SacTicket // Gamers // Creating future fans with a joystick


		Published 2:15 AM PST Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2003
			Creating future fans with a joystick Video games have become the initial experience of choice for millions of players. By Debbie Arrington -- Bee Staff Writer
			Video games help draw younger fans to major-league sports. Sacramento Bee/Val B. Mina

With a click of a key pad, fans take control. Instead of just watching their favorite superstar on TV, they can "be" that player.

They can pass the football like Brett Favre or run like Marshall Faulk. They can see the field from Ray Lewis' perspective. They can hear a real crowd cheer.

"Ultimately, that's what it's all about," explained David Knies, director of sports brands for video-game maker Acclaim. "You're playing vicariously. You can emulate your heroes."

As major-league sports grapple with the task of attracting new fans, video games offer a different and enticing inroad to younger generations.

A recent ESPN survey found 88 percent of boys ages 8 to 17 play sports video games -- the same percentage of all kids who watch sports on TV. About 62 percent of girls play sports video games.

That's far more than the number of youngsters who will actually pick up a ball or bat in a youth-league game, the traditional cradle of learning for budding sports fans. Another national study of children ages 9 to 13 found only 38.5 percent of those surveyed participate in any organized sport during their free time.

Without the on-field or on-court experience to foster a love of sports, will video games be responsible for creating future fans?

"There's not a direct link, but they're certainly connected somehow," Knies said.

In that regard, pro football and basketball have a huge jump on baseball.

The NFL and NBA play well as video games, while baseball has a tougher time hooking younger fans because it doesn't translate as well to the electronic genre.

"Football and basketball are made-for-TV sports," Acclaim's Alan Lewis explained. "They're very videogenic and game friendly with lots of quick action and quick reward.

"Baseball is more statistically driven. There's not as much scoring; it takes longer for action to develop. And (video) gamers prefer instant gratification."

Hence, many video game players grow up with a basic knowledge and appetite for NFL and NBA action while eschewing the national pastime.

"I have kids, and I know they don't do baseball (video) games," said Lynn Kahle of the University of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. "Football, they love more than anything else. They relate to sports they like. Kids want to play something that's popular, and the NFL and NBA are the most popular sports. They say, 'Baseball is boring.' "

Sports video games make up almost one-fifth of the $10.7 billion game software market, according to the Entertainment Software Association. As a form of popular entertainment, video games now top movie-ticket sales.

"In general, video games help sports," said David Tice, vice president of Knowledge Networks/SRI, the company that conducted the ESPN survey. "The fidelity has become so great, these games really bring kids face to face literally with these guys they usually don't see up close.

"Video games are a great way to reach kids," Tice added. "Most kids are exposed to video games in one way or the other. It certainly can't hurt (the popularity of sports). It will only help."

Practically every sport has a video game, often featuring its top stars. Electronic versions of Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter and tennis' Williams sisters all take their swings. The best sellers still represent the Big 3 of the sports world: NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball.

The three leagues have participated in the development of the most popular games involving their sport, aiming to make them as realistic as possible. For example, the NFL provided the actual team playbooks for Madden Football 2004.

Like the sport itself, NASCAR is rapidly building a video-game fan base among youngsters. ("Kids like racing games," Tice said. "We'll see NASCAR really take off.")

Extreme sports have their niche but mostly among young teens or tweens (ages 10-12). Skateboarder Tony Hawk boasts a popular franchise of video games, but these emerging sports have few other celebrities.

"As kids get older, they start identifying with athletes they see on TV, the real superstars," Tice said. "Those come from the major leagues. Except for Tony Hawk, extreme sports don't have that many high-profile stars."

Improved graphics have greatly enhanced video games. Instead of blocky characters, virtual players look almost real.

"It's like you're watching a game on television," Lewis said. "But instead of sitting passively, being force-fed sports, you're involved. The controller is in your hands. ... You get that immediate gratification."

It takes 12 to 18 months to develop a new game, with as many as 60 people working on the project. "It's a lot like making a movie," Lewis said.

The king among sports games carries the name of former Raiders coach and longtime NFL announcer John Madden.

Madden Football 2003 -- from EA Sports, a division of Redwood City's Electronic Arts, the world's largest video game publisher -- ranked No. 3 in sales last year among all games, behind two versions of Grand Theft Auto. That reflects the overall popularity of pro football-based games.

Seven NFL-inspired games rank among the Top 100 best-selling video games. By comparison, four NBA-related games made the Top 100, with only one each representing Major League Baseball or the National Hockey League making the list.

In its first three weeks of release just before this NFL season, Madden Football 2004 sold more than 2 million copies. This month, it was named "Game of the Year" at the Video Game Awards in Las Vegas.

"Madden is a franchise," said Manuel Gonzalez, who works at a Hollywood Video in Sacramento. "It's always the hottest renter. It's constantly checked out, and sometimes people keep it for months. They get addicted to it."

Introduced 14 years ago and updated annually, Madden Football dominates its category, accounting for about 80 percent of pro football game sales.

"To their credit, they make a great game that transcends football," said Acclaim's Lewis, whose company dropped its NFL game instead of continuing to compete with Madden.

The newest Madden version has hooks for older players as well, following a trend found throughout sports video games. It makes the gamer the boss with a special "owner mode." Instead of being just Rich Gannon, try being Al Davis.

As the team owner, a gamer can hire front-office staff, set concession prices and build luxury boxes. If unhappy with virtual fan support, the "owner" can move the team -- an option that required EA Sports designers to build into the game's database a list of North American cities that would be top prospects for real NFL relocation.

Other games also put the fan in charge of off-field jobs, including juggling salary caps while signing talent. EA Sports' NBA Live 2004 lets gamers draft college prospects and recruit free agents. Sega's ESPN NFL Football 2K4 governs front-office actions by real NFL rules.

Most baseball games include managerial duties because of the nature of the sport.

"As a fan, you're always asking, Why didn't the manager do that?" Knies said. "These games let you take charge."

Acclaim's All-Star Baseball 2005 (due out in March) expands that function to allow the gamer to hire and fire personnel, build stadiums and create mascots.

The managerial modes appeal to more mature players, a significant segment of the gaming population. According to industry sources, the average video game player is 29 years old, and almost one-third of frequent players are over 30, with 17 percent age 50 or older.

Even so, most games are targeted to 13-year-old males. "That's our hard-core audience," Lewis said.

Adding to the appeal of games to more mature fans are on-line games, in which players compete with one another via the Internet. During spot checks last week of EA Sports' Web site, 7,000 or more gamers were playing online at any one time.

"This appeals to the rotisserie fan, taking fantasy baseball to the next level," Knies said. "All this attracts the older gamer. Younger gamers just want to play the game."

Today's parents of younger children grew up playing video games and are more willing to sit down at the game console with their kids.

"Twenty years ago, the closest thing our parents had to compare video games to was pinball," Knies said. "Now, game systems are in almost every home."