What makes football video games so much more successful than cricket video games?
If you’re a sports fan with access to a PC or a gaming console, chances are you’ve played a sports video game before. After all, it’s one of the best ways to pass the time if you’re not watching or playing your favourite sport.
As a cricket fan, though, our favoured sport is somewhat underwhelming on the gaming scene. Put up against a sports gaming giant like football, and the differences between the two are glaring and obvious.
In the real world, cricket is the second most popular sport globally with football in first position. In the gaming community however, cricket slips all the way down to near the bottom of the ladder, while football maintains it’s top dog ranking.
So, with this in mind, what is it exactly that football is doing so much better in gaming than cricket to increase it’s sales, popularity and overall game quality? To find out, let’s have a look at how the two stack up side by side.
For this analysis, I’ll use the most popular video game in each sport to compare: Don Bradman Cricket 14, the latest and most improved cricket game, made by Big Ant Studios, and FIFA 16 from the long-running, ever-popular FIFA series made by the giant gaming corporation EA Sports.
Game modes
For years now, FIFA has set the standard of game modes, boasting the ever successful Ultimate Team feature – an opportunity for you to manage your own team, with the opportunity to build the squad of your dreams, all the while competiting online against other gamers or against the computer.
Other featured modes include Pro Clubs, Career, Tournament, Kick Off (a one-off exhibition match) and the chance to head out onto the training arena to hone your skills.
Don Bradman Cricket has surprised many with it’s new game mode features. Career Mode allows you to take a young rookie player from the starting point of domestic cricket all the way to international glory.
While Career Mode is the definite highlight, there’s also the chance to head into the nets to practise, as well as being able to take part in many different tournaments such as a Twenty20 domestic competition or an international Test series.
Verdict: As improved as Don Bradman cricket’s game modes might be though, FIFA takes an easy victory with their groundbreaking features.
Graphics
A while ago, the contest in the graphics department between a cricket and football video game wouldn’t have been close. However, cricket games have come along in leaps and bounds in the last few years.
Don Bradman Cricket has fantastic picturesque stadiums, realistic crowds and player likenesses that look every bit the real deal. However, as impressive as the improvement has been, football still holds the upper hand.
With every edition of FIFA it’s amazing that the graphics are able to get better and better. Nowadays it’s hard to even distinguish the difference between a FIFA game or an actual real football match live on a HD televison, such is the quality of the stadia, players and kits.
Verdict: A worthy effort from Don Bradman cricket, but FIFA takes the win for this one.
In-game commentary
This one isn’t even a contest. If commentary comparisons were a boxing match between these two sports games, FIFA wins by K.O.
Don Bradman Cricket has recruited a pair of relatively unknown cricket commentators – Matthew Hill, who is actually an Australian horse racing caller, and David Basheer, who chiefly covers football on SBS - to add their quotes to the game in a repetitive and, frankly, a boring manner.
FIFA boasts two well known and respected football pundits, Martin Tyler and and Alan Smith to add an authentic voice to the action, as well as Sky News reporter Geoff Shreeves to provide injury updates from the sideline.
Verdict: Another easy win for FIFA here.