Ouch 2K Sports....

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

I would have a sports game in my top 5 even games of last year. None of them blew me away or progressed enough like other non-sports games I played this year.

[grunt]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

I agree completely. I posted this in another thread last week or so:

I find myself becoming less and less interested in sports games these days. I can't honestly say sports games have improved much in areas other than graphics on the the 360/PS3, so they're starting to feel stale to me. I didn't even buy Madden 08 and in previous years it would have been unheard of for me to not buy the newest NFL game (especially since the Pats are my home team and their roster would have been awesome to use this year!). I'm not even having that much fun with the NBA2k series anymore.

I think sports games have hit a wall with what they can do with AI and gameplay. We all want them to be more realistic, but that's incredibly difficult to program, so all they've done is make the graphics better and add some animations. The sports games aren't presented any better (and in some cases there's less presentation than previous years/consoles) and they don't really play much better. It's not like when I'm playing a sports game, like MLB2k7, on the 360 I'm thinking, "Wow. There's no way this gameplay couldn't have been done on the Xbox." The only thing that couldn't have been done is the graphics.

Non-sports games, however, have really taken a leap from the Xbox/PS2. I play a game like Mass Effect and it's the closest thing to an interactive movie I've ever played. The dialogue options are so much better than anything I've seen. Games like Bioshock, Gears of War, Oblivion, COD4, really feel like a generation jump in games, so I'm having more fun with non-sports games now and finding myself more and more disappointed with sports games this gen. Sure, I know sports games have the 1 year dev. cycle and the big non-sports games have years of development. I understand that. I still can't deny that I feel like I'm playing the same sports games I was on the Xbox with prettier graphics and that's getting boring to me now. I was hoping for a much bigger jump in things like presentation. I know AI is going to be tough to improve, but I was hoping there would be things like better physics, animation, etc.

At least I can't complain there aren't plenty of great games to play. I'll just stick to non-sports games for now.

I agree. I think NHL 08 is moving in the right direction with their "Adpative AI" but most of these games are last gen with next gen spray paint.

I need to play Mass Effect.

[Graphik]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

I agree completely. I posted this in another thread last week or so:

I find myself becoming less and less interested in sports games these days. I can't honestly say sports games have improved much in areas other than graphics on the the 360/PS3, so they're starting to feel stale to me. I didn't even buy Madden 08 and in previous years it would have been unheard of for me to not buy the newest NFL game (especially since the Pats are my home team and their roster would have been awesome to use this year!). I'm not even having that much fun with the NBA2k series anymore.

I think sports games have hit a wall with what they can do with AI and gameplay. We all want them to be more realistic, but that's incredibly difficult to program, so all they've done is make the graphics better and add some animations. The sports games aren't presented any better (and in some cases there's less presentation than previous years/consoles) and they don't really play much better. It's not like when I'm playing a sports game, like MLB2k7, on the 360 I'm thinking, "Wow. There's no way this gameplay couldn't have been done on the Xbox." The only thing that couldn't have been done is the graphics.

Non-sports games, however, have really taken a leap from the Xbox/PS2. I play a game like Mass Effect and it's the closest thing to an interactive movie I've ever played. The dialogue options are so much better than anything I've seen. Games like Bioshock, Gears of War, Oblivion, COD4, really feel like a generation jump in games, so I'm having more fun with non-sports games now and finding myself more and more disappointed with sports games this gen. Sure, I know sports games have the 1 year dev. cycle and the big non-sports games have years of development. I understand that. I still can't deny that I feel like I'm playing the same sports games I was on the Xbox with prettier graphics and that's getting boring to me now. I was hoping for a much bigger jump in things like presentation. I know AI is going to be tough to improve, but I was hoping there would be things like better physics, animation, etc.

At least I can't complain there aren't plenty of great games to play. I'll just stick to non-sports games for now.

I agree. SPorts games feel more like a chore now than actual enjoyment. Non-sports games have made the biggest leap on the next gen consoles. Primarily due to the fact that we have such a lack of devs making sports games. If Acclaim, MS, Tecmo, whoever were still pumping out sports titles, we wouldn't be complaining much because each game would of brought something new to the next gen arena. Instead, we all know what to expect from EA and TT as far as sports are concerned. What we need is a bigger library of sports games like it always was before the EA vs 2K wars. My last great year of sports gaming consisted of me owning High Heat, All Star Baseball, MLB 2K, MVP, NBA 2K, Madden, NCAA Football, NFL 2K, NBA Inside Edge, Tiger Woods, Outlaw Golf, NHL 2k, College Hoops 2K, NBA Live, Nascar, Project Gotham and a few more sports games. Ever since then, the majority of these games have faded away.

[bkfount]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

Any chance MS would buy them?

zero.

they shuttered their own sports developers and had to bribe EA to support the xbox more fully. They had just purchased the High Heat IP from the dead 3DO at that time too, nothing came out of it.

They developed a nice relationship with EA, which now primarily develops games on the 360.

[LBzrule]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

I agree. I think NHL 08 is moving in the right direction with their "Adpative AI" but most of these games are last gen with next gen spray paint.

I need to play Mass Effect.

Yes you do. Man I love that game.

[gtm]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

I thought I had just heard that because of NBA this year (I think) that 2k was profitable....

I just wish Microsoft would get in the fold of sports gaming. It's there console and the money (even with all the faulty 360's) is in the pocket.

[LBzrule]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

Gameplay has REGRESSED in every single next gen sports game I have played except NBA2k. NCAA CH2k has flaws and Madden and NCAA Football are just plain garbage. Its all about graphics and they don't even do those very well. We have reached the end of the golden age of sports games. There are just too many great non-sports games coming out now. Sports games think they need to add gimmicks to avoid just being a roster update, but in the process of adding gimmicks they have trashed the core gameplay to the point that they don't have nearly the "fun" factor of other games. NCAA Football felt like I was going to work instead of relaxing and enjoying a game. Sliders can't cover up major programming flaws. I hope 2K sticks around and rights their ship in the process, but I think for gaming enjoyment, most of us on this board are picking up non-sports game and enjoying them more, and that is telling right there because this is a sports gaming website. List your favorite 3 games in the last year. Are any of them sports games?

I agree with some of the things you say here. I'm tired of the "features". Just make a damn fun game. The problem is alot of the games are just not fun anymore. I bought NBA2k8 this year and played it for a total of 1 week It's not like I don't like it, it's just not interesting to me anymore. The same thing happened with all the other sports games I have. I don't know, nothing pulls me, I'm not interested. I'll play them, but when I play them I sit there and say I've seen all of this before the only difference is it looks a little prettier now. The games are just not fun and interesting to me any longer.

[Pared]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

It's also b/c you're all getting older...

[grunt]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

The fall in sales of Madden, NCAA and the poor sales for APF2k8 points to an unimpressed consumer base. I play APF2k8 because I love football but I don’t think I will continue giving sport games a pass when games like Mass Effect and Super Mario Galaxy are competing with my time and my limited resources.

[grunt]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

It's also b/c you're all getting older...

Maybe, but I playing the heck out of Super Mario Galaxy.

[Knight165]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

I have to agree with you guys to some extent.
Madden....didnt' even give it a second look once I saw what was being said about it here. .....and without a true coach mode, I'm REALLY not interested in that title anymore.
I didn't realize NBA2K8 had a coach mode...so I didn't buy it this year. I figured I would just wait for CHoops...I got CHoops and like it...but haven't really gave it any attention yet. When I'm done with baseball(I can't stop...I'm an addict! ) I'll give it a go.
Neither NHL08 nor NHL2K8 really grabbed me this year. Both are mediocre titles at best IMO.
There are no true racing simulations anymore....that genre is ruined(thanks again EA)
Golf gets boring to me very quickly. I was never really a golf sim player.
Same goes with soccer. Although it's a notch above golf....I didn't buy any title this year as I'm just not interested.
That leaves baseball. I simply love The Show and am very happy with the small but very noticeable improvements in the last couple of years. Fantastic manage only mode....better editing....improved graphics...great commentary...better gameplay. The just need to keep moving in the right direction and it will continue to be the only sports title I will buy.

Now.....the other genres have made great improvements ....and Mass Effect, Gears of War(PC...what a DIFFERENCE!!!) Crysis(AWESOME!) and Kane and Lynch are just some examples. If we saw improvements in sports titles like you did in these titles...we wouldn't be talking.....we'd be too busy playing!

M.K.
Knight165

[LBzrule]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

It's also b/c you're all getting older...

Nahhh I don't think that's it. Not for me anyways.

[Pared]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

Face it LB. You're old and way past your prime.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

I just wish Microsoft would get in the fold of sports gaming. It's there console and the money (even with all the faulty 360's) is in the pocket.

I think that MS cut their losses on the sports due to their games not selling so well, but also I think they did it to please some 3rd parties****cough**** EA ****cough****. Does anyone remember once EA signed on for XBOX development, games like NFL Fever just went away? I think that even though NFL Fever was arcade game, it brought some elements to the table that EA never matched with Madden. They could have seen it as a threat. MS not being stupid at the time figured that to bring EA in, we can just cut out football game, we can make more money off of Madden through royalties to be on the console.

I agree, sports games have digressed the last few years.

[LBzrule]

Re: Ouch 2K Sports....

Face it LB. You're old and way past your prime.

LOL, maybe this old geezer just expected to much from these developers. Or maybe, it's not me that's old, and none of us are that old, it's THEM that are old and way past their prime in developing games