, I thought that was a defining difference?

[stevew]

Could they do legends? Maybe Tecmo Super Bowl, "The Legends"? Bring back Bo Jackson baby!!!

sign me up for that.

[RainMaker]

You help to prove my point. I mean, how popular was Blitz really? I just don't see how Tecmo can hope to reach more than the status that Blitz did...

I think it's a nostalgia thing. It was really the first football game we really poured our heart into. It was the first football game to make a season mode, keep track of stats, and use an NFL license properly.

The game was never about realism, it was about fun. I don't think you can compare the arcade style gameplay of a game like Blitz to that of Tecmo Bowl. Games like NFL Blitz and NFL Street try too hard to be "arcadey". It's a bunch of 30 year old computer geeks trying to determine what is "cool". While the games can be fun to an extent, you just get that feeling like they tried too hard to make it that way. Tecmo Bowl never had that feel. It was just a fun football game that just so happened to not be that realistic. They didn't go out of their way to try and fill a niche, they just built a football game. There were no corporate gimmicks or marketing schemes behind it.

I would love to see a fully customizable Tecmo Bowl that uses something similar to the 2Kshare. Fuck the NFL license, Tecmo has some diehard fans who would build rosters, logos, etc. If they choose to go the name route, I'd love to see them pickup the old timers like APF did. I think it would work in Tecmo, not like it did in APF. I'd make each team an all-time team. Either way, I don't think you need the current rosters at all to make it a fun game.

[wade moore]

I think it's a nostalgia thing. It was really the first football game we really poured our heart into. It was the first football game to make a season mode, keep track of stats, and use an NFL license properly.

The game was never about realism, it was about fun. I don't think you can compare the arcade style gameplay of a game like Blitz to that of Tecmo Bowl. Games like NFL Blitz and NFL Street try too hard to be "arcadey". It's a bunch of 30 year old computer geeks trying to determine what is "cool". While the games can be fun to an extent, you just get that feeling like they tried too hard to make it that way. Tecmo Bowl never had that feel. It was just a fun football game that just so happened to not be that realistic. They didn't go out of their way to try and fill a niche, they just built a football game. There were no corporate gimmicks or marketing schemes behind it.

I would love to see a fully customizable Tecmo Bowl that uses something similar to the 2Kshare. Fuck the NFL license, Tecmo has some diehard fans who would build rosters, logos, etc. If they choose to go the name route, I'd love to see them pickup the old timers like APF did. I think it would work in Tecmo, not like it did in APF. I'd make each team an all-time team. Either way, I don't think you need the current rosters at all to make it a fun game.

Come on now. They "tried" for realism as best they could. They technology just wasn't there at the time. Don't fool yourself into thinking being unrealistic was intentional, they just did the best they could at the time. You're again letting nostalgia get in the way of the realistic current state of the market.

[lordscarlet]

I think it's a nostalgia thing. It was really the first football game we really poured our heart into. It was the first football game to make a season mode, keep track of stats, and use an NFL license properly.

The game was never about realism, it was about fun. I don't think you can compare the arcade style gameplay of a game like Blitz to that of Tecmo Bowl. Games like NFL Blitz and NFL Street try too hard to be "arcadey". It's a bunch of 30 year old computer geeks trying to determine what is "cool". While the games can be fun to an extent, you just get that feeling like they tried too hard to make it that way. Tecmo Bowl never had that feel. It was just a fun football game that just so happened to not be that realistic. They didn't go out of their way to try and fill a niche, they just built a football game. There were no corporate gimmicks or marketing schemes behind it.

I would love to see a fully customizable Tecmo Bowl that uses something similar to the 2Kshare. Fuck the NFL license, Tecmo has some diehard fans who would build rosters, logos, etc. If they choose to go the name route, I'd love to see them pickup the old timers like APF did. I think it would work in Tecmo, not like it did in APF. I'd make each team an all-time team. Either way, I don't think you need the current rosters at all to make it a fun game.

I think nostalgia will only take it so far. Sure "we" loved it. But most game players these days have never touched Tecmo Bowl.

[cuervo72]

Why bother with things like porting games to the Wii? Same player set there, I'd imagine. Why have oldies stations (and on that, I saw a story on vinyl picking back up)? Dammit, we oldsters have money and we want to spend it!

[lordscarlet]

I can't imagine that ported games have near the sales of their modern counterparts, but I'm not a gaming guy like everyone else here. I could be completely wrong.

[Eaglesfan27]

I can't imagine that ported games have near the sales of their modern counterparts, but I'm not a gaming guy like everyone else here. I could be completely wrong.

I'm almost positive they don't either. However, I imagine the "development" costs are a fraction of the amount of a new game. Although, I think this Tecmo version will be a new version and not just a port of the old game, or at least I hope so.

[CU Tiger]

You know this thread led me to dig up some tecmo super bowl on an Emulator and waste an entire night.
Half way through I realised something.
I realised what I misssed from every game I have played in the last 10 years. Simply put "fun". If a game is fun to play, I dont care how many bells and whistles it has. I dont care how many things I can unlock (You dont have to hook me into hours of play to be subjected to hidden advertisements, if its fun Ill play hours on my own) and I really dont care how realistic or slick it looks or how great the sound score is.

I find it amazing that in ~ 1992? I had a controller with a 4way direction pad and 2 buttons (if I needed a trick move I could push both A&B together) yet I felt totally in control of my character, and felt like I fully determined my success or failure, yet my utter destruction of the AI wasnt a given. Sure I had plenty off 17-0s in STB but I also had tense moments along the way and occaisonally dropped 1 or 2 I thougt Id win.

Today I have 3D image representation, millions spent on human modeling and a controller that literally has buttons I cant even find when looking down, and its just OK. I guess I am just getting old, but damn Tecmo Bowl sure was fun, as was Super Tecmo Bowl, Baseball Stars, RBI Baseball and Double Dribble. And none of them had human movement modeling and I damn sure didnt have to hold down Z, while tapping B repeatedly and spinning the left joystick counter clockwise 3 times, then clockwise once to execute a spin move.

All a game needs is fun and control, give a gamer those 2 things and they will play for hours. Theen embed all thee ads you want and the advertisers will dump cash in your wallet.

[Izulde]

What would be cool is for Tecmo Super Bowl to be ported directly to the DS and/or PSP.

[RainMaker]

Come on now. They "tried" for realism as best they could. They technology just wasn't there at the time. Don't fool yourself into thinking being unrealistic was intentional, they just did the best they could at the time. You're again letting nostalgia get in the way of the realistic current state of the market.

I think they did their best to make a football game that was fun. I don't think they went out of their way to make it a sim nor an arcade game. Just a football game. Nothing was overdone in the game, no broken "features" we see in other games.

And of course the current market is well advanced in many areas like graphics and animation. But AI hasn't improved too much from those days. We still have the same chase AI Tecmo had:

Tecmo Super Bowl - http://youtube.com/watch?v=hAAgfY_NHzw
Madden 94 - http://youtube.com/watch?v=-t6MViskz14
Madden 08 - http://youtube.com/watch?v=4-OSxfxbsws

That's 20 years with zero advancement in one of the most important aspects of a football game. We still have the same suction blocking, lack of player momentum, and tackling scheme. Heck, some of the late game AI and coaching decisions in Tecmo Super Bowl is better than what I've seen in Madden (which isn't saying much).

So the "realistic current state" of football games is some prettier graphics and new animations. Tecmo Super Bowl was ahead of its time and the current games are years behind their time. We've had little to no innovation in the football gaming industry when it comes to AI and gameplay.

Tecmo Super Bowl was a fun game, it still is. Sure nostalgia plays a role in excitement over the game. But also disappointment in the current state of football games does too. If Madden was innovative and fun to play, no one would give a crap about Tecmo. Since Madden blows, we're all grasping at straws to find a football game that is fun to play again.

[stevew]

What would be cool is for Tecmo Super Bowl to be ported directly to the DS and/or PSP.

Yeah, especially with h2h online play.

[Big Fo]

You know this thread led me to dig up some tecmo super bowl on an Emulator and waste an entire night.
Half way through I realised something.
I realised what I misssed from every game I have played in the last 10 years. Simply put "fun". If a game is fun to play, I dont care how many bells and whistles it has. I dont care how many things I can unlock (You dont have to hook me into hours of play to be subjected to hidden advertisements, if its fun Ill play hours on my own) and I really dont care how realistic or slick it looks or how great the sound score is.

I find it amazing that in ~ 1992? I had a controller with a 4way direction pad and 2 buttons (if I needed a trick move I could push both A&B together) yet I felt totally in control of my character, and felt like I fully determined my success or failure, yet my utter destruction of the AI wasnt a given. Sure I had plenty off 17-0s in STB but I also had tense moments along the way and occaisonally dropped 1 or 2 I thougt Id win.

Today I have 3D image representation, millions spent on human modeling and a controller that literally has buttons I cant even find when looking down, and its just OK. I guess I am just getting old, but damn Tecmo Bowl sure was fun, as was Super Tecmo Bowl, Baseball Stars, RBI Baseball and Double Dribble. And none of them had human movement modeling and I damn sure didnt have to hold down Z, while tapping B repeatedly and spinning the left joystick counter clockwise 3 times, then clockwise once to execute a spin move.

All a game needs is fun and control, give a gamer those 2 things and they will play for hours. Theen embed all thee ads you want and the advertisers will dump cash in your wallet.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2007/20070608.jpg

[mrsimperless]

We tried to run a tecmo league here once. I actually put quite a bit of time into it. We had a website with an automated player draft and a ROM with our customized teams. We finished the draft, but I don't think we even played one game. Twas a shame.

Horns was the Cowboys and he had a killer secondary. I had Randall Cunningham. That's about all I remember.

[Maple Leafs]

http://www.gamefocus.ca/?nav=new&nid=731

Customizable Teams: Choose team colors, emblems, player names, team cities and abilities.

· Super Abilities: Tactically use over-the-top plays to take over a game.

· Wi-Fi and Wireless Multiplayer: Play against friends across the country or across the room.

· Stylus Control: Feel the action by using the stylus to control your player.

· Variety of Teams: Choose from 32 different teams.

· Cut-Scenes: All-new cut-scenes showing off the dramatic presentation of various plays.

· Customizable Playbook: Prepare for gridiron greatness by customizing your playbook.

· Music and Sound Effects: Turn up the heat on your opponent as you play the game to rock ‘n’ roll remixes of the most memorable tunes in football gaming history!

Not sure how I feel about this...

[Dr. Sak]

Are you pimping Mrs Leafs' stuff again?

[Kodos]

We tried to run a tecmo league here once. I actually put quite a bit of time into it. We had a website with an automated player draft and a ROM with our customized teams. We finished the draft, but I don't think we even played one game. Twas a shame.


When will people learn? ONLINE LEAGUES DON'T EVER WORK BECAUSE PEOPLE SUCK!

[Celeval]

*sigh*

Nintendo DS. Oh well.

[MJ4H]

ownz

[Eaglesfan27]

*sigh*

Nintendo DS. Oh well.

Disappointing this won't be on the Wii.

[QuikSand]

· Stylus Control: Feel the action by using the stylus to control your player.

I know I'm not exactly the target audience... but honestly? Is this a good idea? It sounds terrible to me.

[Kodos]

What about if the stylus vibrates when you're getting tackled?

[Bee]

What about if the stylus vibrates when you're getting tackled?

Hell, my stylus vibrated when I heard they were making a Tecmo Bowl 2008.

[MikeVic]

Hell, my stylus vibrated when I heard they were making a Tecmo Bowl 2008.

Hahahahaha. :D

[KWhit]

This sounds horrible.

[Maple Leafs]

Are you pimping Mrs Leafs' stuff again?
Should you be on AIM, hitting on her like usual?

[DanGarion]

Today I have 3D image representation, millions spent on human modeling and a controller that literally has buttons I cant even find when looking down, and its just OK. I guess I am just getting old, but damn Tecmo Bowl sure was fun, as was Super Tecmo Bowl, Baseball Stars, RBI Baseball and Double Dribble. And none of them had human movement modeling and I damn sure didnt have to hold down Z, while tapping B repeatedly and spinning the left joystick counter clockwise 3 times, then clockwise once to execute a spin move.

Quoted for truth! This is what bugs me about most the sports games nowadays. Let's also add World Series Baseball to this list.

[Big Fo]

The Wii version is still being made, but the DS one will come out first.

With the Wii version of Rygar pushed back until 2009, the next retro revival we'll see from Tecmo will be Tecmo Bowl. The antiquated pigskin sim will be coming back twice, on both the Nintendo DS and, eventually the Wii.

In speaking with Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff Executive Producer Keisuke Kikcuhi, we learn that he wasn't very happy with the last Tecmo Bowl developed for PS1 back in 1996. "On PS1, we simply remade the 2D game with 3D graphics to try and keep in step with Madden. For the Wii version, we're designing the game for the third dimension from the ground up but plan to keep the classic Tecmo Bowl playability intact." While supervised from Tecmo's Tokyo headquarters, the Wii version of Tecmo Bowl will be developed in America because, as Kikchu puts it, "Football is an American game, so it makes sense for a title of this type to be developed in the country of its origin." Expect the DS version to update classic Tecmo Bowl formula with Wi-Fi play, stylus control and a wealth of Tecmo-themed fan service.

Why revive the series now?
Kikuchi admits, "For business reasons and timing reasons, it's a good time to support Nintendo. We've always talked about bringing the series, and is the right place and time for it. I recently played the DS version of Madden and was discouraged at how complex it was to control on a such simple system. I figured make something much more playable, so now seems ideal for a comeback."

With the Wii game being 3D I'd like to see the game try using the IR pointer for aiming passes, it worked great for PES 2008.

If the stylus controls work then the DS game could be really good with WiFi and that level of customization. Of course that's a pretty big if...

[stevew]

sweet, good thing I didn't get rid of the old style fat DS when I got my daughter the DSLite.

[Eaglesfan27]

The Wii version is still being made, but the DS one will come out first.



With the Wii game being 3D I'd like to see the game try using the IR pointer for aiming passes, it worked great for PES 2008.

If the stylus controls work then the DS game could be really good with WiFi and that level of customization. Of course that's a pretty big if...

Cool. Thanks for that news.

[MrDNA]

Tecmo Bowl + Wii = Instant Buy, No Matter How Crappy.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Maybe I am just too old school, but all I want is the exact same gameplay with more plays to choose from, but still an 8 play playbook and the major addition of career play and draft.

I know it still wouldnt be realistic, but thats all I would need for the most fun football game on the console ever.

[QuikSand]

Maybe I am just too old school, but all I want is the exact same gameplay with more plays to choose from, but still an 8 play playbook and the major addition of career play and draft.

I know it still wouldnt be realistic, but thats all I would need for the most fun football game on the console ever.

I would be *completely* behind this. I might add a tiny tweak here or there (like nerfing the DT pass rush) but this would be an all-time favorite for me, too.

[Maple Leafs]

Maybe I am just too old school, but all I want is the exact same gameplay with more plays to choose from, but still an 8 play playbook and the major addition of career play and draft.

I know it still wouldnt be realistic, but thats all I would need for the most fun football game on the console ever.
I've said it before -- if they had added career mode and just released updated rosters each year, I would have gladly paid $50 a year for the game. So would most of my friends. They missed out on a goldmine.

[Julio Riddols]

Couldn't someone with a little skill program their own Tecmo with career mode?

It doesn't seem like a complicated game by todays standards.

[Julio Riddols]

in fact, if that was how FOF eventually represented its plays graphically..

[Maple Leafs]

Don't think it needs its own thread, but apparently RBI Baseball is coming to the Xbox in some format...
http://www.gamefocus.ca/?nav=new&nid=1019

[Passacaglia]

Maybe I am just too old school, but all I want is the exact same gameplay with more plays to choose from, but still an 8 play playbook and the major addition of career play and draft.

I know it still wouldnt be realistic, but thats all I would need for the most fun football game on the console ever.

8 is too many. 4 plays 4 life!

Anyway, adding career play should be no problem, right? Just tack on a free agency draft between seasons, and wala. Should take 2-3 years.

[QuikSand]

Inspired by this thread, a while back I found a ROM for Tecmo Super Bowl that had been hacked to have 32 teams, with 2007 rosters and schedule. Playing the season with the Dolphins, who essentially have nobody at quarterback, proved to be a great challenge.

[Maple Leafs]

Inspired by this thread, a while back I found a ROM for Tecmo Super Bowl that had been hacked to have 32 teams, with 2007 rosters and schedule. Playing the season with the Dolphins, who essentially have nobody at quarterback, proved to be a great challenge.
The 2007 Dolphins? You're taking this empty cupboard thing too far.

[QuikSand]

The 2007 Dolphins? You're taking this empty cupboard thing too far.

It is remarkably close to everything I have ever wanted in a roster challenge. When Ronnie Brown got hurt, it was like nirvana.

[QuikSand]

Oh, and my second try has been with the 2007 Falcons, playing with a house rule of no rushing yards, ever. Byron Leftwich or Joey Harrington, choose your weapon.

[Maple Leafs]

Oh, and my second try has been with the 2007 Falcons, playing with a house rule of no rushing yards, ever. Byron Leftwich or Joey Harrington, choose your weapon.
I wonder what other Tecmo challenges you could come up with.

How about this one: all offensive touchdowns must be on 99-yard plays.

(Might be too easy with Tecmo Bo.)

[Passacaglia]

Do you have a link to this ROM?

[QuikSand]

I'm about 90% sure it's the one from this site:

http://www.knobbe.org/mx/viewforum.php?f=62

[MacroGuru]

https://www.phatrags-secure.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/7158d2749bf1a3da1113069ccecad050.gif

We all need this shirt....

And for Shorty: hxxp://www.phatrags.com

It's where I found it, and a few others I am thinking of ordering.

[korme]

How could anyone dare buy that t-shirt if you don't link it? :)

Because I'm going to.

[Maple Leafs]

By the way, the 2007 Tecmo version linked above is worth getting even if you don't want to play. Screen grabs of Tecmo TD celebrations with "Touchdown Tomlinson" or whatever on them are perfect for fantasy football trashtalk.

[MacroGuru]

How could anyone dare buy that t-shirt if you don't link it? :)

Because I'm going to.

Made the edit just for you.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Screen shots of DS version of the game are now up............

http://www.gamepro.com/screen_gallery.cfm?globalId=142007

[Maple Leafs]

Looks pretty true to the original version, actually.

[sterlingice]

Screen shots of DS version of the game are now up............

http://www.gamepro.com/screen_gallery.cfm?globalId=142007

Looks good so far

SI

[Big Fo]

Yeah the graphics are quite a bit better than the SNES/Genesis games which is all you can hope for with the DS.

I also like how they are putting the dramatic cut-scenes on the top screen and using that for a scoreboard otherwise, while seemingly keeping the bottom screen focused on the field.

The only negative is that I recognize all those plays from the older games, hopefully they include a fair amount of new ones.

Anyway the combination of classic 2D Tecmo Bowl, player/team editors, and Wi-Fi play make this a must have.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Bump... comes out today

some reviews are in...
http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ds/tecmobowlkickoff

I am going to try to get it today, would love to hear what other people think of it.

[Maple Leafs]

So seriously, why don't they just realease the original on Xbox live or PS3 or whatever... even without player names? Just let people download it for $10 and play online games against their buddies.

How hard could that be? Do they just hate money?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

So seriously, why don't they just realease the original on Xbox live or PS3 or whatever... even without player names? Just let people download it for $10 and play online games against their buddies.

How hard could that be? Do they just hate money?

Pretty sure the 1st version is already available for download on the Wii.

[stevew]

That's tecmo Bowl. We want Tecmo Super Bowl.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

That's tecmo Bowl. We want Tecmo Super Bowl.

Ahhh, that would be nice. He said the 'original', which I interpreted as the true original.

[Big Fo]

Weak. Best Buy doesn't seem to have the game yet and I'm not exactly spoiled for choice in terms of video game store selection.

I might have to order it online.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Weak. Best Buy doesn't seem to have the game yet and I'm not exactly spoiled for choice in terms of video game store selection.

I might have to order it online.

Today is the shipping date, is it not? I don't think you'll see the game on the shelves until late today or sometime tomorrow.

[General Mike]

Games/Movies/ Music always come out on Tuesdays. The fact that Gamestop hasnt called me yet is bullshit.

[BYU 14]

Anybody picked this up yet?

[sterlingice]

For "Cyber Monday", Tecmo Bowl Kickoff for the DS is $9.95:
Amazon.com: Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff: Video Games (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00198PO6W/ref=nosim/cheapassgam08-20)

SI

[Big Fo]

It's not a bad game but some things about this version piss me off:

- You can edit any player, even after season mode has started, but even before the season you are limited in the number of points to distribute which prevents me from recreating NFL rosters.

- QBs do not lead receivers on their throws, ever. Once you hit B the ball goes to where the receiver is and the receiver stands still. It makes those famous 80 yard throws hard to pull off unless you scramble like crazy in the backfield.

- You only see your players stats if they are in the top 25 in the league in a certain category, no checking every player's individual stats.

- There are no new plays, the playbooks are the same as they were on NES Tecmo Super Bowl.

- The AI is bad and doesn't offer much challenge at all to anyone who is a veteran of the series. Perhaps the difficulty ramps up significantly late in the year/in the playoffs like in NES TSB/the first SNES version.

Not to be all negative, here's the good:

- As said, there's a lot of customization possible even with the points limit and you can do so even once a season has begun.

- You can play five seasons in a "career" so the points you get after a year or two might be enough to recreate NFL rosters more realistically with the players being fast/strong/skilled enough.

- The nose tackle dive exploit has been removed.

- Low quality 2D celebrations and field goal close ups still retain a certain charm.

- Aside from the lack of lead passes the actual gameplay is still Tecmo football and if you liked it before you'll still find it fun today.

It's definitely worth $10 especially considering that sports games are the one hole in the Nintendo DS's otherwise excellent library. If anyone else on here gets the game let's play online sometime...