WIll Next-Gen Finally Deliver on Sports Gaming's Sim Promise?

[RaychelSnr]

A bad precedent was set back in 2005 when EA released the CGI-centric promo video for the Xbox 360 of Madden NFL 06, that set fans expectations extremely high and left them disappointed when the final retail version was spinning in their systems. We are not picking on EA per say, it is just that the infamous video they released back in 2005 basically summed up the sports gamers experience during this generation of over-promising and under-delivering. The life span of the Xbox 360 and the PS3 for sports gamers seemingly was “take one step forward, and two steps back” Gamers can be a fickle bunch, but at least in our humble opinion, they had legitimate reasons to be upset during this generation sport gaming.

Of course not every experience was a bad one, as we saw some wonderful titles drop during this generation: Sony’s MLB the Show, 2K’s NBA franchise, and EA’s FIFA and NHL series. It doesn't mean that the four titles mentioned were perfect, but they were part of a select few that were considered enjoyable by the masses. If you were a sports gamer though, it felt like every series this generation had its own set of issues, but certain developers found ways to deliver a great title consistently.

Read More - WIll Next-Gen Finally Deliver on Sports Gaming's Sim Promise?

[TreyIM2]

I really believe we have nothing to worry about come next gen altho the only thing that concerns me is the differences in the PS4 and Xbox One architectures could prove to have crab barrel effects such as what I believed may have happened current gen along with lack of static HDDs and no Blu-ray on the 360s.

Even with that, both next gen systems should have enough to finally 'bring it home' for us gamers from gameplay and graphics to the 'little' things.

I am more excited for next gen and my PS4 and games are already preordered and while I do expect some legacy issues, initially, the years to come should knock those out, easily.

[footballfan41]

We all Know the Next Gen videos will always be better then the game it self, I Never had high hopes with EA anyways, EA always been about there Front,!! making games look good then when you play it it's not what you was looking for,
You would think games would be better looking by now, I honest don't look for madden to be to much above what we are playing on 360/PS3...No one console is better then the other years after years done proved that to gamers, I only buy consoles for the Sport gamers, and ill say this if madden does fail I'll be done..starting to be a waste of money...

[treq21]

I wish I thought that AI would finally start acting like a real human---but it seems that most of the attention is given to online with very little paid to the offline experience. Time will tell...but i just dont think that AI is going to change that much.

[seasprite]

Re: WIll Next-Gen Finally Deliver on Sports Gaming's Sim Promise?

I believe the hardware will be there, but I'm still not that confident that the software will be............I hoping I'm dead wrong.

[BK_NC]

I really believe we have nothing to worry about come next gen altho the only thing that concerns me is the differences in the PS4 and Xbox One architectures could prove to have crab barrel effects such as what I believed may have happened current gen along with lack of static HDDs and no Blu-ray on the 360s.

Even with that, both next gen systems should have enough to finally 'bring it home' for us gamers from gameplay and graphics to the 'little' things.

I am more excited for next gen and my PS4 and games are already preordered and while I do expect some legacy issues, initially, the years to come should knock those out, easily.

@TreyIM2 PS4 and Xbox One are both supposed to be using the AMD Jaguar APU (cpu/gpu on same chip) although the PS4 is rumor to use a faster version. So the hardware architectures are actually the same to a programmer. The main difference is the Kinect is bundled with each Xbox One while the EyeToy is optional for the PS4.

My hope for the next-gen is Madden and NCAA will push the envelope with innovations in physics, animation, and AI. That Madden in particular won't be complacent in the next-gen like they have been up until Madden 13 in the current era. Competition would be a great catalyst for this but I'm not hopeful as far as the NFL goes.

My other hope for the next-gen is that 2K will get back into the College Football and College Basketball game business now that EA no longer has exclusive rights. Not too hopeful on those fronts but thats a wish list.

[elgreazy1]

Simply put: No.

The reason? Ironically, lack of competition. Sports and athletes feed on it. It's what drives them to excel, to push their limits, and to aspire for more. Remember Nike's "My Better is Better than Your Better" campaign - it's all about competition.

The sports gaming industry lacks it. One professional football game option. One college football option.One professional baseball game option. One professional hockey game option. One pro golf option. One wrestling game option. No college basketball options. Two MMA-based games. Two soccer games.

The sports gamer is completely exploited. We have no options for games. What's worse, we are stuck on a yearly purchasing cycle simply for roster updates and minimal upgrades and innovations.

[Profit89]

Simply put: No.

The reason? Ironically, lack of competition. Sports and athletes feed on it. It's what drives them to excel, to push their limits, and to aspire for more. Remember Nike's "My Better is Better than Your Better" campaign - it's all about competition.

The sports gaming industry lacks it. One professional football game option. One college football option.One professional baseball game option. One professional hockey game option. One pro golf option. One wrestling game option. No college basketball options. Two MMA-based games. Two soccer games.

The sports gamer is completely exploited. We have no options for games. What's worse, we are stuck on a yearly purchasing cycle simply for roster updates and minimal upgrades and innovations.

^This.

The sports gaming genre has become the butt of jokes in the general gaming scene. They are often looked down upon as not being very sophisticated gamer. And, honestly, you can see why. Year after year people wait in line to get a game like Madden, a game which is the same every year. It's quite laughable really.

[SHAKYR]

I believe we may run into the same problems, especially EA because many of their titles push graphics over gameplay and realism. EA false starts on NBA LIVE proves this and the handling the Fight Night series. Companies like EA need to separate the sim/realism from the arcade because many of the fans want their sport represented as real as possible.
EA is a very stubborn companies that needs to loosen up on it's franchises. It's not the systems as I'm told, it's the production and company visions that keep fans from what they want in a sports game. I can direct you to a Fight Night podcast where a producer told me why something wasn't the game because he felt like it shouldn't be there...( his decision)

[The_Gaming_Disciple]

After seeing Madden 25 for PS4 I am very persuaded the next generation of sports games aside from 2k will be lacking at best.

[4X49ER]

I guess I'm not understanding the whole vague disappointment trend, maybe it's just the cool thing to not like anything but not say why. I'm hopeful for the new systems. I'm looking forward to Madden 25 on the PS4. The new engines look good. I am not going to hold my breath for 2K to get back into football games, but I'd love to see it.

[jmo2278]

I say BS! How come only sports developers struggled with the current gen systems? I have had some of my most enjoyable gaming in 30 years this generation with non sport titles. And like the OP even said Nba2k and the Show proves that good sports games were possible this gen. The football titles in particular struggled from lack of vision and creativity, and maybe even just plain old laziness. No excuse for stripping features away or adding features and abandon them a year later. I'm sure the hardware presented obstacles but C'Mon man, the re-shuffling of the Madden and Live teams shows that there was also a problem with leadership and direction of certain series. Hopefully lessons were learned and next gen will be alot better.

[jmo2278]

P.S. So the current gen hardware is why there is no transaction list in CCM this year too?!? Yeah right lmao

[[Icy]]

Hardware is more of a limitation for graphics that it is for AI, we have had the same AI since 1st generation consoles or maybe it was even deeper in GM modes than it is right now, as they keep stripping features to just improve graphics and online experience (where the money is right now) on each next gen jump.

[tril]

personally,
I think this generation of sports games has delivered. Looking back, I can say that I have had no major issues as far as gaming goes.
My games off choice did not disappoint me. The ones game that disappointed me, was the Madden franchise, but even they delivered with Madden 13. not great, but they finally got me to believe in an EA product.
EA's issue with their football franchise has always, and will always be the ability to make games totally customizable. They do not offer enough sliders.
These developers have to strike a balance between sim style and casual style. It is obviously not profitable for console games to cater to a total sim experience, that is why a developer has not delivered on a total sim experience. It has nothing to do with system limitations. IT has to do with cost vs profit. The most profitable is obviously the current development/business model. (the one company that tried the total sim approach did not succeed, The folks that created Backbreaker)