Video Games Are Changing the Way Soccer Is Played
As the GM of a amateur youth team (one of the parents has to do this role here), I've watched the coaches trying in despair to make players unlearn things that the boys picked up from playing the FIFA series games.<p>Mostly it's about tricks that are much more prominent in the video game than they ever can be in real life,  because the gameplay is not entirely realistic. The gameplay on screen rewards visual stunts that are much less effective in real play. The movement of ball and players  doesn't actually have to be like it is in reality, because it is a video game. It's adjusted for visual appeal.<p>Where this is most often seen is passing the ball up in the air; this enables the video game to show amazing slow-motion captures of skill, but on a real football field such gameplay is not effective; in fact it is stupid.<p>In video gameplay, the characters make the ball traverse in a slo-mo arch, all the other moving objects maybe slow down, and the player receiving this pass then picks it up with amazing skill.<p>In real gameplay, it is better to keep the ball on the ground and pass quickly. A ball flying in an arch in the air travels more slowly, so the opponent has time to come close end press the ball; a flying ball is more difficult to control so it is slower to receive and pass on; making an accurate pass with a ball up in the air is much more difficult than controlling a ball rolling on the ground.<p>Thus, playing like FIFA just means you lose the ball to the opponents and you lose the game.<p>Also, things like a bicycle kick tend to succeed in a video game, but in real life they are exceedingly difficult to score with.