In the last of our play sessions this semester, one of the games we played was FIFA 12(?). We played in groups, 2 on 1 due to the limited number of controllers available. Despite not being much a sports-game gamer, I found myself enjoying the game and interactions I was having with my classmates. We kept a friendly banter throughout the game, cheering on our teammate and trash-talking the opponent. I think the reason that I found myself enjoying FIFA was due to this social interaction with my classmates. Social interaction is a integral part of being human, and games that address this point are often some of the most enjoyable. However, this social interaction is a crucial part of the game; without it, I doubt I would have enjoyed it as much.
This goes back to the 7 points we discussed in McGonigal's article:
Sharing: Sharing is a crucial part of the game, especially in regards to social gaming. Teammates must constantly share the ball in order to effective on offense, else they have the ball stolen before they can go five feet. It is important for teammates to share responsibility on defense, protect the goal and going after the ball.
Communicating: This one is obvious. Players have to communicate if they are to be effective on the field. The more effective you are, the more fun you are going to have, because your team will be able to execute offense and defense better.
Interaction: The entire game is interaction in a sense. Wether it be between the user and the player he is controlling at the time or between opponents on the field, interaction is involved in someway.
Competing: This is especially important, considering it is a sports game. A sport is, at its heart, a competition, and this carries over the digital platform.
Coordinating/Collaborating: Players have to work together if they are going to be successful. If one player is just messing around, running in circle, the team is going to be far less effective, and the team will most likely lose, which is no fun at all.
Negotiating: Teammates must negotiate constantly, deciding how long to have a person control the ball before passing it on, or whose going to predominately defense and whose going after the goal.
Ah FIFA...it's probably one of the most underappreciated social games around. People don't generally understand how to play immediately which could explain the constant frustrations that occured during our games last Friday. However, the advice about the controller configuration and strategies seemed to fall under the coordinating/collaborating point from McGonigal.
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