NFL GameDay (video game series)

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NFL GameDay was a football video game series for both the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 video game consoles. NFL GameDay directly competed with EA Sports' Madden NFL Football and Sega's NFL 2K franchises. The NFL GameDay series began with NFL GameDay released for the 1995-96 NFL season and ended with NFL GameDay 2005 following EA's acquisition of NFL licensing.

1 Rise to prominence
2 Declining popularity
3 The end of the GameDay series
4 Incarnations

[edit] Rise to prominence

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(April 2008)

NFL GameDay 96 began to gain recognition as one of the Madden franchise’s biggest rivals. NFL GameDay 97 continued the trend and was seen as a legitimate contender as the best football game of the time. When NFL GameDay 98 was released, it was considered by many the greatest football game ever made and easily took the crown as the champion of football titles that season. The use of polygons to create the players instead of the aging and overused sprites began a new trend and while the graphics may look terrible when compared to today’s standards, the game was/is easily one of the most enjoyable football games ever created. The arcade style gameplay (stiff arms sending defenders 5 yards, knocking down 4-5 defends with a single move, recording absurd amounts of sacks, etc.) still makes for an exciting time and many unforgettable moments.

[edit] Declining popularity

In response to the criticism that the game felt "too arcadey", the series took on a more Madden-inspired style of play starting with NFL GameDay 99. Some people felt that the change of play-style made the game less fun and, combined with Madden switching to polygon technology, the GameDay series lost the crown as the best selling football game the following year.

[edit] The end of the GameDay series

The NFL GameDay series did not transition well to the PlayStation 2 platform and lost a great deal of market share. In the end, the GameDay series, along with all other non-EA football games, were doomed to extinction when Electronic Arts acquired an exclusive license to the NFL license.