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MMChrisS · 11-29-2011, 11:25 AM

With sports games these days, all you ever hear about is if the game is realistic. Does Rajon Rondo have the correct headband? Is Chris Johnson's face mask the same one he wears on Sundays? Of course every game has their own issues in game play, but aren't video games supposed to be fun before everything else? Gaming is supposed to take you to a world where you can accomplish things a mere mortal could not.

So, OS writing staff, fact or fiction: Gamers need to remember how to have fun.

Read More - OS Fact or Fiction: Gamers Should Remember to Have Fun

elementz09 · 11-29-2011, 12:16 PM

Fiction (mostly). You know that old saying "Art intimidates reality"? Well in my honest opinion, video game developers have the ability to change that to "Art is reality". Generally, the gaming industry isn't really respected on a large scale by other industries (except for the cell phone/computer industry). Gaming allows for us as gamers to live through the storyline of a knight, running back, military soldier, dancing, an angry bird (ha!), etc. I believe that sports games needs to recreate that excitement that real life sports gives us! NCAA Football 07 was great to me because of the risk I would have to deal with if I didn't suspend my players for the proper amount of time! THAT'S REAL LIFE! College Hoops 2k8 is a classic to this day simply because of it's depth. I can start off as a new coach at Tennessee State and either decide to build that school into a powerhouse or gain some notice in a big conference school like Kentucky, Duke, UCLA, etc. THAT'S REAL LIFE! NFL 2K5 was great because of the highlights at halftime and post game. Plus, as tedious as it was, setting up my weekly practice plan was really effective and it allowed me to fully be a coach. THAT'S REAL LIFE! But these examples are also reasons why these games are listed as classics! Take a note please.

cdh72469 · 11-29-2011, 01:03 PM

Fact: I too, in my younger days worried about the realism and each minute detail. But as an older recreational gamer now, I don't have the time to worry about those things as much as I used to with work, being a father and husband all relegating gaming to a very low priority. So when I do get a chance to fire up the ol' Xbox and play any type of game I want it to be realistic but fun. For example, with a sports game I want it to present me with a challenge, but not make me feel like I am being "cheated" by the AI. Which can be difficult because I don't have the time nor desire to constantly play with sliders to adjust the game to my liking and pedestrian skills before starting a franchise or the like. Game time is a luxury for me and that time should be fun first.

tril · 11-29-2011, 01:50 PM

In the end the only thing developers can do is provide gamers with all types of game options. options similar to the 2k basketball series and MLB the SHOW.

when I was younger all I cared about was highlight/ almost arcde type of gameplay. I didnt care for a true sim experience.
The older I get, the more I want a more sophisticted, sim like experience.
I personally think that gaming companies for the most part have accomplished the blending of the fun factor with sim like qualities.

So far so good, cause it keeps us older gamers playing. only games I still buy are sports and thats becuase of the sim like gameplayqualties, and the management aspects of the game. If they ever got awya form this Id stop buying games.
The same can be said for shooters like Battlefield. Those games attract older gamers because of their more sophisticated game play elements.

JerseySuave4 · 11-29-2011, 04:45 PM

I say FACT. These days everyone is a critic. They know so much information about the game before they even get their hands on it. Then Day 1 with the game it's as if they are investigators just looking for the problems with the game so they can complain. Yes technology has come a long way from where we were 20 years ago but people expect video games to be virtual reality pretty much. There is a reason they are video games and not real. There are things that happen in real life that are hard to account for in a game.

The expectations of consumers or mainly people on this site are that whatever they see on TV should be the way it is in the game. The focus is so much on reality that the fun factor is eliminated. I admit i was guilty of that. When NCAA 12 came out i jumped on the bandwagon of the game being awful because i didn't think the improvements from last year to this year were that much better but when i finally got my dynasty set up and started playing it, i had a lot of fun. So i've learned to back away from this site a little more because of all the people that complain, look for problems and try to impose their opinions on others as fact. Yes NCAA 12 has major flaws, but i'm still able to look past them and have fun because i understand it's a game.

Think about games like Tecmo Super Bowl, WWF No Mercy, Madden, etc. All those games we enjoyed and loved so many years ago had tons of flaws but we were young, technology wasn't as crazy as it is now so people looked past the flaws and just had fun. Now its all about, is this real and what flaws can i find.

Lukin4 · 11-30-2011, 01:46 AM

Fact... best example of this can be found on this very site. Look at the bitching / moaning / nit picking threads for any of the latest versions of madden / ncaa / nba2k, and then compare that to the threads for something like college hoops 2k which has been discontinued. I blame yearly release cycles...

thbends · 11-30-2011, 02:38 AM

Fact: Im pretty much in tune with Caley Roark. My game time is very limited these days and I have not enjoyed my sports games like I should because I have been trying to play them like I did in my teens / twenties. Im 37... Wow, crazy to type that. Im married and have two kids. I need to stop restarting my franchise because something is wrong and just play/enjoy my games.

Someone wrote in the forums once something I have tried to live by lately.... When asked if they were going to restart their franchise now that a roster and patch were out they simply replied... "Nope. My Maddenverse is already set."

Here's to starting franchises and creating your own Maddenverse. It doesn't have to follow the NFL perfectly. Once it begins it becomes its own thing.

stlstudios189 · 11-30-2011, 07:42 AM

My Maddenverse I love that term!!! I don't understand this whole it has to be exactly like real life stuff just watcht the NFL then. I make trades and sign free agents that make sense in my game universe and just have fun. John Smoltz pitching my Detroit Tigers into the playoffs check, my created self catching the gamewinning TD for the Cleveland Browns check, my players from CH2k8 getting created and now starting for the Knicks, Bulls and Timberwolves check.

JerseySuave4 · 11-30-2011, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thbends


	Fact: Im pretty much in tune with Caley Roark. My game time is very limited these days and I have not enjoyed my sports games like I should because I have been trying to play them like I did in my teens / twenties. Im 37... Wow, crazy to type that. Im married and have two kids. I need to stop restarting my franchise because something is wrong and just play/enjoy my games. Someone wrote in the forums once something I have tried to live by lately.... When asked if they were going to restart their franchise now that a roster and patch were out they simply replied... "Nope. My Maddenverse is already set." Here's to starting franchises and creating your own Maddenverse. It doesn't have to follow the NFL perfectly. Once it begins it becomes its own thing.

i'm the same way, once i get the rosters the way i want them and start my franchise/dynasty thats it. I don't need to restart everytime there is a roster update. The only reason i'm restarting my NBA 2k12 Association is because the real NBA rosters will be out soon so i'd rather have this years rosters than last years.

Qb · 11-30-2011, 01:20 PM

I'm also creeping towards the "just enjoy the game" crowd as I attempt to squeeze a few hours of gaming time into my day. Long gone are the days of all-nighters, hours of roster editing, and digging through forums to find the latest sliders/settings/workarounds/etc to improve the game. It's not necessarily by choice, but I'm finding that if I want to enjoy gaming now, I need to let go of my old ways.

11-29-2011, 12:16 PM	#2
elementz09 Pro OVR: 16 Join Date: Oct 2006 Blog Entries: 2	Fiction (mostly). You know that old saying "Art intimidates reality"? Well in my honest opinion, video game developers have the ability to change that to "Art is reality". Generally, the gaming industry isn't really respected on a large scale by other industries (except for the cell phone/computer industry). Gaming allows for us as gamers to live through the storyline of a knight, running back, military soldier, dancing, an angry bird (ha!), etc. I believe that sports games needs to recreate that excitement that real life sports gives us! NCAA Football 07 was great to me because of the risk I would have to deal with if I didn't suspend my players for the proper amount of time! THAT'S REAL LIFE! College Hoops 2k8 is a classic to this day simply because of it's depth. I can start off as a new coach at Tennessee State and either decide to build that school into a powerhouse or gain some notice in a big conference school like Kentucky, Duke, UCLA, etc. THAT'S REAL LIFE! NFL 2K5 was great because of the highlights at halftime and post game. Plus, as tedious as it was, setting up my weekly practice plan was really effective and it allowed me to fully be a coach. THAT'S REAL LIFE! But these examples are also reasons why these games are listed as classics! Take a note please. Mjphillips likes this.

11-29-2011, 01:03 PM	#3
cdh72469 Rookie OVR: 5 Join Date: Apr 2008	Fact: I too, in my younger days worried about the realism and each minute detail. But as an older recreational gamer now, I don't have the time to worry about those things as much as I used to with work, being a father and husband all relegating gaming to a very low priority. So when I do get a chance to fire up the ol' Xbox and play any type of game I want it to be realistic but fun. For example, with a sports game I want it to present me with a challenge, but not make me feel like I am being "cheated" by the AI. Which can be difficult because I don't have the time nor desire to constantly play with sliders to adjust the game to my liking and pedestrian skills before starting a franchise or the like. Game time is a luxury for me and that time should be fun first. mars5541 and ..GameOver.. like this.

11-29-2011, 01:50 PM	#4
tril MVP OVR: 19 Join Date: Nov 2004 Blog Entries: 1	In the end the only thing developers can do is provide gamers with all types of game options. options similar to the 2k basketball series and MLB the SHOW. when I was younger all I cared about was highlight/ almost arcde type of gameplay. I didnt care for a true sim experience. The older I get, the more I want a more sophisticted, sim like experience. I personally think that gaming companies for the most part have accomplished the blending of the fun factor with sim like qualities. So far so good, cause it keeps us older gamers playing. only games I still buy are sports and thats becuase of the sim like gameplayqualties, and the management aspects of the game. If they ever got awya form this Id stop buying games. The same can be said for shooters like Battlefield. Those games attract older gamers because of their more sophisticated game play elements.

11-29-2011, 04:45 PM	#5
JerseySuave4 MVP OVR: 23 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Dirty Jerz	I say FACT. These days everyone is a critic. They know so much information about the game before they even get their hands on it. Then Day 1 with the game it's as if they are investigators just looking for the problems with the game so they can complain. Yes technology has come a long way from where we were 20 years ago but people expect video games to be virtual reality pretty much. There is a reason they are video games and not real. There are things that happen in real life that are hard to account for in a game. The expectations of consumers or mainly people on this site are that whatever they see on TV should be the way it is in the game. The focus is so much on reality that the fun factor is eliminated. I admit i was guilty of that. When NCAA 12 came out i jumped on the bandwagon of the game being awful because i didn't think the improvements from last year to this year were that much better but when i finally got my dynasty set up and started playing it, i had a lot of fun. So i've learned to back away from this site a little more because of all the people that complain, look for problems and try to impose their opinions on others as fact. Yes NCAA 12 has major flaws, but i'm still able to look past them and have fun because i understand it's a game. Think about games like Tecmo Super Bowl, WWF No Mercy, Madden, etc. All those games we enjoyed and loved so many years ago had tons of flaws but we were young, technology wasn't as crazy as it is now so people looked past the flaws and just had fun. Now its all about, is this real and what flaws can i find.

11-30-2011, 01:46 AM	#6
Lukin4 Rookie OVR: 2 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Australia	Fact... best example of this can be found on this very site. Look at the bitching / moaning / nit picking threads for any of the latest versions of madden / ncaa / nba2k, and then compare that to the threads for something like college hoops 2k which has been discontinued. I blame yearly release cycles...

11-30-2011, 02:38 AM	#7
thbends Pro OVR: 9 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Waco, TX	Fact: Im pretty much in tune with Caley Roark. My game time is very limited these days and I have not enjoyed my sports games like I should because I have been trying to play them like I did in my teens / twenties. Im 37... Wow, crazy to type that. Im married and have two kids. I need to stop restarting my franchise because something is wrong and just play/enjoy my games. Someone wrote in the forums once something I have tried to live by lately.... When asked if they were going to restart their franchise now that a roster and patch were out they simply replied... "Nope. My Maddenverse is already set." Here's to starting franchises and creating your own Maddenverse. It doesn't have to follow the NFL perfectly. Once it begins it becomes its own thing.

11-30-2011, 07:42 AM	#8
stlstudios189 MVP OVR: 41 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Toledo, OH Blog Entries: 26	My Maddenverse I love that term!!! I don't understand this whole it has to be exactly like real life stuff just watcht the NFL then. I make trades and sign free agents that make sense in my game universe and just have fun. John Smoltz pitching my Detroit Tigers into the playoffs check, my created self catching the gamewinning TD for the Cleveland Browns check, my players from CH2k8 getting created and now starting for the Knicks, Bulls and Timberwolves check.

11-30-2011, 01:20 PM	#10
Qb Moderator OVR: 43 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: 1994 Posts: 8,498	I'm also creeping towards the "just enjoy the game" crowd as I attempt to squeeze a few hours of gaming time into my day. Long gone are the days of all-nighters, hours of roster editing, and digging through forums to find the latest sliders/settings/workarounds/etc to improve the game. It's not necessarily by choice, but I'm finding that if I want to enjoy gaming now, I need to let go of my old ways.