All soccer lovers would like to achieve the dream of becoming an elite soccer player; however, not everyone can achieve it despite their efforts. Before it was much more complicated, but today technology, hand in hand with video game creators, has reached a level of simulation that allows an experience in which fans can know what it feels like when you are the focus of the looks of the public and when your game is vital to award a very important title to your team.
Although it is true that soccer is a very complex sport to reflect in a video game, simulation has been a recurring theme in all generations, thus having a constant evolution as systems have become more powerful and have allowed representations of sport and players increasingly closer to reality.
Over the years, competitiveness grew and so did the experience of the game itself, but the real explosion in the form of innovation was the arrival of the Internet in the world of video games, with the possibility of being able to play matches against other players from all over the world the world, regardless of their place of origin.
Normally, simulators represent the sport realistically and in real time, although there are also video games with alternative representations of football, such as penalty kick games and referee and manager simulators, among others.
History of soccer video games
1970’s: The first soccer video game in history was Cassette 24: 해외스포츠중계, also known simply as Soccer for the German Interton VC 4000 console in 1978. The game had a very complicated design as it showed the entire playing field on the screen and tiny symbols that represented each soccer player, to which each one had to be moved separately and with a different button. In 1980 another pioneer, Soccer came out for the Intellivision console, which already allowed the player to run more freely with the ball, although it had only a single two-player mode.
1980’s: The first arcade soccer simulator was the Atari Soccer video game, released in the year 1980 by Atari. In this the player controlled a team of three soccer players who went everywhere together, the graphics were in black and white and the players were seen from the sky with rudimentary sound effects. The following year, Atari published a very similar game for the Atari 2600 called Pele’s Soccer, which used basically the same layout, but with the screen oriented vertically.
In 1983 International Soccer was released for the Commodore 64, it introduced numerous improvements to the genre, faster and more dynamic game play and, for the first time, physics that allowed the ball to fly and bounce. It also included options like difficulty selection and versus mode against a player or the CPU. In 1985, Nintendo published Soccer, a game that stood out for having much more colorful graphics, with the eleven players on screen and, in addition, it had a game play that allowed running and tactical passes instead of just rallying. موقع 365 سبورت
1990’s: In 1993, the Electronic Arts Company published FIFA International Soccer for various platforms. This innovative video game brought an isometric perspective for the first time and stood out for its extremely realistic design, with colorful and detailed graphics and sounds from the grandstand instead of background music. In 1994, Konami launched the revolutionary video game International Superstar Soccer for Super Nintendo., the most realistic 2D soccer game. العاب خيول عبر الانترنت Its main innovation was the representation of the game in a similar way to how it is seen on television broadcasts, using the semi-aerial camera oriented horizontally, with the players represented to scale and with highly detailed anatomy and animations.
In 1995, Actua Soccer was released for Play Station, the first football simulator with fully three-dimensional graphics, with the players represented by polygonal models and animated using motion capture techniques . This marked the beginning of a new era for soccer simulators, where the mechanics and physics of the sport became more realistic and camera movements, close-ups and shots began to be used that emulated television broadcasts with which fans of the game football feel more familiar. فريق البير ميونخ
2000’s: During the 2000’s, huge improvements in console and computer technology, as well as high-definition screens, have allowed companies to develop simulators with an increasingly demanding and detailed degree of realism. A lot of importance has been given to the individualization of the players, to the use of sports figures and the online multiplayer mode has been improved and made increasingly simpler. There is also great competition between companies to use licenses from real leagues, players and tournaments from around the world in order to improve the commercial appeal of football simulators. Some of the most played video games today are FIFA 2021, Soccer Manager 2021 and PES 2020, among others.
Finally, we would like to mention a particular game mode that has been very important in the last decade: the career mode. This allows the user to create a player from scratch, being able to edit even the smallest detail of his face to try to make it look as close as possible to what the user himself wants and, from there, that new player can start a career of a real footballer, going through all kinds of well-simulated phases such as, for example, transfers between clubs, the frustration of defeat or the glory of a trophy.
Although everything is fictitious, the companies continue to strive every year to make everything more real, so that the players can experience situations such as disputes with the coach, press conferences and even criticism from the media. A series of experiences and sensations that bring the user closer to an even deeper experience.