ESPN NFL 2K5 Rushes Into Bug Issues

Thanks to GameSpot for its article discussing issues with the online modes of Sega's PS2/Xbox title ESPN NFL 2005, as "a server update will be released on Friday 'to address the login and roster problems some of you are experiencing.' The problems affect both the PlayStation and Xbox versions of the game." Amidst messageboard rumblings of "AI issues", the high-rated, budget-priced title also seems to have a separate problem with the Xbox Live version, as it's advised if you're "having difficulties getting another user to accept your challenge or if you are not receiving challenges once you've created a match, [to] power down your Xbox and restart" - the developers, apparently wrestling with the previously mentioned Xbox Live "LSP (Live Server Protocol)", are planning to fix this problem by August 6th.

Comments

Hmm

[obeythefist]

I thought console games didn't have any bugs?

Although it is fortunate that the problem can be fixed on the server end.

I know serious bugs occur with PC games. As the code becomes more complex, so the risk of bugginess increases. PC games can be patched easily however.

Console games are beginning to come close to PC games in terms of complexity, with the next generation of consoles around the corner now, so what will happen when a serious bug is found in a console game, that can't be fixed on the server side?

Re:Hmm

[dammitallgoodnamesgo]

There have been showstopper bugs dating back to the SNES days - several RPGs had bugs which could cause your save-games to be deleted.

Bugs

[Anonymous Coward]

I've only noticed 1 quirky bug, when the other team challenged a play during the challenge the play clock ran out. The play was overturned on the challenge and on top of that I got nailed with a delay of game; that shouldn't happen.

NFL 2k5 is a bug ridden nightmare...

[yunfat]

There are so many issues with this years 2k5 that the ESPN forums are crawling with bug reports and angry gamers. Never have I seen such dissatisfaction with a console game of any type...

The developer, Visual Concepts, refuses to acknowledge many of the reports and has only acted now out fear and liability.

More disheartening is the fact that almost all the online reviews for the game made no mention of the bug filled mess that is online play. NFL 2k5 recieved almost perfect rankings from most of the magazines I read, leading me to beleive that most review sites do little, if any homework on the games they review.

Also, no mention was ever made of the features removed from the game that were present in last years version. Chat capability and the ability to change playbooks have been REMOVED from this years game, yet the developers chose to add useless features for marketing and hype that detracted from 2k4's flawless gameplay.

This is clearly the last year for the ESPN videogames. It's unfortunate, but they don't have the resources to compete with EA. They can't even playtest their games.