Beginner Sports Games

Hey Guys,

My roommate's kid has decided that he's going to play sports when he gets into high school but I've come to discover that no one has bothered to teach him any of the rules to any sports. I got the idea that it might be easier and more fun to teach him the rules of a given sport through video games. Problem is, I'm not sure where to start with that. Lots of sports games seem to pride themselves on being pretty accurate simulations of the sport and aren't afraid to have complex systems that require prior knowledge of how the game is played.

I figured I'd probably just start him off with the normal big three; football, baseball, and basketball. Can anyone recommend any games that are pretty welcoming to someone who doesn't know anything about how the sport is played?

Hmmmm, I think baseball would probably be the most difficult since it has a lot of technical rules that are easy to forget. I think soccer would be a good bet. FIFA has nice little mini games that have different set pieces so you can see how the game works. It also has a nice little practice mode so you can tool around.

Yeah I learnt the rules to soccer through FIFA. NBA Jam might be decent to get the basics down but look for the last NBA Live game on 360( Not the horrible trash, the one in 06 or 07) That game had a decent tutorial and was easy enough to understand.

Any game which meets the criteria of Mario + Sport.

I think MLB the show does a decent job explaining things. Especially in their career mode where it will sometimes explain what to do in certain circumstances (bunting when tied in the ninth and a runner on first or something similar).

I'd say watching the sport is still a better way to learn than playing it in a video game though.

I'd like to change my answer to "not Wii Sports"

Right, if he actually wants to understand a sport he's better picking Pro Evolution Soccer or an NBA 2k game. However, in both cases - all cases, he'll need a guy to ride side saddle to let him now why he should do certain things. Rules themselves are easy enough to explain but finding out why a player's doing what they do is of the utmost importance.

Lastly, watch actual coverage.

The YMCA has programs for kids. that might be the best way to teach him.

@noboners: I've been playing MLB 12 The Show and I personally really like it but I was thinking of holding off on the baseball a little bit since it's the "boring" sport to a lot of people. Is watching the best way to learn? I thought playing a video game might be good because it gives you the chance to experiment and should give you pretty instant feedback on whether you were right or wrong on how things work. It took me a while to piece together the rules of some sports when watching them since I didn't have any other knowledgeable person around.

@j_unit2008 and @mtfikhan: I hadn't thought of FIFA. I've been that typical american who's never had much interest in the rest of the world's version of football but maybe know is the time to educate myself and an impressionable young mind. Any particular year to jump on or just grab the latest?

I picked up NCAA Football 09 and we played it some but that game relies on you knowing how to read plays and gives you know information about them if you don't know what this jumble of lines and symbols means.

@l4wd0g: I absolutely agree but he's not my kid. I'm not sure why he decided he wants to play sports in the future outside of "That seems cool" or "That's just what you do in when you get into middle and high school" but I figured this would be an easy and fun way on my part to stoke his interest so he can actually be informed when it comes to the idea of playing sports.

Ice Hockey on Atari 2600

As a matter of fact there's a whole line of Atari 2600 sports games that are perfect for "knowing" how to play sports. ;) We won't tell anybody that you don't actually learn anything about sports by playing the video game. It'll be our little secret. =P

Seriously, though, you won't teach him anything about sports with a video game. Depending on the age it may even be too overwhelming and you'll turn him off to it completely which seems like the opposite of what you'd want.

Indeed. Or just take him to a park and throw a baseball around. I mean, it's not hard to teach kids the basics of any sport. They don't need to know the nitty gritty. That's one of the wonderful things about sports. Easy to learn, tough to master.