Big Four Sports Game of the Year....

GROGtheNailer · Post by **GROGtheNailer** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 12:57 pm

1. Football - ESPN
 
 2. Baseball - HighHeat 2003(PC)
 
 3. BasketBall - Inside Drive ( I guessed on this one)
 
 4. Hockey - NHL 2004(PC)
 
 Please name one in each category, at end tell us why if you like.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:02 pm

Football - ESPN
 
 Baseball - ASB (Honestly, I wasn´t impressed with any of the games this year, but if I had to pick one, this would be it.)
 
 Hockey - ESPN NHL
 
 Basketball - College Hoops

RiverRat · Post by **RiverRat** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:06 pm

Football - NCAA Football 2004
 
 Baseball - ?
 
 Basketball - College Hoops
 
 Hockey - ?
 
 I would give College Hoops serious consideration for most improved game of the year, and maybe overall honors. The Legacy mode and the total package is really, really, really good, even if gameplay is average.

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:18 pm

RiverRat - What makes the gameplay in CH average? I haven´t played either of the College Hoops titles. Did you try MM 2004?

snate · Post by **snate** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:32 pm

Football - ESPN
 Baseball - High Heat (PC)
 Basketball - ID
 Hockey - Rivals

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:36 pm

All for Xbox:
 
 Football: ESPN NFL
 
 Hockey: Rivals 2004
 
 Basketball: Inside Drive 2004
 
 Baseball: None
 
 Racing: Project Gotham Racing 2
 
 ´Nuff said about ESPN NFL. Improved gameplay, First Person Football, incredible presentation, the whole enchilada.
 
 Rivals 2004 is a tough choice over NHL 2004. NHL has the better offline game, but Rivals isn´t that bad and really grows on you when you learn to play it and appreciate the subleties. Plus XBL play, especially multi-multiplayer, puts Rivals over the top. ESPN NHL probably was the biggest gaming disappointment of the year for me, period. Kush did very little to fix the flaws of NHL 2K3. A pure cash-and-carry job by a developer.
 
 Inside Drive 2004 is the most realistic console basketball game I´ve ever played. Easy choice.
 
 None of the baseball games compelled me in 2003. High Heat had great gameplay but was drier than a popcorn fart. s*** graphics, presentation, audio. Felt like baseball in a county morgue. I´ve never liked ASB due to the insane pitch speeds and funky fielding animations. WSB was overrated, as the strike zone still was too big and the fields too small. I did enjoy Inside Pitch 2003 as a first effort, especially online play. But offline play was pretty damn shallow, and the game lacked so many basics such as box scores, double switches, etc. The fielding dive also was very exaggerated. MVP was a great improvement over Triple Play, but no CPU batters ever swung outside of the strike zone, and there still were too many hits for both teams.
 
 Project Gotham Racing 2 is the best racing game for the Xbox, period. It´s my overall game of the year.
 
 Golf may not be one of the "Big Four," but Links 2004 gets my nod there.
 
 Take care,
 PK

RiverRat · Post by **RiverRat** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:58 pm

"RiverRat - What makes the gameplay in CH average? I haven´t played either of the College Hoops titles. Did you try MM 2004?"
 
 There are a number of little niggling flaws in the gameplay.
 
 For example, the AI offense tends to stand around a little bit too much. The AI mismanages time outs on occasion. The AI press is relatively easy to break. It´s a little too easy to get the ball inside, but a little too hard to get off the kind of shot you want in the paint, especially for put backs, (maybe washes out). I also think the commentary could be a little more team-specific, and the cut scenes need to be redone more in line with NCAA 2004.
 
 There´s nothing horribly wrong about the gameplay, but nothing that is done extremely well either. But like I said, the off-court stuff is maybe the best I have ever seen in anyonsole sports game, decidedly better that dynasty mode in NCAA 2004, in my opinion. For example, the custom scheduling is better because teams and tournaments you may want to schedule may not want to schedule you, and they will turn you down.
 
 I have not played MM.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 2:07 pm

Are we disregarding "quality" as well.
 
 ESPN NFL was fun, but it wasn´t nearly as refined as Madden. Too many small things that are quirky on the field. And off the field the game still seems unfinished.
 
 Sure Madden was more of the same but ESPN still had a few too many Sega Sports quirks to call this the best football title. And if innovations make the game the best than, FIFA was also be the best because of it´s innovations.
 
 My list
 Football - Madden or NCAA. Yes madden is the same every year but it´s also the most complete. Now whether you are fun or not that´s subjective.
 
 Hockey - Tough one to go with. They are all pretty bad but NHL would get the nod.
 
 Baseball - HH lost it´s fun factor this year. Yes it´s more of the same but something happen with their "new" graphics engine. I´d go with ASB. As much as I think it´s unrefined and as much as I hate the cursor system it wins this category. But the baseball games this year were close to be great games but they came up short.
 
 Game of the year (Big 4) - NCAA Football. Offers for me the most complete package.
 
 [ This message was edited by: JRod on 12-12-2003 10:08 ]

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 2:14 pm

Football: ESPN Football
 
 Basketball: Inside Drive 2004
 
 Hockey: NHL 2004
 
 Baseball: High Heat 2003 (PC) overall due to tune file and mods. WSB 2k3 was my favorite on a console.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 2:14 pm

>>>FIFA was also be the best because of it´s innovations.<<<
 
 John:
 
 You´re kidding, right? What "innovations" did FIFA 2004 offer? None that I could see.
 
 I think you´re confusing "new features" with "innovations" if you´re serious about the FIFA remark. Stuff like Off The Ball Control is a new feature, not an innovation, because it simply doesn´t work. Innovations are new features that work.
 
 Take care,
 PK

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 2:16 pm

This was the first year since 1997 that I didn´t buy a version of Madden and I probably won´t buy another version until it can be played on XBL.

BBReBozo · Post by **BBReBozo** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 2:20 pm

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD>Quote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><BLOCKQUOTE>
 but was drier than a popcorn fart.
 </BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
 
 If you say this one more time, I´ll have you arrested for plagiarizing yourself.

tsunami · Post by **tsunami** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 2:27 pm

Football: NCAA 2004
 Basketball: Inside Drive 2004
 Baseball: The Baseball 2003
 Hockey: NHL 2004 PC

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 2:29 pm

Football - None. I´ve played NCAA and am still playing Madden and ESPN. They all have serious imbalances, not enough to make me give up completely but enough to make me throw up my hands a lot of the times.
 
 Basketball - Haven´t played any yet and may not. Just never been impressed by any hoops title. Ever.
 
 Hockey - Not a big sport.
 
 Baseball - Still to be determined. Only one baseball game was online and without online, they can´t get serious consideration. More than likely, the game I´ll spend the most time won´t necessarily be the "best," whatever that means, because it´ll be determined by which game has the most action online.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 2:49 pm

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD>Quote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><BLOCKQUOTE>
 On 2003-12-12 10:20, BBReBozo wrote:
 [quote]
 but was drier than a popcorn fart.
 
 If you say this one more time, I´ll have you arrested for plagiarizing yourself.
 </BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
 
 LOL, seriously...every time I read that I think to myself, that pk needs to come up with a new ´dry´ comparison. [ This message was edited by: dbdynsty25 on 12-12-2003 11:30 ]

GROGtheNailer · Post by **GROGtheNailer** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 3:00 pm

Well...there is always the vile Nunn reference.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 3:09 pm

Grog:
 
 Twelve years of Catholic school here ... I´m not touching that one.
 
 OK, try this: Drier than a Mormon´s liver.
 
 Out,
 PK [ This message was edited by: pk500 on 12-12-2003 11:09 ]

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 3:13 pm

1. Football - NCAA 2004
 2. Baseball - WSB
 3. Basketball - ID 2004 (Haven´t tried a college game yet)
 4. Hockey - hate hockey

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 3:18 pm

Football -- ESPN. I am a long-time Madden fan, and while ESPN has a lot of quirks, it just pulled me in. I couldn´t even play NCAA 2004 after this. Madden suffered from PK´s popcorn fart syndrome -- no atmosphere.
 
 Basketball -- Inside Drive. It does so many things right that other games just screw up. If High Voltage made a college game I´d never leave the house.
 
 Baseball -- No winner IMO. I played WSB more than any other game, but that had too many flaws to win. High Heat, realistic though it may be, bored me to tears. ASB and MVP were also good efforts but had too many problems.
 
 Hockey -- don´t follow the game.

Toper · Post by **Toper** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 3:23 pm

Football - NCAA 2004 (on PS2 for additional online capability): The total package...none of the pro games can touch it.
 
 Baseball - HighHeat 2003: Still the king of gameplay, but the other titles are catching up to it (and will prolly pass it by next year).
 
 BasketBall - NBA Live 2004: Didn´t know how much I missed the pro hop (which needs to be tweaked for next year) and the 10man freestyle, until I played the other titles. The only thing holding this one back is the subpar framerate.
 
 4. Hockey - NHL 2004 (on PS2 for additional online capability): Admittedly, I´m not a huge fan of the sport, but this is the best I´ve played since NHL 1994 (took EA long enough!).
 
 
 Toper

jimd · Post by **jimd** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 4:24 pm

Football--Maddden. Too many AI issues with ESPN. Madden was the status quo, and lacking in atmosphere and features, but still plays a very realistic NFL game
 
 Baseball--too busy playing WE...never tried one out this year.
 
 Hockey--None. I have owned NHL, ESPN, Rivals, and Hitz at one time or another...all these games were flawed enough that I ended up not wanting to play any of them. Hitz is actually the most fun, but gets old quick.
 
 Hoops--ID (after about a week).

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 5:37 pm

PK,
 The FIFA comment was bad stab a sarcasim. <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_biggrin.gif">

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 5:43 pm

I went with the usual suspects:
 
 NBA - Inside Drive 2004
 
 MLB - High Heat 2004
 
 NHL - NHL 2004
 
 NFL - ESPN NFL 2k4

HipE · Post by **HipE** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 6:00 pm

Football: NCAA 2004- I´ve played through five seasons offline, two seasons online, and a bunch of exhibitions. I just started getting into the offline portion of the game again, so I´ll probably finish a few more seasons in the next few weeks. This game ranks right up with Tecmo Super Bowl as my favorite sports game of all time.
 
 Baseball: WSB 2K3- I actually thought this was a very good game. I´m a fan of cursor batting, and I thought the hitting in this game was great. It was too easy to steal, the CPU baserunning was weak, and there weren´t enough doubles, but I like pretty much everything else about the game.
 
 Basketball: March Madness 2004- I haven´t played ID 2004 yet, but March Madness is filling my needs for a basketball title right now. I think the game is a blast to play, and the atmosphere is outstanding. If they can polish the off the court stuff to the level of NCAA 2004 football, this could be a stellar series.
 
 Hockey: ESPN NHL- I´m not a big fan of this game, but I did have some fun with it. The goalies are broken, but I did like the feel of this game. Hockey is the only sport of the four major sports that isn´t represented in my game collection at this time.

seanmac · Post by **seanmac** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 10:51 pm

Football- ESPN. Easily the best represented of the sports, as there are three legitimate top-tier titles in ESPN, Madden and NCAA. ESPN is the best of the bunch, though.
 
 Baseball- WSB. A little tweaking of the strike zone and some online play next season and it will be a much better offering.
 
 Basketball- ID. The most realistic basketball game you can find- I´ve had to totally adjust my play style after too much time with Live and ESPN. (I love the fact that if you jump to block the shot 20 times, you are going to end up with about 18 fouls.)
 
 Hockey- ESPN. Perhaps the most frustrating, because the goalie AI knocks down what would otherwise be a serious candidate for game of the year. Still, with the goalie sliders adjusted and against a live opponent, I think it´s the best of the hockey games.
 
 Overall sports lineups:
 1. Sega- ESPN Basketball is ironically the worst of their releases (it has been their strength for the past several years). Their games aren´t without flaws, but their lineup is the best around, and features the game of the year, ESPN Football.
 2. EA- They lose significant points with me for the lack of XBL support and the choppy framerates on the Xbox. That said, Madden and NCAA were fantastic, and they have made significant strides with franchises that were in tatters a few years ago (FIFA, Live, NHL, even Triple Play).
 3. XSN- Best basketball game, an impressive tennis entry, and some good ideas that fall flat in Fever. Still hoping for a soccer title out of them.
 4. 989- At least Gameday has gotten better.