If football is the most popular sport in the world, it is because it is able to raise stadiums and ignite a whole country during international competitions. Today, football simulations games occupy such an important place that they have become the theater of E-Sport competitions. We obviously know the fierce war between Konami and his PES, opposed to EA Sport and his FIFA. Let us not forget the other games relating to football like those of management of a football club and all the others who are very successful with players both football and online games. But all this is not new, since football has existed for a long time in video games, as we can see in this little retrospective!
The world of football on screen before Kick Off
Kick-Off can be considered the front of Jesus Christ in the history of football simulations. The first game using the universe of football is Odyssey Soccer 1 on the eponymous console. It is the clone of the Pong game dressed in a football setting. Studios are braked by technology. A football game may seem simple in 2021, but it is of an unnamed complexity with 22 players to animate simultaneously, the physics of the ball, the rules to be respected, not to mention the referees, the public, the weather .. . Suffice to say that the 70's is the prehistory of video games and that no technology made it possible to create a game that looked closely or far from a real football match.
1979 is the year of the Mattel Intellivision console which offers Nasl Soccer where it is possible to play football. It is very primitive and those who would like to test it may not understand much with vertical trips and rectilinear shots. We don't care, it's the very beginning of simulation games!
1983 is the revolution with International Soccer on the famous Commodore 64! The player can choose from nine difficulty levels on simple matches and can even play in LAN against an opponent. It's cubic and it's 6 football! The reason is simple; The power of the processors does not show more than six days simultaneously. Tejkan World Cup was released in 1985 on Arcade and bridged between the generations before and the arrival of Kick Off. The view is done above and the movements of the players as well as that of the ball are more realistic.
Best Casinos - September 2024
Kick off the Revolution
Among the ancients, Kick Off, it's a bit of a grail. Imagine, go from a summary football game to the first real football simulation! Everyone remembers his first part of Kick Off as we can remember his first games in chick. The first striking differences are the speed and nervousness of the players, not at all realistic, but so pleasant to play, because it brings what is most beautiful in football: the movement of eleven players. For the first time, an editor was not looking to make beautiful, but to make authentic: a game closest to reality with real ball physics. You can tell you that it was a difficult game to master and that only football enthusiasts had the patience to learn to master it. At the time, there were no e-sport players, no games on smartphone and other tablets.
There were soccer fighters who were playing the console! Kick OFF launched the new generation that is killing itself today to find out if FIFA is better than PES ...
Football in video games
In addition to simulations, soccer games have become a reference. It is a great marketing tool to attract players. Everyone knows this sport and it is enough for an international competition for the most recalcitrant to get there for two weeks. The games inspired by football are very far from the green rectangle! There are many flash games available for free on the net. Penalty shots, game of chance, bingo and even online keno use the theme of football. There are even slot machines like Yggdrasil Gaming Glory football with supporters song, 3D entertainment for 20 cents to 125 euros in online casinos. The simulation games and the coach also wreak havoc with the management of a football club which can push the details until the search for sponsors.
And the future? It is always difficult to imagine the future especially with the quality of current simulations. We obviously think of the virtual virtuality game, but here we find ourselves as in the 1970s with a technology that does not yet allow you to play with your VR glasses and run in your living room. And then even if it means going away in reality why not leave your chair and join an amateur football team?
