FIFA 09

Steven Johnson makes the argument that mass media is good for people and I would have to agree with him. The world that we live in has become more complex and dynamic in a way that makes us think about everything. This is especially true in video games and television. In television, you are required to follow multiple threads, or storylines that go on throughout the course of the episode or even the season. In games, you are introduced to a world of button mashing and learning the many complex buttons until it becomes second nature to you. FIFA 09 can be an example of this since it requires very fast reflexes and a good overall sense of what is going on during the game. It has many parts that agree with Steven Johnson has to say.

It is normal for people who do not play games to think that they rot your brain, but they have never been more incorrect with video games. FIFA 09 brings the player a lot closer to the playing field than ever before. By doing this, it makes the video game player think more intellectually in whatever they may do. With every action you do has an outcome that follows it. FIFA 09’s manager mode is a great example of this. You are required to take control of a soccer club and be the best manager you can be. For instance, you have to determine what player you would like to use in order to make your team successful. When you play, you can do many things that you would like to do, however there are only a few that are going to work. It is up to you to choose the correct choice on whether to move in the right direction, pass to the right person, or take the shot to score the goal for your team. In this moment, all of these options appear in your head and you choose one all in a split second in almost every moment in the game. This and many other parts of this game support Johnson.

A big part of playing FIFA 09 is probing. A rough idea of probing would be where one would look around an area or playing field for something that would give them an advantage in the game. It requires observing and creating a strategy. Anybody who plays any type of game will tell you this. For example, in Pac-man it is very strange to go “commando” and just go for it. It requires observing the ghosts, which try to get you, and avoid them while consuming all the dots on the map. Another great example is the game Metal Gear Solid 4. It probably requires the most probing out of any game that I have ever played. You play a spy in an espionage action game and require sneaking around guards and infiltrating the enemy. In order to sneak around, you have to figure out the movements of the soldiers in order to get past them and also use force to either kill them or knock them unconscious. FIFA 09 being a sports game requires a lot of probing. Every decision you make is to help you along the way. All of this includes putting together a team of players capable of playing well together and winning games. Also, when playing manager mode, you can extend the contract your players so that they may play for you as long as possible if you want them to. All of these things help you complete your dream of either playing for your favorite team or managing your team.

Another big part of what Steven Johnson has to say is telescoping. It is where you have side objectives apart from your main objective. There are not any real good examples of this on FIFA; however there are “trophies” that you can earn on the Playstation 3. These trophies are equivalent to Xbox 360’s achievements which produce gamer point where they are kind of meant as an accomplishment for bragging rights. The side objectives in FIFA 09 may include winning the league championship with a certain team, scoring a goal within the first 10 minutes, beating a 5-star team with a 1-star team, or just scoring a certain amount of goals with a player you created. All of these different side objectives make the player play the game in a different way than what they are normally accustomed to. When I played, I tried to play a possession based game where I was required have 70% possession of the ball throughout the game; I found doing this extremely hard since I normally finish the game with about 50-55% possession at the end of the game. I tried over and over again; my biggest flaw was that I was impatient. I play very attacking soccer and am always looking for a chance to score and take risky passes turn the ball over sometimes. In order to complete the challenge, I needed to hold back on attacking and keep control of the ball. I eventually completed the trophy and by doing so made me feel better since I will be able to use it in certain game situations where I will need to keep control of the ball; as long as you have the ball, the other team cannot score.

FIFA 09 definitely is a game that supports Steven Johnson’s hypothesis about how video games are good for people. With probing and telescoping, it helps the gamer develop hand eye coordination as well as thinking skills that many other types of programs or real life events would not be able to provide for the person playing.