History of World Cup horror games | Sports

Me come with a warning to all football fans: if you have been enjoying them World Cup enough to think, “I want to show this again in a football video game”, don’t go to Netflix and play Fifa World Cup: Launch Edition, a game with a license for the competition, which runs through your TV or computer. Developed by Delphi Interactive, also known as Delphi Interactive, it is a classic, well-known disaster, with controls (through your phone, when you download the app) and a commentary from Clive Tyldesley that provides all the joy of train announcements.

Until this, it was generally agreed that the worst World Cup football game in history was the World Cup Carnival, the first official Fifa tie-in, which was released on various computers at home in 1986. The publisher US Gold thought that it had a partnership with the Manchester studio Ocean Software to repurpose its famous role Match Day, but the partnership fell through. With three months to go until Mexico 86, US Gold is forced to successfully restore the 1984 sim, the World Cup, and the disappearing Artic producer. To add value to the package, the game was released in a large attractive box with a chart, World Cup poster and stickers. No one was fooled – the World Cup Carnival was a huge and commercial disaster.

Four years later, Sega’s World Cup Italia ’90 for the Mega Drive was another disaster, with terrible controls, terrible music and a glaring game display that didn’t allow you to see more than a few meters away. For USA 94, US Gold somehow also conflicted with the official license and put in a good SIM… but only if you bought the SNES version. Another option for home computers was memorable featured in Amiga Power magazine as, “an idle eagle in the lungs of the innocent children of the earth”. Firm but fair.

For France 98, the era of Electronic Arts began, the publisher brings its excellent Fifa football engine, as well as real teams, players and stadiums, to the world. Fifa: Road to World Cup 98 is considered one of the greatest World Cups ever, with the 2006 and 2010 editions coming in a close second. But after 2014, the events of the World Cup were consumed within the main FIFA titles and that was it.

The problem is, the game has not been able to capture what makes the World Cup such a memorable tournament. It’s a whole show – the crowds are bringing different footballing cultures to the stadium, celebrations that are sometimes dangerous (remember Diana Ross penalty on US 94?), horror band music. Although, in fact, there have been attempts. The Sega Mega CD for World Cup USA 94 featured two songs by the rock band Scorpions, plus. No pain no gainthe official song of the German side that had the immortal words “You have no vision in your head, no vision, die well”. This looked like a nightmare until Germany were knocked out in the quarter finals by Bulgaria. Later, in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, EA’s development team included the evil sound of the vuvuzela hornwhich may be the highlight of the competition (especially for us tinnitus sufferers).

Game developers have also found it difficult to capture the moments of idiosyncratic panache that give each game’s story a special feel. The courage of Cruyff’s conversion, the joy of Roger Milla’s goal celebrations, the emotional shock of Zidane’s head. Often this is only familiar in retrospect, which is difficult to reproduce in video games that have been launched before the event – although EA’s top Fifa World Cup titles have all the modes that allow you to play the biggest moments in the history of the World Cup. Fifa World Cup 2014 also included a Story Finals mode that allows you to play the main events of the tournament, which EA Sports made available for download an hour after the match. However, the worst attempt to use a World Cup minute was 1986’s Peter Shilton’s Handball Maradona, which featured neither Peter Shilton nor Maradona.

Often, the real beauty of the World Cup happens around it, a fact that we are witnessing with this summer’s competition, from the best aspects of the game. Tartan soldiers from Boston to TikTok moments from Mexico and South Korea fans are swapping shirts and dancing in the street. The only sport that has tried to adopt the concept of the World Cup as a culture rather than a sport is Desperatea drama about a young man and his obsession with Ecuador’s qualification for the 2002 tournament. The games are only played on TV behind neighborhood bars and family gatherings, but in this game there is more love, drama and sports knowledge than a thousand hours of Fifa World Cup: Launch Edition.

Have EA Sports FC or Konami’s eFootball if you want to have your World Cup at home, or maybe go retro and get your old version of Fifa World Cup 2006. It’s fun, has great music and lets you keep scoring from the midfield with David Beckham. What more could you want?

Toys

The latest smash hit indie social game is Mecha Chameleona hide-and-seek-’em-up game where players have to use a simple drawing tool to draw their characters to match the background. Aspirants come and try to find the hiders and, this being a video game, shoot them down.

It’s scary, stupid and brutally creative: finding a place on a single map that you feel confident enough to check yourself in – whether it’s a laundry room or a farmhouse – is a difficult technical and tactical task, as well as a game mechanic.

Mecha Chameleon it perfectly combines two well-known and connected indie genres – prop games (hide and seek, but people disguise themselves as everyday objects) and the slightly derogatory name “friendslop” (access roles, purposely created). So it’s no surprise that it has sold 7m units in less than a month. (Also, thanks to my son Albie for getting me interested!)

Available at: PC
Estimated time: eternal

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• I was very happy Mike CookManifesto, No One Will Buy Your Video Gameswhich is a request that more games be made as fun projects regardless of potential sales, existing industry trends or the demands of critics (thanks, Mike). It’s been widely debated and sometimes misunderstood, but even if you don’t plan to make a game, it’s worth reading as a smart critique of design and marketing.

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Question Block

First of all, a reminder that we are still following your annual game so far. Send them by replying to this email and we will add them soon.

In the meantime, here’s a timely question from the source Andy via email:

“Following from Keith’s article on Microsoft closing more studios, I was hoping you could help me understand why this happens so much in places, for example, selling studios? Of course even selling them to a the price of the machine is better than the expensive business to pay the return fee – and for Microsoft, can those studios continue to make games that Microsoft can make from the Xbox store?

To answer this big question, I turned to an industry friend who has been in a similar situation. He told me that there are many reasons to close a studio instead of selling it.

There are a lot of work problems with HR offices involved in transferring contracts, as well as managing the business side of things, such as renting an office, etc. There may also be issues with the transfer of IP rights for any game that the studio has developed or for any shared technology – say, if the studio was using an engine that was built and owned by an outbound publisher. Studio closings can also be tax-deductible, and can mean that the owner avoids spending money moving forward while a buyer is available. The salary alone for a well-equipped team can be £250,000 a month.

A friend suggested that closing the studio would avoid future PR or shareholder embarrassment if the developer is bought out (or bought himself out) and continues to make big hits. Obviously, it’s a tough old industry out there.

If you have a Question Block question – or anything else to say for that matter – email us at pushingbuttons@theguardian.com.