Words like 'massive' and 'stellar' start to fall short when it comes to describing the year UK has had in sports. The result is a somewhat predictable - if still illuminating line-up in the most trafficked sports titles on SPOnG. This is the SPOnG Zeitgeist, in which we take you on a quick tour of what's been on gamers' minds, what itches they've needed scratching - what's been attracting the most attention on the Mighty SPOnG Database in 2012.
FIFA 13 (Xbox 360, PC, PS3, Wii, PSP, PSVita, PS2, 3DS, Wii U)
Yes, you can put your amazed face away now. FIFA 13, one of the biggest-selling games of the year, was the busiest sports title on the database. The game was gently trending from the end of June, with huge surge from 22 September - the week before launch and running through to October 14th, before returning to its pre-surge plateau.
Gamescom 2012
PES 2013 (Xbox 360, 3DS, Wii, PC, PSP, PS3, PS2)
PES was a surprisingly close contender. FIFA's been the dominant football title for a few years now, but there's a case to be made that the sort of gamer playing close attention to game data might have sniffed the
ground PES has
gained. PES saw steady growth from July, with a large increase of interest from mid September. Interest waned after that peak, but returned for a second spike on October 25th.
London 2012: The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
So, at the end of July a bunch of athletes got together and competed against each other in a variety of sporting events designed to test their physical prowess. It was called the Olympics. It happened in London. You can probably guess the rough shape of how this went a slight blip of interest in early June, growing more substantial at the end of June, levelling in July and surging from 27th of the month.
The rest of that list:
Cristiano Ronaldo Freestyle (
PC)
FIFA 12 (
3DS, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC, PSP, PS2)
NBA 2K13 (
Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, Wii U)
le Tour de France 2012 (
Xbox 360, PS3)
WWE '13 (
Xbox 360, Wii, PS3)
BMX XXX (
PS2, Xbox, GBA, GameCube)
Madden NFL 13 (
Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U)
Don't forget to check out SPOnG's previous zeitgeist rundowns.