Box art for ESPN NFL 2K5 on the Xbox.

ESPN NFL Football was an American football video game series formerly known as the NFL2K series. The ESPN NFL Football series was developed by Visual Concepts and jointly published by Sega and ESPN. Image File history File links ESPN_NFL_2K5. ... Image File history File links ESPN_NFL_2K5. ... The Microsoft Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console first released on November 15, 2001 in North America and Puerto Rico, then released on February 22, 2002 in Japan, and on March 14, 2002 in Europe. ... United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Visual Concepts is a video game developer best known from the SEGA Sportss 2K series of sports games. ... Sega (セガ) is an international video game software and hardware developing company, and a former home computer and console manufacturer. ... ESPN (once an abbreviation for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming 24 hours a day. ...

The NFL2K series was introduced by Sega for its Dreamcast to address Electronic Arts's decision not to publish its very popular Madden NFL titles for that console. After the discontinuation of the Dreamcast, ESPN NFL/NFL2K was repositioned as the main cross platform rival of Madden NFL; both were published on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube. (NFL Gameday was only published for the PlayStation 2, while NFL Fever was developed solely for the Xbox.) Although the ESPN NFL/NFL2K series received good reviews and underwent major improvements yearly, it was unable to break the domination of Madden NFL. Sega Dreamcast The Sega Dreamcast (Japanese: ドリームキャスト; code-named Katana during development) was Segas last video game console. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Cover of the GameCube version of Madden 06. ... The PlayStation 2 (PS2) (Japanese: プレイステーション2) is Sonys second video game console, the successor to the PlayStation and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3. ... The Microsoft Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console first released on November 15, 2001 in North America and Puerto Rico, then released on February 22, 2002 in Japan, and on March 14, 2002 in Europe. ... The Nintendo GameCube (Japanese: ゲームキューブ; originally code-named Dolphin during development; abbreviated as GCN) is Nintendos fourth home video game console, belonging to the 128-bit era; the same generation as Segas Dreamcast, Sonys PlayStation 2, and Microsofts Xbox. ...

With the cancellation of the NFL Gameday (developed by 989 Sports) and NFL Fever (by Microsoft Game Studios) video game lines after 2003, ESPN NFL Football's primary competition became Madden NFL (by EA Sports). Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKEx: 4338) is the worlds largest software corporation, with 2005 global annual sales of close to $40 billion USD and about 64,000 employees in 85 countries and regions. ... Cover of the GameCube version of Madden 06. ... EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts since 1993 to distribute games based on sports. ...

In 2004, Sega signed a deal with Take 2 Interactive in which Take 2 will distribute and co-publish all titles in Sega's ESPN franchise through Take 2's low-priced unit, Global Star. As a result, ESPN NFL 2K5 was priced at $19.99 (U.S. suggested retail price) the day it shipped versus the usual suggest retail price of most games at $49.99. This earned it a wide audience among more casual football fans on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was also the first time that ESPN NFL managed to grab a significant chunk of market share from the otherwise dominant Madden NFL. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. ...

However, in December 2004, EA signed an exclusive agreement with the NFL, meaning the Madden series would be the only franchise allowed to use NFL team and player names. EA also signed an agreement with ESPN to become the only licensee of ESPN's brand in sports games on all platforms. This was a immense blow to SEGA's franchise in their MLB, NBA, & NHL videogames. NFL logo For other uses of the abbreviation NFL, see NFL (disambiguation). ...

Installments

The cover for NFL 2K2 for Dreamcast.

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1413x1404, 2460 KB) Summary The cover for NFL 2K2. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1413x1404, 2460 KB) Summary The cover for NFL 2K2. ... The Sega Dreamcast (Japanese: ドリームキャスト; code-named Blackbelt, Dural and Katana during development) was Segas last video game console. ... September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The Sega Dreamcast (Japanese: ドリームキャスト; code-named Blackbelt, Dural and Katana during development) was Segas last video game console. ... September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years). ... This article is about the year 2000. ... The Sega Dreamcast (Japanese: ドリームキャスト; code-named Blackbelt, Dural and Katana during development) was Segas last video game console. ... September 19 is the 262nd day of the year (263rd in leap years). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... The Sega Dreamcast (Japanese: ドリームキャスト; code-named Blackbelt, Dural and Katana during development) was Segas last video game console. ... The PlayStation 2 (PS2) (Japanese: プレイステーション2) is Sonys second video game console, the successor to the PlayStation and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3. ... The Microsoft Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console first released on November 15, 2001 in North America and Puerto Rico, then released on February 22, 2002 in Japan, and on March 14, 2002 in Europe. ... August 20 is the 232nd day of the year (233rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... The Nintendo GameCube (Japanese: ゲームキューブ; originally code-named Dolphin during development; abbreviated as GCN) is Nintendos fourth home video game console, belonging to the 128-bit era; the same generation as Segas Dreamcast, Sonys PlayStation 2, and Microsofts Xbox. ... The PlayStation 2 (PS2) (Japanese: プレイステーション2) is Sonys second video game console, the successor to the PlayStation and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3. ... The Microsoft Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console first released on November 15, 2001 in North America and Puerto Rico, then released on February 22, 2002 in Japan, and on March 14, 2002 in Europe. ... September 2 is the 245th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (246th in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The PlayStation 2 (PS2) (Japanese: プレイステーション2) is Sonys second video game console, the successor to the PlayStation and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3. ... The Microsoft Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console first released on November 15, 2001 in North America and Puerto Rico, then released on February 22, 2002 in Japan, and on March 14, 2002 in Europe. ... July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 164 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The PlayStation 2 (PS2) (Japanese: プレイステーション2) is Sonys second video game console, the successor to the PlayStation and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3. ... The Microsoft Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console first released on November 15, 2001 in North America and Puerto Rico, then released on February 22, 2002 in Japan, and on March 14, 2002 in Europe. ...

Notes

NFL 2K1

• Released on the Dreamcast in the fall of 2000, the game was one of the first to implement online console gaming through the use of SegaNet.
• In The 200 Greatest Games of Their Time in the 200th edition of EGM, it ranked 197.

SegaNet was a short-lived internet service operated by Sega, geared for dial-up based online gaming on their Dreamcast game console. ... An Extraordinary General Meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an offical body, which occurs at an irregular time. ...

ESPN NFL Football

• The most talked about new feature of this game was the "First Person Football" mode, in which you could see the game from the perspective of a player on the field.
• Due to the acquisition of the ESPN license, the 2K was removed from the game name for this release. The words Sega 2K4 were featured on the packaging to inform people that this was the same series as Sega's NFL2K series.

ESPN (once an abbreviation for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming 24 hours a day. ...

ESPN NFL 2K5

• In this release the 2K was again added to the game title. This is the last edition of the ESPN football video game series for the foreseeable future.

Not only did it gain more market share that year, it was also the best reviewed football game of 2004.

Related links

• Official ESPN video game website
• NFL 2K Series at MobyGames
• NFL 2K5 Forever Forum, which is dedicated to 2K5 discussion and current day roster updates.