What happened to the competition for sports games?

[aleshemsky83]

I want a good NHL game

I actually stopped playing the nhl games because the controls got too complicated. Its not even realistic anymore its fake realism.

 

[CycloneLaunch]

EA Sports make about half a billion a year just off the Ultimate team modes in their sports series' (the player packs in these game modes are basically slot machines), it's hard to see them losing or allowing other companies to get the player licenses and threatening this.

NBA 2k11 vs NBA Live 11 is also hilarious. 2k11 was one of the best sports games of the last generation. Live 11 would have been one of the worst..

My main beef with the cost of producing games means that EA Sports will probably never make a rugby or cricket game again. Rugby games these days are garbage, one has pretty much the exact gameplay EA Sports used in their last rugby game, Rugby 08. The other seems to have been made by people who have never seen a game in their life.

 

[CycloneLaunch]

Last gen was great era for hockey games imo, there hasn't been a single good release for this current generation.

 

[PALE PWNR]

I want a good NHL game

I don't even want a good NHL game. I just want a good hockey game. Don't use player names likenesses or teams, just take the EASHL model and make the gameplay great, with customizable team options.

 

[awesomo]

2K was the best at making simulation hockey

 

[John Price]

I was going to say, the monopoly of a specific sport really hasn't affected the quality of NBA 2K or The Show. Those two franchises actively look to get better and better every year. Don't think it's a coincidence that NHL and Madden are the ones that seem to get minimal improvements (if that) year after year. I guess FIFA has a better rep as an EA game, but still, 2K and The Show are in a league of their own.

Good point. Ea is lazy. They only improve fifa.

 

[Morozov]

Good point. Ea is lazy. They only improve fifa.

I think they've turned a bit of a corner with Madden the last couple of years. Definitely feels like it has been improving.

But still not close to touching 2K or The Show

 

[Son Goku]

Most baseball games just pale in comparison to the Show. It's like half the reason I wanted a PS4.

Haven't played the NHL series in forever, but hasn't EA just mailed it in the past couple years? Maybe the costs of licencing and developing AAA sports titles are too cost prohibitive for most studios.

EA has been mailing it in for years. The last good game made was NHL 15 for PS3 and even that has its flaws. (Random lag, getting booted for no reason, can't hear certain players on your team, horrible player animations, ridiculously unrealistic physics).

 

[Le Tricolore]

EA has been mailing it in for years. The last good game made was NHL 15 for PS3 and even that has its flaws. (Random lag, getting booted for no reason, can't hear certain players on your team, horrible player animations, ridiculously unrealistic physics).

Gameplay wise, I think NHL 17 is the best one in a long time. I wish it had a more in depth franchise mode (like Madden or NBA 2k), but as far as the actual on ice play, I really enjoy it.

You have to toy around with the sliders a bit, but once you do, the game's a lot of fun.

 

[TheCanasianfrasian]

Stanley Cup Hockey best hockey game ever

 

[AgentM]

I'd kill for a new NHL Hitz Game. Don't change anything, just upgrade the graphics and give me new rosters. Oh and keep the RPG style upgradeable equipment from the 2nd game, that was badass!

EDIT: Decided to look (pray) for a new Hitz game and stumbled upon this. Has anyone heard of this game? I'm really hoping the gameplay is fun cause this is exactly the type of hockey game I'd prefer!

http://www.idigitaltimes.com/old-time-hockey-release-date-arcade-style-game-brings-fans-back-1970s-hockey-scene-577314

http://thecomeback.com/nhl/old-time-hockey-looks-like-an-arcade-style-nostalgic-fun-time.html

 

[Vamos Rafa]

About FIFA. Remember when EA was catering to the American gamers when they would have to add "Soccer" to the title? And a US player had to be on the cover along with the main cover athlete? I guess they've stopped doing that since Landon Donovan retired. This year was surprising whwn they only stuck with Marco Reus, a much lesser known player compared to Messi. I guess that just tells you that American soccer is now lacking star power.

 

[tmurfin]

Man.. Xbox needs a baseball game. I don't even like baseball all that much, but I looooove The Show.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

I want a good NHL game

Not happening.

EA puts pennies into their NHL games, and it shows with sales and their final product. I still buy them for EASHL with friends, but there's a lot of stupid **** that happens every game.

 

[flyingkiwi]

About FIFA. Remember when EA was catering to the American gamers when they would have to add "Soccer" to the title? And a US player had to be on the cover along with the main cover athlete? I guess they've stopped doing that since Landon Donovan retired. This year was surprising whwn they only stuck with Marco Reus, a much lesser known player compared to Messi. I guess that just tells you that American soccer is now lacking star power.

Messi And EA didn't renew their contract, and Ronaldo and Neymar are contracted to Konami for PES. They probably could have someone someone else, but it's nice to see a change on the cover.

I dare say the average American would now be able to look at a FIFA cover and wouldn't need the word soccer to know what sport it is.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

About FIFA. Remember when EA was catering to the American gamers when they would have to add "Soccer" to the title? And a US player had to be on the cover along with the main cover athlete? I guess they've stopped doing that since Landon Donovan retired. This year was surprising whwn they only stuck with Marco Reus, a much lesser known player compared to Messi. I guess that just tells you that American soccer is now lacking star power.

The covers are usually regional.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Not happening.

EA puts pennies into their NHL games, and it shows with sales and their final product. I still buy them for EASHL with friends, but there's a lot of stupid **** that happens every game.

Yep and that sucks. Get rid of NBA live. It's trash. Put the resources into a NHL game

 

[LukeSkywalker]

Finally found a thread for this. Are there even really any fun to play hockey games now? I didn't like the Old Time Hockey (or Bush Hockey League) even though I really liked the idea! Super Blood Hockey was fun, but didn't really feel that much of a hockey game. Now there's at least few indie hockey games coming out. Hopes are high on those:

• Goons: Legends of the Hockeyverse
• Hockey Heroes
• PuckOff
• Wild Ice(kinda)

I really hope some of these games score on this front. Of course the Wild Ice isn't really a hockey game but hockey themed and looks kinda good. I've totally lost every bit of respect for NHL. Also Franchice Hockey Managers have a lot to do to win me back. So I really need my weekly hockey dose!

 

[Beau Knows]

Finally found a thread for this. Are there even really any fun to play hockey games now? I didn't like the Old Time Hockey (or Bush Hockey League) even though I really liked the idea! Super Blood Hockey was fun, but didn't really feel that much of a hockey game. Now there's at least few indie hockey games coming out. Hopes are high on those:

• Goons: Legends of the Hockeyverse
• Hockey Heroes
• PuckOff
• Wild Ice(kinda)

I really hope some of these games score on this front. Of course the Wild Ice isn't really a hockey game but hockey themed and looks kinda good. I've totally lost every bit of respect for NHL. Also Franchice Hockey Managers have a lot to do to win me back. So I really need my weekly hockey dose!

There's a game called Slapshot: Rebound on PC. The neat thing with it is that you don't press buttons to shoot or pass, you control your hockey stick by rotating it around you and that's how you pass or shoot or deke. It's a bit tough to get into, but it's also a very rewarding game when you start getting better at it.

 

[JaegerDice]

There are a lot of interconnected reasons, but the shortest answer is "because videogames are very expensive and complicated to make these days."

Between the investment in actually creating a game of competitive quality and the investment of marketing, anybody attempting to enter the sports space is basically guaranteeing themselves they're going to lose A LOT of money for several years as they try to establish (or in some cases, re-establish) themselves in the marketplace. With video game development and marketing both costing in the 10s of millions of dollars minimum, the hit a company would take trying to make a dent in an established genre would be enormous.

EA seemed willing to take the hit for the NBA, because the NBA is arguably the biggest global sport outside of soccer, which they already dominate. And they are losing a TON of money trying to prop that franchise up. Yes, the games aren't very good compared to the 2K offerings, but of course they're not, 2K has been honing their development pipeline and their employees have hammered out so many games, it's basically muscle memory for them at this point. EA basically has to (re)learn how to make a basketball game AND stay on the annual release treadmill while they learn. They're ice-skating uphill.

Most companies just can't make the proposition make sense in their accounting spreadsheets.

As far as the NHL, sad to say, it's one of the smallest sports in the world, with an audience to match. I'm frankly shocked that EA hasn't canned the series already. They may as well have, given the hilariously low budget afforded the games.

But as long as the conditional formatting on the spreadsheet shows NHL in the green, they'll keep pumping them out for as long as people buy enough of them to make the minimal investment worth it.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I picked up both NHL 22 and NBA 2K22 for the kids as Christmas presents this year.

This is not news to anyone, I know, but I am just blown away by the difference in how much depth 2K has compared to anything EA is putting out. Back in the day it was more of a preference between styles, but this isn't even a competition. Even hearing people talk about it online, I hadn't realized that there was such a massive gap in quality.

On that note, 2K is just about the first console-based game I've ever bought where I would actually consider doing microtransactions. It actually makes sense in that context and the benefits make it seem worth it. Likewise, it makes a PSN subscription make sense. I could see dropping another $50+ to elevate the experience, which I would never ever do with NHL 22 or its predecessors.

 

[x Tame Impala]

The yearly release cycle guarantees mediocrity and lack of significant progress

 

[93LEAFS]

I'm not a fan of live service traditionally, but can they just focus on taking 4 years to make a great game with a strong franchise mode and then just make it live service? Sports more than any other gaming genre seems made for this.

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

Give me an EASHL style only game with no NHL license. If it’s good and all the game resources are poured into it that would be awesome. You don’t even need an NHL license for it.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I’m not a game programmer so I don’t know for myself, but I wonder how difficult it is to program hockey physics into a game. It’s gotta be pretty hard otherwise we’d see more hockey games, yeah?