Basketball is back. At least that aching in my legs telling me it is time to practice says it is.
And with the beginning of every season comes that excitement for the subsequent video game glorifying that season. Take your Maddenoliday to get the latest version of NBA Live or whatever NBA video game you prefer. There are far too many now.
But unlike the highly-popular Madden for NFL, which people do take holidays to stand in line and buy and then proceed to play for the next 24 hours, basketball video games cannot accurately simulate the game.
The level of realism involved in Madden or NCAA football cannot be matched by any video game. There is simply too much motion for the computer to simulate in basketball – OK, maybe not in the NBA – while football is very static with set start and stop times between plays. Improvisation is not as important in football as it is in basketball.
This year’s edition of NBA Live introduced a feature that will update player tendencies and abilities on a daily basis. The game is trying to give gamers the best simulation of reality it can while they play.
As Madden and other video games strive to become more real, I think the video game designers forget why sports video games are so popular.
It is all a fantasy.
Video games are a chance for fans to play as their favorite athletes or become the general managers of their favorite teams. They have the ability to turn off the salary cap and trade players to their team to create some crazy super team.
It is more about what is impossible for the fan as it is about how real the game plays.
That might be why games like Madden and NBA Live continue to get major overhauls and updates, besides the rosters, on an almost yearly basis. That might be why the best sports games are the most ridiculous and never needed a sequel.
I am talking about your NBA Jam and NFL Blitz.
The games where the laws of gravity are suspended and the basic rules of the game are broken for the pure sake of entertainment.
Dust off your Nintendo 64 and Super Nintendo and try these games again – yes, people thought Kenny Anderson and Derrick Coleman were a powerhouse duo at one time. Look past the two-dimensional graphics and you will find pure sports joy.
These are games that know their audience. Both know what sports fans want when they watch real games and they give it to them in virtual abundance.
You want somersault dunks from the free throw line? NBA Jam delivers that in spades. You want 100-yard passes and bone-crunching hits? The game is called Blitz.
As everything in life gets more complicated, it is the incredibly simple gameplay that makes these games last. It is the three button configuration of NBA Jam – A is jump, B is shoot – and the crazy results they produce that make the game so timeless. You can drop the controller for years and pick up where you left off years later.
The best and most lasting video games do not need the complexities of real life. They are purely about entertainment.
That is what a video game is for. They are an escape from reality. For a brief moment, the person playing is their favorite athlete and their favorite team.
As games get more realistic, the games become real themselves and are no longer fun. The player begins overthinking the game and it becomes more about the offseason moves than actually sitting down and playing a game.
Some of these games even have you practice before playing the real thing. That’s right, practice. I’m talking about practice.
The purpose of these simulated and virtual games are lost with this added complexity.
Because if you are going to play a game that is as realistic as these games are getting to be, you might as well put the controller down, go outside and pick up a ball and start working on your real game.
