Three Things for 2018: What Sports Games Need More Of The Rest of This Year

[RaychelSnr]

We are now officially in our fifth month of the calendar year, and we have our...

Written By: Chris Sanner

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[Eyeman79]

Totally agree with all 3 points! We need the ability to customize-leagues,Players,etc. If I want a 6 team NHL season why not. Expansion is fine but how about contraction. Retro seasons- why can't I play the 1962 AFL or 1967 NHL or the actual Euroleague if you can do it in OOTP or Strat-O-matic why not in the big consol games. 
As far as randomness consider Pro Yakuu Spirts I once had a game delayed by rain, resumed, then rained out! This game did it very well so it can be done.
I'll tell you what sports games DO NOT need - More microtransactions !

[Mike Lowe]

Very nice list. I wonder what a subscription-based annual update/release would look like for games. This would, in essence, allow for carryover saves to happen automatically for franchise players without it even needing to be a new feature. Games like Cities Skylines does this, and it seems to be a nice model. This isn't a new idea, and it's been discussed on these very forums many times, but I defintely on-board with the timing being right. We've definitely shifted to more online content and less games being bought on disc, and this seems to be the next step. Being a "Madden Club Member" might work out well, when we consider how places like Costco handle it with a yearly subscription, to use an example outside of gaming.

This is a great list though, and I am optimistic for the future. I think eSports are exciting, but I also hope that eSports pave the way for folks to better equip themselves with their own online universes/leagues, as not all of us are cut out for top-tier eSports participation, but it'd still be fun to mimic them...much like the original franchise modes mimicked real life.

[HenryClay1844]

With EA killing the World Cup game in favor of more FUT promotion, I have even less hope for improvements in any of their games this fall. 

[sheredia]

YES.....they have become stale and predictable. i remember the excitement generated by nba 2k11 with the jordan bulls teams, historic teams and jordan challenges. 2k12 even included the nba legends showcase.  if only the show or madden could do the same. 

[michdb8]

and actually old franchise modes use to be more fun  with more options  and now that we have good gameplay and graphics  the options are more limited and the Ai logic probably still same as 7 years ago

[GlennN]

Re: Three Things for 2018: What Sports Games Need More Of The Rest of This Year

The thing I miss most in sports gaming is actual choices. Used to be we had a few games in each sport. With the dramatic improvements in the games, and the man hours required to develop them, now we are lucky to have one (or maybe two) games per sport. And, as noted above, with the trend toward card collecting and online modes, these are dark days for the offline franchise gamer.