The Future of Sports Gaming - BenGerman's Blog

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The Future of Sports Gaming Stuck

Posted on June 4, 2013 at 04:14 PM.

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It's not a surprise that sports gamers are among the most excited for the next generation of consoles. And why wouldn't we be? Unlike most other genres of gaming, we are given yearly upgrades with each new version seeming more like the last one. Understandably, it's hard for developers to make any drastic changes from year to year without taking a big risk. With that said, unless the developer of a certain series wants to be left in the dust, the move to a new generation of consoles -- in this case, the Xbox One and the PS4 -- has to be one that's riddled with big leaps forward in terms of gameplay, presentation, and game modes.

Most sports gamers, including myself, are excited to see just how these new consoles can improve our sports gaming experience. Well I wanted to talk about five different possibilities, and how they might change the landscape of sports gaming.

1. UStream: So what is UStream, exactly? UStream is a live streaming service for all sorts of uses from news to people doing video podcasts. Sony hasn't gone into too much detail about how UStream will fully be integrated into the Playstation architecture, but it has a ton of potential. Imagine this: You and your friends are in an Online Dynasty in NCAA Football 2015 and two of the Dynasty's members are fighting it out for an SEC Championship bid. UStream will allow you to watch those games through your own PS4 (UStream hasn't been officially announced for the XBox One, but it's safe to assume it will have a similar feature at some point), theoretically letting you flip back and forth to keep tabs on what is going on.

It's an exciting prospect for online gamers in particular, and it will be interesting to see just how immersive Sony and Microsoft want their streaming programs to be.

2. Updated A.I.: I think the biggest complaint about this generation of sports gaming has been stupidity on the part of the CPU. 3rd and long? Iso play right up the middle for three yards. Fourth and short from the 45 yard line? Sure, why not try a field goal that has no chance of going in. These are the things that have pulled sports gamers out of immersion, and into frustration. With the new technology of the next generation of consoles, this should be a thing of the past. Ideally, we want our games to be akin to a chess match on our computer - depending on the difficulty, your opponent gets smarter and smarter, not juiced up player ratings.

3. Memory Space!: If there has been one excuse - both on the part of developers and consumers - this generation, it's been memory space. We've seen developers like SCEA (who develop MLB: The Show) say that they are literally out of usable space to fit things like proper advanced stats and presentation packages. It's certainly valid, but it's a frustrating thing for consumers and developers to have to deal with. At some point, I think SCEA even came out and said that they had to go into the game to cut stuff out, just they could fit some of the stuff that fans wanted to see in the game.

This should include larger presentation packages, more animations, proper crowds and sidelines, and more (generic) apparel.

4. Physics: We've already seen Sony tout how big of an impact the PS4 will have on physics engines in the future. The real question becomes whether or not developers will be able to utilize it properly, something that may be answered in the coming week at E3. There should be very little limitations on what the developers can do, especially with the consoles being a much easier port from the PC - something that I think was an underrated aspect in the struggles some developers had with their games this generation of consoles.

If used correctly, we could be seeing dynamic player interaction - which is something that would drastically change the look and feel of sports games.

5. Motion Control Done Correctly: This is probably the one I am most hesitant to get excited about. Yet, the prospect of being able to play Augusta without a controller in my hand is strangely excited. Or better yet, taking pitches in Fenway, or throwing the football around in a combine of some sort. The possibilities are limitless, but if developers handle motion control gaming the same way the did this generation, look for a fair amount of disappointment.

Comments

# 1 BenGerman @ Jun 4

That's what I'm hoping for, Brandon. Not only will it be faster for developers, but it should be cheaper as well. That could lead to some smaller developers taking a whack at some sports titles, and maybe a few more indie sports titles.

# 2 SHAKYR @ Jun 5

I love this article. There are no more excuses for developer now, but we know they are going to blame the executives in charge. I hope this isn't the case.