Football Superstars: Soccer’s Answer to “Second Life”

Now this is a brilliant idea. Take the immersive experience of an on-line virtual world like “Second Life,” cut out all the useless stuff like relationships, jobs and pets and make it all about football. That’s what Football Superstars is going to be.

The game will feature full on 11-a-side games, with every single player on each team controlled by someone sitting in front of their computer. There’ll even be on-line managers picking the team. The plan is to have all kinds of pick up/park football games going on where players can practice their skills, but also the option to try and get involved with an organized team and compete in a league. Apparently these teams will also hold mandatory weekly training sessions, where players will get together to practice their skills. And it’s unlikely you’ll be able to blag your way onto a team by talking yourself up a la Ali Dia, as the game keeps statistics on your performance (successful passes etc) so managers can judge whether they want you on their team or not.

As a player you’ll view each game of football primarily in the first person. So one of the things that English gaming company CyberSports are focused on is preventing a situation where everyone wants to be Zlatan Ibrahimovic (this means you Martha) or Zinedine Zidane (and you Laurie) and so every player mindlessly chase the ball around or selfishly dribbles for glory at the expense of team play. The idea seems to be that, as in real football, organization will produce winners.

We fully expect initial games to be pretty chaotic, actually we would be disappointed for them not to be but we ensure the player is exposed to the concepts of team play and tactics very early.

It won’t be long before a team that plays together as a unit will easily defeat a team full of would be Rooney’s. By the time you are playing in an 11-a-side league final you will know what is required to be successful.

This will become even more apparent as players begin to play against well orchestrated teams, leaders will emerge and their groups will be quickly elevated to the top of the leagues. Those that choose to play otherwise will be left behind to play their own casual game (Although there’s nothing wrong with that… just don’t expect to be invited to play in the big leagues any time soon…)

The bad news is that because football is now so entwined with celebrity, Football Superstars will feature a social element where you earn lifestyle points that gain you access to fancy nightclubs and the like, as well as a virtual currency you can use to buy shiny new boots and shinpads.

Sounds dangerously addictive. CyberSports have set themselves a deadline of May 2008 to have Football Superstars ready to go. So if you’re planning an on-line virtual football career, you’ve got until then to say goodbye to your social life, tell the dog he’s going on a diet and put your gaming fingers through a rigorous pre-season.

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Category: World Football