Ben-DutkaEA's NBA Elite 11 (the successor to their long-running NBA Live series) has been canceled, so maybe it's best to resurrect another old franchise.
Not everyone wants a sports simulator and those who picked up NBA Jam this past week will be happy to hear the following rumor : it seems NFL Blitz is on the way back. An "inside tipster" says EA is indeed planning to bring back the arcade-style series that enjoyed its hey-day between the original PlayStation and PS2 eras. Supposedly in development at EA's Tiburon studio, it's not likely to see the light of day until 2012 but we'll still be interested to learn more. I played NBA Jam over the weekend and while I'm sure it won't really appeal to anyone who isn't interested in the nostalgic appeal, it's still classic Jam material…and there ain't nothin' wrong with that. The return of Blitz might be a welcome arrival; Madden still dominates and we got Tecmo Bowl Throwback this year, but we really need a full-fledged, smash-mouth pigskin game that just about anyone can play again and again.
…hey, speaking of which, wasn't there a SNES game called Pigskin ? I seem to remember some weird caveman type of time period, where there were natural obstacles on the field and no actual plays to speak of; just nonstop action, running back and forth…
What's the story on these anyway? Do they have fake teams or something? I think only Madden can use real people.
Well it's not really that Madden can use real people, it's only EA who can, and EA makes Blitz, besides, they never go into detail on the names in blitz, just the names of the teams generally (least on my ps1 game that i LOVE it's like that)
NFL BLITZ 2000!!!
Ahh good times… still play that with my cousins at least 1-2 times per year for the holidays. Nothing says merry christmas like beating the broncos (best team) as the eagles (worst team in the game) with your family
This article is making like Blitz: The League 2 wasn't released by Midway at the end of 2008. Diversify. If the NFL license means they take away those awesome x-ray style cutaways of bones breaking and spleens rupturing, Caliendo doing his awesome Madden impersonation, setting broken bones, aiming cortizone shots, giving players steroids, betting the spread for extra cash, sending hookers to opposing teams hotel rooms the night before the game so their stats go down, then EA needs to put this game under the Street franchise and give that another go.
Ben,
Here ya go…..
Pigskin 621 A.D.
http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9012
Yup, that's it. But I only played it at home at a friend's house…on either the Genesis or SNES, I forget.
damn…i forgot about pigskin. i used to piss my lil bro off because a would hold the ball a whole quarter and rack up extra points before scoring. anyone remember cyberball?
Used to love Blitz when it first came out in arcades. This is how football should be instead of the boring sport it is right now. If NBA Jam is any indication, this new Blitz game should be pretty fun. Having a blast playing Jam with friends the last two days.
eh, EA loves reviving dead series dont they?
not a bad thing though.
wish they would do a decent NRL game, the last NRL game on the ps3 sucked!
first one on the ps2 was really good, than they milked it and the other 2 sucked.
EA covers almost every other sport, so why not NRL?
oh, and make a proper snooker game too.
would be the perfect game to play move with!
I would love to see it return. I play madden quite a bit, bit I think there NFL license expires after Madden 12. I'm sure they'll make a new contract but Blitz is just so much fun.
I always find my self complaining about Madden when I play it, but I love football so much. I always play it again and again.
Hopefully Madden 12 fixes all the Madden 11's problems. I think it's going to have a new engine, I think every hit is supposed to be different, unlike now where if you get hit at this spot it's always going to be the same tackle.
So EA is siding with crazy fun over simulator fun?
Sounds good to me.
I stop playing sports games a long time ago especially the Madden & Live series. Updated grapics, a couple new features aren't enough to make me want to play but I absolutely adored Blitz as well as NFL Extreme if any of you guys remember that one.