Sports Gamers FTW

Some people put down sports gamers under the assumption that we're somehow not legitimate gamers. That's ***. I don't get where this comes from. Are these not games with goals, buttons, actions, rewards, and challenges? Like some alternate universe where the geeks are trying to exact their revenge on the jocks from high school, some gamers loves to crap on people who play sports games. First off, I can most certainly tell you that in high school I was as big of a geek as anyone, so you can take your angst out on someone else thank you very much. Secondly, I wonder if any of these sports game haters have even played one recently.

I'd argue that in some ways, the average sports gamer has to deal with stuff above and beyond what other gamers have to. Take football, for instance. There are no turn-based fights like those traditional RPG wimps (like Joe) get. You get about three seconds to hike the ball, drop back as the QB, and make the correct read of who to throw it to before you get plastered into the turf. There's also the bevy of pre-snap tactical commands you have to fly through before the play clock runs down and you get a delay of game penalty.

Funnily enough, I hear a lot of non-sports gamers complain about how complex the controls are, and they pine for the days of NHL '93 or the NFL Blitz arcade cabinet. Well, grab a controller and grow a pair. If anything, a sports gamer wants more controls at their fingertips so they can perform more feats on the virtual playing field. The controls are too difficult?! That's like complaining that a dragon punch in Street Fighter is too awesome. Perhaps we should go back to sports on the Atari 2600, then we'd all have a great ol' time.

And let's dispense with the dumb jock stereotype, shall we? All sports have their own tactical components during gameplay, and there's also the responsibility of having to run a multi-faceted organization in franchise mode. Four party members? Try dealing with a 53-man NFL roster every season and making sure the team is taken care of in free agency and the Draft for the next five years and beyond. I don't have the time to explain all the intricacies of building up a sports dynasty, but suffice it to say, it's more complex than trying to decide whether a +3 sword is better than a +1 sword.

I enjoy all kinds of games (even RPGs) beyond sports games – the chip on my shoulder isn't that big. I'm just having a little fun here. Besides, I don't need to ask for anyone's respect. I've already earned it on the virtual playing fields I've been dominating through the years.