Sports video game: Difference between revisions
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Computer games prior to the late 1970s were primarily played on university [[Mainframe computer|mainframe]] computers under [[timesharing]] systems that supported multiple [[computer terminals]] on school campuses. The two dominant systems in this era were [[Digital Equipment Corporation|Digital Equipment Corporation's]] [[PDP-10]] and [[Control Data Corporation|Control Data Corporation's]] [[PLATO]]. Both could only display text, and not graphics,originally printed on [[teletype]] machines and [[line printer]]s, but later printed on single-color [[Cathode ray tube|CRT]] screens. |
Computer games prior to the late 1970s were primarily played on university [[Mainframe computer|mainframe]] computers under [[timesharing]] systems that supported multiple [[computer terminals]] on school campuses. The two dominant systems in this era were [[Digital Equipment Corporation|Digital Equipment Corporation's]] [[PDP-10]] and [[Control Data Corporation|Control Data Corporation's]] [[PLATO]]. Both could only display text, and not graphics,originally printed on [[teletype]] machines and [[line printer]]s, but later printed on single-color [[Cathode ray tube|CRT]] screens. |
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In the 1970s, [[Arcade game|arcade video games]] began to appear, many of them centred around the sports genre, after it was popularized in 1972 by the commercial success of [[Atari]]'s ''[[Pong]]'', |
In the 1970s, [[Arcade game|arcade video games]] began to appear, many of them centred around the sports genre, after it was popularized in 1972 by the commercial success of [[Atari]]'s ''[[Pong]]'', a two-player [[table tennis]] game that had similar gameplay to ''Tennis for Two''. The first [[racing game]], [[Taito]]'s ''[[List of Taito games|Astro Race]]'', was released in 1973,<ref>{{KLOV game|id=6949|name=Astro Race}}</ref> followed by Taito's ''[[List of Taito games|Speed Race]]''<ref>{{KLOV game|id=9709|name=Speed Race}}</ref> and Atari's ''[[Gran Trak 10]]'' in 1974, with the subgenre later extended into three dimensions in 1976 by the Sega games ''Moto-Cross'',<ref name=Moto-Cross>{{KLOV game|12812|Moto-Cross}}</ref> ''[[Fonz (arcade)|Fonz]]'',<ref name=Fonz>{{KLOV game|id=12812|name=Fonz}}</ref> and ''Road Race'',<ref>{{KLOV game|12733|Road Race}}</ref> and Atari's ''[[Night Driver]]''. Early [[hockey]] games were also released in 1973: Taito's ''[[List of Taito games|Pro Hockey]]'' (which had similar gameplay to ''Pong'')<ref>{{KLOV game|id=9128|name=Pro Hockey}}</ref> and [[Sega]]'s ''Hockey TV''.<ref>{{KLOV game|id=8127|name=Hockey TV}}</ref> In 1974, Taito released an early [[team sport]] game, ''[[List of Taito games|Basketball]]'', based on the [[contact sport]] of [[basketball]].<ref>{{KLOV game|id=7025|name=Basketball}}</ref> That same year, Sega released an early [[football]] game, ''Goal Kick'', based on [[Association football|soccer football]], which was played like a vertical ball-and-paddle game.<ref>{{KLOV game|12791|Goal Kick}}</ref> |
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In 1975, [[UPL]] released an early four-player multiple-sports game, ''Video Action'', which featured tennis, hockey, and |
In 1975, [[UPL]] released an early four-player multiple-sports game, ''Video Action'', which featured tennis, hockey, and soccer football, each of which was a different variant of the ''Pong'' style popular at the time.<ref>{{KLOV game|id=10309|name=Video Action}}</ref> In 1976, Sega released an early [[motorbike racing]] game, ''[[Fonz (arcade)|Fonz]]'',<ref>{{KLOV game|id=12812|name=Fonz}}</ref> and an early [[combat sport]] game, ''[[Heavyweight Champ]]'', based on [[boxing]] and now considered the first [[fighting game]].<ref>[http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3164853 20 Years of Whoop-Ass], [[1UP]]</ref> In 1977, an early black-and-white [[American football]] game, Sega's ''Super Bowl'', was released by [[Gremlin Industries]],<ref>{{KLOV game|id=9869|name=Super Bowl}}</ref> followed in 1978 by ''[[Atari Football]]'', which is considered to be the first video game to accurately emulate American football.<ref>http://www.atarifootball.com/joomla/index.php/history-football</ref> Taito also released an early [[bowling]] game in 1978, ''[[List of Taito games|Top Bowler]]'',<ref>{{KLOV game|id=10150|name=Top Bowler}}</ref> followed by an early [[baseball]] game in 1979, ''[[List of Taito games|Ball Park]]''.<ref>{{KLOV game|id=7002|name=Ball Park}}</ref> |
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===1980s=== |
===1980s=== |
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* ''[[Pole Position]]'' (1982) |
* ''[[Pole Position]]'' (1982) |
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In 1981, Taito released ''[[Alpine Ski]]'', an early [[ |
In 1981, Taito released ''[[Alpine Ski]]'', an early [[extreme sport]] game, based on [[winter sport]]s. It was a vertical [[scrolling]] game that involved maneuvering a [[Skiing|skier]] through multiple events: a [[downhill]] ski course, a [[Slalom skiing|slalom]] racing course, and a [[ski jumping]] competition.<ref>{{KLOV game|id=6871|name=Alpine Ski}}</ref> That same year, Sega's ''[[Turbo (video game)|Turbo]]'' introduced a [[Third person (video games)|third-person perspective]] into the genre,<ref>{{KLOV game|id=10216|name=Turbo}}</ref> with [[Namco]]'s ''Pole Position'' then popularizing the now common rear-view racer format and introducing [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] opponents the following year.<ref>{{KLOV game|id=9063|name=Pole Position}}</ref> |
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In 1982, Taito released an early [[golf]] game, ''[[Birdie King]]'',<ref>{{KLOV game|id=7124|name=Birdie King}}</ref> while [[Data East]] released an early [[fishing]] game, ''[[DECO Cassette System#Game list|Angler Dangler]]''.<ref>{{KLOV game|id=6889|name=Angler Dangler}}</ref> That same year, [[Sinclair ZX Spectrum|ZX Spectrum]] released the first [[association football]] management simulation, ''[[Football Manager series (original)|Football Manager]]'', while [[Konami]] released an early [[Athletics (sport)|athletics]] game, ''[[Track & Field (video game)|Track & Field]]'', which featured multiple [[Olympic]] [[track and field|track & field]] events (including the [[100 metres|100-meter]] dash, [[long jump]], [[javelin throw]], [[110 metres hurdles|110-meter hurdles]], [[hammer throw]], and [[high jump]]) and allowed up to four players to compete.<ref>{{KLOV game|id=10180|name=Track and Field}}</ref> In 1983, [[Electronic Arts|EA]] produced their first sports game ''[[Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/dr-j-and-larry-bird-go-one-on-one|title=Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One|publisher=MobyGames|accessdate=2009-05-14}}</ref> which was also the first licensed sports game based on the names and likenesses of famous athletes. |
In 1982, Taito released an early [[golf]] game, ''[[Birdie King]]'',<ref>{{KLOV game|id=7124|name=Birdie King}}</ref> while [[Data East]] released an early [[fishing]] game, ''[[DECO Cassette System#Game list|Angler Dangler]]''.<ref>{{KLOV game|id=6889|name=Angler Dangler}}</ref> That same year, [[Sinclair ZX Spectrum|ZX Spectrum]] released the first [[association football]] management simulation, ''[[Football Manager series (original)|Football Manager]]'', while [[Konami]] released an early [[Athletics (sport)|athletics]] game, ''[[Track & Field (video game)|Track & Field]]'', which featured multiple [[Olympic]] [[track and field|track & field]] events (including the [[100 metres|100-meter]] dash, [[long jump]], [[javelin throw]], [[110 metres hurdles|110-meter hurdles]], [[hammer throw]], and [[high jump]]) and allowed up to four players to compete.<ref>{{KLOV game|id=10180|name=Track and Field}}</ref> In 1983, [[Electronic Arts|EA]] produced their first sports game ''[[Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/dr-j-and-larry-bird-go-one-on-one|title=Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One|publisher=MobyGames|accessdate=2009-05-14}}</ref> which was also the first licensed sports game based on the names and likenesses of famous athletes. |
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===Extreme sports enters into the mainstream=== |
===Extreme sports enters into the mainstream=== |
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[[File:SSX blur screenshot.jpg|thumb|''[[SSX Blur]]'' on the [[Wii]] console]] |
[[File:SSX blur screenshot.jpg|thumb|''[[SSX Blur]]'' on the [[Wii]] console]] |
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At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, [[extreme sports]] video games started to appear. [[Tony Hawk's Pro Skater]] was one of the first, a [[skateboarding]] game where players were challenged to execute elaborate tricks or collect a series of elements hidden throughout the level.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uk.gamespot.com/ps/sports/tonyhawksproskater/review.html|title=Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Review|publisher=[[GameSpot]]|accessdate=2009-05-10|date=1999-09-29|first=Jeff|last=Gerstmann}}</ref> In 2000, [[SSX]] was released. Based around [[boardercross]], the game featured fast downhill races, avoiding various objects whilst using others to perform jumps and increase the player's speed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uk.ps2.ign.com/articles/164/164022p1.html|title=SSX Review|publisher=[[IGN]]|date=2000-10-23|accessdate=2009-05-10|first=David|last=Zdyrko}}</ref> |
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At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, [[extreme sport]] video games began to appear more frequently. |
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In 1996, two early [[snowboarding]] games were released: [[Namco]]'s ''Alpine Surfer'' in the arcades,<ref>{{KLOV game|6872|Alpine Surfer}}</ref> and the [[UEP Systems]] game ''[[Cool Boarders]]'' for the [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] console.<ref>{{GameFAQs|type=/console/psx|num=196979|name=''Cool Boarders''}}</ref> The following year, [[Square (company)|Square]]'s popular [[role-playing video game]], ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', included a snowboarding [[Minigames of Final Fantasy|minigame]] that was later released as an indepdendent snowboarding game, ''[[Final Fantasy VII Snowboarding]]'', for mobile phones.<ref>{{Cite web| last=Buchanan|first=Levi | date=March 10, 2005 | title=Final Fantasy VII Snowboarding | url=http://wireless.ign.com/articles/594/594902p1.html | publisher=IGN | accessdate=July 16, 2008}}</ref> In 2000, ''[[SSX]]'' was released. Based around [[boardercross]], the game featured fast downhill races, avoiding various objects whilst using others to perform jumps and increase the player's speed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uk.ps2.ign.com/articles/164/164022p1.html|title=SSX Review|publisher=[[IGN]]|date=2000-10-23|accessdate=2009-05-10|first=David|last=Zdyrko}}</ref> |
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In 1997, Sega released one of the first mainstream [[skateboarding]] games, ''[[Top Skater]]'',<ref name=GSpot-Tony/> in the arcades, where it introduced a [[skateboard]] [[Game controller|controller]] interface.<ref>Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XiM0ntMybNwC ''The video game explosion: a history from PONG to Playstation and beyond''], p. xx, [[ABC-CLIO]], ISBN 031333868X</ref> The following year saw the release of the console skateboarding game ''[[Street Sk8er]]'', developed by Atelier Double and published by [[Electronic Arts]]. In 1999, the subgenre was further popularized by ''[[Tony Hawk's Pro Skater]]'', an arcade-like skateboarding game where players were challenged to execute elaborate tricks or collect a series of elements hidden throughout the level.<ref name=GSpot-Tony>{{Cite web|url=http://uk.gamespot.com/ps/sports/tonyhawksproskater/review.html|title=Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Review|publisher=[[GameSpot]]|accessdate=2009-05-10|date=1999-09-29|first=Jeff|last=Gerstmann}}</ref> |
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===Sports gaming becomes big business=== |
===Sports gaming becomes big business=== |
Revision as of 14:11, 27 January 2011
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Simulation video games |
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A sports game is a computer or video game that simulates the playing of traditional sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including team sports, athletics and extreme sports. Some games emphasize actually playing the sport (such as the Madden NFL series), whilst others emphasize strategy and organization (such as Championship Manager). Some, such as Arch Rivals, satirize the sport for comic effect. This genre has been popular throughout the history of video games and is competitive, just like real-world sports. A number of game series features the names and characteristics of real teams and players, and are updated annually to reflect real-world changes.
Game design
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2009) |
Sports games involve physical and tactical challenges, and test the player's precision and accuracy.[1] Most sports games attempt to model the athletic characteristics required by that sport, including speed, strength, acceleration, accuracy, and so on.[1] As with their respective sports, these games take place in a stadium or arena with clear boundaries.[1] Sports games often provide play-by-play and color commentary through the use of recorded audio.[1]
Sports games sometimes make use of different modes for different parts of the game. This is especially true in games about American football such as the Madden NFL series, where executing a pass play requires six different gameplay modes in the span of approximately 45 seconds.[1] Sometimes, other sports games offer a menu where players may select a strategy while play is temporarily suspended.[1] Soccer video games sometimes shift gameplay modes when it is time for the player to attempt a penalty kick, where a single athlete tries to kick a goal passed the other team's goal keeper with no presence from other players.[1] Some sports games also require players to shift roles between the athletes and the coach or manager. These mode switches are more intuitive than other game genres because they reflect actual sports.[1]
Older 2D sports games sometimes used an unrealistic graphical scale, where athletes appeared to be quite large in order to be visible to the player. As sports games have evolved, players have come to expect a realistic graphical scale with a high degree of verisimilitude.[1] Sports games often simplify the game physics for ease of play, and ignore factors such as a player's inertia.[1] Games typically take place with a highly accurate time-scale, although they usually allow players to play quick sessions with shorter game quarters or periods.[1]
Sports games sometimes treat button-pushes as continuous signals rather than discrete moves, in order to initiate and end a continuous action. For example, football games may distinguish between short and long passes based on how long the player holds a button. Golf games often initiate the backswing with one button-push, and the swing itself is initiated by a subsequent push.[1]
History
Beginnings of sports games
In 1958, William Higinbotham created a game called Tennis for Two, a two-player tennis game played on an oscilloscope. The players would select the angle at which to put their racket, and pressed a button to return it. Although this game was incredibly simple, it demonstrated how an action game (rather than previous puzzles) could be played on a computer.[2]
Computer games prior to the late 1970s were primarily played on university mainframe computers under timesharing systems that supported multiple computer terminals on school campuses. The two dominant systems in this era were Digital Equipment Corporation's PDP-10 and Control Data Corporation's PLATO. Both could only display text, and not graphics,originally printed on teletype machines and line printers, but later printed on single-color CRT screens.
In the 1970s, arcade video games began to appear, many of them centred around the sports genre, after it was popularized in 1972 by the commercial success of Atari's Pong, a two-player table tennis game that had similar gameplay to Tennis for Two. The first racing game, Taito's Astro Race, was released in 1973,[3] followed by Taito's Speed Race[4] and Atari's Gran Trak 10 in 1974, with the subgenre later extended into three dimensions in 1976 by the Sega games Moto-Cross,[5] Fonz,[6] and Road Race,[7] and Atari's Night Driver. Early hockey games were also released in 1973: Taito's Pro Hockey (which had similar gameplay to Pong)[8] and Sega's Hockey TV.[9] In 1974, Taito released an early team sport game, Basketball, based on the contact sport of basketball.[10] That same year, Sega released an early football game, Goal Kick, based on soccer football, which was played like a vertical ball-and-paddle game.[11]
In 1975, UPL released an early four-player multiple-sports game, Video Action, which featured tennis, hockey, and soccer football, each of which was a different variant of the Pong style popular at the time.[12] In 1976, Sega released an early motorbike racing game, Fonz,[13] and an early combat sport game, Heavyweight Champ, based on boxing and now considered the first fighting game.[14] In 1977, an early black-and-white American football game, Sega's Super Bowl, was released by Gremlin Industries,[15] followed in 1978 by Atari Football, which is considered to be the first video game to accurately emulate American football.[16] Taito also released an early bowling game in 1978, Top Bowler,[17] followed by an early baseball game in 1979, Ball Park.[18]
1980s
Between 1980 and 1984, Atari and Mattel's Intellivision waged a series of high-stakes TV advertising campaigns promoting their respective systems, marking the start of the first console wars. Atari prevailed in arcade games and had a larger customer base due to its lower price, while Intellivision touted its visually superior sports games. Sports writer George Plimpton was featured in the Intellivision ads,[19] which showed the parallel games side by side. Both Atari and Intellivision fielded at least one game for baseball, American football, hockey, basketball, auto racing and association football.
- Activision Tennis (1981)
- Track & Field (1982)
- Pole Position (1982)
In 1981, Taito released Alpine Ski, an early extreme sport game, based on winter sports. It was a vertical scrolling game that involved maneuvering a skier through multiple events: a downhill ski course, a slalom racing course, and a ski jumping competition.[20] That same year, Sega's Turbo introduced a third-person perspective into the genre,[21] with Namco's Pole Position then popularizing the now common rear-view racer format and introducing AI opponents the following year.[22]
In 1982, Taito released an early golf game, Birdie King,[23] while Data East released an early fishing game, Angler Dangler.[24] That same year, ZX Spectrum released the first association football management simulation, Football Manager, while Konami released an early athletics game, Track & Field, which featured multiple Olympic track & field events (including the 100-meter dash, long jump, javelin throw, 110-meter hurdles, hammer throw, and high jump) and allowed up to four players to compete.[25] In 1983, EA produced their first sports game Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One,[26] which was also the first licensed sports game based on the names and likenesses of famous athletes.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/32/IWSB.gif/220px-IWSB.gif)
Also in 1983, Mattel released Intellivision World Series Baseball (IWSB) by Don Daglow and Eddie Dombrower, the first game to use multiple camera angles to show the action. Games prior to this had displayed the entire field on screen, or scrolled across static top-down fields to show the action. IWSB mimicked television baseball coverage by showing the batter from a modified "center field" camera, the baserunners in corner insets and defensive plays from a camera behind the batter.[27] It was also one of the first sports games to introduce audibly-speaking players (as opposed to text) using the Mattel Intellivoice module.
Another early sports game to show multiple camera angles in 1983 was Irem's MotoRace USA, a motorbike racing game that switched between vertical-scrolling and third-person views depending on the player's location on the map, switching to third-person view when near a city and to a vertical-scrolling view when on country roads.[28][29] Another early sports game to feature digitized voices from that year was Alpha Denshi's Exciting Soccer, an early influential soccer football game, which let one or two players choose from six teams, featured a control scheme where they could tackle, shoot, short-pass, and long-pass, featured an overhead view, and had realistic touches like corner kicks, throw-ins, penalty shots, and cheerleaders.[30] Another early soccer football game from that same year was Data East's Pro Soccer.[31] Two early water sport games, both based on waterskiing, were also released that year: Taito's Water Ski[32] and Irem's Tropical Angel, the latter also featuring a female player character.[33] That same year, Taito released Joshi Volleyball, an early volleyball game,[34] and they released Irem's 10-Yard Fight, an American-football game that featured an early career mode, where the player progresses from high school, to college, professional, playoff, and Super Bowl, as the difficulty increases with each step.[35] Meanwhile, Kaneko released Roller Aces, an early roller skating game played from a third-person perspective.[36] An early wrestling game, Technōs Japan's Tag-Team Wrestling, was also released that year,[37] and was followed by another wrestling game, Sega's Appoooh, the year after.[38]
In 1984, several early sports laserdisc video games were released, including Universal's Top Gear which featured 3D animated race car driving,[39] and Sega's GP World[40] while Taito's Laser Grand Prix[41] featured live-action footage. Sega also produced a unique bullfighting game, Bull Fight,[42] and a multiple-watersports game Water Match (published by Bally Midway), which included swimming, kayaking and boat racing;[43] while Taito released a fully third-person motorbike racing game Kick Start,[44] an early female sports game based on high-school track & field, The Undoukai,[45] and an early dirt track racing game Buggy Challenge, featuring a buggy.[46] Other early dirt racing games from that year were dirt bike games: Nintendo's Excitebike[47] and SNK's motocross game Jumping Cross.[48] Nintendo also released an early four-player racquet sport game, Vs. Tennis (the Nintendo Vs. System version of Tennis),[49] while SNK released an early horse racing game, Gladiator 1984.[50]
That same year, early ice hockey games were also released: Alpha Denshi's Bull Fighter[51] and Data East's Fighting Ice Hockey.'[52] Data East also released a unique lawn sports game Haro Gate Ball, based on croquet,[53] while Nichibutsu released a unique game based on roller derby, Roller Jammer.[54] Meanwhile, Technos Japan released a unique game based on sumo wrestling, Syusse Oozumou,[55] and the first martial arts combat-sport game, Karate Champ, considered one of the most influential fighting games.[56][57] That same year, game designer Scott Orr founded GameStar, a game publisher specializing in Commodore 64 sports games, and served as its lead designer. GameStar was the most successful sports computer game company of its era, until Orr sold the company to Activision in 1986.[58]
In 1985, Sega released Hang-On, a popular early Grand Prix style rear-view motorbike racer,[59] considered the first full-body-experience video game.[60] That same year, Nintendo released an early arm wrestling game, Arm Wrestling,[61] while Konami released a table tennis game that attempted to accurately reflect the sport, Konami's Ping Pong.[62] That year, Tehkan also released Tehkan World Cup, the first multiplayer soccer football game featuring a trackball controller,[63] where a button was used for kicking the ball and the trackball used for the direciton and speed of the shot, with gameplay that was fairly realistic.[64] In 1988, EA released Earl Weaver Baseball again developed by Don Daglow and Eddie Dombrower, which for the first time combined a highly accurate simulation game with high quality graphics. This was also the first game in which an actual baseball manager provided the computer AI. In 1996 Computer Gaming World named 'EWB the 25th of its Best 150 Games of All Time, the second highest ranking for any sports game in that 1981–1996 period (after FPS Football).[65]
1990s
The 1990s began in the 16 bit era, as a wave of fourth generation video game consoles were created to handle more complex games and graphics.
In 1989 EA producer Richard Hilleman hired GameStar's Scott Orr to re-design John Madden Football for the fast-growing Sega Genesis. In 1990 Orr and Hilleman released the game that is still recognized today as Madden Football, the best-selling title in the history of games in North America.[citation needed] They focused on producing a head-to-head two-player game with an intuitive interface and responsive controls.
Also in 1990, Taito released Football Champ, an early soccer football game to allow up to four players in multiplayer mode, involving both competitive and cooperative gameplay. It also let players perform a number of actions, including a back heel, power kick, high kick, sliding tackle, super shot, and fouling other players (kicking, punching, and pulling shirts), which the player can get away with if the referee isn't looking, but the referee will hand out a yellow or red penalty card if he spots foul play.[66]
Orr joined EA full-time in 1991 after the success of Madden on the Sega Genesis, and began a ten-year period of his career where he personally supervised the production of the Madden Football series. During this time EA formed EA Sports, a brand name used for sports games they produced. EA Sports created several ongoing series, with a new version released each year to reflect the changes in the sport and its teams since the previous release.
Later in the 1990s began the 32 bit era, with the release of Sony's PlayStation and 3D graphics cards for personal computers (PCs). These updated systems allowed sports games to be made in 3D. The first game to exploit these updates was Gremlin Interactive's Actua Soccer, released in 1995 for the PlayStation.
Meanwhile, Sierra Online released Front Page Sports Football in 1995 for the PC. The following year Computer Gaming World named it twelfth of the Best 150 Games of All Time, the highest ranking sports game in the list.[65]
Extreme sports enters into the mainstream
At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, extreme sport video games began to appear more frequently.
In 1996, two early snowboarding games were released: Namco's Alpine Surfer in the arcades,[67] and the UEP Systems game Cool Boarders for the PlayStation console.[68] The following year, Square's popular role-playing video game, Final Fantasy VII, included a snowboarding minigame that was later released as an indepdendent snowboarding game, Final Fantasy VII Snowboarding, for mobile phones.[69] In 2000, SSX was released. Based around boardercross, the game featured fast downhill races, avoiding various objects whilst using others to perform jumps and increase the player's speed.[70]
In 1997, Sega released one of the first mainstream skateboarding games, Top Skater,[71] in the arcades, where it introduced a skateboard controller interface.[72] The following year saw the release of the console skateboarding game Street Sk8er, developed by Atelier Double and published by Electronic Arts. In 1999, the subgenre was further popularized by Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, an arcade-like skateboarding game where players were challenged to execute elaborate tricks or collect a series of elements hidden throughout the level.[71]
Sports gaming becomes big business
On 13 December 2004, Electronic Arts began a string of deals that granted exclusive rights to several prominent sports organizations, starting with the NFL.[73] This was quickly followed with two deals in January 2005 securing rights to the AFL[74] and ESPN licenses.[75] This was a particularly hard blow to Sega, the previous holder of the ESPN license, who had already been affected by EA's NFL deal. As the market for football brands was being quickly taken by EA, Take-Two Interactive responded by contacting the Major League Baseball Players Association and signing a deal that granted exclusive third-party major-league baseball rights;[76] a deal not as restrictive, as first-party projects were still allowed. The NBA was then approached by several developers, but declined to enter into an exclusivity agreement, instead granting long-term licenses to Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, Midway Games, Sony, and Atari.[77] In April 2005, EA furthered its hold on American football licensing by securing rights to all NCAA brands.[78]
Physical movement
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/57/Mario_%26_Sonic.jpg/220px-Mario_%26_Sonic.jpg)
In 2006, Nintendo released Wii Sports, a Sports game for the Wii console in which the player had to physically move their Wii Remote to simulate movement of their avatar.[79] The game contained five different sports – boxing, bowling, golf, tennis, and baseball – which could all be played individually or with multiple players. Players could also track their skill progress through the game, as they became more proficient with at the different sports, and use the training mode to practice particular situations.[80]
Wii Sports opened the way for other physically-reactive sports-based video games, such as Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, the first official title to feature both Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, in which players used the Wii Remote to simulate running, jumping and other Olympic sports.[81] In 2008, Nintendo released Wii Fit, which allowed players to do aerobic and fitness exercises using the Wii Balance Board.[82] In a similar light, 2008 saw the release of Mario Kart Wii, a racing game which allowed the player to use their remote with a Wii Wheel to act as a steering wheel, akin to those on traditional arcade racing games.[83]
Sports games today
The sports genre is currently dominated by EA Sports and 2K Sports, who hold licenses to produce games based on official leagues. EA's franchises include the FIFA series, the NBA Live series, the Madden Football series, and Tiger Woods series. All of these games feature real leagues, competitions and players. These games continue to sell well today despite many of the product lines being over a decade old, and receive, for the most part, consistently good reviews.
With EA Sports' domination, the market has become very difficult to enter; competing games in any of the above genres, with the exception of racing games, tend to be unsuccessful. This has led to a sharp drop in sports-themed titles over recent years. One of the most notable exceptions is Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series, which is often hailed as an alternative to the FIFA series, but does not contain as many licensed teams, players, kits, or competitions. Racing games, due to the variation that the sport can offer in terms of tracks, cars and styles, offer more room for competition and the selection of games on offer has been considerably greater. Sports management games, while not as popular as they used to be, live on through small and independent software development houses. Management titles today have transitioned to the very popular fantasy sports leagues, which are available through many websites such as Yahoo.
Nintendo has been able to make an impact upon the sports market by producing several Mario-themed titles, such as Super Mario Strikers and Mario Tennis. These titles sell respectfully, but are only available on Nintendo's video game consoles, for example GameCube, Nintendo 64, Nintendo DS, and the Wii .
Types
Arcade
Sports games have traditionally been very popular arcade games. The competitive nature of sports lends itself well to the arcades where the main objective is usually to obtain a high score. The arcade style of play is generally more unrealistic and focuses on a quicker gameplay experience. However the competitive nature of sports and being able to gain a high score while compete against friends for free online, has made online sports games very popular. Examples of this include the NFL Blitz, Sport Games and NBA Jam series.
Management/Simulation
Sports management games put players into the role of team manager. Whereas some games are played online against other players, management games usually pit the player against AI controlled teams in the same league. Players are expected to handle strategy, tactics, transfers, and financial issues. Various examples of these games can be found in this category.
Games and televised sports
More and more, video sports games are starting to look and act like their TV counterparts as developers focus on creating realistic commentary and camera-angles. Additionally, televised sports, namely American football, have started to model some of their cameras on those seen in video games, further blurring the line between fantasy and reality.
See also
References
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External links
- "TecmoBowl-vs-RBI" An indepth look at strategy for the classic sports Nintendo games Tecmo Bowl and RBI Baseball
- Operation Sports
- Sports games at MobyGames
- Flash Sports Games
- Online Sports Manager Games Portal
- Online Sport Managers Portal