Do Sports Games Receive Too Much Criticism?

[countryboy]

One of our forum members, countryboy, has written an interesting piece about the scrutiny that sports games receive in general. We decided to tag it for our front page since it was already receiving a lot of attention.

Do sports games receive too much criticism?

I am asking this question about every sports game. Football, baseball, basketball, hockey, racing, golf, tennis, soccer, wrestling, or any other sport that you can think of that has a video game representing it.

Every one of these sports has a fan following behind it, that want the game to mirror what they see on TV or play themselves. And along with this expectation of an exact replica, the fans become more and more demanding of the game. No more settling for something that just represents the sport they play/watch. We monitor every screenshot, every video, and hang on every word that is a preview of our game. Then we play the game for ourselves, enjoy it for the first couple of days, and then throw it under a microscope and examine it from top to bottom, leaving no feature, no player model, not one single aspect of the game is left out of the examination.

If a player's hair cut is wrong we know it. If the game isn't being played properly, we spot it. If the fans section isn't 100% then you can bet your bottom dollar that someone is going to mention it. We knock ourselves out, examing the game, making sure that its perfect. And the minute that it isn't, we agonize over it until the next installment, or a patch, whichever comes first.

So my question again. Do sports games receive too much criticism? Or maybe I should ask, do we set ourselves up for disappointment by expecting perfection from our favorite sports game? Do we examine this as if we are examining a crime scene, looking for something thats not right, out of place, to the point that there is no way that we can fully enjoy the game?

What other genre of games receive this much criticism and have to live up to these types of expectations? I know that there are fans of Halo, GTA, MGS, COD, and others that expect certain things out of the game and if they are lacking the fans will be heard. But, do the fans of those types of games, expect the same type of perfection that fans of sports games expect? I mean, when playing COD, do you find yourself saying, "man, there is no way that a soldier would run like that." or "that isn't the proper way to hold a machine gun. Look at it, his hand position is all wrong and his body posture is out of sorts." I don't think we do. We play these games because they are games. So why don't we play sports games for the same reason?

Why don't we play the game for the fun of it? Why do we focus on the negatives so much and tend to overlook the positives of a sports game? I mean after all, its just a video game, right?

So, I'll ask my question one more time. Do sports games receive too much criticism? I am looking forward to the thoughts and insights of my fellow OS'ers and especially my fellow sports nuts.

DISCLAIMER This post is in no way, no how, intended to call out those who complain about a sports game, get upset when something isn't right, or anyone that talks about something negative about a sports game. We all do it. We all have our certain expectations and when they are not met, we get frustrated when said expectations are not met. This post is for nothing more than discussion. Thank you for reading.

[Scott]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

DISCLAIMER: This thread is about ALL sports games and not just about Madden. I only posted this thread here because I really didn't know where else to post it. I am hoping that a Mod will move this thread to the correct forum. Now that we got that little part out of the way, lets move to the reason for this thread. Do sports games receive too much criticism? I am asking this question about every sports game. Football, baseball, basketball, hockey, racing, golf, tennis, soccer, wrestling, or any other sport that you can think of that has a video game representing it. Every one of these sports has a fan following behind it, that want the game to mirror what they see on TV or play themselves. And along with this expectation of an exact replica, the fans become more and more demanding of the game. No more settling for something that just represents the sport they play/watch. We monitor every screenshot, every video, and hang on every word that is a preview of our game. Then we play the game for ourselves, enjoy it for the first couple of days, and then throw it under a microscope and examine it from top to bottom, leaving no feature, no player model, not one single aspect of the game is left out of the examination. If a player's hair cut is wrong we know it. If the game isn't being played properly, we spot it. If the fans section isn't 100% then you can bet your bottom dollar that someone is going to mention it. We knock ourselves out, examing the game, making sure that its perfect. And the minute that it isn't, we agonize over it until the next installment, or a patch, whichever comes first. So my question again. Do sports games receive too much criticism? Or maybe I should ask, do we set ourselves up for disappointment by expecting perfection from our favorite sports game? Do we examine this as if we are examining a crime scene, looking for something thats not right, out of place, to the point that there is no way that we can fully enjoy the game? What other genre of games receive this much criticism and have to live up to these types of expectations? I know that there are fans of Halo, GTA, MGS, COD, and others that expect certain things out of the game and if they are lacking the fans will be heard. But, do the fans of those types of games, expect the same type of perfection that fans of sports games expect? I mean, when playing COD, do you find yourself saying, "man, there is no way that a soldier would run like that." or "that isn't the proper way to hold a machine gun. Look at it, his hand position is all wrong and his body posture is out of sorts." I don't think we do. We play these games because they are games. So why don't we play sports games for the same reason? So, I'll ask my question one more time. Do sports games receive too much criticism? I am looking forward to the thoughts and insights of my fellow OS'ers and especially my fellow sports nuts.

I say yes, look how much detail go into a sports game. I don't go in expecting a perfect game, and I'm not disappointed when I receive my copy.

[SoxFan01605]

Yes and no. I think we do expect a lot from our sports titles, but it's a little different from other game types. Most other games aren't meant to be full simulations of what they are representing. GTA IV is more of a characature of real life, not a simmed replica. Same with Halo, etc. (The closest to the way sports games are viewed, I guess, would be GRAW, COD, etc...like you mentioned). Not too much room for arguments about realism in many of those genres ("You're magic tossing demon elf thing is so fake...everyone knows they can only throw magic A...not magic B"...sorry, cheesy I know)) Even in some of those cases, the die hard fans pick them apart. I had a buddy complain to me that the grenade tossing "wasn't realistic" in Gears of War while he was shooting the "ultra-realistic" locust things with a Character that is on steroids that also happen to be on steroids. I think we see the nitpicking more because we are in a forum with people who are focused on the particular sports.

That being said, I do think we maybe pick them apart to a fault almost. In Madden for example, we complain about shoe laces, field goal nets, sizes of commemorative logos, etc in the same tone we do about bad tackling, poor blocking, super defenders, etc, etc. It can make companies like EA think they've met our needs by addressing the wrong issues (or covering them up as has been the trend the past few years). I'm not downing any of these complaints, but sometimes I think we lack perspective.

[SageInfinite]

Good thread and post cb. I think that some people over analyze the games, but we all have our quirks that we hope developers include. The thing about Sports games is developers have the same reference(probably even more) material we have. We figure if we notice is so should they. I definitely think some people take it too far tho. I can say WE(message boards) do give sports games too much criticism, as a whole(reviewers,casual guys,non message board video game sports fans) I'd say no, they don't.

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by SageTheInfinite

Good thread and post cb. I think that some people over analyze the games, but we all have our quirks that we hope developers include. The thing about Sports games is developers have the same reference(probably even more) material we have. We figure if we notice is so should they. I definitely think some people take it too far tho. I can say WE(message boards) do give sports games too much criticism, as a whole(reviewers,casual guys,non message board video game sports fans) I'd say no, they don't.

good post Sage. And I agree.

[SidVish]

I think that overall yes sports games do get criticized too much but for me it's in context. If it wasn't for games like The Show, NBA or College Hoops 2k8, I guess I wouldn't be so disappointed in EA's football game efforts. I guess in a way those games have spoiled me with graphics, sig styles, atmosphere and presentation. They've made me realize that sports games can in fact be great which is why I expect more sometimes from the football games.

[grunt]

No, I think game developers take sport gamers for granted. What happen to next gen 2k baseball and next gen EA football is a joke. EA having only 35 people working on Madden show the level of commitment from EA to make a quality football game.

I think next gen sports game fell short.

PS

The "SHUT UP PLAY" comment by VC sums up next gen sport game.

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by grunt

No, I think game developers take sport gamers for granted. What happen to next gen 2k baseball and next gen EA football is a joke. EA having only 35 people working on Madden show the level of commitment from EA to make a quality football game. I think next gen sports game fell short. PS The "SHUT UP PLAY" comment by VC sums up next gen sport game.

Please don't take this as a defense of some sort for either of the 2 games that you mentioned or the developers, but doesn't every sports game end up eventually coming up short? I mean, has there not been a sports game where there wasn't something "seriously" wrong with the game?