In this age of advanced computer technology and increased focus on delivering true-to-life specs, we gamers have grown accustomed to expecting graphical realism in any sports game attempting to replicate reality. When we play our favorite sports game we expect the images on-screen to compare favorably to those we see on a sports channel. So I ask, with this expectation in mind, how can any sports gamer be excited about the release of MLB Power Pros -- a baseball video game with characters so "cartoonish" their arms and legs are nowhere to be seen? Do you see the problem with even having to ask that question?

Perhaps with these new expectations, a good majority of us gamers have lost a little bit of the carefree attitude we once had when playing our old Nintendo favorites. It was not the realistic stats that drove us insane when we were away from home, anticipating the next opportunity to play Tecmo Super Bowl; it was not the jaw dropping animations and player models that instilled great memories of historic comebacks in Bases Loaded II; and it surely was not the TV-style replays of that game-changing dunk that gave us goosebumps when playing Double Dribble. It was, as you may recall hearing several times on videos covering baseball's historic past, for the love of the game.

Power Pros' late season release in 2007 jump-started a small community of followers who realized they loved the critically acclaimed Japanese game. What followed its release was an interest in a product, which took everything you could expect visually from a sports game in 2007 and simplified it. Now with its 2008 release just a week away, the game still isn't garnering a ton of buzz among gamers.

So it begins to beg the question, do we take our games too seriously? Why is it that a game many serious baseball fans have enjoyed can still be pushed aside by the less serious baseball fans?

The comments and criticisms made by the uninformed mostly reference the unrealistic player models and toned down graphics. However, Power Pros 2007 captured the fun of baseball in video games and mixed it in with realistic gameplay. It became the hardcore gamer's relaxing title, that still avoided falling into the trap of being too arcade.

Many gamers look at Power Pros on the surface and pass it off as a bad game.

So it begins to beg the question, do we take our games too seriously? Why is it that a game many serious baseball fans have enjoyed can still be pushed aside by the less serious baseball fans? Do we still expect that no matter the genre, our games need to look as realistic as possible -- before they even play that way? Power Pros does an excellent job, some issues not withstanding, of playing a good game of baseball. Why do many ignore its positives because it does not have amazing lighting?

Last week I wrote an article about NCAA Football and why I was on the fence when it came to purchasing the 2009 version. I tried to be careful about putting down the game because I hadn't played the retail version yet. I pointed out that there was just something missing in the game, and other next-gen sports titles, that basically was going to make it impossible for me to enjoy. Within the first few posts, an astute forum member commented on the article by stating that he believes fun factor, or the lack thereof, is the primary reason some gamers continue to feel something is missing in these titles. The comment started chatter that went on for many posts about the state of realism in sports games, and how "fun factor" has changed in sports games over the years.

All that being said, are we still taking our games too seriously?

Whether you agree or disagree with the bulk of the back-and-forth discussion that occurred, the point is, those gamers want realism in their games, but not at the cost of it being less fun. That's a rather fine line obviously, and because it's difficult to try and understand the gamers' desires, developers have seemingly decided that the middle ground is to let us edit sliders until the game plays the way we would enjoy it. (That's assuming the sliders work correctly, which doesn't always happen either.)

All that being said, are we still taking our games too seriously? There is nothing wrong with wanting Rule V drafts in a baseball game, a simulation gameplay experience in a simulation game, or perfectly simulated financial system in a salary cap driven football franchise mode. But, are we ignoring the fun in games by expecting too much graphical realism in every sports game?

Perhaps, it is time that we realize that we are sometimes responsible for the disappointment we feel when we play a new intellectual property for the first time. We anticipate games so much, and talk about new ones online for months; then, when a developer brings us something relaxing, fun and realistic like Power Pros 2007, some gamers shun its existence because it does not meet lofty graphical expectations.

Honestly, what happened to playing for the love of the (video)game?