فوتبال واقعاً می‌توانست از بازی‌های ویدیویی بیاموزد، اگر درک آنها زحمت می‌کشید

بعدازظهر چهارشنبه است و کسی تصمیم گرفته بازی های ویدیویی را مقصر بداند. ناامید شدن آسان است، اما در واقع، این روزها اغلب سرگرم کننده ترین هستند. معمولاً آنچه در ادامه می آید یک سیرک است: چرخش واگن در توییتر، سرفصل های نادرست در مطبوعات جریان اصلی، شاید کسی از یک سازمان تجاری در این صبح شرکت می کند تا توضیح دهد که بازی های ویدیویی چقدر پول در می آورند، و مطالعات زیادی در مورد خوب بودن آنها به اتفاق آرا وجود دارد. احتمالاً برای فرزندانتان، سلامت روانی و شانس شما برای برنده شدن در لاتاری. به اندازه کافی احمقانه و بی اهمیت است که بتوانیم بی سر و صدا از آن لذت ببریم، اما مرتباً اتفاق می افتد و معمولاً از نادانی می آید.

این بار اما اوضاع کمی متفاوت است. کسی دارد نوعی از بازی های ویدیویی مقصر ، کمتر از انتقاد از چهره قرمز یا عصبانیت طعمه نامزدی و بیشتر از ناامیدی محض. آندره آ آنیلی، رئیس غول فوتبال ایتالیا، یوونتوس، و به طور دقیق‌تر، نایب رئیس سوپرلیگ فاجعه‌بار جدید که دیشب منفجر شد، بازی‌های ویدیویی را مقصر دانسته است. زمینه مهم است و به نوعی عجیب است.

اگر فوتبال بلد نیستید، نکته مهم بحث این است که، همانطور که همه چیز پیش می‌رود، در حال حاضر فوتبال است گسترده کاملا برابری طلب یک تیم جدید، یا یک مینو کوچک، از نظر تئوری می‌تواند از پایین‌ترین لیگ انگلیس، مثلاً به قله لیگ قهرمانان اروپا که بهترین تیم‌های اروپا را جمع می‌کند، فقط با پیروزی در بازی‌ها راه خود را ارتقا دهد. اخطارهای بزرگی وجود دارد – برای مثال، موفق باشید در بسیاری از بازی‌ها بدون مالکان فوق‌العاده ثروتمند برنده شوید – اما اساساً، در تمام رقابت‌های اروپایی، هر کسی می‌تواند تنها از طریق نمایش‌های داخل زمین، حق برنده شدن هر چیزی را کسب کند.

This weekend, however, a group of just the 12 most globally popular, billionaire-owned clubs – minus a couple biggies like Bayern Munich – announced their creation of a “closed” league, where a couple others can join and win promotion or relegation to and from it, but those 12 will always be there, playing each other over and over again in a pointless, dramaless merry-go-round, earning extraordinary sums in guaranteed TV rights money and very loosely promising to trickle that money down to the little guys, honest, while those little guys sweat it out in regular football jeopardy. It did not go down very well. The 12 clubs lost every kind of stakeholder’s support, from local fans who blocked team buses to matches, to players that posted public statements and privately prepared for strikes, to sponsors like Liverpool’s “Official Global Timing Partner”, Tribus, and even such high-integrity parties as Amazon Prime. Ultimately, the plans collapsed less than three days after being announced.

بیانیه TRIBUS سوپر لیگ pic.twitter.com/zwaWDyBDMD

- TRIBUS (@TribusWatches) آوریل 20، 2021

این محتوا بر روی یک پلتفرم خارجی میزبانی می‌شود، که تنها در صورت پذیرش کوکی‌های هدفمند، آن را نمایش می‌دهد. لطفاً کوکی ها را برای مشاهده فعال کنید. تنظیمات کوکی را مدیریت کنید

But anyway, what does this have to do with video games? Well, it’s less about the disastrous effects of the Super League or the opposition to it, and more about the reasons these clubs came up with it in the first place: most of them are in extraordinary amounts of debt.

گفته می شود رئال مادرید که فلورنتینو پرز، رئیس آن، چهره واقعی سوپرلیگ بوده است، بیش از 354.3 میلیون یورو بدهی دارد. منچستریونایتد 455.5 میلیون پوند بدهکار است. تاتنهام 604.6 میلیون پوند؛ ورزشگاه [paywall], in January, put Barcelona’s debt at an astronomical figure of “almost €1.2 billion, of which €730 million was due to be repaid in the short term, €266 million to various banks by June 30.” Agnelli’s Juventus’ net debt for the last financial year was €357.8m, according to آسمان ورزش, and they’re currently paying Cristiano Ronaldo about €600,000 a week alone, plus bonuses. All the while, matchday revenues from tickets are of course zero, due to the pandemic, and some leagues are struggling to sell their TV rights for as much money as before. The point is these mega clubs need money, fast – and Agnelli reckons it’s down to video games.

“Some data,” Agnelli offered Corriere dello Sport, in an interview that took place just before the Super League’s announcement and collapse: “A third of world fans follow at least two clubs and often these two are present among the founders of the Super League. Ten per cent are fascinated by great players, not clubs. Two thirds follow football for what is now called ‘fomo’, fear of missing out, fear of being cut off.

“And now the most alarming percentage: 40 per cent of children between 15 and 24 years old have no interest in football. We need a competition capable of opposing what they reproduce on digital platforms, transforming the virtual into real. Through Fifa you create your own competition, that competition has to be brought back to the real world. Let’s leave out the effects of competition from the various [games like] Fortnite, Call of duty etc., authentic catalysts of the attention of today’s kids destined to be tomorrow’s spenders.”

For once, video games are not actually being blamed, per se. They’re being حسادت کرد. Ignore the risible stuff about kids being “tomorrow’s spenders” and you’ll notice what Agnelli really says: that what the Super League was trying to achieve was simply to keep up with games, to try and match them, tap into them, copy some of what they do. He’s saying games are more interesting to young people than football these days, so we need to pit Ronaldo against Messi every week (ignore the fact that Mbappé and Haaland, the next Ronaldo and Messi that young football fans actually worship, are both at clubs outside the Super League 12). We need ludicrous, star-studded Ultimate Team matches every week, forever, otherwise kids will just watch the highlights for free on Tiktok and spend their money on Warzone instead.

He is, obviously, wrong, but he’s wrong in such a typical way for someone citing video games in their argument. The big, open secret here is that Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone are رایگان. And you can play them anywhere. Your kids can play Fortnite on a budget phone, or their parent’s iPad, or the family console. You can play Warzone on an eight-year-old PS4. Sky Sports, which you need just in order to watch about half of your club’s Premier League matches, costs £41 a month for the basic package with Sky TV. A season ticket for Manchester United costs £190 to £380 for under 16s (let’s ignore the cost of flying from Manchester to Turin for that fourth United-Juve tie of the year.) If you really wanted some luxury extras in Fortnite, a season pass costs £7.99 every three to four months.

The point is of course the cost, for one, but even more than that it’s دسترسی: a future for football that wants to include young people, and learn from games in doing so, means one where young people can watch the game easily. And it’s also that once again, there really are some good lessons to be learned from video games – and that once again ignorance of the medium means they’re being ignored.

منبع: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-04-21-football-really-could-learn-video-video-games-if-it-tohered-them-theme