[CMH]

I personally believe it's a farce to suggest that sports video games, even the dominant or exclusive licensed products, have no comparison.

They do. It's the real life game we watch every day.

Now, before people jump on this and start talking about how it's a fantasy to hope that a simulation video game could mirror real life, everyone should step back and realize that while it is a pipe dream, it is the ultimate dream.

Because we watch and play these sports everyday of our lives, we expect (rightly or wrongly) the video games to give us a similar experience without the sweat and pain. To allow us mediocre players to experience what it is to be a superstar athlete performing the tasks we are unable to accomplish in our daily sports lives.

A review is written to decipher the gameplay's ability to do just that. We want the broadcast feel along with the real-life feel. We want the emotion, atmosphere and experience. When those things are taken from us, we become disappointed. When the crowd isn't loud enough, the players don't move smoothly or there are bugs, those things are taken from us.

There are many of us that don't know what it is to go into war. Some of us enjoy Call of Duty. The others enjoy Battlefield. Ignoring the differences in what they hope to achieve, those games while being reviewed against the other, are also being reviewed against the real-life experience of war. We expect to see the games mirror the experience. Some of us want the more arcade-feel, and others want the more realistic feel. Either way, we want that feel to come from a realistic basis.

Sports video games have their comparisons. Perhaps it is impossible to ever please the gamers completely. However, when a solid foundation is built and content is added, gamers will appreciate what they have. There are titles out right now in the sports genre that have done a wonderful job meeting expectations in gameplay. If gamers have jumped from gameplay to atmosphere, so be it. The expectations are that all aspects of the game mirror real life. Sports video games will always have a comparison.