Editorial: Sports Video Games

You can not ignore the importance of sport games in the video game world. They are a huge deal, and are constantly getting better, which is one of the reasons that they have had such a huge impact on the world of video games. I am a huge fan of sports video games, especially when they are done right, which leads me to the question: Which sports have made the best transition into a video game?

To me the best type of sports game available is baseball. While it is true that baseball is my favorite sport, that is not why I say it's the best. It's the best because they have managed to capture all of the different aspects of the game. From hitting a home run, to getting caught in a run down, it's all there. Every year the game seems to get closer to true simulation, with the player models getting better, as well as the animations. I am not saying that any baseball video game that has been made has been perfect, but they seem to be the closest to perfect available. Now I understand that some people might argue that football is the best sports video game that is currently available. While it is the most popular, it does not simulate the actual sport as well as baseball. There are too many glitches, animations can be lacking, challenges are all luck, and it can be too easy. Now, this isn't to say I don't like football video games. I find them to be very fun. In fact, I am looking forward to the release of Madden '08.

Now on the the fun part - the worst. After thinking about this for awhile, and considering many different types, I remembered wrestling. To me this is rock bottom when it comes to sports video games. These game were never incredibly popular, nor good. The most popular ones were probably the WWE games on the N64, and they were never "sold out" popular. The best games graphically are obviously the most recent games, which I don't know the names of, and I won't bother to look them up. However to me the biggest problem with wrestling video games is the terrible simulation, because of the lack of moves. Think about, there are only so many button combos that you can do on any given controller before it gets tedious. On top of that, there are way more moves in real life then available in the games. I just don't see why anybody outside of hard-core wrestling fans would buy anything from this particular genre.

There are a few other loose ends to tie up. For example - soccer video games. I can't really tell much about them because I rarely ever play them, but from what I understand they manage to do a pretty good job of simulating a real game. Another one is golf - this is probably the most realistic sim out there, but unfortunately it is very unpopular. Last but not least is basketball. Basketball games are certainly getting better and more realistic as time goes on, but they have yet to achieve anything great. Speaking of on the rise - that is something that is true about most sports video games. Ever since the creation of true 3D video games, sports games are always improving, and are becoming more popular due to their realism. Sports video games are something you can't ignore, and something you have probably taken part in over your life. The future of sports video games is looking up, and I can't wait to see what can be done on the new systems - especially the Wii.

Editorial: Dan