crappy sports games

[pjh13]

i am just pissed off at the amount of crappy ass sports games that have come out on the 360. madden had great graphics and terrible gameplay, i just got mlb 2k6 and the graphics on it are like a normal xbox, plus the gameplay isnt that quality. The camera angles, arent very good the controls seem to be somewhat slow on both batting and fielding, and i just think all in all they try to over think it. It seems to me that they are trying to make games so complex and realistic they are just making them to complex and skiping over what makes good video games. anyway i have a ton of complaints about lack of good sports games and am just venting a little, anyone else having the same problem? i really hope the next years version of games improves cause i am pissed off about this, i just want to play some sports games and cant because the crappiness is jsut to much its hard to play.

[mattgame]

I agree. They better step up their damn game starting with NCAA 2007.

[ShadedNine]

A lot of it comes down to the fact that right now, pretty much all of the sports games on the 360 are EA. That being said, the future doesn't look a heck of a lot brighter, as EA continues to buy out the rights on all the leagues in an attempt to monopolize the genre.

That and their quality of games has gone down the tube at about the same pace as the quality of employment they offer (and thus the quality of programmers they're able to employ).

I do hope their little empire collapses soon, freeing up some of the better external studios they've bought.

[NascarZiNg]

F**K EAsports

But only love their Nascar Thunder 2004 on PC

2ksports did better with NFL with the FPS mode. I got addicted after playing it and was looking forward playing NFL 2k6 on xbox 360 but learned that EAsports bought NFL rights and forced 2ksports not making it which really pissed me offfff!!!!!!!!!!!! EA are soo greedy! They like us to suffers... which more I am very pissed at NFL doing this making deals with EAsports! EAsports also bought NASCAR rights too was disappointed with this. I liked the way pappy did with Nascar. Now pappy and ea teamed up... oh well.

I would suggest 2ksports make pro football games without using NFL teams and their rosters.. we will be still playing it anyway... we can make our own rosters with NFL teams on our own... boy that would be a long way to do it. Once we stick with 2ksports and dont buy EA sports game then NFL might realize this and prolly led them to turn down EA... thats the only way I know of. I am not buying EA sports games.

EAsports are acting as GOD of sports.

[l Maximus l]

Personally, I think MS should give Fever another shot...I hope they do.

[pjh13]

Personally, I think MS should give Fever another shot...I hope they do.

i loved fever, it had the best replay system of anysports game ever. all ea sports games replay systems blow hard and that always pisses me off about there games, you cant even see all of the play because of the boundries they pt on the replay camera

[CrazyCougar]

I am looking forward to NCAA 2007 and Madden this year. I dont think they are going to disappoint in the least. Although there will be those that just like to ***** about EA and piss and moan abotu a game period. Other than those naysayers, I think we'll be pleasantly surprised with the 2nd generation of sports titles. Especially NCAA.

And Maxi, please bite your tongue. LOL! MS needs to stay waaaay out of the sports genre..LOL! All of their titles were disasters. I rathered 989 sports titles than Fever. Inside Pitch and Rivals were just as pathetic in my opinion. What I would like to see is MS licensed out their High Heat title to a first party developer and let them have a go at it.

[l Maximus l]

And Maxi, please bite your tongue. LOL! MS needs to stay waaaay out of the sports genre..LOL! All of their titles were disasters. I rathered 989 sports titles than Fever. Inside Pitch and Rivals were just as pathetic in my opinion. What I would like to see is MS licensed out their High Heat title to a first party developer and let them have a go at it.


lol, dude...I knew I would be in the minority on this one, but, I actually enjoyed Fever's first installment better than I did Madden and Sega's football versions of the same year (2001).

I don't know, I just found it to be more fun :)

But, then again, I'm not the die hard sports gaming fan...

[ShadedNine]

One thing I've never understood is the timing of the NHL games. While it seems logical to release at the start of a new season, it means that by the time the playoffs roll around and hockey fever kicks in, the only games available already feel a little dated.

I think they should either work more on patching the release, including all trades, and even changes in player/team performance, or release a little closer to the playoffs.

Or maybe I'm just bitter because I want a hockey game right now, but all that's available still looks rather last-gen and is somewhat lacking.

[swivel]

A lot of it comes down to the fact that right now, pretty much all of the sports games on the 360 are EA. That being said, the future doesn't look a heck of a lot brighter, as EA continues to buy out the rights on all the leagues in an attempt to monopolize the genre.

I have no love for EA, but I'm getting tired of the spin everyone is putting on EA's acquisition of rights to NFL games and the subsequent auctioning off of rights from other leagues.

The NFL is the one that went around letting it be known that they were interested in selling the rights to NFL-based games. They basically put themselves up for sale once they realized how much money could be had with such a deal. EA was forced into a situation where they either paid up, and got the rights, or lost their golden Madden franchise.

I realize you are just aping the position that you have heard on many websites, in all the game rags, and elsewhere... but the story is backwards, and your blame is misplaced.

Other leagues realized that they were sitting on a pile of money, and followed the NFL's lead.

Bash EA for making bad games, but don't put the onus of the sports monopolies on them.

[ShadedNine]

I have no love for EA, but I'm getting tired of the spin everyone is putting on EA's acquisition of rights to NFL games and the subsequent auctioning off of rights from other leagues.

The NFL is the one that went around letting it be known that they were interested in selling the rights to NFL-based games. They basically put themselves up for sale once they realized how much money could be had with such a deal. EA was forced into a situation where they either paid up, and got the rights, or lost their golden Madden franchise.

I realize you are just aping the position that you have heard on many websites, in all the game rags, and elsewhere... but the story is backwards, and your blame is misplaced.

Other leagues realized that they were sitting on a pile of money, and followed the NFL's lead.

Bash EA for making bad games, but don't put the onus of the sports monopolies on them.

Fair enough. I'll stick to bashing them for bad games, service/support, and also bad employment practices, as well as just being generally unfriendly to an industry in which they hold a position of leadership.

[Jelloman653]

if all of these sports games suck why are you buying them?

[swivel]

Fair enough. I'll stick to bashing them for bad games, service/support, and also bad employment practices, as well as just being generally unfriendly to an industry in which they hold a position of leadership.

:cheers:

I'll drink to that.


How do you feel about Microsoft buying up software developers? Do you think they ruined Rare, and are poised to do the same with Lionhead? Because I think the process of Sony and Microsoft using their deep wallets to try and "purchase" exclusive titles is horrible for the gaming industry, and it is a trend that could really take off. Some of the things these two companies do are worse than a lot of what EA does.

And back on topic... NCAA 2007 for the XBox2 is going to rule the roost. I can just feel it. The dev team for this franchise has schooled the Madden team for the last three years in a row. I can't wait to see what they turn out for the new hardware!

[ShadedNine]

Well, I'd rather see Microsoft buy them out than EA, but it does unsettle me. Instead, I'd prefer to see them continue to offer their services as a publisher, without controlling and owning the devs.

I don't blame them for what happened to Rare though, I think Rare went down the tube in the late days of the N64, after Perfect Dark. It sure doesn't seem to me that Rare was rushed on any release dates (how long did PDZ take to produce?). Besides, Bungie is a shining example of what Microsoft's money allows developers to do. As for Lionhead, I think they were floundering anyway with Molyneux having left the helm relatively unattended.
In fact, Lionhead is one studio that may be able to bring a lot more to the table with a larger budget behind them. All of their games have been innovative, but overly ambitious projects that just didn't reach fruition. We'll have to see how Microsoft manages them.

As for NCAA...never really got into that game, so I'll take your word on it as I sit here waiting for a decent NHL game to hit the 360.

As a sidenote, anyone try the road to world cup game? Sat down with a coupla friends to play some 2v2 soccer, and were very dissapointed by the overly technical side of it. Having to manage substitutions, keep track of players, and actually score a goal proved to be a little much for the rapid, simple indulgence we were looking for. That's one game that I feel could really use an arcade mode of sorts (or make it easier to find if it does have one).

[swivel]

Besides, Bungie is a shining example of what Microsoft's money allows developers to do.

Wasn't Halo almost completed, and slated for a PC release when MS bought them out? I think Halo2 is more of an indication of what MS's ownership of Bungie has wrought, and you could actually debate the pros and cons of that one.


No kidding about needing a decent NHL game. What in the world is going on with that sport? We might see another Tomb Raider scenario, where a game developer and a sports league sue each other in a blame game of sinking popularity.

Sports games used to be so simple and fun. NHL '96 on the Genesis, those old sports games where your guys were basically stick-figures and you kept getting into run-downs between the plates. The old football games where the the play-calling was a game of rock-paper-scissors. You pick a run play, and the other guy picks a run defense, and you get stuffed. Simple. And soccer games where you had a low pass, high pass, and shoot button.

I think someone needs to port those classics over to current hardware, update all of the graphics, sounds, animations, menus, etc... but don't touch the controls or interface at all, and see what the result is. My feeling is that this would be a smash hit. Sports games that anyone can sit down and compete in with a few button presses.

[ShadedNine]

I think someone needs to port those classics over to current hardware, update all of the graphics, sounds, animations, menus, etc... but don't touch the controls or interface at all, and see what the result is. My feeling is that this would be a smash hit. Sports games that anyone can sit down and compete in with a few button presses.

Nah, I was following it, and Halo was far from finished at the time MS bought Bungie out. Well, some would say it was, but not to the degree it was for the Xbox. The only catch is the switch from multiplayer focus to single player.


I couldn't agree more about the sports games though. I don't generally play a sports game to get into a big complicated franchise and play 50 regular season games, etc. I'd much rather jump into the action either with friends or over xbl.