If FIFA is Balotelli then Pro Evo is Milner

Football games have changed, in one corner we have the passionate about 'football commercialism' EA, and in the other we have the gameplay focused Konami. Where the debate used to be 'which game is better?' I truly believe the debate has shifted to 'football or footfall?'

Since FIFA's November patch I've completely fallen out of love with FIFA15, where user input was a direction I embraced the November patch swiftly removed this option from my fingertips and AI initiative was handed to my opponent.

Over the last 3 months I have tried to play FIFA 15, but from 500 games before the patch I only need my own and a friends hand to count the games played since.

Many have embraced the changes but the game has become very formulaic, and mechanical to the point of stagnant.  Where I once had to tackle my opponent I am now left with the feeling that the AI will do a far superior job, whether this is team mate press or by doing nothing I regularly miss tackles going it alone or find players sprawled on the floor listening for the AI stampede.
Videos online surfaced illustrating the benefits of doing absolutely nothing in defence, and while against the more experienced players, who use the games mechanics to their advantage, this isn’t a recommended tactic it is clear that against football players this tactic is wildly successful.
To clarify I am using the term football player for somebody who tackles themselves, tries to take control of what’s happening on the pitch and attempts to simulate the beautiful game as a virtual example.

If I offend, tough, some of us believe user input is integral to the way we play games, I lived through auto-aim on Counter Strike and it always offended.

This is the crux of FIFA’s problem, it requires the user to play FIFA and not football, this is certainly exampled by the Ultimate Team mode which is awash with hacking and coin mining to the detriment of the gamer who picks up the game to simply play and love football. A stunning example of EA's ignorance is the recent 'min/max BIN prices' which preclude 90% of normal gamers and have prices set on the coin buyers past investments. Very little EA does places the honest and true gamer first.

Like the Premier League, which is distancing itself from the football fan at an alarming rate FIFA post patch reverts back to the sodden glorified mistake that embraced FIFA 14 and FIFA 13, at least FIFA 13 didn’t pretend to be a football simulation, it was a game from first kick.

Where mistakes in gameplay changes exist, reverence to the consumer dissipates, with denial and ignorance rife. Many see the patch as not only hampering AI balance but increasing pass errors, especially short, stifling first touch and further supporting long through balls. EA does a fantastic job at shooting these down, especially in their forums where denial goes hand in hand with ignorance, but it's clear the developers have lost their way and this once football mad franchise has chosen the board room over bored football fans.

Then we have Konami, who with Pro Evo 15 have delivered a choppy glimpse at what the football fan really wants, the game has its flaws gameplay wise and similar to FIFA it wants you to aspire to using the best players to attain consistent success but it places availability and progression in the customers hands (like their gameplay), and not in their wallets, or parents wallets. That’s the standout difference, it's less likely to be their parents wallets and more likely to be those of the fan, the person who wants a leg up and not simply to buy a whole experience. In Pro Evo you’re allowed to succeed, encouraged to do so, in FIFA you’re expected to compete financially in a broken system of out of game transactions under the guise of hackers and cheats. Or of course you can buy a pack from EA, something useless of course, but they throw in a free gateway to gambling addiction for your efforts.

One system favours football fans the other favours finance, not dissimilar to the Premier League, and the very core of gameplay and enjoyment has been tainted because of it. Don’t get me wrong, Pro Evo is unfinished, it’s still building a platform to jump from, but it's doing so with the football fan at its centre and desperately seeking recognition for what is does right, not what is right by it.

FIFA is a game for children, for people desperate to prove they can compete, and for the foolhardy who think it’s a football sim. Pro Evo is a game for the honourable, the real football fan, and the once FIFA believer who has opted to play a game with heart and not vogue. The tide is turning in football games and we have two different products, one is a snowballing commercial entity hiding behind noise and spectacle and the other is an always developing player desperate to impress, desperate to be part of the scene but hoping to gain recognition and not hype.

Two Premier League players mirror the stages of these titles; one a spectacle, exuding bravado but producing very little apart from a huge bank balance, and the other has a heart, with the determination and endeavor to keep breaking the ceiling of ability.
Showmanship can only take you so far and for that reason I've always preferred Milner to Balotelli.

Edit -
Anybody see Balotelli and his penalty antics vs Besiktas? Yup FIFA all over, it's my ball, you can't have it and I'm certainly not going to celebrate with you if I score. This is my time to shine and your contribution is unimportant; next he'll be telling us he won the penalty!