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FYI - ESPN 2K5 releasing early


Kilmer

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a lot of people will try it out I feel. However, I think the early release date is too early. I know you can download upgraded rosters, but what about people who dont have internet connection through their PS2/XBox or the software/hardware to transfer to the PS2 from the computer? 20$ is pretty easy to mess with though.

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FYI on game release dates... the retailers guesstimate the date so they can pre sell the games UNLESS you see "gone gold" which means the cd's are actually being printed. Once it says "gone gold", the game will hit shelves a week later.

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Originally posted by Kilmer

THQ is handling this release, you are right, that is probably the difference.

Operation Sports said to expect monthly updates of rosters, they seem to have worked out a QA problem they had with Microsoft and Live last year. I will believe it when I see it.

Action Replay is the way to go if you want up to date rosters for your Xbox, hopefully there will be more active roster makers this year on Xbox for ESPN. Not too many around for ESPN 2004.

I don't wanna sound like an ass or anything but Sega and Take 2 interactive are co-publishing the game not THQ.

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As far as rosters are concerned (for XBox at least), yourselves a favor and buy an Action Replay card for 20 bucks. You plug it into your USB drive, hook up to their site, and download all kinds of saved stuff for free. There are tons of rosters on there for any sports game. People update them all the time and submit them for the masses.

There's even a guy (DT Lindner) that has his own site - ncaarosters.com - dedicated to this. You can download his stuff for free, load it to your AR card and then plug the card into your XBox controller and have any kind of roster you want. He has rosters for NCAA football with every player's name in it. He also has Madden, ESPN, and baseball rosters.

You can also download people's profiles with everything unlocked (from the Action Replay site), or download cheat codes for games. Well worth the $20 for the Action Replay card.

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I don't wanna sound like an ass or anything but Sega and Take 2 interactive are co-publishing the game not THQ.

...at least both companies started with a T. ;) I am not sure what "co-publishing" means, but whoever is making the decisions is doing much better this year in tackling Madden's market share.

I second the Diesel's recommendation of the Action Replay, well designed device. Especially great for NCAA rosters since you won't get any named rosters from EA. I also have the Sharkport(now X-Port I think) for the PS2, not as well designed because you have to bring the whole damn PS2 to your PC, but it works too.

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A few comments...

The official site is customarily slow wit this sort of thing, however, the 7-20 date is solid.

As far as rosters are concerned, you have to realize eventually all rosters will become outdated - that is unless they wait till after the trade deadline to release the game. Online is one optoin to update, action replay and like devices are another, or you can just buy the monthly issue of OXM or OPM that carries the updates on demo disk.

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Originally posted by Redskin11

NO! :( I cant wait till Madden comes out! I hope this forces an earlier release for Madden. :(

Ditto Baby! I've had my madden ordered for two months now. i don't care what it costs. Madden is #1 and will continue to be in my book. ESPN could sell for $1 and still couldn't compete.

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Just to clear the air about who is making/publishing/distributing and decision maker for this thing.

Sega is the publisher while Visual Concepts is the game's developer. In an effort to reach more people with their games Sega decided to bring on a partner in Take Two who has a bigger distribution and marketing presence. Thus many of these decisions are being made jointly. The fact that Sega has brought in Take Two allows them as a team to lower the price and still be able to break even at least.

Basically Sega needed some help getting the product to more people and Take Two has allowed them to broaden their marketing strategies.

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Originally posted by DCMONEY

Ditto Baby! I've had my madden ordered for two months now. i don't care what it costs. Madden is #1 and will continue to be in my book. ESPN could sell for $1 and still couldn't compete.

Glad to see you have an open mind about it. :doh:

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Originally posted by DCMONEY

Ditto Baby! I've had my madden ordered for two months now. i don't care what it costs. Madden is #1 and will continue to be in my book. ESPN could sell for $1 and still couldn't compete.

I have to agree, I've been playing the 2K series since '99 and Madden since the Xband days on the Sega Genesis, even though it's the best of the Madden competitors it just can't match the Madden franchise which is why they are releasing it earlier this year with a reduced price, Madden 2004 sold over 2million copies in just 3 weeks, while The NKF2k series sold just 400,000 copies.

This is why the ESPN game is releasing early, to get early momentum on sales before EA releases Madden, but with NCAA 2005 coming out it's still gonna have low sales figures because it has to compete with that and Madden, because most diehard Madden players buy the NCAA series before Madden releases because of the gameplay similarities and the ability to draft players from NCAA into Madden in the franchise mode

:cheers:

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Wrong. It is releasing early and at such a low price to make blind people see the light. People have been playing Madden for so long they just buy it out of habit now. I was the same way. I always hated ESPN, until I played 2004 after I got bored playing Madden 2004 (which was basically 2003 all over again). I was shocked by how good it was. Gameplay was on the same level (liked Madden better for some aspects, ESPN for others) and it absolutely crushed Madden in the graphics department. One thing that did bother me was the sometime herky-jerky player movement, which they have supposedly fixed in 2005.

Both games are great. Last year most objective gamers (those who weren't wedded to Madden like it was a family member) could see ESPN was almost as good, as good, or better depending on what you look for in a football game. This year, judging by the early reviews, ESPN has actually topped Madden in all departments. Their strategy -- and it's a smart one -- is to basically make people take a look at the game this year. If they do, they will finally admit what it took me so long to do: ESPN is as good, if not better than Madden.

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Originally posted by Hooper

Wrong. It is releasing early and at such a low price to make blind people see the light. People have been playing Madden for so long they just buy it out of habit now.

This is why I don't post in these Game threads..LOL.... I posted hard numbers and figures that can't be argued. When it comes to video games people buy the games that are good not because of a name or what they have done in the past!. NFL2k does have better graphics, actually they always have since the Dreamcast days but the gameplay, AI and player movement could not compete with Madden and that's what the true ballers are looking at, not a game that is geared towards the casual gamer that is looking to just pick up the sticks and play a game with good graphics which NF2k is but.......nevermind .... Sales figures don't lie and sales numbers dictates what the overal gamer base says is the better game by what a 5 to 1 margin...

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Like I said, they're both great. I simply got bored of Madden -- how much has it really changed over the years? -- and started playing ESPN. Madden is the most popular one because it has been around forever and was always been heads and shoulders above the rest -- until last year, when those with open minds saw the light. This year ESPN is supposed to be even better. Of course, I'm sure I'll get bored of it like I did Madden and then I'll have to switch back. With ESPN costing so little, why not?

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I'm not married to Madden, but I've bought that recently over ESPN. I think they're going after people like me...people who usually buy madden who have only played ESPN briefly in a store or @ a friends house. They believe that if they make the game cheap enough and sent it out early, people will flock to it...And they are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. I probably wouldn't have ever tried ESPN, but for 20 bucks, I'll look for it the day it comes out!

It will probably have to blow my mind to take me away from Madden, though.

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Welcome Maddenites, You are about to witness a realistic football gaming experience. Do not enter this door if you are not serious about football gaming, or if you think a 10 year old could consistently beat an adult with true football knowledge and game planning skill. Just beyond this door will be the solution to money plays, it's called computer AI. I must warn you, this is not for the weak converter just interested in seeing what's behind this door for you are likely to sustain injuries to the ego. You will not be able sell hotdogs in your franchise seasons behind this door, but you will be able view your opponents tendencies before you accept the challenge. Finally, for those of you that are minors and enjoy talking smack to whomever you play regardless of the fact that they are beating the heck out of you on the field, you will be banned. -This Revolution Will Be Televised- Gamer Tag: THE_2K_ASASSIN

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