The evolution of 2K

Unfortunately, NFL 2K didn't launch the football gaming juggernaut that was expected of it. NFL 2K1 came out as planned--and was even an improvement upon its predecessor--but the Sega Dreamcast that hosted the series bombed at the sales counter, failing to make much of an impact against Sony and Nintendo. As a result, the system was shelved at the beginning of 2001. Games would still be produced for the platform for a limited time, though it soon became obvious that such support would be minimal. Although Sega did release NFL 2K2 for the Dreamcast in the fall of 2001 (and used the game engine again in a sister title, NCAA College Football 2K2), it failed to make much of an impact. Months after the Dreamcast release of 2K2, PlayStation 2 and Xbox ports of the game were released on a staggered schedule (with the Xbox version hitting stores just before that year's Super Bowl). Though neither version managed Madden-level numbers, the debut of the 2K franchise on non-Sega consoles was a significant improvement.

2002's NFL 2K3 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube (incidentally, the only Cube appearance for the franchise) brought the series to a new level of quality. The features that had made the game so great on the Dreamcast, such as the excellent gameplay engine, wonderful sense of presentation, and great game modes like online play and franchise, were refined to a brilliant level of quality. Though the GameCube lacked the online (as did the Xbox version, at least for a short while after its release), all three versions of the game were just as polished as the other. Furthermore, 2K3 marked an important debut for the franchise: namely, the addition of the official ESPN license. Though the presence of the ESPN name and branding was only really noticeable in text menus and on in-game stat overlays, it gave the Sega brand of football something it had lacked when compared to EA's game: a real-life sports name to help lend credibility to the franchise. To some degree, it worked, as sales continued to improve over the previous year's iteration. Sadly, Sega was still getting spanked badly by Madden.

NFL 2K3 offered incredible detail.

The ESPN branding officially became Sega's baby in 2003, when ESPN NFL Football was announced. Opting to drop the 2K name from the title (but still keeping it on the box in a less-than-prominent fashion), Sega's ESPN NFL Football was designed to be a different kind of football game. Once again including all the features that Sega fans fell in love with, this game brought to the table brand-new methods of play--some good and others...well, others not quite so good. "The crib" introduced a sort of hub area that was filled to the brim with unlockable football paraphernalia, trophies, classic players, and even some crazy, classic Sega music from games like Jet Set Radio. Though the usefulness of collecting posters and other weird bric-a-brac is debatable, many of the other collectibles were a welcome addition, adding plenty of extra value to the package.

Sega switched to ESPN branding in 2003, hoping to take on the Madden name.

The other big debut, however, wasn't quite the slam-dunk feature that Sega seemed to be hoping for. Going so far as to announce this new mode at a special press event at the ESPN restaurant in New York City, Sega's highly touted first-person-football mode just didn't quite come together as well as it could have. ESPN NFL Football wasn't the first game to feature a first-person-camera option to try to give players the sensation of actually being on the field, but it was the first to make a whole bloody mode out of it. The controls were different from a typical game, and the handling of the players also took quite a bit of getting used to. To its credit, the mode really did give you a sense of what it's like to be on the field, with defensive linemen staring you down and the cacophony of the crowd surrounding you wherever you turned. Unfortunately, it just wasn't a great deal of fun. The running and return games weren't half bad, as it wasn't too difficult to try to weave your way through defenders, but everything else was just confusing. The passing game was just a giant pain in the ass thanks to the weird camera shifts, and defense just didn't have a whole lot going on.

First person football didn't end up being all it was cracked up to be.

Between the lackluster marquee feature, the all-new branding, and a downright scary box cover (featuring the glaring, monstrous eyes of cover boy Warren Sapp) ESPN NFL Football tanked in sales. Perhaps 2K fans just weren't informed about the name change, or perhaps people just had too many bad memories of Konami's thoroughly atrocious ESPN NFL PrimeTime. Whatever the case, Sega ended up giving a lot of ground back to Madden.

A new publisher

Things looked grim for Sega's sports division, and rumors swirled about developer Visual Concepts. Would it be shut down? Would it get sold off, possibly to EA? Finally, a ray of hope arrived in the form of publisher Take-Two Interactive. In a deal announced shortly after E3 2004, Sega and Take-Two announced a partnership that would have the newest entry in the franchise, ESPN NFL 2K5, distributed through Take-Two's budget arm, Global Star Software. But with that announcement came more rumors and speculation. Not long after the release went out about the deal between the two publishers, major online game retailers began displaying a new price point for ESPN NFL 2K5: a ridiculously low, low price of $19.95. That's right, 2K was going budget. Visual Concepts confirmed the price change not long afterward and also soon announced that for the first time in as long as anyone could remember, the game would be shipping well before its archrival, hitting stores a full two weeks before Madden would be available. Between the price drop and the bumped release schedule, fans, critics, and, most notably, EA, could no longer ignore 2K football, as Sega and Take-Two came out swinging.

Sadly, ESPN NFL 2K5 was the series' swan song.

The resulting game was no worse for the wear, bringing out another excellent round of football, once again jam-packed with great features. Sure, first-person football was still kind of lame, and the addition of weird D-list celebrities (like Carmen Electra and Steve-O) was beyond stupid, but the additions for the better far outweighed those for the dumb. The ESPN license had been implemented even more brilliantly this time around, bringing such personalities as Chris Berman and Suzie Kolber to life (or, at least, polygonal life) with digitized versions of them that appeared for pregame and postgame analysis. More ESPN commentators, such as Trey Wingo and Mel Kiper Jr., also lent their voices to the game. The franchise mode was the deepest and most involved one the series had ever attempted, giving unprecedented levels of control over coaching, finance, and all the other little trials and tribulations in the day-to-day ops of a professional club.

And then there were the two most revelatory features: the VIP profile system and the new online league system. VIP profiles gave you unique, individual profiles for each coach featured in the game. Playcalling tendencies, styles of offense and defense, and, hell, even how often they chose to run to the right, left, or middle was kept track of. Even more insane, you could create your own VIP profile to track your tendencies, and people playing the game online could download the profile to scout against you. Of course, you could do the same to them, adding a surreal level of depth to online play that many had never even considered dreaming about before. As for the online leagues, in theory, this was nothing new. VC had tried leagues the year previous, but they'd flopped pretty hard in terms of popularity. 2K5 changed that by adding live rosters to the mix, letting you make trades between teams. The game also featured live stat-tracking that could be viewed from a special ESPN Video Games Web site, which had the look and feel of a real ESPN site. Every single detail from a league game could be viewed from the site, adding a major air of authenticity to the whole package. The result in sales was a big improvement, and Sega's football course was then righted. The combination of the budget pricing, the return to the old naming convention, and, of course, the incredible game itself helped lure previous detractors to the product. Sadly, that good fortune wasn't meant to last.

Presentation-wise, ESPN NFL 2K5 was and still is, unmatched.

No more NFL

On December 12, 2004, Electronic Arts and the NFL entered into an exclusive licensing agreement, giving EA sole rights to all NFL-related games on pretty much any platform you could think of. Sega's momentum in football gaming ground to an earth-shattering halt, and things only got crazier from there. Little more than a month later, EA then signed an unprecedented 15-year exclusivity deal with ESPN, thus removing another huge component that was key to Visual Concepts' success. Finally, not even a week after the ESPN deal's announcement, Sega officially dropped out of the sports game altogether, selling off Visual Concepts to Take-Two. The football legacy that Sega had helped start on the Dreamcast was finally over.

Of course, that didn't mean the end for Visual Concepts and its sports lineup. The developer has now officially been made a part of 2K Games, a new publishing banner under Take-Two's wing. 2K Games continues to produce NBA, NHL, and (in a somewhat exclusive deal) MLB games. As for football, however, no one really knows what the future holds. So fans of the NFL 2K franchise wait anxiously and hope to hear of a new entry, NFL license or no. But with only scant few rumors to draw from, hope is quickly fading.