I think the feel of the game has to be considered. Overall stats and year long stats can be good to track some things but how they are achieved may be unrealistic. You can't ignore your eyes and gut although everyone might have a slightly different view on what we should be seeing.

Too many people look at single game stats to point out unrealistic things but as you said, anything can happen in sports. Whether that's OU putting up 61 on OSU or Toledo beating Michigan, we have to accept the unpredicatability of sports and sports gaming.

In fact, some people believe breakdowns or mental mistakes by players should be a greater factor in video games. In any given game you can see a completely blown coverage but you don't really see that in video games. Guys are either covered poorly or covered well but they are always covered.

Realism, to me, is when I see something in a video game and think that it can occur on the playing field. Like you said, the unpredictable happens a lot in real life, and so if I see that in a video game in a believable way then it's realistic. For example, in ncaa 04 on ps2, if you played as a below average team against the number 1 team, your team was never faster then the top ranked team, but with a great gameplan, you could win sometimes (key word being sometimes) which is realistic. I love nhl 09, but the one thing that bugs me is the passing, in that it's always on point. In the nhl, most passes don't go directly to the middle of the stick and many open forwards are missed in stride and the scoring chance is lost because of it. And to combat the numerous scoring chances, companies have to amp up the defense to stick to you like glue or make the golies great. Same in madden, in real life recievers get open more often than not, and the hardest thing is for the QB to get the ball to them. In any given game, you will see a couple deep balls go over the WR's head, but had it been a perfect throw, it would have been caught. In madden, whenever recievers are open, the QB will always get them the ball, and so to combat that, they just make the WR's not get open as much, especially deep. In the end, I remember that they are just games though and still have a great time with them instead of just thinking about all the flaws, because even though I don't like the passing in nhl, it's still the best game I've played this generation.

WTF? Great minds apparently think alike. I just posted a blog on something similar to this a few hours ago.

Stats are the wrong place to look for realism.

Realism comes from how authentically the players move (with their models/animations) and react (with their AI) when they're on the field.

When the players do perform realistically, the stats will follow.

To me realism is never seeing the same thing twice. When I play Pro Evolution Soccer for example I never see the same goal, ever. To me, realism in a nutshell consists of variety in what you see on the playing field.

In my opinion, when it comes to video games(sports games in particular) "realism" is a word that can drive a gamer crazy. We all want "realism" in our games, but lets remember, "realism" can only mean what has already happened. When you strive for "realism" you take away the unpredictability, the great, the jaw-dropping, the holy crap did you see that moments.

Years ago, throwing 50 TD passes in a football season was considered unrealistic and arcadey. Now it would be acceptable. Hitting 60 homeruns in a baseball season was unrealistic. Now its the norm. "Realism" in sports video games can only consist of the norm.

when i think realism i want the presentation of the game to be spot on from what i see on tv in every aspect. from the camera angles to every stat overlay to commentary and a super deep franchise

good question...


i edit the living baboozy's outta these games to play more realistic but in the end i loose some of that realism by playing to much to it.

the easiest way to describe how it affects video games currently is by going back and realizing how it was back on last gen.

On last gen realism was an impression of realism not an all out match this texture to this lighting model type of redundancy we see on current gen.

Engines are a major culprit. Now apparently you can do ANYTHING to make a game more realistic but when that realism is actually seen rendered by a games new physic engine it's somewhat un realistic because of the bugs attached to it.

I'm not sure Pared...but I think you just called my mind great...not sure if that's valid or not brotha

I especially like the arguments that stats aren't where you look for realism, as I agree with you guys to a certain extent. But really, I think realism is more than just the core gameplay if you go down that road. Me personally, I think realism is what you make of it.

Again, back to my willful suspension argument on this. I think if you believe what is happening is real..you won't question the stats as much as you would otherwise. However, I think people that worry about getting stats just right are quite possibly wasting their time, because the only normal in sports is that there is something new and crazy happen every day. So what may seem impossible (70 home runs?) could easily happen one day. You just never know.

# 11 TheTodd84 @ 12/07/08 12:29 PM
I think the concept of "realism" is mis-interpreted by gaming companies. As mentioned before, companies make the controls entirely too difficult in order to make it "realistic."

Here is what they are missing and here is what I think is essential to realism:

Animations and Physics. If gaming companies would get this right, their controls could be simple and user-friendly and realistic RESULTS would ensue.

What I mean by animations and physics is never seeing the same thing twice, like what NaturalMotion is trying to do with that backbreaker game. Regardless of how you feel about that game, they have the right IDEA.

Take NCAA Basketball 09 and NCAA Football 09. Both games are seriously flawed, not beacuse of their stats or their stadium representations. They are flawed because of canned animations (it's pathetic that these are still in 'next-gen' games), and questionable physics.

If the companies spent most of their time with animations and physics, then everything would essentially fall into place. Also, with realistic animations and physics, companies would not have to over-compensate for bad animations and physics with sliders and what not, things will take care of themselves.

The one other thing I think these companies are missing the boat on is that if they want to make games that allow users to smash 100 Home Runs in a season or rush for 3,000 yards in a season, or drill 45 threes in a game, why do they not implement two game modes? Maybe make the default game mode "arcade" and then allow the user to select a "simulation" mode as well, and then the user, in each mode, would have sliders to adjust the difficulty.

I think if companies focused more on animation and physics and creating SEVERE negative consequences for unrealistic play, they would run away with the market.

One more quick thing on this: I refuse to play NCAA Football 09 online anymore because I am so sick of facing West Virginia or any other super-spread team EVERY SINGLE TIME I play with Pat White running unrealistically aroudn the pocket and firing deadly-accurate bullets on the run, or breaking 17 tackles on his way to a touchdown. It's irritating and takes away from the gameplay. If some people can legitimately run a spread effectively and play realistically, then please, play as West Virginia and kick my @$$. Otherwise, play as Texas Tech and throw every down. That's what I'm talking about. If people want to run around the pocket all the time, they should be penalized by getting sacked constantly or by throwing extremely innacurate passes that are thrown to no one or intercepted.

Realistic Animations and Physics would take care of this problem and would strongly eliminate "cheesing." The issues do not just rest with football, but with every single sport.

Companies: Stop working on right-stick controls and all that crap because it is meaningless and what makes games too difficult. I should be able to execute sweet moves with the press of one button, or by pressing turbo, i can do an enhanced move I otherwise could not do.

oh, and one more thing (sorry), realism also has to do with Computer AI and how the COMPUTER plays, not the user. For example, if I am playing an NBA team and I am playing against the Golden State Warriors, they should look run early and often and get into a shootout with me.

If I want to play with Charlotte and run and gun, fine, then I should, but I want the AI to play like their real-life counterparts.

being good at a game should not be a matter of who is the best juker or who executes the best button combos, like what happens when you play against LeBron James or Pat White.