With the upcoming flurry of sports titles inevitability on their way for another year, I’m starting to wonder if I’ll be faced with another dilemma. Running a site while trying to keep up with games is interesting enough but I often find myself getting into whatever sports title is thrown my way.
Being from the UK the only real sport as far as I used to be concerned was Football (Insert appropriate “it’s called soccer” elsewhere joke) and recently a little bit of F1. Otherwise all other sports are hard to access with out knowledge, the best television package and similarly minded friends.
Now I’m sure I’m not going to make many friends by saying that before last years plethora of sports games, a majority of which I had the fortunate pleasure of reviewing, I didn’t much care for non-football sports. To me Hockey was all about fighting, Basketball was more about who is the tallest while Golf was so boring that I couldn’t even watch the sleep-inducing television coverage for a minute never mind the daylong affairs that the BBC often host.
Last year though I was properly introduced to these sports through the medium of games. NHL 09’s innovative use of the analog sticks made Hockey accessible to me. Soon I started to implement my own tactics and ways of putting the puck in the net. Before I knew it I was staying up late night to watch the San Jose Sharks and their quest for the largest trophy in sports.
I had similar affairs with Golf and I had Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 to thank. Although I never stayed up or watched a round on television and probably never will. But I did spend countless hours appreciating the activity while shouting in amazement at some of Tiger Woods’ excellent shots.
Maybe it’s EA Sports’ excellent pick-up and play controls but I end up having a better appreciation for these sports after playing them. Maybe sitting down and playing a sports title allows you to learn the rules while enjoying the experience rather than someone simply telling you how offside works in Hockey. Hopefully this year I’ll have similar affairs with imported sports from across the pond. I’m already planning for Basketball and NFL but the latter might not be as accessible as Golf or Hockey.
I’m still quite curious to hear any of your storys of how a sports title, or any other reality based game, got you into the real life thing. Has anyone else had similar situations?
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