Looking Back to Move Forward

[RaychelSnr]

Many gamers remember a lot of "old-school" features which are now nowhere to be seen in video games. In his first article here at Operation Sports, writer David Johnson takes a look at some of these features and asks a very important question, "Where are they now?" Be sure to take a look at David's article, Looking Back to Move Forward, and comment on his thoughts!

"Video games have been around for quite some time. In fact, a sports video game called Tennis For Two can be labeled as the first video game ever. Titles like Pong, Tecmo Bowl, Intellivision (insert sport of your choice here), Baseball Stars and others all live in the hallowed halls of our minds as some of the best ever. So with over 25 years of modern gaming behind us, why do some of the best features from the past still remain in the past?"

[studbucket]

Great article, I would love to see a lot of those features come back, and that's why a lot of us loved CHoops.

[distauma]

LOL now if only developers understood that by gamers wanting more presentation and immersion, they weren't referring to things like celebrating with the mascots...

[rdelizo35]

Awesome article, man. Great job on it. It was informative and a good read. I know that I'm planning to get a B/C 60 gig PS3 so I can play the old PS2 games I miss.

[edaddy]

Re: Looking Back to Move Forward

Great article!!!..I have always wondered why developers haven't figured out that sports gamers want to be immersed in the game..They want to feel like they are there or watching it on TV... Presentation, crowd noise, signature animations and the little nuances that go into a game gop a long way in sports gaming satisfaction... College Hoops 2K8, NBA 2K8 and it looks like 2K9 have got it down pat...

[labguy]

I think developers (with the exception of EA's NCAA team) have failed to give us a chance to re-live those moments of competing with friends in a dorm room or on a couch in the basement. Yes there is plenty of online gaming, but not enough of online franchise modes. Not everyone, but a lot of people like to not only battle on the field but battle to sign a recruit, pull a trade, and basically shape a team over multiple seasons. Building a team when only competing against the CPU has limited rewards, but doing so among friends and peers is GREATLY rewarding. And leagues just don't cut it. Using a hockey league as an example...if you end up playing with a Blue Jacket team and not the Pens or Red Wings then really you are at a disadvantage and you can't change that for a league. But if the developers give us an online franchise then you can sign free agents and draft and hopefully make moves to get your team more competitive with the big boys. Also when playing in these leagues or single games online you can't use a created player. Wasn't half the fun back in the day seeing how your created RB progressed and performed againt your friend's linebacker each year? So in summary we can't say that online franchise is a feature that has been taken from us, but we can say that developers have failed to give us the functionality to re-live those multi-user franchise moments we once enjoyed.

[asu666]

The sad part is NFL 2K5 and College Hoops 2K8 are the gold standard and both are dead franchises. I though All Pro 2K8 could have torn Madden a new one (the game, not the man) if it dropped the cost of licensing the retired pros and put the resources into making the most fleshed out Franchise mode and customization options of any game on the market. With 2K Share already running, the community would finsih the product in a matter of days.

[bigjake62505]

When competition between sport video game makers died, innovation died with it. The greatest games that were are dead now because of exclusive licenses. I would bet my arm and leg that if EA sports had to compete with acclaim, 2K, capcom, for consumers money their product would be great. There would be no game killing glitches or garbage AI.

[dave731]

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...

[labguy]

"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... "

Thank you. That was the point I was trying to make. You did a much better job of relaying that message. The thing is the community has been clamoring for features like online franchises for several years and it looks like just now the developers are headed in that direction. I give the NCAA guys props for rolling it out first and doing it pretty darn well.