Testing the Water with All-Pro Football 2K8

[Triggerfish]

I really wish the 2K developers would get sold to Sony..screw Take two...yes in all prob if Sony had it it would come out on only PS3 but at least you would see it more often. Why does it have to go head to head with Maddden? They are not going to win that war. I would be curious to see how Blitz does. What is keeping them at Take Two is bball and hockey..unfortunatly take two would never drop them for that reason. Bball and hockey being so good is screwing the football game. argh..frustrated!

[TheCreep]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mos1ted

Going with what he said, I remember playing games growing up such as Joe Montana Football, David Robinson's Supreme Court, Charles Barkley's Shut Up and Jam. Unlicensed games that featured the likeness of whatever player endorsed the game, then fictional players making up the rest.

Exactly, I'm sure that was a load of cash that was thrown away for the legends when the legends weren't needed at all. The 2k game engine and ESPECIALLY their presentation is 2ks bread and butter. Utilizing said engine and presentation combined with a base fictional league along with an in depth franchise and full customization to create your own teams and players if you felt inclined to do so would have made huge profit for 2k.

I recall playing T.V Sports football back in the day, and that was one great football game for its time. They used the names of cities and made the teams the same color as the corresponding NFL team. So, you knew you were playing with the Cleveland Browns, but the team name was just "Cleveland" , but with Cleveland Browns uniform colors. They even had sponsors and pregame shows. Now that I think about it, the game kind of reminds me of an old school NFL 2k.

[Mos1ted]

Yeah, early Maddens used that same strategy. Since it didn't have the NFL or NFLPA license, they just used the city names and colors and insinuated the NFL. 2K could do that today.

They can do like college licensed games and just leave the players correct jersey number and attributes allowing users to edit the names. With 2K share, you can have the entire league named within 4 days of getting the game.

[BigBlue]

Sorry, but I'm not buying the 'testing the waters' theory from 2K. They knew that they had a tremendous NFL2K5 engine to work from. So gameplay and features were already there.

All they needed to do was:
Recreate that same game for the next gen consoles (graphics, gameplay, etc)
Strip the game of anything representative of the NFL
Sign a few legends
Give it full customization with roster sharing and online league play and you might not have spent alot of money getting the product on store shelves. I know it's kinda quick and dirty, but it works and $ is saved and, hopefully big sales earned!

Add to all of this the money 2K would have saved by NOT developing and releasing PRIZEFIGHTER and pouring that $ into APF Marketing and it almost becomes a no-brainer. Unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20. But somebody at 2K Sports is making some pretty bad decisions (Prizefighter, MLB Stickball, Ping Pong?). Too much wasted dollars are being sunk into bad ideas instead of the more popular sports brands we know and love. It's not too late to save the football game. But time is wasting!

BigBlue

[DonRSD]

this is false.
2k didnt invest enough money into the game THEN charged 59.99 when their last game was 19.99

they shouldve came with a 29.99 price point AND added full customization to the game.
that alone(full customization) killed the game for the "nfl fans"

yes apf destroys madden in every aspect but if no one plays it, then what!!??

they should come out with 2k10 and do it the right way, i believe the nfl license is only till 2013 or so. that means come out every 2 years and when 2013 comes around GET THE NFL LICENSE AT ALL COSTS and bury madden once and for all!!!

[7stringking]

Hopefully another 2k football game will release in 2009....If they are smart they will release it around the super bowl in early 2010.

[asu666]

The lack of a Franchise mode and more depth in the customization tools were the biggest issues. I would love to see a built-in online file sharing system too.

There's really no need to sign all the old pros if they put in better customization options. The community can put them in without missing some of the great ones because their license couldn't be secured. Not to mention the cost savings for the dev. I think that within a week or two of release the game could be on par with Madden's NFL license knowing how dedicated some fans are to getting every detail just right if the dev gives them the tools to do it.

I didn't like the rappers doing ads. I know the idea was to go old school, but it glossed over how amazing the gameplay experience is and that is what 2K should have been pushing. They could have done dozens of ads showing how their game is the King of gameplay.

With the article yesterday wondering if there will even be a follow-up to the excellent NHL 2K9, I am losing faith that we'll see All Pro 2K10 displayed sometime in the next few months. I would think we would have heard some little bit of information leak out if 2K was really working on it.

I played through two full seasons of games at 15 minutes quarters with All Pro 2K8. The gameplay is light years ahead of Madden and NCAA. The graphics are better than people give All Pro credit for because like NHL 2K9 VC didn't put all of the polys on just a few areas. For example, the real players stand on the sidelines and step up to cheer when you break of a long run by them. In Madden they are just stand-ins that repeat a set pattern over-and-over. It's like NHL 09 only having five skaters for each side come out for the skate around, while 2K9 has the real deal with all of them out there at the same time.

I wish there would be a follow-up this year. All Pro could gain some serious momentum if it was fleshed out and Madden continues to fiddle around with the ten things in, five out approach.

[asu666]

Quote: Originally Posted by 7stringking

Hopefully another 2k football game will release in 2009....If they are smart they will release it around the super bowl in early 2010.

I think a June release would be perfect. It's beyond the baseball launch window, but in the month before NCAA comes out when football fans are jonesing hard for a new experience.