As a Generation Closes... - RaychelSnr's Blog

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RaychelSnr's Blog

As a Generation Closes... Stuck

Posted on February 18, 2013 at 01:52 PM.

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With the Playstation 4 almost certainly set to debut on Wednesday, we are now on official countdown mode to the close of this gaming generation. The generation that brought us new gaming staples like Gears of War, Bioshock, Call of Duty, and Uncharted also brought us a lot of good when it came to sports gaming.

Titles have slowly dwindled in number, but the titles that do remain all have some good marks next to their name, from sales to review scores. Real time physics are becoming a staple of sports gaming, as is a hugely connected online gaming experience.

In short, sports games have never been better, but they have also never been fewer.

When the new generation of consoles was introduced in late 2004, expectations were sky high for not only sports gaming but gaming as a whole. Let's not even get into how Madden was portrayed as next-gen hype filled the interwebs.

We saw the death of college basketball gaming (at least for now). We saw pro baseball go exclusive then open up again, ditto as well for NCAA Football. No word yet on what, if any, companies might try to compete in either sport alongside the existing genre definers.

MLB: The Show became one of the most rock solid gaming franchises out there, NBA 2K became a celebrity festival, combining Michael Jordan, a ton of other classic NBA superstars, and then Jay-Z in three successive years.

Madden was Madden. Incredibly disappointing at first, then becoming serviceable to even pretty ok. NBA Live became NBA Elite for a brief period, but just like all bad artist imaginings, it went back to NBA Live only to disappear again. Who knows how it resurfaces, NBA Amazing Buy Me Now?

Then there's FIFA Soccer and NHL. Two game series which weren't given much credit compared to their competitors to begin this console generation, but two series which leave this generation as the unquestioned kings of their sport. PES is still PES, which means it still has amazing gameplay -- but NHL 2K is long gone.

Forza was a big deal this generation. Anything from Codemasters was money. And the Need for Speed franchisereleased a game once a month it seemed like.

But through it all, we've seen sports gaming see quality from it's best games we had only dreamed of back in 2004. The wheel wasn't reinvented, but it was certainly improved upon in many ways. I don't suspect the next generation will be much different. Over time, our favorite franchises grow and evolve and become something far greater than any of their predecessors, and that is something we can all expect to be true for the next generation.

For the next week, we're going to celebrate the best of this generation, because the next generation is coming and will almost certainly be ushered in on February 20 at 6pm IST by Sony. The only question I can raise that makes any sort of sense for sports games in the new generation: What next?

What are your expectations for next gen? What about the Sony reveal on Wednesday?

Comments

# 1 CM Hooe @ Feb 18

My one hope (not so much expectation) is that next-gen bring more fluid, adaptable, and robust AI into sports games and video games in general. It's sorely lagged behind as things like graphics, gameplay features, career mode features, and multiplayer functionality have forged ahead strongly during this console cycle. I want to see AI catch up.

# 2 Eski33 @ Feb 18

I am hoping the leap to the next generation has a recognizable leap in graphics and gameplay. For all the excitement the 360 and PS3 brought, it only led to disappointment as many sports games were either ports or missing tons of content found on past-gen versions.

Over the past 7+ years, sports gaming has never been better. It is sad that sports gaming has taken a hit in the consumer choice arena as exclusive licensing has dominated this generation.

I have been gaming for 34 years and am excited to see what the next 10 years brings.

# 3 TreyIM2 @ Feb 18

Like CM Hooe, I hope yet expect, as well, fluid, adaptable and more robust AI. I hope that a middleware is created to accommodate that, early on, in the next gen cycle, if not for the very beginning of it.

I also want real time physics to improve to the point of, "WHAT THE???" type levels to the point where we literally cannot tell the different between watching real ppl and the games we are playing.

I also hope that online gaming will benefit from real time physics/increased frames per second more so than that herky-jerky movement non-sense that ppl take advantage of and keeps me away from online gaming. Online gaming has sucked since it's inception, to me, and has NOT been ready for prime time because of corners having to be cut to get it to play online. Hopefully, no more corner cutting this go round.

# 4 Gramps91 @ Feb 18

I'm really not ready for the next generation to be honest. I've only had my PS3 since mid-2010. I'm already saving up though. What I really hope more than anything is for an increase in A.I and gameplay. I think graphics are as good as they need to be.

# 5 Jimbo68 @ Feb 18

I fully agree w/ JayMizzle. We NEED another 2K NFL game. If only for the competition it would create again with EA's Madden to force them to up their game every year.

# 6 HustlinOwl @ Feb 18

Im really hoping to see a college basketball game with next generation consoles. MLB needs to give us an online franchise similar to NCAA Online Dynasty.

# 7 MHammer113 @ Feb 18

I really want to see a college basketball game but that is wishful thinking. More than anything I want to see improved AI, graphics, and emotion from the games. I want to see the little things. Players and crowds going nuts and every game feeling different. Picky, sure, but i wont buy the new consoles unless theyre going to offer some improvements in these categories

# 8 DJ @ Feb 18

I just want to see sports games continue to build from where they are now, EA's NCAA and Madden in particular. It took several years for PS2-era features to find their way into PS3 iterations, which was just frustrating as a consumer.

# 9 damedash @ Feb 18

I agree with JayMizzle...honestly I think we will get another 2k football game. 2k is slowly building their gaming base back up.

# 10 cgalligan @ Feb 19

I'm hoping that it doesn't take 2 or 3 years for them to reach the quality that they are at now with the PS3 and xbox360...

Remember how bad some of those early sports games were? smh...

# 11 pietasterp @ Feb 19

Incredibly disappointing generation for sports gaming, in my opinion. Maybe one of the worst ever (in context). We lost really good franchises, saw competition in every major sport all but disappear, and are headed into the next gen with essentially no alternatives to the dominant games. Licensing costs, production/development costs, and the exclusivity Pandora's box opened in 2005 have conspired to get us to where we are today, and there's no going back. I would say I hope for competition and revival of innovative, boundary-pushing sports games in the next gen, but I know that's just hoping for way too much. So I'll keep my hopes modest and just hope college hoops comes back in some form. Sad, really, how we've come so far technologically and now have the ability to make the best sports games ever, only to have a hundred other factors collaborate to give us one of the worst sports gaming landscapes ever.

On the plus side, moving away from sports gaming has given me time to re-discover other lost genres I'd given up for dead during the heyday of NFL2K and College Hoops....

# 12 BigBadTom @ Feb 19

Honestly I am pumped for the next gen because it raises the potential that much higher. Also I feel kinda sentimental about this gen.... It was kinda my first legit gen where I bought it all and played it thru.... Good memories