i think espn nfl 2005 will be out on 9/09/04.Link inside.

[mack6deep]

Some of the numbers you stated are true but the 6 to 8 million for Madden 2004 is totally off base.
Madden 2003 is the highest selling version of the franchise & topped out at 4 million units. You have to remember that Madden is developed for 6 different platforms. Madden 04 didn't eclipse the sales of Madden 03 but people don't consider it a failure because it didn't top the previous years sales total. At my store many people returned Madden 04 when ESPN was released because they got their Madden fix. This Madden fix is alot more powerful than people think considering the fact that most people buy it just out of habit.

ESPN doesn't need to worry about out selling Madden because in reality it keeps VC's drive going to one day become the top selling football franchise on the market. As long as the hardcore football gamers, majority of reviewers, & most importantly VC know that it's the best football game on the market then everything else will fall into place. If the sales total of ESPN 2K4 hit over a million units between just the Xbox & PS2 combined then the profit margin is actually greater for the company than releasing it on 6 different platforms. I'm pretty positive that ESPN moved over 500,000 copies apiece on both those platforms so who's really winning?

[rudyjuly2]

Agreed. Its an interesting topic with many different opinions and viewpoints. People shouldn't get so upset if the opinion here isn't their own. As long as VC makes a profit and keeps making the game (and on the PS2), I will be happy.

[jmd1506]

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rudyjuly2 said:
Agreed. Its an interesting topic with many different opinions and viewpoints. People shouldn't get so upset if the opinion here isn't their own. As long as VC makes a profit and keeps making the game (and on the PS2), I will be happy.

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[DirtySouf]

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jmood88 said:

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Dark_Lord_Vader said:

That's a bad strategy. There are a lot of people who just wait for madden and nothing will change that. They will only buy one football game and they are waiting for madden since that's what they buy every year.

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IMO, Madden sales would slightly decrease if ESPN came out at the same time. In August I always have that itch for the NFL. When I have to wait an extra month for ESPN I go out and get Madden to tie me over. If ESPN came out at the same time I would not have to get Madden. Strange but true.

[Klue516]

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Thanks Vader. I don't see how waiting longer equals more sales. It didn't do that much for 2K4 which was a much better game than 2K3. Waiting longer means less glitches, better rosters, etc but if the goal is to get more sales which Sega certainly wants, they are going to have to steal a large amount from the Madden market.

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Well for one, i think most consumers are going to want a game with less glitches, better rosters, etc. and on top of that, less glitches/better rosters equals less things for "Maddenites" to complain about. So how will VC pull in more Maddenites if they release a game earlier than its normal September release date (2k, 2k1, 2k2) with more glitches? The senario that you keep describing is the one that Sega used for NFL2k3 which was a good game in its own right but alot of issues could have been eliminated if VC would have used more time testing/polishing the game which was a major complaint not only from 2kers but Maddenites alike. NFL2k3 went onto to suffer its worst output of sales (before the price drop) even compared to past 2k football games which is absurd considering that 2k3 could be played on the ps2, xbox, as well as the gamecube while past NFL2k games could only be played on the dreamcast.

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For those that disagree, that's fine but if Sega really wants to make a dent in Madden's market share, they will have to be aggressive and go toe-to-toe in every aspect. Releasing after them leaves Sega only with the crumbs. Madden sold 2 million copies by the time Sega released their game last year.

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Your theory has already been proven false during the hot August summer of 2002.

[rudyjuly2]

I agree with you Klue that releasing 2K3 early with many bugs did hurt and they would have been better off delaying it. However, 2K4 was greatly improved and they worked most of the bugs out to deliver a very polished game. To assume a mid-August release as opposed to one in early September would mean a bug filled game for 2K5 would be wrong imo. I don't see why they can't release 2K5 three weeks earlier and without any significant bugs, especially based on last years build.

[Klue516]

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rudyjuly2 said:
I agree with you Klue that releasing 2K3 early with many bugs did hurt and they would have been better off delaying it. However, 2K4 was greatly improved and they worked most of the bugs out to deliver a very polished game. To assume a mid-August release as opposed to one in early September would mean a bug filled game for 2K5 would be wrong imo. I don't see why they can't release 2K5 three weeks earlier and without any significant bugs, especially based on last years build.

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I see your point but ESPN 2k4 did a good job with their sales numbers, i believe they outsold Madden on the Xbox (which could have more to do with Madden not being on Xbox Live, who knows ). I just don't think VC will take another chance just yet on trying to compete with EA directly in terms of sales (almost screwed us out of NFL2k4 this past year) until they pull in a bigger fan base.

[Klue516]

Sorry about the double post fellas