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Customization is definitely the key here and was kind of where my article was aiming. Keep in mind, Baseball Stars had no license. In fact, many of the early sports games were without licenses to put professional teams in video form. Some skirted the line with players named Babe and Sandy but for the most part had to rely on gameplay and giving the user control of how the game was to be set up. I'm not asking to go backward and do away with licensing in games--just that we move forward keeping in mind why sports games of yesteryear are remembered so fondly. Baseball Stars is practically an RPG with a baseball team with the money boosting attributes for players. I get a similar feeling in CH2K8 when training players. The emphasis on specialization in that game is phenomenal. It's as if you're running practice that week and telling your SG he's only going to work on 3 point shooting all week or the 7'0 big man will work on post defense. You can in effect completely customize a team any way you want to. Coaching attributes add to the RPG-like feel as well.
Sports gaming, for me and others, is more than just taking the Patriots online and beating some random person who is using the Cowboys. Sports gaming is fighting and clawing your way to the top of the mountain against opponents who think and can talk smack but not always at the same time. NCAA Online Dynasty has rekindled the sibling rivalries of my youth and should be the future of sports gaming...
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