Top 7… Sports Games Nerds Actually Like

The only games that get geeks off the bench

Words: Shane Patterson, GamesRadar US

If there’s one thing us gamers love to do, it’s sit on our asses. And rarely are we ever tempted away from blowing the crap out of zombies and Nazis to partake in the sportsman-like area of gaming. Hell, anything involving increased blood flow, stretching, or rapid movement is a waste of time if there’s no cutscene for our rewards. Even sports games can be our kryptonite (your older brother who buys nothing but Madden and NBA Live really doesn’t count).

Why? Probably because simulating anything half-realistic is as boring as it sounds. Yet somehow, a select few have transcended god-awful tedium to become the only sports games we give a damn about. We present to you the top 7 sports games that get us cheering for the home team.

Selling points:
Simple controls, plentiful match types, Create-A-Wrestler, blood

Why we love it:
Say what you will about this sim of the popular fake sport (how does that even work?), but even the most jaded gamer can’t help but love cracking his buddy over the head with a barbed wire baseball bat to the screaming cheers of the blood-thirsty crowd. Selling 37 million copies across the entire series, WWE SmackDown enables gamers to bring the pain with notable faces and created superstars in over a trillion match types and dozens of gameplay modes.

Even as the series gradually moved towards annual updates like other sports games and started - including General Manager modes (think the dreadfully boring NFL Head Coach) and Stamina meter (hold Select to catch breath? No thanks) - SmackDown’s never lost sight of its goal: to let you easily throw your opponent through a flaming table.

Would suck if:
Matches consisted entirely of rest holds, no weapons

 
10 Comments
suicidalstickman  - 1 month 7 days ago
The weapons in WWE smackdown are funny.
andyAK47  - 1 month 7 days ago
i know nerds who play smackdown
danny343  - 1 month 6 days ago
wrestling is ace
LiveandLetDie  - 1 month 6 days ago
Cool man.
mr_brightside  - 1 month 6 days ago
lol mario kart! i wasnt thinking of that! very nice!
DanAmrich  - 1 month 4 days ago
NBA Jam: Live by the turbo, die by the turbo. I used to play that on Xband on Genesis and in the NYC arcades. Oh man.
drunkenfish  - 29 days 7 hours ago
Lol I'm no nerd but I gotta check these out... spell 2 words...Kirkby??
SOLIDSNAKE1983  - 25 days 15 hours ago
Mutant league football was EXCELLENT!!! I remember the witty comments after each player was killed or scored a touchdown!
Heathan  - 23 days 2 hours ago
You guys completely missed the best nerd game ever: Base Wars! I mean how can you beat robot baseball. WIth upgradable weapons, and the ability to attack other players in battles to the death, the game was great fun, and I hate baseball.
iceman1987  - 19 days 12 hours ago
wrestling is for kids its totaly fake
Related Games
The Top 7... Game expos better than E3
360 Feature
Oct 6, 2008
Who fights a Bill of Rights?
PC Feature
Oct 3, 2008
Primetime to real-time
PC Feature
Oct 3, 2008
Jackass Remakes 9/11 with LittleBigPlanet, Flys... N4G
PS3 News from N4G
Oct 7, 2008
Gears of War 2: Some Things About Campaign Mode N4G
360 News from N4G
Oct 7, 2008
November PS2 Offerings: A Little Something For... N4G
PS2 News from N4G
Oct 7, 2008
Free Fable music from Lionhead N4G
360 News from N4G
Oct 7, 2008
That Aussie Game Site: Daily Wrap 7th October,... N4G
360 News from N4G
Oct 7, 2008