Philips Magnavox Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution Trigger Happy User Manual
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Trigger Happy
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all, with one of the best being Konami’s ISS Pro
Evolution (see fig. 5). In EA’s World Cup 98, not only
are real players licensed, their faces digitally mapped
on to computer figures, but the actual French stadia are
lovingly rebuilt on the screen. Hoardings around the
virtual playing field carry real advertisements; hours of
soccer commentary are recorded by real TV
commentators, with suitable comments retrieved from
the disc to suit onscreen events; and slow-motion
replays from multiple angles allow the repeated
savoring of a goal.
Sports games have grown up, but in the process
they have almost defected to another medium. Of
course soccer videogames are in one sense continuing
the heritage of mechanical games like Subbuteo, but
now solid-looking players can run smoothly around the
soccer field or the hockey rink and be viewed from
different camera angles, just like on TV. The modern
sports game is no longer a re-creation of an actual sport
so much as it is a re-creation of viewing that sport on
television. With a little more involvement than simply
shouting at the players over your six-pack.