Do Sports Games Receive Too Much Criticism?

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by SidVish

I think that overall yes sports games do get criticized too much but for me it's in context. If it wasn't for games like The Show, NBA or College Hoops 2k8, I guess I wouldn't be so disappointed in EA's football game efforts. I guess in a way those games have spoiled me with graphics, sig styles, atmosphere and presentation. They've made me realize that sports games can in fact be great which is why I expect more sometimes from the football games.

but even games such as The Show, NBA, or College Hoops have something about them that keep them from being perfect in the eyes of their most faithful fans. Take me for example, I love the Show and play it daily, but I wouldn't call it perfect and there are things about it that frustrate me because they're not done in the sense that I think they should and there are things that have been omitted that I really want to see in the game.

[SidVish]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

but even games such as The Show, NBA, or College Hoops have something about them that keep them from being perfect in the eyes of their most faithful fans. Take me for example, I love the Show and play it daily, but I wouldn't call it perfect and there are things about it that frustrate me because they're not done in the sense that I think they should and there are things that have been omitted that I really want to see in the game.

Well of course if you go in expecting a "perfect" you're going to be disappointed every single time. I just go in with the mindset that I hope there aren't any game killing bugs because every game with have a few bugs. If it's a pretty good representation of the sport I'll have fun with it which is the case for me with The Show and 2k's basketball games.

[RAZRr1275]

I agree with you. And I admit to doing it. Great post.

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by SidVish

Well of course if you go in expecting a "perfect" you're going to be disappointed every single time. I just go in with the mindset that I hope there aren't any game killing bugs because every game with have a few bugs. If it's a pretty good representation of the sport I'll have fun with it which is the case for me with The Show and 2k's basketball games.

but don't a majority of the gamers/fans (I won't say all) go into the game expecting "perfection"?

Sports games have a bugs/glitches thread after the release of the game that is littered with the biggest of issues to the most minute nitpick.

Again, there is no right or wrong, I am just posing a question after years of reading post-release threads/posts on sports games.

[coffeeholic]

The majority of us here at the boards have expensive game consoles and "promises" from devs about "with next gen-you get utlra realistic features and AI!". You pop the game in the tray and find little to no difference than a version of the sports game you played way back when except for better graphics and a little more icing on the cake,if that...Topped off with arcade type gameplay that can make the most stable tempered person wanting to hurle his controller through that big ole high dollar HD tv at times. You have games that stutter on a rig that is probably packing more CPU punch than your home computer-that's something that really fries my arse....The devs and the big game companies(qc) should be ashamed of themselves for letting beta type gaming go out on the shelves and then ask 60 bucks for it. To sum it up...I ask-what is wrong with this picture? is it you(the devs) or is it me asking for too much?

[Blzer]

No. They are releasing a game every year. That's really probably less than six months of hard-coding. It isn't really enough to differentiate year from year, and while that's all good and dandy and we should accept that, first press-releases create totally unnecessary hype every time in and out. Does it suck me in? Of course. But this is where they should be criticized... where they don't deliver. Then the team gives excuses about not enough time to add something in, and I say that is bull. They should have a few guys secretly working on some hitting code, pitching code, franchise code... whatever, in some hidden file that takes four years to complete. But they don't do anything long-term like that. Everything is year-in, year-out kind of material.

I can't wait until we see some sports games go every other year. Saves us cash, lets us play a little more of our franchise mode, and they can get more quality long-term stuff in there that they're planning on doing for a game.

[slickdtc]

Nah, I don't think they get too much criticism. Some games have some inexcusable bugs and glitches that really take away the whole experience and make the game unplayable. Other games have annoyances that you have to deal with. I believe the developers and whoever else is in charge of getting this game out there should be criticized for their work. But they should also be commended for the good work they did do, which they aren't very much. And that's the problem; criticize the bad, commend the good.

I used to analyze my games a lot (basically from 2003 to 2005), then I gave up and accepted what was coming out. Coincidentally, I've had some of my best sports gaming moments and achievements since then. So I'll stick with what I'm doing.

[Cebby]

Absolutely not, especially when it comes to Madden, NCAA, and 2k baseball.

Fact is, they get released every year, for full price, and are the only options (with exception to The Show on PS3). Not only that, but with 2k5, NCAA 2004, and MVP, we've seen that there is absolutely no excuse for not putting out a great game with tons of improvements. It's not all EA, since NHL has apparently been hot, and MVP was very hot, and with 2k, their baseball has been lacking, their college football games sucked, and NBA 2k8 was pretty lacking compared to 2k7.

Halo, MGS, and GTA are so far removed from sports games it's not funny. Since 2001, they've released 3-4 games, all of which were top notch except maybe Halo 3, which you can at least tell they tried very hard.

With CoD, maybe you missed it, but there was a pretty big backlash on 2 and 3. 2 was a "yeah it's similar but still great", but 3 was "seriously, we're tired of this". Then CoD4 was the 2k5, MVP 05, or NHL 07 of the series.

You can bet your *** that if Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2, or GTA 4's sequel come out in September with the exact same engine, same weapons, and was promising us features like voice acting, usable weapons, and textures, people would say "what the ****, those have been standard in games for 2 generations of systems." No games get criticized like sports games because no games continue to not improve like sports games.