Is 2K Sports Fit for Survival?

[thbends]

It's a shame. 2k had so much potential... but EA played dirty like Microsoft has been known to do and basically shut them down. I won't even go in to the NFL thing. We all know how low that move was by EA and how it changed the sports game landscape forever.

EA aside I think 2k's real issue is management. They obviously have mismanaged (or not managed at all) many of their respective franchises and it has shown horribly over the years. Great ideas have been lost to lack of customer support. That also led to not following through with promised features.

I don't know the figures but it would be interesting to see how many work on a project for 2k compared to EA and for how long. How many do they keep staffed on a game post release? What is the pay rate compared to EA for employees? Why do I ask these things? It seems like 2k is under staffed or unmotivated. That is a management issue that is slowly squeezing the air out of the company.

Let's all hope that they keep their NBA franchise going. It's become one of the best sports franchises around.

As for one comment I saw about a possible soccer game... No go. EA has owned the WORLD market in that area. It's even bigger then Madden. I believe EA owns all the FIFA rights as well.

[matt8204]

It's a shame. 2k had so much potential... but EA played dirty like Microsoft has been known to do and basically shut them down. I won't even go in to the NFL thing. We all know how low that move was by EA and how it changed the sports game landscape forever.

EA aside I think 2k's real issue is management. They obviously have mismanaged (or not managed at all) many of their respective franchises and it has shown horribly over the years. Great ideas have been lost to lack of customer support. That also led to not following through with promised features.

I don't know the figures but it would be interesting to see how many work on a project for 2k compared to EA and for how long. How many do they keep staffed on a game post release? What is the pay rate compared to EA for employees? Why do I ask these things? It seems like 2k is under staffed or unmotivated. That is a management issue that is slowly squeezing the air out of the company.

Let's all hope that they keep their NBA franchise going. It's become one of the best sports franchises around.

As for one comment I saw about a possible soccer game... No go. EA has owned the WORLD market in that area. It's even bigger then Madden. I believe EA owns all the FIFA rights as well.

Yeah, it's a tough market to get into when you don't have the important licenses and FIFA is such a juggernaut. Worldwide, it's easily the best-selling sports game.

[Matt2486]

I will be extremely upset if 2K Sports goes away. 2K is a solid company who routinely makes quality games. The NBA 2K series is, in itself, enough to warrant their success. I cannot go back to EA basketball after playing 2K's series. Also, whenever this EA Sports NFL chokehold subsides hopefully 2K can get back to the NFL 2K series. The reason NBA 2K12 did not sell well is simple...the lockout. No rookies was a huge turnoff for buyers initially, including myself. I waited to buy until the rookies were unlocked.

[TombSong]

Where is it written 2K HAS to have multiple sports games to keep 2K sports alive ? EA the "industry leader" whos "shadow" 2K Sports has lived under has Lost their basketball market, and a NFL imposed monopoly is the only reason why EA has not lost their football market.

The reality is 2K has BETTER.....WAY BETTER sports game programmers. So the whole issue is liken to EA took the rockets from Germany in 1945 but 2K took the rocket scientists. EA can shine the rockets up and add different colors and sounds to the rocket, but its just a rehashed 1945 Rocket. 2K can make any rocket they want.

If gaming sites want to write a article about the games these 2 companies make, why not write one comparing the GLARING differences between 2K8 football and Madden 12. Madden 12 STILL does not do things that game does. You won't see that here though because its gonna step on toes, cause website woes because of EA foes............

[fatta]

I hate to even think of 2K going under because EA would force feed us subpar garbage and expect us to accept it.

Like EA's FIFA soccer. It's getting better since they started to adept things from PES in the early 2k's, but it's still crap, and nobody really see it, cause they got no quality game (and especially licensed game) to compare it. (same for madden)

As well as PES was and still is the better game it just feels unreal without a license

[Galarius]

In terms of survival and evolution, 2k is an entire generation ahead with their VIP system,,,What other game has the ability to play against team specific 'programs' that you cann create simply by playing?...And what game has the incredible amount of moves that NBA2k12 has?Along with the nhl and show series, nba2k is at the top.I have voiced similar converns for years that this article addresses.Hope 2k makes an NCAA football or basketball game soon?Didn't EA just let the NCAA Football exclusive rights expire at the end of the BCS game?

On a side note, I have discovered a new way to play against multiple VIPs in NBA 2k12...You need 2 controllers and at least 3 or 4 VIPs.I make mine by using exclusive teams so the play styles gradually develop into quite different robots...

1st, make sure you have a VIP fpr each controller set in the 'User Profile ' section....then go to exhibition team select screen and go to options.Assign a VIP to your 'oponent team'.As far as the CPU is concerned, 2 humans are going to play as you will have a controller assigned to each team......Enter The Game

When in game, take the contoller of the team you won't be using and go to coach settings....turn coach mode on and options like substitutions, timeout, playcalling, and so to 'auto'(you CAN have3 just one controller/player on coach mode and the other in regular play....then go to controller setting and player lock one of the positions you want the CONTROLLER vip to control(this is the one you had loaded for controller 2 in the user profile section)


More on this in a minute.......

[Galarius]

(Con't)...So what you will have here is your controller VIP that you have programmed by playing many epic basketball games in charge of the position you selected for player lock and th eothehr VIP you assigned to control th eteam in the team select options menu controlling the other 4.The game will be a lot more realistic.Tough, but less cheap.Tweak your sliders, especially things like offensive awareness and passing set a little higher so your VIPs will play smarter.There will be a lot more vaiables and a much more human-like CPU opponent that will both make more great plays and also more mistakes.It is a lot simpler than it sounds.

[pharaoh_00]

First of all if EA buys 2K we have to boycott them. Also I didn't know EA only has a third party exclusive, so can Sony or Microsoft make an NFL game?

[eye guy]

In my opinion 2K Sports needs to bring in titles of sports that aren't on shelves. They need to reach out to other sports that aren't just American past-times. For example, Rugby League, Surfing, BMX, etc, etc... Some may argue that the market wouldn't justify making other titles, but we're talking about the world here!

NBA 2K needs an overhaul in terms of game-modes. Get rid of anything not related to what we see on the hardwood, add to the ASW games that are missing and focus on a simulation product, not a mixture of sim/arcade... Why is there even a street mode? I haven't touched it this iteration, and spent maybe 10mins on it last year! I'm sure i'm not the only one.

Acquiring smaller developers in outside countries would boost their library, like Sidhe based here in NZ.

They need to expand in other ways... Look at how EA's Fifa has suceeded! And it's not an American pastime.

[Ghoti34]

Did competition from Apple make Microsoft products better? No!
Did competition from foreign automakers make GM better? No!

Has EA's exclusive and biggest title, Madden, gotten better over the years for Gen3 consoles? Not quite.
Using the PS3 as the platform, Madden 07 scored a 76, while Madden 12 received a score of 79 from metacritic. The 09 and 10 versions of the game were the highest rated for the PS3, with both coming in at 85.

As someone who has skin in the game (so to speak), I can assure you that there is nothing the game teams strive for more than a metacritic score of 90+. That's the goal every year and guys are busting their buts to make this happen. Are we perfect? No. Are the game teams putting in countless hours of OT to put out the best game possible? Yes. Some things aren't feasible and some minor improvements won't necessarily give you the return on investment that one would desire. As with big time professional sports, EA must make strategic monetary decisions. Fans and players opinions of EA's games are a huge driving factor in all decisions made.

If you don't think EA is investing in the nation's top talent to bring their games to a whole new level, just google - Kolbe Launchbaugh AND EA.....(and yes I know that this may still give the perception that EA is the evil empire with the most money and clout)....and I also know that Kolbe may be know in this forum, but wanted to throw it out there.

EA = Living in Discontent till every game is 90+.

[ksuttonjr76]

Call me ********, but EA Sports has a LOOOOOONNNNGGGGG to go to being even a OPTION for NBA basketball videogames. EA is NOT going to wipe's 2KSports' market share overnight. 2KSports will be around for a while as long NBA 2K sells games. Does it really matter that 2KSports is not lucrative in other sports? Show me the rule where 2KSports HAVE to make multiple sports titles.

Personally, if 2KSports only exist for the sole existence of the NBA 2K franchise, then I would be perfectly happy with that. Minus NBA Live 10, the NBA Live series has been dying since the move to next-gen. To some degree, you could eliminate NBA Live 10 since Mike Want was part of that project. IMHO, NBA 2K unpatched games are still better than NBA Live's best efforts.

The only advantage that EA Sports have with NBA Live/Elite is that they have the marketing funds to make people believe that their version of basketball is better than NBA 2K. I'm pretty sure that 2KSports is aware that EA Sports is working hard on NBA Live 13 (basically a 2-year development cycle), and they're putting just as much effort into NBA 2K13.

[archangelkatana]

I love nba2k, and mlb 2k...I would really enjoy them putting out mlb2k13 with a greatest mode like they did with the nba. They could greatest teams...a few from each era should do...so you could measure teams against world series champions from different years. Or even the AL and NL champs if it went 7 games in that world series.That would be an epic way to end the mlb2k series if this is their last run at it.

I enjoy top spin as well, but once I maxed out my character it got really hard. Its like the game got harder at that point. I could beat serena wiliams and some other players on the way up to level 20, but once I got up to level 20, then even the first round of a tournament got really difficult. But the journey to maxing out a character was fun.

I would love to see them just do roster updates to college 2k8 that are official every year. They could use the same game engine: some of us still play it. I see people make unofficial rosters every year. And I download them. If they made official ones: I would be willing to put some microsoft points towards it, and that could encourage others to buy the software.

I have seen recent private programmers make downloads for apf2k8 football...that made it possible to play with some of the current nfl teams. If the nfl wont let you make a new game, it doesn't mean you cant just do official roster updates and charge microsoft points for them. If they dont have to build a new game engine it wont take as much work for the 2k team. People wont pay 60 bucks for a roster update. But like a shrewd business man told me 100% of nothing is still nothing. It's better to get 1% of what 1000 people do than try to get everything. So if they charged like 5 bucks or 7 dollars for a roster updates, I am sure that has to be worth a couple thousand or more to 2ksports bottom line...and the better the update and if more people play..word gets around ya know....

2k doesnt have to be the best at every sports game, just make sure the sports games they make are outstanding and they will do just fine.

[Retropyro]

Re: Is 2K Sports Fit for Survival?

It's a shame. 2k had so much potential... but EA played dirty like Microsoft has been known to do and basically shut them down. I won't even go in to the NFL thing. We all know how low that move was by EA and how it changed the sports game landscape forever.

Maybe I've forgotten my history here but was it not the NFL & NFLPA who wanted to go to an exclusive license to have more power over the games being made and each company had a chance to bid?

[mlp111]

Maybe I've forgotten my history here but was it not the NFL & NFLPA who wanted to go to an exclusive license to have more power over the games being made and each company had a chance to bid?

thats the problem, yes each company had a chance to bid, but who has the money to compete with EA, smaller companies like 2k and etc can't win a money battle against EA, FIFA alone brings in more revenue than 2ksports probably can on half its games.... there is no competing with EA on a the money aspect, they have too many games thay make that sell and they also advertise for many great games (crysis) that bring in revenue..

[woody2goody]

It's a little unfair to judge NBA 2K12 because of the lockout, when sales would have been at their highest at the start of the season. 2K should focus on Tennis and Basketball and be done with baseball as to be honest, they haven't really shown the same flair for the genre as SCEA have done.