Viva La Fifa

Omar Mustafa

Mr. Boczkowski

English 110 c 01

June 2, 2009

Viva La Fifa

When many people first hear the words, Fifa Soccer 2009, they are most probably going to assume it is yet another simple video game that is only praised by world-wide soccer fans. But it turns out that the case is quite on the contrary. While there is the underlying theme of soccer being displayed throughout the game play of Fifa, there is much more than meets the eye to this video game. Although it is easy to judge a video game that is based off of simply one sport, there is much more to Fifa than many would believe. Fifa Soccer 2009 has proved author Steven Johnson’s argument of “The Sleeper Curve” (Johnson 9) correct, for it provides relation to not only world-wide soccer teams in the real world, but also has an ever-expanding cast of characters who are each able to be used in their own personal way in dozens of different types of game play all while invoking the gamer to continually progress through objectives for various types of rewards.

Steven Johnson’s national bestseller, Everything Bad Is Good For You presents the general argument that video games are becoming continually more complex in their game play, but also their storylines, telescoping, probing, characters, and overall goals. Johnson describes The Sleeper Curve as “a kind of positive brainwashing: the popular media steadily, but almost imperceptibly, making our minds sharper, as we soak in entertainment usually dismissed as so much lowbrow fluff  (Johnson XVI).” In other words, the mediums of entertainment that are generally seen as negative to one’s development are actually making us better thinkers, and therefore making us smarter. The underlying ideas behind Johnson’s arguments are that “culture is getting more intellectually demanding, not less”. (Johnson 9). The Sleeper Curve goes to prove that video games are much more beneficial than we are led to believe. This notion explains as to why video games are becoming more and more popular for not only the younger generations, but also older ones. As gamers move past games such as Frogger and Super Mario Bros., they are constantly desiring not more dull minded entertainment, but a game that is more challenging, more intellectually stimulating, and has an overall reward system that allows for the gamer to complete levels all while being able to have the freedom to complete their own storyline that is not governed by already printed words. All of these characteristics that Johnson points out can be noticed in a video game developed by Electronic Arts, widely referred to as Fifa Soccer 2009.

Fifa Soccer 2009 is a sports game developed by Electronic Arts and is focused around the game of soccer. Fifa is like other soccer games when it is said to be on the same sport, but it is quite unique in its special design and one of a kind detail. Throughout the hours of time I have spent playing Fifa Soccer 2009, many of Johnson’s concepts have popped out from the subtlest of places. Although I’ve seen myself sit down and read one book for several hours, doing the same with Fifa supplies me with an entirely different type of entertainment and satisfaction. While Fifa focuses mainly on one sport and this may seem that it would be repetitive in the long run, it still has the one-of-a-kind dynamic game play to display all characteristics of the Sleeper Curve. 

One of the Sleeper Curve’s most important notions is that of telescoping. Johnson specifically defines this argument when he calls it, “the mental labor of managing all simultaneous objectives “telescoping” because of the way the objectives nest inside one another like a collapsed telescope.” (Johnson 54). An easier way to look at telescoping is that it is when the gamer is forced to keep multiple objectives in mind while placing them correctly in the scale of hierarchy. I can think of dozens of different examples of when Fifa has forced me to subconsciously recruit the idea of telescoping.

While each Fifa gamer has the choice to simply launch their gaming system and play a quick match, they also have the objective kept in mind that they are able to complete multiple seasons during manager mode all the while having to score goals to keep their player ratings as high as possible. A specific example of when Fifa really indicated telescoping was when I was prompted at the beginning of a game for “Match Objectives.” This clearly stated that my objectives for this specific match were to score two goals, receive a match rating of 8.0 or above, and to win the match. Although the game itself did not rank these in order of most important to least important, I was able to put them into a hierarchy independent of instruction. I realized that if I didn’t win the match, there was a very low change of my match rating being above 8.0, and to win the match and reach the 8.0 level of rating, I would most likely have to score multiple goals. In the sequence of completing one objective, I was able to grasp multiple objectives and complete them all together. This is one of several great examples of how Fifa displays one characteristic of many of The Sleeper Curve.

The second prong to The Sleeper Curve is the idea of probing. Johnson sums up probing when he defines it as, “When gamers interact with these environments, they are learning the basic procedure of the scientific method.” (Johnson 45). In other words, probing begins with when the gamer is exploring the game by performing an action, clicking on something, or even adventuring through their current environment. After this the gamer thinks about how what they learned previously may be useful in a certain situation. They then take that prediction and based upon the result are able to continue to probe through the virtual world. Fifa has forced me to do this in multiple scenarios.

When beginning to play Fifa I was generally unfamiliar with a large majority of the players and their skills. Because of this I wasn’t able to effectively utilize each player. That is when I decided to probe through not only the characters, but also the stadiums in Arena Mode. This is where I had the chance to shoot, run, slide, play offense, and even defense with any character I chose. I also had the ability to change stadiums where weather may be different, or possibly even a bias in referee calls. After having the chance to determine which player had the best shooting ability, I decided to play a full match. Through probing in the Barcelona stadium with the player E’to, I figured out that he was an amazing shooter. Because of this I played as Barcelona and put him in a forward position. This allowed me to easily score goals with one of the fastest and most skilled players I had probed with. After having the chance to probe through the game I realized that I had the ability to excel with specific players if I was able to discover their strengths or weaknesses. After probing through each character I discovered that E’to was a great shooter. I then applied my discovery to a prediction that he would be able to perform very well if used as a forward. When I did this I experienced great results, and therefore my experience with probing turned out to be a very positive one. Luckily I had the ability to share this information I had gained from probing online at Fifa fan websites.

Johnson goes out of his way to mention the importance of fan sites in video games. In his discussion of fan sites he states that, “fan sites create a public display of passion…” (Johnson 169). The fan pages for Fifa Soccer 2009 are almost endless when searched on Google. While there are thousands of possibilities of fan sites I could have chosen on Google, I managed to focus on one. I happened to stumble upon one that displays not only hundreds of different people’s opinions about the game, but also displays how dynamic and complex the game itself is.

When taking a look at the forums of Fifa Evolution you are able to view not only the top goals that have been recorded throughout game play by dozens of different gamers throughout the world, but also hundreds of other topics that range from the different face structures you are able to design in the game, to which trick move is a personal favorite among many. This is an even more interactive part of Fifa that stems into the Internet. I recollect a specific time that I utilized the forums of Fifa Evolution to allow me to enrich my game play.

Not until just recently has it been even thought of that you can design your own characters clothing, face structure, body build, and physique. When I first began playing Fifa I had designed my own character that was named after me, had clothing I had chosen, and was on my favorite club team, Chelsea. Although he was already personalized for me, he didn’t have my face structure or anything near it. I was able to fix this by going onto the forums of Fifa Evolution where I found a post by a member of how to download an online update that would allow for me to design my own characters physique and facial structure. After having the chance to download this update I changed my characters appearance in game to almost impeccably resemble mine. These types of choices that are available to the gamer display how vast the opportunities and complex ideas of Fifa stretch; even far enough to have a U.S.A Today journalist notice its importance.

Marc Saltzman, author of a U.S.A Today article titled, “Video Games: A Force For Good?” supports Johnson’s Sleeper Curve through proving the beneficial qualities of video games. Saltzman begins with explaining how video games today are more than ever becoming more involved in real world situations. Saltzman writes about the idea that “We’ve known for a while that games can sharpen memory and improve hand-eye coordination, but they can also be used to teach problem-solving skills, increase our awareness of world issues, help with social phobias and can even treat those with serious illnesses…”(Saltzman 1) This presents video games as helpful to humans not only because develop cognitive abilities, educate people, and treat illness, but they even have the ability to “tap into the natural reward circuitry of the brain”. (Johnson 34).  Although Saltzman may not specifically mention Fifa in his list of games, Fifa proves to tie in flawlessly with Saltzmans’ point that games tap into the brains natural reward circuitry.

Although Fifa may not obviously seem to have the type of gratification that a cancer patient may receive from blasting cancer cells, it is indeed still applicable. There are millions of amputees that have not had the ability to play soccer from birth, and Fifa gives them a sense of happiness when they are able to reach out and be so involved in a soccer game to a point that they are able to imagine themselves being out there in that field playing with the best players of the world. This exemplifies that Fifa does indeed have the power to tap into the brain’s natural reward circuitry similar to how Johnson described it in The Sleeper Curve. But can all of these positive and beneficial characteristics of Fifa eventually lead to an addiction?

In Jon Tevlin’s argument against video games titled, Joy Sick; Games Can Be an Addiction, he writes about how although games are ever so popular in the present day, they are engulfing people into them too severely. Tevlin writes about how this is dangerous because “people retreat into computer games or online diversions.”(Tevlin 51) The point Tevlin makes is that people are becoming so engulfed in these video games, that they would rather do this than anything else. Tevlin points out that the lack of socialization and infatuation with video games leads gamers into an addiction that can harm not only the gamer, but also their loved ones. Tevlin believes that games are addicting “for three reasons: Avoidance, Sexual Fantasy, and Fantasy.” (Tevlin 51) This is the general notion of Tevlin’s argument against video games.

But Tevlin’s argument proves to be negligible because although video games have the possibility to become addictive to some people, there is self-control needed in any such entertaining mediums. In addition to practicing self-control when playing Fifa, I noticed a subtle, but effective hint of how Electronic Arts decided to work against the possible addiction of video games. As I recollect a long past Saturday afternoon I specifically remember the extended amount of time that I had been playing for. As I began to load the game for my next match, a dialogue box prompted me with a message that said, “Even the great Christiano Ronaldo has got to take a break. And now that you have been making him run up and down the field for three hours, you might want to take a break and let him rest!” (Fifa). This was extremely surprising to me, but immediately made me realize that I had been playing a video game for such a large amount of time. This effective design of Fifa allowed me to break past the sometimes-addictive nature of video games and temporarily stop playing. This design of Fifa is specifically ingenious in its anti addictive nature.

EA Sports has finally developed a game such as Fifa Soccer 2009 that wholly includes all aspects of a video game that are required to fulfill Johnson’s argument of The Sleeper Curve. Fifa provides not only a wide array of real world characters, teams, clubs, and leagues, but also has the ability to continually improve its’ dynamic game play and keep the gamer challenged. The hundreds of objectives and awards that can be achieved through the endless amount of available game play allows for the gamer to not only choose from hundreds of different paths for game completion, but also withhold a great sense of reward after completing an intellectually stimulating game. With the hours of in game experiences I have had with Fifa Soccer 2009, I see now that Fifa Soccer 2009 perfectly exemplifies all aspects of The Sleeper Curve.

Works Cited

Germany, Fifa. "Fifa Evolution". 25 May 2009 .

Johnson, Steven. “Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today’s Popular Culture is Actually

Making Us Smarter.” New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 2005, 2005. Foreword.

Saltzman, Marc. "Video games: A force for good?” USA Today 14 August 2006: 34-35.

Tevlin, Jon. "Joy Sick; Games Can Be an Addiction". Chicago Sun-Times 9 January 2000: 50

53.