Sports Gaming and the Online Community - Pappy Knuckles's Blog

Pappy Knuckles's Blog

Sports Gaming and the Online Community

Posted on July 7, 2009 at 08:47 AM.

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I�m 27 year old man who plays videogames.

That almost sounds pathetic when I type it like that, but the world of consoles and pixels has come a long way from when I was a kid. I can still vividly remember the day that my mother surprised me with a Nintendo, Mario Brothers, Kung Fu, and Friday the 13th. I was instantly hooked and went on to own many different games and systems over the years. However, it wasn�t until I purchased an Xbox that things really got interesting.

Before I get into that though, I suppose I should give you a little back story. I�ve never been much for PC gaming, but when Counter-Strike was very popular I tried it out and became addicted. Up until that point I had only played games against people on the same console or arcade machine. Being able to compete against someone on the other side of the globe was amazing to me. I actually became quite a good player back then and got involved in a clan for a bit. I got so much enjoyment out of that experience that when I found out about Xbox Live, it was a no-brainer for me to get hooked up.

I was a very big fan of the 2K series from Dreamcast, so the first games that I purchased for Xbox were NBA and NFL 2K4. When I got online I quickly learned that I wasn�t the greatest player in the world like I thought I was. It�s easy to be the top dog in your dorm or on your block, but it�s much harder when your competition is thousands of other people. However, the most important thing I discovered is that all opponents are not created equal. This is a valuable lesson that I recently had to remind myself of. For every player that wants to play their sports games in a realistic manner, there are 25 more that will resort to any tactic possible for a win.

Since picking up Fight Night Round 4 I�ve seen a little bit of everything online. From throwing 1700 punches in a ten round fight to using headbutts as a primary form of offense, some of my opponents have left a lot to be desired. After dealing with several knuckleheads in a row the other day, I couldn�t do anything but laugh. I�d love a community where every match was a strategic battle, but that�s just not feasible because people play games for different reasons. As frustrating as it can be to deal with some of the shenanigans, there�s really no point in getting mad at these guys. The online experience is always luck of the draw when you play random people.

The best thing you can do is build a strong friends list so that you always have like-minded opponents to compete against. I�ve been gaming with several people since the original Xbox. I�ve also run across a number of great OS players during my time on this site. Autumn Wind is always a blast to play in All Pro Football 2K8. I�ve also had some great FNR4 matches against DirtyJerz, Phobia, and a few others. Like most things in life, it�s all about being with the right people. So the next time you�re pissed off at a cheeser just take a deep breath, relax, and play someone who�s worth your time.

Comments

# 1 dman1976 @ Jul 7

Hey pappy, i agree. I've run across the headbutt tactic and fell for it - i was already damaged in actually a pretty decent match and failed to lower my damage meter and a headbutt tossed me into a tko loss even though i was ahead on the cards - a tko loss from cuts!

# 2 BrownsFan72 @ Jul 7

So true...the online in FNR4 is aweful and the game has no checks or balances or anything in place to keep it from being that way. Its a real shame because the game is great but playing a random person is aweful and disapointing.

# 3 Pappy Knuckles @ Jul 7

Wow, dman. I've dealt with a lot of headbutters but I haven't lost a fight due to it yet. That sucks. It's crazy the lengths some of these people will go to.