How I started.. Playing Sports Sims

[deadmoondt 1]

My 1st Basketball GM game is Jump Shot Basketball and then I played Championship Manager.

[KaiEveraerts 1]

Started with FIFA, then NBA2K, now this

[Meriten 0]

I guess my first football manager was Bundesliga Manager Professional from 1991. German (football) manager games were pure gold in the 90s. I'm really old.  

Edited July 31, 2022 by Meriten

[Haiku 1]

I started in 2005 with Eidos Championship Manager 5, I guess. Later moved on to Football Manager and never missed an iteration ever since. Damn, time flies so fast.

[mikimilane 1]

im playing a lot of sports manager games like: football manager, pro basketball manager, handball manager, some ootp games, tennis elbow manager, franchise hockey manager... but my first manager game was probably pro cycling manager 11, 12 maybe.

[geester10912 1]

Fm 2008 over 10000 hours

[d3jan 1]

I have always preferred these type of games vs shooter games. I can’t sit still long enough to play that.

[SlickRick 1]

My brother and I started playing stratomatic about the same time we were playing Atari 2600. We even made up a card and dice game to create our own data driven NBA game with cards for the players and teams we likes (inspired by our Dad who said make up a game when we were bored on a rainy day)  

[BGfromKC 1]

Was already a huge sports fan as a kid, but man... Getting my first taste of editing players, keeping stats with league leaders, lineups, attributes, schedule, etc. with Baseball Stars it was a wrap for me.

Then I got hit with Tecmo SUPER Bowl. Are you kidding me? The Chiefs "Nigerian Nightmare" Christian Okoye bulldozing MF's up and down the field truck sticking before there was ever a stick to truck with. Finishing the season and rushing for like 12,000 yards with 200 touchdowns. Derrick Thomas with around 100 sacks each year.   

Edited September 24, 2022 by BGfromKC

[TigerWoodsLibido 1]

Once Madden turned to shit I decided it was time to find sim games that were more fun.

[MidnightMarauder1989 0]

Just started playing myself....overwhelming at first

[cunzyfootball 0]

lit

[JP1119 0]

Madden 04 Franchise Mode!!! And then I just kept going down the rabbit hole with wrestling sims like EWR and TEW, and OOTP Baseball.

Always loved the general manager aspect of sports!

[jmudukes63 0]

This is my first except I guess pro cycling

[buzzy70 0]

started by championship manager 2001 02 season at a friends house really enjoyed it like draft day sports management games 

[VoodooZombie 0]

Man, this brings back tons of great memories.

[solax23 1]

I'm not too sure what my first ever manage sim game would have been. I think it would be... Championship manager. I remember vividly playing Championship manager 01/02 - as mentioned, this is a very dangerous game, as you will not want to stop playing it, ever!

 

I don't get too drawn into many games. World of Warcraft, supposedly people die playing this game? I can't play it more then about a week at a time, and now, I don't ever play it. But I can list the games I have been totally addicted to and have stole large portions of my life:

 

NHL 94 (still does in 2014!)

Extreme Warfare Revenge 4.2 (Wrestling Sim)

Championship Manager 01/02

Eastside Hockey Manager 2005

Eastside Hockey Manager 2007 - the single greatest manager sim ever made. I have played this game for too many hours.

Giants Killers - a soccer sim on the old Dreamcast console was really, really good!

Football Manager 2008 - the best FM game there is!

 

My story however isn't 'how I started playing' but it's a story nonetheless!

 

Out of the Park Baseball 8. I'd known about OOTP but never really bothered. I loved VR Baseball 97 on the PSX and I always had MLB games, NFL games, NHL games etc. They were shown on TV here in England so it was interesting to see a different style of sport then what we are used too. However, I always would load up OOTP 8, click around and imagine that, yes its a great game, if you can understand it! I had the Football manager UI layout burnt into my brain and I couldn't get used to OOTP. After some months I finally loaded it up and thought, no, I am going to learn this game once and for all. So I sat and read and clicked and read. I had wikipedia open to learn the baseball ratings and slowly I managed to understand who was who, and what screens did what. From there I've bought ever OOTP (just got 15 today!) and It even motivated me to go and play baseball for my local team 'Oldham North Stars'.

[zacarias 0]

I started with championship manager italy :-). Later, OOTP 2 was a blast.

[Zerakiel 0]

Tired of peaple telling me how to play SHM_EHM ligue i started my own!

[kingball 0]

Football Manager was my first, and then OOTP ! So many good memories 

[Doni860 1]

Nice

 

[KansasCityShawn 1]

The end of December 2022 is when I took a chance on the genre for the first time. Frustrated with the state of the video game industry, I was looking for something new to play during the Steam winter sale. I noticed OOTP 23 was $10 and bought it. 160 hours later I didn't regret my decision. I started looking for other games in the genre. I wanted to try games in every sport I could find. My new obsession right now is DDS:CB 2023 which I've already put 175 hours into.

Other games I own and plan on playing in the future
OOTP 24 - Looking forward to the updated features
DDS: PB 2023 - Want to build a combined universe between CB & PB
Eastside Hockey Manager - picked up for $2. Even though it's older wanted to see what it offered.
Motorsport Manager - Got it on sale and interested in the idea of running a race team.
Football Manager 2023 - Not a fan of the sport but still wanted to see what it offered.
FHM9 - Liked OOTP, figured I would give it a shot.

[Jalexi 1]

I started playing Tony La Russa's Baseball in the 90's on an IBM PS2. I loved the numbers and simulations. I played sports games mostly for the GM Mode from the 90's until now. Playing every game in a season is too time consuming, so now I only play in GM mode.

Edited April 18, 2023 by Jalexi

[Missionary98122 0]

Started playing Statis Pro Baseball in the 80s, then season ticket in 2002, switched to OOTP around version 5 and stuck with that version since.  Played draft day various versions and sports but yet to get hooked by any version.  Giving basketball a go right now.

[thegrikk 0]

I started off with playing franchise modes on Madden and NBA 2K, but realized these were flawed and really just haven't been improved these past few iterations. Glad to have found Draft Day games!