As a person who collects gaming stuff, sports games have always baffled me for quite a few reasons.

For example, why do they need to release slightly-tweaked versions of them what seems like every five seconds? Go to the store, it's [generic football game title here] [year here] all the time. Go to a local game store and there's shelves of sports games on every platform, usually gathering dust. It's a common thing among collectors to be like "eh" when it comes to sports games. I mean, there are so many of them you could literally fill shelves with sports games for cheap and make it look like you have an impressive collection of video games. But then people would see they're all copies of Madden [year here] or FIFA [year here] and laugh at you.

Another thing I don't get is, what's the demand for all these new releases? You can't make a sequel to football or soccer or basketball because they're sports with concrete rules. You can't just add a new mechanic like fatalities or something because then they wouldn't be "authentic". Sure, every once in a while you have sports games like Arch Rivals that try to change it up, but they aren't the Madden [year here]s, the NBA [year here]s, [sports game followed by year here]s, they don't get endlessly released time and time again. What I'm trying to say is, the rules of sports don't change, so why not just release a single football game, soccer game, basketball game etc. for each console generation? Especially with DLC being a thing that exists?

Sure, there are other games in other genres that get a ton of new games in them, but they're actual sequels, not just slight tweaks. The Mario series for example. First game set the groundwork, second game had interesting mechanics such as multiple playable characters, thrown projectiles, and many characters that stuck in the series. (Yes, I know some people don't consider the SMB2 most of the world got the "real" SMB2 but I don't care. It's a Mario game in my opinion.) Third game added an overworld, powerup suits. Fourth game added Yoshi, the cape, secret exits.

(Most) game series in the sports genre are condemned to an existence where innovation cannot be done. Sure, they can add fancy graphics, replays and things like that, but they can't change the fact that they're based on sports grounded in reality. The only established series I can really think of that actually changes the formula up is the Mario Sports series, which adds powerups and such. And that's because they do it right. They allow room for creativity and innovation by basing them on the Mario universe, which is not grounded in reality, instead of creating a product released every five seconds with a sports person mugging it up on the cover and more product placement than a NASCAR garage. By not basing it on real, roid-raging athletes, they don't have to follow the rules of the "real" sport. They can add unique mechanics, such as powerups and abilities.

And here's a question I've been asking for some time. Who is buying these generic sports games? Think about it. Nobody ever talks about sports games. On the internet, you see discussion for games of all other genres pop up in chat rooms, forums, etc. but who ever makes "The Madden [year here] discussion thread"? Who ever says "Dude, let's go play some Madden [year here]!". All the time these games are being sold dirt cheap at stores that sell used games, so that means somebody purchases them. The fact they keep manufacturing them means somebody purchases them. But when somebody buys a game and enjoys it, they tend to keep it. However, the massive amount of sports games at used game stores compared to the amount of non-sports games implies there is little demand for them. For every one copy of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King they have at a video game store, they must have a dozen copies of Madden 2004.

I'm genuinely curious who buys these games. I mean, they must be commercial successes because they obviously keep making them. If you happen to have purchased a copy of whatever latest big-name sports game is on the shelves this second, tell me in the comments. I'm interested in opinions from the opposite end of the spectrum.