WIll Next-Gen Finally Deliver on Sports Gaming's Sim Promise?

[RaychelSnr]

A bad precedent was set back in 2005 when EA released the CGI-centric promo video for the Xbox 360 of Madden NFL 06, that set fans expectations extremely high and left them disappointed when the final retail version was spinning in their systems. We are not picking on EA per say, it is just that the infamous video they released back in 2005 basically summed up the sports gamers experience during this generation of over-promising and under-delivering. The life span of the Xbox 360 and the PS3 for sports gamers seemingly was “take one step forward, and two steps back” Gamers can be a fickle bunch, but at least in our humble opinion, they had legitimate reasons to be upset during this generation sport gaming.

Of course not every experience was a bad one, as we saw some wonderful titles drop during this generation: Sony’s MLB the Show, 2K’s NBA franchise, and EA’s FIFA and NHL series. It doesn't mean that the four titles mentioned were perfect, but they were part of a select few that were considered enjoyable by the masses. If you were a sports gamer though, it felt like every series this generation had its own set of issues, but certain developers found ways to deliver a great title consistently.

Read More - WIll Next-Gen Finally Deliver on Sports Gaming's Sim Promise?

[TreyIM2]

I really believe we have nothing to worry about come next gen altho the only thing that concerns me is the differences in the PS4 and Xbox One architectures could prove to have crab barrel effects such as what I believed may have happened current gen along with lack of static HDDs and no Blu-ray on the 360s.

Even with that, both next gen systems should have enough to finally 'bring it home' for us gamers from gameplay and graphics to the 'little' things.

I am more excited for next gen and my PS4 and games are already preordered and while I do expect some legacy issues, initially, the years to come should knock those out, easily.

[footballfan41]

We all Know the Next Gen videos will always be better then the game it self, I Never had high hopes with EA anyways, EA always been about there Front,!! making games look good then when you play it it's not what you was looking for,
You would think games would be better looking by now, I honest don't look for madden to be to much above what we are playing on 360/PS3...No one console is better then the other years after years done proved that to gamers, I only buy consoles for the Sport gamers, and ill say this if madden does fail I'll be done..starting to be a waste of money...

[treq21]

I wish I thought that AI would finally start acting like a real human---but it seems that most of the attention is given to online with very little paid to the offline experience. Time will tell...but i just dont think that AI is going to change that much.

[seasprite]

I believe the hardware will be there, but I'm still not that confident that the software will be............I hoping I'm dead wrong.

[BK_NC]

Quote: Originally Posted by TreyIM2

I really believe we have nothing to worry about come next gen altho the only thing that concerns me is the differences in the PS4 and Xbox One architectures could prove to have crab barrel effects such as what I believed may have happened current gen along with lack of static HDDs and no Blu-ray on the 360s. Even with that, both next gen systems should have enough to finally 'bring it home' for us gamers from gameplay and graphics to the 'little' things. I am more excited for next gen and my PS4 and games are already preordered and while I do expect some legacy issues, initially, the years to come should knock those out, easily.

@TreyIM2 PS4 and Xbox One are both supposed to be using the AMD Jaguar APU (cpu/gpu on same chip) although the PS4 is rumor to use a faster version. So the hardware architectures are actually the same to a programmer. The main difference is the Kinect is bundled with each Xbox One while the EyeToy is optional for the PS4.

My hope for the next-gen is Madden and NCAA will push the envelope with innovations in physics, animation, and AI. That Madden in particular won't be complacent in the next-gen like they have been up until Madden 13 in the current era. Competition would be a great catalyst for this but I'm not hopeful as far as the NFL goes.

My other hope for the next-gen is that 2K will get back into the College Football and College Basketball game business now that EA no longer has exclusive rights. Not too hopeful on those fronts but thats a wish list.

[elgreazy1]

Simply put: No.

The reason? Ironically, lack of competition. Sports and athletes feed on it. It's what drives them to excel, to push their limits, and to aspire for more. Remember Nike's "My Better is Better than Your Better" campaign - it's all about competition.

The sports gaming industry lacks it. One professional football game option. One college football option.One professional baseball game option. One professional hockey game option. One pro golf option. One wrestling game option. No college basketball options. Two MMA-based games. Two soccer games.

The sports gamer is completely exploited. We have no options for games. What's worse, we are stuck on a yearly purchasing cycle simply for roster updates and minimal upgrades and innovations.

[Profit89]

Quote: Originally Posted by elgreazy1

Simply put: No. The reason? Ironically, lack of competition. Sports and athletes feed on it. It's what drives them to excel, to push their limits, and to aspire for more. Remember Nike's "My Better is Better than Your Better" campaign - it's all about competition. The sports gaming industry lacks it. One professional football game option. One college football option.One professional baseball game option. One professional hockey game option. One pro golf option. One wrestling game option. No college basketball options. Two MMA-based games. Two soccer games. The sports gamer is completely exploited. We have no options for games. What's worse, we are stuck on a yearly purchasing cycle simply for roster updates and minimal upgrades and innovations.

^This.

The sports gaming genre has become the butt of jokes in the general gaming scene. They are often looked down upon as not being very sophisticated gamer. And, honestly, you can see why. Year after year people wait in line to get a game like Madden, a game which is the same every year. It's quite laughable really.