Interest in seeing Giant Bomb cover more sports games?

I know that stereotypically sports gamers are viewed by (the ironically self-stereotype fulfilling) hardcore gamers as just being "Bro's interested in pounding some Natty light". But to be quite honest the sports gaming market is pretty damn diverse, it's sales obviously make up for a heavy portion of game related sales which by sheer logic would imply most gamers are in some ways "a sports gamer". I personally have long been kind of turned off by Giant bomb's inadequate coverage of what really is this large sect of the gaming industry, journalistically I also find it somewhat bothersome. On occasion we do get thrown a bone (see Virtua Tennis 4) but usually this comes in a slow gaming week and it seldom is more then that of quick look. I understand the staff are perhaps not sports buffs and hence their apprehension in fully covering topics they are not kept up to speed on, but when you look at the various other franchises they cover where they are not aware of the back stories aside from a brief Wiki over view then I feel as though their argument there falls apart. The second issue I'm sure will be raised is that the staff simply has no interest in those games, which is where I kind of would have to question the motives of the site then. If the staff's disinterest in sports is so severe then they should hire someone who has an interest and knowledge on the subject to write and review for them.  I understand logistically the site is unable to even review/cover some mainstream games but they do seem to put a stronger effort towards those at least. Last year NBA 2K11 was released, by all account the game was one of the best sports games to date, it was a complete new direction in the series and on a lot of critics GOTY list, and yet it was never mentioned on the site. 

The staff cover the games that interest them. The majority of the staff aren't interested in Madden or NBA, so they don't cover them. And there is nothing worse than games press being unenthusiastic and bored of the games they're playing, and that's what would happen if they started covering them. They just don't enjoy those games, so coverage of them would be largely useless. Alex is somewhat interested in those games, so we have had reviews from him of Madden & other sports games, but since none of the other staff care about those games, any other form of coverage would be pointless. A Quick look of Madden would just be Jeff & Ryan talking about how they don't care about the game for 30 minutes. Either that or they would be faking enthusiasm for it, which would be even worse.

And saying "hire someone" isn't going to help. None of us know the inner workings of Whiskey Media's finances and the feasibility of hiring new people. And I doubt the benefits of hiring a new person to cover sports games would outweigh the costs.

Christ no.

I don't care much about sport games but if they do find a way to cover them better for the people that like them, then sure why not?

Yeah, that's not going to happen. We might see a Quick Look of a sports game here and there, but you'll need to look elsewhere for a more informed opinion. People hate on IGN on these boards all the fucking time, but I enjoy their sports coverage along with some other sites. I've seen Alex do some sports news, but that's about it.

Edit

I also read user reviews on Giant Bomb when it comes to sports games. Again, some people have a major dislike for user reviews.

Unless it's fifa, hell no. Fell asleep twice during that Virtua Tennis 4 Quick Look

No thanks, I know what to expect out of the sports games that I like.

Sports games are literally the worst genre of game.

None of them are that interested except Alex kinda and he is leaving to NY so I doubt it.

I hope they end up covering more. It'd be fun. I love some sports games like The Show.

Hell no. The staff have no interest in them and I don't either.

Oh, hell no.  Most of the staff has no interest in sports games, so there's little point.

@Claude: Some people have a major dislike of you! BURN! Nah, jk no one does.

I'd be interested in seeing reviews of alternative sports titles. Or, maybe they do, already? Did they review Blitz: The League? I'm not sure. I guess that speaks to how much I don't pay attention to them already.

Then again, if we get more reviews for games like Madden NFL Football, I wouldn't be totally against it. :P

They should bring back ridiculously violent sports games.

After in my opinion was the best quick look ever. I'm hungry for some more NHL game coverage from the staff.

Consider how many hires the site has made since its inception: two.  One hire was a second video editor because Vinny can't do everything by himself; the second was a news guy who is not only satisfying a niche GB has always been resoundingly poor at, but he is also pretty unique when it comes to the industry in general because Patrick is one of the few games writers that does investigative reporting.  Finding someone who can do sports games coverage is a lot harder than you think, since it involves finding someone who is a competent writer and can well articulate the differences between titles, not to mention someone who can look at the games both as products of the legacy of a brand without letting identification with a brand cloud their judgment (and I know from the experience of living with a bunch of dudes who were super into sports games that sports gamers are especially bad about brand loyalty).  And what do you really suggest they do?  Hire someone as a full-time employee?  Well that requires them to find someone who can do more than cover the sports games that occasionally come out because otherwise you're going to have someone sitting around doing nothing.  Get someone to do freelance?  Well, they already have Alex to do the occasional Madden and wrestling game review.  And above all, it's about finding someone who really gels with the personality defined in the three years the site has been around.  So really, if you're going to be breaking down all the reasons why they should have a sports writer, perhaps you can acknowledge the realities of the situation and give us a suggestion for who would fit the bill well?

No , I was bored to hell with the virtual tennis QL and TNT , glad they changed to MK instead

If Novak Djokovic is in them, then yes. 

Best chance of getting sports reviews is from Alex Navarro....most of the staff aren't into sports games.

But this is why that they allow user reviews so the diehard fans of 'insert sports franchise here' to put up reviews or other thoughts to fill in the gaps of where Whiskey Media crew haven't covered enough.

i really don't have an opinion of sports game fans. I like sports games that are not simulation based, rather arcade based e.g. NBA Street, NBA Ballers, NBA Jam, and NFL Street.

Nope!

Is this not a video game coverage site though? Seems pretty narrow minded to not cover an entire genre because you don't like it, that'd be like film critics not seeing romantic comedies because they don't like them, it still pertains to the job at hand. Not to mention I don't see how their lack of knowledge of players/sports is relevant, they go into quick looks of tons of games that are existing franchises completely blind as to the fiction involved when it's assumed most fans will know, that  hardly seems to harm their coverage. 
Also Virtua Tennis was boring because Virtua Tennis is boring (Ryan didn't exactly bring his A game in enthusiasm as well), that's not indicative of an entire genre though. I'm not really asking for a crazy amount of coverage but as it stands crazy ass PC games receive more attention. 

I think it would be cool if they threw some more coverage up for sports games, because that would mean they're covering a wider variety of stuff, but it's always better to have less GOOD coverage, rather than more MEDIOCRE coverage. I think it's best if the team stays focused on what they enjoy and do best.

Nope.

Considering the fact that new iterations of established sports series hardly every innovate at all and are simply content with updating rosters, I don't really see the point. This year they improved the normal mapping and specular mapping on the football! Wow! /yawn

The problem with sports games is they're more or less the same every year and they probably don't make for the most entertaining coverage.

Considering the fact that new iterations of established sports series hardly every innovate at all and are simply content with updating rosters, I don't really see the point. This year they improved the normal mapping and specular mapping on the football! Wow! /yawn

i really don't have an opinion of sports game fans. I like sports games that are not simulation based, rather arcade based e.g. NBA Street, NBA Ballers, NBA Jam, and NFL Street.

no

Sports games are incredibly boring to watch.

If they hired someone interested and knowledgeable about sports games, sure. But with the current staff? No. That wouldn't do anyone any good.

No.

What Matty said...

The staff doesn't really know much about sports games. It wouldn't be good for anyone.

No. Just no.

Seeing them cover game that just gets updated every year by changing the roster slightly and the controls slightly and maybe the graphics every year and are getting charged a full priced game. Please no.

With sports interested staff and users here being a minority - I really don't see why they would dedicate resources for it.

I for one don't care too much about sports games. The ones I'm interested in are games I know what to expect from without reading about them.

I would, though, watch a scrub league tournament with sports games. Some NHL or Virtua Tennis tension with everyone screaming at each other. Now that's how sports games should be covered on Giantbomb.

Nope, sports game tend to be boring to watch.

No.