In a system that allows for a player to stick with a single position for a full game or even a full season, you’d be able to build up attributes and train your character as time progresses. This would encourage groups of specialists to team up and allow for a number of different game experiences as you train a power-hitting outfielder followed by an ace pitcher or a forward followed by a goalie. For a more pick-up-and-play friendly experience, a simple system could rotate players’ positions between periods or quarters or innings.

In games where positions are field specific, like baseball, you could likely migrate to a first person perspective. While positions are rather strictly assigned in baseball, they’re far more uncertain in some games. The concept is far more nebulous in a game like basketball or soccer, so for better spatial awareness in these games it’s probably best to maintain a third-person perspective in these sports. This means that teams who plan to play soccer will need to practice together and understand a completely dynamic multiplayer environment, just like in a real life game. Another great example of this comes in football – offensive and defensive patterns and paths could be displayed on the screen, but it should be left up to each individual player to make sure that they’re playing with their team’s best interest in mind. If it’s your job to cover a given player when your team is on defense, it means you won’t always be chasing after the ball. While it may sound like that would dull the action, I think it would likely ultimately have the opposite effect – making a game that’s far more like real life than anything presented before.

There are already a few games that take advantage of the team infrastructure that’s built into every sports fan’s brain. Ultimate Baseball Online is probably the best example thus far, although it’s a PC-only game that doesn’t exactly have an enormous community following. Recently FIFA 08 introduced a team play mode that allows up to 10 players to battle it out on the soccer pitch and it’s a decent start. However, only when we’ve got a ground-up multiplayer-focused sports game will we really truly be able to play ball.

You can find past installments of MIA below:

Missing in Action: Board Games

Missing in Action: Microsoft Flight Simulator: The 360 Edition

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