The voting is now open for Best Franchise Mode of 2016 in the annual Pastapadre Community Awards. This category was originally controlled by EA Sports with NCAA Football and Madden winning the first four years. The last two however have been taken by NBA 2K after the creation of a highly customizable offline franchise to pair with the online-connected one. NBA 2K17 looks to make it a three-peat with the offline MyLeague and online MyGM both contributing as unique franchise experiences. Th...

The next category to open in the annual Community Awards is for Best Online Play. This one has naturally been dominated by EA Sports due to struggles online from the other major sports game publishers. NCAA Football took it once and Madden is on a streak of five straight wins. The number of ways to play online has continued to expand with Madden NFL 17 which just as importantly features one of the most consistent experiences in terms of online performance. There's regular Head-to-Head, Dr...

The next category to open up in the Community Awards is for the mode that has become one of the most popular ways to play sports video games and it's the manner in which revenue is being made by companies to keep them afloat. Ultimate Team was introduced in 2009 by EA Sports and has continued to evolve from its original form through nearly all their titles, with other developers copying and putting their own spin on the model. Last year MLB The Show won the award for its reinvention of wh...

The next category to open up for voting in the annual Pastapadre Community Awards is for Best Presentation. This is yet another area that the NBA 2K series has dominated. In fact it has won it all six years and no other game has even come close percentage wise to toppling it. The biggest impact to presentation for NBA 2K17 came with the addition a of rotating set of announcers and sideline reporters. There are now a total of 11 personalities actively contributing to the series during game...

The third category to open in the annual Pastapadre Community Awards is for Best Career/Story Mode. This is an area of the games that has seen an evolution in recent years from the traditional career mode of playing through seasons as a single player and improving attributes to one that incorporates an expansive narrative. The award for Career Mode has only ever been won by NBA 2K and MLB The Show and the former is going for a three-peat now. (more…)...

The second category to open in the annual Pastapadre Community Awards is for Best Mobile Sports Game. This is one that sometimes has proven difficult to narrow the field down or, as was the case last year, even identify specific ones worthy of recognition. 2016 however has three candidates that represent different models for how mobile games can be successful. Photo Finish Horse Racing filled a void in the mobile space with a compelling structure involving not just the racing but also man...

With 2016 coming to a close it’s time to start looking back on the developments that have taken place and acknowledge the various efforts in sports gaming. To start is the first category in the annual Community Awards. You can check out the winners from previous years here. The categories to look forward to include Community Sports Game of the Year, Best New or Non-Yearly Sports Game, Best Mobile Game, Best Racing Game, Best Online Play, Best Presentation, Best Franchise Mode, Best...