Released back in October of 2023, Sociable Soccer 24 finally made its way to the Nintendo Switch this past July and thus is now in my hands. With footy options being limited on the Switch, it’s worth scoping out how this one holds up with our Sociable Soccer 24 review.

What I Like

Surprising Authenticity

Equipped with the FIFPRO license, Sociable Soccer 24 has a surprising amount of authenticity to offer. With over 13K professional players and 1,000 teams, you can take the club of your choice and attempt to win one of the 80 trophies offered in the game.

It’s unrealistic to expect authentic uniforms, but the basic color combinations are there and surprisingly there aren’t kit clashes when randomly matched up against an AI opponent. Even the tactics and roster management are surprisingly realistic, but we’ll get into that in a bit.

Gameplay

According to Tower Studios:

“Get your adrenaline pumping with the game’s lightning-fast and intuitive gameplay. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a casual player, Sociable Soccer 24’s user-friendly controls ensure that everyone can enjoy the excitement of the pitch.“

It’s everything Tower Studios described and more. It’s fast and intuitive in the sense that it’s easy to pick up, yet takes a little time to master, especially when you factor in the ability to toggle the controls between assisted and manual — and of course the difficulty levels (Easy, Moderate, and Expert). At first, I began with assisted controls on the moderate difficulty levels before finding my footing and changing to the highest difficulty and manual controls, which still ends with me sending a few shots into the stands (a good thing).

The commands are simple on defense as well. You turbo and slide tackle, and the game switches players for you on that end to a better standard than eFootball. In general, the best form of defense is similar to UFL where you just try to run and take it off the other player while dribbling, but it’s acceptable for a game on the Nintendo Switch — on the PS5, not so much (sorry, UFL).

No DLC

What you see is what you get from Sociable Soccer 24. In a genre dominated by loot boxes in console and mobile games alike, it’s refreshing to know that you won’t need to grab your wallet if you want to enjoy the game. With a selling point of about $25, Sociable Soccer 24 is reasonably priced and offers enough content to justify the cost.

What’s even more reassuring is that Tower Studios (Sociable Soccer 24’s developer) is committed to updating the game as seen by its most recent patch (June, 2024).

Nice Pace Of Play For Seasons & Tournaments

One area that I really like, and is a must for mobile games, is the length of time it takes to complete a tournament or season. For my tournament playthrough, I focused initially on the Africa Cup of Nations, complete with three group stage matches, and luckily I was able to guide the Ivory Coast through three knockout rounds that ultimately culminated in me achieving legendary status and taking home the trophy, all in about 45 minutes.

Season play takes longer as expected, but since you’re not playing the other teams in your league home and away, you can get through a complete season in a couple of hours or space it out and take your time over the course of a few days.

Can Feel The Difference In The Quality Of Players

It’s a strange thing to say about a game on the Nintendo Switch, but you can really feel the difference between good and lesser players when it comes to quality. My first match with Sociable Soccer 24 was the heated contest between Argentina and Brazil with me taking charge of the Selecao, and just like recent times, Argentina handed me my head on a plate with Julian Alvarez scoring a hat-trick.

The action was fast and Argentina was all over me, a stark contrast between my “world” squad, DC United, where it was slowed down because my players were not as good.

What I Don’t Like

Lack Of Stats

There aren’t many things I don’t like about Sociable Soccer 24, but the lack of stats across their modes is the big one. I don’t expect a game like this to have the advanced stats EA FC has, but a simple tally of goals, assists, and clean sheets is the bare minimum and that’s what I expected, especially as I put my finishing boots on and started scoring goals for fun.

Even if the stats aren’t tracked on a league status page (league leaders and so on), it would be nice to see some Team Player stats.

Bottom Line

There aren’t many mobile or Nintendo Switch sports games that can hold my attention, but Sociable Soccer 24 is one. You may or may not find me getting a few matches in during work hours while I slog from online meeting to online meeting. You can’t prove it regardless! At about a $25 price point, the game offers a good bang for its buck and is enough to satisfy a hardcore footy fan like myself or casual fans like my daughters. Either way, Tower Studios you have a fan.

The post Sociable Soccer 24 Review (Nintendo Switch) appeared first on Operation Sports.

In today's Daily Fix:Popular Call of Duty Mod “H2M” was pulled just hours before its release time after a cease and desist letter from game publisher, Activision. Though sources are mixed on the reasoning, fans are nonetheless unhappy with H2M, which would have brought back the multiplayer mode from 2009’s Modern Warfare 2, being pulled. And, Backyard Sports announced they’ll be coming back with a trailer. The owners of Backyard Sports, which includes titles like Backyard Baseball and Backyard Football, plan to bring back the gaming franchise and could possibly bring “Backyard” to new mediums as well. Presented by NHTSA.

Unsurprisingly, as the reigning World Cup champions, soccer is deeply embedded in Argentina's national identity. Players on the national team are praised as heroes by everyone, from die-hard fans to casual observers. Their trophies bring joy and a sense of triumph to a country that has seen much division and gloom in recent decades.

Sadly, recent victories could be the last blaze of a dying fire. Soccer (or as we call it, fútbol) in Argentina is in decline, exploited by nefarious interests—but President Javier Milei has a plan.

Until recently, domestic soccer clubs in Argentina had to be operated as nonprofits. An executive branch decree changed that, allowing clubs to become publicly traded companies. The change may spur lifesaving investment into Argentine soccer.

For fans of Argentina's national team and domestic league, this is good news.

Consider how many players are leaving Argentina to play elsewhere. In 2022, 5,000 Argentines were playing abroad, most of whom were promising players under the age of 20. Even among the 26 players on the World Cup-winning roster, only one came from a club in the Argentine league. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) is worried that players who start their careers overseas will choose not to represent their national team in international competitions. Even Lionel Messi, a dual national, was tempted to play for the Spanish national team before choosing to play for Argentina. AFA lives in constant fear of having a future world champion slip through their fingers.

What's causing this exodus of talent? While part of it is Argentina's general economic malaise, some, including Spanish La Liga President Javier Tebas, point a finger at AFA's narrow-minded refusal to allow private investment in the national soccer market. Tebas has said the Argentine team won the 2022 World Cup "despite AFA" because their players "were forged in European clubs."

Milei's reforms mean international companies could buy and sell teams, or invest in Argentina's striving clubs. An injection of foreign capital would be a boon not just to the clubs who'd be able to improve their capabilities and keep talented players at home, but also to the Argentine economy overall, as clubs expand and create more jobs with their newfound capital.

AFA leaders and some major teams denounced the reforms as a "privatization of football"—and if you know how the clubs currently work, it's easy to understand their resistance. 

In Argentina, soccer clubs are more than just sports teams. A club is like a church, a provider of all manner of cultural and educational services, a place for communities to share, for families to enroll their children and invest in their future—every young player's dream is to go pro and pay back his parents' sacrifice. While the clubs are already private nonprofits—an organizational model they're very defensive about—in reality, they are run by politicians, celebrities, and businessmen who use them to promote their public image. They keep governance opaque, convoluted, and unaccountable, cementing their power by making deals with barra bravas, powerful hooligan organizations that handle their illegal activities and intimidate opponents into silence—both within the clubs and in electoral politics.

Revenue from the domestic soccer league, such as TV rights money, is dispensed in a pyramid scheme with AFA President Claudio Tapia at the top, doling out favors to keep the clubs economically dependent. About 97 percent of clubs have, at some point, been on the brink of bankruptcy. This causes a vicious cycle: Teams in the league can't afford to keep promising players, who leave for foreign teams with deeper pockets, so the teams perform worse and earn less revenue.

In the late 1990s, Racing Club, one of the historic "Big Five" clubs, went bankrupt and was nearly liquidated. AFA authorized a special rescue plan that allowed insolvent clubs to contract private firms as management in exchange for financial salvage, copying previous experiences of successful entrepreneurial partnerships. Despite the plan's limited scope and the familiar cry of "veiled privatization," it performed so well that several clubs started contracting out their assets and are now faring consistently better than the rest. Meanwhile, fans remain involved by exercising oversight over contractors.

In a microcosm of national politics, mafiosos and oligarchs use populist rhetoric to entrench themselves in power, and then call the private sector to bail them out when reality catches up. In soccer, it's catching up again. Investment is still limited, the player pool is shrinking, clubs are chronically indebted and their services are becoming impoverished and exclusionary. Meanwhile, they're still run by a powerful few but lack transparency or efficiency. A country that's practically synonymous with fútbol should be attracting money and talent from all over the world, not scaring it away. A few conglomerates have expressed interest in Milei's reform, but he'll have to get past attempts at judicial obstruction and silencing of internal dissent by the AFA establishment.

Argentina is the birthplace of many stars in soccer history, but its clubs are suffering from economic stagnation. The private sector can help Argentines reclaim their clubs as social spaces and as points of national pride. Milei's reforms are an opportunity for soccer to become part of the nation's economic recovery. The profit motive, social ethics, and political will of those who love the sport can lead to even more glory.

The post In Argentina, the Private Sector May Save Soccer appeared first on Reason.com.

EA Sports provided details earlier today on FC 25 Ultimate Team with a new Pitch Notes deep dive and features video. In FUT, players can join friends in 5v5 Rush and explore advanced strategies with a tactical overhaul in FC IQ, where AI models and real-world data drive player tactics through the new Player Roles. The mode will also include a new storage system for untradeable duplicates, manager presets, redesigned stadiums, enhanced live match broadcasts and more cosmetic evolutions that will highlight the Player Item shell.

• ULTIMATE TEAM RUSH – Bring your favourite player item from your Ultimate Team club, team up with friends, and hit the pitch in intense, locked-to-player 5v5 matches. Rewards earned in Ultimate Team Rush can be used to improve your own Ultimate Team roster in the 11v11 experience.
• FC IQ IN ULTIMATE TEAM – FC IQ informs the Ultimate Team experience in a variety of key ways. Manager Items will feature the manager’s real-world tactical preferences, authentically influencing how your team plays on the pitch. Player Roles are also part of each player item and available from the very beginning of the Ultimate Team season.
• NEW STADIUM & MATCH EXPERIENCE – The Ultimate Team match experience is fully refreshed thanks to newly designed stadiums and more engaging live broadcasting sequences. New presentation elements highlight lineup decisions and both teams’ unique players. Larger away sections allow you to bring more of the home stadium experience on the road.
• COSMETIC EVOLUTIONS- The Player Item shell has always held the spotlight in Football Ultimate Team, but now you can make it your own in unique ways. Upgrade Player Item shells with all-new cosmetic Evolutions: add more breakouts and modify embellishment components such as backgrounds, borders and SFX.

For more details on FC 25 Ultimate Team, check out the trailer embedded above and the latest Pitch Notes. The EA Sports FC 25 Standard Edition will release on September 27 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch. The Ultimate Edition releases on September 20, along with the EA Play 10 hour early access trial.

The post EA Sports FC 25 Ultimate Team Details Revealed in Latest Video and Pitch Notes appeared first on Operation Sports.

EA Sports provided details earlier today on FC 25 Clubs mode with a new Pitch Notes deep dive and features video. The article highlights Clubhouse, the new Clubs Rush experience, the return of Relegation, gameplay improvements, social space, customization options and much more.

• Clubs Rush – Enjoy a more social experience with 5v5 Clubs Rush. Lobby up with friends or fly solo as you squad up with other players of your skill level. Every win earns a Victory Point to your club’s tally, boosting your Rush rank on the road to exciting seasonal rewards.
• The Clubhouse – Welcome to the Clubhouse, your home for social interaction and customizations in Clubs. The Clubhouse is a hub for your team, showcasing your Club’s identity along with your clubmates who will appear in the locker room when they join the mode.

• Club Facilities – Grow your club and unlock higher facility budgets via the club’s reputation system. Allocate that budget towards different facilities like a weight room, new PlayStyles, or even a shooting coach.
• League Updates – Relegation returns to the Clubs League. Losing matches decreases your number of division chances. Lose them all and take part in a Relegation Battle, one single match that will determine whether your Club will beat the drop, or be sent down a division.

For more details on FC 25 Clubs mode, check out the trailer embedded above and the latest Pitch Notes. The EA Sports FC 25 Standard Edition will release on September 27 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch. The Ultimate Edition releases on September 20, along with the EA Play 10 hour early access trial.

The post EA Sports Details FC 25 Clubs Mode in Latest Pitch Notes appeared first on Operation Sports.

You can get an MLS Season Pass for Apple TV at a discount if you haven't paid for one yet and want to watch the league's upcoming games these coming months. Apple is now selling the pass, which typically costs $99, for $69 for the remainder of the 2024 season. If you're an Apple TV+ subscriber, you can get an additional $10 discount and only pay $59 for it. The company occasionally launches promotional offers for the MLS Season Pass meant to drum up interest in its sports streaming package. Last year, it offered a free one month trial mid-season, as well. 

If you're undecided, you can watch league games for free this weekend first: Apple is making all 14 matches taking place in the next few days streamable at no additional cost. One of the matches features Inter Miami, which signed Lionel Messi in 2023. An MLS season pass will give you access to every MLS game with no blackouts, as well as to additional content like in-depth coverage and analysis of the matches. You can watch league games through the Apple TV app on iPhones, iPads and Macs, as well as on smart TVs, set-top boxes, gaming consoles and non-Apple streaming devices. You can also watch matches on the web at Apple TV's official website and on the Apple Vision Pro if you have the mixed reality headset. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-discounts-mls-season-pass-to-69-for-the-rest-of-the-season-133019422.html?src=rss

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