After a four month void of new sports game releases – it’s hard to believe it has been that long – February essentially kicks off the 2012 season with a trio of offerings. The 14th brings UFC Undisputed 3 after nearly a two year gap in the series as well as EA Sports’ Grand Slam Tennis 2 (their first tennis title on 360/PS3) while the reboot of the popular SSX series arrives on the 28th. Vote in the poll on which game or games you’re looking forward to and plan to buy and leave any thoughts in the comments!

In 2011 EA Sports saw sales of their major franchises (Madden, NCAA, NHL, FIFA, Tiger) rise – what that really amounts to however is a blip rather than an actual expansion of the consumer base. Meanwhile other highly regarded series like NBA 2K and MLB: The Show had their sales drop off after especially strong years.

The sports genre of video games simply hasn’t grown this generation. As console sales continue to expand the potential number of consumers that hasn’t carried over in the past seven years to the pool of sports gamers. That is a major concern now and one that will have to be addressed soon – whether immediately or with the next generation of consoles.

Is there a compelling reason for someone to get into the sports genre of gaming now that wasn’t present years ago? There doesn’t seem to be any at all besides just doing so because one is a fan of that sport. As kids many of us grew up on these games and were drawn in by the fun factor and quickly advancing technology. Now frustration seems to arise more than simply being able to enjoy the games from year-to-year and potential goes untapped.

Though I continue to get indications that EA is working on a college basketball game there is (and will remain to be) little market to support one – even if there was the threat of lawsuits provides the dagger to consideration. We’ve seen contraction all across the sports genre throughout this generation. 2K Sports has essentially been reduced to just their NBA game given that this will probably be the last year of their MLB series. Development costs suddenly rose and potential consumer base either shrunk or got stagnant. That isn’t a combination that will elicit significant investment in risky products.

Arcade-style games are quickly dying out. Being handcuffed by the leagues is the biggest reason for that – but the companies haven’t found a way to compensate creatively. NFL Blitz, though a reasonably fun game, is about as bland as can be and appears as though it will likely be a one-off release with no future as a franchise. NBA Jam has been immensely disappointing, The BIGS (the best arcade game of the generation) is now dead. EA has attempted to resurrect arcade franchises but thus far completely mishandled them. Coming up are FIFA Street and SSX which will hopefully fare better otherwise there isn’t much hope for the arcade-style games in the future.

Meanwhile post-release support seems to have fallen off as companies either look to cut their losses or turn their full attention towards the next iteration in development. Madden NFL 12 only had one feedback-based patch though it has gotten great dedication in terms of consistent weekly roster updates. EA has abandoned promises to provide roster updates for NBA Jam: On Fire Edition. NCAA Football 12 got a number of patches mostly aimed at fixing problems and bringing the product to release-day standard. It doesn’t appear NFL Blitz will get a single roster update. The NBA season has been underway for nearly three weeks and the rosters are still missing many rookies and other transactions in NBA 2K12 while features like the web-element to Online Association are now over three months late. Many series like 2K and The Show have had terrible online experiences as a whole.

Downloadable content has become the big way to compensate for the troubles. EA makes tens of millions off each game that has an Ultimate Team mode and offer $50 worth of extra courses for Tiger Woods. Other sources of DLC/microtransactions are now provided by every company and there are elements such as the “Online Pass” to factor in as well. That, unfortunately, looks to be the direction things are heading. If sales of the base product aren’t up then they need to get the average dollar amount spent by each consumer that has been obtained to rise.

Sports games are in a dangerous position right now – the only franchise that is really flourishing is FIFA. These companies only have themselves to blame as they’ve struggled to provide compelling products and on occasions that they have they’ve followed them up with disappointments. They’ve also rubbed people the wrong way with bug-ridden efforts and a reliance on patches to “fix” rather than “improve”. Consumers have grown weary of the same old rhetoric coming out and no longer are fooled by it.

Some will point to NBA Elite 11 and say that is the exact reason why no push towards innovation is made. The game ended up getting cancelled at the last minute because it was going to bomb and kill any chance of EA building back up an NBA series. The problem is that game had core issues that extended beyond just being a troubled gameplay experience due to a rushed development cycle. The leadership on down through marketing took the completely wrong approach and the warning signs were obvious – I was calling it out months in advance while other outlets instead glossed over all those indications. Going a different direction with a series doesn’t have to result in disaster – EA brought that one on themselves.

It may come down to the launch of the next generation of consoles to either rejuvenate the genre or see it fade into an afterthought for good. The opportunity will be there to innovate and try and capture a new group of consumers. Should these companies continue to play it safe and make minor transitions from year to year they’ll continue to see their sales degrade – there may be ‘one year wonders’ mixed in but not the consistent true growth that is needed to sustain for the long-term. There will always be a game representing each major sport but as competition dwindles, league control grows, and companies cut corners there isn’t much reason to get excited for where things are headed.

Released prematurely in December and subsequently yanked from the marketplace only hours later – the demo for Grand Slam Tennis 2 has returned to XBL (queue up for download here) and will arrive on PSN later this afternoon. The demo provides an opportunity to play a three game set at Wimbledon between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. For a look at what to expect check out some of the demo videos that went up following the early release a few weeks back and the recent tutorial spotlighting the ‘Total Racquet Controls’.

2011 doesn’t necessarily have to be viewed as a down year for sports gaming but it may end up better described as having been a transitional one. Some series struggled to follow-up on well-received iterations while others regained footing that could position them to be among the best of 2012. FIFA 12 won the official Sports Game of the Year Award for the site as well as getting the nod from the community but there was a healthy mix of titles that excelled in specific areas even if they didn’t make for all-around great products. That was evidenced by the wide range of winners in the Community Choice Awards. Expectations should be high for the coming year as sports games for this console generation either hit their peak or fail to meet their potential.

•Community Choice Award Winners
•The Biggest Stories of 2011
•#1: FIFA 12
•#2: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters
•#3: Madden NFL 12
•#4: MLB 11: The Show
•#5: NBA 2K12
•#6: WWE All-Stars
•#7: NCAA Football 12
•#8: NHL 12
•#9: Fight Night Champion
•#10: MLB Bobblehead Pros

After tallying over 21,000 votes across the various categories it’s time to take a look at the results and crown the winners of the 2011 Pastapadre Community Choice Awards! 

Best Sports Game of 2011 – FIFA 12

In a relatively easy victory FIFA 12 takes the top award for 2011 by collecting over 55% of the vote. The most popular sports game in the world has gained traction over the last few years in North America sales wise and in relevance – it probably would not have been able to come out on top of a vote over more popular domestic sports until now and doing so says a lot about the product. FIFA 12 was truly a complete game featuring numerous deep modes and well-executed features, great gameplay, fantastic online performance, and a willingness to innovate despite its top of the mountain status. For a console exclusive The Show has a very strong following and produced a good percentage of votes in the category and there’s nothing to be ashamed of for Tiger Woods given that a golf game being able to pull in 12% is impressive in itself.

Best New or Non-Yearly Sports Game – Forza 4

The three nominees in this category were starkly different – a simulation racer, an M-rated boxing game featuring a story mode, and an arcade fighter. The result was a competitive three-way race with Forza 4 taking the crown as a title that satisfied car fanatics and racing-game fans alike.

Best Arcade-Style Sports Game – NBA Jam: On Fire Edition

Arcade-style games have fallen out of favor over the course of this generation but two especially strong efforts released in 2011. NBA Jam: On Fire Edition wins out with impressive value and fun-factor for a $15 digital-download title. One has to wonder though if EA Sports’ failure to provide promised roster updates would have affected results if the issue had been known to be coming during the voting period. WWE All-Stars was a really solid effort for the launch of a new prospective franchise but the full $60 price tag plus asking for more to obtain DLC wrestlers meant its playing-exposure was probably less than that of Jam.

Best Mobile Sports Game: NBA Jam

The biggest blowout of all the categories came in mobile – which had an especially strong year of offerings – as NBA Jam pulled in 67% of the vote. It was the most high-profile of the nominees so that played a part but Jam was unusually well-suited for mobile and EA actually went to lengths of supporting it with roster updates – something they haven’t done for the console versions.

Most Disappointing Sports Game – NCAA Football 12

The closest category was a competition between two games that struggled in follow-ups to their highly-regarded iterations the previous year. Both NCAA Football 12 and NBA 2K12 released with a bevy of serious problems and community perception regarding both took a huge hit. NCAA edged out 2K12 however as the most disappointing game of 2011 with 44.5% to 42%. Both series will be looking for bounce-back years in 2012 and will have the opportunity to recover and regain their standing among the best in the genre.

Best Gameplay – FIFA 12

It was a rematch of the same three games from 2010 in this category but with a new winner emerging. The addition of the “Impact Engine” physics to FIFA 12 was a bold move and though it had its problems it was ultimately a beneficial step forward. FIFA took 42% of the vote, with last year’s runner-up The Show again in the same position, while last year’s winner NBA 2K11 dropped from 56% of the vote to just 27% with 2K12.

Best Presentation – NBA 2K12

With the special presentation for the NBA’s Greatest matchups as well as new broadcast camera angles and improved commentary NBA 2K12 soared to a victory in this category. As was the case last year as well MLB: The Show will probably need new commentary to challenge a 2K title in overall presentation value.

Best Online Play – Madden NFL 12

FIFA 12 was probably the favorite going in, given its continued strong online performance and number of features, but Madden NFL 12 comes out on top in what was undoubtedly its strongest year ever online. Online performance was excellent and probably the determining factor in Madden’s favor considering it had its share of struggles online in the past. Online Communities in Madden was a valiant effort to improve the experience for players but Online Seasons in FIFA 12 ultimately did a better job of achieving that goal.

Best Franchise or Dynasty Mode – Madden NFL 12

This category was a bit of an upset as Madden NFL 12′s Franchise mode knocked off the more refined reigning award holder (NCAA Football’s Dynasty mode). The complete refresh of Madden’s Franchise was certainly still on the consciousness of the voters – while NCAA may have suffered from some of the ill will towards the series in general and due in part to problems encountered with Online Dynasty and SuperSim.

Best Career Mode – MLB 11: The Show (Road to the Show)

The Show has one of the longest-standing career modes and have steadily improved it over the years. Despite frustratingly long loading times Road to the Show wins for 2011 after having made a shift from a goal-based system to one that was performance-based. Road to the Masters in Tiger 12 and NHL 12′s Be a Pro had good support as well but Road to the Show has become the gold-standard of career modes.

Best New Feature or Mode – NBA 2K12 (NBA’s Greatest)

NBA’s Greatest in NBA 2K12 proved to be the best new addition to a sports game this year. Implementing 15 match-ups from different points in history the games had their own unique elements of presentation that made each one a lesson in the league’s past. Online Seasons in FIFA 12 put up a surprisingly strong challenge however as that feature was really successful in enhancing the online play experience. Fight Night Champion’s story mode was mildly compelling but short and that may have been what kept it from a better showing here.

Recap

2010 had one game – NBA 2K11 – dominate a number of community-voted categories and become nearly the consensus sports game of the year. The results from 2011 however show how a number of games excelled in particular ways but very few could even claim to have pulled together all the elements of a complete product let alone an outstanding one. FIFA 12 was recognized by the community as having succeeded the most in a year where others faltered or began to emerge as potential contenders for 2012.

This year brought about many significant developments in sports gaming – from news on exclusive licenses and effects of lockouts, to major changes taking place at the EA Sports Tiburon studio and the introduction of a subscription service, along with continuing concerns over account security with ties to FIFA. There was a lot that happened that will influence the genre going forward. Continue on for recaps of 2011′s most important stories.

NFL and EA Sports Extend Exclusive License

The uncertainty over the NFL lockout lead to the league and EA Sports agreeing to a one year extension of the exclusive license after the company was granted a significant break (upwards of $30 million) for the current year. That means the exclusive now runs through Madden NFL 14.

The developments however indicate clearly that EA is the less satisfied party in the deal. While the NFL would prefer to keep things going with the current terms it would not be surprising if EA were to give up exclusivity in return for greatly reduced licensing fees – or at the very least negotiate much more favorable terms in any extension to come. There is little chance at this point of a competitor threatening their reign and opportunity fades more with every year that goes by. Even if another company had the chance to produce an NFL console game they very well may not find the risk and associated costs to be worth taking on.

Big Development Team Changes at Tiburon

A wave of high-profile defections from EA Sports’ Tiburon studio will shape several series going forward. It began with Madden NFL creative director Ian Cummings and multiple other senior members, followed by EA Sports NBA executive producer Jeremy Strauser, Madden NFL executive producer Phil Frazier, and NBA Jam creator (and overseer of other projects) Mark Turmell. They all moved on to social gaming companies joining former Tiburon execs like John Schappert and Steve Chiang (Zynga) and Philip Holt (Row Sham Bow).

All the changes have resulted in a shift in leadership. Cam Weber now acts as GM of football products, Roy Harvey takes over the executive producer role with Madden after having held that position with NCAA Football, and Dale Jackson moves to executive producer on EA NBA having last led EA MMA. Mike Young is creative director on Madden NFL with Kolbe Launchbaugh just brought on to help with the transition to the next generation of consoles.

League Lockouts Affect Madden and NBA 2K

Lockouts were the big sports stories that carried for extended portions of the year. The NFL agreement came before any games were missed – and if anything further concentrated fan excitement for the free agent frenzy and start of the season helping to increase sales of Madden 12 vs the previous iteration.

The effect on NBA 2K12 though was much more realized. Sales were down significantly – due in large part to fan discontent over the lockout, old rosters/no rookies, and features that were negated with no ongoing season. The recent return of the NBA did increase relevance and interest in the product but came far too late to recoup the losses incurred or recover from the damage inflicted over the months prior.

EA Sports Introduces the Season Ticket

EA Sports launched the subscription service known as the “Season Ticket” to little fanfare but also while avoiding a wave of backlash. It really wasn’t advertised at all but its appeal was still quite limited. For $25 the optional service provides access to games three (or more) days early via digital-download and a 20% discount on all DLC purchased.

For the most part it was received well by those who purchased it due to the early access to the games – through the procedure of which as they expire and require the full game be bought independently even after having downloaded is not ideal. Money wise the savings on DLC would not make it a worthwhile buy on its own but it’s hard to put a price for some on getting to play the games early. That the option to carry DLC over from one year to the next was not included (primarily a Tiger Woods concern) was the biggest disappointment.

Voting for Cover Athletes

EA Sports went with a new strategy this year by turning the cover athlete selection into a marketing campaign. Rather than getting one press release out of a cover announcement they have been able to make the process a story over a longer period of time by involving the fans.

This was no more evident than with Madden NFL 12. A cover tournament that included 32 candidates succeeded brilliantly in raising awareness that the game would be releasing whether the lockout affected the season or not. At that point the company was inundated with questions about whether Madden 12 would even release. By the time it was completed those concerns were concerns were completely squashed and they were able to move on to marketing the game rather than informing consumers of its status in light of the lockout.

The other positive marketing wise is that it absolves the company of some responsibility in eventual representatives that may have image issues. Rather than EA choosing Michael Vick, and facing an onslaught of outrage from PETA and the like, they would be able to say it was the fans who ultimately made the decision. Of course they were the ones who ultimately made it a possibility, and PETA did complain during the process, but they would still be able to deflect potential criticism to an extent.

The cover of NCAA Football 12 was determined through a vote as was the “digital cover” for NFL Blitz. THQ even followed suit by letting fans choose between five different fighters for the upcoming UFC Undisputed 3 with Anderson Silva victorious.

Broken vs Disappointing

This was a year in which almost every game had its share of widely discussed issues – some to a greater extent than others of course. It prompted much needed discussion over the difference between a game – or maybe more specifically its features – being flat out broken or simply just failing to live up to expectations.

NCAA Football 12 and NBA 2K12 had elements that were in fact broken or delivered in an incomplete fashion while other titles like Madden NFL 12 or MLB 11: The Show may have come up short in certain areas of importance but still met their base requirements. It’s a fascinating discussion to have when trying to determine what is what but 2011 helped it become more well defined with blatant examples of both.

Where the line is drawn though has to be when advertised features don’t work properly. That could be NCAA 12 with custom playbooks or NBA 2K12 with its online play for a period of time following release. Companies shouldn’t be allowed to get away with releasing products in that state and trying to rectify them with patches weeks or months later.

EA Sports Shifts Release Dates With Great Success

Two release date moves this year produced increased sales that can at least can be partially attributed to when they arrived in stores. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 came out only a week before The Masters (which it featured prominently for the first time ever) and Madden NFL 12 was pushed back three weeks to near the start of the regular season rather than early in the pre-season. They capitalized on the increased fan excitement around their respective sports.

These two series could make the change because they face no direct competition. The sports that do (NBA/MLB) have release dates designated by the leagues. Moving back and giving the competitor a jump rather than releasing as soon as possible would be sales suicide.

Roster Updates Continue to Be Game Sellers

One of the biggest lessons from 2010 was that new rosters are what drive sales of sports titles more than anything else. That was again the case this year as shown by effect of the NBA lockout which drastically damaged sales of NBA 2K12. Having essentially the same rosters as 2K11 was one of the primary factors in consumer purchase decisions. 2K12 owners are still bothered by the fact that second rounders have yet to be added. Meanwhile a game like NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, which relies far less on authenticity, is still taking heat for (thus far) failing to live up to the advertised feature of roster updates.

Unauthorized Xbox Account Access Leads to Spending on FIFA Items

Though no side, not Microsoft or EA Sports, is accepting fault in the matter – a wave of Xbox Live “hackings” have been in the news throughout the final quarter of the year. “Social engineering” is what it’s being chalked up to by MS but many of those afflicted take issue with that explanation of what is taking place and believe a more nefarious tactic is being utilized to hijack accounts – and then be left with upwards of a month waiting to regain access.

Once the “hacker” has access to an Xbox account they are using it to spend money (Microsoft points on the account or the credit card tied to it) to make purchases through FIFA Ultimate Team mode in FIFA 12 or FIFA 11. The reason for this is because these items can be flipped on sites like Ebay for pure profit. The “hackings” continue with no definite resolution in sight.

Motion Gaming Tails Off in Relevance

2010 was a big year for motion gaming with Kinect for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Move both hitting the market. 2011 however showed its limitations. There were no innovative breakout hits within the sports genre utilizing motion controls. MLB 11: The Show and Tiger Woods 12 both had specific forms that utilized Move but few gamers out there cared to bother with it.

Meanwhile EA Sports announced that many of their franchises would utilize the hardware, specifically Kinect, in the future – including Madden NFL and Tiger Woods. Where it may be most useful in regards to Kinect is with the implementation of voice commands best demonstrated in Kinect Sports: Season Two. Actual motion control schemes are really not desired by the sports gaming crowd.

EA Sports Gets Back into Baseball

With the third party exclusive MLB license set to expire after 2012′s round of games many are anticipating the return of MVP Baseball from EA Sports. The current license holder, 2K Sports, is not going to renew and the MLB 2K series is likely to then be shut down.

It wasn’t MVP Baseball that made the news this year though instead EA’s foray back into baseball through the Facebook game World Series Superstars. The free-to-play microtransaction supported model followed others like Madden NFL Superstars and FIFA Superstars on the social media platform. Though not the game everyone was waiting for it did provide additional hope for that to materialize given a renewed relationship between EA and MLB.

Beta Periods Emerge for Bi-Yearly Titles

Yearly sports franchises don’t have the luxury of adjusting release dates – they are either mandated by league licenses or fall within important frames that are critical to their success. Bi-yearly titles however, like the Fight Night and UFC series, can be more flexible – therefore providing an opportunity to take advantage of a beta period and make tweaks to the games that will be of later benefit to consumers.

THQ launched an online-centric beta for UFC Undisputed 3 in late December while Fight Night Champion took advantage of an early demo (out a month before release) to collect feedback and deliver a “tuner update” before the game had even hit store shelves.

2K Sports Runs Shameless Promotion for Top Spin 4

Sex as the selling point for a sports video game? That’s what 2K Sports attempted with their borderline offensive and sexist marketing campaign for Top Spin 4 featuring Serena Williams in an “unauthorized” video. The backlash was harsh, and 2K attempted to claim that the video was not intended to go public, but it was obviously sanctioned for the purpose of creating a stir and succeeded in that regard.

Fight Night Champion Distributed Digitally by Individual Modes on PSN

In November Fight Night Champion arrived on PSN for $30, same as on the 360, but with additional options. “Champion” (story) mode could be purchased on its own for $5, “Fight Now” for $5,  ”Legacy” (career) mode for $10, and “Online” play for $10. Though it remains unlikely that games will be offered in this fashion at or around typical release it does make a lot of sense for titles that have run their course.  8 months later EA could pull in some extra revenue from the game given that those people who didn’t buy it by now were unlikely to buy it in whole at all but may have been tempted by the new pricing model.

In the case of FNC offering the chance to play the heralded story mode without having to invest in the entire game, or play whatever mode was of most interest, made for an intriguing development and one that will hopefully be the start of a trend.

PSN Hacking Hurts MLB 11: The Show

PSN was hacked in April – resulting in user’s personal data such as usernames, passwords, email addresses, home addresses, birthdays and possibly even credit cards being exposed to the culprits. To recover and implement better security for the future Sony took down the online service for 23 days. That meant no online access for The Show (or any other PS3 game for that matter) for what would have been a high-activity period of time early in the MLB season.

Peter Moore Gets Promoted

After heading up EA Sports as president since 2007 Peter Moore was promoted to COO of Electronic Arts in August. Andrew Wilson has taken over the lead of the EA Sports division.

UFC Buys Strikeforce – Deathblow to EA MMA

EA Sports MMA 2 was still planned until Zuffa (parent company of UFC) purchased the Strikeforce promotion in March. Strikeforce was the main form of branding for EA MMA and losing it killed any chances of a sequel and the viability of any MMA game coming from the company – the MMA development team was then shifted to other projects.

The demo for Grand Slam Tennis 2 may have been pulled from the Xbox Live Marketplace after only a few hours (apparently a miscommunication led to the early release and it’ll be back out in mid/late January) but plenty of people were able to grab it when it was available which means a number of videos have been appearing since.

It’ll take some time to get used to the (right stick) ‘Total Racquet Control’ so keep in mind that those playing are inexperienced with the game. Continue on to check out a series of videos taken from the demo and leave any thoughts in the comments!

The demo for Grand Slam Tennis 2 has arrived on the Xbox 360 and is expected later today for the PS3. It provides the opportunity to play a three game set at Wimbledon between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

EA Sports also announced the cover will feature the trio of John McEnroe, Djokovic, and Maria Sharapova and the game will hit stores on February 14. That means the company is releasing two of its own titles on the same day (SSX being the other) which is unusual in itself but the choice to place it there means it will also go up against UFC Undisputed 3 and some other high profile releases on that specific date and in the surrounding weeks.

(Update) The demo appears to have been pulled from the Marketplace. No official comment on what happened but it appears Microsoft released the demo early and it won’t be back until sometime in January.

EA Sports has released a trailer for the PlayStation Vita version of FIFA Soccer (or FIFA Football as it will be known overseas). The upcoming handheld system is slated to arrive on February 22nd in North America with FIFA as one of the release titles.

The full feature list for the game can be found here and includes touch controls, Be a Pro mode, and online play. Continue on to check out the brand new trailer and leave any thoughts in the comments! 

EA Sports took a risk with Fight Night Champion making it their first ever M-rated title. In a sense they had to do something creative as boxing games simply haven’t been reaching the wide audience that they used to. The ‘Champion’ story mode was definitely intriguing but short – while other critical areas of the game ultimately failed to impress. 

The ranking of games in the best of 2011 list is based on number of factors including the personal amount of enjoyment had with a particular title, whether advertised features were fully delivered, post-release support, community interaction and communication, overall gameplay experience, feature set, and online play performance. Again this is largely a personal take and one with the advantage of tracking the games beyond just the release frame and does not act as some sort of recap of those with the highest scores on Metacritic. The analysis is weighted heavily towards those high in fun factor while considering them as a whole and compared relatively to the field.

Related: Hits and Misses Review — Champion Review — Broken Up for Sale on PSN

The main selling-point for Fight Night Champion was in the story mode. Like it or not that is where the title as a whole was ultimately going to be judged. The story was largely cliche-ridden and didn’t really become overly compelling until near the end. The mix of certain stipulations made for interesting variety and that is something that is hard to come by in standard fights. Completing it in just 3:19 though was disappointing as there was absolutely no incentive to going back and playing through the mode again. Makes it worth a rental in that sense – or in the case of PSN a purchase of just the mode alone for $5.

Other positives included an extensive roster and vastly improved right-stick controls. Graphically FNC continued to be a strength of the series – with blood effects enhanced due to the M-rating – and though a drop to 30fps was unfortunate it didn’t stand out as troublesome.

Sadly though one of the faults of the game this year has been the use of “tuner updates” by EA which have seemed to do more harm than good. Blood effects were pretty much removed from the game seemingly as an unintended side-effect while gameplay balance has been all over the place due to the frequent changes. At one point EA actually decided to just reset everything to release levels. Scoring by the judges was inconsistent and unreliable and that was never really fixed and sliders were broken out of the box.

Beyond those issues Legacy mode was largely tedious and presentation was generally poor. One offensive aspect was the ability to buy XP for created fighters which were then to be used online in the “World Championship” mode. There was no way to compete online unless money was being spent on ratings upgrades.

On a technical level Fight Night Champion can be applauded for many achievements. That has really been the story with the series all along. FNC’s flaws however either display a lack of clear direction from the development team or trouble implementing the necessary functionality and failed balancing efforts. EA deserves credit for trying to expand the value of the product with the ‘Champion’ story mode but once that was through there wasn’t much left to become invested in.

Earlier Year-in-Review Pieces
•#9: Fight Night Champion
•#10: MLB Bobblehead Pros
•Vote for the Community Choice Awards