Looking back at All-Pro Football 2K8

[commonlogick]

Just a thought - if OS started a KickStarter for a new All-Pro Football to "hire" Visual Concepts to make the game, with the idea that all the backers would have a % stake in producing/designing the game...

Just saying. Reading the comments about the love of this game - got my eyes a little moist. <sniff>

[Paul316us]

Re: Looking back at All-Pro Football 2K8

Finally some respect for the best football game ever!! All I ever hear is NFL 2k5 is better. NFL 2k5 was good ,but it not the best football game all pro football game is.


Every single legend play like themself. My boy Dan Marino play like himself.


I am puzzle why there hasn't been a other all pro football game.

Each year I buy Madden ,and I always turn back to all pro football ,and get mad ,cus Madden is bad compare to this they could be a Madden 2020 game ,and all pro footbal 2k8 will still top it.

[FaceMask]

Re: Looking back at All-Pro Football 2K8

I agree with a lot of what you say because a lot of it is the truth, 2K simply did not put in their best effort, and what upsets me is how their reports came out basically blaming us (the gamers) for the game not selling.

Now, if I had to choose a game with great gameplay or a game with great modes I'll go with gameplay every day of the week and twice on Sundays, and All-Pro Football 2K8 was that game, even with its exploits it still plays far better than what we've gotten before or since and that's what counts most.

The other day someone who plays football games a lot asked me "what is All-Pro Football?" He never heard of it before! This reminds me of the question you get when you mention BackBreaker. You know what that says to me? It says 2K did a HORRIBLE job of marketing this game. I think we all remember the fiasco that was very public at the time regarding how this game was being marketed. It was so bad at one point that media outlets began reporting on the marketing blunders more than the game itself! Blitz The League 2 only sold like 150,000 copies but most people who play football games knows BTL 2 existed, smh. But there was a learning opportunity here for 2K, an opportunity that I think they became too stubborn and too full of themselves to acknowledge:

1. The game's failure was all of their own doing. They spent too much on legends, and didn't put much into the game's offerings.

2. They charged full price. To recoup expenses they may not have had a choice. But who are we kidding, this game wasn't worth $60. They painted themselves into a corner.

3. Blitz The League 1 for the original XBOX sold over 1.1 Million copies. The game was marketed brilliantly, and despite being an arcade style game it was a BLAST to play. It also had what APF didn't, tons of unlockable items, mini-games, a cool story mode, weekly training of players, and a LEAGUE PRESENCE that made you feel like you were part of something REAL. BTL's league logo and team logos looked professional and real, APF's looked like something rushed and not taken seriously. APF completely failed with that. Did 2K think people wouldn't notice that?

2K glossed over the league presence part to the point of giving the game ZERO identity and that was a killer. They were so worried about pissing off the NFL that the only thing they managed to do was piss off its core fanbase.

Then I'll never forget the very arrogant and abrasive way Jeff Thomas handled the media. Reading some of his interviews you just hoped somebody popped him in the neck. This couldn't have helped reviews any.

2K is sitting over there thinking "We put a football game out and nobody bought it, that's their fault! So they have to prove to US that they want one!" But what 2K should be doing is thinking "We did everything wrong with APF as a product. We blew a golden opportunity. This was our fault for making a half-baked product. But the market is wide open right now. Why don't we do this thing right this time and see what ground we can gain?"

I don't want 2K to end up like Tecmo did where they let their style sit on the shelf forever and then come back rusty and weird like Tecmo did with Tecmo Bowl Throwback. But I fear that this is exactly what's going to happen. I send messages to 2K all the time for a new football game, and I am absolutely appalled and disgusted at some of the project choices 2K makes instead of football. But I realize that because of the now wild success of NBA 2K, 2K becomes less and less inclined to care about football, and clearly 2K has distanced itself from All-Pro Football since you can't even find it as a sold game on the 2K site anymore despite even older 2KSports games being available there.

[FaceMask]

Re: Looking back at All-Pro Football 2K8

^^^ That post was @CM Hooe, by the way.

[FaceMask]

Re: Looking back at All-Pro Football 2K8

Just a thought - if OS started a KickStarter for a new All-Pro Football to "hire" Visual Concepts to make the game, with the idea that all the backers would have a % stake in producing/designing the game...

Just saying. Reading the comments about the love of this game - got my eyes a little moist. <sniff>

Sim football gamers don't support anything that forces them to take action or spend money and that's been proven time and time again over the years.

2K knows there is a market and they know what they have to do to get to it. The question is, do they have the drive and desire while NBA 2K is becoming a sales leader among all sports games in North America? That's the question and I fear the answer is not what we want to hear. Despite that, I still ask 2K Football for a game all the time through emails and social media.

[prey2god]

I really hope 2k comes back w/ a football game. The cult fan favoriting of this game only shows the competency of sports games sans baseball and hockey. Let's be perfectly honest here, they rule and always have ruled the basketball/football genre.

If they come back, I guarantee they would dominate.

[bkrich83]

Re: Looking back at All-Pro Football 2K8

This was the best playing football game ever made. Period. It actually plays like football. My only complaint was the play calling system. It really nailed the fundamentals. Oh, and it actually had refs & nets on the goalposts unlike the first 3 years of that other game.

Totally agree. If it had any off field depth might be the greatest sports game ever. On the field, greatest simulation of football ever, by a landslide.

[illiterateoption]

Re: Looking back at All-Pro Football 2K8

I seriously like every post in this thread. I bought my 360 in 2009 for APF2K8 to be the go-to title and it hasn't failed. In 2010 I convinced the best bro, a Madden player because thats what he knew, to pick it up from his local store...after digging through the bargain bin he found his copy. We have literally spent hours sharing stories of our created teams, classic battles vs the CPU, and playoff positioning amongst the best in the APFL. Crazy, but the individual style of each player, generics included, factored with the way each team plays (Scorpions are primarily a one-back/3-wide team vs the pro-set/west coast style of the sharks) adds to the immersion. Its all about risk/reward and finding the right matchup via formations, etc. If i'm playing the Iron Men - a heavy wide personnel with Dan Marino - I need to play a ton of nickel but they have a good generic RB too that can burn you.

This game would have been even better and more addicting with a franchise mode. Also, imagine if they copied and pasted 2K5's presentation, just without the ESPN logo. They almost did, but I'm talking about the power rankings, stat overlays, weekly league update shows, etc. CRAZY!

I've played virtually every kind of football game on a console and even without a legacy mode - In 2013 - I can tell you I am not slowing down with APF. Players have soul, stadiums are alive, and the CPU won't allow you to simply button mash your way to a win.

Finally, I appreciated how 2K football never sold us on compartments of football like, "true step" or "Vision Cone" or "Run Free with the precision modifier." When playing APF its clear that all players footplant and cut, Tommy Krammer doesn't have the same pinpoint accuracy as Troy Aikman, and once you get to the second level of a defense with Barry Sanders..and you've got a one-one with a FS...you're in control to run free. FOOTBALL is what this game gives us. Not compartments of football.


Please 2K, I'm not saying this to bash EA, but please 2K bring back an APF2K. Its sooo much more fun to play in the APFL than the NFL on a console (and I love the NFL).

[CleatsMaster]

Re: Looking back at All-Pro Football 2K8

^^^ That's one of the other bizarre decisions 2K made: it wasn't even called the APFL, they called it the APL and gave it a God-Awful logo. It should've been the APFL though. How did they not include the "Football" part of their league name? Just strange, and dumb.All-Pro Football was hot on the field, no football game has ever played better. But they made too many ******* mistakes off the field. 2K should come back one more time though. All they have to do is the opposite of all the dumb mistakes they made with APF as a product and the game will sell just enough to be viable.As far as non-NFL licensed games go, Blitz The League 1 is the model of success (over 1 Million copies sold). 2K doesn't have to copy Blitz's over-the-top style arcade gameplay, but they absolutely have to have a real league identity this time around and better logos/uni's/uniform editor. You can't half-*** that sort of thing and expect people to buy the game. People have to be able to connect with it emotionally.

[illiterateoption]

Re: Looking back at All-Pro Football 2K8

I think sharing this video I just found is appropriate...enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5QB8dy9xbE

What makes All Pro Football 2K8 special to you?

[tril]

Re: Looking back at All-Pro Football 2K8

2k should have just created their own legacy/dynasty/association mode with APF2k8.

They could have started it from year 1. how nice would it have been to have a dynasty mode with the user writing the history of the league. teams within said dynasty would be setting and breaking its own records.

I thought this out, and I believe they could have started a league with default rosters or a fantasy with players of varying ages from say 21-35. they could have used the star based system also. As a user you could decide do you draft an unrated young qb, or a gold star 35 year-old qb that could potentially retire at the end of the season.

Younger players would have to develop into a star rated player. so obviously a potential rating would be needed. and as the years moved on, with a salary cap, as well as the APF star rated capped system, a user would have to make decisions of which star rated players to keep or trade. Imagine at the end of say a qbs first contract, he develops into a gold star player, and your roster already has 2 gold star players, who do you trade?

Your decision would would really affect your teams philosophy. In addition, could create some interesting realistic trade scenarios. That gold star qb could basically walk away without a team getting any decent compensation. or you would have to potentially accept a late round draft pick for quality star rated players. talk about realistic.

2k had the tools to really expand on APF2k8. game play was awesome. all they needed was a well thought out interesting Legacy mode.

[regroc88]

if 2k came back rite now with NFL 2k5 with Next Gen Graphics! Madden would be DONE!!

[shogunofharlem3]

Re: Looking back at All-Pro Football 2K8

All these front page articles got me reminiscing. Used to run a small league, 10th St. Football, yup you guessed it, all guys from the same neighborhood. Started with 2k5 then moved on to 2k8.

Used to have a draft day cookout with 2k8, with a preseason at my house. Used to get rowdy, gazillions of beers and arguments.

I went digging through my emails to see if I still had my old stat sheet of the 4 to 5 man league and the four seasons we ran. Man, so fun. What a game(s).

Here is the stat sheet if anyone is bored and thinking of their old leagues.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nzX7SaHht4YUsOYalrcKExusClLSuS__ti-c_5227YU/pubhtml

[HC0023]

Re: Looking back at All-Pro Football 2K8

All these front page articles got me reminiscing. Used to run a small league, 10th St. Football, yup you guessed it, all guys from the same neighborhood. Started with 2k5 then moved on to 2k8.

Used to have a draft day cookout with 2k8, with a preseason at my house. Used to get rowdy, gazillions of beers and arguments.

I went digging through my emails to see if I still had my old stat sheet of the 4 to 5 man league and the four seasons we ran. Man, so fun. What a game(s).

Here is the stat sheet if anyone is bored and thinking of their old leagues.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...5227YU/pubhtml

AWESOME STUFF

[Caesar3k5]

Re: Looking back at All-Pro Football 2K8

I really believe the time is right for 2k bring back APF series with Franchise mode and real coaches.. Another thing they should consider adding more teams and players from defunct football leagues. It would be nice if they relaunch apf2k8 with more players for last decade and Ron erhandt offense, Mike Martz offense, K-Gun and Run-n-shoot to game..