A birthday conundrum

I love the game of football (soccer). Everything about it is so beautiful. Really good players are like artists: Guys like Cristiano Ronaldo are beautiful artists moving the ball up and down the field.


Naturally, I want everyone to share this love of the game. So when I heard that my five-year-old nephew was starting soccer this spring, half of me was really excited (the other half of me not so much: I was afraid that it would be a really awful soccer league that sucked the fun out of the game. Thankfully, that's not the case).


So it's his birthday coming up, and naturally, I'd like to get him a soccer game. And I've got quite a reputation to live up to, as I won the "Brent's favorite birthday gift" contest last year (I got him  Star Wars Episodes IV-VI on DVD last year). Question is, do I get one for the DS or the Wii? And once I settle on a system, which game? Here are some clips of the ones I'm thinking about: Any help would be much appreciated.



There's FIFA 10 for the DS. It's from EA Sports, so I know that it's a decent game of soccer. Lots of teams, players, modes, etc. He'll be on the road and away from home a lot this summer, so having a new portable game to play would be a bonus. But is it too advanced for him? Not kiddie and colorful enough? Or would it be the perfect introduction to a far greater world of football? Up next is FIFA World Cup for the Wii.



The game def has an easier, pick-up-and-play feel to it, and using the Wii-mote in soccer games is just genius: Passing is so much easier when you can just point to a spot on the field. Plus, it's World Cup, and that is by far the most exciting football event of the year, why not get that for Brent? But again, is the FIFA series too advanced for a 6-year-old, or would he like it just fine? Last, I've got River City Soccer Hooligans.



Now this looks like a lot of fun! Well, I say that because the River City series included the AMAZING Super Dodge Ball for the NES. The games graphics look really catchy, the gameplay, like the Dodge Ball game, looks very simple but very addictive, and given his love of cartoons, might be more enjoyable to him.

So that's my conundrum. Which of the three football games to get for him? Would a FIFA product be a btter introduction to soccer, since he'd see all the teams and countries around the world that play? Or would a fun, cartoony game pique his interest more than the FIFA series, and in turn, make him enjoy it more? Or am I leaving something out that I should pick up? Hopefully I'll have it figured out in a week or two. I'd like to think that getting him a fun soccer video game could really enhance his love for the game, with a bad soccer game making him swear it off for life. I swore it off for 18 years*, don't want him to have that same fate

Hell, I could just be a cheapskate uncle and pick this up for him.



FIFA International Soccer: Saw it for $2.95 at Game X Change today. Might have to go back and do some me-time shopping!




* - I swore it off because when I was five and played little league soccer, my coach didn't let me and the other defender move...we had to stay right in front of the net the entire game. That sucked so bad that I didn't watch soccer again until the 2006 World Cup. I hate little league sports.