Sports video games

FIFA 08 and College Hoops 2K8 were played to death by my friends and me in college. I haven't bought a new sports game in a long time, but if they ever released a Madden or NCAA Football for PC I'd buy it immediately.

I thought about buying the new FIFA, but I dunno I like playing it with others but not online. It's more of a social or party game to me than anything, and I don't really hang out with anyone that plays video games at all anymore.

I would sell my soul for a new NCAA football game.

FIFA 17 actually has an option to play a personalized story as a rookie sensation in the English Premier League named Alex Hunter, with Mass Effect-style dialogue choices in cutscenes between actual matches. It's fun, though the classic keyboard controls limit some of the finesse moves that I assume would make Hunter a better player. It's not clear to me exactly how much is pre-scripted and how much changes based on my dialogue choices and how well I play. Has anyone else played it? I'm near the end of the first season, and so far I've had the following happen:

• Signed with West Ham United, as did Hunter's childhood friend Gaz Walker
• Didn't make the squad for the European tournament
• Got loaned out to Newcastle, a team in the Championship League (a level below the Premier League)
• Played reasonably well at Newcastle, with either a goal or assist in the majority of games
• Made friends with Danny Williams, a player who'd been kind of a cocky jerk in preseason tryouts, while Gaz (who was still at West Ham) started acting more egotistical
• Got called back up to West Ham at the same time Gaz got transferred to Tottenham (West Ham's big rival)
• Became West Ham's starting striker, have registered a few goals and assists so far
• Ended up facing Tottenham in a big late-season match and won 2-0 with Hunter getting an assist
• Had a sort-of reconciliation with Gaz after the match, but he seemed annoyed about Hunter and Williams having become friends

Seems like not much changes, I took my agent's advice and signed for a smaller team to get more game time. Chose Watford, got pushed out by them bringing in Harry Kane. That idea was pretty lulzy to me as a Tottenham fan. Also ended up at Newcastle, Gaz has become a twat and twitter is raving about me and Williams having a great partnership on the field despite him being in the reserves. So yeah, heavily scripted.

Had Toro there, at least, so yeah probably both. I'm still on the first season, so don't know what happens later.

NBA Jams from the 90s on PS2; hours of fun with your buds, and your buds.

Still play it occasionally on an emulator.

Madden... I used to be pretty serious about Madden, on the PC, in the 90s. The gameplay was very rough, and poor controls, but the simulation side was quite excellent and the game was actually optimized for PC. You could develop your own offense, designing every block, every route. You could design your defense, draw your zone coverages or choose man coverage and match up how you wanted. Design custom stunts and loops for your d-line... It was awesome, for a guy that firmly believed he was destined to be All-Pro and eventually a HoF coach. (Yeah, lol)

I continued to play Madden for a few years into the 2000s on console, even though I always preferred Tecmo Bowl games for fun-factor. But at a certain point, the gameplay mechanics were changed and I never really got the feel for catching the ball in the new system, or how to use the oomph button or whatever lame name they called it. Also, the gameplay became dumbed down - spin moves all of sudden could do magical things if you spammed them, for instance, instead of resulting in bad things more often than not (check the stats if you think I'm wrong). It no longer had anything to do with football knowledge and strategy, which is really what makes American Football a good game. The most talented team doesn't always win, and that is down to planning and strategy more often than freak plays. Madden became too video-gamey, and lost me.

Making the Run-N-Shoot in old PC Madden was awesome. If you got the right guys (mobile line with a ton of talent), a solid all-around RB1 that can pass block and catch well, a decent QB with mobility, and a deep WR/TE pool without stars or scrubs, it was unstoppable. Still would be in the NFL, and if the Houston Oilers hadn't blown a 31 point halftime lead against the Bills, they would have won that Super Bowl and we would still see the Run-N-Shoot in the league. Warren Moon man.... That guy was amazing. Especially in Tecmo Super Bowl lol!