E3 2001: Sega Sports Hits PS2
NFL and NBA are confirmed, and that\'s not the only surprise Sega has in store for Sony\'s system...
May 16, 2001
Sega Sports NFL2K2 and NBA2K2 will arrive on PlayStation 2 in the fall of 2001, and United Game Artists\' musical shooter K-Project is also PS2-bound, Sega of America confirmed with IGNPS2 today. While the details surrounding online play for the current season remain unclear, and PS2 is clearly playing third string at this year\'s Sega E3 display, Sega Sports\' "all sports, all platforms" strategy means EA will have a credible competitor in the PS2 sports arena for at least the next two seasons.
PS2 versions of the Visual Concepts-developed football and basketball titles have been in the works since well before Sega\'s official announcement of its multiplatform strategy, Sega representatives said. The online gameplay that was and is both series\' strongest selling point on the Dreamcast may not make it to PS2 in the 2K2 editions -- that will be dependent on Sony\'s support for online connectivity on its end. However, Sega is confident at this point that NFL2K3 and NBA2K3 will be playable online with PS2.
As yet, Sega\'s other sports franchises, including tennis, hockey, and baseball, remain unconfirmed for PlayStation 2. However, Sega Sports has announced that its philosophy in the future can be summed up as "all sports, all platforms," suggesting that those sports will make it to PS2 at some point, if not in this year\'s season.
Despite this major announcement, Sega\'s PS2 presence at this year\'s E3 looks to be outshone by its support for Nintendo\'s GameCube and Microsoft\'s Xbox. According to Sega representatives, the only PS2 titles that may be shown are NFL2K2 and NBA2K2, and if they appear, it will only be in noninteractive form. However, the promise of four confirmed Sega titles for US release on PS2 -- Virtua Fighter 4, Space Channel 5, and the two 2K2 sports games (K-Project being announced for Japanese release only as yet) -- should certainly be followed by further support in the future.
Now EA has some competition
