Rugby video games have been few and far in-between. This is strange since rugby is a team sport and team sports are easier and more interesting to put in a game. However, unlike football and basketball, rugby has a more complicated passing and scoring system than these two sports and maybe therein lays the reason why rugby hasn’t been so popular with game makers.
This is not the case with betting on rugby since it is one of the most popular sports to wager on and during peak season is even more popular than football and horse racing. A good example of this is the number of bets being placed on NetBet rugby league during the deciding matches at the end of the season which are often equal in number, if not higher, than those placed on Champions League, Super Bowl or NBA playoff matches.
In this article we will take a look at three popular rugby video games which have caused a stir in the rugby fan base worldwide. This list would have been even better if EA Sports put more effort to produce a good rugby title recently, but, nevertheless, here are our top 3.
Rugby World Cup 2011
Rugby World Cup 2011 was just a variation of Rugby 08, but since Rugby 08 was a very good game there was a lot of potential in the World Cup version of it. However, it seems like the high expectations for the game didn’t do it any service and it soon became just another ordinary rugby game.
In all honesty, the game still had somewhat of a cult following as it was released during a period in which the excitement for the World Cup was quite high. Nations which did well at the World Cup such as New Zealand, France, and Australia dominated the game and most of Rugby World Cup 2011 while most players actually chose the game because there was a four year rugby sabbatical between Rugby 08 and Rugby World Cup 2011.
Rugby 08
This brings us to the inspiration for Rugby World Cup 2011, Rugby 08. It was one of those rare gems from EA Sports who took two years to actually create the game. This is because the 2004 edition of EA Sports’ Rugby was a success, but Rugby 2005 and 2006 were quite poor releases. As a result EA Sports decided to dedicate two years to create Rugby 08 and skipped Rugby 07. This decision paid dividends as the game proved a major success with rugby fans.
Jonah Lomu Rugby
Jonah Lomu Rugby was the father of all rugby games and as such is probably the best and most iconic rugby game to have ever been released. It was released in 1997 and was developed by Rage Software.
The game was released on DOS, PlayStation and Sega Saturn and featured former All Blacks winger Jonah Lomu as its leading character. The commentary of the game was provided by legend Bill Beaumont and that is yet another positive aspect of the game.
