Video games have become as much a platform of artistic expression in this modern era as movies and television, with massive budgets being spent not only on development, but also on flashy advertisement campaigns. Much like football, some games live up to the hype, some exceed expectations, and some fall utterly flat.
One that keeps coming back again and again, however, is the FIFA series, EA's annual foray in to the world of football video games. Tuesday sees the release of the 2015 version of the game, and with it comes the annual clamor of the fans to know the player ratings. Now, on the eve of one of the biggest sports video game releases of the year (don't mind me, I'll be over here waiting for Football Manager 2015), the ratings have been released, and we know how Napoli players stack up to the rest.
Gonzalo Higuain has been deemed Napoli's best player with a rating of 84, good for six-best in Serie A (Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal are joint top with an 85 rating). Marek Hamsik is 12th in the league and second in the team at 83, and Dries Mertens is Napoli's only other player above 80, with Jose Callejon and Raul Albiol sitting right on the demarcation line that many use to judge a "quality player" in the game.
Looking at the full list, it seems as though EA's player raters were a little harsh on Napoli players across the board, but azzuri-tinted glasses and all that. Besides, it's FIFA, what does it really matter? Though Miguel Britos is rated way too high. Seriously, what the heck happened there?
For those curious, the full list of Napoli players:
Gonzalo Higuain, 84
Marek Hamsik, 83
Dries Mertens, 82
Jose Callejon, 80
Raul Albiol, 80
Gokhan Inler, 79
Lorenzo Insigne, 79
Michu, 78
Miguel Britos, 76
Jonathan De Guzman, 76
Christian Maggio, 76
Jorginho, 75
Henrique Buss, 75
Faouzi Ghoulam, 74
David Lopez, 74
Duvan Zapata, 73
Camilo Zuniga, 73
Kalidou Koulibaly, 72
Walter Gargano, 71
Giandomenico Mesto, 70
Josip Radosevic, 64
