The Rise and Fall of 989 Sports

[m1ke_nyc]

989 had some good games, if I remember correctly they made the NBA Shoot Out series, loved that series. Gameday was cool as well.

[bigdaddykraven]

I remember playing Gameday on my PS2...went out and got the last one they released and they actually had a franchise mode in it that only lasted 10 years but they were really going in a great direction. I think if it wasn't for the exclusive deal with EA and the NFL, Gameday could have been at the level of MLB The Show, which would made Madden push harder to produce a good game without various freezes and 30 foot LB leaping abilities.

Honestly, first part titles should ALWAYS be better than third party titles because they can make use of all the specific hardware components and have an experience that is tailored directly for that system. Move Support, 3D, Kinnect, custom music, screen shot and video capturing...not to mention the performance of the games themselves.

I miss you Gameday. LONG LIVE THE SHOW!

[TreyIM2]

Ahh, Gameday. That series, initially, pulled my attention away from Madden. Loved the use of the right trigger (modifier) to lower your shoulder to either truck a defender or pop a ball carrier. I didn't like the user of thunder and lightning effects when playing rain games when using that trigger. I thought it was silly and cartoonish.

Another thing about the series is that they were the first to go polygonal on the PS1. I never got that game back from my cuz. He gave my jewel case back with Blitz in it after I let him borrow it. Lol.

At any rate, it is ashame how their sports games came to an end other than their MLB game which became such a remarkable game in The Show. Shootout was downright pathetic and only had 1080p graphics going for it in it's current gen iteration. Gameday coulda become something if it lasted but the lack of license would have hurt...yet, I think Gameday went kaput before the EA license deally. If that game was still around, Sony may have had a shot at keeping the NFL license open to all comers.

[BCDX97]

Anybody remember 989's NFL Xtreme? Let's just say it wasn't as good as NFL Blitz.

[PVarck31]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigdaddykraven

I remember playing Gameday on my PS2...went out and got the last one they released and they actually had a franchise mode in it that only lasted 10 years but they were really going in a great direction. I think if it wasn't for the exclusive deal with EA and the NFL, Gameday could have been at the level of MLB The Show, which would made Madden push harder to produce a good game without various freezes and 30 foot LB leaping abilities. Honestly, first part titles should ALWAYS be better than third party titles because they can make use of all the specific hardware components and have an experience that is tailored directly for that system. Move Support, 3D, Kinnect, custom music, screen shot and video capturing...not to mention the performance of the games themselves. I miss you Gameday. LONG LIVE THE SHOW!

You're right, they did have something going with the Gameday 04. To bad we will never know how it would have moved forward.

[Fender178]

I remember 989 sports. I own a baseball game for the PS1 MLB 2002.

[jyoung]

Gameday and Gamebreaker were definitely responsible for pushing Madden forward in the PS1 era.

Gameday 98 was revolutionary for its 3D polygons and awesome NFL music.

[bigdaddykraven]

Quote: Originally Posted by TreyIM2

Ahh, Gameday. That series, initially, pulled my attention away from Madden. Loved the use of the right trigger (modifier) to lower your shoulder to either truck a defender or pop a ball carrier. I didn't like the user of thunder and lightning effects when playing rain games when using that trigger. I thought it was silly and cartoonish. Another thing about the series is that they were the first to go polygonal on the PS1. I never got that game back from my cuz. He gave my jewel case back with Blitz in it after I let him borrow it. Lol. At any rate, it is ashame how their sports games came to an end other than their MLB game which became such a remarkable game in The Show. Shootout was downright pathetic and only had 1080p graphics going for it in it's current gen iteration. Gameday coulda become something if it lasted but the lack of license would have hurt...yet, I think Gameday went kaput before the EA license deally. If that game was still around, Sony may have had a shot at keeping the NFL license open to all comers.

Read the Wiki, NFL GameDay 2005 did in fact come out. It was released on the PS1 only (I think they either cancelled the PS2 version to revamp it for the next year or it was EA's deal that killed it).

They were actually working on a title called Road to Sunday which got canned...sadly.