Mainstream sports games catch a lot of flak. They’re often classified as mainstream, money-grubbing, over-serialized, over-saturated yearly roster updates for “bro” gamers. Now, the trendy business model pushing out a game per league per year is flawed; however, that’s a spiel for another column. What I argue is that the Maddens and FIFAs of the world aren’t all that distant from the serious hardcore gaming world. In fact, they may be closer than you realize.
The genre itself is first defined by the world of sport. Sports are reliant upon carefully crafted and often highly complex plans then to be executed and react fluidly to the strategic intentions of others. Simply put, it’s about more than just speed and muscle (there’s a reason Nick Saban makes $5.62 million a year). With all that in mind, it seems a simple transition into the world of strategy. And, some do play the main suite of sports games in that manner, not to mention the scores of sports simulation products found in PC gaming.
Though accessibility can often be misinterpreted as a threat to a very protective and possessive gamer culture, the fact that a game of NCAA Football can reward a well-timed succession of jukes or button taps and a precise game plan or extensive recruiting plan in a similar endorphin pumping fashion effectively reflects the strengths of the sports themselves and is an impressive bit of design. The twitch-based tendencies demanded in these games are often not horrible ways of emulating an athlete’s required reaction time and have long been key in action-oriented games.
However, what keeps a mix of current sports games on my shelf are their innate role-playing tendencies. Escapism drives the success of gaming and competitive sports alike. And what better way to push this further than to place you in the very shoes of a professional athlete in a fully realized simulation of the sport. Be it bringing up a young goaltender playing from the small-time Ontario Hockey League into a high pressure NHL game 7 in his hometown, earning Plymouth Argyle an importable promotion into the English Premier League, or simply creating your own Iron Bowl legacy, these systems facilitate and do their best to inspire the same storytelling that have long given crosstown rivalries real meaning and made southern football more than just a game.
Dedicated gamers and sports nuts aren’t all that far apart or necessarily mutually exclusive. Some play games for the adrenaline rush and action, where others may be more enthused with the underlying numbers, no different than sports fanatics. Living a space opera through Commander Sheppard isn’t that distant from following your crafty six-foot point guard from the NBA D-League into the hall of fame. And truly dressing in the gear of your favorite athlete is no less “nerdy” than cosplaying as your favorite Final Fantasy or anime character, just perhaps a bit less Japanese.
For some, sports will never truly interest them, and it’s likely sports games never will either. That is fair, and anyone with a gripe regarding the EA Sports monolith likely has a point. However, the sporting culture and corresponding games have earned their place alongside products more specifically targeting gamers. Their flexibility and aptitude for capturing their sports is uncanny. In short, sports games deserve your respect.
