EA Sports has the name But Konami have the Game.... Soccer video games, which one?

There hasn’t been anywhere in the world I’ve been that the locals didn’t love football (soccer for my American readers), except in the USA the average person do not share the same enthusiasm, except for the Latinos and ethnics. We have two titles at it again as usual every year which is Konami’s Pro Evolution (Winning Eleven in some countries) and EA’s Fifa, for me PES wins hands down every time. But why do we love the computer game so much?? I think it’s because were addicted to the sport and re-living the passion and excitement is what gets us going. Or is it we like saying to our best friend “I’m gonna give you beat downs on Pro Evo!” either way it is pure fun.

When I was thinking I came across different reasons why we like the simulation so much, I was in deep thought and realised who I love to play within a football game, which is Newcastle Utd, then I asked myself why?? The bird in my head came back and told me it’s the feeling of belonging. Just like anything else in life. So does this mean we now have an extraordinary power in the influence of people through marketing of a game, you guessed it - YES IT DOES! This brought me back to why people like EA’s Fifa which is all about branding and licensing, giving out official kits and names. They gain their customers through those channels, as I have to say the game compared to PES is dog poo, well maybe that’s extreme but it’s not as good. My point here is that people sacrifice game play to achieve loyalty points to their clubs, as Fifa has its pluses including better commentary. But for the hardcore it doesn’t matter! For me Newcastle’s kit on PES 6 is rank, but I still love the game as it’s as real as it gets at the moment. I spoke to George, a semi-pro football player and asked which he prefers and he told me “obviously Pro Evs, it’s just a proper game, don’t get me wrong Fifa looks good but that’s about it, my nephews like it. Pro-eey (PES) is more realistic and plays like the real sport. Kids don’t have the capacity to play the game on the high level, that’s why they like Fifa and it has all the names and that and better graphics. I play Pro Evo and so does all my team mates at the football club” Personally I agree with George that Fifa is like playing a cartoon compared. Again some people like that but that’s not what this blog is all about.

I think that Fifa is targeting a different group sector as they know they can’t compete with PES in terms of game play, so they have shifted their attention to a younger generation. This can again be a very smart move as they can hope for brand loyalty for when those kids get older they will keep buying Fifa, well that’s the plan. I don’t think it will work as Konami have realised this and they too are slowly every year extending their licences and having bigger name endorsements such as Thierry Henry and John Terry. But they will always be behind EA’s Fifa as Fifa holds almost all licences in the world relating to football i.e. Fifa World Cup, which is the biggest sporting event in the world. You can say it’s a kind of monopoly as Fifa bosses the rights and cripples Konami from not having as many licences which in affect makes EA’s Fifa unique. I feel EA’s Fifa is no better than Microsoft by making it unfair competition in the gaming industry.

Fifa 08 is out now and Pro Evolution Soccer 2008/Winning Eleven 2008 will be coming out soon. This will be the biggest battle yet as they will both be on 3^rd gen games machines, as well as others. Will Konami once and for all take the top spot or will Fifa fool people into their game once again? I’ll have a look at both side by side in the future and give you my verdict! EA has the name But Konami have the Game....

Ras