Are these the "Dark Ages" of Sports Gaming?

[Bullit]

Quote: Originally Posted by ExtremeGamer

Sliders ruined sports games IMO. We tweak and tweak and tweak. Would rather just be stuck with it "is how it is" type difficulty than every game feel the need to mess with them. Frustration set in and games sat, especially by me because I couldn't find the right formula. I never touched them the last year or 2 and dealt with whatever came from it.

This so much. The only sports games left in my library that I purchase are MLB The Show and F1( F1 this year is the best it has ever been, been doing some work on the side and got to play some of it. WOW)

Starting with 15 in The Show I just stopped messing with sliders and just played the game. Now I am averaging 3-4 seasons a year instead of barely making one. I have become disillusioned with 17 and have almost exclusively gone back to 16. But I am done with the yearly buying and plan on that being the standard for now. The Show already dropped $20 so why buy in March when I can wait 3 months and get it cheaper after it actually works.

I too, only play offline franchises. I really feel that the offline "sim" players are getting left by the wayside in favor of the money grab of Ultimate Team and other card collecting modes. So yeah I do think we are heading in to a "Dark Age" gaming. Gamers across the board are getting tired of being tasked with the "privilege" of paying to be Beta testers for games. There have been too many disasters to the ratio of great games to get excited about much anymore. I used to buy everything thru the year but I think last year I bought only 5 or 6 games. So if the trend continues, so will my trend of buying fewer and fewer games and I am absolutely done pre ordering anything.

[pietasterp]

Without question, this is the worst sports gaming environment in the history of the industry. For all the reasons already mentioned. Consider that for this generation of consoles:

- there is 1 football game
- there (has been) 1 basketball game
- there is 1 hockey game
- there is 1 (sim) baseball game, and it's only available on 1 of the major consoles (which means, conservatively, 1/2 of all console gamers can't play a sim baseball game, not to mention the PC master race)
- "2nd tier" sports have essentially no options - 1 PGA-licensed game (that is now several years old), no boxing, etc.
- Of course, the biggest hole: 0 college sports games

Not that gaming history matters, but I've been enjoying sports games since the original NES days, and this is as bad as it's ever been.

The saving grace is that the games that do exist are better than ever, but the question is: how much better would they be if there had been actual competition? Look at other genres and see how far they've come: FPS, open-world RPG's, adventure games - all of them have come miles with each console generation. Sports gaming? I mean, other than better graphics, are they really that much better?

Your mileage may vary of course, but for me, I have as little enthusiasm for sports gaming as I ever have. My interest and enthusiasm for sports gaming peaked right around 2004, and as predicted (on this very forum, no less), it's been a steady downhill since that time.

[jeremym480]

It's certainly not for me. This is the first year in probably 25 years that I've played the same sports game year round with very little breaks. The last time I remember doing that was with Tecmo Super Bowl. Back then I couldn't get a new game even if I wanted. I had to save my allowance money to buy a new game or wait til Christmas. Now I can buy a new game anytime I want but am so immersed in my franchise that I have very little interest in any other games.

[Gotmadskillzson]

To me it is. I'm not into the "arcade" version of sports games. I miss variety. I miss boxing games. It is a shame there is no boxing game, tennis game or volley ball game. The lack of college sports games is a HUGE blow. I am at the point now I buy sports games out of habit, not out of I am super pumped and excited about it.

About the only sports game I can stomach to play year round nowadays is MLB The Show.

[jeremym480]

I think that the biggest area that's been hurt by online gaming is innovation. There were a few years there in the PS3/360 era where something new and innovative would come out just about every year. A big part of that was online leagues, then stuff like NCAA Football's Online Website where you could automatically upload stories and pics from your game and things like Teambuilder, an in-game Roster Share in pretty much every sports game and fighters/tattoo's/logo's in THQ's UFC game, came along and my mind was blown I was like "wow, this really is next gen gaming".

Somewhere along the line, I feel like that type of innovation was lost. I'd say it's a combination of things that caused us to lose out. Things like too much dev time spent balancing online play/leagues, lawsuits, and Ultimate Team modes are the biggest factors in my opinion.

I mean, of your favorite sports game what can you say was the most innovative thing they've added this generation? For The Show, I think it's hands down carry over saves. For 2K the ability to upload a draft class mid-season.. and for Madden honestly I'm at a loss. Even though I think those are really cool features it's really not that much different than when online leagues debuted. I think there's a correlation but maybe innovation in sports games has just peaked?

[mestevo]

CFM is their big innovation, just not a lot has happened since. It's the mode I've always wanted. Now keep it going. That hasn't happened. At this point I should be able to create a player, play my career, retire to become a low level assistant and work my way up to ownership over a 30+ year career.... and with 32 of my friends.

Rocket League is my most played 'sports game' ever I think, and I hate competitive games, it's that good, lol.

[seasprite]

I am quite content with sports gaming now. I personally feel as though it is the best it has ever been. I am more of a online with friends type player though, so that definitely affects it.

[JayhawkerStL]

Quote: Originally Posted by ExtremeGamer

Sliders ruined sports games IMO. We tweak and tweak and tweak. Would rather just be stuck with it "is how it is" type difficulty than every game feel the need to mess with them. Frustration set in and games sat, especially by me because I couldn't find the right formula. I never touched them the last year or 2 and dealt with whatever came from it.

This was me several years ago. It was nearly the end of sports gaming for me. But then I decided to just play the games on default, or mostly default, settings and live with it.

I also stopped pretending I was ever going to play a second season of any game I bought. I either resigned myself to single seasons, or I played other modes.

While I am all in on MUT, it was HUT for NHL that reeled me in. No sliders to ever worry about. It's an immersive mode with lots of team building and strategic play. And it is designed to play as much or little as you want. You can play some quick solo challenges or online games.

The card collectible aspect of it drew me in more than I thought possible. I get to play with lots of my favorite players, build teams with different strengths and weaknesses, and I'm free to rebuild whoever i want.

I still play the Play Now games, and this year's Play Now LIVE in Madden might be the most perfect mode ever designed for me.

I get that the lack of choices is a pain, but I'm liking the choices I have more than the assortment I used to have. But that's just me.