NBA 2K11's Role in GOTY discussions, and the inherent bias against Sports Games - rangerrick012's Blog

rangerrick012's Blog

NBA 2K11's Role in GOTY discussions, and the inherent bias against Sports Games

Posted on January 19, 2011 at 03:34 PM.

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Recently gaming website Kotaku posted an article debating the merits of NBA 2K11 as a Game of the Year nominee. 2K11 is widely regarded as one of if not the best sports game of this generation. And many have said that the detail and lengths which it went to replicate the basketball experience, and bringing in icon Michael Jordan and making him playable, a rarity in basketball games, warrants it a spot not only as sports game of the year, but as overall game of the year, period.

Well in this article, the Kotaku writers debated and essentially came to the conclusion that 2K11 couldn't win because it was a niche, sports game. Luke Plunkett even added while he liked the game, that "Adding Jordan doesn't change the fact that this is just another basketball game. It may be the best one ever, sure, but until the series stops pandering to a niche and finds out why the sales of basketball games don't match the global appeal of the sport, that's all it'll ever be."

Just another basketball game, huh? Awfully small minded. I guess we should write games like Call of Duty and Mass Effect 2 out, since they're 'just another shooting game' right? Don't these games also cater to a niche audience?

The biggest gripe to me is the opinion expressed later on in the article by some of the other writers that the game was 'too deep' and seemingly not accessible enough. This much was explicitly stated by writer Mike Fahey when he noted that "For a sports game to be truly worthy of Game of the Year, it needs to cater to all gamers - not just those already familiar with the subject matter."

To me this is the biggest cop out on the subject. Basically there is a double standard when it comes to sports games, and being respected by a segment of the gaming community. Again, games like COD or Red Dead Redemption are not held to these lofty expectations of catering to 'all gamers'. It seems ludicrous to penalize 2K11 for being too deep in an era where most sports games aren't deep enough. And if these gamers aren't willing to take the time necessary to master the gameplay, they should not knock the game as a whole.

I suck at first person shooters. However, I recognize the appeal that these games have with other gamers and don't deride them for being 'too niche' just because I can't master them. I don't want to sound harsh, but it seems like most of the complaints boil down to "Yes it's a great game, but I suck at it so it can't be a Game of the Year".

I'm perfectly fine if people are of the opinion that 2K11 shouldn't be GOTY because it has flaws. I recognize it's not a perfect game, heck no game is, and 2K definitely has some missteps. I also recognize that these mythical GOTY awards aren't really worth a hill of beans compared to factors like sales. But some of the reasons given in this particular article aren't on that level, and instead seem to penalize 2K11 just for being an 'outsider' sports game. It shows that the gaming community at large still seems to have an elitist attitude and looks down upon the sports gaming community. This leads to an inherent bias and not really giving great games like NBA 2K11 and MLB The Show their just do when compared to other great games.

Until the time comes where the community is more open in evaluating these games, there will always be a disconnect between 'hardcore' gamers and hardcore 'sports' gamers like the ones here on OS. But it's clear that NBA 2K11 has at least made a dent in this belief, and simply being discussed as a possible GOTY shows how great the game is in and of itself.

Comments

# 1 DJ @ Jan 19

It's a shame that a quality title like NBA 2K11 isn't taken seriously in those Game of the Year discussions. I understand that sports gaming is a very small niche (makes up less than 10% of gamers, I believe), but still, when a game comes along that is clearly head and shoulders above other titles in its genre, it shouldl at least warrant a spot on the ballot.

The people that write for a lot of magazines/websites, don't really play sports games and always throw out buzz words like the game is too complex to play. Well, I don't play FPS or RPG games and to me they aren't easy to pick up and play. But, I don't hold it against those games; I just realize that they aren't my cup of tea. I can still appreciate how good a game is even if I don't play it.

# 2 jWILL253 @ Jan 19

I think the main problem here is, the worldwide appeal of certain sports, or lack thereof.

Even though 2K11 is one of the best games I've ever played, the game itself only covers AMERICAN basketball (No FIBA teams, let alone teams from other national leagues), and Madden only covers AMERICAN teams (NFL Europe went under). The only sports games that cover worldwide appeal when it comes to a certain sport, is FIFA and NHL. And, neither one of those are as popular in America as football or basketball, nor do they match the depth of 2K11, nor will they ever generate the sales needed IN AMERICA to certify GOTY status.

So, sports games will always be considered "niche" until they garner World of Warcraft-stylen appeal... which will never happen...

# 3 Wiffyjustus @ Jan 19

I know there are issues to be fixed but I kinda think all they need to do for 2K12 is add a dunk animation package for Griffin. :P

# 4 datruth251 @ Jan 20

I think the voters for GOTY are a bunch of nerdy world of warcraft fanatics that were never good at sports when they were young so they could never give a sport game a chance since they always sucked at it. Not saying NBA 2K11 is game of the year but it should definitely be mentioned.

# 5 DaReapa @ Jan 20

@ tomzenns

I agree with you in that respect, and feel that NBA 2K11 suffers from far too many annoyances (i.e. glitches, controls, etc.) for me to personally proclaim it as that great of a game.

But in light of the article, I believe that any deserving sports GOTY, would be overlooked in this regard due to the fact that the sports genre in itself is too niche when compared to more casual friendly genres like FPS's or action games that more than often see a winner of GOTY awards. Unfortunately, I don't think we would ever see a change in this trend, seeing that games are becoming more and more casual. On the bright side we can just be thankful to have sites like OS give due recognition to deserving sports titles.

# 6 Houndy @ Jan 21

Shooters will always win GOTY. Kids and others are now obsessed with killing instead of a sport

# 7 tril @ Jan 23

I do agree with the article about NBA 2k11 might be too polarizing.
The casual setting should have been really casual.
There is still a larger portion of the gaming community that just wants to dunk and hit 3s all day. they dont care for the nuances of bball.
In the future the ultimate sim route may hurt 2k. But I also notice that 2k is awra of this by providing a casual mode.
they have to promote this aspect of the game as mucjh as the sim aspect. cause the true sim gamers are still a smaller group.

None the less, I still believe that 2k11 shoudld be a heavy favorite in GOTY. The improvements and features found in 2k11 far outway any innovations or feature found in shooters that were released this past year.

by the way Game of teh Year should be:

LIMBO