Posted March 08, 2015
There is a stigma against sports games.
In truth all niche games and genres have a stigma attached to them, set by people who place themselves in boxes and only play games that define those very boxes. In other words 'stigma' is decided on by people who are on the outside, who are not active participants in that specific genre or niche. Stigma is imposed. This much is logical.
One common sentiment against those who mainly or only play sports games is that they are not considered 'gamers' in the first place. This is a hypocritical opinion, as it is 'OK' for people to only play MOBA's, MMO's, strategy games, RPGs or shooters. In other words all other genres except for sports games.
Yet whether you play Madden for 10 hrs a week or WoW doesn't matter, it is completely irrelevant what you play.
The strangest answer as to why some people don't play sports games is 'if I wanted to play _____ I would do that in real life'. This is to miss a crucial point of gaming, perhaps the most crucial point of all.
This point is that all games are about role-playing, of taking on a fantasy role, of enjoying another world.
Whether it is as a bus driver, world-war II soldier or wizard is irrelevant to this truth.
Sports games are no different, yet too many people don't seem to acknowledge this basic fact.
In some games you take on the role a single person, as in tennis, racing and golf games.
In others you take charge of a team and hopefully lead them to success, as in Madden, FIFA and NBA.
This team-building experience is no that different from what you get in an RPG or strategy game.
You are presented with a set of units with different skills and attributes, your goals is to lead them to victory.
The only difference is the arena that the events take place in, the tools used for progression/success and the rules that limit what you can and cannot do in the game.
In single-player sports games you do the same role-playing as you would in any other single-player game.
Its about the fantasy of being a pro tennis player, race driver or golfer.
Just because I play a hitman in a video game doesn't mean I want to, or can, do that in real-life.
Its the same with sports games: you are playing a character you can't be in real life.
I often gets asked what the whole point is, don't I get bored with sports and sim racing games ?
My answer is that each championship or tournament tells a story, it has a narrative.
This narrative is built by your successes and failures, and of what transpired during those events.
'In this race I almost won against Vettel', 'in that match I managed to just beat Nadal' and so on.
This idea should be familiar to people who enjoyed Dark Souls.
Just as each enemy encounter in Dark Souls is a unique moment in time so is every lap in MotoGP, every offensive attack in NHL and every serve in Top Spin. Its a brand new scenario, a new opportunity to succeed or fail.
Because you can play sports and sim-racing games in so many different ways, you have the same variety as you would with an RPG or strategy game. You have an abundance of teams with different skill sets, different cars and vehicle settings, and different strategies and tactics to employ. There's also the randomness of the AI.
Then there's the most tangible reason of all: the gameplay mechanics.
Sports games as a genre offers more technical or mechanical variety than any other gaming genre.
Most FPS games have very similar mechanics, as do most RPGs, strategy games, action games and MMOs.
Playing Madden is very different from playing a Tiger Woods game or NHL.
The mechanics of a sports game can be as addictive as that of other genre.
Just as there are people who play Dark Souls for the combat, in other words for the mechanics and what you can do with it, there are people who play sports games for the 'mechanics and what you can do with it'.
Soccer games are a good example of this.
Lastly, as with any other gaming genre people play sports games for different reasons.
There are those enjoy them because they are competitive people, which is no different from those who play MOBAs or Pokemon. There are those who play them for the immersive experience and the role-playing aspect, which is no different from people playing "regular" games for the very same reasons. And there are those who enjoy them simply because the mechanics are addictively fun and challenging, which is no different from people seeking the challenge of games like Dark Souls. In reality its probably a combination of all these things.
All of this is common sense to me, but I wanted to get my thoughts into print.
Note: I am extremely slow to answer any questions, I have so little time during the week, and what I have I would obviously rather spend on playing games or doing other fun things, so don't take offense.
In truth all niche games and genres have a stigma attached to them, set by people who place themselves in boxes and only play games that define those very boxes. In other words 'stigma' is decided on by people who are on the outside, who are not active participants in that specific genre or niche. Stigma is imposed. This much is logical.
One common sentiment against those who mainly or only play sports games is that they are not considered 'gamers' in the first place. This is a hypocritical opinion, as it is 'OK' for people to only play MOBA's, MMO's, strategy games, RPGs or shooters. In other words all other genres except for sports games.
Yet whether you play Madden for 10 hrs a week or WoW doesn't matter, it is completely irrelevant what you play.
The strangest answer as to why some people don't play sports games is 'if I wanted to play _____ I would do that in real life'. This is to miss a crucial point of gaming, perhaps the most crucial point of all.
This point is that all games are about role-playing, of taking on a fantasy role, of enjoying another world.
Whether it is as a bus driver, world-war II soldier or wizard is irrelevant to this truth.
Sports games are no different, yet too many people don't seem to acknowledge this basic fact.
In some games you take on the role a single person, as in tennis, racing and golf games.
In others you take charge of a team and hopefully lead them to success, as in Madden, FIFA and NBA.
This team-building experience is no that different from what you get in an RPG or strategy game.
You are presented with a set of units with different skills and attributes, your goals is to lead them to victory.
The only difference is the arena that the events take place in, the tools used for progression/success and the rules that limit what you can and cannot do in the game.
In single-player sports games you do the same role-playing as you would in any other single-player game.
Its about the fantasy of being a pro tennis player, race driver or golfer.
Just because I play a hitman in a video game doesn't mean I want to, or can, do that in real-life.
Its the same with sports games: you are playing a character you can't be in real life.
I often gets asked what the whole point is, don't I get bored with sports and sim racing games ?
My answer is that each championship or tournament tells a story, it has a narrative.
This narrative is built by your successes and failures, and of what transpired during those events.
'In this race I almost won against Vettel', 'in that match I managed to just beat Nadal' and so on.
This idea should be familiar to people who enjoyed Dark Souls.
Just as each enemy encounter in Dark Souls is a unique moment in time so is every lap in MotoGP, every offensive attack in NHL and every serve in Top Spin. Its a brand new scenario, a new opportunity to succeed or fail.
Because you can play sports and sim-racing games in so many different ways, you have the same variety as you would with an RPG or strategy game. You have an abundance of teams with different skill sets, different cars and vehicle settings, and different strategies and tactics to employ. There's also the randomness of the AI.
Then there's the most tangible reason of all: the gameplay mechanics.
Sports games as a genre offers more technical or mechanical variety than any other gaming genre.
Most FPS games have very similar mechanics, as do most RPGs, strategy games, action games and MMOs.
Playing Madden is very different from playing a Tiger Woods game or NHL.
The mechanics of a sports game can be as addictive as that of other genre.
Just as there are people who play Dark Souls for the combat, in other words for the mechanics and what you can do with it, there are people who play sports games for the 'mechanics and what you can do with it'.
Soccer games are a good example of this.
Lastly, as with any other gaming genre people play sports games for different reasons.
There are those enjoy them because they are competitive people, which is no different from those who play MOBAs or Pokemon. There are those who play them for the immersive experience and the role-playing aspect, which is no different from people playing "regular" games for the very same reasons. And there are those who enjoy them simply because the mechanics are addictively fun and challenging, which is no different from people seeking the challenge of games like Dark Souls. In reality its probably a combination of all these things.
All of this is common sense to me, but I wanted to get my thoughts into print.
Note: I am extremely slow to answer any questions, I have so little time during the week, and what I have I would obviously rather spend on playing games or doing other fun things, so don't take offense.
