Backbreaker Football, 15 Years Later: What Could've Been

[Steve_OS]

December 1, 2004 is a date that will live on in infamy in the world of...

Written By: Christian Smith

Click here to view the article.

[milkmanbonzai]

Re: Backbreaker Football, 15 Years Later: What Could've Been

"Earlier that year, Madden NFL 2005 was beaten by its foremost competitor in ESPN NFL 2K5. And in decisive fashion, no less."

Citation please? While 2K5 certainly earns its place in GOAT talk, Madden 05 still outsold it by a few paces and both hit 92 on Metacritic, so it's definitely revisionist history to write that 2K5 "beat it decisively" in any quantifiable measure. 2K5 can be heralded in endless ways without stooping to Madden 2005 erasure.

[DaReapa]

Re: Backbreaker Football, 15 Years Later: What Could've Been

Isn't the current NFL exclusivity deal still set to expire at the end of this year?

https://www.operationsports.com/nfl-owners-agree-to-extend-eas-exclusive-rights-through-2025-season/

[mercalnd]

Re: Backbreaker Football, 15 Years Later: What Could've Been

"Earlier that year, Madden NFL 2005 was beaten by its foremost competitor in ESPN NFL 2K5. And in decisive fashion, no less."

Citation please? While 2K5 certainly earns its place in GOAT talk, Madden 05 still outsold it by a few paces and both hit 92 on Metacritic, so it's definitely revisionist history to write that 2K5 "beat it decisively" in any quantifiable measure. 2K5 can be heralded in endless ways without stooping to Madden 2005 erasure.

This is my memory as well. IIRC, 2K5 outsold Madden on XBOX but the PS2 version of Madden outsold both versions of 2K5 combined by a fairly big margin.

[illwill10]

Re: Backbreaker Football, 15 Years Later: What Could've Been

Isn't the current NFL exclusivity deal still set to expire at the end of this year?
https://www.operationsports.com/nfl-...h-2025-season/

There's an option to extend an extra year if Madden reaches certain revenue benchmarks. Unless the NFL set unattainable benchmarks, there's no reason to think Madden wouldn't hit those benchmarks. In a lot of cases, these companies don't allow these deals to expire. So, I imagine we hear something in the coming months about an extension or within a month after Madden 26 releases about the extra year being added.

[Blzer]

Re: Backbreaker Football, 15 Years Later: What Could've Been

I still remember when I got Backbreaker. I was on the road at a tournament for a softball team I was coaching, brought my PS3 Slim with me, and bought it at a GameStop near my hotel. The TV was locked with hideous sharpness settings and had tremendous lag, but that first experience was everything.

What a breath of fresh air from the staleness that Madden provides in my opinion, plus not being enamored by 2K's output of APF 2K8 on PS3 (no franchise, jaggies, 30 FPS, corny presentation, lack of customization). I was really out of football gaming at the time, and this brought me back. It was truly something else. I was so enamored by every play having a different feeling outcome with the tackles, even if they were unpolished and often outrageous. It was just so cool.

Then the Greathouse #3 patch happens, fixing some things and breaking others, but it was still enough to get me to finish two seasons with my Las Vegas Gamblers and posting about it here all the time. I tried to play it again a few months ago, and I gotta admit its sluggishness is tough to go back to. It definitely was the great toy to play with when it first came out, though.

I wish 2K was able to work with them and their tech if they would someday make a new game, especially now that Take-Two acquired Zynga. It just saddened me that they resorted to mobile only, where I'm sure they turned a nice little profit no doubt.

That customization was next-level. I mean look at the logos I was able to make:

[rookiebatman]

Re: Backbreaker Football, 15 Years Later: What Could've Been

Huh, that's interesting. I never had heard of Backbreaker until now.

[rookiebatman]

Re: Backbreaker Football, 15 Years Later: What Could've Been

I wonder if any game could carve out its own unique niche by being set in the "leatherhead" era, just because that's so visually different from modern football of all the other games, that it would set itself apart at an immediate glance. It could also have features like players regularly playing both sides, more injuries because they don't have pads, weird trick plays that football teams don't use any more, etc.

[drugsbunny]

Re: Backbreaker Football, 15 Years Later: What Could've Been

Prior to the release of this game, they had a very communicative website chat with the developers of the game. They were very receptive to ideas about the game. I just knew that the camera angles and passing ideas were going to miss the mark. You can reinvent the wheel all you want - bottom line, if it isn't round, it won't work. They changed things they didn't have to. I really wanted to like the game but it just fell short in too many areas.