The joys of being a sports gamer.  We pass on the current first person shooter fad only to wait for the new football or baseball release.  You can count on a new version of Madden in August, a new version of NCAA Football in July, NHL in September, MLB The Show in March, and NCAA Basketball in…wait, there is no longer an NCAA Basketball game.  Well, at least I can count on at least a couple of baseball titles to choose from every…, hold the phone, with 2K bowing out of the disaster that was their baseball series, there may only be one title to choose from next year for PS3 owners.  If you're an XBOX 360 owner, you could be out of luck altogether(harsh, I know).

     The sad reality is that sports video games are few and far between.  What was once a plethora of choices back in the Sega Genesis days has dwindled down to a select few choices.  For example, let's focus on one sport, baseball.  With the Sega Genesis, choices included: RBI Baseball, Hardball, Tony LaRussa Baseball (my favorite), Triple Play, Sports Talk Baseball, MLBPA Baseball, World Series Baseball, ESPN Baseball Tonight, and Tecmo Super Baseball.

     Today, on the XBOX 360 there is (drum roll please)…ONE choice in video game baseball, and THAT might not be around in the future!  Even the two choices for the PS3 pale in comparison to the Sega days.  The days of choice are sadly gone.  Debating on which game was better or the excitement of comparing one game to another no longer takes place.

     The NHL and NBA have only had one choice to choose from for the last couple of years, although EA will be re-entering the NBA ring this season.  Good luck trying to find an alternative to EA's NCAA College Football or Madden NFL, there isn't one. 

     Needless to say, it's rough being a sports gamer in this day and age.   With so few choices, we have to tolerate what we're given. And what we're being given is becoming less and less every year.