ACS Sports

The GameTime series (known in Japan as the Pro Players series) is a series of sports games developed by Innovision Softoworks and published by ACS, released under the ACS Sports label. The series consists of annual sports games based on the “big four” major sports leagues in America: the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball, which were released from 1996 to 2004. The series has been released for several platforms, including the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, XBox and Nintendo Gamecube.

History
The GameTime series was part of the ACS Sports label, a dedicated sports game label established by ACS in 1995. Other titles published under the ACS Sports label include the World Pro Soccer: Winning Kick and Maximum Smash Tennis series, among various others.

Prior to creating the GameTime series, ACS released various sports titles for the Super Nintendo, such as Fall Classic ‘95, NBA Rebound ‘95, NFL Rush ‘95 and NHL Full Strength ‘95. These sports games were ports of the arcade sports titles that ACS released for their arcade systems, with the inclusion of licensed teams and players (Fall Classic ‘95 only featured licensed players, however, and instead uses generic teams, as they were only able to secure the MLBPA license).

Games in the GameTime series were released in full 3D. NFL Footbal: GameTime was unique amongst other football games at the time, in that it was the first full 3D games of its genre.

The last title in the series is NHL GameTime 2005, released in 2004. Further interations of GameTime, barring NFL GameTime, as the exclusive NFL license was obtained by Electronic Arts around late 2004, were planned for the third quarter of 2005, but cancelled due to the low sales of last year’s games.

Gameplay
In the beginning, the GameTime series featured fast-paced, arcade-style gameplay as well as a somewhat basic structure. However, every year, ACS would expand on the series by adding in more and more simulation-based aspects. By GameTime '99, the series was considered fully simulation, featuring slower-paced gameplay, as well as roster management, player fatigue, injuries, timeouts and advanced play-calling. However, the game can be customized through the Options menu, including adjusting the game speed, turning off penalties and many other aspects, allowing for variable gameplay styles.

The GameTime series features teans and rosters from the previous season at the time of its release date. For example, NBA GameTime ‘98, released in 1997, features rosters from the 1996-97 NBA season.

Starting GameTime ‘99, the games feature commentary provided by Marv Albert.

Create Modes
The GameTime series allows players to customize the team rosters, such as performing player trades, and creating their own players.

In the early GameTime games, Create-A-Player was somewhat limited, only allowing the player to name their created player, change their jersey number and select from a limited selection of pre-set appearances of predetermined height. It has since been expanded, adding several facial options, height and weight adjustment, and the ability to adjust player stats and data. CPU intelligence customization was eventually added in GameTime 2001.

The GameTime ‘99 games introduces the Free Agents pool, allowing players to further customize the roster by signing or releasing players.

The GameTime 2000 games introduces a “Create-A-Team” feature, allowing players to create their own team by giving it a name, choosing from a set of logos, jersey design, and drafting and signing players to the team. The GameTime 2003 games added in a Paint Tool for creating custom team logos.

Soundtrack
Prior to GameTime 2002, the GameTime series consisted mainly of several in-house tracks composed by Innovision composers.

The GameTime 2002 games adds in several licensed songs from different artists and bands. The genres featured range from hip-hop and rap, to rock and metal. However, the songs featured in the NBA GameTime series consist entirely of hip-hop.

Titles
The GameTime series consisted of four annual titles released: MLB GameTime (baseball), NBA GameTime (basketball), NFL GameTime (football) and NHL GameTime (hockey).

MLB GameTime

 * MLB Baseball: GameTime (1996; PlayStation) [Rosters based on the 1995 MLB Season]


 * MLB GameTime ‘98 (1997; PlayStation) [Rosters based on the 1996 MLB Season]


 * MLB GameTime ‘99 (1998; PlayStation, Nintendo 64) [Rosters based on the 1997 MLB Season]


 * MLB GameTime 2000 (1999; PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast) [Rosters based on the 1998 MLB Season]


 * MLB GameTime 2001 (2000; PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast) [Rosters based on the 1999 MLB Season]


 * MLB GameTime 2002 (2001; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2000 MLB Season]


 * MLB GameTime 2003 (2002; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2001 MLB Season]


 * MLB GameTime 2004 (2003; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2002 MLB Season]


 * MLB GameTime 2005 (2004; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2003 MLB Season]

NBA GameTime

 * NBA Basketball: GameTime (1996; PlayStation) [Rosters based on the 1995-96 NBA Season]


 * NBA GameTime ‘98 (1997; PlayStation) [Rosters based on the 1996-97 NBA Season]


 * NBA GameTime ‘99 (1998; PlayStation, Nintendo 64) [Rosters based on the 1997-98 NBA Season]


 * NBA GameTime 2000 (1999; PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast) [Rosters based on the 1998-99 NBA Season]


 * NBA GameTime 2001 (2000; PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast) [Rosters based on the 1999-2000 NBA Season]


 * NBA GameTime 2002 (2001; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2000-01 NBA Season]


 * NBA GameTime 2003 (2002; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2001-02 NBA Season]


 * NBA GameTime 2004 (2003; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2002-03 NBA Season]


 * NBA GameTime 2005 (2004; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2003-04 NBA Season]

NFL GameTime

 * NFL Football: GameTime (1996; PlayStation) [Rosters based on the 1995 NFL Season]


 * NFL GameTime ‘98 (1997; PlayStation) [Rosters based on the 1996 NFL Season]


 * NFL GameTime ‘99 (1998; PlayStation, Nintendo 64) [Rosters based on the 1997 NFL Season]


 * NFL GameTime 2000 (1999; PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast) [Rosters based on the 1998 NFL Season]


 * NFL GameTime 2001 (2000; PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast) [Rosters based on the 1999 NFL Season]


 * NFL GameTime 2002 (2001; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2000 NFL Season]


 * NFL GameTime 2003 (2002; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2001 NFL Season]


 * NFL GameTime 2004 (2003; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2002 NFL Season]


 * NFL GameTime 2005 (2004; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2003 NHL Season]

NHL GameTime

 * NHL Hockey: GameTime (1996; PlayStation) [Rosters based on the 1995-96 NHL Season]


 * NHL GameTime ‘98 (1997; PlayStation) [Rosters based on the 1996-97 NHL Season]


 * NHL GameTime ‘99 (1998; PlayStation, Nintendo 64) [Rosters based on the 1997-98 NHL Season]


 * NHL GameTime 2000 (1999; PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast) [Rosters based on the 1998-99 NHL Season]


 * NHL GameTime 2001 (2000; PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast) [Rosters based on the 1999-2000 NHL Season]


 * NHL GameTime 2002 (2001; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2000-01 NHL Season]


 * NHL GameTime 2003 (2002; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2001-02 NHL Season]


 * NHL GameTime 2004 (2003; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2002-03 NHL Season]


 * NHL GameTime 2005 (2004; PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube) [Rosters based on the 2003-04 NHL Season]

MLB GameTime

 * MLB Baseball: GameTime: Barry Larkin


 * MLB GameTime ‘98: Ken Griffey Jr.


 * MLB GameTime ‘99: Sammy Sosa


 * MLB GameTime 2000: Derek Jeter


 * MLB GameTime 2001: Chipper Jones


 * MLB GameTime 2002: Jeff Kent


 * MLB GameTime 2003: Barry Bonds


 * MLB GameTime 2004: Jim Thome


 * MLB GameTime 2005: Alex Rodriguez


 * MLB GameTime 2004 and 2005 (Japanese release): Ichiro Suzuki

NBA GameTime

 * NBA Basketball: GameTime: Gary Payton


 * NBA GameTime ‘98: Karl Malone


 * NBA GameTime ‘99: Shaquille O'Neal


 * NBA GameTime 2000: Kobe Bryant


 * NBA GameTime 2001: Tim Duncan


 * NBA GameTime 2002: Tracy McGrady


 * NBA GameTime 2003: Vince Carter


 * NBA GameTime 2004: Kevin Garnett


 * NBA GameTime 2005: Ben Wallace

NFL GameTime

 * NFL Football: GameTime: Curtis Martin


 * NFL GameTime ‘98: Terrell Davis


 * NFL GameTime ‘99: Deion Sanders


 * NFL GameTime 2000: Brett Favre


 * NFL GameTime 2001: Kurt Warner


 * NFL GameTime 2002: Peyton Manning


 * NFL GameTime 2003: Michael Strahan


 * NFL GameTime 2004: Rich Gannon


 * NFL GameTime 2005: Tom Brady

NHL GameTime

 * NHL Hockey: GameTime: Paul Kariya


 * NHL GameTime ‘98: Eric Lindros


 * NHL GameTime ‘99: Steve Yzerman


 * NHL GameTime 2000: Jaromir Jagr


 * NHL GameTime 2001: Chris Pronger


 * NHL GameTime 2002: Joe Sakic


 * NHL GameTime 2003: Ron Francis


 * NHL GameTime 2004: Peter Forsberg


 * NHL GameTime 2005: Martin St. Louis

Trivia

 * MLB Baseball: GameTime, alongside EA Sports’ Triple Play ‘97 and Sony's MLB Pennant Race, were among the first fully-licensed MLB games released for the PlayStation.


 * Notably, Japanese versions of MLB GameTime 2004 and 2005 featured Ichiro Suzuki on the cover.


 * Top NBA player Michael Jordan did not appear in most of the NBA GameTime titles due to licensing issues, and in his place was a generic roster player named "Bulls Guard" who possesed his stats, but not his appearance, profile and jersey number, instead repleaced by a generic #98 jersey. He would eventually make his first-ever appearance in the NBA GameTime series in NBA GameTime 2003, where he was part of the Washington Wizards.


 * Reflecting his real-life counterpart, Dennis Rodman, in his GameTime appearances, from the original to ‘99, would appear in different hair colors every game, such as blue, red, green and yellow, among various others.


 * NFL Football: GameTime was the first-ever American football game to be in full 3D. It would take until NFL GameDay ‘98 and Madden Football 64 (both of which were released in 1997) for its competitors to enter full 3D.


 * Alongside ESPN NFL 2K5, NFL GameTime 2005 was among the last official NFL video games released by a company other than Electronic Arts. Around late 2004, NFL signed an exclusive video game license with EA, effectively halting production of any further NFL games by another company besides EA.


 * Besides the NHL teams, NHL GameTime tites from ‘98 onwards also features the national ice hockey teams from U.S.A., Canada, Czech Republic, Japan, and so on.


 * Notably, NHL Hockey: GameTime did not feature fighting. However, it was eventually added in the game following its sequel, NHL GameTime ‘98.

Gallery
