The Sports Game Guy: Sports GOTY 2006 and 2007?
What was our Sports editor's game of the year?
I hardly read year-end lists anymore. They're idiotic and boring. Especially for games. In fact, the only great one this year -- and sure, maybe I'm biased -- is 1up's. Believe. So, I've been wracking my brain over coming up with an interesting year end list, so much so that my column's two weeks late. I'm sure it's been difficult. Instead of blabbing about different cutesy categories, I'm just going to announce my sports game of the year, which is pretty much gospel. The Sports Game Guy Sports Game of the Year Candidates: Before I tell, I want to first nominate some non-candidates (which isn't going to make me very popular with some developers). These games fit into the overrated and undergood category. The Non-Candidates: All fine games, but not nearly as good as people have convinced themselves. Anyway, onto the winner: NBA 2K7 Why? It's the best sports game of the year is why. Inarguable logic. NHL 07 was the most innovative, Winning Eleven 9 was my favorite, Project 8 is the most fun, and NCAA Football is superb (and I hate college football). Now that's out of the way, I want to announce the The Sports Game Guy Sports Game of the Year Award for 2007, obviously well in advance. The winner is:
I've been playing it all week and it's the best looking game I've ever seen (the only thing close is Def Jam Icon ). Mike Young , the game's art director, led a team to do things never before seen. The gameplay designer is a genius, and the Gamebreakers will seriously unglue any expectation you might have. Pre-order it, and sing its praises. Now onto the rest of what's relevant. David Beckham is readying to make an LA splash, finally making the MLS relevant (which could've happened if D.C. United would've used Freddy Adu properly). This is great news for the US's image of soccer, but it's disappointing that not only is the MLS not in the next-gen Pro Evolution Soccer Winning Eleven 2007 -- which is nearly ready to hit store shelves -- but the game doesn't even feature the US players with the correct names. For a stateside release that lack of licensing seems way off. I pinged Konami about it, and haven't heard back yet. When I do, I'll let you know. Speaking of, I've been having daily next-gen kick arounds with the next Winning Eleven, and while I won't disclose my score until the game hits on 2/6/07, I will say that playing with different commentary language is better than Rosetta Stone. I'm now soccer fluent in French, German, Spanish and Italian. Where's the Portuguese, though? When I play footie, I want to continue being well Brasiliant. Still speaking of soccer, I saw EA's UEFA Champions League 2006-2007yesterday and was pretty enamored. The card trading system seems like a fun time, the AI seems cleaned up -- so the midfield isn't a cake walk, the player collisions aren't goofy anymore, and the game (especially the menus) are dazzling. Before I split, I want to quickly say that NCAA March Madness 07, is an active, high-paced alternative to College Hoops 2K7. If you want a complete game, go with 2K7, but if you want to fist pump, jump out of your seat and penis-headedly point a finger in your opponent's face -- go with the Madness. The game's crowd is so insane, you'll totally feel it. I hate to say it, but I even favor EA's crowd over the beloved Chant Creator, in 2K's game. Todd Zuniga is an editor at ESPN Video Games. In the past, he's worked as an associate editor at Official PlayStation Magazine, an assistant producer at Electronic Arts, and as a PR Manager for Rockstar Games. Visit his 1up page here .
