A Whole New Ball Game
Video games maker Electronic Arts/EA Sports celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first release of its FIFA series this summer. As Andy Greeves reports, the iconic football game is so well loved it has its own official global tournament - the FIFA Interactive World Cup.
EA Sports' release of the football video game FIFA International Soccer on July 17, 1993 was notable for the fact that unlike any of its competitors at the time such as International Soccer, Sensible Soccer, Kick Off and Match Day, the title was the first to be officially licenced by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
Released for all major consoles of the era, such as the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System and Game Gear, Amiga, SNES and Nintendo Game Boy as well as the PC, the game lived up to its vast hype and was a strong seller worldwide for Christmas 1993.
Since then, there have been 19 yearly releases of the game and five FIFA World Cup versions, each advancing in terms of their technology, graphics and playability, not to mention gaining official licences from clubs for accurate looking players, kits and stadiums to appear in the game.
The game's greatest success has been bringing football fans together to play. Some may lament the fact that its rise, along with other successful football video game titles such as Pro Evolution Soccer, has been at the expenses of footballers, especially youngsters, actually playing the sport for real. However, the fun and excitement for its millions of players worldwide is undeniable.
As of 2011, the FIFA franchise had been localised in 18 languages and was available in 51 countries. The series has sold over 100 million copies to date, with FIFA 12 holding the record for the fastest selling sports game ever, with 3.3 million copies sold in one week in September 2011, generating over $186m in sales. Much of its success over the last ten or so years has been the ability for gamers to play FIFA interactively, with a huge online community established where matches can be played over the internet.
In 2004, the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) was launched, giving players the chance to compete for top prizes. Last year over 1.6m people were involved in FIWC, with even greater numbers set to have been competing in this year's competition. In 2013, $20,000 worth of prize money is up for grabs, not to mention invitations for the winner to the Ballon d'Or gala ceremony at the end of the year.
To reach a national final - known as Territory Showdows - and to stand a chance of competing in the FIWC grand final in Madrid between May 4-6, players will have had to have won around 500 matches over a number of months.
In the UK, George Tsirita came out on top of over 200,000 British players to book his place in the grand final. He beat three other opponents in the national final, held at Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane stadium last month to make it through, watched on by Spurs right-back Kyle Walker and Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler.
"I am ready but also nervous at the same time," reflects the 17-year-old from Hertfordshire, ahead of his big date in Madrid in May. "To make it to the UK Territory Showdown, I had to play around 500 games, winning around 15-20 matches.
My three opponents in the final were very good players. I had never played them online or offline before but I knew that two of the players I was going to face were professional FIFA players. After playing so many games to quality, I didn't want to let myself down, so I went there (White Hart Lane) 100% ready and I think I deserved to win."
The Liverpool-supporting youngster will be up against the likes of Kai Wollin from Germany, Maximo Ibanez from Spain and reigning champion Alfonso Ramos, also of Spain, in Madrid. The popularity of the video game series is reflected in the fact that the Territory Showdowns were all broadcast live on the internet, via FIFA.com with all four days of the grand final also be shown live.
George is daring to dream that 2013 could be his year in terms of winning the FIWC. "I will probably spend some of the money on holiday this summer and keep the other money for the future," he smiles, commenting on the prospect of winning $20,000 and an invitation to the Ballon d'Or. "The Ballon d'Or sounds like one of the best things ever so I would be delighted to attend this event."
While the crème de la crème of the FIFA world go head-to-head in May, the average video game player will continue to enjoy playing this smash-hit game either on or off line with friends, family and the wider FIFA community.
For more information on the FIFA Interactive World Cup visit www.fifa.com/interactiveworldcup/index.html
© Andy Greeves & Soccerphile.com
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