Not being a sports fan and not owning any of the sports offerings from EA Sports or Sega ESPN, I can' t help but pay close attention to the battles going on between the two. When Sega went multiplatform and up until this point, it hasn' t been much of a battle, it' s basically been a slaughter with EA Sports TOTALLY dominating the Sega' s sports games in sales. Sega' s ESPN football games normally sold in the low hundred thousand copies across both platforms while EA went on to sell millions. I' m sure it wasn' t helping morale much over at Sega of America to keep getting totally trounced by the competition so thoroughly even when their football games were arguably just as good if not better at times.

But now it seems as if Sega of America has finally done something right! Their co-publishing deal with Take-Two Interactive and the new budget price seems to have paid off quite nicely with ESPN NFL 2K5 selling 792,000 copies back in July.

It' s not Madden caliber sales of course but it' s definitely a step in the right direction :)

I did a google search on the sales performance of Sega' s ESPN Football game and this newsbit popped up:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/08/17/news_6105043.aspx

NPD reports July sales that sizzle

Another company that increased its market share was Take-Two. The choice to release its football game earlier than EA’s Madden--and at a reduced price of $20--paid off handsomely. The sports game reportedly sold 792,000 units in July. Tony Gikas of Piper Jaffray noted, " In our opinion, the incredible strength of ESPN Football 2K5 is surprising and will likely cut into Madden Football 2005 sales at some level."

Here' s another interesting bit I read from: http://www.redassedbaboon.com/index.cfm?show=blog_detail&id=285

October 18, 2004

ESPN sidelines Madden, NHL


ESPN' s low-price, high-quality games may have knocked some of the wind out of EA' s Madden and NHL, analyst PJ McNealy predicts.

McNealy says that Electronic Arts' September quarter reports today will likely show that Madden 2005 sales are down more than 20 percent this month, due in part to ESPN NHL 2K5, and that sales of NHL 2005, hampered by the NHL lock-outs and ESPN' s NHL 2K5, could be down more than 50 percent in September.

He notes that neither short fall will have much of a financial impact on the company, though the psychological impact could be significant.

" We believe that while (Electronic Arts) has been under pressure in September retail sales in North America... (Electronic Arts) sales in the EU have remained strong and the September quarter should be inline," he added.

McNealy then outlined the possible negative and positive news that could come out of the reporting.

On the positive side you have EA meeting or beating their September quarter expectations, maintaining or raising December expectations, PSP not delayed, EU sales continue to grow and the new slim PS2 sells well.

On the negative side you' ve got EA missing their September quarter or lowering their December predictions, Madden sales continuing to fall, PSP launch delayed, sales of the new PS2 not good, and a holiday season stock sell-off.

It sounds like a pretty mixed bag, though I think we can go ahead and assume that the PSP won' t be making Christmas in Japan and frankly I can' t imagine the slim PS2 invigorating EA sales that much.

I' ll update the site later when EA' s report goes public and we can score McNealy' s performance.

I am literally DYING to know the total sales of Sega ESPN 2K5 up to this point!!
Can you say SALES CHART WHORE???? :)

It' s not Madden caliber? It' s easily the rival to this year' s Madden, some say the better of the two. People that play these games sometimes forget that they both cater to a different audience in the genre. Madden fans won' t like ESPN, and ESPN fans don' t rush out to play Madden...the games are that different. I had a friend over at my house the other day playing, and he is an ace Madden player. I was letting him run the ball, but he was getting stuffed because he kept trying to make the cuts that you would normally be able to pull off in Madden. Finally, I let him control the QB, told him to feed me the ball, and proceeded to show him how to run ESPN style.

It' s not Madden caliber sales of course but it' s definitely a step in the right direction :)

Don' t make me hit you yoshi [:' (]

I said it doesn' t have Madden caliber sales which it doesn' t :) - I would NEVER EVER compare the quality of the games since I have never played either football series. I' m just being a sales whore here.

The two games are very different, and both are well worth playing. I still think ESPN sacrifices a bit of reality for extra flash, but that' s not necessarily a bad thing. I could just as easily play a franchise with either title and be perfectly happy. The Franchise mode in Madden is deeper and better, but the ESPN environment and effects are superior...the sacrifice, depending on the person, one way or the other, could be worth it.

If you like the Madden 2000 game, then you will like the 2005 Madden release...no real changes add up to same old game. A co-worker friend said that he was disappointed that Madden' s voice-work and graphics haven' t changed in years...and he is a HUGE Madden fan!!!

Personally, I started playing the ESPN line of games when I grew tired of EA re-hashing their sports titles with little (or no) changes to the defects from the previous year' s installment. That would be back in the Dreamcast days for those of you that need the reference point...

The only EA sports title I will buy is Tiger Woods Golf...and that' s because it' s not challenged by an ESPN version.

If you like the Madden 2000 game, then you will like the 2005 Madden release...no real changes add up to same old game. A co-worker friend said that he was disappointed that Madden' s voice-work and graphics haven' t changed in years...

I would suggest that you go ahead and look at Madden 2000, which only came out for the PSOne, and even Madden 2001, and compare it to 2005. The graphical advancement has been gradual, but significant. Check it out for yourself.

And the games have changed as much as football games can possibly change. There are a dozen enhancements made to just the gameplay itself in the past three installments that I can think of off the top of my head.

Five years from now, you will see the same thing in ESPN. A sports game can only change so much.