new 2k fooball game?

[mercalnd]

Quote: Originally Posted by DIEHARD STEELERS #1

man can I ask you one question? why is midway putting out a generic blitz football game then. Think about this what if midway hires 2k programmers and copies 2k football game play? cuzz ya know $ talks

I can't see Midway taking that route. Blitz is not quite a generic football game inthe sense that 2K fans want to see. IMO, Blitz did reasonnably well because of the whole "dirty" story line and over the top premise, much more so than the actual football. Take that away and produce a straight up football game with no gimmick story, over the top antics and you lose a large part of your sales. As you said yourself: $ talks.

[DIEHARD STEELERS #1]

Quote: Originally Posted by spectralfan

I can't see Midway taking that route. Blitz is not quite a generic football game inthe sense that 2K fans want to see. IMO, Blitz did reasonnably well because of the whole "dirty" story line and over the top premise, much more so than the actual football. Take that away and produce a straight up football game with no gimmick story, over the top antics and you lose a large part of your sales. As you said yourself: $ talks.

I c where your comin from but what if 2k dont care? what if 2ks back there plottin like " we got somethin 4 there A**" . We can only hope.

[VCdolphin]

Agreed that a football game without an NFL license is going to be limited in appeal. Blitz worked because the hook was over-the-top drug use, violence, and language.

However, let's say there are 5 million football gamers out there (conservative number) but even if you say that only 10% are hardcore football gamers? That gives you 500,000 buyers for a generic/custom game.

Most developers would be very happy to release a game and sell half a million copies. The exceptions are games like Halo or Final Fantasy or Madden that regularly sell multi-millions of copies.

Development costs, advertising, and license fees have to be pretty high to make 500,000 sales not enough to turn some profit.

VC/2K Sports would save on the NFL license, advertising could be things like online viral campaigns and some magazine ads. The target audience they want would already be well aware of them making a generic game anyway.

Development costs? Certainly higher to do next-gen games, but even a small football development team could get pointers from how the NBA guys are using the 360 and PS3 hardware. It's not like they have to do trial-and-error on the hardware without some help. That will save time and money.

Finally, with $60 or higher game prices? Selling a generic game at $30 is a bargain. At least hold that price for the first two months, then drop it to $20 and leave it there.

[VCdolphin]

A message so nice, I said it twice...

[backbreaker]

This is what I've learned in my years at OperationSports. It is a great place for ideas, to banter around, but its a horrible place for those who think outside of the box who would like to implement those ideas. Most of the guys here are rudimentary, and mundane in being creative, they are stuck in being traditional. I understand the status quo, its safe, and I have a problem with that, especially in a field interactive entertainment and or movies.

Imagination, is the last frontier and videogames as we know will die. Sports games no thanks to EA, suffers from a reduced cycle of mediore games, with limited features. I'm so glad that MIDWAY step outside of the box and was allowed to dream and make that dream a reality. All this talk about what will work and what will not work is premature, especially in the videogame world. The internet is the equalizer, especially if the content is authentic and enjoyable.

TT/VC, if you decide to take on this endeavor, please do not use OS as a barometer. The guys here are too conservative, just remember most thought Blitz the league would not make any strides. I know you get a lot of feed back from this site and they are pretty much on point for "traditional" thought but this is outside of the box and unfortunately most of them are too safe.

[aholbert32]

Quote: Originally Posted by VCdolphin

Agreed that a football game without an NFL license is going to be limited in appeal. Blitz worked because the hook was over-the-top drug use, violence, and language. However, let's say there are 5 million football gamers out there (conservative number) but even if you say that only 10% are hardcore football gamers? That gives you 500,000 buyers for a generic/custom game. Most developers would be very happy to release a game and sell half a million copies. The exceptions are games like Halo or Final Fantasy or Madden that regularly sell multi-millions of copies. Development costs, advertising, and license fees have to be pretty high to make 500,000 sales not enough to turn some profit. VC/2K Sports would save on the NFL license, advertising could be things like online viral campaigns and some magazine ads. The target audience they want would already be well aware of them making a generic game anyway. Development costs? Certainly higher to do next-gen games, but even a small football development team could get pointers from how the NBA guys are using the 360 and PS3 hardware. It's not like they have to do trial-and-error on the hardware without some help. That will save time and money. Finally, with $60 or higher game prices? Selling a generic game at $30 is a bargain. At least hold that price for the first two months, then drop it to $20 and leave it there.

Only problem with that theory is you are assuming that the 500,000 are currently unhappy with Madden, will be unhappy with next version of Madden (I promise you if 2K announces a game, EA will pull out all of the stops) and would be happy with a game where they had to create their own logos, stadiums and uniforms (I dont think 100,000 of that 500,000 know about OS or other sites like it where they would find game saves).

Also a small development team wouldnt work on this title. The problem with selling a game to the hardcore crowd is that we are less forgiving then the average gamer. We will pitch a fit if the collision detection isnt right or if gang tackling is screwed up or if some of the usual 2k bugs crop up. The NFL2k team was the biggest VC development team when they were making the game. The biggest problem would be convincing a CEO and the shareholders that there is a profit in releasing a generic football game and that its worth risking the money its going to take develop this game.

[aholbert32]

Quote: Originally Posted by backbreaker

This is what I've learned in my years at OperationSports. It is a great place for ideas, to banter around, but its a horrible place for those who think outside of the box who would like to implement those ideas. Most of the guys here are rudimentary, and mundane in being creative, they are stuck in being traditional. I understand the status quo, its safe, and I have a problem with that, especially in a field interactive entertainment and or movies. Imagination, is the last frontier and videogames as we know will die. Sports games no thanks to EA, suffers from a reduced cycle of mediore games, with limited features. I'm so glad that MIDWAY step outside of the box and was allowed to dream and make that dream a reality. All this talk about what will work and what will not work is premature, especially in the videogame world. The internet is the equalizer, especially if the content is authentic and enjoyable. TT/VC, if you decide to take on this endeavor, please do not use OS as a barometer. The guys here are too conservative, just remember most thought Blitz the league would not make any strides. I know you get a lot of feed back from this site and they are pretty much on point for "traditional" thought but this is outside of the box and unfortunately most of them are too safe.

LOL..this post is hilarious on so many levels. Blitz was a solid game but lets not make it out to be a revolutionary achievement in video gaming. I thought nit was a great idea from the start but I refused to go along with the opinion (shared by a few on this board) that Blitz would cut into Madden's sales and be a decent replacement. Its easy to encourage a company to do something "out of the box" when its not your money they are losing.

Also, if you think TT's CEO is using this or any board as a baramoter on whether they release a football game or not, you are sadly mistaken. The decision to create a game was made year's ago and I promise you the only thing that factored into that was potential profits and risk.

I also love the fact that if someone doesnt agree with your stance that a 2k football game would be an automatic best seller, they are conservative, rudimentary and lacking vision. I see the market for what it is and refuse to let the fact that I'm on a board of hardcore fans that loved the 2k series blind me. There are millions of fans that love Madden and NFL football and arent willing to put in the work it would take to make the 2K game an NFL game.

[thejackal25]

Quote: Originally Posted by aholbert32

There are millions of fans that love Madden and NFL football and arent willing to put in the work it would take to make the 2K game an NFL game.

I'm pretty sure the vision for Xbox live in the near future is to allow gamers to actually share user created content on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Once this is in full effect, all it would take is one person or a collaboration of people (like the ones here at OS) to make an NFL save game file and post it on Xbox Live for the masses to download. However a lot would depend on how strictly regulated this content is. If MS and 2k just say "go to town, create whatever you want, and upload whatever you want, we're not responsible for what gets posted," it would come down to EA going after the actual roster makers and gamers if NFL-ish content was made available...not sure I'd put it past EA to do so though...