Soccer mania kicks off in online gaming arena
There isn’t a foul for handball here, because it’s the hands that dribble, kick and score goals too. While anxiously waiting to see the World Cup kick off on South African greens, youngsters have taken a liking for soccer-based video games on the console and gaming devices. And seems like it’s time for some “oongli football”.
Mausom Talukdar, graphic designer, feels it’s almost next to being on the field and experiencing the action first hand. Mausom says, “You get the feeling of being on the ground as the graphics and the entire setup is so realistic.” As players are busy creating virtual teams and challenging each other on the Internet, game developers are going the extra mile as some games have profiles of more than 100 national teams onboard.
Mausom adds, “FIFA in the LAN versions is really good as two people can compete in a virtual match.”
Seems both the upcoming World Cup and video games are symbiotically feeding on each others popularity these days. The games are riding on the Cup’s fanbase while one addicted to the game often follows the game on TV too. Sahil Sharma, IGNOU student, quips, “The popularly of this version is definitely benefiting from the oncoming FIFA World Cup and the entire brand of FIFA games are popular here due to the club football culture in India.” A keen follower of the ‘beautiful game’ he is also hooked on to the console footie and adds, “I have the latest World Cup soccer game on my PSP and am spending all my vacation time on it.”
A search engine click for a mere “soccer game online” throws up a staggering 83 million results and cellphones too are buzzing with football mania as players manage their teams and net the ball in games like Penalty Soccer. Ravi Kumar, Class 9 student, says, “I recently downloaded a football application onto the iPod and have been hooked since. The World Cup and 2010 versions of application are similar, but it’s a great build up to the soccer carnival.”
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