ESPN NFL 2005 to be released on July 20th

[StriderKyo]

To be perfectly fair, VC's sports games usually require a good deal of slider tweaking as well. Their default Pro difficulty generally translates to "score at will if you have two thumbs", and moving the difficulty up changes all the sliders. The aforemention Operation Sports is currently messing around to come up with optimal slider settings to produce real-life run yardage results in 2K5 (apparently run Ds are alot tougher this year).

But in Gamevet's case, he's got a point. Faulk fumbles, what, twice a year? Changing the sliders would just result in less fumbles for everyone, which shouldn't be the case. Faulk never fumbling makes sense, but Culpepper and Alstott should still be coughing it up on every third possession.

[Korly]

Todays the day.

[GameFreak]

http://www.xboxadvanced.com/article.php?artid=3335

It looks like Sega is also lowering the prices of their NBA and NHL games to $19.99.

[Videodrone]

http://www.xboxadvanced.com/article.php?artid=3335

It looks like Sega is also lowering the prices of their NBA and NHL games to $19.99.

Oh YES!

Awesome news for NBA. It's still going to be hard for me not to by EA's NHL though.

[Yoshi]

$20 is too much for an NBA game, but I'm all over NHL for that price.

[StriderKyo]

Last year's VC NBA was one of my top 10 of the year, easy. I enjoyed more than I did their football, and this year's version may be my most anticipated game. Now if only they'd give it the same Xbox-based treatment. It's always apparent (as with EA) that alot more goes into their football franchise than their basketball one. And tone down the dunks a little. As much as I may wish otherwise, Jalen Rose can't dunk from the freethrow line. Yeesh. But the price = kickass.

I'm going to go pick up NFL at lunch - hopefully it's in. Finally, the wait is over.

[Mamoscott]

Quick and Dirty Hands-On Impressions (Xbox version)!

Disclaimer: I skipped over last year’s version of ESPN Football in favor of a sexy NCAA/Madden combo instead. In the years prior though, I had always preferred VC’s series to Madden. I’m at work right now and only had time to play a few games of ESPN last night, so most of my observations are based purely on the gameplay. I haven’t had a ton of time to explore a lot of the franchise features and stuff yet.

Anyway, off we go:

• Obligatory Roster Bitching - as a huge Bears fan, I can’t help but feel Urlacher is overrated. He is a solid linebacker, but he’s almost on par with Ray Lewis in the game – 96 overall with a 99 rating in tackling. A lot of rookies don’t have bio/profile pics either. Also, Thomas Jones is rated significantly higher than the A-Train, and that upsets the Michigan fan in me. Hopefully this stuff gets remedied in the first set of roster updates.
  
  
• I love the animations. Players move and cut realistically, and it’s beneficial on both offense and defense. After seeing some of the jukes players can make, you can familiarize yourself with how they position their feet and hips just before making a move/cut. You can really see how their body weight and momentum affects each move. "Reading" the hips of the ball carrier helps you judge when they’re going to make a move, which makes it easier to take better angles and time your hits when going for tackles on defense. Last year in Madden, you would be stuck diving a lot of the time and just hoping that the guy didn’t juke or cut back.
  
  
• Again, the animations are just amazing. My first sack with Tommie Harris was a beastly hit on Kurt Warner where I exploded through the line, came in on the QB low, wrapped my arms around his waist from behind, and ripped him down over me like a rag doll. On one running play with Thomas Jones, I was hit straight on, but Jones immediately turned the force of the hit into a spin move, turning off the would-be tackler and breaking to the outside. It looked awesome, not just because of the spin, but because the animations were so fluid and fast. You literally could not even tell when one animation transitioned to the next.
  
  
• The running game is very cool; I especially like how sweep plays develop. In most football videogames, a sweep with pulling blockers tends to turn into a race to the outside/sideline, but so far in ESPN 2K5, I’ve had a lot more success taking the ball outside, waiting for my blockers to engage the first level of pursuers, and cutting up-field through a seam the instant it opens up. Just try and mimic Terrell Davis’ running style on those sweeps, and you should be fine.
  
  
• The stiff-arm animation is amazing, almost like grabbing a would-be tackler by the facemask, shoving a baby down his throat, and tossing him to the turf – all with the one arm not cradling the football.
  
  
• There have been some easy dropped passes. A few reviews complained about this, so I was kind of worried. It isn’t as bad as I initially feared, but it could get annoying.
  
• Defensive AI seems to have gotten a lot better. Safeties take better angles when going after passes; sometimes ignoring the ball entirely if it's out of reach and going straight for the big hit on the wideout to jar the ball loose or disrupt the catch. Most importantly, defenders absolutely swarm to the ball carrier. Seriously, it's not uncommon to have two or three additional guys diving over the pile a split second after the tackle is made, and it really gives you the impression that your players are going balls out on every play, not just carrying out their computer-controlled assignments.
  
  
• Total Control Passing is giving me fits. You have to direct the pass by using the analog immediately after throwing the ball, which just feels kind of weird. Even in practice mode, I have yet to get the hang of it.
  
  
• Default difficulty setting is almost ridiculously easy. After crushing the Giants in my first game, I bumped up the difficulty to All-Pro. Things have been more challenging since then, but I haven’t really had any problems stuffing the run against the computer, even going up against the likes of Ahman Green.
  
  
• I tend to dislike scrolling through certain menus and sub-menus using the black and white buttons. There are a lot of menus to navigate in the franchise mode, especially in the weekly prep modes, so hopefully I can get used to it. Being used to playing my football games on the PS2 probably has a lot to do with this though.
  
  
• Nitpicks (could be in the game and maybe I just haven’t found them yet): Where is my “Square up” button for when I’m controlling a DB and want to turn around make a play? Where is the button that lets me switch hands, so I’m carrying the ball in my outside hand?
  
  
• The Sportscenter segments are cool. They even do audio commentary on trades throughout the league, and you get a nice rundown of injuries and other important happenings as well.

I’ve only had a chance to play a few games and fool around with a couple weeks of game preparation, but if you guys have any questions, I’ll try my best to answer them. I am very impressed so far.

[GameFreak]

Are there midgame saves in 2K5?

[Javon_McCloud]

Are there midgame saves in 2K5?

I had to leave in the middle of playing Carmen Electra's team(she called my "crib" and challenged me) and it did not give me an option to save.

I was looking through my VIP stats and it is freaky how much they keep track of. How I tackle, what tackle evasion moves I use most, if I tap A to sprint or hold it to use power moves...and you can go and challenge any NFL coach's VIP. I have been a life long Madden player, but this game is going to be VERY tough to beat this year.

[Riptwo]

ESPN's last NHL game was damn fun, so the price drop is great news. Anyway, is passing any easier in NFL2K5? I rented 2K4 and got my ass handed to me since I absolutely sucked at actually making any successful passes. I've never really played many football games other than Blitz so maybe nobody else here had any real problems with it, but goddamn. I want to give 2K5 a chance, but I'm hoping that it'll feel a little bit more intuitive to my hockey playing ass than 2K4.