By Ben Coley
When FIFA 17 got released on September 27th thousands of people flocked to the midnight release of the game. Over 100 million copies of FIFA were sold in 2010 and FIFA 17 is currently the biggest selling FIFA games in history. Alongside this it is the most successful gaming franchise in the world… But the question I beg is why? Why is FIFA such a huge success?
In the light of the FIFA 17 release it appears that people really can’t get enough of it. I suppose on a rainy day it could be mildly entertaining, or it’s perhaps a good way to pass the time if you’re bored, but surely spending hours on the game has to be beyond dull. Firstly, how does FIFA 17 differ in any way from FIFA 16 or even FIFA 15? Many argue that the motions are better, or that the graphics are clearer, but surely people must see that Cristiano Ronaldo plays football in exactly the same way in the most recent FIFA as he has always done, and that the graphics have ever so minutely changed (perhaps Lionel Messi’s hair has changed to blonde and his face looks slightly more distinguishable than the last FIFA). I suppose what I’m trying to hint at is that there’s only so much FIFA can improve year after year, as all it is a bunch of players running around a grass pitch.
There are other factors which remain consistently annoying throughout the entire franchise; the commentators regurgitate the same old lines time after time, some of the virtual footballers barely resemble the real life version and the game does most of the work for you. All the gamer does is move the directional button, press the shoot button and hope for the best that they score a goal. This FIFA experience arrived on the shelves at the cumbersome price of £40… Yep, £40. Surely this money could be used to buy a ticket to actually watch the real players play with the atmosphere of a live audience, as opposed to the solitary confinement of your room.
But after all what do I know? At the end of the day the money wheel that is FIFA will keep on spinning, and we will keep on buying the new and improved version every year.