Do Sports Games Receive Too Much Criticism?

[cdj]

Do sports gamers give games too much criticism at times? Yes.

Games like Halo, GTA, etc. have years between releases, so it's easier to see the improvements. If they were yearly, we'd be complaining about the lack of improvement.

Do most major media sites give the games enough criticism? No.

When was the last time a major media site went in and addressed if community concerns were addressed from one year to the next? Have they ever actually evaluated online play (for example) or do they just regurgitate what the press release on the game says for that feature? (Not to mention when some sites give the old 'they just changed the year on the box' joke.)

I'd say that sometimes fans are too critical and media sites are not critical enough. One party needs to be less critical and the other more critical. Then we may begin to see more changes from one year to the next, regardless of if we feel enough changes are already occurring.

Good article, countryboy.

[KG]

Quote: Originally Posted by rm217

It's not about expecting perfection. It's more about sports games getting stagnant by either not changing much from the year before or in some cases going backwards and actually making a worst game a year later. With so much money invested in exclusive licenses it's no wonder why these companies don't have much money left over to actually make a true next generation game. Stop relying so much on the exclusive license and you'll see an expotional improvement in our sports games.

Exactly, sports games are pretty much 1) updated rosters & 2) some new feature that will be gone or ignored in 2 years.

At this point in sports games there aren't many new groundbreaking features that can be rolled out. Don't get me wrong, you have features like online dynasties but that's more of implementing something that is already there in a new way. I think the thing with next-gen sport titles that has so many of us OS'ers pissed off is the elimination of older features for the sake of better graphics. I'm all for visual enhancements but sacrificing aspects that made us love a particular series is not acceptable.

[mgoblue]

I'm not totally convinced some sports gamers actually want to enjoy a game. I swear, with bitching and whining about sock colors, jerseys, every little thing...then tweaking the "eye blink" slider so the players blink correctly, I think some people just love nitpicking, whining, and just bitching about the current year's release.

I 100% believe that there are way more guys than any of you think who would see a theoretical "perfect" Madden release and go "It's not NFL 2k5, it sucks".

Personally I've stopped striving for the "sim" aspect a lot of guys go for, because after a while it stops making a game fun. I'm not a NFL level coach, I shouldn't have to watch hours of tape in order to understand defenses in Madden. I just want to have fun in games, I want them to be realistic, but I think sports gamers are overly sensitive to realism. Seriously, people don't bitch about Sonic's sock colors.

I know I'm in the drastic minority here, but it's just how I feel based on what I see here every year. No game will be perfect or even near perfect to guys here because they'll find some little issue and blow it way out of proportion.

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by mgoblue

I'm not totally convinced some sports gamers actually want to enjoy a game. I swear, with bitching and whining about sock colors, jerseys, every little thing...then tweaking the "eye blink" slider so the players blink correctly, I think some people just love nitpicking, whining, and just bitching about the current year's release. I 100% believe that there are way more guys than any of you think who would see a theoretical "perfect" Madden release and go "It's not NFL 2k5, it sucks". Personally I've stopped striving for the "sim" aspect a lot of guys go for, because after a while it stops making a game fun. I'm not a NFL level coach, I shouldn't have to watch hours of tape in order to understand defenses in Madden. I just want to have fun in games, I want them to be realistic, but I think sports gamers are overly sensitive to realism. Seriously, people don't bitch about Sonic's sock colors. I know I'm in the drastic minority here, but it's just how I feel based on what I see here every year. No game will be perfect or even near perfect to guys here because they'll find some little issue and blow it way out of proportion.

this is the reason behind my article. Great post mgoblue

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by cdjacobs

Do sports gamers give games too much criticism at times? Yes. Games like Halo, GTA, etc. have years between releases, so it's easier to see the improvements. If they were yearly, we'd be complaining about the lack of improvement. Do most major media sites give the games enough criticism? No. When was the last time a major media site went in and addressed if community concerns were addressed from one year to the next? Have they ever actually evaluated online play (for example) or do they just regurgitate what the press release on the game says for that feature? (Not to mention when some sites give the old 'they just changed the year on the box' joke.) I'd say that sometimes fans are too critical and media sites are not critical enough. One party needs to be less critical and the other more critical. Then we may begin to see more changes from one year to the next, regardless of if we feel enough changes are already occurring. Good article, countryboy.

good post and thank you.

[stretch45]

Quote: Originally Posted by mgoblue

I'm not totally convinced some sports gamers actually want to enjoy a game. I swear, with bitching and whining about sock colors, jerseys, every little thing...then tweaking the "eye blink" slider so the players blink correctly, I think some people just love nitpicking, whining, and just bitching about the current year's release. I 100% believe that there are way more guys than any of you think who would see a theoretical "perfect" Madden release and go "It's not NFL 2k5, it sucks". Personally I've stopped striving for the "sim" aspect a lot of guys go for, because after a while it stops making a game fun. I'm not a NFL level coach, I shouldn't have to watch hours of tape in order to understand defenses in Madden. I just want to have fun in games, I want them to be realistic, but I think sports gamers are overly sensitive to realism. Seriously, people don't bitch about Sonic's sock colors. I know I'm in the drastic minority here, but it's just how I feel based on what I see here every year. No game will be perfect or even near perfect to guys here because they'll find some little issue and blow it way out of proportion.

I agree

[sqeg]

I would also agree that when it comes down to whining about a player's sock color, jersey color, or even god forid he doesn't wear an left armband & he clearly does in real life. That's definately just knitpicking & whining, especially when pretty much every game today allows you to edit stuff like that on your own, well except for uniforms & there's reasons for that.

I for one, have never played NFL 2k5, so I probably consider myself lucky as I don't have another series to compare Madden to, I've been a loyal customer of the Madden series way back since it's first release on Sega Genesis. The only football game I have ever played to compare a Madden game to is the previous year's Madden. I can honestly say that I've always been pleased w/the improvements year to year w/Madden, until we arrived at the next-gen era. I've seen improvements/tweeks/etc to gameplay go by the wayside & more attention to looks(graphically but not presentation wise which is sad) & gimmicks. I mean look at last year's release... do we really need the game to tell us who our weapons are & what area specifically are good in? If you have any knowledge of the NFL my guess would be no. Yes, I know you can turn this feature off but, it was touted as one of the "big new features in Madden '08" I mean... c'mon get real... all this for a gimmick? Not to mention it seriously screwed with any in-game balance the game had.

If you put aside all the knitpicking about colors of jerseys, a player's armband's, a player's facial hair etc, gamers have real legit issues with some of the sports games today. I know you can't please all of the people all of the time but, you can please some of the people, all the time. And the reality is, this just isn't happening.

Some of you may have given up on the "sim" aspect of the game or some aspect of the game that you feel they haven't live up to expectations & feel they never will. But there are others who crave that & are waiting for something that "feels" real but haven't gotten anything close. Shouldn't they strive to at least give us that option? It was the Madden series that started the ball rolling by giving us this "sim" feel w/franchise mode in '97, especially with EA Sports giving us their catch phrase "If it's in the game, It's in the game!", whatever happened to that? Just remember when it all boils down to it, everyone has their own definition of what they consider "fun" & there is no right or wrong.

Props on a good, thought provoking article, I know it made me think about how I critique a game. I just tend to think most of the scrutiny/criticism is justified tho but, that's just me.

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by sqeg

I know you can't please all of the people all of the time but, you can please some of the people, all the time. And the reality is, this just isn't happening.

good post speg, but I disagree with the statement above. Developers are pleasing some of the people all the time. Now it may not be you and I who are sim heads, but they are definitely pleasing people all the time. And in more cases than not, its the casual/online gamer.

Again, very good post.