Personality News Pelé: the career of the only footballer with three World Cups in video games!
The king of football Pelé has died, leaving behind him an incredible career and records that no longer know what to do with. For sure, the player (Edson Arantes do Nascimento of his real name) will be remembered forever, but also in a few video games. So let’s talk about these appearances.
The king is dead, long live the king ? Not really, because in this case, even the hereafter could not dislodge such a sovereign. You heard the news: Brazilian soccer legend Pelé passed away on December 29 after suffering from colon cancer. If your knowledge of the sport stops at Lionel Messi | Kylian Mbappé, know that he is one of the greatest players in history (if not the greatest). A simple number: it is the only one to have won three World Cups, with a first victory at the age of 17, a record. As if that were not enough, he would be the author of 1283 goals – a figure still debated – out of 1363 matches played. Yes, it’s heavy, so much so that Fifa voted him the best player of the 20th century. But did you know that King Pelé also had a career in video games?
Pelé’s Soccer (1981, Atari 2600) & Pelé! (1994, Mega Drive)
The King of Boxes (Atari & Mega Drive)
Yes, from 1981, we find his smiling face on the box of “Pelé’s Soccer” (Atari 2600). Of course, it’s a football game, but the teams of 11 players are replaced here by two pairs of three, who all move simultaneously! Impossible to change athlete, we feel the limitations of the time. But no matter, the king is put forward, that’s what counts. It is also interesting to note that the game was originally called “Championship Soccer”, a name that appears today on modern compilations of Atari 2600 apps (Atari Vault, in particular). Obviously, the opportunity to have Pelé was a game-changer. The legend even appears in a TV campaign, accompanied by other sports stars, where the American company boasts of taking its projects “very seriously”.
Even years later, in 1994 (Europe), Pelé is still as popular as ever, and that is why the Accolade publisher will also count on him for the promotion of another football title, soberly baptized “Pelé! ”. We are then on Mega Drive: the power of the SEGA console makes it possible to display a solid isometric 2D, with very pleasant perspectives. Above all, the most important thing is to be there for the meeting of the year… 1994, it is the USA which hosts the World Cup, and the interest for the discipline grows in the country. The perfect opportunity to offer a follow-up, “Pele’s World Tournament Soccer”, with the 24 teams then in competition.
Academy of Champions Soccer (2009, Wii) & Fifa 18 (2018, PC, PS4, One)
Some life-size appearances
But, before the 2000s, Edson Arantes do Nascimento’s cameos were limited to jackets and advertisements – you are certainly looking forward to discovering more concrete video game alter egos. So already, note that it is he who trains the recruits in Academy of Champions Football, Ubisoft’s crazy football game released in 2009 (Wii). Pelé thus appears in a design that we did not know him, his face largely elongated, even more cartoonish than in the mobile game Pelé’s Soccer Legend.
Of course, above all, it is in the famous football game FIFA that Pelé lives on, as a card and player icon. Basically, it’s an unlockable character in FUT, Electronic Arts’ online competitive mode. The sports legend has made his home there since 2014 and it’s probably not about to stop… Twitter, the video game paid tribute to the “king of the biggest game in the world”. It only remains to hope that the next opus, which will be called “EA Sports FC”, will continue to do the same.
