A bad precedent was set back in 2005 when EA released the CGI-centric promo video for the Xbox 360 of Madden NFL 06, that set fans expectations extremely high and left them disappointed when the final retail version was spinning in their systems. We are not picking on EA per say, it is just that the infamous video they released back in 2005 basically summed up the sports gamers experience during this generation of over-promising and under-delivering. The life span of the Xbox 360 and the PS3 for sports gamers seemingly was “take one step forward, and two steps back” Gamers can be a fickle bunch, but at least in our humble opinion, they had legitimate reasons to be upset during this generation sport gaming.

Of course not every experience was a bad one, as we saw some wonderful titles drop during this generation: Sony’s MLB the Show, 2K’s NBA franchise, and EA’s FIFA and NHL series. It doesn't mean that the four titles mentioned were perfect, but they were part of a select few that were considered enjoyable by the masses. If you were a sports gamer though, it felt like every series this generation had its own set of issues, but certain developers found ways to deliver a great title consistently.

If we are being honest here, though, a lot of the issues and limitations were seemingly brought about by the hardware and the difficulty in which developers encountered while developing for each system. It is no secret that this generation of consoles presented a difficult internal architecture that most, if not all, developers struggled with. In fact, most companies never unleashed the full potential of either console, and the ones who did, didn’t accomplish this until the latter stages of each consoles life. Even though this generation has provided some true innovation in sports gaming, it seems to have come up short more times than not.

In this industry there has to be a mutual trust between the developer and the gamer, and to be blunt, that relationship has been extremely strained during this generation. The developers know that there is a built in skepticism that will be carried over from this generation, and they will have to break down barriers and build trust with gamers all over again.

So as one grabs the crisp new black controller of the PS4 or the Xbox One, and they hit the power up button and sit down to play the first sports title on the next-gen systems, what will be our expectations? Well, we can tell you personally that our expectations are pretty high, and this time we have legitimate reasons for harboring this inner hopefulness.

Based off of what we have seen so far in terms of actual gameplay and the multiple interviews we have scoured the internet for and listened to, it seems like this generation of sports gaming is starting off on much more level ground than the previous. This is seemingly a new beginning for all that are involved, including gamers and developers alike. Developer after developer has given insight to the ease of both new consoles and the ability to not only create games for them, but the amount of depth they can now add to their respective sports title.

When we reflect back upon the current gen, developers have relayed information to us personally on why certain titles like Tiger Woods 14, the limitations of the console has caused limitations of the game. Fans of Tiger Woods 14 can attest to the issues like strange out of bounds markers and Iron clad tree leafs that can kill your ball in its track. While playing this title, it feels like it is just an issue of bad coding, but according to the development team it has to do with the hardware, and will no longer be an issue once the new generation of consoles arrive. The Tiger Woods development team has even made the decision to not release a title for next year, and will focus on the year 2015 for its next release.

The promise for this upcoming generation of consoles, if fulfilled, should really take sports gaming to the next level – finally. Sports gamers should now experience a deeper product, with truly dynamic crowds, commentary and realistic stadium ambiance. We should see smarter AI that will start to show human-type characteristics in their decision making, and more importantly, their reactions and adjustments.

There has been a lot of blame laid on this generation of hardware from developers and publishers, who were supposedly handcuffed with their creativity. While most gamers are willing to buy into this, since it seems to be a universal claim by all developers, the gaming community will not be nearly as forgiving this generation.

Sports gaming, or gaming in general, is not a cheap venture, and consumers will want to see a true return of investment this time around. After the initial cost of the console, and just one game, gamers are looking at a minimum of almost $500, if they have chosen the PS4 route; that cost rises $100 with the Xbox One. This is assuming that the consumer only plans to play this single game, and not go online to do so. Once you add in multiple titles, the PSN Plus or Xbox Live cost, and a possible second controller, gamers can easily eclipse the $800 mark as an initial start-up cost – and that’s assuming they are just a one console household.

This generation should have gamers asking for quality and depth from the start, and being much less receptive to the we-can-patch-that-in mentality from developers. While we are very appreciative of developers having the ability to patch games, it was used as a crutch way too often. Hopefully this mentality is a thing of the past, and while patches will still be drawn upon to fix small bugs and glitches, the gamer will enjoy a much more complete experience right out of the box.

If the truth about the ease of development for both consoles is taken at face value, then sports gamers and developers have a real chance to leave a dark generation of sports gaming behind them. It is truly the dawning of a new age, and one that could greatly benefit all that are involved. Of course one must keep in mind that this year’s new sports titles are just the very first iteration, and most likely it will take until year three, before developers can fully maximize each consoles potential. Developers have promised that even though these are first year titles, they will be full feature titles, which is a huge step in the right direction, at least in comparison to the launch of the PS3 and Xbox 360.

The developers know what they have to do in order to win the trust back from sports gamers, and now gamers must learn how to leave the past in the past and judge this new generation on their own merit. It is a different age, and one that is full of potential in ways we may not even be aware of yet.

Conservatively Embrace this genesis of sports gaming with an open mind and do not wait for the conditions to be perfect, because a new beginning makes the conditions perfect already.