Fighting games versus Sports Games

[Bones Justice]

Why are fighting games not considered sports games? Boxing games are usually considered sports games. Fighting games have a lot of similarities with boxing games, there are rules, time limits, points are scored, etc.

[o.pwuaioc]

Game mechanics, typically.

[A Black Falcon]

Wrestling and boxing games: Sports, or Fighting? I absolutely agree that sports and fighting are different genres, but those two subgenres are kind of halfway in between the two...

[Benjamin]

I don't think anyone really cared about pigeonholing games into genres until the mid to late 80s. If you look at something like Activision's Boxing for the 2600, there is no attempt to push it off as anything other than a "boxing" game. Games just whatever they were back then, and people weren't too hung up on grouping them into similar aspects.

There really was no "fighting" genre until Street Fighter II. The handful of older games like Outlaw and Karate Champ didn't have that much of an impact to be classified as such. In Karate Champ's case, you'd see it listed as in the "arcade" genre, which was always a catch-all for any arcade game regardless of how it played, akin to how you don't think of which genre something like Pac-Man or Q*bert belong. I think you see boxing games placed into "sports" category simply because boxing is considered a sport, too, regardless of how the video game adaptations play.

[Yharnamresident]

Its not supposed to make sense. Its just like how "America" only refers to the U.S.

[OverDrone]

Game mechanics, typically.

This. Modern 2D fighters are outgrowths of Street Fighter II, which was never considered a sports game and had more in common with scrolling beat 'em ups, even being lumped in with them by magazines of the time (especially the UK ones).

[Azathoth]

Why are fighting games not considered sports games?

Fighting games retain some form of monetary value whereas sports games are used as doorstops or to level uneven furniture legs.

[o.pwuaioc]

This. Modern 2D fighters are outgrowths of Street Fighter II, which was never considered a sports game and had more in common with scrolling beat 'em ups, even being lumped in with them by magazines of the time (especially the UK ones).

Yep. Some people still in fact call fighters "brawlers", the other term for a beat em up.

[Bones Justice]

Fighting games retain some form of monetary value whereas sports games are used as doorstops or to level uneven furniture legs.

Hey, I like sports games, though!

[profholt82]

Fighting games retain some form of monetary value whereas sports games are used as doorstops or to level uneven furniture legs.

Of course some of the rarest and most expensive games in the hobby are sports titles though. NBA Elite for PS3, NCAA 2K3 Gamecube, Buster Douglas SMS and Stadium Events for NES to name a few.

[Azathoth]

Of course some of the rarest and most expensive games in the hobby are sports titles though. NBA Elite for PS3, NCAA 2K3 Gamecube, Buster Douglas SMS and Stadium Events for NES to name a few.

Beyond the two Mutant League games, what sports game commends a remotely normal price tag due to it being wanted for gameplay? Those listed above are wanted because of super-low print runs. Change the label on Stadium Events to World Class Track Meet or get the PS2 version of NCAA 2k3 and you can't give them away.

In contrast, the SNES Street Fighter II: The World Warrior was the best selling 3rd party cart and has sold what, 10 million copies, and still fetches a nominal $5-10 on eBay for a loose cart. Same numbers to an extent with MK 1 & 2 and a few other fighting games. Even though SFII has millions of copies in the wild, is available in some form on virtually every game console since '91, and has dozens of cheaper re-releases of higher quality, the great unwashed masses still deem it worth a few bucks. In contrast I have copies of Madden 06 and NBA 2k6 for 360 I got in a box of thrift goods that I can't get anyone to even buy for the cost of postage.