By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - What happened to Sports games?

If they came out with a NCAA football online game where you buy it once and (maybe a small annual subscription), they keep updating I'd totally buy it. I miss NCAA football. The players sued because they weren't getting money, and now they still aren't but we don't get to play it now. All we have now is boring NFL, I miss the excitement of bringing small nobody schools, through years of recruiting, to be able to beat the big dogs. You just don't get that same excitement out of NFL games.



Around the Network

I think as the average gamer age went up, the expectation of sim like sports games became more prevalent. And when companies got the sole right to make a league's sport, all the players were consolidated.

Just look at the numbers for Madden, 2k, Fifa, etc. They sell a crap load each year (with secondary games for soccer doing pretty good too, and a mix of results coming from other sports games like UFC, Wrestling, etc). It's just that less games are made.

We've had the resurgence of Blitz and arcade like sports games here and there, but I don't think people really want to buy that, hence the low numbers.

So I guess the answer isn't important. It's more about the question. What happened to Sports games fans? I just think they got old.



I have been playing ATV Offroad Fury 4 (PS2) on emulator and having lot of fun.



My Etsy store

My Ebay store

Deus Ex (2000) - a game that pushes the boundaries of what the video game medium is capable of to a degree unmatched to this very day.

They're dead and gone. I say good riddance. Videogames are for nerds, not dudebro/jock types who were mean to me in high school.



Are you insinuating that exclusivity deals are bad for variety and competition?



If you demand respect or gratitude for your volunteer work, you're doing volunteering wrong.

Around the Network

I don't care about the quality of sports games, but my issue is the fact that the guaranteed annual stream of Madden dollars and FIFA euros is what lets EA get away with all of its destructive fuckery. They have no accountability as long as the next FIFA is going to bail them out.



It's very simple. They aren't popular enough. Dev costs have risen but at the same time there are fewer people interested in them, at least when looking at the more niche ones.



Bofferbrauer2 said:
Darwinianevolution said:
The problem with most sports games is that branding becoming so important to sell a game. If a soccer game came out with thrice as content and quality as FIFA for half the price, it would still go down in flames because FIFA has the exclusive license to practically all sport clubs and players. Unless that changes, they could do whatever they want and people will still buy them.

Well, wasn't it in the news lately that they lost the licenses for some clubs to PES, including their players? That's the real battle and concern for EA, as without them, they can't have as many players in their cards to casino to players.

That's nothing new though. There are a few clubs that have been exclusive to PES for a while and then exclusive to FIFA and vice versa. Overall FIFA just has way way more licenses for leagues, teams, players and competitions. Konami doesn't spend enough to make PES competitive in that regard.



The Switch is crying out for NHL and Madden