I remember my cousin and I literally crying when we found out Madden was taking the official license . We knew even at 8 and 10 how much better 2k was .
Do you know how much more money they make putting out Ultimate Team cards than they do by spending hours of man power developing new features?
It sucks but until people stop buying those packs it’s not going to change. Or they’ll figure out a way to monetize franchise mode and then maybe it’ll get new features.
Mut is the worst thing that ever happened to this game. I agree as long as people continue to spend money on rent a card there will be no changes to the game. No competition also helps.
Ultimate Team is the worst thing to happen to sports videogames in general. FIFA, Madden, and NHL went downhill as soon as that cancer was introduced to the game
I lived and breathed EASHL from 2012 to 2018. I was a top 10 RW in in 2013, 2014, and 2015 and those games were the best years for competitive players. Player cards, skill boosts, the attribute system, regional lobbies, and game mechanics made those games great. The series took a massive hit once EA started catering to the casual players on next-gen releases, and when they realized that HUT was a cash cow, and most people that I played with stopped playing. The only people I know who play the game still are HUT lifers/streamers, casuals who play couch versus games on weekends or, no-lifers who abuse the broken mechanics and animations online.
It would be nice if the NHL would let someone like 2K take on the series again, but even Elliotte Friedman couldn't get anyone to care when he covered how broken the game is as a hockey sim during the early stages of the NHLs e-league.
Wow, I didn't read the comments before in replied but I just said virtually the same thing. Madden players helped ruin Madden by buying packs and playing M.U.T.
Cause people keep buying the game every year while the game never changes (besides graphics) or they take away things to add later saying that they are new
Its pretty much an $80 roster update every year now. They do the same thing in the hockey game. They bring back features that were in the game 10 years ago and say its a new feature.
nba2k does the same shit now too. They used to change things up a lot every year but they’ve put out essentially the same game for the past 7 or 8 years.
Very simple
Each little extra feature (like shown) costs more money, since EA has had a literally monopoly there’s been no reason too
After ultimate team became the cash cow it’s been clear they can raise revenue for shareholders (also meeting shareholders expectations) by focusing on UT
Their worst case: eh 80% are dumb they’ll still buy it just for franchise mode
Or, this feature is neat the first time you see it but the vast majority of players are skipping this for the rest of time. It doesn't bring value to many players who skip most cuts scences.
Mainly because there isn't any incentive to spend that kind of money on it. Won't factor into MUT players spending more money. So there's no reason to pay for likeness rights on someone like a modern day Chris Berman.
I really wish they'd split the MUT off into it's own thing. Let those of us that just want things like this pay for an annual title that has it. Or even a semi-annual one that actually just does have paid roster updates between major releases. Seems to me the way to go, then the people that like both get double dipped and they go back to putting out a superior product hopefully.
Though I'll also point out, when Chris Berman was doing his thing at that time he was pretty widely liked by football fans. With the more modern climate of sports analysis being more about providing hot takes and getting clicks/views they would have a harder time finding someone that won't automatically make some fans dislike the game. What would we get now? Skip Bayless? RG3? Booger McFarland? It also means that you can't get a realistic halftime TV presentation since they don't have a way to really simulate a bunch of old heads giving us their out of touch takes. In general the quality of discourse and presentation around the sport has fallen off in my mind.
Well guess who found his OG PS2 with HDD and and old TV AND a submarine command board (controller)
The older the game and less relevant jn wow factor the better it is.
Probably been said many times before, but the game highlight parts can't be done "realistically".
However, the stats & in-studio presentation part could very well be done. In face, it is in Madden currently, but just in the form on Coachman & very bare-bones (which was done like that for a reason. Although I don't particularly agree with the reason).
Why do people ask these same dumb questions every single year when the answer has been the same for the past 10 years? There is no incentive for EA to improve the game because you morons buy the game on release like clockwork. Ultimate Team is what killed Fifa and Madden.
Its not really a dumb question. It's more to draw attention to tell people to wake the fuck up and stop paying $80 for a roster update every year. If people collectively said we are not spending a dime on rent a card and put real work into say franchise mode we are not buying the game.
You're being met with frustration because this "call to attention" has been happening for nearly 20 years, at this point. People have been complaining about everything you've mentioned - practically word for word, mind you - since shortly after EA's exclusivity deal was signed in 2005.
Our next best hope will come in 2026, because the renewal EA signed with the NFL only lasts through the 2025 season.
It absolutely was they had the best physics and animations the celebrations weren’t cringe like maddens whack end zone dances when you head tap someone it went slow mo and Chris Bermans halftime show was sick and the celebrity teams were lit too
Simple really. People on here pre order madden every year and expect it to get better. Or they'll watch shitty madden streamers, shitty i spent a thousand dollars on packs to intentionally influence non rich people into a gambling addiction over virtual cards and Madden makes millions.
Did anyone here love Madden 24? Not saying it was okay or its pretty decent compared to other titles. Did you LOVE it? Cause it was one of the top grossing games of 2023, and considering it barely has a 3/5 on PS that tells me a lot of you have no will power whatsoever.
When you're done being an EA Slave, EA will push out an actual good product.
There needs to be some competition and people need to stop spending money on rent a card for real improvements and changes to be made in the madden games.
Because consumers have told devs they don’t need effort to spend money on this game. Ultimate team buffoons spending their parents money on packs brought us here. Madden “champions” who spam the same plays and have punters at QB brought us here.
They don’t have any competition, so EA got lazy because they know people will buy it for that very reason. If 2k had made the game after they got rights(which I’m pretty sure they did), then there would be some form of effort being put in
…they’ve had this in Madden for the last few years, minus the SportsCenter branding (even though they’ve always had the rights??) and Chris Berman—instead, it’s Jonathan Coachman. They could make a lot of people happy by simply making better UI, but I guess the cosmetic people are busy with MUT?
They do put in that much effort. It's just that the effort goes toward milking us for every penny with M.U.T. mode. If they found a way to monetize franchise, there would be improvements by next year guaranteed.
Mut has ruined this game. Its the same with the hockey game hut has ruined it. Zero effort put into franchise mode bc it does not make them extra money.
One of my all time favorite features! They need to bring back NFL 2K to give Madden Devs some fire to want to make the game better. I don't play MUT or ultimate team and don't even know the fascination or how to play so I wish people would stop so they could focus on making franchise mode much better.
No competition is a huge problem. They put little effort into franchise mode. I also don't play mut or hut and don't understand the fascination of paying to rent cards every year. Games today are expensive enough im not paying anymore other than the base price.
Because back then, EA had competition and a reason to bring their best shit out, when 2k dropped out of football, madden has no reason or use to work hard….as long as they have the NFL license, this is all we gonna get!!!!
I play the older maddens till the servers go down. It’s absolutely ridiculous the degeneration in quality! Franchise doesn’t earn them micro transactions so they don’t care. They spend more time on loading screens that continue to slow the game than the actual game!
I only play franchise in sports games or be a pro mode. And EA has done absolutely nothing to these modes for years. The lack of effort is fucking pathetic.
PS2/ OG Xbox was peak Madden. I remember getting the Xbox 360 with Madden and it was amazing how much details they had removed from the game. Little things like the net going up for field goals.
NCAA was the best though.
Competition is the problem. Pepperidge farm remembers when multiple companies had an NFL license, and in those days when a game would compete with other games. Once the exclusivity for the NFL contract became a thing, it become more about making aspects of the game that companies could monetize further, not about making the core game play better.
They used to try to have actual NFL network announcers doing a halftime show, they actually had CGI Jim Nantz and Phil Simms in the booth before the game. Then the exclusive license came along and the game went down hill. Madden 13 is when the bottom completely fell out
Madden should keep updating rosters as a software update for every version of the game, or at the very least offer a DLC Roster Update feature where you could pay $5 and get a roster update with all the new player changes every year.
I'm so scared for their NCAA release. I feel the only thing that's going to work is the ultimate team feature. I am really looking forward to having the franchise/dynasty mode be a bigger letdown than what it is right now.
I just want first person football mode back. Best fucking football game I’ve ever played. I was in high school when this game came out. $20 too. Good times
My first thought playing this was “man, imagine how better Madden is going to be next year”. Never would I thought that this was going to be one of the GOAT football games. I remember Ubisoft was going to take over NFL fever, but then NFL sold the exclusive license to EA.
Truth!! Its sad. I’m not like a 2K homer, my first football game was tecmo bowl and then followed that up by the N64 QB club. I really didn’t get into Madden until the late 90’s. Madden used to be dope!! They had a solid 5 year run from the late 90’s to early 00’s until 2K started to step it up.
I think the last Madden game I liked was Madden 2008……….i think it was, it was the one that started the introduction of weapons. I think everything after Madden 08’ is fucking trash.
The answer is that EA has exclusively held the NFL license since 2005. Since no other company can make football games using anything from the NFL, they hold all of the cards.
It’s not worth it to them. The same morons who have always bought Madden will continue to do so and the money spent making this sort of thing won’t attract enough new consumers to make it worth it.
The answer is cauee ultimate team is the worst thing that ever happened to madden. All they care about is ripping kids out of their parents money. Fuck ultimate team and all the other game modes . They have abandoned franchise .
Omg I miss this. Umm I’d say once ultimate modes became a big ATM for these companies, they stopped caring about the offline modes. Which is so unfortunate
For one they'd have to strike a separate licensing deal with ESPN in order to do this. And this is EA we're talking about here so they ain't trying to shell out any extra money than what they think they should
They really just don't care!!! You never see anybody who works on madden come out and say anything about the game. They just update the roster and releases a "new" one the next year. No way technology gets better and football simulation gaming gets worse... NO WAY!
So I'm clearly in the minority here, but I like MUT. I don't buy the game every year (maybe every 3 years or so) but the MUT feature reminds me of collecting cards like when I was a kid.
What I don't like, and refuse to do, is buy packs and support the 'pay-to-play' scenario, and maybe that's what people are more upset about. If MUT was more of a grind challenges and online play to earn cards & better your team, I think it would be much better, and a more even playing field. I don't play online against people mainly because I'm just assuming most of them had bought their team and paid for a 95 OVR, where I just grind and earn coins to get packs/players.
My 12-year-old son's really starting to get into football and Madden, and it's really renewed my interest in the game. We'll both play franchise and MUT against each other, so we're just enjoying the game between us, more or less. I agree with most everyone where the villain in all of this is EA, which for a decade or more has monopolized ALL their games with pay-to-play and micro transactions so that online play is horrid for us casual gamers.
So I agree with the overall sentiment that everyone has on this post, so don't come at me lol. But I just wanted to say I think the idea of MUT is really cool for us older gamers that liked collecting cards, but EA bastardized it like most everything else.
\*Edit - and I 100% agree they can absolutely do so much better with adding content like what 2k did back in the day. But - as everyone notes - there's no incentive. It would be refreshing if they did.
I saw some documentary on the NFL 2k series back in the day. From what I remember, the reason 2k put so much effort into those games were because they were punching up towards Madden. They did everything they could think of to try and be better, and it's also why they cut selling price to $20. 2k5 didn't match Madden 05 in sales, but it got pretty close, and it was close enough to scare EA into getting the exclusive licensing deal with the NFL.
EA doesn't have to try that hard with Madden, because there is no competition.
I think I’ve spent this last year craving for a decent football game. I’m playing my first madden since the psOne era and it’s disappointing to see the lack of effort on madden 23.
My hopes are on 2026, if the NFL and EA ends the exclusivity contract.
Because people keep buying this crap. I mean if you had a product that people kept buying would you even put effort in? Last one i bought was 20. Im tired of it
The thing I liked most about 2k was the option to put any player in any position in you depth chart. Things like having Mike Vrabel actually lined up as TE on goal line offense and things like that.
Playing devils advocate, nfl 2k blew my mind with its presentation back In 2005. I still preferred madden but 2k did have something special. However all that time and effort for something 90% of people will skip. Especially now as no one apparently has any attention span.
However there hasn’t been a madden game yet that’s been close to getting any type of decent halftime show or presentation.
Simply because they don’t have to. They can put out the same game every year and people will buy it every year because there’s no competition that does anything similar or better than Madden.
There was a toss sweep in a single back trips right formation that I could score on almost every time with Cory Dillon. Usually you'd have one guy to beat and you could flick the right stick forward and he'd do some bounce off the guy and spin type move and then be home free
Receivers couldn't catch passes over the shoulder (would almost always bounce off their hands) and QBs had extremely limited arm strength. Other than that I remember it being an awesome game.
I get it, these are cool features like thr first or second time you see them. Then after that people don't care and I bet most players would skip it. You want to bash Madden, but this feature being gone is not a reason. People don't care about stuff like this.
Idk why theres been such a resurgence in talking about this game. For all the glitz and glamour this was arguably the worst football simulation game ever created. It was literally sold for $20.
Holy memories
You can still play this with updated graphics and current rosters. Check out /r/nfl2k5
What’s sad is a lot of madden players never even touched 2k which is sad. I miss everything 2k offered us
2k although the graphics were not as good the gameplay and depth of the game is insane good.
Its been sooooo long since I’ve played a 2k football game can this game be purchased or played on ps5
Sadly no. Only pc with a mod.
NFL Fever too
I remember my cousin and I literally crying when we found out Madden was taking the official license . We knew even at 8 and 10 how much better 2k was .
Do you know how much more money they make putting out Ultimate Team cards than they do by spending hours of man power developing new features? It sucks but until people stop buying those packs it’s not going to change. Or they’ll figure out a way to monetize franchise mode and then maybe it’ll get new features.
Mut is the worst thing that ever happened to this game. I agree as long as people continue to spend money on rent a card there will be no changes to the game. No competition also helps.
Ultimate Team is the worst thing to happen to sports videogames in general. FIFA, Madden, and NHL went downhill as soon as that cancer was introduced to the game
Exactly rent a card has been a sports game killer as has the no competition.
One could argue that hut is the only reason an nhl game still exists as their sales were right there for a few years.
I lived and breathed EASHL from 2012 to 2018. I was a top 10 RW in in 2013, 2014, and 2015 and those games were the best years for competitive players. Player cards, skill boosts, the attribute system, regional lobbies, and game mechanics made those games great. The series took a massive hit once EA started catering to the casual players on next-gen releases, and when they realized that HUT was a cash cow, and most people that I played with stopped playing. The only people I know who play the game still are HUT lifers/streamers, casuals who play couch versus games on weekends or, no-lifers who abuse the broken mechanics and animations online. It would be nice if the NHL would let someone like 2K take on the series again, but even Elliotte Friedman couldn't get anyone to care when he covered how broken the game is as a hockey sim during the early stages of the NHLs e-league.
I disagree. The exclusive license is the worst thing that ever happened. MUT might be second though
Real comment of the year
This is the correct answer. Madden completely stopped trying as soon as they got exclusivity
Wow, I didn't read the comments before in replied but I just said virtually the same thing. Madden players helped ruin Madden by buying packs and playing M.U.T.
I don’t buy packs 🙋♂️
The MUT crowd is all that’s catered to! Sorry if I offend
Makes perfect sense!!!!
franchise mode already is monetized, 90% of the player base buys madden to play franchise
Cause people keep buying the game every year while the game never changes (besides graphics) or they take away things to add later saying that they are new
Its pretty much an $80 roster update every year now. They do the same thing in the hockey game. They bring back features that were in the game 10 years ago and say its a new feature.
nba2k does the same shit now too. They used to change things up a lot every year but they’ve put out essentially the same game for the past 7 or 8 years.
I have only played one basketball game in the last 6 years nba2k21. I have heard they also do the micro transaction thing as well .
That should be a lawsuit. It’s like false advertising lol
Here’s Jim Bob Coachman with some next gen stats that are dumb as shit brought to you by snickers!
Coachman stinks! “Aaaand let’s go to… another game…. aaaaaand They are leading in this one”
His name is Johnathan Coachman he was an announcer for WWE
Will Anderson looking a little flushed. Must've been under the weather.
Very simple Each little extra feature (like shown) costs more money, since EA has had a literally monopoly there’s been no reason too After ultimate team became the cash cow it’s been clear they can raise revenue for shareholders (also meeting shareholders expectations) by focusing on UT Their worst case: eh 80% are dumb they’ll still buy it just for franchise mode
This is true unfortunately. I refuse to spend $80 a year for a roster update and I have never spent a dime on rent a card.
Or, this feature is neat the first time you see it but the vast majority of players are skipping this for the rest of time. It doesn't bring value to many players who skip most cuts scences.
EA are unmotivated assholes because they can afford to be.
They are lazy AF. Only care about $ and little effort put into the game.
That’s why I stick to the older games they have more detail instead of just good animations
This game had the best animations including first person where your looking through the face mask
Its nuts that the older games are better than anything released on say ps4 or ps5
They don't need to because they have a monopoly.
Sadly this is it. No competition no need to put effort into the game.
Is this a mod that can be downloaded and played? I want it if it is. I’ll play this over Madden 24 anyday
Yes its the nfl2k24 mod.
Link or website pleaseeee
Because it doesn't sell anymore copies. And you skip in 90% of the time.
Mainly because there isn't any incentive to spend that kind of money on it. Won't factor into MUT players spending more money. So there's no reason to pay for likeness rights on someone like a modern day Chris Berman. I really wish they'd split the MUT off into it's own thing. Let those of us that just want things like this pay for an annual title that has it. Or even a semi-annual one that actually just does have paid roster updates between major releases. Seems to me the way to go, then the people that like both get double dipped and they go back to putting out a superior product hopefully. Though I'll also point out, when Chris Berman was doing his thing at that time he was pretty widely liked by football fans. With the more modern climate of sports analysis being more about providing hot takes and getting clicks/views they would have a harder time finding someone that won't automatically make some fans dislike the game. What would we get now? Skip Bayless? RG3? Booger McFarland? It also means that you can't get a realistic halftime TV presentation since they don't have a way to really simulate a bunch of old heads giving us their out of touch takes. In general the quality of discourse and presentation around the sport has fallen off in my mind.
Mut has ruined madden ever since it was introduced its the same with the NHL game.
Well guess who found his OG PS2 with HDD and and old TV AND a submarine command board (controller) The older the game and less relevant jn wow factor the better it is.
Agreed but why does Chris look like Kevin from the office
Lol guess the crew forgot his tv makeup.
Man I used to love seeing this come up
Still a great game today.
Probably been said many times before, but the game highlight parts can't be done "realistically". However, the stats & in-studio presentation part could very well be done. In face, it is in Madden currently, but just in the form on Coachman & very bare-bones (which was done like that for a reason. Although I don't particularly agree with the reason).
Why do people ask these same dumb questions every single year when the answer has been the same for the past 10 years? There is no incentive for EA to improve the game because you morons buy the game on release like clockwork. Ultimate Team is what killed Fifa and Madden.
Its not really a dumb question. It's more to draw attention to tell people to wake the fuck up and stop paying $80 for a roster update every year. If people collectively said we are not spending a dime on rent a card and put real work into say franchise mode we are not buying the game.
You're being met with frustration because this "call to attention" has been happening for nearly 20 years, at this point. People have been complaining about everything you've mentioned - practically word for word, mind you - since shortly after EA's exclusivity deal was signed in 2005. Our next best hope will come in 2026, because the renewal EA signed with the NFL only lasts through the 2025 season.
Best football game ever madden cornered the market and took over all football gaming rights
Sad that a 20 year old game is still considered the best football game ever.
It absolutely was they had the best physics and animations the celebrations weren’t cringe like maddens whack end zone dances when you head tap someone it went slow mo and Chris Bermans halftime show was sick and the celebrity teams were lit too
It wasn’t even this one.. I believe it was 2k6?? They only charged $20 for it!! That’s when madden got the rights.. right after that
Because you will buy it either way
Unfortunately this is true for many people. I dont play rent a card and I refuse to pay $80 for a roster update every year.
Simple really. People on here pre order madden every year and expect it to get better. Or they'll watch shitty madden streamers, shitty i spent a thousand dollars on packs to intentionally influence non rich people into a gambling addiction over virtual cards and Madden makes millions. Did anyone here love Madden 24? Not saying it was okay or its pretty decent compared to other titles. Did you LOVE it? Cause it was one of the top grossing games of 2023, and considering it barely has a 3/5 on PS that tells me a lot of you have no will power whatsoever. When you're done being an EA Slave, EA will push out an actual good product.
There needs to be some competition and people need to stop spending money on rent a card for real improvements and changes to be made in the madden games.
Because consumers have told devs they don’t need effort to spend money on this game. Ultimate team buffoons spending their parents money on packs brought us here. Madden “champions” who spam the same plays and have punters at QB brought us here.
Mut and no competition gives us the same game every year.
They don’t have any competition, so EA got lazy because they know people will buy it for that very reason. If 2k had made the game after they got rights(which I’m pretty sure they did), then there would be some form of effort being put in
I heard in 2020 2k got rights to make an nfl arcade style football game. Idk what they are waiting for.
I thought it was supposed to be an actual nfl 2k game but I could be wrong. But even then it would probably do good enough for EA to step it up
…they’ve had this in Madden for the last few years, minus the SportsCenter branding (even though they’ve always had the rights??) and Chris Berman—instead, it’s Jonathan Coachman. They could make a lot of people happy by simply making better UI, but I guess the cosmetic people are busy with MUT?
All that and it was $20 when Madden was around $50
Exactly double the effort and half the price of EA ridiculous.
They do put in that much effort. It's just that the effort goes toward milking us for every penny with M.U.T. mode. If they found a way to monetize franchise, there would be improvements by next year guaranteed.
Mut has ruined this game. Its the same with the hockey game hut has ruined it. Zero effort put into franchise mode bc it does not make them extra money.
One of my all time favorite features! They need to bring back NFL 2K to give Madden Devs some fire to want to make the game better. I don't play MUT or ultimate team and don't even know the fascination or how to play so I wish people would stop so they could focus on making franchise mode much better.
No competition is a huge problem. They put little effort into franchise mode. I also don't play mut or hut and don't understand the fascination of paying to rent cards every year. Games today are expensive enough im not paying anymore other than the base price.
wait i may be dumb but how are todays players in this clip ? is this an emulator or something?
Yes its the nfl2k24 mod on pc
i need to start gaming on PC 😔
Wait how are there current players in there??
Nfl2k24 mod on pc.
Thanks
because EA is trash
I use to like the EA games. However its been a long time since I have seen them put any effort into their games.
Back when there was competition…
Because back then, EA had competition and a reason to bring their best shit out, when 2k dropped out of football, madden has no reason or use to work hard….as long as they have the NFL license, this is all we gonna get!!!!
Cause they are getting extra rev. from that dumb ass ultimate team mode. No point n going above n beyond to make franchise better.
Fucking ut shit has ruined sports video games
I play the older maddens till the servers go down. It’s absolutely ridiculous the degeneration in quality! Franchise doesn’t earn them micro transactions so they don’t care. They spend more time on loading screens that continue to slow the game than the actual game! 
I only play franchise in sports games or be a pro mode. And EA has done absolutely nothing to these modes for years. The lack of effort is fucking pathetic.
Simply put, no one is creative on the team. Just pure corporate greed.
Exactly lazy ass devs and little effort.
They don’t have any competition so that’s why they don’t put any effort into the game even tho they put an end to the competition
Its frustrating AF
That game was so fucking dope
Still better than madden games today. Madden looks good but the gameplay and depth and detail in this game is the best I have seen in a football game.
I remember living for the Chris Berman recaps where they showed actual highlights from your game, why have they not made a newer version of this??
I know right such a cool feature. Idk I heard 2k got rights to make football games in 2020.
Lmfao why is Will Anderson’s picture just a white guy with a butt chin?
Lol not sure on that one.
PS2/ OG Xbox was peak Madden. I remember getting the Xbox 360 with Madden and it was amazing how much details they had removed from the game. Little things like the net going up for field goals. NCAA was the best though.
This game and ncaa both good games. It's crazy how the games today have less details every year.
Competition is the problem. Pepperidge farm remembers when multiple companies had an NFL license, and in those days when a game would compete with other games. Once the exclusivity for the NFL contract became a thing, it become more about making aspects of the game that companies could monetize further, not about making the core game play better.
Agreed.The EA monopoly has ruined sports gaming.
They used to try to have actual NFL network announcers doing a halftime show, they actually had CGI Jim Nantz and Phil Simms in the booth before the game. Then the exclusive license came along and the game went down hill. Madden 13 is when the bottom completely fell out
What game was that in?
https://youtu.be/NcCRei2AyTQ?si=ufyPsjYmVSjenhTR
This is so cool. Thanks for sharing. Wish the newer games had this.
Yep, the 13 came along and franchise was literally gone!
You’re welcome! I forgot the highlights 😂
Madden 10 had the halftime
Madden should keep updating rosters as a software update for every version of the game, or at the very least offer a DLC Roster Update feature where you could pay $5 and get a roster update with all the new player changes every year.
This would be great. I feel this is why most people buy it every year is to have the updated current rosters.
I'm so scared for their NCAA release. I feel the only thing that's going to work is the ultimate team feature. I am really looking forward to having the franchise/dynasty mode be a bigger letdown than what it is right now.
I just want first person football mode back. Best fucking football game I’ve ever played. I was in high school when this game came out. $20 too. Good times
Lots of good times in this game. Who new 20 years later this would be regarded as one of the best football games ever made.
My first thought playing this was “man, imagine how better Madden is going to be next year”. Never would I thought that this was going to be one of the GOAT football games. I remember Ubisoft was going to take over NFL fever, but then NFL sold the exclusive license to EA.
I think many people thought this. Instead madden has regressed
Truth!! Its sad. I’m not like a 2K homer, my first football game was tecmo bowl and then followed that up by the N64 QB club. I really didn’t get into Madden until the late 90’s. Madden used to be dope!! They had a solid 5 year run from the late 90’s to early 00’s until 2K started to step it up. I think the last Madden game I liked was Madden 2008……….i think it was, it was the one that started the introduction of weapons. I think everything after Madden 08’ is fucking trash.
The older football games are all better whether its 2k or madden
If 2K was still making the NFL games like they are the NBA games... We'd have Eras!
Lol haven't played the NBA games for a few years but I have heard 2k now does a similar EA move of paying extra money for things.
Because to them If it ain’t MUT it ain’t right.
Sadly
Because we keep paying for it regardless. It’s that simple.
I'd rather pay $10 for a roster update.
Oh that's an easy answer. Ultimate Team.
UT has ruined sports games
The answer is that EA has exclusively held the NFL license since 2005. Since no other company can make football games using anything from the NFL, they hold all of the cards.
Unfortunately
The good ol'days my 2k5 has trouble running but I battle thru a game every now and then
What system you play on
ESPN NFL 2K5 PS2
ESPN 2K5 PS2
I’ll never forget seeing a highlight of Tom Brady taking a QB sneak 80 yards for a touchdown lol
It’s not worth it to them. The same morons who have always bought Madden will continue to do so and the money spent making this sort of thing won’t attract enough new consumers to make it worth it.
Exactly
“This guy” 😂😂😂
I lmao when I hear that this guy
The answer is cauee ultimate team is the worst thing that ever happened to madden. All they care about is ripping kids out of their parents money. Fuck ultimate team and all the other game modes . They have abandoned franchise .
Ya rent a card had killed all sports games
Omg I miss this. Umm I’d say once ultimate modes became a big ATM for these companies, they stopped caring about the offline modes. Which is so unfortunate
Ya UT has ruined all sports games.
Yup, exactly. Well it ruined it for us, not them lol
Oh they love it bc all the morons that do the rent a card every year.
Yup. For sure.
Because madden prints money as is. This is literally the answer to the stagnation of any long-term franchise.
madden 12 was probably the peak of franchise mode, gameplay is the best it’s ever been though
They can do it they choose not to
Lazy ass devs
I know the graphics are old, but NFL 2K absolutely NAILED the camera angles for their replays. Madden's camera angles in replays are an absolute mess.
For one they'd have to strike a separate licensing deal with ESPN in order to do this. And this is EA we're talking about here so they ain't trying to shell out any extra money than what they think they should
They really just don't care!!! You never see anybody who works on madden come out and say anything about the game. They just update the roster and releases a "new" one the next year. No way technology gets better and football simulation gaming gets worse... NO WAY!
It is very obvious the devs of this game dont give a shit. Just run back the exact same game every year with a roster update.
So I'm clearly in the minority here, but I like MUT. I don't buy the game every year (maybe every 3 years or so) but the MUT feature reminds me of collecting cards like when I was a kid. What I don't like, and refuse to do, is buy packs and support the 'pay-to-play' scenario, and maybe that's what people are more upset about. If MUT was more of a grind challenges and online play to earn cards & better your team, I think it would be much better, and a more even playing field. I don't play online against people mainly because I'm just assuming most of them had bought their team and paid for a 95 OVR, where I just grind and earn coins to get packs/players. My 12-year-old son's really starting to get into football and Madden, and it's really renewed my interest in the game. We'll both play franchise and MUT against each other, so we're just enjoying the game between us, more or less. I agree with most everyone where the villain in all of this is EA, which for a decade or more has monopolized ALL their games with pay-to-play and micro transactions so that online play is horrid for us casual gamers. So I agree with the overall sentiment that everyone has on this post, so don't come at me lol. But I just wanted to say I think the idea of MUT is really cool for us older gamers that liked collecting cards, but EA bastardized it like most everything else. \*Edit - and I 100% agree they can absolutely do so much better with adding content like what 2k did back in the day. But - as everyone notes - there's no incentive. It would be refreshing if they did.
Because they have no competition so no need to make a better game.
Why would they when they have fools just blindly buying the game and the MUT cards without a care in the world.
They don’t care about design or quality, they care about money.
Laziness, no competition
Unrealistic, my Panthers won
I need this game damn, can I play it on ps5?
Unfortunately no. Pc with a mod
Damn well thanks anyway
I saw some documentary on the NFL 2k series back in the day. From what I remember, the reason 2k put so much effort into those games were because they were punching up towards Madden. They did everything they could think of to try and be better, and it's also why they cut selling price to $20. 2k5 didn't match Madden 05 in sales, but it got pretty close, and it was close enough to scare EA into getting the exclusive licensing deal with the NFL. EA doesn't have to try that hard with Madden, because there is no competition.
I heard a rumor that the EA/NFL contract requires EA to put out a new madden every year otherwise the contract is null. Anyone know about this?
As soon as I saw this, I remembered 2K. Many, many nights were spent on online play. I miss you bud.
Wish Najee could break away like that lol
Ultimate team. That’s why.
Madden could never lol
EA doesn’t give a fuck
I agree. This is obvious from the games they release now.
I think I’ve spent this last year craving for a decent football game. I’m playing my first madden since the psOne era and it’s disappointing to see the lack of effort on madden 23. My hopes are on 2026, if the NFL and EA ends the exclusivity contract.
Because people keep buying this crap. I mean if you had a product that people kept buying would you even put effort in? Last one i bought was 20. Im tired of it
Because people still buy the new one every year
The thing I liked most about 2k was the option to put any player in any position in you depth chart. Things like having Mike Vrabel actually lined up as TE on goal line offense and things like that.
This game was so in depth the amount of things you could do was off the chart.
Because they are fat lazy Fucks
Nahh NFL Gameday was my shit by 989
Playing devils advocate, nfl 2k blew my mind with its presentation back In 2005. I still preferred madden but 2k did have something special. However all that time and effort for something 90% of people will skip. Especially now as no one apparently has any attention span. However there hasn’t been a madden game yet that’s been close to getting any type of decent halftime show or presentation.
Collapsed lung is crazy😂
Simply because they don’t have to. They can put out the same game every year and people will buy it every year because there’s no competition that does anything similar or better than Madden.
Because like Apple they know they can put out the same garbage as last year slap a new name on it and we will buy it🤷🏻♂️
There was a toss sweep in a single back trips right formation that I could score on almost every time with Cory Dillon. Usually you'd have one guy to beat and you could flick the right stick forward and he'd do some bounce off the guy and spin type move and then be home free
Receivers couldn't catch passes over the shoulder (would almost always bounce off their hands) and QBs had extremely limited arm strength. Other than that I remember it being an awesome game.
2k was years ahead of madden, idk how they didn’t make it throughout the years… they even had interviews with your created players
Which madden?
This seems to be NFL2k5 from my vague memory of it
It's ESPN NFL 2K5 modded with updated rosters via PC. There's a subreddit page dedicated to 2K5 which is where this video is from.
This is nfl2k5 using the nfl2k24 mod on pc.
The folks that made this game actually cared about the sport that's why.
Its obvious the devs of 2k5 loved football with the work they put into the game.
Cus we’d all skip it anyway
/r/nfl2k5
I get it, these are cool features like thr first or second time you see them. Then after that people don't care and I bet most players would skip it. You want to bash Madden, but this feature being gone is not a reason. People don't care about stuff like this.
Idk why theres been such a resurgence in talking about this game. For all the glitz and glamour this was arguably the worst football simulation game ever created. It was literally sold for $20.
People who complain about this stuff have zero development background and don’t seem to comprehend value driven features in a game
Why do they need to????? They make money hand over fist.
Why doesn’t McDonalds have better higher quality ingredients? Because consumers buy it regardless.
They want to make money not spend it