Sports gaming & Sports for real

[GPX | 1,371]

This topic is about sports gaming. Some questions to kick start the cranial matter:

Do you like real life sports? Or do you prefer to sit comfortably on the couch/sofa and let your fingers do all your sporting feats through a controller? What kind of sports are you into? Are you sports phobic (aka lazy ass)? What kind of sports games do you recommend?

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[RH | 4,935]

I could never really get into any sports on TV except for "Extreme Sports" in the 90s (man, watching Tony Hawk pull off the first 1080 live was insane!!!) and I always felt golf was the most boring sport eeeeeever, until I actually tried it, fell in love with it and I learned why those guys on TV were/are insanely good at what they do.  I would watch golf a lot just because I was so incredibly incapable compared to what they were doing, I was legitimately impressed.

Over the past 20 years of marriage, my wife and I have had opportunities to go to various sports games for free or cheap and I have to say the experience is 1,000x better to be in an arena.  The food, the energy, the fan service--all of that makes it an experience that is worth going too and it helps you get into the game. I just can't do that at home.

Oh, I forgot, there is also one big exception every 2 years--the Olympics.  I've been a BIG Olympics nerd for as long as I can remember.  I don't know why.  Maybe it's because you have a chance to bounce around 20 different sports, often to sports you never see or care about otherwise, and it's fun to pull for your home country and/or under dogs that do well.

And last, my wife found Banana Ball about 18 months ago.  She became obsessed with it and we watched every game on YouTube last year.  This year, she's toned down the viewing because we really hope to get tickets in the lottery for when they come to Greenville, SC, and she doesn't want to wear-out the experience before we get to go there.  Still, getting Banana Ball tickets is really tough, unless you're willing to scalp, which we probably won't do... probably.  I have a way of making her dreams come true.

[Rhuno | 109]

I've always enjoyed ice hockey; grew up watching it on tv and playing the NES, SNES and Genesis games. I kind of lost interest in the video games once we hit the 3d era, but the classics like NHL '94 - '97 are still fun.

As for real life, I played in a beer league for 10 years or so as an adult. The trophy was a keg of coors light . It was a lot of fun. These days I don't follow it like I used to, but it's still enjoyable if I can catch a game here and there.

[AstralSoul | 502]

I wouldn't say I'm a huge sports guy but I enjoy them. I've followed NFL pretty intently for years. I used to follow NBA when I was a kid in the 90s but haven't watched in years. I loosely follow MLB, I get pretty hyped in the first 1/3 of the season but lose interest until the playoffs pretty much. And NHL is more of a recent interest which I enjoy a lot but don't have the history with it. That said sports are kind of a third string hobby for me after gaming and comics and I barely have enough time for those two.

As far as playing sports goes, I've never had that opportunity. I wanted to play baseball when I was younger but my parents never could be bothered taking me or letting me sign up. On top of that I never got to do anything during gym class because I was constantly bullied and picked last every time they had to pick teams. So aside from shooting hoops in front of my house or throwing a baseball or football around the yard, I've never played any sport.

And finally bringing me to sports games, growing up I never liked them much. I liked the Mario sports games like Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, etc. and arcade versions of sports like NBA Jam and NFL Blitz but I've never liked simulation sports games. It was only last year that I got into MLB The Show and I ended up loving it. I also got a Madden but I'm terrible with picking plays so I can't say I love it but I do like playing during NFL's off season just to keep my football fandom going.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,561]

Love sports, mixed feelings on sports game.  For example, I believe not a single traditional sports title cracked the top 100 of my SNES ranks.  It's just hard to capture something that is dependant on 10-22 human beings acting both independently and as a team, simultaneously.

Baseball translates to the medium the best in my opinion, because it's mostly about the pitcher vs the batter, which means games can let you directly control and accurately experience the most vital part of the game.

[TDIRunner | 2,753]

I've always enjoyed participating in sports.  Growing up I played a lot of soccer, basketball and football.  I was also a runner for a lot of years running cross country and track & field in high school and Division II college.  I still enjoy playing sports today, although I don't get much chance to.

With that said, I have never been a fan of playing sports video games or even watching them on TV.  I never watch football or basketball on TV and I very rarely watch hockey or baseball even though I'm fans of our local teams (Blues & Cardinals).  I do enjoy the occasional watch of MLS since we have a new team here in St. Louis (St. Louis City).  I just don't care to spend much of my life watching or playing sports on TV.  

[fox | 1,668]

I like to workout.  Where are all the video games about getting buff?

[SilverspoonGaming | 333]

I have a love hate relationship with sports these days.  I played everything up until high school, then I played football, basketball, and ran track in high school, and played football until I was 23.  I can actually say that I received a small paycheck for playing football once before I was cut from a minor league arena team.

I stayed away from participating in any sports until I coached football at the feeder level from like 2020-2022 which I did for 3 seasons.  I proved to myself that I could do it, and had some fun, but adding that into my schedule which is taken up by two businesses, young kids, and other life stuff was extremely tiring and Im glad that Im done with it even though I talk to a few of my players regularly still as a coach because they ask me for advice from time to time.

I tend to get super excited when NFL preseason starts, then I start watching games every time theyre on, and lose interested before halftime and move on to something else.

As far as sports gaming, sports games are my rpgs.  Im very passionate about playing franchise mode on Madden, 2k, and The Show, and soon to be NCAA Football again every season, and I play them all year long.

[DefaultGen | 5,415]

I like sports in the ESPN The Ocho sense. I like competition but I most intently follow the Marble League or pro wrestling or chess rather than big men carrying ball sports.

Edited April 3 by DefaultGen

[NostalgicMachine | 243]

I love weightlifting and working out, and played sports a bunch as a kid. As an adult I enjoy the occasional batting cages, driving range, etc., but it's been years since I've played competitively in an actual game, lol.

WITH THAT SAID...

I do enjoy me some sports games. I go on kicks. Wrestling, baseball, basketball, football. Something about those old Madden and NHL games still does it every once in a while.

[T-Pac | 7,577]

Skateboarding: 
I like to skateboard, but I'm getting a bit too old for the impact these days.
I'll occasionally watch Street League, but I don't like watching the X-Games or anything.
I played a lot of EA's Skate It [DS] growing up, but I'm not a fan of skateboarding games in general.

Running:
I love jogging, but not racing.
Watching marathons and Olympic track and stuff just makes me feel bad about myself, so I avoid it haha.
A distance-running video game sounds like an awful idea, but then again - open world games these days seem vast enough to be virtual jogging simulators for the most part anyway...

Golf:
I'm not coordinated enough for real-life golf, and I don't go out of my way to watch it, either.
But I sure do love me some vidya' game golfin'.

Everything Else:
No thanks. On all accounts.

[T-Pac]

[Floating Platforms | 733]

The sad thing about sports games is that the bad ones are usually really, really bad. Worst on the system bad. Many of the good ones get lost in the shuffle and/or can't compete against wholly unique games in other genres. The ones that are remembered fondly tend to be games that have a gimmick like NBA Jam or NFL Blitz or Baseball Simulator 1.000.

That's why it was strange to me that we never got games for more of those ESPN 2 competitions. I would have loved to try a lumberjack competition game or a strongman game (where you have to roll tires and pull a bus. Anyone remember Magnus Ver Magnusson?). I know they would be incredibly similar to any other track & field or Olympics game but if you make it a little more arcade-y, the unusual subject matter might have peaked some curiosity.

[wongojack | 219]

I played sports growing up and even played basketball for my High School.  As a 40-something adult, I rarely do any actual sports except jog and try to stay fit doing basic exercises.  If I had friends interested in sports, I'd probably play with them, but the body isn't what it used to be.

Watching sports has changed.  Back in the days of small cable lineups and over the air broadcasting ruling the weekend, I would watch sports all weekend.  If there was a game on ESPN, I wanted to watch it.  There's so much more competition for my entertainment time now that I can rarely get myself to pay attention to an entire game all the way through.  I'm most loyal to college sports and tend to make time to attend a game each year as well as follow my college teams on TV.  Although, with things changing in the world of US college sports, I find my interest level decreasing there.

---

As for sports video games, they are some of my fondest memories.  I absolutely loved sports games and the franchise mode was incredible for me.  I played some games that were around right as the franchise mode was forming like Earl Weaver's Baseball, Superstar Ice Hockey, and of course the original Tecmo Bowl that were very influential for me, and I still consider them some of my favorite games to this day.

 

When it comes to modern sports games, I tend to really binge on them every few years.  They usually become the ONLY game I will play for months at a time as I try to build my franchise and get into the game.  I really enjoy the way that these games give you so much depth in terms of stats and player control etc.  However, I don't buy the newest sports game every year, and I usually take a big long break between those binges.

Playing older, classic sports games that you missed when they were new is kinda tough.  Often the game has specific players that were relevant to the time period.  Or the sport itself was surging in popularity.  Without that specific context, it is often hard to go back and enjoy an older title.  There's also the reality that since these games DO get so many sequels that there is likely a newer version of the same game with enhanced features or other benefits.  This often leaves me with a question like "Why would I ever play SPORTSBALL 199X when I could play a new one?"  One game I did make an effort to play was Sensible World of Soccer.  It is known as an Amiga game, so I played it in emulation, but I also found an active community of players who have updated the game with additional players and rules.  It is absolutely free to try and quite good.

For the big, licensed titles, the era when the franchise mode was the most important part of the game has come and gone.  Now you'll find a lot of people online complaining about the micro-transactions and other features that are updated every year that don't tend to appeal to the 40+ crowd.  As we seem to be over the hump in terms of quality, you'll find best of lists of sports franchises ranking the various annual releases per different features.  Which one had the best franchise mode, which one had the best integration with media, which one gave us the most improvements over the previous year.  Sadly, some features have simply been left behind.

10 Things That The ESPN 2K Series Did Better Than Madden (gamerant.com)

[PII | 1,890]

16 hours ago, fox said:

I like to workout.  Where are all the video games about getting buff?

Just for you, it's: "Best Of The Best Championship Karate!"  You have to work out between matches... A LOT.  And boy-o- boy is it ever fun...

 

Edited April 3 by PII

[GPX | 1,371]

I was a skinny kid up until 20 years of age, and was never really into sports back then, both in real life as well as in video games. From the age of 20, I set about changing my mindset, trying to build on some size and fitness with badminton, tennis and Aussie rules football. Due to my late entry with sports, I never really aimed to be elite at anything and fun and fitness was more the aim. 

Fast forward to the years of the Covid pandemic and I stopped playing sports altogether for the first 2 years of that fear and isolation period. I suffered some burnout periods back then and I decided to start playing tennis again in the last 2 years. Currently, I’ve cut back on my work hours and focusing much more on health and fitness, and aiming to perhaps play some amateur league tennis for fun later this year. In the past 6 months I’ve been doing 3-hour sessions (mainly playing doubles) of tennis 3-4 times per week.

Games-wise, I’ve never really been a fan of sports video games. I’ve touched Madden games (as a collector) at least 1000 times over the years and I’ve never even played it once! Most fun I’ve had with sports games were Wii Sports 1 and 2, and NBA Jam. Usually those are only played at parties with others around, as I usually prefer other genres when by myself.

[GPX | 1,371]

@RH, @Rhuno

First I’ve heard of Banana Ball and Beer League. Had to look those up!

[fcgamer | 4,737]

Never was much of a sports guy, likely due to my older brother being terrible at sports - as a result, we spent our time gaming, instead.

In highschool I did distance running up until 2015 or so. I ran w half marathon here locally, the second one, but I felt a much harder recovery period compared to the race I ran just a year prior, so I hung up my shoes so to speak.

I took up cycling since the and truly love it. I'd love to do some of those virtual cycling experiences at home but just never bought the equipment.

As for the average sporting game, no desire at all. Even watching sports on TV does nothing for me, though I can get the appeal if your friends are all into it. 

Watching in a stadium , I'd do that any day of the week, totally different experience.

[Link | 2,715]

On 4/2/2024 at 11:01 PM, fox said:

I like to workout.  Where are all the video games about getting buff?

[fox | 1,668]

Ring Fitt is an epic workout RPG.  Hit at just the right time with gyms being closed during the pandemic.  Surprised they didn’t put out some DLC or a sequel already.

[Hammerfestus | 3,871]

I played a variety of sports in my youth but from middle school through high school I played football and wrestled — pretty mediocrely at that.  Since then I’ve had an on again off again relationship with working out.  Usually heavily lifting focused because I’m fat and really do hate cardio.  I‘ve found that as I’m getting older I really actually enjoy working in yoga because it feels good to be able to touch my toes and I naturally have the flexibility of a GI Joe.  Back in high school on our wrestling team it was kind of a hilarious oddity that our state runner up heavyweight/star fullback could not get me in a cradle no matter how hard he tried lol.  My body simply would not bend that way.  
 

I’ve always been open to some sports games.  I like NES Golf and have nostalgia for playing it at my grandparents as a kid.   NHL 94 is a good but I actually had and thus was more into 93.  The arcade sports experience was always fun.  NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, Ken Griffey winning run, Mutant League Football/Hockey (football was better).  As a teen i got the first iterations and some scattered other years of NFL Gameday, NBA Shootout, and NHL Faceoff.  I played a bunch of the Mario Tennis in college.  If the mood struck, I wouldn’t be opposed to playing whatever the sports franchises are now.  I enjoy fantasy football quite a bit.  Does that count?  
 

As for watching it, I mostly just watch football on tv.  I get push alerts about the hockey team so I keep up pretty well with what’s going on there even though I haven’t watched a single game lol.  I also really enjoy taking the family to baseball games even though baseball sucks.  It’s super cheap and going to the stadium is a really cool experience.