Why buy sports games every year?

NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA… the list goes on.
Every year, a “new” sports game comes out with a 60 dollars price tag.
Why buy sports games every year?

[big_silky]

I never understood people who buy a console and literally all they play/buy is sports games. Seriously, no curiosity about something other than guys tossing a ball around?

[Sunny_D]

Because people are retarded sheep or casuals.

[Army_of_Darkness]

I don't know anybody who goes off and buys the same sports game every year with differences that the casuals might not even notice... but hey, its somehow a sucessful thing for EA?!?! over 10 years of this sh1t!!! Craaazy!

[darthv72]

I do think at this time they can make updated rosters available for existing titles so you dont buy a whole new game for little updates.

[JsonHenry]

I can't think of a reason to buy any sports game. Let alone a new one every year.

[fedex682]

that said it does not make any sense to buy a sports game every year. You get one you should be good!

[Shang-Long]

i have nothing i buy sports games every other year at least. but i think for people who play online alot. they wanna get the new title every year. Like Fifa soccer i know ppl who buy it every year so they can keep playin online with their friends

[BlackHairyTongue]

Yea I do that with Madden and Fifa, but I get NHL every year because 1: I'm Canadian and 2: I like beer.

[ProjectVulcan]

Dont buy many sports titles, and the ones that i do often alternate. I might buy one a year at most from FIFA, PES, Tiger woods and Football manager. That way there is at least a couple years before i buy a new version whereupon they might actually have added something new and fresh from the last time i played it.

I bought Tiger woods 11 this year after six years since purchasing a TW golf game and was reasonably happy with the updates made in all that time, although even after six years it was still pretty familiar! I was mostly upset with the DLC situation and online code situation though, so i wont buy another TW for six years again most likely!

[ABizzel1]

I don't get it either. But I guess you can think of it as an MMO. People who play MMO's pay a subscription fee to play the same game for years. And with sports games your $60 a year is your subscription fee.

Scratch that, I've never understood people who buy, and play sports games every year. I'd never play something I can go outside and do on my own.

[EvilBlackCat]

YUP! people keep falling for this bullshit.

[crzyjackbauer]

i learned that after buying madden 06 had nothing new
now i only buy madden every 2 to 3 years
last madden i got was 08 so i will buy madden11

[FragMnTagM]

updated rosters and minor tweaks every year. I think the technology is good enough now to stop trying to improve graphics and add gimmicks, and just do yearly updated rosters. Release one every three years that way the game will be fresh. This will never happen though as they are perfectly content bending people over EVERY year instead of every couple years.

This is the reason why I don't buy them very often. I might get Tiger woods every few years or so. I always get Fight Nights as it does not come out every year and actually does cool things between iterations.

[badz149]

I buy sports game especially FIFA but I also think buying it every year is STUPID! especially if you're playing on PC, free roster updates/patch are available every year. but that still depends on the game itself. FIFA is pretty much a console game and it's a rare example of a game which performs better on consoles but PES is better on PC with gamepads. that's how I've been playing my football games all this time

[NYC_Gamer]

last sports game i brought was nba 2k9

[MAG_SVER]

My last sports games were NHL08/FIFA08.. all the best sports games "in my opinion" was that year. Anything later is just a clone with upgraded/tweaked gameplay with a bit better graphics.

They need to make them so that the games only need like a DLC to get the next years data, buying a full game again for $60 is ridiculous, which offers the same as the year before & in some cases older games are actually better.

COME ON Sport Devs.. STEP YA GAME UP

[Theonik]

Last one i got was FIFA08. I am considering getting PGA Pro tour 11 though and NHL 11.

[Ultraplayerxd]

last sports game I bought was Space Jam for PS1.

[Snoogins]

DLC, or at the very least, offer a trade-up program that knocks $20 off the new price.

This cycle of releasing a new game every year with only stat changes or minor tweaks is simply ridiculous. I haven't bought a sports game since the PS2 era, honestly, though I almost got this year's MLB The Show.

[MAG_SVER]

yup, that is exactly what they are doing "Recycle, Reuse & Reduce"

Recycle: processing used, unwanted materials (waste) into new products

Reuse: to use an item more than once. This includes conventional reuse where the item is used again for the same function

Reduce: Development time is reduce, The cost for making the game is reduce, Making a new engine for the game is reduce... but GUESS what we as GAMERS get the shaft, we have to pay the INCREASE in PRICING to get what they spent very little time on.

[PS3ROCKS]

Sport game. Not

[ranmafandude]

and yet the sheeps keep eating these "simulators" up like nothing lol. i know alot of people who only play lame ass sports games/call of duty lol.

i only contributed to the cod part that was only because i didn't have nothing to play in 2008 Christmas so i got waw. then in 2009 i got cod4 cause i heard that was the best cod at the time. i love cod4 so i was anticipating mw2 of course.that really didn't turn out well for me and it killed my love for cod for quite a while. i don't know if I'll get black ops I'll just be a hypocrite and who wants to be labeled that?

[Anime-Vixen]

Ugh sports

[Sunny_D]

Lol, lazy ass.

Unless, you mean sport games, then my apologies.

[ranmafandude]

i think he means UGH as in "I DON'T LIKE SPORTS AS A WHOLE" lol.

[Demons Souls]

Same could be said about people buying Call of Duty rehashes every year.

[PS3ROCKS]

It's the same game every year

[Cold 2000]

Why do they cost 60$ every year ?

[PS3ROCKS]

If you love America

[CaptainMarvelQ8]

i buy the newer Version because all my friends do,so i want to play with them

if it wouldn't have been for this sole reason,i wouldn't have bought a new game until they bring major improvements to it

same goes for the Call of duty series,if all my friends haven't bought mw2;i would've still been playing cod4

[BuIIetproofish_]

Really sad.

[FragMnTagM]

Because he plays the games his friends do? Or is it because he is almost forced to swallow a sports game every year?

[oliverasadi]

because of Bosh,Wade,Lebron

[ArchangelMike]

A mate of mine only plays Fifa 10 and MW2! He refuses to play anything else. He won't play Dead Space, Red Dead, Uncharted 2, GOW3, Infamous, Assassins Creed - 'cos he "doesn't like 3rd person games!" I've even tried getting him to play COD4, Killzone3, and other FPS to no avail.

I really just don't get it, am I some superhardcore gamer? or is he just a wierd type of casual gamer?!

[Kulupoo]

well Fifa 10 is 3rd person...

[Applegate]

LOL.

@archangel.

Yeah I get you, most of my friends only play MW and Fifa/PES too.

In fact a lot of gamers dont really care about the latest exclusive etc. All they buy is COD, Fifa, Need for Speed or any other arcade racer and GTA. Thats the games library of a lot of people I know if not most.

[BrutallyBlunt]

I just don't see how EA can charge $60 each year for Tiger Woods and then have the nerve to charge for each course on DLC when a lot of the courses are the same each year like Pebble Beach.

Is it really fair to charge the same amount as other games that take 2 years or 3 years to make that are nothing like the developers last game? Even games like Call of Duty are more different than Madden and Tiger Woods. Plus they take 2 years to make and just have more than one team making the series.

[skip2mylou]

i only buy mlb the show so far but i wait for the price drop :D got 2010 for 5$

[livewires]

Why buy most game yeary guitar hero , call of duty.

To me the last version of the game becomes unplayable, im not sure about madden but each year EA work their magic and the newest Fifa is amazing I dunno how they do it. And are people really gonna complain about £40 a year for a great game which is to me Completely different from the last which can offer me unlimited play time.

[N4g_null]

Then suddenly ea sports some how figures out how to charge you yearly like other good mmos and also live streamed hd sports events.

What is funny is gamers are so split these days. There is no community yet with sports games you are linked to real fan based that don't really change. I mean really $60 for a game with your fav team is cheap compared to other stuff sports fans buy every year.

[willie32]

I completely agree with this article. I would love to have a 2 year development cycle for sports games with roster updates in the off year. It will allow for more improved games. If developers are afraid of this, they can create a staggered system for their franchises (Football/Basketball the same year or Hockey/Baseball the other year).

[dougr]

lmao, I've never seen such a group of closed minded retards commenting at one time before. Okay, I lie because that is all this site has. Just because people only like sports games how does that make them an idiot or a casual? I buy NHL every single year and every single year they do something new that makes the game different. It's funny that some of you believe you are superior because you would refer to yourself as a hardcore gamer.

[RememberReach]

Why buy a COD game every year? It's essentially the same thing...

[HOSe]

world cup 2010 baby - you wont get another one of those for 4 more years!

[Shoko]

My last sports game was NBA 2k2 =/

[spektical]

idk about buying new sport games each year..i guess some games have better improvements, such as MLB The Show, or NHL series have shown to improve the most.

Rosters and the fact that its a new version is more than enough for people to buy that new version.. if i had the money i would buy the newest versiong of The Show every year, no doubt.

[fuzion17c]

will be my first sports game purchase since NFL 2K5. Man how I miss 2K NFL games...damn you EA! Might check out NBA Jam too.

[spektical]

well if u want to get NBA jam, i would but NBA Elite becomes it comes with a "demo" version of NBA Jam... if your looking to just buy NBA Jam, i'd buy it on the Wii.

[atticus14]

...you say lame ass sports games/call of duty... then admit to buying WaW cod4, loved it and bought mw2 and im sure you'll get black ops pre-ordered.

smh...You probably just dont like sports because they bring up bad memories and thats the only reason your not buying them too.

And yes i do buy sports games - not every year, but not for 60 either... madden and 2k both have been dirt cheap on black friday for the last few years which is still very early in the season - but im not much of a fan of madden 1 or 2 games a console lifespan is enough for me and with EA's online pass the game gets marked off my list indefinitely but i do like nba 2k. ANd these "sport gamers" think about us the same way we think about them.. we think how can you have that much fun with a rehashed game every year...they say the same thing about us playing fps #27 or rpg #18.

[g5bay]

why do ppl buy games every year when its the same shit just sequels and prequels but its still the same shit like gta and rdr

[NJShadow]

NHL = Gets better every year.
NBA = Is usually the same, but is now showing some promise.
NFL = Gets a new gimmick each year, but progressively gets worse.
NCAA = Not sure, I've never owned an NCAA game.

[DigitalAnalog]

Winning eleven 1997 on the Saturn.

Addictive, fun, addictive..... though sadly, it was the last. :( :(

-End statement

[Obama]

Last sport game that I have bought is...actually I haven't bought a sport game in my life.

[Live_4_Gaming]

I use to buy madden and ncaa every year like everyone else, but like the ninjalicious, I too think it's rediculous to pay the same amount of money for these games every year when nothing is really added. Yeah, players are added, but I can create the same players myself and just guess at their ratings. I actually did that for Madden 2010. I saved 60 dollars, made all the impact players from the 2009 draft, and played on. I'm thinking of doing the same thing this year. All they ever do is add some bells and whistles, gameplay is never evolving. Graphics barely get better, and in reality, football doesn't change, so their's not much they can really change. This year's does have some cool cut scenes, but does that warrant me to want to shell out 60 dollars for the same exact game I've been playing since 2007. I like the DLC content idea, it will never happen, but it's a great idea.

[DJMarty]

Same with any sequel they gennerally get better as the life of a console goes on. Devs push Console hardware.