NEWS - Tuesday, July 20, 2004
ESPN NHL And NBA 2K5 To Retail At $19.99?
Once again, it appears an online retailer may have pre-empted a major announcement from a publisher. Earlier today, EBgames.com began listing both the Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions of ESPN NHL 2K5 and ESPN NBA 2K5 for $19.99. The new price point is the same as ESPN NFL 2K5, whose discounting sent waves through the industry when it was announced last month. However, the new price point is not official--yet. When contacted by GameSpot, representatives of Visual Concepts, the Sega-owned developer of all ESPN titles, would neither confirm nor deny the price point, but promised there "will be an announcement soon." Last month, nearly identical wording was used to respond to inquiries about EBgames' pre-emptive listing of ESPN NFL 2K5 for $19.99. However, NFL 2K5's discounting was corroborated by product pages from the online store of EB's rival, Gamestop. As of this afternoon, Gamestop was still listing NBA 2K5 and NHL 2K5 for the standard $49.99. If true, the re-pricing of NBA 2K5 and NHL 2K5 would mark another bold joint move by ESPN co-publishers Sega and Take-Two Interactive. However, since the two titles are not nearly as complete as NFL 2K5 was when its cost fell, some industry-watchers are concerned the price reduction could mean less resources will be devoted to their development.Source: http://www.gamespot.com
