Press Row Podcast - Is NBA 2K Bigger Than Madden?

[Steve_OS]

It’s the 122nd episode of the Press Row Podcast, featuring a near-complete panel diving into two significant topics. Up first, the crew examines how Diamond Dynasty seems to (so far, at least) be a significant focus for MLB 15 The Show. Included in this segment, Samit Sarkar describes his initial impressions of The Show from a media event he attended. Up next, it’s the question that set off a raging debate this week – is NBA 2K bigger than Madden? Owen Good and Kat Bailey have written compelling pieces about it (spurred by an interview with Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick), and they, along with the rest of the team, have an intense discussion about whether or not this is the case.

Joining us this week:

• Bryan Wiedey, PastaPadre (@pastapadre)
• Owen Good, Polygon (@owengood)
• Kat Bailey, US Gamer (@The_Katbot)
• Chris Sanner, Operation Sports (@ChrisSnr)
• Samit Sarkar, Polygon (@samitsarkar)
• And your host, Richard Grisham, GamesRadar/OXM/@GAMER (@richgrisham)

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Run Time: 1 Hour, 25 Minutes

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[tsbmolina]

I wrote a blog about this a year and a half ago http://www.operationsports.com/tsbmo...-sports-genre/ No one would have ever imagined the day this would happen yet here we are. Madden has been dethroned.

[tbook24]

no 2k isn't bigger. there are some that still prefer live. only game bigger than madden in the sports gaming world is FIFA. football is still king over basketball.

[thatruth2015]

Yeah this broadcast was dumb. I'm almost positive half the panel hasn't played 2k15 especially post patch 3. 2k has gotten worse in gameplay, online lag, canimations, online connectivity, since 2k11. It has legacy issue since post 2k11 such as terrible rebound logic, skate board defense, charge cheese, shotclock cheese, comback cheese, etc. Post patch 3 the devs tried to fix defense by ******ing offensive movement and increasing input delay. These commentary folks here on OS are not reading all the feedback here nor on YouTube, Facebook, nor Amazon..nba2k15 post patch 3 will mark the downfall of this title. They have indeed rested on their laurels

[the veteran]

Great job guys the Podcast sounds great, what equipment do you guys use?

[thatruth2015]

What? "Podcasts sounds great, what equipment do you use"! WTF?! This it's Operation Sports not a radio shack forum. This site it's dedicated to sports gaming maan..

[spidertour02]

Is NBA 2K bigger than Madden? Of course not. One look at the yearly sales charts quickly proves it.

For 2014, Madden 15 was the second-highest selling game -- only Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare outsold it. Yes, Madden outsold Destiny, Super Smash Bros., Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed, and every other big-name challenger. For comparison, NBA 2K15 placed #7 on the chart -- very good, obviously, but not even close to Madden.

[jyoung]

Re: Press Row Podcast - Is NBA 2K Bigger Than Madden?

Is NBA 2K bigger than Madden? Of course not. One look at the yearly sales charts quickly proves it.

For 2014, Madden 15 was the second-highest selling game -- only Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare outsold it. Yes, Madden outsold Destiny, Super Smash Bros., Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed, and every other big-name challenger. For comparison, NBA 2K15 placed #7 on the chart -- very good, obviously, but not even close to Madden.

The charts you're referring to (NPD) only track North American retail sales from a limited selection of major retail chains. NPD's charts don't account for digital downloads, microtransaction revenue, or any copies sold outside North America.

Plus NPD just ranks games 1 through 10, without making their actual sales numbers or revenue numbers public. The gap between seeds could be huge, or it could be small. NPD never shares that info.

I wouldn't place too much value on NPD charts, these days. Games are making money in a lot more places around the world, and in a lot more ways than they did in the 1980s - 1990s.

[Cabish]

I think so, personally I have never liked madden...I played joe Montana over madden,then I stopped playing football games,gave blitz,game day and couple games a shot..until nfl2k came out & was the perfect match for my hands and eyes..I played that nfl2k like religion and never even wondered if their was a game name madden....ever since the licenseing drama I stopped playing football games again....I honestly think nba2k gets more recognition than madden as a sports games and I'm glad for the Visual concepts team..its taken over as the more recognizable brand,when you walk in a GameStop you realize it:

[rkocjay]

Madden is bigger because its by far the more popular sport and gets the most hype and criticized. But i believe that nba2k is a better game maybe because basketball is easier to make

[tsbmolina]

Re: Press Row Podcast - Is NBA 2K Bigger Than Madden?

To the lady in the podcast of course you hear Madden referenced more among NFL players then you do NBA 2K among NBA players. It's a 52 player roster compared to NBA's 12 player roster and the NFL has two more teams! Come on, that's 1664 NFL player's compared to NBA's 360 players. Of course there are going to be more players referencing Madden in that league compared to NBA players referencing NBA 2K. What a horrible argument.

[tsbmolina]

Re: Press Row Podcast - Is NBA 2K Bigger Than Madden?

Madden is bigger because its by far the more popular sport and gets the most hype and criticized. But i believe that nba2k is a better game maybe because basketball is easier to make

If NBA was easier to make then football, EA one of the most money strapped top tier developers in the world wouldn't be failing so miserably with NBA Live for the past 5 years!

[SamuraiX]

Don't know bout you guys but I know way more people that play 2k than Madden. It seems like there's only a certain group of people that play madden while 2k is the go to game dudes compete in.

[kjcheezhead]

Re: Press Row Podcast - Is NBA 2K Bigger Than Madden?

Is NBA 2K bigger than Madden? Of course not. One look at the yearly sales charts quickly proves it.

For 2014, Madden 15 was the second-highest selling game -- only Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare outsold it. Yes, Madden outsold Destiny, Super Smash Bros., Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed, and every other big-name challenger. For comparison, NBA 2K15 placed #7 on the chart -- very good, obviously, but not even close to Madden.

It's not all about sales, just like the podcast explains. Metacritic scores of the games and league popularity have to be taken into account. According to a Harris poll, 36% of Americans say NFL football is their favorite league and only 6% say the NBA is.

http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/story?storyId=10354114&src=desktop

By those numbers, Madden should be outselling the NBA almost 6-1, but it's not. Also, like they said, NBA 2k has a competitor in EA live and Madden has none. Madden out performs in sales because people love football. I think Madden has slipped to fourth behind FIFA, NBA2K, and The Show in actual sports game quality. It was dethroned when the ps2 became obsolete.

[cmehustle]

To the lady in the podcast of course you hear Madden referenced more among NFL players then you do NBA 2K among NBA players. It's a 52 player roster compared to NBA's 12 player roster and the NFL has two more teams! Come on, that's 1664 NFL player's compared to NBA's 360 players. Of course there are going to be more players referencing Madden in that league compared to NBA players referencing NBA 2K. What a horrible argument.

I agree with your point, but in the nfl counting practice squad members there are 61 players per 32 teams =1952 players. Im not sure where the 12 comes from for the NBA, maybe what used to be 12 active players? Nowadays teams have 13 active and can have up to 15 on there rosters (2 inactive) = 450. Again though I do understand the point you were trying to make.