If it’s raining outside or hurricane season is in full swing, it won’t just be real-life sports affected but also sports video games with real-time weather that impacts virtual players. With game publishers just about perfecting ground visuals in games, the next step to boost realism is to replicate the actual weather, be it at a football stadium or on a golf course, and its impact on how virtual players perform and how the game looks.

EA Sports has partnered with The Weather Channel to introduce real-time weather into Madden NFL 10, so if a hurricane hits the United States, gamers will also find certain stadiums more challenging to play. From a play perspective, players will see their virtual NFL stars drop more passes, fumble more balls and slip and slide in the gale force winds and rain associated with a hurricane or tropical storm. Rain and snow games should have a much different feel because of lighting tweaks and added fog effects. College football fans will also experience real-time weather in EA Sports’ NCAA Football 10 which includes snow and rain, but the new tech is not just targeting players of the pigskin. Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 allows gamers to play through virtual rain and wind storms that not even the pros would tackle.

Source: Reuters