GamerNode: Columns - The Significance of Sports Games

The Significance of Sports Games

There are many types of games, and many types of gamers -- a fact of life that a fair share of the more "hardcore" veteran gaming audience may not be one-hundred percent willing to accept. Over the past few years, in what could be referred to as the Wii Expansion Era of the videogame industry, this simple truth has become more and more evident via a continuous influx of an increasing number of "casual" gaming hobbyists. But this isn't the first time the inhabitants of the gaming world have had to cope with mass immigration, so to speak. Sports gamers, too, were at one time the new kids on the block, but have since transitioned into a position of mainstream gaming acceptance. This maturation, then, begs the question, "what is the significance of sports games to the industry as a whole?"

While they have existed since the industry's infancy (more on that later), it wasn't until the mid-90s and the 16-bit era that sports games really began to flourish. This growth ushered in a brand new crowd of gamers who might have never picked up a controller before, expanding the gaming population much like the Wii has done in more recent years. One franchise in particular can be credited for more than a fair share of the genre's early success, and although it has existed since 1989, the Madden series took virtual football to the next level in 1993 by securing official NFL licenses, which in turn drew in a large number of existing NFL fans. Not coincidentally, 1993 was also the year that EA Sports was formed, and it is to this period that the roots of many existing sports franchises -- and sports gamers -- can be traced.

Since their introduction, sports games have always functioned as catalysts for the growth of the videogame industry. In fact, some of the very first games were designed to mimic real-life sports. Tennis for Two in 1958 and the notorious Pong in 1972 sparked the videogame boom, making the sports genre one of the oldest in gaming. Even if this genre wasn't immediately a mega-popular mainstay for enthusiasts, these pioneering titles laid the foundation for everything to follow. Nearly as relevant to the current state of gaming is how instrumental the sports genre has been in promoting multiplayer/competitive gaming. Sports games have always been about playing together with friends, either cooperatively or competitively, and it's no secret that as time goes on, a greater percentage of the gaming population and a greater percentage of games are either connecting online or locally. The standard, taken-for-granted, 4-controller-port design of modern consoles stems from the multitap, an 8-bit-era invention that increased the number of ports on home consoles to accomodate more players at one time. These devices were of course supported primarily by sports titles, which allowed many players to participate in games simultaneously. More recently, the Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Network phenomena have become so important to the modern social gaming climate that the absence of online components actually decreases a game's value in the eyes of many critics.

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