FIFA 15: An Example on How Close Games Copy Reality
EA’s FIFA franchise is, very much clearly, one of the (if not the) best soccer simulator available right now. Every year, amidst a “gaming war” that is now more than a decade long against Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer, FIFA baffles us with new improvements and features, which slowly get the game closer to reality.
Features like impeccable graphics, faces that resemble the real players, incredible moves, reactive crowds or spot on stadiums and kits are known to be FIFA’s strong suit. But the latest versions of the game slightly focus on another aspect of the sport that, while not that much important for the casual gamer, can be important for soccer fans that are interested in the technical side of the game.
Not only the in-game ratings and ability scores of the players are very much corresponding to reality, as shown by an experience carried by SBO.net, the players are also programmed to, by default, behave like their bone and flesh counterparts. This means that Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo will, inside the game, tend to behave like the real Portuguese player.
This can only be achieved with a deep study of games and the players taking part on them. Inside the Vancouver’s (Canada) EA Sports office, 300 employees work on FIFA. From those, 10 are responsible for this technical and tactical side, watching dozens and dozens of matches every weekend, during the development of FIFA 15.
All this results in a very immersive and “close-to-reality” experience, that is near the point where it can only be improved using virtual-reality paraphernalia – Oculus Rift co-founder Nate Mitchell dreams about it, while EA Sports believes that FIFA is better played using a regular controller.
Regardless of the medium in which it is played, the FIFA franchise is clearly setting itself apart competition, by developing and delivering a truly immersive and almost real experience to all soccer fans all over the world. With this in mind, one can only imagine what is still to come from EA Sports offices in upcoming editions of this soccer simulator.
About the Author
Diogo Costa Programmer, writer, tech guy, musician and photographer. Only the first is for real, though.
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