What is the greatest football game of all time? It’s subjective, but the answer you’ll often hear is ESPN NFL 2K5. Released over a decade ago, NFL 2K5 is one of the most beloved sports games of all time, and still seems to be the standard by which every football game is compared to. But why? What exactly makes NFL 2K5 stand above the rest? Why are people so attached to it? To figure that out, we need start at the beginning…
Visual Concepts, a northern California studio, is known today for their work on the many 2K sports series. However, Visual Concepts started out developing games for the Apple II and DOS platforms, before making their way to Sega and Nintendo consoles. VC developed notable games like ClayFighter, Taz-Mania, and Lester the Unlikely. But it was their work with Electronic Arts that serves more interesting to our story.
EA commissioned Visual Concepts to develop Madden NFL ‘94. Soon after that, more work was thrown VC’s way and they were responsible for Bill Walsh College Football, NHL ‘95, MLBPA Baseball, Madden NFL ‘95, and the game that kickstarted Visual Concepts move to the NFL 2K series: Madden NFL ‘96.
Visual Concepts was assigned the task of developing the first Madden game for the recently released Playstation console, while Tiburon would work on the the Super Nintendo and Genesis versions. While the SNES and Genesis version of Madden ‘96 would release on November 30th, 1995 and was well received, the Playstation version hit many roadblocks and EA was not pleased with the quality of the game Visual Concepts had produced. The Playstation version was cancelled and EA and Visual Concepts would part ways, making Tiburon the new main developer for the Madden franchise.
Visual Concepts would move on to the NBA next, developing what was essentially the same game for two different publishers. NBA Fastbreak ‘98 on Playstation for Midway, and NBA Action ‘98 on SEGA Saturn for SEGA under their SEGA Sports label. Neither game was spoken extremely well of, but that would not be a sign of things to come from Visual Concepts.
After the poor start for the SEGA Saturn, SEGA quickly started work on developing their next console: The Dreamcast. The Dreamcast would focus on innovation. SEGA wanted to break Online Gaming into the mainstream and get people connected through their consoles. To do that, they would need the support of highly successful competition-based games like the Madden NFL franchise. However, due to the failure of the SEGA Saturn, Electronic Arts refused to develop games for the Dreamcast.
Feeling they needed an NFL game for the North American market, SEGA would turn to Visual Concepts to start their own franchise…
9.9.99 was a date that gamers will remember their whole lives through. September 9th, 1999 was the launch date for the SEGA Dreamcast, and with it came an impressive list of launch titles, including Power Stone, Ready to Rumble Boxing, and Sonic Adventure. But there was one game that spawned a successful franchise for SEGA for the next 5 years: NFL 2K.
The first thing NFL 2K did to make an impact was to sign the hottest young WR in the NFL to be their cover athlete. Randy Moss had just come off one of the most amazing rookie seasons in NFL history, and now the receiver popular among kids and adults alike was on the cover of one of SEGA’s launch titles. The Marketing continued to roll in the right direction with memorable commercials consisting characters from different Dreamcast games interacting in genuinely funny TV spots.
More good news hit when the reviews began rolling in. IGN gave NFL 2K a near-perfect score, only knocking points off for the game’s lack of a Franchise Mode. And other gaming sites followed suit. NFL 2K was a critical success. Visually, there was nothing else like it on the market. From a gameplay standpoint, if offered a fun, realistic football experience, while Madden 2000 was clunky and looked poor still using the Playstation and Nintendo 64 hardware. Visual Concepts made the follow up game even better. NFL 2K1 added in a Franchise Mode and pushed online games with rival fans across the nation. However, NFL 2K1 suffered from something out of Visual Concepts’ control…
On October 26th, 2000, Sony released the Playstation 2, just under 2 months after NFL 2K1’s release. Even before the PS2 launched, EA released Madden 2001 for the new console, and it was apparent that the Dreamcast, after only a year in the market, was technically obsolete. Though Madden 2001’s gameplay was stiff and slow, it looked a lot better than NFL 2K1’s jagged polygons and framerate stutters. Add to that the fact that the PS2 could play DVD’s at a time where DVD players were expensive, and the Dreamcast, or any of it’s exclusive games, didn’t stand a chance. SEGA soon got out of the hardware business and switched their focus to software.
Luckily for football gamers, that meant keeping the NFL 2K franchise going. While still attempting to support the Dreamcast, SEGA released NFL 2K2 on the Playstation 2, XBOX, AND the Dreamcast consoles. While the Dreamcast version’s score continued to lower because of the technical limitations of the Dreamcast hardware, the PS2 and XBOX versions of the game were even more scrutinized for lacking much “style” and having a counter-intuitive menu system. The graphics were good, however, and the gameplay remained the best in the market, although a little more stiff than the Dreamcast versions.
In 2002, SEGA would partner up with ESPN, and NFL 2K3 would implement ESPN-style presentation to their menus, overlays, and audio commentary. The game featured a weekly wrap-up show, keeping you filled in with the rest of the league in Franchise Mode. Visual Concepts also spiced up the menu system a bit. The reviews applauded the effort put in from one year to the next, and the NFL 2K series was back on track to being competitive with Madden, and this time on the same playing field, but Madden still reigned in both reviews and sales.
For the 2003 season, Visual Concepts would create a feature for their newly titled ESPN NFL Football (aka NFL 2K4) that would be a big gamble. First Person Football would put you inside the helmet of your favorite NFL star. The sights and sounds of the field on an NFL Gameday would be represented, and players would have to use only the peripheral vision of their player to play the game. At first, First Person Football was a hit with critics for it’s groundbreaking vision, but over time, the flaws were apparent. It was incredibly difficult for the average consumer to play through a whole game with the discombobulating view, and most never touched the feature after their initial experience. Still, Visual Concepts continued to work on presentation and menus, while also improving the running game. The game reviewed well, but Madden always seem to be a step ahead.
Madden 2004 introduced one of the most popular features in it’s franchises history: Owner Mode. Now, on top of doing everything you’d normally do in Madden’s highly touted Franchise Mode, you’d also be able to control the financials of your team. Madden 2004 allowed you to set prices for tickets, food, and merchandise, relocate your team, build a new stadium, and acquire sponsorships. Owner mode gave you control like no other game before it. On top of that, Madden 2004 continued to loosen up the stiff gameplay and introduced Playmaker controls, allowing you to tell your CPU blockers where to block next if you were on the run or tell WR’s to get open if they were stuck in coverage. Madden 2004 was deemed the funnest game in the series to that date, but Tiburon wasn’t done there. Going into 2004, Madden NFL 2005 and NFL 2K5 were set for their biggest bout, but little did we know it would be their last under their current identities…
Like Playmaker Controls the year before, Tiburon set out to create a control feature that would add fun and excitement, this time for the Defense. The Hit Stick would make it’s debut and EA would recruit the most popular defensive player to be on that years cover. In fact, up to that point, Rey Lewis was the ONLY defensive player to be on the cover of Madden, ever. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Tiburon also completely remodeled the way their game looked. New player designs made it look like players were actually wearing their pads as opposed to the pads looking like an extension of their body and had a physical heft to them. A new lighting system showed us detail in the skies and transitions from afternoon into evening. An overall polish was put on textures as well. And when many thought it was going to be tough to top Madden 2004’s Owner Mode, Tiburon added in a Radio Show hosted by real life radio persona Tony Bruno, and a Newspaper information center sponsored by USA Today. Madden 2005 had all the momentum going into late-summer, a mere months before release. NFL 2K5 was looking like the early loser, that is until SEGA’s guerilla release tactics changed the whole landscape.
On July 20th, 2004, SEGA released ESPN NFL 2K5, three weeks earlier than Madden NFL 2005. Not only did 2K5 get a solid jump on the release, SEGA did something that was unthinkable at the time. NFL 2K5 was sold at the bargain bin price of $19.99, $30 less than it’s normal retail price. The response from gamers was overwhelmingly positive. Not only was SEGA able to get their game in the hands of more gamers, but they also won a lot of respect from them as well. It was a smart move by SEGA.
NFL 2K5 sold well out the gates, but even with the jump and the price point, Madden still made more money. Even still, EA saw two interesting things happen: 1) Even though Madden 2005 made more money, the units sold were about even when adjusting for the price difference and 2) 2K5 had found a home with XBOX gamers, something that the Madden franchise struggled to do, mainly due to EA and Microsoft’s differences of opinion with Online Gaming. EA had invested substantial funds into their own online service before XBOX Live had hit the market, and didn’t want to surrender their online control to Microsoft, who hosted servers for all their online games from different publishers. EA and Microsoft WOULD come to an agreement to get Madden 2005 on XBOX Live, but it may have been a bit too late for most online gamers.
With NFL 2K5 now in the hands of more consumers, players started to see the substantial difference in graphics and presentation from Madden 2005. The differences were off the charts. The heat coming from SEGA’s new price point and with the impending Holiday Season right around the corner, EA decided to drop Madden 2005’s price to 29.99 to compete with 2K5. SEGA had EA sweating for the first time since EA’s battle with Sony’s Gameday 98, but it would be EA who would get the last laugh, and they wouldn’t have to wait long.
On December 13th, 2004, the NFL announced they had signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Electronic Arts. For the next five years, EA would pay the NFL for the video game rights to the NFL’s teams, stadiums, and players and would encompass action, simulation, arcade-style, and manager games made for PCs, consoles, and handhelds. This was the fatal blow to NFL 2K as we knew it…
Soon after, EA announced it had signed a 15 year contract with ESPN to feature their brand of presentation in all EA Sports titles. Madden saw very little ESPN implementation, but games like NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball had their fair share.
In January of 2005, a deal was struck between SEGA and Take Two Interactive. For $24m cash, Take Two bought Visual Concepts and KUSH Games from SEGA. The deal included rights to intellectual properties associated with all the SEGA Sports titles, as well as the “2K” brand name. NFL 2K would never be published under the 2K label; ironic seeing as how the NFL 2K series was the main reason for the 2K brand’s success.
Take Two would green-light a unlicensed football game called All Pro Football 2K8, featuring legendary former NFL players, but it would not go well. However, that’s a story for another time.
For now, we look at NFL 2K5, and I’ll ask the same questions I did at the beginning:
Released over a decade ago, NFL 2K5 is one of the most beloved sports games of all time, and still seems to be the standard by which every football game is compared to. But why? What exactly makes NFL 2K5 stand above the rest? Why are people so attached to it?
2K5 was not built in one year. It was built on a great foundation, starting in 1999. It adapted. NFL 2K kept it’s vision and meddled in the details. Visual Concepts knew they’d probably never overtake Madden, but that didn’t stop them from putting the love and careful detail into each and every one of their games.
One of 2K5’s best features is their weekly SportsCenter wrap-up in Franchise Mode, but NFL 2K3 had one as well. As did 2K4. The graphics largely stayed the same the whole time on PS2 and XBOX. The announcers were as delightful in NFL 2K as they are in 2K5. So why is 2K5 held up as the benchmark?
It was everything outside the game that helped 2K5 earn reverence with gamers. It was the low price point. It was the early release. It was staying true to the foundation Visual Concepts created. It’s the theory that NFL 2K5 was so good in everything it did, that it nearly knocked over the giant that was Madden NFL. It was the heartbreak of monopoly. NFL 2K5 is so much more than just another football game. It’s a reflection of both the good and the ugly side of corporate America and the video game industry. It’s the beauty of one last goodbye.
Will we ever see it return? I hope so. I don’t expect it to ever come back. And I’ll deal with that by popping it in every now and again, just to remember a time when we had a choice between our NFL video games. Just to appreciate the incredible effort from Visual Concepts. But more so than all of that, play a video game that still holds up to this very day.
This was the Legend of NFL 2K5.