The Rise and Fall of 989 Sports

[RaychelSnr]

It was September 1, 1995.

If I recall correctly it was a cold and rainy day. I had been saving money for months in anticipation; It was Sony Playstation's launch. My father and I drove to a local department store that had no ridiculous linesorn campers. We just walked right in and there it was. My dad grabbed the system and I grabbed the game I had been longing for months: NFL Gameday. 989 Sports was born.

When we got everything home and set up, my dad and I decided to play a game. I couldn’t tell you what teams we were, but the one thing I do remember was how awesome the game was. It was a true leap in quality from anything we have seen in the past. Not only were the graphics amazing for their time, the gameplay was as well. Who could forget the thunder and lightning on a big hit while playing in the rain. Those memories will always stay with me.

Read More - The Rise and Fall of 989 Sports

[abcabc]

wait a sec if the 989 team merged into the scea team, are you saying the 989 brand isn't around any more and you want that, or you want the people behind the 989 team to be still around? If the 989 was dissolved into the SCEA team, is there any info of who from 989 stayed vs left? was it evident or not that MLB the show was from the 989 team?

[Jadakiss88]

I remember Game day its the one and only game ever I had to take on my vacay back in 96' the thunder and lightning after the big hits was great. And the only defense everyone had for playing Madden was that it made you think more. Both games you needed to put together a good game plan its just one had slow tackling players that helmets rolled of periodically, the other hits that happen so fast and look so hard you could feel them.

I remember gamebreaker actually gave you the option for bowl games or a playoffs for the bowl season. Man you brought back some memories.

[misterkrabz]

That was the golden age of sports gaming. I too liked the 989 series of sports games and bought most of them. It's a shame to think where the football series could be at this point, I have no doubt it would be leaps and bounds ahead of Madden (which I admit, I can't stand). It's sad to think that we'll probably never see another day and age where someone other than EA jumps into the arena of video game football. The anticipation of "what's next" or getting excited about game play changes and advancements or the excitement of new modes and the evolution of game play mechanics has pretty much been destroyed by EA as we sit back and are forced to take a bite out of the same $h*+ sandwich year after year that they serve up.

[DJ]

GameDay 98 was the reason I went out and bought a Playstation. I loved that game, and as a result, wound up trying out the NHL Faceoff series and enjoyed that as well, even though I preferred EA's game.

It's a shame that Sony - and Microsoft - for that matter, don't produce more first-party sports titles. I know the SCEA NBA games didn't review well (or play all that great), but if you go back and look at some of the things that game tried to do, it wasn't all bad. The Life mode was a smart innovation, and I thought some of the presentation was well-done as well. I think the thing that hurt the NBA game was they could never decide if they were a Sim or an Arcade game.

I really wish GameDay was still around. I know it missed the mark when the PS2 dropped, and I'm not sure why, as I really can't recall playing any of the PS2 games aside from maybe the first one. What exactly happened with the GameDay series?

[truintellectplaya]

Really was not up on 989 turning into SCEA because I only really cared for the PS1. After XBOX came it was a rap for Sony systems for me. Now, I will say since EA seems to not be what a lot of people really want they would be smart to find a way to get back into football.

[sydrogerdavid]

I now see that it was pretty awesome to be able to play two different, quality baseball games. Triple Play and the MLB games were both equally awesome.

[dcal]

Ahhh....competition, I wish it were still a part of the sports gaming landscape but exclusive licensing has destroyed that. 989 had some great titles. I prefered the Madden titles a little more over 989, but competition drove the sucess behind both of them.....it always does.

[m1ke_nyc]

989 had some good games, if I remember correctly they made the NBA Shoot Out series, loved that series. Gameday was cool as well.

[bigdaddykraven]

I remember playing Gameday on my PS2...went out and got the last one they released and they actually had a franchise mode in it that only lasted 10 years but they were really going in a great direction. I think if it wasn't for the exclusive deal with EA and the NFL, Gameday could have been at the level of MLB The Show, which would made Madden push harder to produce a good game without various freezes and 30 foot LB leaping abilities.

Honestly, first part titles should ALWAYS be better than third party titles because they can make use of all the specific hardware components and have an experience that is tailored directly for that system. Move Support, 3D, Kinnect, custom music, screen shot and video capturing...not to mention the performance of the games themselves.

I miss you Gameday. LONG LIVE THE SHOW!

[TreyIM2]

Ahh, Gameday. That series, initially, pulled my attention away from Madden. Loved the use of the right trigger (modifier) to lower your shoulder to either truck a defender or pop a ball carrier. I didn't like the user of thunder and lightning effects when playing rain games when using that trigger. I thought it was silly and cartoonish.

Another thing about the series is that they were the first to go polygonal on the PS1. I never got that game back from my cuz. He gave my jewel case back with Blitz in it after I let him borrow it. Lol.

At any rate, it is ashame how their sports games came to an end other than their MLB game which became such a remarkable game in The Show. Shootout was downright pathetic and only had 1080p graphics going for it in it's current gen iteration. Gameday coulda become something if it lasted but the lack of license would have hurt...yet, I think Gameday went kaput before the EA license deally. If that game was still around, Sony may have had a shot at keeping the NFL license open to all comers.

[BCDX97]

Anybody remember 989's NFL Xtreme? Let's just say it wasn't as good as NFL Blitz.

[PVarck31]

Re: The Rise and Fall of 989 Sports

I remember playing Gameday on my PS2...went out and got the last one they released and they actually had a franchise mode in it that only lasted 10 years but they were really going in a great direction. I think if it wasn't for the exclusive deal with EA and the NFL, Gameday could have been at the level of MLB The Show, which would made Madden push harder to produce a good game without various freezes and 30 foot LB leaping abilities.

Honestly, first part titles should ALWAYS be better than third party titles because they can make use of all the specific hardware components and have an experience that is tailored directly for that system. Move Support, 3D, Kinnect, custom music, screen shot and video capturing...not to mention the performance of the games themselves.

I miss you Gameday. LONG LIVE THE SHOW!

You're right, they did have something going with the Gameday 04. To bad we will never know how it would have moved forward.

[Fender178]

Re: The Rise and Fall of 989 Sports

I remember 989 sports. I own a baseball game for the PS1 MLB 2002.

[jyoung]

Gameday and Gamebreaker were definitely responsible for pushing Madden forward in the PS1 era.

Gameday 98 was revolutionary for its 3D polygons and awesome NFL music.