Bits & Pieces

By Kim J. Harmon

 

More than $20 billion will be spent next year on video games, computer games and other interactive media – and admittedly a lot of that is mine … about $1 billion or so by my calculations.

The hot, hotter, hottest games on the market are Halo 2 and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and either one of those would be a perfect Christmas gift for someone who can handle these M-rated games (although, who really can?).

But what about those people who don’t want to blast away at aliens on a distant planet or rob old ladies for their shopping money?

What about the sports fans on your Christmas list?

But beware – there are a LOT of sports games on the market and a lot of choices to make.

For instance, if you were in the market for a baseball game you’d have to choose between the High Heat, ESPN, All Star Baseball. MLB Slugfest and MVP Baseball franchises. If you were in the market for a football game you’d have to choose between the ESPN, Madden and NFL Street franchises not to mention the fading NFL Blitz franchise.

The same goes for hockey and soccer and NASCAR, for heaven’s sake.

Let me help.

When it comes to football, it all boils down to Madden 2005 from EA Sports or NFL 2K5 from ESPN Games? The Madden franchise has many loyal followers, those who cut their teeth on the game back in the days of the old one-dimensional Sega Genesis. Both pack a lot of extra modes (like the amazing, 30-season Franchise mode) and other stuff into their games, but it is widely accepted that NFL 2K5 has surpassed Madden in playability – and, this year, in price ($19.99 for NFL 2K5 as compared to $49.99 for Madden 2005).

Although much less realistic, the NFL Street and NFL Blitz games provide some immediate, bone-crunching, empty-headed fun for a little while. And on the college game, stick to EA Sports and stay away from the Gamebreaker series from 989 Sports.

When it comes to basketball, the only real choices come down to NBA 2K5 from ESPN games or NBA Live from EA Sports. Forget NBA Shootout from 989 Sports. While NBA Live has the unique and engaging freestyle control (which allows anyone to easily penetrate and score), NBA 2K5 has a far more realistic feel. Both provide the typical franchise modes and other standard modes, but NBA Live adds a playable All Star Weekend (complete with Rookie Game, Dunk Contest and Three-Point Shooting) while NBA 2K5 offers the ability to create your own player and then work him out, train him, and get him ready for the draft. This year, though, NBA 2K5 is cheaper.

As for college, stay away – I can’t say this enough – from 989 Sports and stick with the EA Sports titles.

If the person on your Christmas list needs a hockey fix (with the National Hockey League in mothballs for some time to come), then you’d need to choose between NHL 2K5 from ESPN games and NHL Live from EA Sports. For my money, the NHL 2K5 is a far superior game with a very strong franchise mode and realistic play. The NHL Live title is just not good anymore, with the action on the ice dominated by players that can go way too fast and hit way too hard. Again, stay away from the NHL Faceoff series from 989 Sports and briefly look at the NHL Hitz series from Midway, which is okay but is far from realistic and glorifies the violence of hockey.

And when it comes to baseball, the major choices are ESPN Major League Baseball from ESPN games, High Heat Baseball from 3DO, All Star Baseball from Acclaim or MVP Baseball from EA Sports.

But let’s cut to the chase, shall we? The best out of all these games, without question, is MVP Baseball. Besides the wonderful franchise mode (which includes a complete minor league system for each team, giving owners the option to draft and develop players before subjecting them to the major leagues) what makes MVP Baseball the best game on the market is the stunning motion graphics, the ballpark graphics, and the unique pitching meter.

In most baseball games, the CPU has too much control on where the pitch is going to go – based on fatigue factors and whatnot. But MVP (which is the old Triple Play Baseball series completely revamped) has a pitching meter that has an accuracy zone that, as the pitcher grows tired through the game, gets smaller and smaller. So, not only do you have to think when pitching to each hitter (try to pitch to the hitter’s weak spots) you also have to struggle with your control.

MVP Baseball is near perfect. The only knock is the hitting system, which is based almost entirely on timing. If this game had the hitting system of High Heat Baseball, it would be perfect.

When it comes to golf, the discussion begins and ends with Tiger Woods 2005 from EA Sports. From the stunning golf courses (real and fantasy) and game modes to the perfect swing system, there is no point in discussing any other game (especially not the silly Hot Shots Golf from Sony). The best part of the game is creating a player and then working your way through a lengthy tournament season, all the while earning money to buy new clothes, new equipment, and to upgrade your abilities.

And – finally – when it comes to soccer there is again only one real choice to make. And that’s the Winning Eleven franchise from Konami. It blows FIFA 2005 from EA Sports out of the water in graphics and realism. Winning Eleven 7 is a great soccer game, with a strong season mode, even stronger tournament mode, and very interesting (and difficult) Master League Cup mode that takes into account the complicated fee system for purchasing players (and, for heaven’s sake, don’t run out of money!). There are literally dozens of teams to choose from (international or club) and word is the Winning Eleven 8 game (to be released sometime in the late spring or early summer of 2005) will have a licensing agreement, so real players from the top teams in the world will be out there on the field. Even for someone who is not, technically, a soccer but this game is unbelievably addicting.

There you have it. Of course, we could get into tennis, NASCAR or track and field games but – jeez – I’m tired.