Welcome to the 2005 Operation Sports Year End Awards.  For the 4th consecutive year, the Staff at OperationSports.com is proud to present our picks for the best offerings from the industry this year.  This year, “The Stevies” as we like to call them, are being chosen 100% by the dedicated Staff at OS.  What does that mean?  While some would think it would make for a boring vote from a small group of like-minded contributors, the OS Staff is actually made up of people from all over the country, from all different backgrounds and age groups, with only one common trait – a love for sports gaming.

 

 

Forza Motorsport (Xbox)

 

“The best console driving game ever made. The simulation is solid enough, but add in the customization options, online career mode and fantastic Xbox Live performance and Forza provides the best bang for the buck - by far.” -- Shawn Drotar,  Managing Editor

Tony Hawk: American Wasteland (Multi-Platform)

“The Tony Hawk series continues to grow and push the envelope; incorporating all of what was great about previous releases and continuing to expand on the more wide-open, Grand Theft Auto-esque qualities of an action title.” – Clay Shaver,  Senior Staff Writer

 

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory(Multi-Platform)

 

“Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - Another outstanding effort by Ubisoft. Its unique multiplayer mode makes it one of the most popular Xbox Live games.” – Chris Sullivan,  Forum Administrator

 

NHL 2K6 (Multi-Platform)

 

“The easiest call of the year. No other hockey game even comes close to the realism, depth and playability of NHL 2K6. The new "Crease Control" in the Xbox 360 version adds an entertaining new wrinkle.” – Shawn Drotar,  Managing Editor

 

MVP Baseball 2005(Multi-Platform)

 

“MVP Baseball 2005 was almost a perfect blend of realism and fun.  For once, instead of focusing on new gimmicks and a huge feature list, a company went back and fixed nearly every problem that plagued the previous version.” – Matt Kabara,  News Editor

 

NBA 2K6 (Multi-Platform)

 

“Scary-realistic graphics combined with great game play makes this a no-brainer.” – John Griffin, Staff Writer

 

“The ‘Shot Stick’ is pure genius.” – Shawn Drotar, Managing Editor

 

NCAA Football 06(Multi-Platform)

 

“NCAA Football 06 is everything that 05 was not.  It’s polished and firmly back at the top of the mountain.  After 25 years as a gamer, this is the only game that I consistently play for the entire year between releases.  This game is truly a few minor AI tweaks from perfect.” – Clay Shaver,  Senior Staff Writer

 

Tie - NBA 2K6 & NHL 2K6(Multi-Platform)

 

“Nobody does online functionality better than 2K, and until anyone else can match their online leagues and web integration; I won't be bothered with further discussion. The online world belongs to 2K Sports.” – Shawn Drotar,  Managing Editor

 

Blitz: The League (Multi-Platform)

 

“Other developers need to take note.  An NFL license is NOT a requirement to make a good football game!” – Clay Shaver, Senior Staff Writer

 

“Surprisingly fun gameplay, especially since I considered the NFL Blitz series stale.” – Chris Sullivan, Forum Administrator

 

We asked the Forum Moderators and the rest of the OS Staff to submit a list of their Top 3 posters and why they choose them.  Every single list that was submitted was completely different that the one before.  Essentially we would be looking at about a 30-way tie.  So what does that mean?  Not to get all Hillary Clinton on you, but it takes a village to make a great community like we have on the OS Forums.  You are all a piece of the puzzle.  You all deserve to win.  Thank you all for making the OS Forums the best community on the ‘Net. 

NBA 2K6(Multi-Platform)

 

“I didn’t play too much of last year's iteration cause I got bored. This year it’s made me a basketball fan again.” – Eddie Batista, Senior Operations 

 

“Tighter controls, the shot stick, outstanding AI, great graphics, etc. The game is leaps and bounds better than NBA2K5.” – Chris Sullivan,  Forum Administrator

 

 

“They look great, and after you get past that, you realize that they… look great. Virtually every game was stripped down and pushed out the door knowing that fancy whiz-bang graphics would be enough to sell oodles of copies. Well, it'll undoubtedly work for the casual gamer - and maybe that's all EA was ever concerned about - but that won't play here. Loyal EA Sports gamers deserved much better.” – Shawn Drotar, Managing Editor

 

“The ‘Vision Cone’ made Madden for me this year.  It made QB awareness finally matter.  It made the 20 yard drop-back MUCH more difficult.  It put Madden’s replay factor through the roof for me.”  -- Clay Shaver, Senior Staff Writer

 

“Although I thought it was difficult to master, I love the concept.” – Chris Sullivan, Forum Administrator

 

 

 

In the end, however, nobody put out a better line of quality simulations than 2K Sports. NBA 2K6 and NHL 2K6 are quite possibly the best games ever created in their respective fields - and that's not a statement that I take lightly. The MLB 2K series lags far behind these three, however, and Amped 3 turned away from its noble lineage and into the stagnant, generic "extreme sports" world.

 

But the greatness of the first two games simply cannot be denied, and each has been improved noticeably for the Xbox 360 without losing a single feature (and in NHL 2K6's case - even adding one).

 

2K Sports "gets it" - and for that, they're the developer of the year.” – Shawn Drotar, Managing Editor

 

 

“The graphics on this first-gen title (for the 360) makes me salivate with what is coming up in 2006.” – John Griffin, Staff Writer