Game Informer review= 8...solid score

[Spectre]

8 is a solid score, particularly given that this is 2Ks first football game on next-gen. Hell look at how bad some "other" games were in their first iterations on next gen.

Steve's impressions of the game have been very good and that's worth far more to me.

[QB16]

8 out of 10 is REALLY high. I mean, seriously. I don't think fanboys will be satisfied unless the game gets an 11 out 10, lol.

Reading the article, some things I was thinking and hoping didn't surface unfortunately did. When I saw that "Did you know" shot with Roger Staubach I noticed that it said he'd won "The Championship" twice. I thought "Ummm... the championship? Doesn't it have a name?" At that point I was concerned that they were just really stripping the very concept of the league down to nothing, and if the GI article is accurate it looks like this is the case. Ask most fans what the name of the league is and they don't know. The only reason I know (well sort of) is because I asked the developer during the chat a few weeks back. What's funny, is that the developer gave two different names when he answered... strange. I didn't challenge him on it, I just smirked and said to myself "yep, that's some BS right there." I also noticed that the name he gave was different from the name on the football Joe Montana is holding in one of the screenshots (APL). That's not good.

Another thing that bugs me is that 2K never released a definitive once-and-for-all team list. Before release, that is the time we should be spending coming up with names and thinking about how our team is going to look. It's all about buzz, and this is one aspect that many people have been interested in, just read all of the boards across the net. But no, 2K says nothing so people are hopelessly creating team names that they will only be devestated to learn later that they won't be able to use. I had a name in mind, and a story I wanted to post because this stuff is fun to do. This is the kind of fun we can have with a game like this, but 2K just didn't do enough to help us keep the buzz up and it was a no-brainer. Right now, I have no idea if I will be able to create the team name I want or not.

2K needed to build a solid story for the fictional league. Even Midway did that with Blitz and that game blew. How long would you want to get involved with something that has no story and nothing to follow? Therein lies the problem; this game seems to be focused towards online play and that's why I strongly believe it's headed for a sales disaster. The offline player is still where the money is at and it will remain that way until dial-up is completely killed off (which is still years away, but getting closer as DSL prices continue to decrease). 2K slept on that. Next time--if there is a next time--they'd better wake up.

[JayBee74]

Quote: Originally Posted by QB16

The offline player is still where the money is at and it will remain that way until dial-up is completely killed off (which is still years away, but getting closer as DSL prices continue to decrease). 2K slept on that. Next time--if there is a next time--they'd better wake up.

What's dial up?

[J_Posse]

Quote: Originally Posted by QB16

8 out of 10 is REALLY high. I mean, seriously. I don't think fanboys will be satisfied unless the game gets an 11 out 10, lol. Reading the article, some things I was thinking and hoping didn't surface unfortunately did. When I saw that "Did you know" shot with Roger Staubach I noticed that it said he'd won "The Championship" twice. I thought "Ummm... the championship? Doesn't it have a name?" At that point I was concerned that they were just really stripping the very concept of the league down to nothing, and if the GI article is accurate it looks like this is the case. Ask most fans what the name of the league is and they don't know. The only reason I know (well sort of) is because I asked the developer during the chat a few weeks back. What's funny, is that the developer gave two different names when he answered... strange. I didn't challenge him on it, I just smirked and said to myself "yep, that's some BS right there." I also noticed that the name he gave was different from the name on the football Joe Montana is holding in one of the screenshots (APL). That's not good. Another thing that bugs me is that 2K never released a definitive once-and-for-all team list. Before release, that is the time we should be spending coming up with names and thinking about how our team is going to look. It's all about buzz, and this is one aspect that many people have been interested in, just read all of the boards across the net. But no, 2K says nothing so people are hopelessly creating team names that they will only be devestated to learn later that they won't be able to use. I had a name in mind, and a story I wanted to post because this stuff is fun to do. This is the kind of fun we can have with a game like this, but 2K just didn't do enough to help us keep the buzz up and it was a no-brainer. Right now, I have no idea if I will be able to create the team name I want or not. 2K needed to build a solid story for the fictional league. Even Midway did that with Blitz and that game blew. How long would you want to get involved with something that has no story and nothing to follow? Therein lies the problem; this game seems to be focused towards online play and that's why I strongly believe it's headed for a sales disaster. The offline player is still where the money is at and it will remain that way until dial-up is completely killed off (which is still years away, but getting closer as DSL prices continue to decrease). 2K slept on that. Next time--if there is a next time--they'd better wake up.

I think you are over-thinking both issues, my man. The whole issue about the "championships" has to do with the NFL, the Super Bowl and the Vince Lombardi trophy, which VC/2K can't directly reference. People with an understanding of the history of these players, and any person with access to the internet, can realize what their indirectly "speaking" of.

I consider 2K not creating an official league logo that is visible on the uniforms, not obtaining equipment sponsorship, and not having a name for their league championship as slight oversights. But as this is the first iteration of this new series I can live without them for now.

It would be difficult to create a story around team completely built from the ground up (city, team name, players, and league), so I don't see the area of complaint.

[CM Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by QB16

8 out of 10 is REALLY high. I mean, seriously. I don't think fanboys will be satisfied unless the game gets an 11 out 10, lol. Reading the article, some things I was thinking and hoping didn't surface unfortunately did. When I saw that "Did you know" shot with Roger Staubach I noticed that it said he'd won "The Championship" twice. I thought "Ummm... the championship? Doesn't it have a name?" At that point I was concerned that they were just really stripping the very concept of the league down to nothing, and if the GI article is accurate it looks like this is the case. Ask most fans what the name of the league is and they don't know. The only reason I know (well sort of) is because I asked the developer during the chat a few weeks back. What's funny, is that the developer gave two different names when he answered... strange. I didn't challenge him on it, I just smirked and said to myself "yep, that's some BS right there." I also noticed that the name he gave was different from the name on the football Joe Montana is holding in one of the screenshots (APL). That's not good.

I was under the impression that the phrase "The Championship" on that Staubach loading screen was referring to the Super Bowl; Staubach led the Cowboys to two Super Bowl victories in the '70s and obviously 2K can't use the phrase "Super Bowl". That said, I'm not sure that the concept of the APF league was very well thought out in this iteration as there isn't really a franchise or campaign mode of any sort to center such a league around. It seems the focus of this game is more towards the online player; build your team with your gameplan and see how it stacks up against the online competition. I'd like to think we will see a more well thought-out league concept for APF in sequels.

As for the reviews, it's about what I expected, and honestly as long as I'm happy with the game I could care less about what some magazine says about it.

[QB16]

Quote: Originally Posted by J_Posse512

I think you are over-thinking both issues, my man. The whole issue about the "championships" has to do with the NFL and the Vince Lombardi trophy, which VC/2K can't directly reference. People with an understanding of the history of these players, and any person with access to the internet, can realize what their indirectly "speaking" of.

I think you're missing the point here. 2K needed to build a story. They didn't, so using ambiguous titles only adds to the problem and perception of there not being an actual league history, albeit a fictional one.

Also, it's obvious that they could'nt use NFL references. I'm very much aware of that... but nothing stopped them from calling it a WORLD championship. Calling it the "Championship" just sounds weak and nothing special.

Quote: Originally Posted by J_Posse512

I consider 2K not creating an official league logo that is visible on the uniforms, not obtaining equipment sponsorship, and not having a name for their league championship as slight oversights. But as this is the first iteration of this new series I can live without them for now.

Slight oversights? LOL!!!

I think I'll go to work tomorrow without pants. When someone asks why I'm not wearing pants I'll just say "It's no big deal, really. I consider this just a slight oversight."

Quote: Originally Posted by J_Posse512

It would be difficult to create a story around team completely built from the ground up (city, team name, players, and league), so I don't see the area of complaint.

I'm not talking about building a history for every team, just the league itself. However, what you just said actually wouldn't be hard to do at all. How could it be? Each preset team could have a short bio. Problem solved. And for teams you create, you can make your own bio and have a bio page. None of that is revolutionary, so I question just how much thought 2K really put into that.

[QB16]

Quote: Originally Posted by Krioniq

I was under the impression that the phrase "The Championship" on that Staubach loading screen was referring to the Super Bowl; Staubach led the Cowboys to two Super Bowl victories in the '70s and obviously 2K can't use the phrase "Super Bowl".

Right, and I'm sure everybody thought that (I know I did). But just "championship" sounds so generic and unimportant. I mean, no "World"?

Quote: Originally Posted by Krioniq

That said, I'm not sure that the concept of the APF league was very well thought out in this iteration as there isn't really a franchise or campaign mode of any sort to center such a league around. It seems the focus of this game is more towards the online player;

I knew I couldn't be the only person thinking this.

Quote: Originally Posted by Krioniq

As for the reviews, it's about what I expected, and honestly as long as I'm happy with the game I could care less about what some magazine says about it.

I concur. I never read the magazines unless someone posts something (or I get it for free and I'm bored). But, I take notice when some issues I was concerned with are actually found by someone with the game.

[J_Posse]

Quote: Originally Posted by QB16

I think you're missing the point here. 2K needed to build a story. They didn't, so using ambiguous titles only adds to the problem and perception of there not being an actual league history, albeit a fictional one. Also, it's obvious that they could'nt use NFL references. I'm very much aware of that... but nothing stopped them from calling it a WORLD championship. Calling it the "Championship" just sounds weak and nothing special. Slight oversights? LOL!!! I think I'll go to work tomorrow without pants. When someone asks why I'm not wearing pants I'll just say "It's no big deal, really. I consider this just a slight oversight." I'm not talking about building a history for every team, just the league itself. However, what you just said actually wouldn't be hard to do at all. How could it be? Each preset team could have a short bio. Problem solved. And for teams you create, you can make your own bio and have a bio page. None of that is revolutionary, so I question just how much thought 2K really put into that.

I think all of these issues can be addressed in future iterations of the series, but for now I'm willing to ignore these minor issues and enjoy APF 2K8. Whether they refer to the Super Bowl champion as the "World Champion" or "The Champion" makes no difference, since neither is referencing their league champion(ship).

Well, they could call the league the APL, APFL or PFL. I believe that someone would take issue with any of those names, so they decided to keep it ambigious. The league will eventually be named, but for now people can go with whatever they prefer.