1. An interactive video game in which one or more sports teams having individual players compete in a simulated sporting event that has a set of rules enforceable by an official, the video game being encoded in a non-transitory computer readable medium and operable to: allow a user to control the actions of the official in enforcing the set of rules in the simulated sporting event by manipulating a controller to provide input data in the video gaming system; process and compare the input data against a reference set of appropriate actions of the official; and assign a performance grade to the user based on the comparison of the input data against said reference set of appropriate actions of the official, wherein the simulated sporting event in the interactive video game has a variable level of play and wherein the level of play is adjustable during the course of play in response to the performance grade assigned to the user.