Sports Videogames: EA or ESPN ?

VekomahangNbang · #1 10-22-2005, 09:36 PM

Which sports videogame maker do you prefer the most?

I would have to say ESPN on their basketball because of the slightly better graphics and gameplay. However, I would take Madden and NCAA College Football over the ESPN football games any day. I don't really play baseball or hocky games so I don't know how the two companies compare in those sports.

NITROS AIRTIME · #2 10-22-2005, 09:47 PM

In terms of football, I would take Madden over ESPN's because the challenge so much harder.

In basketball, it's closer. ESPN is more realistic, the graphics are better, but the challenge isn't there, so I tend to go with EA, even though EA isn't really a challenge either.

Im looking for the day when we see a basketball game with a madden-like challenge.

Bencerisback · #3 10-22-2005, 10:00 PM

EA no doubt in my mind, however one of my favorite sports games would have to be Ken Griffy Junior's Slugfest and the "sequel." NBA2k was good for its time on dreamcast, but sucks now

coasterlove · #4 10-22-2005, 10:07 PM

I think EA in some ways is better but I think Sega/Visual Concepts? ( I think the publisher and developer should get more mention than the brand name ESPN since they don't make the game) makes a good quality product. In fact, most magazines say that EA's games are only slightly better than those by Sega. And some consider the basketball games from Sega to be better than EA's game.

That's why I thought it was a shame that last year, even with a price tag of $19.99, they didn't sell anywhere near as well as EA's games. Had they came out for the GC, I probably would've bought at least one of their two big games between football and basketball. I'm also upset that the NFL decided to have an exclusive agreement with EA and thus killed any competition there might have been in NFL licensed video games.

VekomahangNbang · #5 10-23-2005, 09:16 PM

Come on! People are voting, but not posting...
I am kinda mad the NBA 2K6 went all the way up to 40 dollars this year. I might have bought it if it was only $20, but I guess I will have to stick with NBA 2K5 for this year.

And coasterlove, what do you mean by the NFL lisensed game? I thought all games, even NFL Street, were lisensed by the NFL.

coasterlove · #6 10-23-2005, 09:52 PM

NFL Street is also a game made and published by EA. What I meant is that EA has exclusive rights to the NFL brand which includes their teams and their players. So EA can make other NFL related games besides Madden such as the Street games. No other company can make NFL branded games. That's why you don't see a Sega NFL game this year or in the near future since the exclusive contract covers a number of years.

**Andrew Polcyn** · #7 10-23-2005, 11:01 PM

EA makes good football games. As far as baseball or hoops, it seems sometimes the controls are a tad complicating, something ESPN fixes. But since I buy the football games more than the baseball or basketball games, my vote goes to EA Sports.

siestakey · #8 11-03-2005, 06:53 PM

EA is so much better. Period.

VekomahangNbang · #9 11-03-2005, 06:58 PM

^I think it is pretty close. But, it really sucks that there will be no football game for the next 5 years from ESPN due 2 that gay contact between the NFL and EA. It is not as good as Madden, but they were really improving with that game over the last couple of years making it creep closer and closer to Madden, although it did need Madden's eddition of the Franchise mode badly.

DPCMAN · #10 11-03-2005, 07:03 PM

I'm definately going with EA Sports. Madden, Fifa, MVP. Need I say more? The only thing I ever thought was pretty cool about an ESPN game was the first-person football in 2k4 and 2k5.

rjholla2003 · #11 11-03-2005, 11:08 PM

I'll only talk about the NFL games since that's all I played.

Sega ruled when it came to the graphics that their games had. If I was completely graphic oriented, then I would have gone with ESPN. They had more interesting in-game commentary as well, which I always appreciate.

EA on the other hand championed the gameplay aspect of it. Sega made the controls too awkward for the ESPN series. The players never seemed to do what you were really trying to. Also, EA killed them when it came to player animation. ESPN just looked silly. When the players were sprinting, it disgusted me. EA knows how to make a game that's a challenge, has great controls, and great animation.

My other sticking point is the playbooks. The plays on the ESPN series were wierd. They were just not real playbooks, and that fustrated me at times. I never fealt like I could use my players correctly because of it.

RllrCoasterFan · #12 11-04-2005, 02:12 PM

EA is better and always has been. Just look at Madden, NBA Live, Street games, and all the other. They are running it in this case.

**Andrew Polcyn** · #13 11-04-2005, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VekomahangNbang

^I think it is pretty close. But, it really sucks that there will be no football game for the next 5 years from ESPN due 2 that gay contact between the NFL and EA. It is not as good as Madden, but they were really improving with that game over the last couple of years making it creep closer and closer to Madden, although it did need Madden's eddition of the Franchise mode badly.

How is it gay? I really hate it when people use that word to describe something they disagree with.

ESPN does make a competitve baseball game, something that EA and 989 lack.

Midway needs a mention here since they have the Blitz, Hitz and SlugFest industry.

Carowinds 73-03 · #14 11-04-2005, 07:30 PM

Never ownde any ESPN games so i'll go with EA. They do have some of the greatest games.

**Kyle L** · #15 11-04-2005, 07:45 PM

EA is mass friendly, and I have a humongous gripe with them. They are one of the most dominant video game producers of today, and take over many small producers only to generate even more profit. Not only that, but they ruin the games companies were made famous for, here are some VERY apparent examples:

James Bond Games: Remember how awesome Golden-Eye was? It was developed by RARE and paved the way for First Person Shooters to come. EA took over and spewed out a disgusting amount of mediocre shooters that wouldn't even touch Goldeneye.

The Sims: Maxxis first primiered the addicting game by themselves, EA took over and created the Sims 2. Granted that it is a great game and I will give them credit for it, its just that they are already overloading us with add on-packs.

Command and Conquer: Generals is easily the worst RTS game I have ever played. Whats even worse is that when EA bought over Westwood, they carried out NO signature specialities that MADE Command and Conquer the game that it was. Red Alert 2 is easily one of my favorite games of all time, but to see the entire franchie get ruined by EA pisses me off. Where's GDI and NOD? Or the Allies and the Soviets? They have one more chance to keep me happy, Red Alert 3.

Battlefield: 1942 and their add on packs were absolutley fantastic. The game itself won the 2002 game of the year award and DICE sucked hours of playing the game from me. It was a fantastic game and was a very revolutionary game of its time. EA then pushed DICE to create Battlefield Vietnam. I never bought it and never had interest in it, it was a clear shot for money. Now Battlefield 2 is out. It was a GREAT game, but like all high class EA games, is a computer hog. What more is that the theme got dull. We've butchered Iraq and terrorism to death in video games.

Thats all for now. As for sports games, EA does a good job, but their games are VERY mass friendly. Where as ESPN sports games are more for dedicated fans who know and play the game. ESPN is far more customizable and not only that, the games are cheaper.

I vote ESPN. EA needs to re-think what they've been doing for the past 3 years.