An S&S Perspective: Is Buying a Sports Game Annually Smart?

Sports games have gotten pretty good lately, but there was a time when every year you had games that only made minor improvements, but we still went out and dropped the 65$ on it.  Am I at fault for dropping the cash and letting the developers get away with a glorified roster update, or is it OK because I'm a hardcore NBA and NFL fan.  

If you were to ask a casual sports fan what year did the above screenshot come from the NBA 2K series, they probably would say NBA 2K12 or 11.  Nobody would guess that it came from 2K10, unless you’re a hardcore basketball fan.  This common occurrence happens a lot when it comes to sports games.  Publishers like EA and 2K Sports are right in the middle of the conversations when it comes to this topic.  They understand that every year they have an option of getting a game out there, no matter how many improvements were made, just to sell and make their money.  I get it, hardcore sports fans demand a new iteration of a certain game every year, and if they don’t get what they want, they will riot.  Every year though, a small minority of people has been growing that oppose the annual release schedules of these games.  I am a part of this group as well, wishing developers and publishers to not continuously push these games out the door.  

When you put games like Madden 10 and Madden 11, there just isn’t enough differences in the game to warrant somebody to spend $65 bucks on basically the same game.  There is another small game that goes by the name of Call of Duty, that proves that the ignorance of casual gamers outweigh knowledgeable hardcore fans’ strong opinions.  The COD franchise grosses a billion dollars every year, for basically nothing.  I am a huge fan of the games, but I feel a little insulted when you release games that are shockingly similar to the previous release.   A common line you’ll hear from developers refer to the “improved” visuals in newer games.  Visuals have always been a scapegoat when it comes to these annual releases of games.  The image below is from Madden 09 and 10.  You be the judge...

Its only a matter of time before the next generation of consoles hit the stores, and there is a huge leap in terms of visuals and gameplay in the sports games.  Then every year the after that a new game gets released with only minimal improvements to boot.  The cycle continues until that minority gets big enough so that publishers and developers will take more time to make these games worth the money.  The question is, will you be a part of that group?