NHL 2K11, Wii Exclusive

[savoie2006]

Re: NHL 2K11, Wii Exclusive

Yeah, there's no doubt that should VC come back with an NHL 2K12 for the 360/PS3, it's gonna have to be very good for the series to remain alive afterwards. A flop and they will never regain the fans.

[Money99]

Re: NHL 2K11, Wii Exclusive

Some good news about 2K12 on next-gen consoles:

http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/17928/39/

http://www.destructoid.com/nhl-2k11-is-wii-exclusive-will-return-to-ps3-360-in-2011-165777.phtml

The last two hockey games from EA Sports -- NHL 09 and NHL 10 -- well outpaced NHL 2K9 and NHL 2K10, respectively, in sales. Apparently, 2K simply doesn't feel that it can compete with EA Canada's stellar games on a one-year development cycle.

Take-Two CEO Ben Feder emphasized the competitive passion of NHL 2K developer Visual Concepts, asserting that the publisher isn't conceding victory to EA forever -- in fact, they believe that with two years of development time behind NHL 2K12 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, they can best EA. "The following year [2011], we will come back a lot stronger. We have an intention to win and we're going to maximize the opportunity," Feder affirmed.

[slickdtc]

Re: NHL 2K11, Wii Exclusive

Ah, it's good to know they fully intend to come back strong with 2K12. The initial quotes were iffy.

[Flyermania]

Re: NHL 2K11, Wii Exclusive

I am still skeptical on a future 360/PS3 release. Based on how this series has regressed (yet still retaining the same bugs/issues), I don't have a lot of faith in the development team either. Regardless, a year off is going to make this series even more forgettable. The best thing that could happen for 2k is that EA's game hits the skids so that people start hoping for an alternative again -- as things stand now EA has the market all but cornered.

This decision, like the PS3 patch debacle, is based on one thing -- money. Unless the Wii version or 2k's other sports games start to make a decent profit, I don't see how or why they would invest money into a 360/PS3 version that clearly was unprofitable for them to begin with. As a company, it makes no financial sense.

Their higher-ups can say all they want now about how they are "dedicated", etc., but their current actions speak a lot louder than words IMO.

[RealmK]

Re: NHL 2K11, Wii Exclusive

I am still skeptical on a future 360/PS3 release. Based on how this series has regressed (yet still retaining the same bugs/issues), I don't have a lot of faith in the development team either. Regardless, a year off is going to make this series even more forgettable. The best thing that could happen for 2k is that EA's game hits the skids so that people start hoping for an alternative again -- as things stand now EA has the market all but cornered.

This decision, like the PS3 patch debacle, is based on one thing -- money. Unless the Wii version or 2k's other sports games start to make a decent profit, I don't see how or why they would invest money into a 360/PS3 version that clearly was unprofitable for them to begin with. As a company, it makes no financial sense.

Their higher-ups can say all they want now about how they are "dedicated", etc., but their current actions speak a lot louder than words IMO.

I hate to say I agree having nostalgia for the series, well 2k3 and 2k5 anyway, but you're prolly not far off the mark. And really what sports title do they have left to make them money? Well thats easy, the one title they actually consistantly put effort and funds into, NBA2k. I'd lump MLB in there as well but considering how much they paid for a 3rd party exclusive and how generally bad MLB2k has been, I doubt one year of a somewhat improved game that still pales to The Show in the gameplay department would bring them anywhere close to breaking even.

Like you mentioned earlier, what is the CEO s'pose to say? We know we blew it we're sorry? We all know thats not going to happen. I'd love to be proven wrong as having 2 solid titles stems off boardom and can help drive innovation but in the same sense, aside from Shadow, I don't see half as much passion from the 2k dev team that I see from Littman, Rammer, Jason and the rest of the NHL crew.

If you look at the way both EA and SCEA San Diego do things, community days, communicating with the fans on OS and other forums (twitter etc) and 2k refuses to do the same, instead we get good ol Ronnie (lol) well you get the idea really. The same passion for putting out good games doesn't quite shine through. And really the "less budget" excuse doesn't apply to half of that, it cost nothing to converse on a forum and take fan input, it cost nothing to throw up a few dev blogs and shaky cam footage, not that Take Two is this small publisher some people seem to want to try and convince people that they are. GTA? Bioshock? Max Payne? Borderlands? If they seriously wanted to put money into their sports division and compete, they could.

[Sting]

Re: NHL 2K11, Wii Exclusive

I am still skeptical on a future 360/PS3 release. Based on how this series has regressed (yet still retaining the same bugs/issues), I don't have a lot of faith in the development team either. Regardless, a year off is going to make this series even more forgettable. The best thing that could happen for 2k is that EA's game hits the skids so that people start hoping for an alternative again -- as things stand now EA has the market all but cornered.

This decision, like the PS3 patch debacle, is based on one thing -- money. Unless the Wii version or 2k's other sports games start to make a decent profit, I don't see how or why they would invest money into a 360/PS3 version that clearly was unprofitable for them to begin with. As a company, it makes no financial sense.

Their higher-ups can say all they want now about how they are "dedicated", etc., but their current actions speak a lot louder than words IMO.

Completely disagree. There are still people playing 2K and think the series is not a little, but a lot better than EA's version. This is all in the eye of the beholder at this point, and will be when the title resurfaces.

I think this action that they're taking completely solidifies the fact that they are "dedicated" to making the series even better.

[Money99]

Re: NHL 2K11, Wii Exclusive

I wonder what the NHL or NHLPA think about this? How much power do they have with video game companies that use their licenses?

I know with MLB, NBA and the NFL they're constantly in the face of anyone who is in bed with them to make multiple games or even how their games are made.

While on the FN Community event, one of the EA guys said that NBA and NFL execs were constantly forcing their hand in how they developed their games.

Will the NHL and PA do the same with this news? Will they threaten to not renew their contracts with 2K? I doubt it, but I wonder what their thoughts are on this.

[Flyermania]

Re: NHL 2K11, Wii Exclusive

Completely disagree. There are still people playing 2K and think the series is not a little, but a lot better than EA's version. This is all in the eye of the beholder at this point, and will be when the title resurfaces.

I think this action that they're taking completely solidifies the fact that they are "dedicated" to making the series even better.

Which game is better is and always will be subjective...what it comes down to from a business standpoint is sales and profit, and there is no disputing 2k has trailed EA in this area for years.

If 2k truly was dedicated to making the series better, it would have been reflected in the games themselves. Bugs, glitches, and issues that carry over year to year without being addressed, little to no pre-release marketing of their product, little to no post-release support via roster updates, totally ignoring the PS3 version not once but twice with a patch --- to me, these is not dedicated in the least.

This game needs a complete makeover, from the way it is designed to the way it is marketed. If this series, as well as most of 2k's other sports titles, aren't making money as it is then where are the resources going to come from to make this overhaul? Why would 2k invest a lot of time, effort, and money into this game only to see it bring back a fraction of this due to poor sales?

IMO this series peaked with 2k3 and 2k5...it was a fresh sim-style game that the hockey gaming community was dying for. It had top notch presentation and was head and shoulders above anything EA could do. 2k had a strong involvement with the community and was doing everything right. And then they stopped.

EA took this opportunity to copy everything 2k was doing right and re-launch the franchise on next-gen. It worked for them because they have the financial strength and brand recognition to make it work --- things that 2k does not have going for them.

[Sting]

Re: NHL 2K11, Wii Exclusive

Which game is better is and always will be subjective...what it comes down to from a business standpoint is sales and profit, and there is no disputing 2k has trailed EA in this area for years.

If 2k truly was dedicated to making the series better, it would have been reflected in the games themselves. Bugs, glitches, and issues that carry over year to year without being addressed, little to no pre-release marketing of their product, little to no post-release support via roster updates, totally ignoring the PS3 version not once but twice with a patch --- to me, these is not dedicated in the least.

This game needs a complete makeover, from the way it is designed to the way it is marketed. If this series, as well as most of 2k's other sports titles, aren't making money as it is then where are the resources going to come from to make this overhaul? Why would 2k invest a lot of time, effort, and money into this game only to see it bring back a fraction of this due to poor sales?

IMO this series peaked with 2k3 and 2k5...it was a fresh sim-style game that the hockey gaming community was dying for. It had top notch presentation and was head and shoulders above anything EA could do. 2k had a strong involvement with the community and was doing everything right. And then they stopped.

EA took this opportunity to copy everything 2k was doing right and re-launch the franchise on next-gen. It worked for them because they have the financial strength and brand recognition to make it work --- things that 2k does not have going for them.

Very true. I hope 2K can generate more $$ for the sake of the series.

[Flyermania]

Re: NHL 2K11, Wii Exclusive

Very true. I hope 2K can generate more $$ for the sake of the series.

I do too...competition only makes each game stronger.

[metallicatz]

Re: NHL 2K11, Wii Exclusive

Interesting that 2K is moving toward the Wii at a time when major 3rd party developers like EA, Capcom, THQ, and Ubisoft are beginning to jump ship from the Wii and shift focus to PS3/360.

Bad marketing has become commonplace with 2K sports from game like NHL2K to APF to Prizefighter.