I'll always prefer the sim sports game rather than an arcade game. One of the biggest thrills of playing sports games is having the same presentation, stats etc. as in real life. I'm a real sim sports game fanatic, I hate arcade games.

Yeah, I am all for the sim game rather than an arcade one. I will use hockey for my example, If I am playing a hockey game, I would want it be one where when I get the puck, I set up the offense, use puck control to my advantage and then find a lane and score on that rather than in an arcade game going back and forth up and down the ice and then score with a flaming puck or something like that. To me it's more satisfying to actually play the game as it is and having a game like 1-0 instead of having 12-11 hockey games.

I'll take the Arcade game. Most of the time when I play sports games I want direct fun, rather than be impressed with "little things" in the simulation aspects.

I think Basketball is a special genre b/c i always had the most fun with arcade basketball games than any other sports arcade games. I guess b/c normally arcade games tend to have less players on teams than the sim games but this concept works for basketball b/c we have all played basketball with less than 10 people on the court. Now i love playing sim sports esp Madden/NCAA and The Show for the same reason the others stated for the realism but I think for Basketball i have had a lil more fun with the Arcade version than the Sim versions. So i pick NBA Jams.

Here's my lame, cop out answer..haha.

This is such a trick question. What exactly does "sim" mean. The answer is that "sim" means 100 different things to 100 different gamers. If by sim you mean simply a correct representation of how the game is played, vs 2 on 2 like in NBA Jam, then I have to go with the "sim" game.

But this is where things get tricky- many people consider MVP baseball, or NCAA Football arcadey because the gameplay does not adhere to some type of "sim" standard someone dreamt up one day. If that is what you mean by sim, then I have to choose the arcade game. Having fun with a sports title is far more important to me than replicating that specific sport to an insane level that restricts gameplay freedom. I am going to be far more excited about a game that gives me the freedom to play it the way I want to, versus being told how to play in order to be successful.

It's honestly a really hard question to answer without having one definition of what makes a game "sim". My final answer- whichever is more fun.

For sports that I love and follow religiously... a sim game hands down. But I can't deny that arcade games have gotten me into playing sports games for sports that I don't really watch and therefore understand less.

I think they both have a place in the market.

I also agree with Bumble14 that people have different expectations of what a sim vs. arcade game is... sim to the point that I have to run x amount of the same play in practice in order to develop my character is too much for me. Even pro athletes prefer games over practice so why would I want to participate in repetative drills during the few hours of free time I can squeeze out of my busy days?

Sim or Arcade, having options to taylor the game to the way you want to play it is best...

Sim by far. Nothing more fulfilling than playing the whole 82 game NBA schedule or 162 game MLB schedule. Play it just like they do in the big leagues.

If we're talking Basketball, I would get the arcade only because I hate sim basketball because I'm not a big fan. If it were any other sport though, I would get the sim. Like most of you I'm a pure sports sim junkie, love the number crunching, and i love the Owner modes too where you can get involved in the marketing of your team.

One mode I really want to see is a true expansion mode, where you decide where to place a team, and then develop the team right from scratch. The stadium, marketing, etc. Yeah I'm a huge nerd. lol

Sim all the way! Always great to see young players that can actually read defenses, run plays and build team rosters. Ask any chess player if they prefer playing checkers?

Definitely the sim game. If I am playing with a friend then I can play the arcade game for a little bit but I always want to go back to my dynasty/franchise and love the sim game.

As far as a definition of sim like someone mentioned I think you just decide what sim is for yourself. I don't really care if people don't think something is total sim if I do. For me sim is mainly having something that very closely resembles the real thing. Maybe the stats aren't perfect but I don't know if they ever will be perfect with everything without taking away all the user control like in say an Out of the Park Baseball. To me Nba2k9, Madden, and The Show are great examples of awesome sim games for me. When I say Madden I am leaning way more heavily toward the PS2 version. I haven't even been buying the PS3 version.

Those are my thoughts.

Sim.

Sim all the way. Let arcade be an option.

Me, personally, I pefer sim. Arcade is good when you're in the mood for it. But, if I use Lebron James, I want the true-to-life virtual Lebron James, not a big-headed, long-armed Lebron James...

I used to want the sim. I think that sims have become boring and less fun to play. Now I prefer the arcade. This was interesting because just today as I was playing Hotshots Golf I had this same discussion with myself. I did come to the same conclusion, so don't be too worried about me.