Sports Gaming History

With me getting back into hardcore sports gaming with The Show, I thought it would be interesting to look back on my sports gaming over the years.

My early gaming days were spent on the PC. I played some sports games but a lot of other stuff as well. I mainly got into baseball games, including Tony LaRussa Baseball, Hardball (though my PC always had trouble running it), and Front Page Sports baseball. NBA Live '95 was the first sports game I really got into, though. I also did a little handheld gaming on my old school Game Boy - Tecmo Bowl and Madden ('96 I think) were the big ones.

I made my entry into console gaming with the N64. Tried a number of sports games on there as well - Kobe Bryant basketball, NBA Jam (not the arcade one, a different one made by Acclaim that was more sim-style, Keith Van Horn was on the cover and it actually boasted the first real franchise mode I got into), Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball. I remember playing season after season of NFL Quarterback Club '98 and '99 with my friend from down the street (the QB that shall not be named was on the cover) - that was the first game I believe I won a championship in. I moved over to Madden in 2000.

I then made a brief foray back into PC gaming. With a new system, I played NBA Live on the PC again (2001 I think?) and Microsoft Baseball 2001 (that game was horrific).

Then it was on to the PS2, and Madden 2001 (still one of my favorite Madden's, I remember getting to the Super Bowl and being upset by Oakland...). Also played NBA Live 2003 and several College Hoops games, along with World Series Baseball 2K3. There was NCAA Football 04 as well, which I had a lot of fun with. Then came NFL 2k5... I hardly knew ya.

I made a brief move back to PC gaming with MVP 2004 and NBA Live 2004 or 2005. But ultimately, I decided I preferred gaming on my TV, so I switched to MVP 2005 for PS2 the following year... if I had stayed with PC I'd probably still be playing MVP with the mods.

MVP was a blast, I got to a third season before having to call it quits because my PS2 had too much of a timing lag issue on my new LCD. Frown In season two, I blew a four-game September divison lead and missed the wildcard by one or two games I think. I was in first in the division in season three but it was just unplayable. I still have yet to make the playoffs in a baseball game.

I also played some Madden 06 for PS2, breaking my promise to swear off Madden after the exclusivity crap. And I won my first Super Bowl (or championship of any sort) since the N64 days. Smile

Then I pretty much put the PS2 to bed and tried to get into PureSim Baseball on PC. I also tried Out of the Park but that was too much depth for me. And PureSim eventually bored me. I also got Madden 08 for the PC and played three full seasons of Franchise (most I've ever done in a game I believe... actually I think I got through three in NCAA Football 2004 as well), finally winning the Super Bowl in season three.

So, at Christmas I went to next-gen with the PS3 and have played three sports games so far. NCAA 09 was good, not great, but it's enjoyable. Had a rough first season and an up and down second season (did upset #1 Ohio State), and my roommate and I will continue our dynasty through the summer. If Madden lives up to the hype, though, it'll probably be hard to keep playing. I've also got College Hoops 2K8, which is outstanding, but I haven't really gotten into it yet. By the time I figured out my roster and team choice basketball season was winding down and I was into other games, so I'll pick it back up next season. And then there's The Show, which I've already crowned my best sports game ever... first graphical baseball game I've played since MVP and I am back into sports gaming full-force. I'm still trying to play other types of games, as I never really did that last gen and have realized that I missed out on some good stuff, but sports games are definitely coming back for me as well. One thing's for sure, sports gaming has certainly come a long way.

Now I need to get me some championships... the history in that department for me is not so good:

NFL: Two or three Super Bowls won in NFL QB Club (N64), one SB win in Madden 2000 (N64), one SB loss in Madden 2001 (PS2), SB win in Madden 06, SB win in Madden 08

MLB: No playoff appearances, mostly awful seasons until MVP 2005, lost wildcard in second season of MVP 2005, led division in third season, led division in PureSim Baseball

NCAAF: No BCS bowl games, no conference titles, 1-3 bowl record, held #1 ranking for one week before being upset

NBA: Several playoff appearances, no titles

NCAAB: Made Sweet 16 with Bradley Braves as 2 seed, "upset" by 3 seed Michigan State

So yeah, outside of football, I need a little work. Hopefully, I can start to change that with The Show.

Sorry for the essay, but I thought it would be fun to share. Anyone else want to chime in?