MKC
Garra! Força! Tradição!
I was born in 1999, so I grew up with sports video games closer to how we know them today, despite micro transactions and online modes changing directions quite a lot, the core structure of them nowadays has been built upon what was established in the PS1/N64/Saturn era more than anything, but before that sports video games were already a thing, and they had been since... video games started out, with things like Tennis-For-Two and Pong, and they were quite different. I've been playing some 8-Bit and 16-Bit football video games over the last few years, due to loving this era of the hobby and this genre, I suppose I did it out of curiosity, but also out of a desire to find new things to play in a genre I don't expect much from in the current scene. It was quite different, sure you could play a match against the CPU, or against another player, these modes we all still play today were already a thing, but often they'd only include these modes... or a tournament mode, and this is the interesting thing. Back then, sports video games could actually be "beat" similar to any console or arcade title from the 80's and 90's, a lot of them were in the arcades too, like the popular SNK titles a lot of people here grew up with, and in a way it was a lot like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, but instead of M. Bison and Goro we had the Brazil national team to face off in the final boss fight.
How did you "beat" a football video game back then? You won the World Cup. How did you "beat" an American football video game back then? You won the Super Bowl. How did you "beat" a basketball video game back then? You won the NBA Playoffs. You get the idea... ever since the 5th (PS1/N64/Saturn) and especially the 6th (PS2/GC/XBOX/DC) console generations, this hasn't really been a thing, sports video games have so many modes nowadays, especially football, that unlike the major American sports, has so many relevant competitions going around at the same time. So... is it even possible to say you've "beat" a PES installment? Or any other modern sports video game for that matter? I don't know, a part of me thinks it isn't, especially now with them going in the GAAS direction, which is all about playing it infinitely without an actual ending, but at the same time I think many would consider a video game 100% beat when you get all of the Achievements/Trophies... so, how can you beat something 100% and not beat it any% too? I don't know, maybe I'm just overthinking, but suddenly I had this thought of "How do I beat PES?" and now it's in my head, do you consider it beat by winning the World Cup? By getting all of the Achievements/Trophies? By winning the league in Master League? By winning a treble in Master League? I really don't know.
How did you "beat" a football video game back then? You won the World Cup. How did you "beat" an American football video game back then? You won the Super Bowl. How did you "beat" a basketball video game back then? You won the NBA Playoffs. You get the idea... ever since the 5th (PS1/N64/Saturn) and especially the 6th (PS2/GC/XBOX/DC) console generations, this hasn't really been a thing, sports video games have so many modes nowadays, especially football, that unlike the major American sports, has so many relevant competitions going around at the same time. So... is it even possible to say you've "beat" a PES installment? Or any other modern sports video game for that matter? I don't know, a part of me thinks it isn't, especially now with them going in the GAAS direction, which is all about playing it infinitely without an actual ending, but at the same time I think many would consider a video game 100% beat when you get all of the Achievements/Trophies... so, how can you beat something 100% and not beat it any% too? I don't know, maybe I'm just overthinking, but suddenly I had this thought of "How do I beat PES?" and now it's in my head, do you consider it beat by winning the World Cup? By getting all of the Achievements/Trophies? By winning the league in Master League? By winning a treble in Master League? I really don't know.