ESPN NFL 2K5

ESPN NFL 2K5 is an American football video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports and the Sega Corporation. It is the sixth installment of the NFL 2K series. The game was originally released on July 20, 2004, for both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox video game consoles. It was the last NFL 2K game to be released before Electronic Arts signed an exclusivity deal with the NFL to make 2K's rival Madden NFL series the only officially licensed NFL game. It was also the last game to be made by Sega before that happened.

Features

The game features a franchise mode with a SportsCenter feature hosted by Chris Berman. He outlines the games of the current week with his co-host Trey Wingo who talks about the latest injuries and free agent deals and trades during the season. Mel Kiper hosts the draft portion of the segment while Suzy Kolber reports from the sidelines. There is also weekly preparation for the coming week which allows the player to make decisions on training and preparation. The player can also create his or her own team deciding the team logos (over 10 are available), team name, the teams city, the teams stadium look and build, jerseys and how good the team is. It also has a feature called first-person football, which gives the player the experience on the field looking from the eyes of the players. There is also the traditional create-a-player mode.

NFL 2K

NFL 2K (also known as Sega Sports' NFL 2K) is the first installment of the NFL 2K series. The game, published by Sega Sports and developed by Visual Concepts, was released exclusively for the Dreamcast on its September 9, 1999 launch date in North America. As the foremost "2K" title, it marked the beginning of a running athletics series that eventually led to the spinning off of 2K's sports publishing business under the name of 2K Sports. The cover features Randy Moss of the Minnesota Vikings.

Development

After Visual Concepts developed a version of Madden NFL '96, which was planned to be the first NFL game on the PlayStation, the game was canceled as it did not meet EA's quality assurance standards. Visual Concepts would later develop NFL 2K to address EA Sports's decision not to publish games, including the Madden NFL series, for the Dreamcast. NFL 2K was the first football game released for a 6th generation console.

Features

All 31 NFL teams (including the returning Cleveland Browns), alumni teams, and All-Pro teams for the AFC, NFC, and NFL are included in the game. Rosters reflect the 1999 NFL season. Game modes featured in the game include Exhibition, Seasons, Playoffs, Practice, and customization modes. The commentary is by the fictional Dan Stevens (Terry McGovern) and Peter O'Keefe (Jay Styne), with occasional sideline reports from the fictional Michelle Westphal (Marcia Perry).

National Football League

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of American football in the world. The NFL's 17-week regular season runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing sixteen games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, six teams from each conference (four division winners and two wild card teams) advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, played between the champions of the NFC and AFC.

The NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1923 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League (AFL) in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season; the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance (67,591) of any professional sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. The Super Bowl is among the biggest club sporting events in the world and individual Super Bowl games account for many of the most watched television programs in American history, all occupying the Nielsen's Top 5 tally of the all-time most watched U.S. television broadcasts by 2015. The NFL's executive officer is the commissioner, who has broad authority in governing the league.

Better Than

"Better Than" is a song by John Butler Trio from their fourth studio album, Grand National. Produced by John Butler and Mario Caldato Jr., it was released in the United States on 20 February 2007 as an online single, the third single in Australia and the first overseas single from the album.

The EP includes two previously unreleased tracks recorded in the Grand National sessions, and a special radio mix version of "Better Than" from US sound man, Chris Lord-Alge. To this day, the radio mix version still receives moderate airplay from adult alternative stations.

The EP debuted at number sixteen in the ARIA Singles Chart on 3 September 2007. "Better Than" was also popular in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2007 being voted at #4 and appearing on the compilation CD.

On 31 July 2007 the song was performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Music video

An accompanying music video for "Better Than", which utilizes the "Chris Lord-Alge radio mix" has been released on YouTube on August 1, 2007. In this video, members of the John Butler Trio band perform the song while on animated posters and performing on various spots of the streets with various pedestrians and skateboarders going by. Throughout, 2 messages (which reiterate the lyrical content in the song itself) are shown in a style of graffiti saying "The best things in life...aren't things!" and "Art changes people... people change the world."