The Sad, Sad State of Sports Gaming - Bumble14's Blog

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The Sad, Sad State of Sports Gaming Stuck

Posted on April 14, 2009 at 10:57 AM.

(11)

I think it's pretty sad that Punch Out!! isn't getting more love in this weeks poll. It actually bothered me so much that I had to write this rant (sorry!

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I hate to say it, but I think we've reached a really terrible crossroad in sports gaming/gaming as a whole. Graphics and flash have now officially become more important to sports gamers than actual solid gameplay. I am sure FNR4 will be a solid game overall, so I do not fault people for being excited for it, but UFC? Seriously now, UFC reeks of the type of game that will be in a bargain bin within months of release. Graphically it looks sexy, and I am sure the gameplay will be different from other fighting games, but you can't even put it in the same league as a classic like Punch Out!!

The poll's results wouldn't have surprised me if this were IGN or Gamespot, but I can't believe this is Operation Sports. As a community we are supposed to be the hardest of the hardcore sports gamers, and we are the types that should be salivating over a game like Punch Out!!, eagerly anticipating it's release date. As it stands now, I get the impression that our community could care less.

Nintendo is giving sports gamers exactly what we always say we want- a faithful recreation of a classic game, but with next gen graphics and controls. How many times have you seen forum posts blasting EA for not faithfully recreating the PS2 versions of Madden and NCAA that we all loved? So why are we not rewarding Nintendo for their efforts by at least getting hyped up for the release of Punch Out!!? Why are people getting more excited about an untested product with good graphics that could play terrible? How many forum posts are we going to see immediately following the release of UFC and FNR4 complaining about something that was not done right, or glitches that need to be patched? We see this trend with Madden and NCAA football every year, and I am sure we will see it again with both Fight Night and UFC.

My whole point is that our community is constantly contradicting itself by demanding quality via a forum, but not demanding quality based on their purchases. This contradiction is what leads to shoddy games being produced and exclusive liscenses being signed in the sports world. Fight Night and UFC could both be solid titles, don't get me wrong, but the crime here is not giving them love, it's showing Punch Out!! no love. Perhaps if we rewarded Nintendo for giving sports fans everywhere the Punch Out!! remake that we all have dreamed about, other developers would start taking notice. Just look at how big of an impact community response to the Show 09 had with the Madden team.

The problem of overlooking solid titles extends far beyond Punch Out!!, as the issue has completely destroyed a certain console's chances at being a viable sport gaming platforms. A few weeks back I wrote an article about how the sports gaming world could benefit from Nintendo's re-entering the market. The result of that article was a community that reacted with an almost overwhelming opinion of "Sim gamers don't need Nintendo".

Why? Nintendo has unfortunately been typecast by the sports gaming elite as a "kiddy" system, and there is nothing they could do to break that cliche. Think about it- the Wii could produce one of the best sports games to ever come out at some point in the future, and no one would pay attention.

To be perfectly honest, the Wii version of Madden has been better than the 360/PS3 versions the last 2 years. How about Tiger Woods on the Wii? That game has consistently outplayed it's 360/PS3 counterparts the last 3 years. Apparently the "hardcore" "sim" sports game fans are too busy complaining about the 360/PS3 versions of Madden having glitches and AI problems to pay attention to an "inferior" product that plays extremely solid- no game breaking problems in either of the above mentioned Wii games.

Who can really blame the elitists though- the Wii is just for kids afterall right? I grow increasingly frustrated that great sports games are continuously being ignored in favor of flashy graphics, or half baked "next gen" features. Anyone else remember the endless hours of enjoyment playing RBI baseball on their NES? It wasn't very "sim" in retrospect, so it's not like the game could possibly still be fun today (that comment is oozing with sarcasm for those who didn't pick it up).

I think it's time for everyone to ask themselves the following tough question- am I truly a hardcore sports gamer, or do I allow the hype, graphics, and features (that may or may not work correctly) to determine my identity as a sports gamer? There's a reason why people still are playing games like Tecmo Bowl and NFL2K5, and I think it's very important that we understand we've reached a time in gaming where our opinions can help shape the industry.

Agree/Disagree? Where do you see sports gaming heading? Do you still have love for the classics? Are graphics and flash the determining factor for you in a sports game? Sound off below!

Comments

# 1 DJ @ Apr 14

This was a great read and I agree with a lot of the points you made. To be honest, I hadn't paid much attention to Punch-Out! coming out for Wii until just recently and I have to admit, I am excited to see how it turns out - and I don't even own a Wii.

I've actually been contemplating trading in my 360 for a Wii for some of the reasons you mentioned in your blog. I've always seen the Wii as having great potential for sports games and I've heard Madden being really good on the system (I have a PS2 as well and can vouch for 09 being far superior on the PS2 than 360).

Thankfully, I've never been one to get caught up in the graphics/features of a certain game. Heck, I played a ton of High Heat on PS2 and that game was no graphical wonder, but the gameplay was very solid.

Thanks again for posting this. I've got some thinking to do...

# 2 SHAKYR @ Apr 14

****** gamers should be happy for a game like PunchOut, but not hardcore fans. Punchout is in the same bracket as Facebreaker, it's more for ******s and nostalgia.

# 3 stlstudios189 @ Apr 14

I am extremly excited abouy UFC. I enjoyed the last couple games and hope for a great game! Punch out! I would be excited if I owned a Wii

# 4 SBartlett @ Apr 14

awesome article i agree. although i do love playing wii too, sim sports have taken over and not many people give wii games a chance. i think if nintendo brought back some nintendo sports games, they would be a blast. but to further your point, the only reason i tried wii was because my gf's lil bro got it. i always wanted to try but i only got the chance when we got it for him.

# 5 jWILL253 @ Apr 14

You can't compare FNR4 to Punch-Out: they are two totally different games. It's like comparing Madden to NFL Street or Backyard Football.

The main reason why people will mouth off about Madden or NBA 2K, and not about Punch-Out is because the former are "simulation" sports games. Therefore, we expect more out of them than Punch-Out.

# 6 boxboy99 @ Apr 14

Yeah, I do not see the comparision. Punch-Out is a arcade game and FNR4 and UFC are sim fighters. I don't see the reason to think UFC will be in the bargin bin right away, from what I read it sounds like it has solid game play and a much much deeper career mode than interations of FN. I guess time will tell.

# 7 SouthernBrick @ Apr 14

I haven't even heard of punch out until I read your post. First off the wii has hardly no games that a hardcore gamer wants to play in the first place. Second as a hardcore gamer myself I do not want to play a arcade game unless its really fun. The only thing I enjoy about blitz is bustin heads if i couldn't do that then I wouldn't buy it.

FNR4 and UFC are sim games with great graphics and thats what a hardcore player wants. Punch out sounds like a arcady non-interesting game that I do not want to play. Even if I had a wii I would not buy this game b/c I'd rather play FNR4 or UFC.

I'm more excited for FNR4 than UFC but there is something about UFC that makes me wanna play it. Probably the vid I seen where you can jump on top of someone and whoop the hell out of em!!!

# 8 SouthernBrick @ Apr 14

Also i'm definitly gameplay before flash but it looks like FNR4 and UFC will have both. Have you seen the vid comparison from FNR3 TO FNR4 its amazing. The blood in UFC looks very fake to me. I seen a Fighter on top of a guy beating him in the head and the blood falling to the mat and it doesn't look right.

But none the less the games for me to buy this summer: Fight Night Round 4/UFC/Madden 10. Madden has been horrible in the past but with all the interaction and prototype vids in the forums I have faith that this is the year.

# 9 oldman @ Apr 15

I was paying attention until you stated that Madden and Tiger Woods for the Wii outplayed the PS3/360 versions. I owned a Wii, up until the day that I played Madden and TW on it. It became unplayable to me because they were so horrible.

I also agree with the other person. I don't see how you can even compare Punchout to FNR4. With Punchout you are appealing to a certain group of gamers, the group of people who were alive and old enough to play it as a kid. With FNR4 you are appealing to the sim boxers. The people who want a game that is as realistic as possible. And what makes a game more realistic than anything else is if the game actually looks like real life! If it doesn't it makes it harder to get into.

# 10 allstar3970 @ Apr 15

as the "hardest of the hardcore" of course Fight Night is gonna be more popular here. I dont even think of Punch Out as a sports game actually. That doesnt mean it won't be awesome, but its just a different style.