Press Pass: Do Sports Games Have a Sporting Chance?

Columnist Kyle Orland looks at the one gaming genre that just can't seem to get a fair shake from the gaming press: sports games.
10/9/2008 8:06 PM | 1 Comments | Page 3 of 3

"To me, the perception really soured after several of the top gaming sites gave Madden NFL 06 a good review," Sanner continues, "when nearly everyone in the hardcore crowd thought the game was an absolute mess. Some sites gave the game a score of 80 or higher, which was just way off-base. ... When you take into account the lack of atmosphere and presentation and the only average gameplay, the game just didn't feel quality at all. It would be like shipping Call of Duty with a single-player campaign that was missing half of the levels. The game would still technically play fine, but you would not like the fact you only got half of the game."

In the end, this sort of tone-deaf undercoverage of sports games could be a missed opportunity for gaming publications. "I would love to see 1UP create a space for a daily update that features sports games," Zuniga said. "I think there's enough out there, and EA and others are savvy enough about promoting their games to give that kind of content daily. I think the most important thing for people to recognize is that there are opportunities out there to create sites and cover sports games in new and inventive ways."