Operation Sports - Press Row Podcast: Episode 30

[Steve_OS]

It’s the 30th Episode of the Press Row Podcast, featuring two distinct conversations that our community has been asking for. First up is a lengthy conversation about the state of sports video game writing in 2013; many listeners have posed questions about why it seems that so few outlets pay attention to sports gaming even though it remains one of – if not the most – important revenue sources in the industry. After that, we do a “Review Roundtable Blitz” on NCAA 14, as three of the guys on the show are knee-deep in playing it for review. Don’t worry, though, we’ll have an even longer full episode-length review roundtable on NCAA 14 in a couple of weeks.

Joining us on the panel:

• Samit Sarkar, Polygon (@SamitSarkar)
• Mike Suszek, Joystiq (@mikesuszek)
• Bryan Wiedey, PastaPadre (@pastapadre)
• Owen Good, Kotaku (@owengood)
• And your host, Richard Grisham, GamesRadar (@RichGrisham)

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Enjoy the show!

Run Time: 1 Hour, 49 Minutes

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[believeinnow]

Interesting discussion regarding the future of sports games coverage. While I agree that in terms of breaking news and investigative "journalism" the need for sports games writers does need to (and will) continue. But companies like 2K, Konami and EA have begun to do their own reporting (marketing) that you don't really need sites like OS and Pasta Padre for preview coverage. Most of the stuff here that is posted about upcoming game features is usually taken "word for word" from the original sites and almost no additional information is given.

While we will need reviewers, even that may become stagnant if the same people aren't offering interesting insight into these games.

Another thing is the fact that sports game reviewers (including those on this program), not one single one of them could consider themselves a through-and-through sports gamer. You wouldn't go to Rich for soccer coverage, Bryan has almost no knowledge of hockey while from the sounds of it, Samit isn't even much of a sports gamer (never played NCAA?!?!). It's tough to find a sports person who works full-time in the gaming press who plays every single sports title. Even when a site like GameSpot, who used to have a dedicated sports guy, his knowledge of baseball was lacking (even though he knew his stuff, he wasn't someone who'd trust to be able to discuss all things baseball).

The new console cycle does open the possibility for games writers to do some interesting things but it has to happen now. I was surprised at how little coverage there was regarding next gen. While I will commend Samit (which is rare) that he went out and talked to Andrew Wilson regarding IGNITE and the future of baseball, I was shocked that on one did an actual piece on IGNITE in comparing how the engine worked on the four games that were shown using it.

This will be an interesting 6 months for the genre as we transition from one generation to the next and younger writers who want to get into the industry can really take advantage of it if they actually do the work required. I look forward to reading about it.