What is it about realism in sports games that always drives sports gamers to demand more? Is it even really possible to attain the element of realism and still have a game that’s worth playing?

The inherent problem here is a constant demand of perfection by sports gaming fans.  After all, we buy the game every year and we want the closest thing to the real thing we can get.  Because it’s the product we want worst each year, we want the most realistic product we can get.

Too often I hear complaints that something about a game is not realistic enough. Whether that something is a lack of hand towels in Madden, or an unrealistic pitching mechanic in baseball, or a goalie in hockey whom the puck squeaks past but not all the way into the goal until he pushes it into his net as he moves back to cover it.

Can we ever really get it right though? After all, no matter how well the game is programmed, you are always going to be constrained by the fact that the entire game is programming code being acted out.

No matter how much coding goes into football games like Madden, there always seems to be that small core of plays that break out of the realism we all crave and into the land of fantasy. How many so-called “cheesers” find that one passing play that, without manually controlled defenders, connects for a touchdown every other time? How many times do we see cornerbacks that seemingly instantly know when the ball is let go, even though they’re looking the other direction?

That’s not to say the games can’t be accurate. Consider NHL 08 for a moment. The NHL franchise was one that played much like an arcade title for a number of years. Yet when NHL 08 hit, we finally had a title where slowing the play down and using the point and cycling were not only possible, but actually helped control the play on the ice.

With the good comes the bad though. By making a game more realistic, you run the risk of turning a game into an unplayable mess. Sure, for those who have the patience, it’d be a great game, but for the more casual gamer, it turns it into a thing that requires either too much knowledge of the game, or far more patience than they ever wanted for a video game, which doesn't translate into big sales.

The biggest counter to the realism that many of us sports gamers strive for is the casual gamer. Most of the time, they want to sit down and play a quick game of football and then move on with their life. They don’t want to sit there for hours trying to make exactly the right adjustments while preparing a gameplan for their franchise game. For the most part, they do not care about who’s wearing the right equipment and whether hand towels are in the game.

All of this boils down to how well the game’s developers can bridge that gap between playing quick games for the casual player and an in-depth game for the hardcore player. It’s not an easy gap to bridge, but many games are doing a good enough job that both sides can at least be happy with the product they’re getting.

This is a constant problem for game designers, and while they’re not perfect, they’ve done a good job of balancing realistic gameplay with something that’s playable from the most diehard fanatic to the most casual gamer.