- by Tipene "Tipamari" Bryant
- Posted on July 27, 2011 @ 5:49 PST
Sports games are a genre which stand in a strange place in the world of gaming. In the actual layout of the games, the events which occur are fictional, but they directly reflect the realism of sport. Most of the time, if you are playing a sports game, you must be a fan of that sport. If you hate soccer, there’s no way you would be playing FIFA 2012, and so on. The popularity of a sports game is a lot larger than this, however.
No one country obsesses over the same sports. Countries like the USA and Japan have large national baseball leagues, and in Europe, Soccer is like breathing. It is for this reason that I find sports as a video game genre unique. The sports genre of gaming is not popular on a whole. Bethesda’s Skyrim may sell great around the world, but do sports games have that same magic? I will not deny their popularity, but Madden 2011 is not as popular in New Zealand and Australia as it would be in its home country of America.
Both FIFA 2010 and FIFA 2011 were popular games my friends and I used to play. Soccer games were not uncommon in New Zealand, but last year there was a sudden surge of popularity for them. Now, soccer is one of the most played sports in New Zealand. Unfortunately, we have never really been good at it. But somehow, New Zealand managed to win enough entry games and was allowed to participate in the FIFA 2011 World Cup.
Two of the most popular sports in New Zealand are ironically two sports which are not the most widely known in America: These are rugby and cricket. You would think that two such small sports would never have big game titles, but that belief is quite contrary. The best and most widely played sports games in New Zealand are based on Rugby Union, Rugby League, and Cricket. All these sports New Zealand play in both national leagues and international ones: also, we are kind of good at them (except for cricket, as we are slowly getting worse). These aspects of the sports have a profound affect on the video games we play here, as the game is a medium for sports fans to be a part of that world, sharing the joy of victory, and the misery of defeat.
We here in New Zealand are always slandered through the media that ‘Rugby is in our blood’, and one of the greatest achievements a son could have is to be a member of the New Zealand rugby team, ‘The All Blacks’. The Rugby World Cup starts in a couple of months, so I expect this popularity to go even higher. I’d have a better chance counting sand at the beach then the amount of beer adverts about the world cup. Funnily enough, Sidhe, a video game developer here in New Zealand is releasing their title Rugby Challenge which should be coming out around the third quarter of 2011 (just in time for the Rugby World Cup). I’m not sure if this game will ever make it onto American soil, and am also not sure whether or not any American would ever purchase the game. The game may sell well in Australia, England, South Africa, and lots of other countries, whom are interested in rugby, but chances are me and my mates will be slamming rugby games for the coming months.
However, I suppose a lot of people do not even touch sports games. Personally, I enjoy playing RPGs, but I don’t say no to sports games. I’d love to hear more from you guys though. Do popular sports in your country have a big effect in what you play?
I do know one thing: No matter which country you are from, Wii Sports is ALWAYS popular.
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