If there is one thing I love as much as video games its football. And if George Constanza has taught me nothing, its that the best thing you can do in life is carry around a bloated wallet... er... I mean try and combine as many of your passions together as you possible can.
Football video games like EA's Madden franchise are enormously popular among gamers - Madden '07 sold more than 2 million copies and made over $100 million dollars... in its first week on the shelves*. But these games arent just popular with gamers - they are also popular with the athletes who they depict. Not really a huge surprise, after all the games are fantastic ;-)
But as these games become more realistic, their value for non entertainment purposes also increases. Dont believe me? Ask Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli.
Aparently PSU Coach Joe Paterno attributes Morelli's late '07 season success to playing EA's NCAA '07 video game, which helped him to learn plays and reckognize defenses. It sounds crazy to think that a game could somehow prepare you for something as intense and demanding as division 1 football, but don't knock it until you try it. Coverage schemes, blitz packages, audibles and check offs, defensive rotations, ball fakes and trick plays - with every iteration of the game these small details become more and more realistic. From an entertainment perspective, this adds an incredible depth to the gaming experience. But from a training perspecive, it makes games like this a useful learning tool. Games like NCAA are becoming so real now, that its not a farcry to look at them as the "interactive film room" of the future.
Real games. Real fun. Real value. This ladies and gentlemen, is where its at. Its like I died and went to gamer heaven. Its just icing on the cake that it was my Nittany Lions that were bringing gaming and football together, and not those evil Buckeyes ;-)
* Figure from MSNBC.com
Image from msnbc.com
Seems like using a game to recognize coverages and practice decision-making is a great idea. My brother is an airline pilot, and does stuff with simulators as a part of his qualifying prep. I'd guess that anything requiring choices/decision trees could benefit from reps on a video game.
I'm thinking about becoming a prize fighter, given my past success with Super Punch Out. Bald Bull stands no chance.