Why The NFL 2K Series Was Truly Great And Why You Should Miss It

[K_GUN]

1 more thing.....

...does anyone feel miffed at 2K for NOT going the route of PES....and putting out a fully customizable game with franchise mode?.....I do...

I mean...yes EA/NFL get flamed for exclusivity but 2K chose to walk away....I put that on them..as being quitters....

.....which is why i have "moved on".....im not really into supporting ghosts or "what might have been's"....

just my .02$

[horrormaster]

To me 2K football wasn't anything great. The player models were all the same, the running animations sucked something fierce, the players on defense moved way faster than they should, the power-up meter thing was abused like no other, money plays and nano blitzes ruined online play, etc.

i still don't know why everybody puts so much praise into the series. I think it has more to do with people hating EA (not even Madden really) and being tired with those games supposedly being the same as the others, which can be said about the 2K series as well.

[K_GUN]

Quote: Originally Posted by horrormaster

To me 2K football wasn't anything great. The player models were all the same, the running animations sucked something fierce, the players on defense moved way faster than they should, the power-up meter thing was abused like no other, money plays and nano blitzes ruined online play, etc. i still don't know why everybody puts so much praise into the series. I think it has more to do with people hating EA (not even Madden really) and being tired with those games supposedly being the same as the others, which can be said about the 2K series as well.

The DB ai was atrocious....


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[SpectralThundr]

Quote: Originally Posted by horrormaster

To me 2K football wasn't anything great. The player models were all the same, the running animations sucked something fierce, the players on defense moved way faster than they should, the power-up meter thing was abused like no other, money plays and nano blitzes ruined online play, etc. i still don't know why everybody puts so much praise into the series. I think it has more to do with people hating EA (not even Madden really) and being tired with those games supposedly being the same as the others, which can be said about the 2K series as well.

Your last paragraph is exactly why NFL2k5 and 2k in general is held in such high regard, EA is a company that despite more evil companies like Comcast or Monsanto, was voted worst company in America, mostly by bitter angry gamers, a year back. Yet people forget that Take Two is the parent company and 2k is simply a label. Yes that same Take Two that publishes huge AAA titles, multi million sellers like Grand Theft Auto, Bioshock, Civilization and the list goes on and on.

If Take Two really wanted to compete with EA they have the funds to do so, they aren't this small little indie underdog publisher that people like to paint them out to be. Take Two is a company that can't even bother to patch some games on certain platforms and has been known to abandon support and in some cases (NHL2k10 on PS3 never got the patch 360 users got) entire series before they're even in the retail channel day 1.

NFL2k was a solid game for it's time, there's no denying that, it had the whole package, great presentation, and at the time a very low price tag. It also was something different from the yearly Madden sameness. Reality however is those days are long past. The bottom line is if 2k truly wanted to make a football game, all it would take is dipping into some of those record breaking day one sales of the last GTA to purchase the rights from the NFL. Which if people remember it was the NFL that pushed for exclusive rights. Not EA.

[Fist Of Kings]

It always grinds my gears when someone accuses me(or others) of 'hating' a company so much, that I'd overrate an old game, a game that I've said has flaws. Well people that hate companies don't rent/buy most ea football games like I have, and they just haven't been good games imo, which is why I still play 2K5 despite it's flaws which I know can cause people to drop the game completely.

I wasted money on NCAA 14(This one really irked me with having no injuries besides wr, hb, te, PENALTIES RARELY CALLED AND NO PENALTY SLIDERS, no stamina slider, horrible commentary, robo qbs, broken defense, and the constant football magnet glitch where the game would hang after TDs and focus on the ball sliding across the field as if it were being pulled by magnets) and Madden 13, skipped Madden 25, but I'm hoping for a decent current gen Madden title this year, because I'm tired of playing an old game, but at the same time I'm not going to settle for imo what has been bad to mediocre games like I have over the years.


There may be some that overrate 2K5, but I think most of it has to do with people simply preferring it for the great game it was/is, and/or not being satisfied with the yearly updates we have gotten in ea football games. Labeling everyone that likes 2K5 as 'ea haters' is fanboy logic and taking the easy way out. I want a good football game period and I don't care who makes it.

[MysteriousPanther]

Interesting article, Jayson Young. Reading your article on 2K was like watching a episode of G4TV's Icons! I remember playing NFL 2K games on SEGA Dreamcast most of the time during high school years. The commentary between Dan Stevens and Peter O'Keefe (I know they're fictional characters) were excellent. I understand why gamers love ESPN NFL 2K5 (variety of reasons). I just want to see competition between 2K vs EA Sports & variety of football video games someday in the future.

[TTD71]

Quote: Originally Posted by Perfect Zero

VIP System- God how that made the game shine! It was neat going head to head against every coach in the game and their different systems. You could also go online and download other people's gameplans and I could also practice against my family without them being there.

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

- Virtual Identity Profile: the most underrated feature to ever see the light of day in a sports game. I remember out of curiosity setting up a game against the CPU controlling my V.I.P., and I'll be damned if it didn't do every last thing I liked to do, all the way from play calling to snap count to hot routes to ballcarrier move usage. It was scary. Very few times have I been outright wowed in a sports game; this was one of those times.

I am firmly in the camp of people who do NOT see NFL2K5 in the same glorified light....the way some people talk about that game I half expect gospels to be written about it and a new faith to spring up in the next few years! The game was good, but it was lacking in areas that get glossed over and the half-time show / highlights??? REALLLY??? Berman's crap performances and poor stitching of the commentary was old hat after a week let alone 10+ years!!!! Get a grip people...that halftime stuff was crap in the smelliest ways imaginable...

HOWEVER....the VIP was amazing and I was floored by it when playing my own VIP for practice...it was eerie because the VIP really did do EVERYTHING I did right down to faking the snap count and hot routes and play calls. I have always thought EA was losing a HUGE opportunity to improve the replay-ability of Madden by not including this in their online offerings...

Imagine a refined and 10-years on updated VIP that is downloadable for everyone online the way roster files are now. I might never play another actual "live" online game again...seriously. If I could download people's VIP and play against them at my leisure? Why take the chance of someone blaring their music through the headphones (while NOT chatting) or quitting the game on you after the first quarter?

Downloadable VIPs would make leagues - serious ones anyway - really intense. You could practice against your opponent during the week (like an actual NFL team game planning) and you could self-scout for tendencies and make adjustments to your own game plans. It would really open things up and make the glaring technical limitations that remain a lot easier for people to stomach.

2K5 was a good game with great elements. Nothing more and nothing less. The unadulterated praise it gets is much more a reflection of Madden's lack of overall progress than it is deserved praise of an old title...

[Gman 18]

Quote: Originally Posted by K_GUN

1 more thing..... ...does anyone feel miffed at 2K for NOT going the route of PES....and putting out a fully customizable game with franchise mode?.....I do... I mean...yes EA/NFL get flamed for exclusivity but 2K chose to walk away....I put that on them..as being quitters.... .....which is why i have "moved on".....im not really into supporting ghosts or "what might have been's".... just my .02$

I never really thought about it that way, but you do make a good point. If 2k was really that confident in their game, im sure they would have continued putting out fully- customizable football games, even without the liscense. Im sure they would have done well, due to the success of nfl 2k5, but maybe 2k thought it wasnt worth it because they didnt have the nfl liscense and although the sim fans would probably buy the generic, fully customizable game, most casual fans would probably step away from 2k and buy madden for the reason that it has the Nfl liscense.

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