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[Lil' Dice]

http://xbox.ign.com/articles/538/538246p1.html


August 12, 2004 - ESPN Videogames today announced their cover athlete and spokesman for the upcoming ESPN NBA 2K5. And the winner is…Detroit Pistons center, Ben Wallace.


"When it comes to selecting our cover athlete, it's all about finding a player that embodies the passion and commitment that we put forth in creating ESPN NBA 2K5," said Greg Thomas, president of Visual Concepts - makers of ESPN Videogames. "As we continue to deliver the highest rated NBA video game, Wallace's leadership and unbridled tenacity perfectly represents our brand."

"I've been a fan of ESPN Videogames for a long time," said Ben Wallace. "I have been in their television commercials for the past two years, so I was honored when they asked me to appear on the cover of ESPN NBA 2K5."

ESPN Videogames' ESPN NFL 2K5 has already sold over one-million copies due in large part to its reduced price point of $19.99 which will also extend to ESPN NBA 2K5 and ESPN NHL 2K5. This year's hard-court addition will feature an improved A.I. called Reactive Court Sense which allows players to independently react to their opponent's actions.

ESPN NBA 2K5 will be released to round ball addicts everywhere this October. Meantime, check out the screenshots we have including one of the man himself. Stay tuned.

-- James B. Pringle
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That's good news, one can only appreciate having more than one football game to choose from....

 

[Meier]

I bet $136,932 that is just the number shipped... and we all know that NFL2k3 shipped over 2 million copies and still hasnt sold em all, hah.

 

[T-1000_Model3]

Good for Sega,they haven't had a million seller in North America in awhile right?
I know its asking allot,but hopefully OutRun2 does some great numbers as well.

 

[DMczaf]

I bet $136,932 that is just the number shipped... and we all know that NFL2k3 shipped over 2 million copies and still hasnt sold em all, hah.

http://ebgames.com/ebx/product/220320.asp

You missed your chance! It was $2.99!

 

[Mr_Furious]

I bet $136,932 that is just the number shipped... hah.

I'm not so sure. I've heard from numerous sources that ESPN NFL 2K5 has been flying off the shelves at various stores in my area. It's selling REALLY well.

 

[Mrbob]

The barrage of advertising is probably helping too. I see way too much of TO on tv lately, and I hardly watch television.

YO THIS IS TO.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I bet $136,932 that is just the number shipped... and we all know that NFL2k3 shipped over 2 million copies and still hasnt sold em all, hah.

NPD is next week, so we'll get a feel for it then. In the meantime....

*bookmarks thread*

 

[Dave Long]

NFL2K5 sure does look better than Madden in the commercials. I'm not a hardcore football guy. Will NFL2K5 be a good choice on PS2 if I grab the broadband adapter for some online play?

 

[Mrbob]

Yes.

There are some problems with the game online (Mainly DB AI is total crap) but for casually playing I think you'll have some fun.

 

[SyNapSe]

I think ESPN NFL 2k5 will enjoy at least decent sales.. we'll see with NPD.

 

[Dave Long]

Cool. Thanks, Bob!

 

[myzhi]

Sorry, but Sega went from AI to Ben Wallace? In popularity, AI>>>>>>>>>>>Wallace.

 

[Suikoguy]

you know.. this may sound crazy, but it almost seems as if ESPN sold better then madden... but its hard to tell cause of the hurricane

But one thing is for sure, it did FAR better this year

 

[ShadowRed]

I bet 900,000 copies went back as trade in for Madden 2k5.

 

[Seth C]

Can't wait to play as Tayshaun!

 

[CrimsonSkies]

I miss the Best Buy Sales data from last year.

 

[Optimistic]

I think ESPN NFL 2k5 will enjoy at least decent sales.. we'll see with NPD.

Thanks for that incredible insight, genius, but if you'd actually read the above article you'd see that it has already sold a million.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

i guarantee madden has sold 3-5 million copies spanning across all 3 platforms. ESPN won't match that, even if their game was $5.

but this is good news for VC. not only are they making a bigger profit, they are getting people to try out their game. good job

 

[Musashi Wins!]

I bet 900,000 copies went back as trade in for Madden 2k5.

An amazing number came in for trade on Madden release night. Still sells though.

As regards Ben Wallace...I'll buy it just for that

 

[nitewulf]

Good for Sega,they haven't had a million seller in North America in awhile right?
I know its asking allot,but hopefully OutRun2 does some great numbers as well.

outrun 2, sell one million?

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...ahem.
sorry...lost it there for a while...carry on.

 

[OG_Original Gamer]

I bet 900,000 copies went back as trade in for Madden 2k5.

I doubt it, the game is fun and has great graphics. It all depends on how many die hard Madden fans are on the Xbox.

 

[sprsk]

at my gamestop we have sold a considerable amount of copies, and i dont think weve had one trade in yet. we're a college town though, so madden isnt a big deal around here.

 

[The Faceless Master]

well, i hope this shows that the $20 price point for annual sports games is viable

 

[Meier]

It might be good for sales but whether or not its viable is another story. For every million copies they sell, EA is making the same amount for 400,000 copies of Madden.. and developing an NFL game with a full player's license cant exactly be cheap.

 

[Mrbob]

It might be good for sales but whether or not its viable is another story. For every million copies they sell, EA is making the same amount for 400,000 copies of Madden.. and developing an NFL game with a full player's license cant exactly be cheap.

Well, if they have sold through one million + copies, they have already made more money with ESPN2K5 than they did with ESPN2K4.

 

[Cerebral Palsy]

ESPN deserves it. It's really a great game. I just wish they would have held it back a week and tried to squash a couple of the bugs. Two or three bug fixes and the game would be pure nirvana.

 

[Meier]

Well, if they have sold through one million + copies, they have already made more money with ESPN2K5 than they did with ESPN2K4.

Hard to say as we dont know how many copies retailers bought of it. I would certainly be willing to bet it was a minimum of 500k copies though considering how fast its price dropped. This number is most certainly the shipped number too.

 

[={<SMOKE>}=]

i think the $20 price point has already helped sega enormously. i'm seeing tons of topics all over the net and hearing a lot of conversations regarding 2K5. it seems like a lot of people are enjoying it. of course, there's always the hardcore madden fan saying, "madden kills 2k5 in gameplay".

i'm not a huge sports gamer, but i enjoy the 2k series much more than i do madden. i have more fun playing espn.

i think that some people have been playing madden for so long that they don't want to like anything else. i think the $20 price point should help sega in that regard.

 

[FitzOfRage]

well, i hope this shows that the $20 price point for annual sports games is viable

I think the timing is also a big part of it this year. Last year they decided to launch almost a month after EA, and the year before they made a big deal about launching at the same time, and neither one worked out well. If they had gone head to head, or launched in Madden's wake again, they probably wouldn't have done as well.

 

[T-1000_Model3]

outrun 2, sell one million?

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...ahem.
sorry...lost it there for a while...carry on.

Ofcourse it won't sell a million. But I'd say a good optimistic number would be around 300-400,000. Though thats still gonna be tough,the Xbox is the console for the best racers this generation. They'd have to pump this game up with a great add campaign just to get people to notice that this game exists during the holiday gaming bltz that is coming.

Maybe they should have released this game on other consoles I guess,but I'm now getting into areas I hate to even speak about-sales charts. Bleh. I'm just saying that overall,they deserve to be rewarded for this game,and I hope that Xbox owners due their part. So far that really hasn't been the case for Sega, its sad really. And yet I'm glad that it came to the Xbox,one of the reasons being this game is gonna be sooooo good over Xbox Live.

 

[nitewulf]

its their best game in a while, and i hope it does well, it deserves to. this is a polished game w/ extra content.
but after everything is said and done, its an old school arcade racer, i dont think it'll sell well.
not in this day and age of gaming.

 

[Blackace]

"When it comes to selecting our cover athlete, it's all about finding a player that embodies the passion and commitment that we put forth in creating ESPN NBA 2K5,"

That part made laugh when I thought about last year's efforts.... So by this reasoning... last year should have had.. Fred Hoiberg on the cover

 

[T-1000_Model3]

its their best game in a while, and i hope it does well, it deserves to. this is a polished game w/ extra content.
but after everything is said and done, its an old school arcade racer, i dont think it'll sell well.
not in this day and age of gaming.

You pretty much nailed what I'm feeling here. This game is of old Sega here,its got some good legs within it with all the play modes and quality time being put ino the game. Its easy to forget that games like Daytona,Sega Rally,and Virtua Racing came after this old franchise. OutRun paved the way for those to come along,and now with its sequel it looks to expand on what those games added to the genre in their day. All while as you said,this looks to be Sega's best game to come along in quite some time.

Their last great racer would be Sega Rally 2 from 1999 for me,or maybe DCs Daytona Online,depending on whether you liked the games handling or not. Good point about the arcade side to this game,it can still sell to the mainstream,but yeah there really aren't enough cars,tracks, or upgrading to have this one stand out for the impulse buying public.

A part of me really doesn't care though,sales are probably gonna be bad,its the game that matters. I just try to phaze out the sales area of gaming,it doesn't seem to help in making a game better or worse anyway. I hope that Sega are rewarded though,they deserve this game to go over well.

 

[bloke]

Outrun 2 will sell good in UK and rest of Europe, in US I doubt it will sell even 100k.
Anway do carry on with 2k5 conversation.

 

[Vgamer]

hmm IGN seems to have removed the part about NFL2k5 having sold a million copies in that article. Clink on the link and see. Interesting... Maybe IGN spoke to soon? Hope not as NFL2k5 is a great game!

 

[Lazy8s]

2K5's sales should sustain better than past iterations have because it's an attractive product with a low pricepoint which is actually its regular price and not the sign of liquidation it has been in past years. Now that the wait for Madden is over, the two products are put into direct comparison, and there's still a lot of positive association with 2K5.

 

[DMczaf]

hmm IGN seems to have removed the part about NFL2k5 having sold a million copies in that article. Clink on the link and see. Interesting... Maybe IGN spoke to soon? Hope not as NFL2k5 is a great game!

LOL

Uh oh

 

[Ramirez]

Retarded DBs rejoice!

 

[sc0la]

At our gamestop madden is actually selling slower than last year.

ESPN was poppin. I think SEGA made a good move *shock*

Madden will still crush it overall, but SEGA made an interesting gamble/experiment and I think it paid off in some ways.

 

[DMczaf]

You know, there is a co-publisher.

Those guys who published GTA...

 

[Ramirez]

EA should buy VC out then they could work together and fix each others problems

 

[Malleymal]

You know, there is a co-publisher.

Those guys who published GTA...

They should have put the demo to GTA san Andreas as an unlockable in the crib mode....


sales skyrocket

 

[B E N K E]

Take 2 is publishing the game in Europe. Sega Europe has nothing to do with ESPN. "An offer to good to refuse (money wise)" was the reason. I don't know about the USA, but it's certainly possible Sega was already home with development costs before the title went on sale.

 

[Lazy8s]

This will be the first year since 2001 that SEGA's fiscal reports won't have to note that sales projections were missed largely from overly optimistic expectations of the sports 2K line. Buy SEGA stock now before the merger.

 

[BlackClouds]

You know, there is a co-publisher.

Those guys who published GTA...

With all due respect, I can't even find that co publisher on the box, or in the advertisements. If it's there, it's well hidden. If it's hidden from me, then you know damn well the casuals won't even begin to notice.

I'm glad Sega did what they had to do, showing a lot of faith in their product. A very small risk of their game being thought of as a budget game when they have the much better looking, more expensive looking graphics and presentation. There's an increased preceived value there. Usually budget games have ugly graphics to go along with the lackluster gameplay. Looks like an all around great move.

And Madden is going to get his...this is about carving out a big enough pie to survive in 2nd place (for the time being,Sega is hoping). Can't just let EA take ALL the sales without a fight. Otherwise, even if EA makes a shit game, they can always come back the next year saying "new and improved like Madden '94". EA did that so well with their marketing with Triple play to MVP, live 2002 to 2003, Knockout Kings (which was shit) to Fight Night 2004, that you know they are working on the hockey game, and any other weaknesses in their stable (Let alone, reestablishing their good games as the best ever, marketing at its best). If Sega would've sat back, they would've gotten blown right out of the sports market.

 

[DMczaf]

With all due respect, I can't even find that co publisher on the box, or in the advertisements. If it's there, it's well hidden. If it's hidden from me, then you know damn well the casuals won't even begin to notice.

Im not saying people are buying the game because of Take 2, I'm saying you can't give all the credit to Sega for dropping the price and pushing up the release date when the game is part of Take 2's budget line, Global Star Software.

 

[BlackClouds]

I don't think anybody cares. People have already forgotten, and it's something that should be relegated to the footnotes at the back of the book.