The Top 10 Sports Video Game Innovations of All-Time
Many of us age 40 and under, who have a passion for sports, also share a passion for video games, or at least we may have at one time or another.
So, naturally that passion for games is likely to be concentrated in the perfect blend of both passions, sports video games.
As Video Games have evolved, so has the sub-genre, Sports Video Games. Some of the innovations that have taken place over the last 30+ years we take for granted.
They have become the standard for games competing for our hard earned dollars.
Here are the top 10 sports video game innovations of all time:
10. Import/Export Of College Rosters
1 of 10Sadly, many sports gamers don’t even know this feature exist in many of the sports games they have been playing for years. In 2000, the now defunct 989 Studios broke game to game connection ground when they allowed you to export your graduating class from NCAA Gamebreaker 2000 to NFL Gameday 2000.
Of course, we’re talking about jersey numbers and physical attributes only, as college players are amateur athletes, thus they can not be included by name in any video game.
I fell in love with this feature and looked for it every year in every sports game from that point until now. It took awhile, the feature didn't become a staple immediately.
Though, in the coming years, everyone from EA to 2KSports who produced a college and pro version of basketball and football, started to implement this into the list of features available for sports gamers.
I still think it is an underpublicized and underappreciated feature for those sports gamers out there looking to connect their virtual sports worlds.
9. Announcers/Commentators
2 of 10In 1983, believe it or not, sports video games saw the first use of an announcer/commentator. Intellivision World Series Baseball, a leader in several innovations for sports video games, utilized an announcer.
The system that generated the voice was called an Intellivoice synthesizer. Play by Play announcing was introduced through Joe Montana Sports Talk Football.
This innovation, almost 30 years ago blazed a trail all the way up to the dynamic and adapting system of commentary you hear in the likes of the NBA2K series and MLB2K series.
Though often dismissed, when done correctly, announcers can add presence and personality to a sports game that definitely adds to the real life-like experience.
8. Instant Replay
3 of 10Ever since its inception in video games, players have used this as a tool in which to rub it in the face of their opponents. It’s the ultimate in jerk bravado, which is what makes playing sports video games so much fun.
Way back in 1991, Electronic Arts released Bulls Vs Lakers & the NBA Playoffs. It was the sequel to Lakers Vs Celtics and it was also the first team basketball game to incorporate instant replays.
Today, the instant replay system in video games rivals that of the replay system at the disposal of technicians in the video booth for real sports broadcast.
It has so many uses and effects on the gaming experience. It allows for the aforementioned bragging, it shows off the sheer beauty of the visuals or the flaws that only slow-motion replay can expose.
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7. Injuries
4 of 10Injuries are a part of sports, but they were forever apart of sports video games thanks in large part to the Madden ambulance.
Introduced in Madden 92, when a player was injured, this vehicle would come plowing onto the field, running over any player in its way, pick up the injured player, and speed off. It was hilarious.
Nowadays, injuries in sports video games are much more realistic. They can impact your sports gaming experience as much as it impacts the performance of a real team.
Try playing with the Colts, with Curtis Painter because of an injured Peyton Manning. It’s sure to alter your virtual game plan.
6. Licensing
5 of 10This is definitely a double-edged sword. On one hand licensing has brought in an unparalleled level of realism to sports gaming.
Playing with the virtual likenesses of your favorite players has allowed gamers to place themselves in the shoes of an athlete, armed with their virtual attributes.
What would Tecmo Bowl have been without Bo Jackson? Without the NFLPA license you wouldn’t have had him to blow through tacklers.
On the down side for some fans, exclusive licensing has removed much of the competition. Those with the power to purchase exclusive licenses are operating on a different playing field. EA’s deal with the NFL & the NFLPA is the most notorious of such deals.
With the 2Ksports produced NFL2K5 gaining on the Madden franchise in terms of popularity and by some accounts, surpassing it, in regards to quality.
EA struck a deal to gain sole rights to the use of real teams and players, thereby, making it difficult for NFL2K franchise to compete.
This is a testament to just how much we’ve come to love licensing. It also shows, when used as a power move, it can potentially remove options from sports gamers.
5. Stat Tracking
6 of 10We all need bench marks. What sets benchmarks better than records? There are certain records in sports that are known simply by the number. 73, 56, 17-00, 72-10, if you’re a hardcore sports fan, you know what those numbers symbolize.
Baseball Stars brought this statistical value to the forefront for sports gamers. It was the first sports video game to feature full cumulative stat tracking.
This game was so far ahead of its time, it kept up with season stats for individuals and teams, league leaders etc. Other titles before it gave the players identities, but Baseball Stars game the players blank sheets and allowed you to write their seasons.
Baseball Stars is the precursor for the sophisticated stat tracking system that any sports game worth its weight in pixels surely boasts.
4. Create a Player, Team or Stadium
7 of 10As much as licensing of players, teams and such have added to our experience, it has also augmented our imaginations.
If I can play as Mike Vick, man I’d like to see what it’d be like to play with Randall Cunningham, Fran Tarkenton, etc. The only problem is that, my game of choice doesn’t have the license for retired all-time greats.
Maybe I want to place my self in the game, or any other fantasy inclusion. Thanks to the Create options in sports video games, these scenarios are possible. Again, we have Baseball Stars from SNK to thank for pioneering this feature.
What started in this era has graduated to EA’s advanced Photo Game Face which allows for you to take any photo and model it onto a character, so no longer are you limited to the create a player tool that ships with the game.
Backbreaker Football came equipped with a near Photoshop-level logo editor for creating team uniforms and logos.
The Create a Stadium feature has gone largely ignored since the old PC game titled Earl Weaver Baseball.
Now Madden and a few others have allowed you to set up light fixtures and put team banners in selected spots, but none with the control that Earl Weaver allowed.
This would be especially effective in baseball sims, where dimensions play the biggest role. Ok, enough of my soap box, on to No. 3.
3. Motion Capture
8 of 10
Some of us can remember the little figures we controlled on screen that we had to make believe were player. Even into the licensing era, we had to make believe these characters were our real sports heroes.
In 1994, EA Sports broke technical ground when they hired now former NFL Players, Johnnie Morton, Derrick Deese, Jamal Anderson & Ken Harvey to strap on the foam balls to have their moves mimicked for Madden NFL Football.
This has changed the way games look and has forever changed the way we look at games.
Now, we have Natural Motion’s Euphoria, which has gone beyond motion capture to simulating the skeletal system. There is a quality I refer to when evaluating the visuals of a game, it’s called the double-take effect.
It simply speaks to the probability of a person, unaware you’re playing a video game could enter the room and mistake it for a real live game. This could not exist without Motion Capture technology. It has brought us that much closer to that real sports feeling.
2. Online Play
9 of 10Possibly the biggest thing that has happened to gaming period, but its No. 2 on my list for sports gaming. The genre of sports gaming has gone to another level with the limitless variety of opponents that online play provides.
In fact, most gamers will not even consider you good unless you have a proven record in online play. Online is where the “pros” play.
It is also a way to stay connected with family and friends with whom you share a passion for sports gaming. It is one of the two non-sports themed innovations to make my list.
1. Season/ Franchise Mode
10 of 10Get the criticism ready, but where would be without season modes or franchise mode? Before there was online play, if you were an only child or the only sports gamer in the house, what would you play?
The biggest reason most of us love sports video games is because we love the seasons of our favorite sports. The season mode allows us to simulate what we follow and gives us ultimate input.
The Madden franchise was one of the first games to allow a franchise mode, building off of the concept created by the PC game Baseball Mogul.
Now, you not only played the games for your team throughout the season, franchise mode allowed you to play GM, Coach & Player for your team for successive seasons.
It is still a staple and a must for any sports game to taken seriously. It is still the main reason I buy a sports game.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
