ESPN NFL 2K5 is now 20 years old

[Hooe]

I'm a bit surprised that there wasn't a thread or Operation Sports news story for this: ESPN NFL 2K5 recently turned 20. It released on July 20, 2004.

I personally haven't touched NFL 2K5 in years, but I know it's still an important game to some people. For starters, it was a quality football game for its time. Not only did it play a great game on the field which was at least on equal footing with its contemporaries, but it was a well-rounded video game (sports or not) to boot. It featured presentation well ahead of its time in sports games, utilized the entirety of its console generation's feature set (custom soundtracks on XBOX, hard drive support on PS2), the Virtual Identity Profile system was something which I don't think has been done in sports games outside of racing games since, and it was stuffed full of extras such as celebrity cameos and The Crib.

It's also a game with a legacy, as it became a rallying cry for disgruntled football gamers following EA Sports obtaining exclusive licenses for the NFL and NFLPA then following that up with the disastrous Madden NFL 06 on the XBOX 360. That disappointment and how long it endured through many subpar Madden releases throughout nearly that entire console generation undoubtedly contributed to 2K's final NFL-licensed offering retaining such longevity.

Anyway, I figured the occasion was worth mentioning.

[ChaseB]

Damn did it really come out in July? Wild.

[kjcheezhead]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

Damn did it really come out in July? Wild.

I remember it dropped weeks before Madden. My wife picked it up for me because it was $20 and thought I would like it. I didn’t love it but I enjoyed it enough I ended up stalling on buying madden by a couple weeks because of it and then got madden on sale for $29. Best year of football gaming to date easily.

Madden was my preferred game. I didn’t appreciate NFL2k or care about losing it until I played Madden on the ps3 for the first time. NFL gaming has never been the same since


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[StormsWarning]

playing the ps2 version often, lotta great rosters we had back then. its fun to play the older classics, glad and thankful for them.

[Freebirdz]

They need to put this game in GTA VI as a arcade game. NFL will not argue against it.

[NinerFan1983]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

Damn did it really come out in July? Wild.

July 20, 2004. I remember standing in line to buy this on day one at the $19.99 price tag it had. Crazy to even consider a sports game releasing at that price point.

[bonannogiovanni]

I still have the dvd, too bad it doesn't have xbox compatibility. Remember sportcenter launching with R3 from the results page. I used to watch the whole show. The best sports broadcasting simulation, still unrivalled nowadays.

[Blzer]

Quote: Originally Posted by bonannogiovanni

I still have the dvd, too bad it doesn't have xbox compatibility. Remember sportcenter launching with R3 from the results page. I used to watch the whole show. The best sports broadcasting simulation, still unrivalled nowadays.

I still watch the whole show.

And yes, I still play the game. It's a 2K24 version of it, but it's great!