Apostle92627313,888 (185,205)

Why I'm done with yearly sports titles

Everyone knows how it is. Sports games come out every year and only really get roster updates and nothing major other than that. The thing is, older games had features I loved that newer games don't have.

For example, older WWE games allowed us to add custom music, a feature that went away this generation and only lasted one generation. Older WWE games also allowed us to have intergender matches, while newer games don't allow it. Every year I create my brand to compete with Raw, Smackdown, and WCW (NXT gets "DELETed"). Every year, I wish I can do intergender matches like indy-feds usually have. This year's will be the first game will be the first game since the Attitude Era that I didn't buy the most recent WWE game.

Also, from 2003 to 2012, I put the yearly Madden title on pre-order. Then the Madden NFL 13 - which came out in 2012 - debacle happened. They changed everything. The initial game didn't even have create a player, and that had to be patched in due to customer complaints. Create a team was never patched back in. I played it for a week before taking it back to GameStop and asking for my money back. It was the only Madden I ever truly hated. One of my favorite things to do was create a team and play as them against the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and Green Bay Packers. Sorry, Lions, you were never in my franchise mode. Because the Packers are my favorite team, that was my favorite rivalry.

Continuing on with our two-part series, now that the Los Angeles Rams are again my home team, I build both teams up every offseason so they can finish first and second in the conference and play each other in the NFC Championship game, a poor substitute for the rivalries I would love: Created team vs. Packers vs. Rams vs. another team (Bears?). However, the Packers play in the NFC North and the Rams play in the NFC West, so I would need to be able to move divisions around, maybe even create my own so they can make sense.

Another thing I enjoy doing is using legends. I typically create legends for every team regardless who they played for. If teams I don't like (Bears) do well, so be it. If teams I do like (other than the Packers or Rams of course) don't do well, then doesn't matter.

The problem is that I feel like I'm unable to create a proper Deion Sanders (CB/WR/KR/PR) or Chuck Bednarick (LB/OL). They were two-way players, meaning they played offense and defense. When you put a player in a position, you can't move him around the depth chart unless the positions are similar and on the same side of the ball, with very few exceptions. You can play a middle linebacker as a tight end or a kicker or punter as a quarterback. I need Sanders as a cornerback and wide receiver in order for him to be created historically accurate.

But even then, if they make plays outside their position they don't get put on the stats or career lists, just the player card. Recently, I was editing the playbook I use when I noticed a couple plays I had forgotten about: In the Wildcard position, you can do a direct snap to your running back and have him pass the ball. So as an experiment, I ran that play. My running back managed to get out of two sacks before passing the ball to Mark Chmura (TE), who was running a corner route to the sidelines. He caught the ball in bounds but the referee ruled him out of bounds. I challenged the play and won. But then as I was about to change formations, I noticed my quarterback was lined up as a wide receiver. I chose that play again, and he ran a wide receiver screen. He caught the ball for a 30-yard touchdown. They both ended the game with at least 1 touchdown passing, catching, and running the ball. After the game, I went to check the stats lists, and sure enough, they only received credit for the stats related to their position but all three categories on their respective player cards.

This means I can't create a proper George Blanda (QB/K) either.

Until things change, I don't think I can keep buying yearly sports titles.