Have Sports Games Lost Their Accessibility?

Feature Article

Submitted on: 01/08/2014 by Jayson Young

The holidays have ended. So too have the days when families and relatives could sit down and enjoy a sports video game together.

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years have, in the Young family, seen sports games like RBI Baseball, NBA Jam and Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey bring just as much excitement to the living room as plates full of turkey, mashed potatoes and dinner rolls.

The current menu of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One sports games, disappointingly, contains no title capable of carrying on this tradition. Even in a room full of sports-loving, tech-savvy people, these $400 and $500 entertainment systems currently function best as a Netflix or Blu-Ray player.

Though basketball fans now have two distinct games to choose from, neither option is anywhere near as accessible as Double Dribble was in the 1980s, NBA Jam was throughout the 1990s or NBA Street was during the 2000s.

Despite most Americans' love of professional football, handing them a controller and inviting them to play Madden NFL 25 is akin to giving them a pencil and asking them to pass a 19th Century U.S. History exam.

Over the years, EA Tiburon has tried to make Madden less arcane by adding features like GameFlow, auto sprint, auto strafe, ball hawk and heat seeker tackling. But when GameFlow calls a draw play on 3rd and 7, and the player is struggling to control his runner's awkward True Step Locomotion -- without even touching the Highlight Stick, the Precision Modifier or the sprint button -- Madden NFL 25 has about as much chance of winning over new fans as the expansion-era Cleveland Browns.

Likewise, no amount of computer assistance is going to make FIFA 14 approachable to newcomers, so long as the game requires four different buttons and a meter mini-game to simply kick a ball.

Of the major sports franchises, Electronic Arts' NHL series is the only one that presently offers outsiders an inviting experience.

Its dual-joystick controls are immediately intuitive; its action is fast and violent; once offside, icing and penalties are disabled, there are no confusing rules to disrupt play, aside from good old fashioned fist fights.

Throughout the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era, NHL has been my go-to sports title for entertaining people outside my PSN and XBL Friend Lists.

Barring the unlikely announcement of any new arcade games in the spring or the summer, NHL 15 will likely continue that title reign once the series transitions onto PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this fall.

Too much food has been eaten, and next to me on the couch, I notice a cousin inspecting a stray NBA Live 14 case, left open under the entertainment center.

He asks me if it's as much fun as the old one, likely recalling the Christmas we hooked up a multitap to the Super Nintendo and played NBA Live 95 until sundown.

Not wanting to damage that memory, I inform him that the new game is, "a lot more complicated, and not nearly as fun."

Member Comments

# 1 hesko @ 01/08/14 11:25 AM

all i can say is, there were a lot less glitches than there are today.

# 2 jenglund @ 01/08/14 12:12 PM

Besides FPS games, aren't most other games pretty complicated these days as well? Most games have a different button layout, so even for me, switching between games takes me a while as I figure out the controls again.

With sports games, there might be a lot of OPTIONAL buttons, but most of them can be played using a few buttons if that's what the user wants. I think the new training sessions in this year's football games have been super helpful learning some of the core (and advanced) moves.

# 3 tril @ 01/08/14 01:59 PM

good article. complicated to answer!!!
The simple solution is to
1. produce more arcade/casula style games
2. games should ship with multiple modes and tie them into a controller configuration so that users dont have to go into menu's to change controller settings, etc

example. an arcade mode in NBA2k, or an arcade mode in Madden should automatically set the user controls to a simpler 2/3 button configuration. that would solve alot of the complexity issues.

IMO, the complexity is in the control scheme not the game. especially on the lower levels.

# 4 scottyp180 @ 01/08/14 03:33 PM

The question that should be asked is whether or not the complexity is a good thing or a bad thing. There is no question that control schemes for sports games have become more complex. Play a ten year old sports and you'll be able to learn the controls after looking at them once. Now look at a game like 2k14 and you would be able to play the game a year straight and probably still not have the controls 100% perfected.

Imo opinion the control complexity results in 2 conflicting arguments. On one hand sports games a more realistics than ever and offer more control than ever. Ill use basketball games as an example. Play nba live 03 or nba 2k3 and the controls allow you to shoot, pass, post up, cross over, spin, etc..essential its the basketball basics and in theory its enough for a basketball game, especially for casual fans. Now look at the controls of 2k14 and you'll notice how much deeper the controls are. Just take dribbling for example. Where in the past a simple crossovee button was fine we now have a dribbling/shooting stick that allows us to dribble between the legs, cross over, step back, step back jumper, hesitate dribble, hesitate cross over, in and out dribble, eurostep, hop step, spin shot/layup, shimmy shot, half spin, up and under..and the list goes on and on. It really is overwhelming especially to a beginner...which brings me to the other side of the argument, the acessability of the games.

Its almost impossible to simply look once at the controls of a sports game and be able to play it or play it well whereas 10+ years ago it was fairly easy to pickup a sports game and be able to play it. I can remember playing nba live 05 with my younger sister (who never plays videogames) and she could get the hang of it. She was no expert but she could atleast enjoy the game. I don't see that happening with 2k14. Even if I tried to keep the controls simple (press this shoot, this to pass, this to dribble) I think she would give up before half time. The learning curve for sports games are high unless you are someone who plays the games regularly or on a year to year basis. Hell I consider myself a gamer and for years I could never play the nhl games because I would give up before grasping and understanding the controls. Its only within the past yearthat I got good at the game 1 because I playes it more than ever and 2 I had friends that were able to give me some tips.

I think at the very least there should be a "simple", "basic", or "easy" control scheme so that younger kids or beginners can pick up and enjoy these games without having to take the time to learn the controls and learn the game. Sure most gamers don't mind the controls but casual gamers, beginners, or young gamers, likely don't want to have to take the time to master the controls.

# 5 Rhouston @ 01/08/14 04:02 PM

scottyp180 hit the nail on the head with this one. Unfortunately, we are in a "more control = more complex" mode nowadays, and I don't really see a way around giving users more control while keeping the control scheme fairly simple.

You take away the different button/trigger movements, and what you get is people upset that they feel like the decisions are not up to them now, but rather the AI, kind of like how some people felt about the new Skill Stick for NHL 14.

Much like Scotty said, I do like how EA Sports NHL series allows you to use NHL 94 controls as it allows me to play with my young nephews, girlfriend or other family members for fun, but as a sports gamer, I could never play fully like that.

I had plenty of fun playing Genesis and SNES sports video games as a kid -- no, they didn't offer anywhere near the control as we have now, but we were OK with that because back then, we didn't know any different.

Back then, I also had to walk uphill both ways barefoot in the snow to get to school

# 6 N00B SUPREM0 @ 01/08/14 04:10 PM

Actually FIFA can bring fun do non gamer people. It has 2 button controllers.

# 7 Josam27o7 @ 01/08/14 04:29 PM

Why are you attacking the core gamers? You want to ruin games by making them more simple? Please take this article down.

If Fifa is not accessible for this guy he is a joke. Fifa is one of the simplest games I've ever played.

# 8 RipCityAndy @ 01/08/14 04:45 PM

I'm not a big fan of voice command in video games, but I think the implementation of voice controlled substitutions, play calling, etc. would be a great way to reduce the barrier to entry of sports games. Consider in Live and 2k how many buttons you have to press in order to call a specified play or substitute a player... way too many. Too difficult to explain to a newbie.

The only real answer to the problem is for all sports games to have very deep training/tutorial modes. They are a MUST HAVE.

# 9 WarlordZMaster @ 01/08/14 04:56 PM

This article makes a great point. Sports game controls are highly complicated, and could be very difficult for a beginner, such as my soon to be 10 year old son. The way I see it, you have 2 options: Make a simplified game, like NBA Jam, or (more difficult to impliment) offer an easy control scheme that removes the bulk of the controls.

# 10 Cletus @ 01/08/14 05:21 PM

In this era of videogaming, which has more power than ever before, why is this even a question? Why can't users have their choice in accessibility in offline modes? Why can't we map the controls the way we want? We only want to use 2 buttons, why can't we?

There are some games that are more of an art form than a game, but sports games are not that. However we still can not make the game play how we want it because developers won't allow us. Want a full on football sim that takes 2 hours to play, let us do it. Want a tecmo super bowl like version of madden? Let us do that. The problem is we have ONE choice per major sport (except for soccer) so the game has to be made for everyone, instead of making the game and giving us enough sliders to make it play how we want.

# 11 kadzier @ 01/08/14 05:56 PM

a true football sim is always going to be complex and relatively intimidating to newcomers, just like the real sport of football. You can say the same for any other sport with sufficient depth. It seems the issue here is of maybe adding simplified or stripped down game modes, maybe "easy" or "newcomer" control schemes, but that the main game's control scheme is complex isn't a bad thing for actual fans of the sport.

# 12 Armor and Sword @ 01/08/14 05:59 PM

The only two sports games my young 9 year old loves to play me on my PS3 are The Show and NHL 13

With The Show we use my auto field manual throwing approach....and he loves pitching and hitting using classic and timed. We have so much fun.

NHL self explanatory via your article. A blast.

But for basketball and football we go to my old trusty NES system and rock with Tecmo Bowl and Tecmo Basketball. We also go slam dunk crazy with his Wii version of NBA Jam.

I hope the new PS4 eventually gets some family friendly sports games by the time i come around to making the jump.

# 13 scottyp180 @ 01/08/14 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RipCityAndy


	I'm not a big fan of voice command in video games, but I think the implementation of voice controlled substitutions, play calling, etc. would be a great way to reduce the barrier to entry of sports games. Consider in Live and 2k how many buttons you have to press in order to call a specified play or substitute a player... way too many. Too difficult to explain to a newbie. The only real answer to the problem is for all sports games to have very deep training/tutorial modes. They are a MUST HAVE.

Completely agree with both points. I'm not a fan of voice control but it could definitely help especially in the areas you mentioned. I don't call too many plays while playing 2k because it a) takes me to long to pick a play and by the time the play runs shot clock is running low and b) I need to take my eyes off the action to pick a play leaving me suceptable to steals and turnovers.

A deep tutorial is a must. My main sports game is 2k and the game is notorious for changing and tweaking controls year to year. The tutorial is the only way I am able to learn all the moves and even then I will still forget how to do certain things or forget that I am able to do certain moves. Not to mention that it would be impossible for me to learn everything by simply reading the in game manual. For those who don't know the tutorial is setup so that the cpu will perform the move, while an on screen controller demonstrates what you need to do and then its your turn to perform said move. Imo its a fairly easy way to learn how to do some of the more advanced and complicated moves in the game with out having to figure it out on your own or ask yourself "am I doing this right?" More games should adapt a similar tutorial if they don't already have one

# 14 birthday_massacre @ 01/09/14 03:55 AM

the NHL series handles it perfectly. Just give us different control types. Ill use madden as the baseline.

You could have the old school controls like Tecmo used, where you just use the four face buttons, then have the advanced controls where is the ones we get now,then have a hybrid where is a little of both but nothing too crazy like leading the pass or stuff like that.

# 15 PamTIde @ 01/09/14 07:21 AM

My last pay check was $9561 working 12 hours a week online. My sisters friend has been averaging 15k for months now and she works about 20 hours a week. I can't believe how easy it was once I tried it out. This is what I do... Buzz19.cℴm

# 16 lynkraid @ 01/09/14 03:10 PM

It usually comes down to practice making perfect. The more you play a game the easier it gets. Its just like a new tv remote with a million buttons, in which you have to keep looking down to see what button your pushing, but after a month or so your flipping though channels and running the dvr without even looking at the remote. The same goes for all video games. Give a PS4 controller to someone who has never played a video game before and they have no clue what to do. But if they play the game enough, they catch on. But at the end of the day its not about the controls so much, its about the gameplay, if the gameplay is great people will learn to play it and learn all the controls. But of course the controls need to be good and fluid to start with.

FPS gamers have it easy remembering buttons on a controller, run, aim, shoot, jump, action, crouch. Try a Madden game where the buttons are all different per the offense and defense, preplay, post play, during the play ect.. Same button that throws to receiver square is also the tackle button on defense, or the audible button on preplay, and it also acts as selecting a play, so just 1 button has 4 different actions to remember, same can be said for all other buttons on the control, very complex. To imagine gamers who can go from playing Madden to NBA2k14, to WWE2k14, to GTA5, all of which have some complex controls, amazing stuff to think about, but easy for most of us gamers lol.

I do though wish all games had a super simple controls though like shown above with NHL94 controls. No not for me, but for those who cant possible get into gaming because of the complex controls.

# 17 moose616 @ 01/09/14 04:14 PM

I think a lot (not all) of you "hardcore sim" gamers have forgotten where you've came from. If you're anything like me, your gaming knowledge and style has grown with each generation of systems.

My first Madden was Madden 93 on Sega Genesis. It was simple, fun, and didn't take a lot of football IQ to play. As I progressed to PS and NFL Gameday (As a side note...in case you didn't know, 989 Studios became SCE San Diego, who makes the loved-by-all MLB The Show games) then back to Madden with PS2/PS3, my gaming abilities evolved, as did my knowledge of the game of football.

Gamers are often clamoring for customization, down to being able to choose the color of your created player's shoelaces. Controls, one could easily argue are as, if not more, vital of an option to customize. Many of us that have grown from a d-pad with 2/3 buttons to what we have now (d-pad, two joysticks, 8 buttons) are now having children who will someday (if not already) join us in our sports gaming enjoyment.

The next generation (for the most part) has a hard enough time paying attention to multiplication, let alone trying to decipher the difference between zone or man coverage. Along with that topic, I wouldn't hurt some of these sports games to add in more training. Madden could add in to to read a defense, The Show could add in when to put on a hit & run, etc. Most fans (gaming and real life) would get much more enjoyment out of a sport if they knew more of the "strategery" behind it.

The End
Game on...

# 18 BDawg35 @ 01/10/14 12:53 PM

YES! ... YES! ... YES! ... It's about time somebody wrote about this subject. I know that this forum mainly attracts serious gamers who can master the myriad of controls in today's video games, but I have always been digitally challenged (no stick skillz). Many of today's games require so much stick skill that I'm scared away from purchasing them. I don't buy MLB The Show anymore for that reason. The baserunning is too complicated (for me) compared to the old MVP series. It's a game I really wish I could get into, but it's been too frustrating. Same with many other games. I love playing NCAA Football. While it helps to be a stick jockey, I can still enjoy it with my limited ability at the sticks.

# 19 Armor and Sword @ 01/10/14 02:05 PM

Sports games need to be made for both. I am hardcore, love my complex controls and am a longtime gaming veteran.

But for our kids.....it can be cumbersome....and they want to play sports games with their daddy.

NHL is a perfect example. I can play with my default controls while my son has a blast playing against me with the NHL 94 classic controls.

Customization is key.

We are able to play NCAA with him using one button control.

So that is the real point.

# 20 Blzer @ 01/11/14 10:47 AM

It depends on the sport, really. Personally, I think baseball could use more complexity. User Trevytrev and I came up with a defensive system that incorporated things such as a sprint button, catch button, "strafe" button, shade sun option, different types of dives with the stick, etc. It would be an option of course, but it made perfect logical sense with the controller and put the control properly in the gamer's hands.

I'm all for inaccessibility, as long as it functions as intended and there are simpler options for others..

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