By Alex Tarowsky ’14, Staff Writer, and Matthew Press ’14, Staff Writer

 With only eleven players on the soccer field and eleven on the football field at any given time, opportunities for playing time at Newark Academy can be limited. For those not lucky enough to sniff the field, EA Sports has helped quench the desire to play – at least virtually – with its two best-selling video games: FIFA and Madden.  Now, the experience of live sports is not only limited to those with athletic ability.

Each game focuses on bridging the gap between virtuality and reality. The special effects and graphics – which have become exponentially sharper in recent years – are now so realistic that it feels like the gamer is right on the field. Players and fields are exact replicas of those in real life. The games play like they would if they were live, with players moving with realistic motions and plays being executed with precision. The crowd noise in the background makes the stadium come to life and the announcers call the game just as they would during any televised broadcast. The whole experience is a spectacle to behold, and system developers have certainly been successful in re-creating the atmosphere of a live game.

FIFA and Madden give the player complete control over the team. In these virtual games, a player can be the coach, the manager, or even their favorite player for as long as they please. They can play for any amount of time, from a single stand-alone game to several seasons worth of games. For those who are not usually on the field, it is an opportunity to learn the game and hopefully gain an appreciation for the sport. They can see the game from all possible perspectives and get a good idea of how it is played. With this knowledge, a gamer may be more apt to try out for an actual sports team in real life to physically experience something they have spent a lot of time watching. This may cause the gamer to become involved with these sports at  the school level, resulting in them becoming a manager or even an athlete.

 This phenomenon is more common than it might seem. For Eric Szlosek, a junior athlete and avid gamer,  it was video games that sparked his interest in expanding his athletic horizons. He said, “it was through playing FIFA that I gained more knowledge on soccer, which has now made me think about maybe playing soccer next season for NA.” Because Szlosek was able to get a comprehensive soccer experience through playing FIFA, he realized that soccer is a game that he is interested in playing in real life.

Although on the surface, video games and school may not go together well, there is clearly a mutually beneficial relationship between the two when it comes to athletics. Many of Newark Academy’s athletes have played these video games, and it has in turn provided them new interest in the sports themselves.