Do Sports Games Need a Story?

[Robert Rath]

Do Sports Games Need a Story?

Rob Rath takes on the common misconception that sports games, by their nature, are bad games because they lack narrative.

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[FloodOne]

Outstanding read, and one I fear will be under appreciated here on the Escapist.

Rivalries, tension, stress, exhilaration and many other emotions are what brings me back to the college/pro football season every fall. The shared experience of the games with my friends, the thrill of a tough win, the agony of a loss to your rival, I love every moment of it.

Go Blue!

 

[MrBaskerville]

Wouldn't it just ruin them! Like how stories ruined racing games? I view sports games in the same vein that i view Arcade games, it's not about stories, it's about gameplay, competetion and having fun, stories would only stand in the way of the fun and probably ruin the replayability that are essential to these kinds of games.

 

[Andy Shandy]

As someone who is both a football(soccer) fan and a "gamer", I think this is a great article.

I think the best example there is of the "sports game narrative" is in the Football Manager (Worldwide Soccer?) series, especially when you start at random clubs. Hell, I've actually starting following (and even purchasing replica tops) of teams in real life strictly based on what I've accomplished with them in the game.

Of course, it doesn't match the narrative of taking my favourite team to continental glory, but it's great all the same.

There's a reason why the series is always in the top 10 most played games at the current moment, and I believe the narrative that the players create plays a huge part in it.

 

[Kinitawowi]

This feels like it's basically boiling down to the difference between Championship Manager and FIFA - sports management sims do better at giving the player the opportunity of creating a narrative than sports games do themselves. One of my Uni mates spoke fondly of taking his beloved Doncaster Rovers from the English Third Division* to the European Champions League** title in CM2, while I always loved the way the original K.J. Toms' Football Manager on the ZX Spectrum started you off in the Fourth Division***, whichever team you picked; then, building yourself up to the title and the FA Cup felt like it meant something.

FIFA, on the other hand, is more visceral; it's more about the immediate pick-up-and-put-down-again thrill, the battles with your mates that can only come from couch multiplayer (online FIFA should never be considered), and occasionally a tacked-on campaign mode where you can create a story for yourself; but ultimately, it's not really necessary.

The problem with sports games is that generally, the rules don't change. Football one year will still be football the next; they're not suddenly going to introduce Added Time Multiball or make it so you can punch the goalie. Once a football game has incorporated most of the important features of football (i.e. the pitch, the ball and some people to kick it around a bit), additional versions will only ever be roster updates, minor graphical improvements and some new way to screw with the kick-it-around mechanic. Nobody had a problem with the first couple of sports games - lest we forget, what most people think of as the first ever game was basically a tennis sim. It's the proliferation with negligible change that causes problems.

 

[shiajun]

Outstanding read, and one I fear will be under appreciated here on the Escapist.

Rivalries, tension, stress, exhilaration and many other emotions are what brings me back to the college/pro football season every fall. The shared experience of the games with my friends, the thrill of a tough win, the agony of a loss to your rival, I love every moment of it.

Go Blue!

Maybe it's only my perception, but in general I think Mr. Rath's writing is chronically under appreciated by the Escapist community, when he's one of the more -if not the most- eloquent and lucid contributors on the site.

And yes, the article is great.

 

[FloodOne]

Outstanding read, and one I fear will be under appreciated here on the Escapist.

Rivalries, tension, stress, exhilaration and many other emotions are what brings me back to the college/pro football season every fall. The shared experience of the games with my friends, the thrill of a tough win, the agony of a loss to your rival, I love every moment of it.

Go Blue!

Maybe it's only my perception, but in general I think Mr. Rath's writing is chronically under appreciated by the Escapist community, when he's one of the more -if not the most- eloquent and lucid contributors on the site.

And yes, the article is great.

Well I can't disagree with that opinion, I've certainly enjoyed his work. I do notice that his articles don't seem to garner much in the way of comment traffic, and I'm not sure why.

 

[cerebus23]

Always like this series great reads.

 

[Mahoshonen]

The problem with sports games is that generally, the rules don't change. Football one year will still be football the next; they're not suddenly going to introduce Added Time Multiball or make it so you can punch the goalie. Once a football game has incorporated most of the important features of football (i.e. the pitch, the ball and some people to kick it around a bit), additional versions will only ever be roster updates, minor graphical improvements and some new way to screw with the kick-it-around mechanic. Nobody had a problem with the first couple of sports games - lest we forget, what most people think of as the first ever game was basically a tennis sim. It's the proliferation with negligible change that causes problems.

That's not exactly true. For one thing, rules do change. Right now in that other football, the commissioner is suggesting getting rid of the extra-kick after Touchdown. In baseball, things like how high a pitcher's mound can be can have a big impact on the overall game.

Also, as the Science of sports progresses, so does our perception of what's needed to win at a sport (both individual games and championships). And this in turn influences how sports are represented in a game. One of my favorite MLB The Show" commercials had a player arguing with a PS3 exec (the one who was in all the commercials) over how he was represented in the game, each throwing around different stats and accomplishments to make their case.

And beyond the game itself is how the off-the-field business of sports is represented, and there can be any number of ways to represent this aspect of the sport in a videogame.

 

[Falterfire]

Well I can't disagree with that opinion, I've certainly enjoyed his work. I do notice that his articles don't seem to garner much in the way of comment traffic, and I'm not sure why.

Too much agreement? It's hard to have a huge forum thread if most of the commenters agree with each other.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

As someone who is both a football(soccer) fan and a "gamer", I think this is a great article.

I think the best example there is of the "sports game narrative" is in the Football Manager (Worldwide Soccer?) series, especially when you start at random clubs. Hell, I've actually starting following (and even purchasing replica tops) of teams in real life strictly based on what I've accomplished with them in the game.

Of course, it doesn't match the narrative of taking my favourite team to continental glory, but it's great all the same.

There's a reason why the series is always in the top 10 most played games at the current moment, and I believe the narrative that the players create plays a huge part in it.

A similar reason to why I love the Pro Evolution Soccer series. Taking a team of absolute nobodys and through some skill, careful transfer purchasing, training upcoming potential star players and attracting bigger sponsorship deals until your team of amateurs is now the team to beat. Of course then there was the re-designing of the team kit for every new season and laughing at the fortunes of that promotion rival from your first season who is stuck in a relegation fight while you prepare for the champions league.

 

[Kinitawowi]

That's not exactly true. For one thing, rules do change. Right now in that other football, the commissioner is suggesting getting rid of the extra-kick after Touchdown. In baseball, things like how high a pitcher's mound can be can have a big impact on the overall game.

Also, as the Science of sports progresses, so does our perception of what's needed to win at a sport (both individual games and championships). And this in turn influences how sports are represented in a game. One of my favorite MLB The Show" commercials had a player arguing with a PS3 exec (the one who was in all the commercials) over how he was represented in the game, each throwing around different stats and accomplishments to make their case.

And beyond the game itself is how the off-the-field business of sports is represented, and there can be any number of ways to represent this aspect of the sport in a videogame.

Maybe sticking with roundball football isn't the best way to address this then, but I'm coming from a British perspective and FIFA tends to dominate Madden in the discussion.

It's fair enough, I guess, but only handegg considers playing around with the implementation of the rules in such a dramatic way; for the most part, the majority of sports are relatively stable with their rulesets - football's experimentation with golden goals was abandoned very quickly, and the only really meaningful changes (that have actually stuck) in the last twenty-odd years have been the backpass rule, the removal of limitations on foreign players in European competition after Bosman, the Bosman ruling itself, the near-universal employment of three points for a win, varying implementations of replays in different cup competitions, and tweaks to offside. I've never seen a football game that used these rules in a way that needed to be changed after a later release; the earliest games didn't even care about offside (e.g. Sensible Soccer).

As for the off-field parts... I'm still waiting for the WWE game that puts you as a storyline writer and match booker.

 

[sageoftruth]

Wouldn't it just ruin them! Like how stories ruined racing games? I view sports games in the same vein that i view Arcade games, it's not about stories, it's about gameplay, competetion and having fun, stories would only stand in the way of the fun and probably ruin the replayability that are essential to these kinds of games.

Indeed, without some serious thinking outside the box, the story probably would ruin or at least detract from the game. Judging from the article I think the best story would be one that is hinted at with little snippets here and there, rather than overtly told. Have people in the audience shout certain things at certain moments to give it context, or even have the players lash out at rivals.
Blazblue has a story, and while I feel mixed about story mode, I like how the characters say different things in the middle of the fight, depending on who the opponent is.
My bottom line is, I think it would be good to give a sports game character, while leaving enough room for the player to interpret the story as he will.

 

[MrBaskerville]

Wouldn't it just ruin them! Like how stories ruined racing games? I view sports games in the same vein that i view Arcade games, it's not about stories, it's about gameplay, competetion and having fun, stories would only stand in the way of the fun and probably ruin the replayability that are essential to these kinds of games.

Indeed, without some serious thinking outside the box, the story probably would ruin or at least detract from the game. Judging from the article I think the best story would be one that is hinted at with little snippets here and there, rather than overtly told. Have people in the audience shout certain things at certain moments to give it context, or even have the players lash out at rivals.
Blazblue has a story, and while I feel mixed about story mode, I like how the characters say different things in the middle of the fight, depending on who the opponent is.
My bottom line is, I think it would be good to give a sports game character, while leaving enough room for the player to interpret the story as he will.

If we talk story as in portrayal of characters instead of a linear thing, then i'm with you all the way. Characters are always important and the way they handle it in most fighting games works very well without getting in the way of the actual gameplay.

 

[Rituro]

As someone who is both a football(soccer) fan and a "gamer", I think this is a great article.

I think the best example there is of the "sports game narrative" is in the Football Manager (Worldwide Soccer?) series, especially when you start at random clubs. Hell, I've actually starting following (and even purchasing replica tops) of teams in real life strictly based on what I've accomplished with them in the game.

I highly agree with this. The narrative that grows organically out of, say, trying to keep a lowest-tier English club both fiscally and competitively afloat is extremely compelling. It's one of the many reasons I've been coming back to the FM series since I first discovered it in 2009 (as Worldwide Soccer Manager, name since retired).

 

[Kinitawowi]

Also, this XKCD seems relevant.

[a href=http://xkcd.com/904/]

 

[bdcjacko]

Wrong the greats sports movies of all time are mighty ducks, sandlot, and Cool Runnings.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Many of these same points can be brought forth in regards to fighting games. So many people complain about fighters not having 10 hour long story modes or when they get updates they see as minimal. The fact is, they don't need story modes and what appear to be minimal updates can make huge changes to a competitive game. The drama and narrative in a fighting game comes from the actual experience, particularly when you're pitting your skills against another player.

 

[balladbird]

Many of these same points can be brought forth in regards to fighting games. So many people complain about fighters not having 10 hour long story modes or when they get updates they see as minimal. The fact is, they don't need story modes and what appear to be minimal updates can make huge changes to a competitive game. The drama and narrative in a fighting game comes from the actual experience, particularly when you're pitting your skills against another player.

Depends on the fighting game. Not everyone who picks up a fighter does so for the sake of competitive play, and those players would be put off by the lack of a story mode. Granted, story modes in fighting games are pretty forgettable, anyway. I think BlazBlue is the only one that seriously tries to have a narrative... but regardless, I don't think fighting games are any worse off for having story modes attached.

 

[IVIX1]

Sports games are good sometimes and other times not. I can tell you this, they are not good or have depth when EA is involved. Yes thats a broad statement, but all one needs to do is look at the last Madden (American) football game on the original Xbox and the first Madden on the Xbox 360. EA in true form went and stripped all the intuitive, fun, immersion making features from the game for an easily replicable, cheaply made, dare I say-piece of junk. Every game since that point in time has been exactly the same besides the yearly touted improvements that really amount to very small gains in any way.

I know if we're talking about "does "X" game make money?" then Madden is a great(money making)game.

But a profitable game to a profit-based(not gameplay) company does not a great game make.