On the dawn of Super Bowl Weekend, casual sports fan Dave Rudden examines how arcade sports games are the gateway drug to sports fandom-and how video game publishers have failed to capitalize on that.
Super Bowl XLV is occurring in approximately two days, and I have no interest in what happens during the game. Don't get me wrong, I'll take any excuse to drink and eat fried food with the other GamePro editors during the early afternoon, but the highlight of my Sunday will be watching a recording of UFC 126. A year ago, my ambivalence towards both sports leagues was equal, but UFC has bridged the gap. The reason? It had a sports game that I could enjoy. Despite the best efforts of EA Sports to speed up the pace of Madden matches, I currently lack the patience to endure an entire game for a sport that I wouldn't watch on TV. There is a way for EA to change my mind, because they've done it twice this year already.
While I've never really been into football, my love for the NBA and NHL comes in fits and starts. Part of it can be blamed on the futility of the teams I root for-the Knicks and Islanders, respectively-but the fact that the games representative of these leagues in recent years have been focused strictly on catering to hardcore fans of each sport. I've been getting back into both teams because of a time-tested method-arcade sports game.
Over the past half-year, I've taken to two arcade sports games-one old, one new-that have rekindled my interest in each sport. NBA Jam, in my opinion, stands out as the perfect way to bridge the game between the casual and hardcore, both in terms of game and sports fandom. With an easy barrier of entry, quicker matches, and a pared down roster, the games are able to present the league's hottest stars in an extremely efficient manner. Compare it with a standard game of NBA Live (god rest its soul), which would incorporate substitutions, fouls, and a 30-plus minute match, and it's easy to see why a casual NBA observer would balk at hopping onto the court. There's only one hang-up that has negatively impacted Jam-its price. Despite a warm reception from critics, the three console versions of the game have yet to break a half-million units of sales, combined, according toVgchartz. All three games are valued at $50, which is a price few casual sports buffs will be willing to pay.
It's possible to betoo simple, though. NHL Arcade 3-on-3, a release from 2009, has done the bare minimum to convert me back into watching the Isles. While the matches are fun and fast enough to encourage repeat play-throughs, the game is missing a critical element to catering to hardcore fans. The complete lack of NHL teams (the matches have you pick three players from an all-star roster of roughly 30 players to play on the"red"or"blue"team) is near-unforgivable, since a lapsed hockey fan won't be able to identify with their team's best players. Sure, it's being sold at a super-attractive $10 price point, but the developers have underestimated the secondary value a sports game offers-promotional.
WWE All-Stars is an upcoming game that I think understands the balance of selling the game and the sport to the customer. From what I've seen, the game has ably sold the idea of a quicker, less complicated arcade fighting experience alongside the prospect of tuning into the current product put on the air. At first glance, filling half of the roster with legends that rarely appear on Raw or Smackdown would be a poor way to sell casual wrestling fans on the current product, but the slimmed-down current roster (featuring the best of today's superstars) avoids an overlooked pitfall of simulation sports games when it comes to the casual crowd. By only presenting the top-tier of the sport's talent, it allows an easier hook for casual fans.
Sports gamers in the know have probably noticed that I've overlooked Madden NFL Arcade. While reception of that game seems to indicate that it's closer to finding a balance than any other sports game on current consoles, I believe that a new football experience could find the definitive balance that the arcade sports genre needs to find to survive. Bringing back NFL Blitz to retail and downloadable services at a price point $20 or less is key to getting gamers like me to identify with the league, it's teams, and their players. Divorcing the experience from Madden (which many gamers respond negatively to) may not work for EA's branding standards, but all parties need to realize that the value of arcade sports can't be based on a compromised version of the simulation model. If the developer isn't making an arcade sports game accessible in every way, presenting the easiest method of identifying with a league's teams and players, it shouldn't be on the playing field.
The last time Dave Rudden gave a lick about the teams playing in the Super Bowl, it was when the Colts scored an extraneous touchdown in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLI, helping him win a cool $250 in a pool with his friends. The next year, when his hometown New York Giants won the big game, he was at a Trader Joes when the team upset the-then undefeated Patriots. If you want to rag on him for either of those affronts, you can interact with himon Twitter.
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