NFL 2K4 is no more.

[Shinobi128]

Instead it will be given a new name. I don't care for sports games, but I know some of you here like 'em.

June 04, 2003 - According to Gamestop, Sega's new football game will no longer be called NFL 2K4, but ESPN NFL Football. The game's release date has also been changed from August first to September second. If this is true, that means that the game's main competitor, Madden NFL 2004, will be out a full month before Sega's struggling franchise.
When Sega bought the rights to the ESPN license across all of their sports games in 2002, the rights were granted so late they had little time to fully implement all of the ESPN personalities and attitude associated with the cable sports network. This season, however, Sega promises that the ESPN talent will be included in all of their sports titles, as well as using stat pages that look like they were ripped straight from espn.com.

Last year Sega forecasted sales in the millions, but instead of reaping the rewards of their critically-acclaimed game, Sega's football title was still outsold 10-1 by Madden NFL 2003. One of the main reasons attributed to this sales disaster was the fact that Sega released commercial's that looked almost identical to the ads for the Madden series. And since Madden is the better known of the two when it comes to the mainstream audience, Sega essentially spent all of their money to help push their competitor's games right off of the shelves.

Adding the ESPN name, however, is not an instant cure-all for sales. A few years ago, Konami released ESPN NFL Primetime and it was one of the worst-selling (and most poorly-rated) sports games in recent memory.

Sega has no official comment at this time, although a spokesman said that Sega Sports would be making a couple of big announcements about their NFL game in the near future. Whether the NBA and NHL games will also change their names to reflect the power of the ESPN license also remains to be seen.

IGN will have more on this story as it develops.

[Roufuss]

Well, I guess Sega can count on low sales again for their NFL games.

A whole MONTH after Madden?

[Kinopio]

Likely a good move. just advertise the SEGA sports name along with it so fans of the 2K games don't get confused.

[Joust Williams]

Why does Sega keep putting millions into a franchise that isn't helping them? Might as well put those dollars into games that I like to play, like SPACE HARRIER ;p

Football is much more fun in real life.

[Mr_Furious]

Sounds like the same old Sega U.S. way of thinking:

First: they spend MILLIONS of dollars to acquire the ESPN license and never planned to implement it into their 2004 sports franchises even though they had over a year to do so.

Second: they have decided, at the last minute to implement this license just a couple months before shipping which causes a delay which will no doubt hurt sales.

They're dealing with the monolith that is Madden for christ's sake. Stupid mistakes and missed opportunities will seal their doom for 2004.

Just Brilliant

[JMET]

Sega of America is fucking dumb, is anyone surprised by a dumb ass move?

[StriderKyo]

Whoa, you almost gave me a heart attack with this thread title.

When Sega bought the rights to the ESPN license across all of their sports games in 2002

Wait a minute - they paid to have an ESPN commercial at the beginning of their game? Go Sega!!

Anyway, if this has Chris Berman and Tom Jackson in it, then that could be really cool. If I have to listen to Joe Theisman and Paul McGuire through the whole thing, that would be so really not cool.

As for the extra month, that'll hurt them this year, but it would hurt even more if they pushed the game out the door. One year of not being as good as EA, and the whole franchise could die. Over time, it still has the potential to knock off Madden.

[Lordmrw]

Originally posted by BoBVila
Might as well put those dollars into games that I like to play, like SPACE HARRIER ;p

Yeah, cuz I'm sure sega lives only to make games you like to play. Dumbass.

[JMET]

Ahh Space Harrier, another game that wouldnt sell for shit...

[Frogacuda]

Great... because we know how respect the ESPN liscense gets in gaming. Maybe next year they can liscense the Quarteback Attack name.

EDIT: I meant Quarterback Club, but Quarterback Attack would be even funnier. FMV Football! Tom Zito was a visionary.