The year is almost halfway over and we have already had several sports games that have hit store shelves. With the summer sports gaming doldrums upon us, which of the games so far this year should you buy and which ones were the biggest disappointments? I have my own ideas and you probably have yours so be sure to add feedback after you read through my selections!

World of Mixed Martial Arts lacks true Graphics, but has a pretty text-sim interface.

Best PC Sports Game: World of Mixed Martial Arts
We have had very lmited choices when it comes to our sports gaming fix on the PC so far this year.   It seems as if our choices are dwindling each time EA issues a press release, so PC gamers are quickly learning to take what they can get in terms of quality titles, even if they don't feature meaty graphics engines.

The sub-genre of sports gaming that is not suffering at all is the text-sim genre. The best of this bunch this year thus far has been World of Mixed Martial Arts, which, with a bit of editing work can be a good simulation of the current MMA market. The game packs an awesome premise into it (by promoting MMA shows) which reminds you of the Total Extreme Wrestling series without the predetermined match outcomes of course. Will this pick hold until the end of the year? I would say it is doubtful, Out of the Park Baseball 9 might take the crown soon enough.

End of the Year Award Chances: Don’t count on it.
Honorable Mention: Draft Day Sports College Basketball

Burnout Paradise is a new and fresh take on the Burnout series.

Best Game Design: Burnout Paradise
Thus far, the best overall game design has been from Burnout: Paradise, which changed how we play Burnout games forever and for the better. The game is not set on static race tracks but instead is set in a full, living and breathing city. Burnout Paradise offers all sorts of cool modes, secrets and just plain fun online or offline. These days, you can almost guarantee what you are getting from year to year out of most franchises as most tend to stick to a specific formula. Burnout Paradise was a great change-up to this pattern which kept the series fresh when it seemed to be getting quite stale.

Looking into my crystal ball, we have several games which have yet to hit store shelves but few promising new designs or focuses. So the chances of Burnout Paradise still being the best overall designed game come years end look pretty decent.

End of the Year Award Chances: Looking pretty decent.
Honorable Mention: World of Mixed Martial Arts

Much like the Brewers, the Major League baseball series has tended to disappoint its fan recentely.

Most Disappointing Game: Major League Baseball 2k8
Things were set to fall into place. We had a new pitching interface, we heard about all of the bug fixes from the previous year, we even read some really promising previews. So what happened? Major League Baseball 2k8 was poised to become the true alternate to MLB: The Show this season, but instead we were treated to a highly disappointing game which couldn’t even hold The Shows jock.

Once again, we were left with a broken game which took various high maintenance workarounds to fix (aka, signs of a bad game). Once again, we are looking again to next season with great optimism, as the game features some excellent ideas such as the new pitching system. However, we thought the foundation had been laid down last year. Perhaps 2k needed two seasons to get the foundation right?

As far as seeing Major League Baseball 2k8 as the most disappointing game of the year, that is a toss up. With most of the heavily hyped franchises still to come, there could be some major disappointments still to come.

End of the Year Award Chances: It is a toss-up.
Honorable Mention: NFL Tour

Biggest Story of the Year (Thus Far): EA/Take Two Rumors
It is the end of sports video games as we know it! Ever wanted to know what a true monopoly on sports gaming felt like? Sports gaming is dead to me. These comments are just a small sampling of what we heard when the news of a proposed Electronic Arts buyout of Take Two was announced back in March. Now, we are nearing the dog-days of summer and a deal seems no closer to be happening than what it was a few months ago. However, there is no denying that the EA/Take Two deal news has been the dominant story on the Operation Sports front page for the past several weeks.

Operation Sports users have held their breaths as many deadlines have come and gone with no deal. Will Operation Sports’ members greatest fear ever come true? Only time will tell, we can be certain that if the deal is done it will most definitely be the biggest story of 08.

End of the Year Award Chances: With a deal, it’s a lock.
Honorable Mention: EA Sports’ Abandonment of the PC Platform

Madden 09 has fans quite excited this year, will it live up to the hype?

Most Anticipated Game For the Rest of 08: Madden NFL 09
While thinking through which game should win this award I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wanted to see what Madden really had to offer this year. With a TV crew back in the booth and a new presentation being unveiled before our very eyes, many football fans are warming up to the idea of purchasing Madden this season. Take into account positive feedback from guys like Pasta Padre, who identified several problems early on with Madden last year, and you have a base of fans who really want to believe the magic is back.

Right now, EA Sports is setting their customers up for either a huge letdown or a big party. One producer said they have never made this many changes to a Madden from one year to the next ever. If that is the case, and the changes were good, we could see the Madden franchise celebrating it’s 20th anniversary in style.

Honorable Mention: NBA 2k9

MLB '08: The Show might be the best sports video game we will see all year.

Sports Game of the Year (Thus Far): MLB ‘08: The Show
Is there really any argument up to this point? What SCEA did with MLB ‘08: The Show is simply phenomenal. All of the little things that have been captured in the game just bring home the essence of what major league baseball is. The game features excellent gameplay which is some of the best we have ever seen. When you take into account the excellent sound, graphics, gameplay and modes, there really can’t be much argument at this point of the year. MLB ‘08: The Show is your MVP thus far.

Now the key question is, will MLB ‘08: The Show be the best game of 2008? Right now, NHL 09 and NBA 2k9, at the very least, will have something to say about that. EA Sports’ football titles, Madden and NCAA are also going to be trying to sneak into that discussion again. Check back in December to see if The Show sticks it out and wins the official Operation Sports Sports Game of the Year.

End of the Year Award Chances: It won’t be easy.
Honorable Mention: Burnout Paradise