Regardless of popular belief.......

[omegatron3k]

I really don't have to lie about sales figures in my store. On NCAA's release date the majority of the people who were picking up their reserves were football gamers. When me & my associates picked ESPN as our rollover title to focus on for the following week we had 52 reservations on that day alone on ESPN. It was just taking advantage of the opportunity that was at hand with a budget priced game.

On the same note I am business minded & not caught up in the which game is better/this game sucks category. If any of you have any business knowledge then you know that the only reason that this franchise has not sold well is because of poor advertisement. I really didn't think that after the
initial first week rush that the game would have any legs with Madden fast approaching.

Well in my area & my store the opposite is actually happening & ESPN is becoming the game this year by word of mouth & it's cheap price tag. You
have to remember that the casual fan are the ones who keep Madden selling
that enormous amount of units year after year. So while us quote un quote hardcore football gamers are worried about clipping penalties, franchise trading bugs, db ai,etc. The bread & butter of actual sales figures(casual gamers) are eating this game up every week. Just stating the obivious in my local area & store.

Many casual Madden fans have stated to me that they will rent Madden first then decide if they would purchase it. This has never happened to the Madden franchise since I've been apart of Gamestop. NCAA has dropped way below it's average on the sales charts because of ESPN & if Madden is too close in gameplay/features as the 2004 version then that sales gap will definitley close. My DM has clearly stated to me that the reservation gap is gonna be real tight next year between these two franchises. Casual gamers move units while hardcore players find every fault they can with either of these franchises.

[NoleFan]

In VC's case, it's the hardcore gamers who are finding all the faults that give the casual gamers, who have been eating up the low price tag, a solid game to play. Our complaints garner change from VC and these casual gamers get to enjoy the fruits.

[Kanobi]

Quote: Originally Posted by 2kMatrtixevolved

Exactly.. I work in a QA department, and I know how some bugs just get by, but some bugs people can get fired for. I think VC either needs a better QA department or they need to send out test beta copies to a whole bunch of people and let them send feedback. When I thnk about the clipping bug that supposedly was in last years game, thats inexcusebale. Its hard for me to believe that a group of people, who's only job is to play the game night in and night out miss some of the things they do. Or maybe they do catch them, but its hard to believe that VC would say it isnt a "show-stopper" and let it through. While it is a great game, its our right as consumers to complain about things we felt should have been corrected. Why? Becuase we paid our da*m money for it!!! And if someone from VC or any other game company tells me that its ok to have major bugs in the game b/c of the price, then they are full of S*** and just making excuses for the poor QA department!

amen.

and if you think about it.....we are an extension of These Dev's QA departments except we don't get paid. lol! Technically, we're playing an extremely early version of nfl2k6 and giving our feedback free of charge.

Quote: Originally Posted by NoleFan

In VC's case, it's the hardcore gamers who are finding all the faults that give the casual gamers, who have been eating up the low price tag, a solid game to play. Our complaints garner change from VC and these casual gamers get to enjoy the fruits.

and not just our complaints but also the ideas/suggestions we submit.

which reminds me...anybody know who won VC's "We Love Your Ideas Contest"? I believe it ended June 15th.

anyway, good stuff Nole and Matrix. I couldn't agree more.

[Dienekes]

Quote: Originally Posted by omegatron3k

The majority of us on these boards as you all know make up about 10% of the football buying public. I see all these rants & complaints about ESPN 2k5 & just laugh at how serious some of you guys take this stuff. [b]But on another note I am the store manager of the local gamestop in my area & ESPN has been flying off the shelves at a great pace. My store was #1 in my region in reserves with over 120 apiece on each system. We sold out three times already in this two week period.[/B] Point being: VC has accomplished what they set out to do this year in the marketplace. The majority of customers who have purchased this game were alot of casual gaming fans who would usually buy Madden as their football game of choice. I have yet to have one of these customers come back to me and state that they didn't like this game because of a clipping bug, db ai, or all the things that everyone on these boards are purposely looking for in the first place. Instead I get honest opinions from customers who are just playing the game as it is & enjoying it. Now I have had the PS2 version traded in about 3 times because some of them just couldn't get into the gameplay & found it too confusing for their tastes. At least it was honest criticism & not cynical criticism. We message board hounds are becoming our own worst enemies because we are always looking for the wrong in a game before we enjoy the game for what it is A GAME!!! A computer can never simulate the way a real human will react, think, or carry out a action, reaction, circumstance as we like to believe. All we are doing is making the developers rush out products, try to do too much in a short time period which lead to mistakes. Has anyone ever thought about the fact that VC revamped their whole franchise from 2k4 & implemented a whole new system that is so minute in details in a 8-10 month period. How in the world can it not have problems when it's an all new system built in a short time period. My advice to VC would be not to listen to the fans to the degree that it affects the very product they are trying to make better at the cost of trying to make everyone happy. It's impossible!!! I've always said that Madden has true fans while ESPN has borrowed fans. Until the true ESPN fans start to realize the true beauty of what this game truly offers then it will never get the true props it deserves.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. bs.bs. bs. Here's what you were saying 8/31/2003;

"Being a gamestop store manager who have witnessed the sales for my particular store I can say that Madden is not having the breakthrough sales that alot of our stores were banking on. It had that first initial rush at release but we have had more complaints/returns on this year's version than any year prior. Many gamers are tired of Madden whether people can believe that or not; people are becoming aware that there is another quality football title out there. At one time you could say Madden; EVERYONE would say ok now it's like WE GOT MADDEN; people will ask when the other titles are coming out. This year is gonna be real interesting during the holiday season because if ESPN turns out to be as good as people believe then alot of Madden faithful are gonna be shocked when the actual sale tallies are closer than expected."

Yeah, we all know know how those sales figures turned out. Same story from omegatron3k different year. How are we supposed to believe these claims of selling out when they come from you based on your truly biased post history?

[Moegames]

Good post dude - you hit the nail on the head. Too many whinners that complain about issues that really shouldnt be an issue. Half of these guys complaining should be complaining about their lack of gameplay skills and lack of good play selection..maybe then they'll realize that ESPN NFL 2k5 is the closest thing to real NFL football then anything else on the market including Madden..... and im not talking about graphics here.

[Programmed2Kill]

Quote: Originally Posted by Motown

I guess i'm the ONLY one who could care less about Fraaanchise!

Apparently, VC is in the same mindframe as you

[rudyjuly2]

Quote: Originally Posted by Moegames

Good post dude - you hit the nail on the head. Too many whinners that complain about issues that really shouldnt be an issue. Half of these guys complaining should be complaining about their lack of gameplay skills and lack of good play selection..maybe then they'll realize that ESPN NFL 2k5 is the closest thing to real NFL football then anything else on the market including Madden..... and im not talking about graphics here.

Why do people call anyone who complains basically losers? If somebody finds something annoying they are accused by fanboys as "looking for mistakes" or they are terrible players. Maybe we just don't have the same opinions as you. I am a little disappointed this year and not just with the lack of polish. There are many gameplay issues as well for me. If you don't think so fine but don't label everyone that complains as not knowing football, not knowing how to play or just looking for problems. You may think this game is the closest to real NFL football but I don't.

[Lowpressure]

Great post man. It's just a shame that there are a lot of people who want to discredit what u stated. If your store have sold that many copies, great! That means that ESPN is getting more attention this year. I hope your store (wherever it's located) can continue selling the game period! Again, good post.