No Right Answer: Most Uninteresting Game Genre

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vxicepickxv

Slayer of Bothan Spies
Sep 28, 2008
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krogothwolf said:
Mutant League Football
Mutant League Hockey

Greatest Sports Games Ever Created.
They were much better than Bill Lambier's combat basketball, that's for sure.
 

Agayek

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Oct 23, 2008
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Rituro said:
Bingo. This was the first thing that flew into my mind when Dan started ranting about unreal sports. I guarantee you that nobody is going to turn off (or stand up from, since, y'know, tabletop game and all) Blood Bowl, go outside and chainsaw a mutated rat to death.
It's a video game now too, as of 3-4 years ago :p
 

Darth_Payn

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Aug 5, 2009
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YES! CLAVINBALL! I want to play that so much now! But, if a video game were to be made of that and stayed true to the spirit of CalvinBall, it would never be finished. Or a new game mode and stuff would have to be DLC released every other week.
Avaholic03 said:
Damn I miss NBA Jam and NFL Blitz. I'm also remembering a game called NHL Hitz(?) and I'm guessing they probably made one for MLB and other sports as well. At least those weren't so constrained by reality.

Also, I'm kinda disappointed they didn't mention Twisted Metal when the discussion turned to car combat.

Seems like most people play video games to get away from reality, not be held back by what is "realistic".
"Realistic"- exactly what's wrong with most FPS's nowadays.
 

Charli

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Nov 23, 2008
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SupahGamuh said:
Hmmm... I LOVE sports and racing games... BUT... I love the unrealistic ones.

I love F-Zero GX, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (actually better than any Mario Kart) and NBA Jam.
I love me some All-stars Racing Transformed too, and I think on the whole I've had better experiences with racing games... I just... can't get into the sport game genre no matter where and whom I attempt with.

But both are genre's I don't usually delve into, which is weird, you'd think being a WoW Raider I'd be all over the teamwork, perfecting of stats and parts aspect... but nada.

I guess seeing the people who usually play them... (No offense meant, but hooting, gorilla-like men who look like they had testosterone Wheaties for breakfast. And look ready to pummel someone if they lose. I'm just the tiniest bit... put off when that's all I've been exposed to and had only my PC to scratch my gaming itch while I let that carry on.)
 

Canadamus Prime

Robot in Disguise
Jun 17, 2009
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MorganL4 said:
Also, I just checked ESPN is owned by Disney, and Marvel is owned by Disney.... SO what we could have is an ESPN football game where at halftime DocOc kidnaps the reff and then you suddenly have to do a mini game (as Peter Parker, who was of course selling pizza in the stands at the Jets game) to rescue the referee.

Come on Disney, you can make that happen combine your ESPN and Marvel franchises!!!
To hell with that! How about a ESPN Football game where all the players are Marvel Heroes and Villains?
 

SilverUchiha

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Dec 25, 2008
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Kyle immediately lost this argument to me. I love racing games because there's variation in in with games like Mario Kart, Sonic All-Stars, F-Zero, Burnout, Blur, etc where they can deviate from reality to make a genuinely fun, fast-paced game where explosions and cool visual effects happen...

Sports... very grounded in reality and changing them from that would alienate their core fanbase, which prevents new fans (like myself) from ever giving a shit. Ergo, (to me specifically) sports games are worse than racing by a wide margin.
 

proghead

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Apr 17, 2010
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Yeah, I miss those sports games that weren't about realism and simulation. Loved those soccer games where you could beat others up to get the ball and have unstoppable shots that set the ball on fire. Kinda like Kickers, the anime series. They don't do that stuff anymore. :(
 

Endocrom

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Apr 6, 2009
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The crazy stuff is out there, it's just not marketed as much as the million realistic games out there

and...
 

DrTesla

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Sep 10, 2013
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Well racing is as far as I know clasified as a sport so I suppose racing games are technically sportgames.
 

Techno Squidgy

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Nov 23, 2010
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RatGouf said:
As a whole Sports Games can be more uninteresting. But for the most uninteresting sport you'd have to go to the motor sport that is NASCAR.

I can have fun with a Monster Truck game where all you do is jump over or flatten already damaged vehicles. I can have fun with a motocross game where I can do all sorts of stunts. Illegal Street Racing still pretty fun though its getting sucked up into Sand Box Games.

But NASCAR? Okay here is a motor sport game where all you do is race around a oval for 3 - 500 Laps; 500 for the people who are real hardcore NASCAR fans.... Damn I find the tracks so boring I couldn't keep interested for half a lap. Not to mention you all have the same car but with different advertisements.... So not only does it suck as a game but its trying to bombard you with commercials for crap you don't want.
I honestly don't understand how NASCAR became as big a thing in America as it is. I just don't get it. There was an episode of something that kept showing NASCAR clips, and it's just so boring...

I'm personally a fan of MotoGP and Touring Cars, so much more exciting, what with the interesting tracks, having to actually drive rather than just turn a bit every half a lap...

In terms of motorsport games, I'd say MotorStorm was awesome. Minimal realism, mucho explosions. The PSP version managed to be just as fun as the PS3 games, only with a little less "OHGOOOOOOOOOODNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO". People on the train don't take kindly to that.
 

Roxor

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Nov 4, 2010
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The worst thing about both genres covered this week is that both could be far more interesting if the developers would just take a break from reality. Ban games developers from making any game based on any sport which appears on TV for the next five years and you might finally get something interesting. Well, that, or they'll stop making sports games, but I don't think they're quite that petty.
 

blackrave

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Guys, guys, guys, GUYS (and gals)!
We need 1st person sports game.
That would be horrible magnificent
 

mindfaQ

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Dec 6, 2013
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Hmmm I can see the appeal of super-realistic racing games - not everyone has the chance to drive a sports car through a difficult track and if the simulation is well done you can really get the feel of being the driver.
Fun racers are great with friends, too.

Sports games... the serious ones imo don't really execute in a way that you get the feeling of being a pro player. Instead you just play a videogame about a sport. It might be challenging PvP if the mechanics are complex enough, but doesn't really catch the vibe of the real game imo (where you are locked on one position), so for me those fail.
Fun sports games... well why not, if it is entertaining. Though I think adapting a sport for a fun game can actually hinder you to implement some good gameplay elements that might fit into the game.
 

Imperioratorex Caprae

Henchgoat Emperor
May 15, 2010
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I like some sports games, including NFL and NHL games. I agree they're not "interesting" in the way that story-driven genres might be, and there's no unreality (except you know when that fucking fatass linebacker on x-rival team intercepts a pass by leaping 20 feet in the air and runs it back faster than the Flash on a Redbull IV).
Still there's a bit of fun taking a team you enjoy from day 1 of a season to the championship game. Especially for those of us who either played sports in our earlier years and had to give them up because: A. We had other interests, B. Weren't quite good enough to play in college or C. Got hurt and can't play anymore without serious injury risk. Sure you might be able to go "outside and play" but you're not going to be the Raiders getting revenge on the Tampa Bay Bucs in 2013's 10 year anniversary of the last Raiders/Bucs Super Bowl (hint the Raiders got their asses handed to them).
So yeah there's that.
On another note, I'm hoping that with Mutant League Football back on the Kickstarter campaign and doing better this time apparently, that we'd see more of the unconventional sports games come about. I miss the NBA Jam and NFL Blitz series as much as the next guy, and I'd love to see more odd-type games come about as well involving different popular sports. Just don't ever make them as frustrating as Blood Bowl.
 

Twinmill5000

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Nov 12, 2009
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I shouldn't post this. This is not the time or the place to post this. I'm clearly outnumbered. I shouldn't post this.

I can understand that racing games are boring for most people. Most people don't really care about driving fast enough to get investment out of a genre that shoots for reality so lividly that most larger racing games shouldn't be classified as video games anymore, rather, simulations.

I like a good racing sim. It's not the most entertaining way to pass time on the surface, but, just like any other game, there's a very, very high skillcap; the skills required to play a racing sim well are both not prevalent in other genres, and take serious investment to train before they become rewarding-- the promise of a shiny supercar won't do it for most people.

In the end, racing, as a thing, and not just a genre, is about pushing your limits and seeing how far you can go, hopefully farther, and in this case, faster, than the next guy.

Thus, the argument that racing games is boring is just as valid as if, I were to say, say, platformers are boring. All you do is jump from platform to platform, the levels have some variation, yeah, but they're very repetitive and everything feels like it's lined on a grid. Your character never changes throughout the genre, and your only weapon is your feet. You only go one direction and can only jump a certain height.

That argument is flawed, and I promise you, I'm not offended at the argument being used on racing games. I'm offended at how it was received.

I agree that Forza and GT have been releasing at an overwhelmingly fast rate, and the quality has been that of a production line product created with infinite funds, not something that was crafted artisans. Still, I ask of you one thing: do not deny that it takes serious investment to get into the racing genre, and guilty pleasure of mine since I was a kid.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Z1OJbqvQQ
 

Twinmill5000

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Nov 12, 2009
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I shouldn't post this. This is not the time or the place to post this. I'm clearly outnumbered. I shouldn't post this.

I can understand that racing games are boring for most people. Most people don't really care about driving fast enough to get investment out of a genre that shoots for reality so lividly that most larger racing games shouldn't be classified as video games anymore, rather, simulations.

I like a good racing sim. It's not the most entertaining way to pass time on the surface, but, just like any other game, there's a very, very high skillcap; the skills required to play a racing sim well are both not prevalent in other genres, and take serious investment to train before they become rewarding-- the promise of a shiny supercar won't do it for most people.

In the end, racing, as a thing, and not just a genre, is about pushing your limits and seeing how far you can go, hopefully farther, and in this case, faster, than the next guy.

Thus, the argument that racing games is boring is just as valid as if, I were to say, say, platformers are boring. All you do is jump from platform to platform, the levels have some variation, yeah, but they're very repetitive and everything feels like it's lined on a grid. Your character never changes throughout the genre, and your only weapon is your feet. You only go one direction and can only jump a certain height.

That argument is flawed, and I promise you, I'm not offended at the argument being used on racing games. I'm offended at how it was received.

I agree that Forza and GT have been releasing at an overwhelmingly fast rate, and the quality has been that of a production line product created with infinite funds, not something that was crafted artisans. Still, I ask of you one thing: do not deny that it takes serious investment to get into the racing genre, a guilty pleasure of mine since I was a kid.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Z1OJbqvQQ
 

Elijah Newton

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Sep 17, 2008
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UNHchabo said:
Aside from NFS:HP, which I would recommend to you as well, there's NFS:Shift, which uses realistic racing physics, and there are no powerups or anything, but it takes Touring Car Racing as its inspiration, so it fully encourages you to play dirty. You get points for hitting your opponents, spinning them off the road, and so on.
Thanks for the recommendation, though between NFS: Most Wanted (2012 version) and Forza 3 I feel reasonably covered for both arcade-y racers and realistic ones. Getting points for knocking folks off the road isn't really necessary - I do that even without extra incentives in both games, if I'm so inspired. I just wish there were more options for how to play the game, though I credit NFS with some strong attempts to change things up a bit.

For want of a better way to put it, I'd like more risk-reward elements when it comes to designing a car. I go to guns from a fondness for the old tabletop game Car Wars. It seems like there would be a lot of fun to be had in a game which gives you limited funds and then asks you not only to set priorities between handling and horsepower but also how you're willing to compromise those by bolting on heavy armor and various weapons.


Love that lots of folks have mentioned BloodBowl - it pretty much scratches my (very rare) itch for sports games.

Nobody has mentioned Wipeout yet. Someone should. Now I have. A moment of silence for the late, great Psygnosis studio.
 

FightingFurball

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Jul 26, 2011
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I think the picks were bad. Both genres are by far more fun than other possibilities like hidden object games like Myst or Skinner-Box Social Games like the facebook ones.
 

Gorrath

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Feb 22, 2013
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SirBryghtside said:
I miss Lego Racers :(
Gorrath said:
RatGouf said:
Gorrath said:
How do sports and racing games beat out genres like "God-awful real life job simulator 20XX" or "Something Mama" or any other genre where you have almost no actual game play and pretty much no way to lose?
Because those games prove video games can be something more than Ego builders.

You may find something like Harvest Moon boring but when such mechanics of a game are pulled into a game like Skyrim it actually makes Skyrim more immerse. And what about the person who doesn't want to be killed while playing the parts that have nothing to do with killing? Well there's always Harvest Moon.
I think you might mistake my point. I actually own three Harvest Moon games and have great fun with them. I find the planting/growing crops to be cathartic. There is a certain level of subjectivity to this of course, as someone who just finds sports boring isn't likely to enjoy playing Madden. However, I think one can make a good argument that, with all their expanded functionality, modern sports games are as a genre not the snorefest that say "Trash Truck Simulator 20XX" is. This is in no way a condemnation of people who like playing "Euro Bakery Delivery Van Day Job" or "Commercial Flight Simulator 1998", it's simply to point out the dubious claim that the sports genre is somehow more boring than these games tend to be, personal tastes not withstanding.

There are some genres of games out there that are barely games at all, and while I'd never begrudge someone having fun with them, I would think the overwhelming sales of many of the top sports games shows that a whole lot of people find the genre anything but boring.
TO be fair, the first rule of their debate was that it has to have mass appeal - sim games are aggressively niche.
I've heard they are quite popular in Europe, but I think deciding what does and does not count as having mass appeal might be a fruitless conversation. I think they set themselves up for failure with that rule anyway, as what games are going to have mass appeal and be boring at the same time?

The rule itself immediately eliminates most of the genres most would consider boring in the first place. I think it makes them contort too much trying to find a game that somehow is both boring and has mass appeal. This is why they both end up having to back up their claims with points that strain credulity. One ends up arguing that there need to be sports games for sports you can't actually play, which there are, and thus the claim is invalid and should not have been awarded a point. Or you have the argument that racing games have not changed much, save for graphics, which is absurd, as any comparison between Pole Position for the Atari and Trackmania shows that new paint-jobs are hardly the only things that have evolved in the racing genre. Probably even more silly is that racing games are a subset of the sports genre anyway, so they end up making really similar arguments about how reality makes the games boring.

Anywho, I think the "sim work" games are popular enough to qualify, and even if not, then I think they are being too restrictive with the mass appeal qualification. IN any case, I think it hindered the episode a bit. Just my 2 cents.