Poll: Sport games!

[tippy2k2]

So as many of you know, the Escapist has a bit of a reputation to being not so nice to...well....a lot of "frat boy" gaming (sorry guys! I still love you!)

I'm kind of curious though if this is a very vocal minority or if this is actually the mindset of this site. Therefore, a question!

Do you play sport games? If so, is it because you play the sport, watch the sport, love the mechanics, or some other reason? If not, any particular reason?

I generally have purchased every major sport game at some point. Madden and FIFA are usually every year purchases unless I don't think enough has changed (for example, I skipped Madden 12 and FIFA 11). I LOVE watching football and I play soccer. I like playing video game versions of baseball and hockey but don't care that much for the sport itself so those get the old versions bought. Basketball doesn't exist in my mind so unless it's NBA JAM for the SNES, I have no interest.

For reference, I have:
Madden 13
FIFA 13
MLB The Show 11
NHL 11

 

[Rawne1980]

No I don't play sports video games but I do watch/play sports outside of video games.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I went with Other as I do play sports games, but don't necessary stick with either realistic or sim and don't tend to dabble too much in various sports. I play hockey games and the occasional basketball game, but that's about it. I also don't play each year's title but instead tend to stick with a version I like for several years. I do try to keep the rosters somewhat up to date as, particularly in the case of hockey, I am a follower of the actual sport as well.

 

[FavouriteDream]

Not so much anymore. I wouldn't mind getting a copy of Top Spin 4 though, tennis games have always entertained me.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'll put it this way: dead people are more involved in sports than I am by simply enrichening the ground on which a ball may one day bounce.

 

[tippy2k2]

I'll put it this way: dead people are more involved in sports than I am by simply enrichening the ground on which a ball may one day bounce.

That's an....interesting way to put it

 

[Aris Khandr]

I pick up a FIFA game every few years. I had 2010 World Cup on my 360, and FIFA 12 on my PC. Still play it fairly regularly. Other than football, I also have Virtua Tennis 4 on Steam.

That said, I'm not stuck on the simulation style, even if that is all I buy right now. When I was little, I had to share my NES with my brother, who was a sports fanatic. I couldn't be bothered to care about most of his games, but I legitimately enjoyed Baseball Stars. It had a unique mechanic that I haven't seen in a sports game since: the ability to play my own gender. I would love to see a baseball game with modern graphics that let me play a girl.

Or an updated version of Base Wars. That would also be interesting.

 

[Faewerd]

Sure, i play sports both in real life and in video games, not my favorite genre tbh but it's lot of fun, love in special NHL and Snowboarding games because i play them in real life

 

[DoPo]

Meh, I watch maybe like one or two football matches in a year up to four or five. And that's because I'm with friends who do it and there is beer. Otherwise, no, I don't watch any sports. I didn't find the games that engaging either, mainly because of not following the sport. I have played...one or two of the FIFAs (I think World Cup 2004 or whenever it was and one from the year or two before) and some Championship Manager 4. CM wasn't too bad, actually, only my indifference to football stopped me from playing more of it, I think - if it was less grounded in reality (so, completely fictional teams, for example, or maybe even a fictional game they played) I might have been hooked. As it stands it's just not my thing.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I tend to play couch co-op with FIFA and Madden when my mates are around but I never play sport games in any other situation.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Love a good game of NHL or FIFA with the mates whenever possible, and I love the Football Manager series, I just get hooked every single year.

Nothing like taking your favourite team (in this case Dundee United) and helping them to succeed.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Nope. I've played extreme sports when Tony Hawk was relevant but that's about it. I would play more sports games though if they weren't all...well...the same. I would play an American Football game if you for to play as murderous robots, mutants, aliens, etc. I recall having fun with Mario Golf too back on the Game Boy Color too now that I think of it...

As for sports in general, they aren't my thing. At all. Superbowl is a day before my birthday and I look forward to going out on Sunday and facing little to no traffic since everyone will either be at home or in those sports bar places I never go into.

 

[ShockValue]

I play my fair amount, mainly Madden and NCAA football though.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Other - really only extreme sports arcadey or realistic. I have every Tony Hawk game from 2x-Proving Grounds (and one of the spin offs), all 4 Skate games, and Shaun White Skateboarding. Also planning on getting SSX next time Gamestop has a buy two get one free sale.

 

[Tahaneira]

I used to hate sports.

Then I realized that it was a waste of mental energy and probably not the healthiest thing to do.

So now I just don't care. I haven't played any sports games that I could call fun, and when it comes down to it, I really prefer my fantasy/sci fi story games. Sooooo yeah. *shrug*

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

If I want to see men fight over balls I would go to the local rugby game or watch the All Blacks on TV.

 

[RandV80]

I voted other. I'm pretty much a sports video game hipster, as I only play in online leagues with a hard core hockey simulator that no one's ever heard of. For my own sports I currently play on two beer league hockey teams and a half-side rec soccer team. NHL is the only sport I follow really.

One thing I always found amusing is how silly the non-sport fans are when the start talking nonsense about annual releases. Yeah it's a crummy business practice that let's EA rake in the cash an could be done in a more consumer friendly way, but what the non-sports fan doesn't understand is the allure of a new season. That's the only reason companies like EA can get away with releasing basically the same game every year at full price with little more than a roster update. While the gameplay can still be fun if you know your sport then there's a huge disconnect if you're playing an older version with rosters and ratings that are no longer relevant.

 

[tippy2k2]

snip

But that's the thing, it's NOT just roster updates (granted, I'm going off of only FIFA and MADDEN as they are the only two who I have current editions for). They look the same because a screen-shot of football is going to...well....look like football. However, FIFA got a complete overhaul to the physics engine in 12 and brand new ball movement in 13. Madden got an entirely new animation system that makes the previous versions look like Madden 95 in comparison.

Uncharted, God of War, Final Fantasy, Infamous, Far Cry, Halo, Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Mass Effect, Dead Space, Fallout 3/NV, Assassins Creed. Besides for the sequels that happen to be on my shelf, every single one of these games can have the same criticism leveled at them (they all look the same but the little changes adds up). That's why the "they're all the same" argument never holds any water; it's obvious that these guys don't play the game otherwise they would realize that those little changes added each year makes a big difference. If they don't one year, I also have the luxury of saying I'll wait one year until they do

 

[synobal]

I find as I get older and older I can stand football (american) more and more. I still don't like the sports casters, they don't ever seem to inform me of anything just distract from the game. So I typically keep the game on monitor on my desk with the sound muted and watch it while doing other stuff on my primary monitor.

 

[xShredd]

I do a lot of sports, but for some reason sport games have never really interested me. I prefer to play games for things I cannot accomplish in my own life.

I see it like this: 'When you can meet your friends to play football in real life, why should you spend so much money for a more boring type of the same game?'