NFL 2K1

NFL 2K1
North American box art, featuring Randy Moss
DeveloperVisual Concepts
PublisherSega
SeriesNFL 2K
PlatformDreamcast
Release
  • NA: September 7, 2000
  • JP: March 29, 2001
GenreSports (American football)
ModesSingle-player, multiplayer

NFL 2K1 is a 2000 American football video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. It is the second installment of Sega's NFL 2K series, and features remediation[clarification needed] as well as multiple in-game product placements, such as Dreamcast ads in stadiums. It was followed by NFL 2K2, the last game in the series to be released for the Dreamcast, in 2001.

In the early 2000s, SegaNet was shut down and the online features of the game were shut down as well. However, in July 2017, the game's online features were brought back thanks to DreamPi. The rest of the 2K titles on the Dreamcast have since had their online components revived and are playable online today.

Reception

NFL 2K1 received "universal acclaim" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Rob Smolka of NextGen called it "A great-playing game, both online and offline, and a significant advance over last year's version." In Japan, where the game was ported for release on March 29, 2001, Famitsu gave it a score of 32 out of 40.

Atomic Dawg of GamePro said in one review, "In a world of video game football, NFL 2K1 is Super Bowl-bound—with topnotch replay featuring online gameplay [...] and a vicious all-pro difficulty level. Any Dreamcast football player who passes up this game should be fined." In another GamePro review, Cheat Monkey said, "Football fans looking for a realistic videogame should look no further. NFL 2K1 stands helmet and shoulderpads above the rest, which is easy to do since it's the only new Dreamcast football game available. With improvements made over the already incredible NFL 2K, this year's NFL game on the Dreamcast is all a football fan could wish for."

The game won the awards for "Dreamcast Game of the Year", "Multiplayer Game of the Year", and "Sports Game of the Year" at the Electronic Gaming Monthly 2000 Gamers' Choice Awards (the latter at the 2000 Readers' Choice Awards); and was a runner-up for the overall Game of the Year award, which went to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. The game also won "Best Dreamcast Game" and "Best Sports Game (Traditional)" awards at GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2000 Awards, and was a runner-up for the "Best Multiplayer Game" and "Game of the Year" awards, both of which went to Quake III Arena and Chrono Cross, respectively. The staff wrote that they "argued for more than an hour over whether Square's Chrono Cross or Sega's NFL 2K1 should win the award for Game of the Year." The game won the awards for "Best Multiplayer Console Game" and "Best Console Sports Game" at The Electric Playground's 2000 Blister Awards, and was nominated for the "DC Game of the Year", "Console Game of the Year", "Gamers' Choice Dreamcast", and "Best Game of the Year" awards, all of which went to Jet Grind Radio (the former two), Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 and Shenmue (tied in with the third award), and Deus Ex, respectively.

Studies have been done on how effective in-game commercialization is in sports games on people, including NFL 2K1.

According to PC Data, NFL 2K1 sold 900,000 units in 2000. It is the second highest-grossing Dreamcast game in the US, after the original NFL 2K.

Legacy

NFL 2K1 has been retrospectively noted for its role in the development of online console sports games. In a 2005 retrospective on the NFL 2K series, GameSpot described the network-enabled Dreamcast as signalling the end of console football's previously offline nature, with NFL 2K1 becoming the first Sega sports title to fulfil the system's promise of online play. The publication noted that Sega introduced online sports gaming ahead of Sony, Microsoft and EA Sports, and regarded services such as SegaNet as an indication of the direction in which sports games were heading.

Notes

  1. ↑ Released under the Sega Sports banner
  2. ↑ In Electronic Gaming Monthly's review of the game, one critic gave it a score of 10/10, and the rest gave it each a score of 9.5/10.
  3. ↑ In GameFan's viewpoint of the game, one critic gave it 96, and the other 97.
  4. ↑ GamePro gave the game three 5/5 scores for graphics, sound, and fun factor, and 4.5/5 for control in one review.
  5. ↑ GamePro gave the game two 5/5 scores for graphics and fun factor, and two 4.5/5 scores for sound and control in another review.

References

  1. ↑ Trueman, Doug; MacDonald, Ryan (September 5, 2000). "Sega's NFL 2K1 Available Soon [date mislabeled as "May 17, 2006"]". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on July 7, 2001. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  2. ↑ Plymire, Darcy Cree (March 2009). "Remediating Football for the Posthuman Future: Embodiment and Subjectivity in Sport Video Games". Sociology of Sport Journal. Vol. 26, no. 1. Human Kinetics Publishers. pp. 17–30. doi:10.1123/ssj.26.1.17. ISSN 0741-1235. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
  3. ↑ Cianfrone, Beth A.; Zhang, James J. (September 2013). "The Impact of Gamer Motives, Consumption, and In-Game Advertising Effectiveness: A Case Study of Football Sport Video Games". International Journal of Sport Communication. Vol. 6, no. 3. pp. 325–347. doi:10.1123/ijsc.6.3.325. ISSN 1936-3915. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Games". Dreamcast Live. Archived from the original on February 18, 2024. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
  5. 1 2 "NFL 2K1". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on September 13, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  6. ↑ Rector, Brett (September 8, 2000). "NFL 2K1". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on October 19, 2000. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  7. ↑ Leahy, Dan; Hager, Dean; Kujawa, Kraig (December 2000). "NFL 2K1" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 137. Ziff Davis. p. 201. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  8. ↑ Zimmerman, Chris (September 17, 2000). "NFL 2K1". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on July 5, 2004. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  9. 1 2 "NFL 2K1 [ドリームキャスト]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain.
  10. ↑ Anderson, Paul (November 2000). "NFL 2K1". Game Informer. No. 91. FuncoLand. pp. 118–19. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  11. ↑ Higgins, Geoff "El Nino"; Mosquera, Fernando "Lagi" (November 2000). "NFL 2K1". GameFan. Vol. 8, no. 11. Shinno Media. p. 124. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  12. ↑ Silverman, Ben (September 2000). "NFL 2K1 Review". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  13. ↑ MacDonald, Ryan (September 8, 2000). "NFL 2K1 Review [date mislabeled as "May 17, 2006"]". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on November 9, 2000. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  14. ↑ Mr. Domino (September 17, 2000). "NFL2K1 [sic]". PlanetDreamcast. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 24, 2009. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  15. ↑ Justice, Brandon (September 7, 2000). "NFL 2K1". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on November 26, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  16. 1 2 Smolka, Rob (November 2000). "NFL 2K1". NextGen. No. 71. Imagine Media. pp. 104–5. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  17. ↑ Boyce, Ryan (September 5, 2000). "NFL2K1 [sic]". Maxim. MaximNet, Inc. Archived from the original on June 26, 2001. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  18. ↑ Atomic Dawg (December 2000). "NFL 2K1" (PDF). GamePro. No. 147. IDG. p. 173. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  19. ↑ Cheat Monkey (September 6, 2000). "NFL 2K1 Review for Dreamcast on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG. Archived from the original on October 11, 2004. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  20. ↑ EGM staff (April 2001). "EGM's 2000 Gamers' Choice Awards (Dreamcast Game of the Year)" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 141. Ziff Davis. p. 94. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  21. ↑ EGM staff (April 2001). "EGM's 2000 Gamers' Choice Awards (Multiplayer Game of the Year, Sports Game of the Year)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 141. Ziff Davis. p. 97.
  22. ↑ EGM staff (April 2001). "EGM's 2000 Gamers' Choice Awards (2000 Readers' Choice Awards: Sports Game of the Year)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 141. Ziff Davis. p. 98.
  23. ↑ EGM staff (April 2001). "EGM's 2000 Gamers' Choice Awards (Game of the Year)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 141. Ziff Davis. p. 99.
  24. ↑ GameSpot staff (January 5, 2001). "Best and Worst of 2000 Awards (Best Dreamcast Game)". GameSpot. CNET. Archived from the original on December 15, 2001. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  25. ↑ GameSpot staff (January 5, 2001). "Best and Worst of 2000 Awards (Best Sports Game (Traditional))". GameSpot. CNET. Archived from the original on July 26, 2001. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  26. ↑ GameSpot staff (January 5, 2001). "Best and Worst of 2000 Awards (Best Multiplayer Game Runners-Up)". GameSpot. CNET. Archived from the original on May 12, 2001. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  27. 1 2 GameSpot staff (January 5, 2001). "Best and Worst of 2000 Awards (Game of the Year Runners-Up, Part 1)". GameSpot. CNET. Archived from the original on May 15, 2001. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  28. ↑ EP staff (2001). "Blister Awards 2000 (Console Games 1)". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on August 18, 2001. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  29. ↑ EP staff (2001). "Blister Awards 2000 (Console Games 2)". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on July 20, 2001. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  30. ↑ EP staff (2001). "Blister Awards 2000 (Console Games 3)". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on July 20, 2001. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  31. ↑ EP staff (2001). "Blister Awards 2000 (Gamers' Choice)". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on July 20, 2001. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  32. ↑ EP staff (2001). "Blister Awards 2000 (Special Awards)". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on July 20, 2001. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  33. ↑ Cianfrone, Beth A.; Trail, Galen T.; Zhang, James J.; Lutz, Richard J. (June 2008). "Effectiveness of In-Game Advertisements in Sport Video Games: An Experimental Inquiry on Current Gamers". International Journal of Sport Communication. Vol. 1, no. 2. pp. 195–218. doi:10.1123/ijsc.1.2.195. ISSN 1936-3915. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
  34. ↑ Gaudiosi, John (January 22, 2001). "PlayStation 2 shorts game business in 2000". Video Business. Archived from the original on August 27, 2025. Retrieved August 27, 2025 – via Gale Research.
  35. ↑ "The Best-Selling Dreamcast Games Of All Time In The US". GameSpot. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  36. ↑ Ekberg, Brian (August 9, 2005). "GameSpot Sports Classic – NFL 2K". GameSpot. Retrieved October 7, 2026.