The Golden Joysticks Awards – The Likely Winners and the Dark Horses

Best Sports

The Contenders €“ Fifa 12, Fifa Street, Football Manager 12, Madden 12, NBA 2K12, NHL 12, PES 2012, SSX, Tiger Woods€™ PGA Tour 2012 The Likely €“ Fifa 12 The Dark Horse €“ Football Manager 12 The Verdict €“ There isn€™t much competition in this field anymore, no pun intended. A few years ago it was PES vs Fifa every year, competing for top dog and trying to validate why it was necessary to spend full price on a game that was marginally different from its predecessor. Since Fifa09, PES has fallen by the wayside and Fifa reigns supreme. There is no denying that the superiority is apparent in the gameplay now, although that isn€™t to say Fifa is perfect €“ it is certainly flawed enough to continue to warrant new, full price releases each year €“ not to mention the regular DLC packs, and Fifa Street. That isn€™t to say Fifa is the best game in the list, just the most likely to win. Football Manager is a game that isn€™t about licenses, realistic faces or flashy graphics. It€™s about the immersion, becoming attached to your team until you feel like you€™re no longer sitting at your computer, but in the dugout, screaming commands and running along the touchline Mourinho style in celebration. The feeling of success on Football Manager is so different from that of Fifa or PES, because it is out of your control €“ you don€™t control your players, you can only give them their orders and a pep talk and send them out. Seeing the team you€™ve built over the years winning €“ especially if you, like me, have taken a little club (AFC Wimbledon in my case) to the top. A phenomenal game, and a real shame that not enough people know about it.