Each year, developers attempt to persuade consumers to buy their products by announcing additions to their games that will supposedly make them as realistic and immersive as possible. Along with the developers' push for increased realism and immersion, many consumers discuss how realistically a sport will be presented if a certain hypothetical feature is added to a game. It has become routine to expect at least one new addition to the most recent version of a sports game, with each new feature promising to make the sport as lifelike as possible.

Due to this desire to immerse the player in the game, and also to create a believable representation of a certain sport, it seems strange that more companies have not attempted to include a first-person perspective in their games. While better artificial intelligence in a football game or being able to turn a seamless double play in a baseball game certainly makes a game appear more realistic, it seems likely that a first-person view for users would allow players to completely lose themselves in the video game they are playing.

The Debut of a First-Person Perspective in Sports Video Games: Triple Play 99

EA Sports utilized a first-person perspective before any other company with the release of Triple Play 99. The game did not have a first-person view for all facets of the game, but did allow the user to attempt to hit from a first-person perspective. However, presumably because of the limits of technology at the time, it was very difficult to effectively hit from this view because the user could not easily tell whether or not a pitch was over the plate or a foot outside. However, it was a new feature, and while people may have expected it to be refined in future versions of the game, it was dropped altogether, along with the Triple Play name itself a few years later.

First-Person Football

In football video games, NFL 2K5, recognized by many people as one of the best football games available, included an updated first-person mode known as First-Person Football. The mode was introduced in ESPN NFL Football; it was slightly tweaked in NFL 2K5.

The perspective provided a unique and fun way to play the game, especially if you were a running back. It was exhilarating to get the ball from the quarterback, see a hole in the defense open up, and then sprint through it and into the end zone. As a quarterback, the player was able to look down the field and scan his available receivers while attempting to see the mismatches in the defense. The first-person view suffered slightly when the player was a wide receiver, however, as it seemed overly difficult to switch between looking forward to run the route, and also looking back to see if the ball was going to be thrown to the user or not.

Overall though, First-Person Football was an excellent addition to the game, and allowed consumers to play in an entirely new way. Of course, the traditional camera angles were still included in the game, but either way, the first-person mode was a breath of fresh air in the sports-game genre -- it probably helped that the perspective had been absent for a few years.

Is This the Perfect Time To Resurrect a First-Person Perspective?

It has been a few years since NFL 2K5 debuted, and there is now a new generation of video-game consoles available. It is strange then, that no other company has attempted to include a first-person mode.

Both MLB 08: The Show and NHL 09, to use two examples, have improved their games tremendously over the last few years. The Show now includes a deep career mode in the form of Road To the Show, and NHL 09 created an incredibly addictive online experience with the EA Sports Hockey League.

With these new game modes proving to be very enjoyable, it seems likely that the next step in the evolution of these games, and others, including FIFA 09’s Be a Pro mode, will be the emergence of an optional first-person view while playing the game. In Road To the Show, a first-person view would give the user the ability to react to a fly ball off the bat, turn and sprint towards the wall, look back to find the ball, jump at the wall, and rob the batter of a home run. In its current state, the feeling of robbing a home run is incredible. Being able to rob a home run all while looking through the player’s eyes, however, would make the experience as realistic and exciting as possible.

The same can be said for a first-person view in NHL 09, which would allow the players to position themselves near the goalie, look back at a teammate racing towards them with the puck, receive the pass, and hit a one-timer into the back of the net. An already excellent experience would be made even better with a first-person view.

The Future of Sports Video Games?

The proposed addition of a first-person perspective in video games may not appear this year, or even next year, but hopefully sometime in the near future it will be normal to play a game through the eyes of an athlete. With so many people asking for increased realism in sports video games, it seems that a first-person view is the natural evolution of sports video games.