Sports Games

It's Monday, and in my attempt to get back into regular blogging after being tossed about on missions for that past few months it's time for a post about video games. Today's topic is sports games, a genre of video games I rarely touch. In fact, the only reason I've been playing NCAA Football 2011 at all is because the only other game available is Black Ops, which isn't really my cup of tea.

Past Experiences

Although I've played sports games before, I never really got into them with the fervor that a lot of sports games fans have. It might be because I don't really know a lot of the rules of most sports. For example, I didn't learn there was a "shot clock" in basketball until just last year. Of the sports games I've played in the past, most of them are of the Mario variety (Mario Tennis, Mario Golf). I like the RPG-like system that allows you to improve your skills and work your way up by practicing. So when I heard that there was a similar system in NCAA Football 2011 I was actually intrigued.

It's called Road to Glory mode, and essentially you pick one player and you only get to play as that player. If you create a new player you start at the high school playoffs and have to work every game to improve your caliber (skill level) and impress college scouts. For my most recent (and successful) playthrough, I chose to be a wide receiver.

Road to Glory



My career is chronicled by a female sportscaster named Erin Andrews. The game makes a big deal about it, but I've never heard of her. Of course, the only experience I have with actually watching sports is when it's on  TV while I'm eating in the chow hall.

During my in-game college career, I have to maintain my grades (by going to library), but I also have to opportunity to improve my game by going to the gym, studying the playbook, or visiting the trainer. It vaguely reminds me of a dating sim, minus the dating.

RPG-like Elements

Behold the awesome!

As I mentioned earlier, my favorite sports games are the kind that allow you to improve your skills and get an edge on the competition. For the most part, this was mostly limited to Mario sports games and some other games, like SSX and various golf games, where you can purchase skill points for your character to improve your performance. As a fan of RPGs, the availability of this feature can make or break a game for me.

It's not limited to sports games though. Racing games and first-person shooters are made a lot more fun as well. I can't tell you how much time I've sunk into Borderlands or even Need for Speed: Underground. Probably not as much as I've sunk into RPGs proper, but it's still a lot.

In Closing

That about wraps it up for this week. Next Monday I might do a review of NCAA Football 2011, but hopefully I'll have something even more awesome in store. Keep your eyes peeled.