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Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 09 Feb
2010
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. This week has seen a fair amount going on in my personal life, along with a couple of new side projects I have on the go, and therefore this week’s IWP will be slightly shorter than usual. I would like to open up by saying I am looking into sorting out a copy of Winning Eleven to review, and hopefully will be able to provide some video footage of any improvements or ‘better’ features found in the game. This is following several e-mails I have received from Japanese / Asian visitors who constantly claim that PES is a weaker version of their franchise. I know that with exceptionally high import prices and the lack of ability to read Japanese, playing Winning Eleven simply isn’t a practical solution for most PES fans, but I am going to try and do my best to act on the community’s behalf and see just what the western world is missing! Stay tuned for more information! With that said, lets crack on with Interfering With Play.
“It’s Better The Devil You Know”
To start off this week, I am going to play a little Devil’s Advocate. Personally, I play a lot of passing football on PES. I believe football should be played on the ground and when watching sides like Arsenal & Barcelona in the ‘real world’ I always try to emulate their styles on Pro Evolution Soccer. When I have my Master League, I always look to build a team of technically strong players with a good first touch as opposed to just pace players, as a way of ensuring my style can be emulated correctly on the pitch. A style like this (short passing game) requires a strong midfield who have the ability to dribble as well as pass the ball quickly and accurately. It also requires the ability to create space, and when the moment arises, pick the killer through ball or hit the perfect shot. By reading the comments from the regulars within the community, I can see gamers play a similar style to myself, and therefore they want to see the midfield as the issue worked upon in future PES.
Last week, I mentioned the defensive aspect of the game which I felt needed to be improved if not completely overhauled, and yet people still believe that the midfield is the issue. In my opinion PES allows for the option to play good passing football through the middle if you so wish. PES also allows for the option to play a single target man, and hit long balls all day long looking for flick downs. Playing as Paris St. German, my tactic of hitting Hoarau with the long ball to allow for a knock down to Guily has produced many goals, and is a fully acceptable way of playing the game. Playing as Sevilla, I tend to work the ball into wide areas, to allow for Jesus Navas and Adriano to get 1 on 1 with their full backs. I would class this style of direct play, followed by them delivering the ball into Luis Fabiano and Kanoute as a genuine tactic, and one that is just as valid as any other.
By spending time overworking the midfield passing game, the fear will be that all gamers, and in turn all teams will end up playing the game through the midfield, which as a reflection of real football, quite simply isn’t the case. By starting on the defence, it allows the variety of different tactical styles a base on which to build. Upon winning the ball back, you players would then react in accordance to your tactics, be that spreading wide and long quickly in order to set up a counter attack, or flood the centre of the pitch to allow for a ball out into feet. Until defending becomes a skill as opposed to merely a side note, the development of other aspects of PES can not improve.
At the moment, chasing the ball with every player still brings up too much success. If John Terry came charging out of defence to win the ball, and it was played back, he wouldn’t carry on going in real life. Yet, on PES, the risk of bringing Terry out isn’t great enough, and 7 times out of 10, simply charging around after the ball will ultimately see you regain possession before the attacking team gets into an area whereby they can hurt you. Knocking a ball into the abandoned space would be a realistic tactic, but one the AI refuses to use. This would all relate to a more difficult game and more challenging defensive system. Do you leave the space at the risk of being caught out?
Playing on Top Player (there you go Dave O!) I have conceded 26 goals in around 100 matches. This is playing against a variety of teams ranging from top sides to less popular clubs, whilst in the same token I have scored around 200. This alone implies defending is still too easy, and whilst we all are asking for a more threatening, attacking opposing AI, a more realistic and difficult defending system would provide a genuine challenge and improvement in the gaming experience.
“It’s Genetic”
A very interesting point raised on the boards. At the time of writing my internet is actually disconnected, so I can not give credit by checking who said the exact quote, nor from which week it was from, but it ended up being something along the lines of “FIFA will always have Gameplay issues because of its genetic problem. The issues have plagued FIFA for years are still present in 2010, and will be in 2020.”
As I said, I can’t check the exact quote, but hopefully that gives you the idea of what is meant. Basically, FIFA, and indeed PES will always be burdened by the same issues. This takes it further to people who have been saying in the comments board for the past 18 months that PES is a dated game, and needs to be updated for the next generation. So my question is to you, what are these genetic disorders that make PES struggle nowadays?
The big two that seem to have come out are the animations and the AI. These are both things I can jump on board with. I mentioned the animations in my PES 2010 review being both dated and stale, and that Konami need to revamp all the old animations to keep up with some of the new ones that have been added. I personally love the Drogba heel flick that has been added to the game, but it looks very out of place with the before and after running movements. I will take a great deal of time to discuss animations in future weeks, and the AI is an issue that will be addressed at length too, but what, if any, other genetic issues are present in the current PES, that maybe were still giving you grief 5 years ago. Issues such as real player names have been since sorted out by Konami, and licensing, whilst still far from perfect, is getting better. The biggest genetic issues for me (other than the above) are the fact Konami constantly removes features, and that online is still not good enough. But I will leave the floor open to you guys, and we will hopefully look into it next week.
“Headstrong, I’ll Take You On”
Anyone who gets the link between this topic and its heading can have a pat on the back from me! Finally this week, I am going to just introduce a brand new concept to the world of football gaming, and indeed sports gaming. With people discussing old features such as the old one two systems in various PES and ISS games (which for the record, I pretty much despised) I looked back at a couple of my first posts in the PES Gaming forum (around 2003). One issue I spoke about was the way the ball was controlled by players and the way indeed players trapped the ball.
I am sure we have all been there. Playing PES, and the ball bobbles off your striker just before your about to pull the trigger. Of course, you blame the animated Defoe or Rooney; it’s not your fault it’s totally theirs. And you’d be right. There is no way of determining how your player controls the ball, and it comes down to a combination of body positioning, technical attributes, ball physics and seemingly in some cases, blind luck. In general, the better players do seem to control the ball with more consistency than say a Wolves centre back, but the ironic issue is that controlling the ball is pretty much out the gamer’s control.
This can be taken a step further to passing. When playing a first time pass on PES, it feels like the ball has travelled two motions as opposed to one. In other words, when passing the ball first time, it seems that your player has controlled the ball and generated the power for a new pass with the same accuracy all in one touch, something that in real football is far from the case, especially when angling a pass over a 90 degree angle. It is far too common in PES to play a ball into a CM from your CB, and have him play a first time pass to your striker whilst facing away from him, and it arrives with accuracy and quality.
At first, this may seem like an issue of centre midfield play, but it affects all styles of play. Having control over a high ball could be the difference between a target man choosing to flick the ball on or bring it down on his chest. It could be the difference in having your centre half control the high ball or hoof it into touch. It could be the difference between crossing the ball first time and taking that touch to ensure a more accurate delivery
My suggestion would be to use R2 or the right trigger as a button for controlling the ball, thus making ball control a conscious decision the gamer has to make. It is unique as no other sporting game offers this. In basketball games, players catch the ball automatically, in Cricket simulations, the fielders pick the ball up by themselves. But especially in a football game, the moment you receive the ball is the difference, and having control over how your touch is should be paramount. Imagine, as the ball travels towards your player, you press the shoulder button. Dependant on your timing, the ball may stick to your feet or bounce straight off you. The better players will have a greater margin for error, whereas the weaker player you are, the more accurate your timing will have to be. This means you will still be able to control the ball with Jody Craddock, but it is more likely he will miss-control a ball than Deco. The longer you hold the button down, the further you may knock the ball out your feet. Providing you get the initial press right, this may mean you can beat a defender with your first touch, or cushion a ball up for a volley, dependant on the height you receive it.
This would also bring hand balls back into the game. Miss-timing controlling a high ball would result in it either bouncing off your player, or your player using a hand to get the ball down. Again, it means the error is in your control, and again, there is a genuine risk reward method or choosing to control the ball as opposed to just putting your foot through it, or heading it away.
Of course, this would rely on a great detail of implementation, and ultimately would require an ultra responsive gaming system, but at the same time, it is a mode that would redefine football video gaming, and offer an entire new dimension to the way everyone plays the game. It would mean that skill and technique would have to be practised, and that even playing with Barcelona would require practise to ensure you controlled the ball before you went on a mazy run.
This is an issue I have a great deal upon, and have researched to quite sad levels, so if anyone has any questions about it, please get in touch. What I will say is I know there are gamers out there, the ones who cry for changes, may hate this idea, but it is this kind of thinking that is going to revolutionise gaming by physically thinking about the way we play the game. I am not saying this is the answer but it’s a start!
That’s your lot for this week. Slightly longer than planned but sometimes it just writes itself. Thank you as always for getting in touch, comments are always welcomed. interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the place to direct any e-mail to and if you have read anything you feel you can contribute to on PESGaming.com this week, please do not hesitate to get involved.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2010 News on Sat 06 Feb
2010
Looks like I couldn’t muster much enthusiasm from you guys about PES2010 last week, judging from the low number of comments left. Surely there are still people out there who do find some level of enjoyment from PES? I still consider PES2010 the best PES to date, as I stated with my review of it, and it’s surprising that there has been such a huge backlash against it.
Yes Konami have had a hard time adjusting to the demands of gamers for the current generation of machines, but I truly believe we’re on the verge of greatness with the next installation of the game. A while ago, I did say that in my estimation that PES would require two years to really deliver the total package to us. So this next edition of the game should reach the heights of popularity that the game has been famed for. Naturally I think we all are going to have a huge part to play in order to get the best out of the game.
I am yet to have a proper chat with Dan to organise our joint feedback initiative, including a new venture for us in communication with the masses – a chat room for us to get some banter going with fellow PES fans. We are aiming to try out a few new things on PESGaming.com to try to evolve how we operate. We think it would be a great idea to get a bit more interactive with people ahead of the key period later in the year when we are on the verge of the final release of the game. We’re still a good 5 odd months away from getting invitations to get an early taste of the latest installment of the game, so we’d like to have a decent set of communications tools established for then.
I recall reading a comment to an article a couple of weeks ago from “old enough to know better” who made a very intriguing point about perhaps PES needs to stop trying to deliver a game with so many sub games. It’s a very intriguing idea and it’s really made me think. Currently we have League modes, Cup modes, BAL mode, Master League and of course the online game.
I wonder how many modes of the game are still relevant to most gamers today. Do people play the standalone League modes?
Or the single player Cup modes? I know people have had moans about having offline multiplayer participation where players can take control of CPU teams. But the point is, could Konami shave off some features to help them spend more time on the core modes that interest us?
I think the online mode and Master League modes are the key modes of interest, as well as offline multiplayer modes.
But I haven’t mentioned the much missed training mode that used to be in the game, where you could hone your single player skills, as well as the now distant memory of the scenarios mode which provided hours of entertainment. There are so many facets of the game which can start arguments about what is missing from the game, that perhaps we need to consider talking to Konami to prioritise the modes that matter. I’d be interested in hearing from you guys which modes we think are no longer relevant and so could help to focus more attention on modes that do matter.
Finally I’d like to say a big thanks to everyone that has joined the PESGaming.com community on PES2010. I have been very busy for the last couple of months and have neglected arranging sessions for the members. I will however be shortly looking to arrange weekend sessions on the game. So please do join up the community if you can, as we would like to use the mode properly and see what improvements we can come up with.
Thanks for reading.
Dougiedonut
(dougiedonut@pesgaming.com)
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 02 Feb
2010
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. Before even begin this week, I would like to once again reiterate a pretty crucial point. Personally, I receive no reward, be it financial or any other kind, for writing and contributing to PESGaming.com. Some people seem to think that due to the number of sponsors on this site, I am rolling in the money, which is far from the truth. One of the reasons I can be so brazen and open about my views regarding PES is that I don’t have anyone to answer to, no pay packet to keep rolling and no perks for doing what I do. I simply do it for the love of the game. I know there are many other people out there who contribute to this site in a variety of forms in exactly the same boat, and therefore understand the reason I do it for free, but if PESGaming.com is making money off sponsors or on site adverts, I am not seeing a single penny of it, and the powers that be have it. As I said, I do this site for enjoyment, and nothing more. If you like my posts, or have something to say about something you have read, you get involved for free too; I believe this is how a fan based community should work! Hopefully, that clears up some of the confusion out there. With that said, lets crack on with this week’s Interfering With Play.
“Sometimes, I Feel, Your Not, Listening”
Some absolutely amazing posts over the past seven days, pretty much outlining everything I have been looking to discuss over the next few months. I don’t really tend to mention just how good some of the ideas are by people on this site, but there are some genuinely impressive and implement able ideas in there, it is just making sure that these are the ones Konami hear, amidst all the moaning, criticism and backwards thinking by people. However, I do believe there is one issue that is the real road block between us, as a community site, and directly influencing the majority of aspects of the PES franchise.
I am not an expect in Japanese business, but I believe that the culture in the Eastern business world tends to rely less on market research of Westerners, and more on their own personal whims, almost turning certain companies into inward thinking shells. What I basically mean by this, is that Japanese companies in general seem to not want to take on board advice from their fans, and no more is this the case than with Konami. The European representative from Konami is a genuinely good guy, and our contact has always been excellent with us, yet you feel that the powers that be, above his head sometimes don’t take these suggestions as seriously as they should do, which is ridiculous when you take into account some of the more popular ideas that have been implemented into the franchise have been spoken about on this site for years. Custom play lists, multiple chants, upload able images for edit mode, downloadable boot packs, transfer updates and even features such as Community Mode and Become A Legend were all discussed on this site months or even years prior to Konami including them in PES, and pretty much all have been met with praise and appreciation.
When I discuss this particular aspect, I look more to features than game play itself, an issue that will be discussed in great deal over future weeks, but features such as a training camp, scenario modes, indoor or 7 a side games and custom managers, refs and stadiums would all be easily implement able into the existing system, and yet add a new dimension to the game. Yet for the past few years, the Japanese business culture has seen ignorance at times stand in the way of progress.
I can not stress enough that this is not because of myself or Double D, or the EU side of Konami’s PR, who are always improving and looking for new ways to get involved, but it is the culture of Konami itself, and unless a culture evolves, it ultimately dies out. Konami have a huge opportunity here to get ahead of the game, hit the Western world for feedback and actually use it. I just genuinely hope they do this time.
“Here’s, My, Bright, Idea”
So following the excellent feedback mentioned above, I have decided to employ the following tactic. Each fortnight, I will open a new topic for debate, ranging from AI to Graphics to Features to the dreaded Online, and leave you guys to rule the roost on that topic. I will also include a chat room which myself and Double D will regularly attend over the course of a week, to get your ideas ‘face to face’ in real time. This chat room will appear, all being well, on the regular site as if it were a post, and have opening times whereby you can meet and chat with other PES gamers.
By doing this, I hope to achieve a couple of things. Firstly, by speaking to myself or Double D directly, we can get the exact issue you are trying to raise, and not miss out on anything. It will also act as an opportunity to bounce ideas off other PES fans, and maybe pick up on something you have missed or overlooked. The opportunity to comment and e-mail will still be there, but by adding a third option, it may appeal to those people who like a slightly more human touch! The first topic will be announced later this week!
“The Real Thing”
The final one from me this week and one that has been building up for a while. Following a couple of excellent posts by regular contributor ‘Amateur’ I have been asking myself a little more about how realistic does football gaming need to be, and more importantly, how more realistic is it going to get. I may use a couple of quotes in the following topic, and I apologies for not sourcing the original contributors, however I feel it is better to just let this piece flow a little bit more. I am also going to discuss the topic regarding the PS3, X Box 360 and PC generation, and not look into the future of 3D gaming or motion sensing that may occur in years to come.
It has been a claim by some that FIFA 10 is a more realistic gaming offering that PES, a statement I am less than convinced by. On one hand, I have logged some hours on FIFA 10 and therefore can quote that in my opinion, FIFA plays more like a video game and less like a game of football, yet I have not played for the same number of hours as I have on PES, so my judgement can only by my own an not a recommendation. However, for me, it is important that football gaming still maintains an aspect of exactly that, and that the game can offer a variety of challenges and doesn’t become predictable or boring. If we take away the aspect of difficulty levels for a second, the idea of a perfect football game would seem the AI play the game using different styles in relation to the team it is controlling. PES currently sees the AI play a lot of nice attacking football passing in the middle third, but no real penetration in and around the penalty box. This is very realistic when your playing Arsenal or Chelsea, but when Bolton are keeping the ball for minute long spells at a time, you have to question the realism. Playing styles are definitely a must if we are going to talk about realism.
A second issue regards time. I know people have said that games should last longer, maybe have a minimum of 10 minutes per half, but simply this is an option that is going to isolate as many gamers as it will draw in. I know for a fact there are gamers out there that will end up playing less games of PES, simply because they haven’t the time. By the same token, simply adding to the match duration alone won’t alter the way the AI or a gamer will play, and that the option for longer or shorter matches shouldn’t play too much of a deal on the game itself. However, if you alter the physical game speed of the players, and the actual size of the pitches, then you may start to have a situation whereby a longer time frame would actually be required, as to travel with the ball.
A third issue would be the ball physics. In my opinion, PES had the best ball physics for years, going back to the Playstation one days of random deflections and spin. However, since its inception onto PS3 and 360, the physics do seem to have suffered some what, particularly when it comes to dribbling and in block tackle situations. It is crucial to remember that the ball in the most important part of football, and that Konami or whoever should be focussing on making that roll, bounce and look as realistic as possible, and definitely not be as oversized as the FIFA in game ball.
But my biggest issue of all is how the gamer is made to experience when playing a football game. In the past, we have had complaints the game is ‘cheating’ or becoming ‘unbeatable’ at certain points. However, this is something that needs to be examined more closely. Gamers may have to start getting used to spending long periods of a game defending as opposed to always attacking, and here in lies the key to creating realism. I have asked before, but how many times do you sit back and let your opponents attack you when playing PES? Or how many times do you just smash the ball anywhere when defending? Most people I know who play the game will always try to dribble the ball or pass the ball out of defence. Most will start pressing as soon as they lose the ball, and the only goals they concede are when they have simply ran out of players to press with.
This is not me being over the top, as I am guilty of it too. I rarely hit the ball long when defending to allow my team to regroup, and I rarely lose possession in my own box when being defending by simply passing it around. To increase realism, attacking teams need to make sure that if you give them half a chance, they make you pay. The risk vs. reward ratio of messing around in your own area needs to be much greater, and you would be much wiser just to hook the ball clear, put it out for a throw in and allow yourselves to regroup. This can be taken further to give away free kicks to slow down the play, or even pick up tactical yellow cards.
To improve the realism of PES, defending has to become as equal a part of the game as attacking, and not just something you do in-between attacks. It was said recently that football is like a game of chess. If you’re watching a top side working the play from one side to another, this is a statement I can agree with. The tactical movements of playing in and out, diagonal and square to create space. However, in realism, most football teams play a direct style of the game. They look for their target players early and build attacks from there. They try and win free kicks and hit the ball into the area. It’s kind of like throwing all your chess pieces at the king, and is as much a part of football as the slick passing game. And irrelevant of whether you’re a smooth passing team or a dogged long ball mechanical team, you all have to spend periods of a game defending, and therefore have to clear your lines to wait for the next attack.
That’s my two penny’s worth on the issue. If we talk about improving realism of PES, before we look at ways of improving the passing system or even new tricks and turns, the issue to address is making the game a more defensive one first of all. I don’t want to be playing out a 0-0 draw every match, but if I am Burnley and I get a 0-0 against Liverpool, I want to feel like I have earned it, not that I have just not managed to score myself following tens of shots on goal. I hope what I am trying to say makes sense, because as soon as you establish a solid defensive base, you can start looking forward to playing different styles, be that having a deep sitting playmaker who comes off the defence to receive the ball, or a centre forward who plays as an out and out target man, or overlapping full backs who provide width to a narrow midfield. Your views on this issue would be greatly appreciated, as at the moment, the defensive part of the game is far too mechanical and one route, which makes the realism levels drop.
That’s your lot for this week. A fair bit to mull over and I haven’t even mentioned my crushing cup semi-final defeat to Liverpool. interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the place to direct your e-mails to, or just leave a comment as so many people have been doing over the past few weeks. The suggestions from previous PES’ have been logged, and will make interesting reading in future weeks when it comes to compiling some sort of list. And if Konami are reading this and want to take a punt, I have no problems flying first class to Japan and working on some ideas to make PES 2011 the best ever!
Thanks for Reading
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2010 News on Sat 30 Jan
2010
There were some great tips from you guys for getting that little bit extra from the sliders and formations to counter teams, so a big thanks to the contributors for that.
As you guys are aware we will be driving our next PES improvements initiative shortly, but this week I’d like to focus on what we still enjoy about the series. Yes we all have various issues with the game, and the next few months will be testimony to that, but for now, how about we celebrate what we enjoy about the game?
What better way to start that off, than with me just going over why PES is still the game for me.
Firstly I’d like to point out that I have played FIFA 2010, and I am still considering doing a comparison of the two games at a later date. In order for me to objectively do this, I would have to play FIFA for a considerable length of time in order to give a balanced review. There’s no point me spending only a couple of hours on it, and then comparing it to PES. That said, I haven’t been able to muster much in the way of energy to actually play FIFA.
Going off on a slight tangent, I’ve recently lent both FIFA and PES to a good friend, as he has been out of touch with both games, and I have to say it’s been tough going whilst I didn’t have PES2010 available to play. I am planning on getting feedback from my friend on what he thinks of both games, but that will be later, once I do my own comparison. Anyway, now that I have PES back, I’m really enjoying my football fixes!
I don’t want to go into any of the issues I have with the game, so for those of you who will be wondering why I’m wearing rose tinted specs, it’s purely to savour what is great about PES - the time for moaning is coming up soon!
So then, what is it about PES2010 that has me coming back for more?
Primarily I have to say that I am really really enjoying the new Master League game. It has me hooked big time. My current team has been languishing in the Second Division for just over 3 seasons. The first three seasons were spent rebuilding my team. I used one of the default generic teams (Team B with average stat players) and have been spending time on getting in players that are out of contract, as well as to bring through some youth players. The first two seasons were tough, as we couldn’t really match the better teams in the division, but then I have also been fielding weaker sides in some games if I came close to the top three, as I didn’t want to be promoted without winning the league. This of course gets me into trouble with some board members and fans (yeah – this bit is in my head, there’s nothing anyone can do about it!), as they lose faith in me, but thankfully the club owner has faith in me. The tail end of season 2 and most of season 3 I have been leaving match day to the coach. This hasn’t gone down well with the fans since they expect the manager to be there on match day. It’s a radical approach to building for the future which I hope will pay off. I have been spent with me concentrating on wheeling and dealing players – where I’m trying to get the kids off on loan to other clubs to butch up, and try to chase better freebie players.
My budgets are low, and money is scarce, so there’s no big name players in my team. But I have promised the fans and the club that Season 4 we will be crowned as Champions. I’ve now fully taken over match day games, and currently have a settled side, with far too many fringe players sat doing nothing. I’ve got to trim the club’s wage bill, and deliver the league this current season.
At the end of the previous season we finished third from bottom. Over the summer transfer window I only managed to get in a couple of wide players. So overall it’s the same squad being used for Season 4. So far we’re top of the league with stats: P9 W6 D1 L2
Slowly the fans are beginning to believe, and if we can maintain our momemtum this will be a fanstastic season that no-one at the club will forget.
That in a nutshell describes why PES2010 does it for me. I have many obstacles to overcome, players to keep happy, games to win, and a league to deliver. The pressure is mounting, and I’ve got a long tough season ahead which I’m sure will have me elated and pulling my hair out in equal measures.
One of the best things about the Master League is that you can just get “sacked”, and start all over again in Division 2 trying to get back into the elite of the footballing world.
Right, it’s over to you guys to share your where your passions with PES2010 are.
Thanks for reading
Dougiedonut
(dougiedonut@pesgaming.com)
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 26 Jan
2010
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. When writing a weekly column like this, on a subject as specific as football gaming, it is sometimes quite tricky to find talking points or things to discuss, especially at this time of year. Fortunately, due to the sheer involvement of the community over the past seven days, I am actually cutting down topics and trying to prioritise which points would be best discussed this week and which would be best lest for future instalments. Hopefully I have got the balance right this week, but it is testament, once again, to the devoted and committed PESGaming.com community, whose passion for this franchise is exceptional. Instead of me babbling on any further with this introduction, let’s crack on with the week’s hectic Interfering With Play.
“It’s Nothing Personal”
To start this week, I will open in direct response to a comment made in last week’s IWP by regular contributor, MagicaRoma His comment can be viewed by all in the comments section of last week’s IWP, but for those who missed it, the topic was basically my lack of discussion regarding FIFA 10 this year, and how I had not posted reviews for PES 2010 and FIFA 10. I am not the kind of person to take such a well constructed and honest comment personally, and his main question was whether or not I actually preferred FIFA over PES this year, and that I was keeping it quiet because of that.
I can categorically assure you that I am 100% a Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 fan. Whilst the FIFA franchise has vastly improved since its PS3 inception, I don’t feel the progress made between 09 and 10 was all that great, and I found myself being bored after a single game on FIFA 10. It is not a bad game, and nor is that my official review of the title, but in my personal opinion, PES is a more enjoyable experience on near enough every level. Many people have claimed that if I spent enough time with FIFA, I would grow to appreciate it more than PES, but on that philosophy alone, I would end up preferring Dr. Pepper ahead of Coca Cola, or Five Live instead of Radio One. At the same time, if I genuinely enjoyed FIFA 10, my brand loyalty wouldn’t matter two bits. I spend my time working throughout the day, when I come home I want an enjoyable gaming experience, and would not suffer playing a game I genuinely didn’t enjoy just because it was made by Konami, or because I had an affiliation to this site.
PES still needs some work, I don’t think the most die hard of fans could deny that. For me, it is still the best football game currently available to play, matching the balance of enjoyment and realism very well indeed. The claims of half finished, broken or simply unplayable are a little far fetched by some community members, and for the minority who don’t find either FIFA or PES enjoyable, the solution is simply play neither. I am still surprised to see FIFA fans turning up on this site, people who play FIFA commenting on PES and even PES fans who have since turned to FIFA returning here to add their views. Maybe this is because the FIFA community isn’t as strong as this one, or maybe it is because you believe Konami have come closer than EA Sports to making that perfect football title in the past. From my point of view though, PES is still closer to the perfect end result, the Holy Grail if you will, of football gaming, and I believe that is why this site, and the franchise in general is still going strong.
In response to the review situation, I did actually pen a review for PES 2010, which was posted on this site just prior to the games release. If anyone would like a copy, I have no problem e-mailing it through to them if they get in contact via e-mail. I received my review copy of FIFA 10 in November, and after playing the game for a few hours over the course of a week, I ended up in the situation of the Yellow Light Of Death on my PS3, a problem which took near enough 3 weeks to resurrect. Upon getting the new PS3, FIFA 10 was two months old, had many reviews already out there and I simply had other issues to concentrate on leading up to Christmas. The review fell down the list of priorities, and although the game falls into the ‘played once a week to see if I am missing anything’ category, I honestly don’t think I could write an in depth review of FIFA 10 at this time and say anything that hasn’t already been said. Hopefully, that answers any questions, and if you have any further MagicaRoma, or anyone for that matter, my e-mail is at the bottom of the article.
“Screaming Infidelities”
To keep you guys informed regarding the PES 2010 crashing issues on PS3, I have actually had some pretty good conversations with Konami, having them take on board the issue and ‘pass it on to the right people’. As a community site, it is steps like this that hopefully make it all worth while, and whilst there are very few other PES sites even discussing the crashing issue, we are more than open to get it out there and hopefully put the problem to bed. I appreciate the comments made about playing the game disconnected from the internet (again, a measure we really shouldn’t be having to do) but both times I have had my modem switched off, the game crashed first time up. Maybe I was unlucky, and my game never seems to crash at Anfield or Old Trafford, which I know people have had their game crash at.
The question Konami have asked me, which I will relay on to you guys, is which Firmware are you running on your PS3? I am using the latest update version, and you can check this by going to system information on the X Media Bar of your PS3 Home Screen. Basically, Konami need to recreate the exact issues we are experiencing in order to solve the problem, so any information I can pass on to them will further help the case. Yes, it is glorified testing for Konami, but I want to be part of the solution, and should the crashing end up being eradicated, I will know that PESGaming.com have played some part in sorting it out.
“It’s Getting Hot In Here”
So, for most of you, this is the whole chase now. I have cut out two or three smaller points to allow for the big issue, and that is how to improve PES for the future, how to help play our part in history, and in doing so have the ultimate football gaming experience. Yes, we have been burned before, and yes, some people will refuse to offer their views and opinions, but I am open for one more try. One more year of seeing if we can have it all. All the old features back, all the new features in, the AI, the animation and game modes. A working online system that actually makes the game universally playable online. A Master League mode that sticks to its roots but at the same time offers a new challenge to rival the early years. An edit mode that allows the game to look more realistic than an episode of Match Of The Day. I am willing to lead the campaign along with Double D, and the road to October starts here and now!
The idea I would like to try and follow is to dedicate a couple of weeks to each specific topic, as to not mistreat any issue or end up going over old ground. Last week, I mentioned about features that have been removed from previous versions of PES, and would be welcomed with open arms back into future versions. The lists people provided ranged from the absurd to the blatantly obvious, and I will leave this topic open another week before we move onto the next issue. I feel by going through the features with a tooth comb and noticing what Konami did well on previous games can really lead the way forward over the coming months, and also give us a base for a list of improvements.
Some of the issues coming out of the previous weeks posts, and ones that will be included in future lists are
• More stadiums – The PS2 version still boasts a high 30, whereas PS3 and 360 are stuck with 22
• Scenario Mode – Made famous in the ISS series on N64, it gives an alternative way of earning trophies/achievement points and a short fix challenge.
• PES Shop – A way of unlocking a variety of novelty and unique items as and when required, and rewarded gamers for playing exhibition matches as well as competitions.
• Training Mode Challenges – Similar to scenario mode, a bit of light fun to take away from playing matches and test your skills
• All Star teams / Random teams – A way of playing against Human players with a level playing field, selecting a random team of players (PES6).
• Attendances – The ability for the stands to be empty or full, relating to the atmosphere.
• Goalkeeper Control – The ability to roll or throw the ball out instantly, in a wide range of directions and at different levels of power.
If your feature isn’t on there, it has not been ignored, but simply wasn’t as supported on the e-mail or comments. Other features will be added to the list next week, so if there are things that used to feature on PES that currently don’t make sure you let me know about them so I can include them.
One feature that I don’t understand was button sensitive passing. It has been to my knowledge that in PES, the longer you hold the pass button down, the stronger the pass, but also the longer it takes to hit the pass. For example, if I was Gallas for Arsenal, a short tap of the Pass button would play the ball to Vermarlen. However, if I hold the pass button down longer, the ball would by pass the Belgium and go to Clichy, this has always been the case for me, and I wonder what people exactly mean by the button sensitive passing. The same can be said for the loft through ball. If my CB has the ball, a quick lofted through ball is absolutely useless, but by holding down the shoulder and threw ball buttons, I can lift the ball over the opponents defence for a striker to run on to. Maybe I am missing something, but this is surely the same thing people are asking for.
That’s your lot for this week. The return of Amateur to the community will no doubt start off a few more talking points over the next seven days, and I may even have a Second Phase column coming out in the week to address an issue raised by him in last week’s IWP. However, for now at least, I will leave you with what you have. Please get in touch with your ideas for features from previous PES / ISS you would like to see included in future PES. Bullet point lists make them easier to manage and review over at a rush, but I do read every comment, so follow your own style. interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the place to get all your e-mail through to me. I read it all and reply to as much as my time allows me to. Finally, don’t apologise for writing long posts. If they are well constructed and valid they will be exactly as long as the need to be! If they are offensive dross, or simply pointless and off topic, that is when they become too long.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2010 News on Sat 23 Jan
2010
Whilst last week’s article was somewhat at a tangent to all things PES, I still feel the core point of the article was about AI in the single player game. I think that my mindset is one that is now trying to look ahead a few years at the future direction of gaming.
Single player games were once the only way to play games. Splitscreen playing then opened up the first real avenue into multiplayer gaming (excusing the types of games where more than one player can play on a single screen – football games being an obvious example). These days more and more games have a single player game tagged on to the real meat of the game – the multiplayer game. As less focus is given to single player games, the amount of effort put into AI routines are reduced, since people will be playing against other people for the real challenge of the game.
Of course football games are still very much reliant on the AI routines they employ. PES 2008 introduced Konami’s new AI system – Teamvision. This was a big step up in trying to improve the AI for the game. There are many people who didn’t take to it, but I have to say I applaud the idea. Yes people worked out how to beat the new system in no time at all, but Konami have been refining it since, and I think it’s getting there. AI for PES is not a simple process. We now have the sliders to help us create our own style of play, which is a fantastic move forward. The AI routines are now configurable, and therefore giving us more options to how we play the game.
One of the biggest challenges to the game is how to realise your own personal style of game. There are millions of people who play the game, and not everyone plays it the same way. There are people who can do amazing things with some teams, which other people would have no idea how to do. To give us this ability is something that marks the progress that the AI is making.
How many people actually have tried to experiment with the sliders? I have a feeling it is a side to the game that not too many people have tried to meddle with that much. One problem with it is that it is not conveniently accessible. Being hidden in a sub menu means that you’re more inclined to leave it, rather than seek it out to experiment with your team.
But, nevertheless, there must be people out there that are using it to great effect, which I think we would all like to hear about. So if you’re a slider-meister, then please leave comments with some tips and tricks for us lesser gaming mortals.
Getting back to the AI in the game, do we have any ideas of the direction we’d like to see gaming AI go for PES? Are you happy for Konami to work alone on how the game should play, or do you think we should have more input on the AI? If so, then what sort of ideas do we have? I can remember a football game on the Sega MegaDrive, the name escapes me – though it could have been called Total Football, which had a phenomenal system which allowed you to decide on where players should be on the pitch at any one time. The pitch was split up into 9 sections. You could define where players should be whenever the ball was in any of these sections. I don’t recall how well the system worked, but the idea was very original, and worthy of mention I feel.
The reason why I was talking about single player games last week, was to try to highlight a general trend in gaming to let us create the challenge for ourselves in games. Instead of gaming companies trying to come up with more and more creative enemy AI in games for us, they now create a virtual world where we can decide how we play. Most multiplayer games these days have a few basic modes and stop at that. There aren’t very many games that go beyond the usual MP modes.
Football games are a different kettle of fish, unless we’re talking about playing 10 v 10 online. Now I don’t want to get into an argument about the online system, but I think it’s fair to say that most gamers would settle for a maximum of 4 v 4 with PES.
Yes there could be other online modes – like Dan’s personal dream of getting a 5 a-side or 7 a-side games, but given the current state of play, these proposed modes are a little ambitious, shall we say? So even if we stick to trying to get 4 a-side games, we will still have to reply on AI for non-human controlled team-mates and opposition. Are current non-human controlled players acceptable? Do we have people who have manipulated the sliders to give optimal control over these players in games?
Personally I think the area is probably due some potentially radical re-thinking. I don’t have handy ideas off the top of my head right now, but I’d like to throw the floor open to you guys for discussion. Not only that, but I would like to invite anyone out there to take centre-stage with possibly next week’s column space with your ideas. If you’d like that, please email me at my usual address.
As Dan as already mentioned this week, we’re going to be kicking off our official feedback sessions shortly. My personal crusade is to bring the online system up to scratch. I think a total revamp of the whole online system is required. With resolutions to the online issues encountered to the whole interface and modes of play. I would like to start an initiative whereby we could design screenshots and menu options of the proposed new solution to put forward to Konami. If anyone would like to help me build these, then please email me and let’s get talking.
For those of you who didn’t think last week’s article was relevant to PES, I hope I’ve redressed the balance for you.
It’s just a shame some people aren’t able to make their comments known in a polite respectful manner. It doesn’t cost anything, and can actually make for a better world – real and virtual.
Thanks for reading.
Dougiedonut
(dougiedonut@pesgaming.com)
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 19 Jan
2010
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. Another busy week in the PESGaming.com planning stage, with a handful of new ideas and features coming out of the recent meeting between myself and Double D. This week sees the start of our look to the future of PES, by actually going back in time. The first point of this week’s Interfering With Play will address this. I am also going to look at a couple of the issues that have been once again raised by you guys in the comments section. A quick thank you must go out to the couple of people that have already got in touch with me regarding their own personal ‘Master League Magic’, the next instalment of which is just a couple of days away. For more information on this new feature, scroll down past PES Matters and check it out. With that said, lets move on with this week’s Interfering With Play.
“Where Have You Been?”
As promised, here lies the start of the future. Over the next few months, the PESGaming team are going to gaining ideas and asking for the views of the community to be passed on to Konami, regarding PES 2011. Whilst PES 2010 has only been out just over three months, we believe that by getting our points out there early, we can genuinely affect the development stage of the future PES. Personally, I have been burned by Konami in the past, but having actually spoken to them first hand, I have renewed faith in that we, as a group can actually make a difference, and furthermore, I look at some implementations in previous versions that were exactly what was requested. Things such as genuine music play lists, the ability to import multiple chants per team, expanded editing capabilities and downloadable boot packs are all things that were discussed on this site 18 months ago, and whilst they may fall into the coincidence category, the power of community should not be underestimated.
This year, however, I have decided to go with no letter or formal request statement, but instead put together a list based on a number of events that we will hold, to determine priority features as well as new additions. This will allow us to get a feel for not only what the majority of the community want to see, but perhaps as importantly which features are only desired by a handful of people, and would not be seen as a big issue in the overall picture, especially by a company such as Konami.
So where to start? The obvious grumbles about online modes, enhanced controls and animations will definitely come, but to start off, I want to take a trip back down the line. As mentioned before, people all have their favourite PES, and in some cases these even go back to the days when ISS was still tagged on the front. In all of these game modes, there were features, some big and some small, that have seemingly vanished from the modern version of the game. This can be something as simple as the fact shirt pulling has been removed from PES 2010, after being present in the 2009 version, to something greater, like the PES Shop or Penalty Shoot Out mode, both firm favourites from PES gone by. Instead of me carrying on and firing off a 20 or 30 strong list, I open the floor to the PESGaming.com community, and ask what features you want to see from previous PES gamers in the next and future instalments.
Originally, I was going to try and limit this point to simply the older PS2 versions of the game, but I think it is important we look back at the ISS franchise on the N64 too. These games had some very enjoyable ideas ranging from Scenario mode to Story mode, and whilst they lacked club teams and were produced by a different developer under Konami’s wing, they were still top football titles produced under the Japanese company.
So the topic is open for debate. I am looking for features that do not feature on the next generation version of PES 2010 (PS3, 360 and PC versions) that you would like to see, which have been removed from previous instalments of the game. You can get in touch via e-mail, which is included below, or comment on the article in the usual way. The best and most popular suggestions will be discussed further in next week’s IWP.
“She Loves Me Snot”
Bit more of a trivial topic, but one that I find exceptionally interesting. Over previous versions of PES, I have always found myself to have bogey team, a side that always seems to get a result against me when being controlled by the AI. Back in the olden days, this used to be Cameroon, and then throughout the PS2 years, Fiorentina did me over more times that not. In fact, I would go onto to say that when Nuno Gomes played for Fiorentina, I would be guaranteed a tough time, and usually end up being eliminated in a cup competition by his head or right boot. At the moment on PES 2010, I haven’t found my bogey team, and the past couple of years, there hasn’t been one side that have stood out to cause me problems.
So I ask, is there a side out there that cause you constant problems on PES 2010? Of course, I would rather they not be a Real Madrid or Barcelona, I have enough of playing against them online, but a side from either Other Teams A or a less fashionable side from one of the leagues that always seem to give you a heck of a battle. I expect that certain players struggle against different sides, but just to get a feel if there are one or two notoriously tricky matches available if I am ever in the mood for a quick challenge. Get in touch in the usual way.
“League Time”
Just a quick one regarding the IWP League, the planning is pretty much over now. In the next 2 weeks, you will receive an e-mail with someone else’s PSN id on. You need to add this person and play a match against them online. The rules to the match will be included in the e-mail. At the end of the match, both parties will need to include the match score, and answer a couple of questions about their opponent’s ability and connection status. This will allow me to better judge the quality of the league as well as pick up the better connections. It will also let me judge which gamers can follow the rules correctly and deal with e-mail correspondence. At the current time, the league looks to start in April and run for 2 months. If you are unable to take part in the league for any reason, please respond to the upcoming e-mail so an alternative arrangement can be made for your opponent. If you have any questions regarding the IWP League, please feel free to e-mail me on the usual address, as I do not respond to comments discussing the league.
“Never Gonna Get It Right”
I had to smile at some of the comments from last week. People going absolutely off their rocker that I failed to mention the crashing issue. The same crashing issue that has had nearly a thousand words dedicated to it in the previous three Interfering With Play columns. The same crashing issue that I have been dealing with e-mails about for the past month. I can only assume that these people do not read IWP on a regular basis, and therefore I will give you an update on the situation.
For the past few weeks, I have left the door open to people to get in touch if they experience PES 2010 crashing during the tunnel sequence. When the camera pans down the starting line up, the game freezes and a hard rest is required to sort it out. The issue only occurs on the PS3 version of the game, and in my experience only occurs at certain stadiums. The simple way to avoid the crash all together is to press the start button straight away, skipping the tunnel sequence and pre-match screen, something which insures you will not have a crash occur during a Master League match or online game.
However, this is 2010, and this is obviously not acceptable that a game periodically crashes. I for one enjoy watching the tunnel scene, as it provides a build up to larger games. Therefore, I asked people to get in touch if they experienced it, of which there was a huge number, in fact I would go to say that most people who regularly communicate with me either via messenger or e-mail said they have had it occur to them. I have since been given a number of different suggestions as how to stop this happening. Some claim a custom play list causes the crashing, other claim using an edited option file. Some even say that playing with your PS3 disconnected from the Internet will solve the problem. All of these are false, as I have experienced the crash despite following these rules. An e-mail has been sent to Konami this week informing them of the problem, and its unknown causes, which is where our part in the journey ends. If Konami address this issue with a patch in the future, it is both proof the system works and that Konami take this site seriously. Any other response will no doubt draw negative criticism towards the company, which may I say is fully justified.
I would finally like to point out that we are the only PES site (to my knowledge) that have addressed the crash on their home page in any way shape or form, at that any relationship we currently have or will have in the future will no way affect my own personal honesty towards PES or surrounding issues. The day that PESGaming is being constantly edited by Konami is the day that IWP is finished, of that I assure you.
“Look At The Stars”
Pretty cheesy tag line, but my final point this week simply asks the question that will hopefully lead into next week’s column, how many yellow cards on average do u receive a match. If this is easier to work out by simply going to your stats page and checking your games played and yellow cards received, that’s fine and I will do the math. The more people who get in touch with this number, the better, as it will hopefully lead to helping make the referring more accurate in future PES games.
That’s your lot for this week. A great deal to mull over there, and a heck of a lot for you guys to get involved about. Please let me know your favourite features from old versions of PES that you would like to see returned, and furthermore if anyone has a sure fire way to beat the crash! interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the place to direct any messages straight to me, and whilst I do read the comments, I obviously have no way of responding directly to them.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by dougiedonut in PES Matters on Sat 16 Jan
2010
I’d like to start with my first post of the new year by wishing everyone a happy new year. We enter a new decade, and with new hopes and challenges, especially with PES.
This week I would like to discuss a topic which whilst initially may not seem particularly relevant to PES, will hopefully come together. Recently I’ve seen a few single player games in the gaming mainstream which around 3 to 5 years ago I would have snapped up without a shadow of a doubt. But these days I find myself hesitating to do so. No I’m not tiring of gaming, or getting that deadly disease called “growing up”, but just find myself questioning the validity of single player games these days.
One of the games I am hesitating to get is the new Batman Arkham Asylum game. It has been getting rave reviews on metacritic, (http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/batmanarkhamasylum) but I haven’t bought it because of the challenge factor in the game. What I mean is that playing against AI is not challenging for many people any more. Plus add in the factor that thanks to the likes of Nintendo we now have a new demographic for games – casual gamers, because of whom, games are dumbed down for everyone.
Because these people can’t handle proper games, everyone suffers if you ask me. Games are shorter and easier – even on the harder settings, which I’m sure many of you out there can testify to. Batman’s detective element for me summarises exactly what is wrong. Everything is laid out on a plate for you. Where to go and what to do. Where’s the intellectual challenge exactly?
Uncharted was another game which dissappointed because of the monotonous theme to the game. Endless mindless enemies, although to be fair, they at least ducked and dodged and threw grenades at you if you stay in a stationary position during battles. We need only look at one of the worst offenders for me – the COD series – particularly since COD4. Completely moronic enemies that just charge at you. Proper cannon fodder. Then consider the length of the single player game. Shockingly short and very very much on rails. No room for developing a sense of achievement in how you complete objectives. No options on how or what to do, just follow the arrow for idiots and keep shooting. Job done. (Uncharted 2 is another game I’m considering but hesitating to get)
Maybe I am getting older, but is that all there is to games now? Can some of you older gamers remember a game called Deus Ex on the PC from around 10 years ago? For me it is still the single most complete single player game ever. I can’t remember how many hours I put into it. There were various objectives in the game, from which you could pick the ones that you wanted to develop. You could also enhance your character with a skills base that you chose, and made moral decisions at strategic points to enhance your experience. With several different game endings thrown in, the play time for the game is really massive.
I’m going to go off on a quick tangent, but please bear with me – I think it’s worth it! In Deus Ex, you can take drugs and drink beers too. During the story I went into a bar, ignored the barmen and got plastered on beers. When you do this, the effects in the game made your character’s head (it’s played in FPS mode) whirl round and round, and the colours on screen went funny. It actually made you feel physically nauseous, and when you tried to walk, you would stammer around! I then pulled out a bazooka I was carrying and wielded it, to the horror of the people in the bar! They were screaming and running everywhere. I couldn’t shoot straight and so was letting off random shots. It was fantastic, but indicative of an experience which I still don’t think can be matched today.
Can anyone name a game that even sounds remotely as feature rich as Deus Ex today? That is my point!
What has this got to do with PES I hear some of you ask? Well a fundamental gripe people have with the game is that the AI is not challenging enough. Which is a fair criticism to have I believe. But to be fair, we really need to consider just what was possible with football games 10/15 years ago, and what is possible now. 10/15 years ago, we accepted that we couldn’t expect there to be many different ways the AI could be programmed to challenge us. We had to accept that a basic formula was used with some tricks to help the AI get almost undefendable goals against you, to try to help create the challenge.
Nowadays we are tired of the formula and want the AI to interpret how we play and what we do, and to work out how to stop us. Sorry if this is ignorant, but isn’t that incredibly hard to do? We’re pretty much asking for human levels of interpretation of dynamic playing situations to give us the challenge we crave in single player games!
So back to my original question – are single player games relevant any more?
I remember a few years ago, I only ever played PES games in single player modes. I hardly ever played against human opponents. When I would play against friends, the game changed considerably.
A good friend of mine would always have the upper edge during games because he knew how to play against humans more than me. I would play the game as though I was taking on AI, and the difference was there to see.
So where am I going with this question? Well, I’m certainly not advocating we lose the single player game that’s for sure, but wondering whether we need to see a new direction in how AI plays against us. I don’t know how much it has changed on the current generation of games. I personally find how AI plays very robotic (in both major footy titles for the record), and not enjoyable really. Would people say they would like to see changes in how AI fundamentally challenges us? With increased computing power, surely rethinking the whole apprach is worth thinking about?
Thanks for reading.
Dougiedonut
(dougiedonut@pesgaming.com)
Posted by Dan Bolas in Master League Magic on Thu 14 Jan
2010
PES Fans are a nostalgic bunch in general. I don’t think there is a week goes by whereby someone doesn’t mention a previous version of the game without throwing it a compliment. Whilst everyone no doubt has their favourite game from the archives, the one feature that has been around throughout the last decade, and arguable the USP of the Pro Evolution Soccer franchise is the Master League.
In fact, the Master League started way back in 1999, meaning that for the past decade, people have been building up their teams, selling on their stars and conquering the virtual football world. As a result, the game mode has at times felt dated and is still searching for that overhaul that made the football gaming community stand up and take note at the end of the 20th century.
The purpose of this feature is to capture some of the stories, the events and the magic moments of the PESGaming.com’s communties Master League experiences. This could be anything from a young signing who went on to be the world superstar after a shakey start with your club, or the journeyman midfielder who went on a 6 game goal streak to carry your team to the title. The stories are up to you, and whilst I have a fair few of my own, I would rather be publishing your features and tales from the past 10 years of the Master League.
The rules are simple, send your story, which can be no less than 250 words but no more than 500, to interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk. Make sure to include your name (either real name, screen name or both), your location (city and country) and which version of PES you are talking about. Other details such as you age, console and any other information can be included if you so wish. Try and make you story enjoyable to read, as I will do very little editing to them unless necessary. This feature will run for around two months, until the start of the Interfering With Play League, and will act as an alternative to the focus this site will be putting on PES 2011 over the next few months. Get your stories penned, and to get the ball rolling…
Dan Bolas, Wolverhampton, England.
Pro Evolution Soccer (Playstation One)
My story relates to my very first Master League, on the very first PES to include the feature. I was in charge of Inter Milan, and had a very shakey start which included the flop signing of David Trezeguet. During the first season, a mid table finish was my realtistic aim, and the second season saw a top 6 finish, as a steadily built my squad. I had brought a very attacking side, and unlike nowadays, purchased superstars such as Ronaldo and Beckham to help me achieve my aims. Anyway, last game of the season, I was at home to Juventus, requiring a win and it to be better than AC Milan’s result for a title win. I started very badly, and went 1-0 down early on, and a second half equaliser seemed to be the best I could muster. With the clock ticking into injury time, I managed to work the ball out to Beckham, whose near post cross was headed well clear by the Juve defense. However, there was no whistle as the ball floated into the path of Denilson. I had been playing the winger just behind my strikers, and as the ball was travelling towards him, he stuck out a left leg and brought the ball down almost instantly, as it hit the floor, the ball bounced up perfectly for the Brazilian to hit a first time side volley, which flew into the top corner! This goal proved to win me the title, as AC Milan only managed a draw at Lazio, and I won the league by a single point. The goal is saved somewhere on a PS One Memory Card, and made me intstantly addicted to the Master League game mode. This happened around 10 years ago, so is obviously an incredible moment for me to remember all this time!
If you have a story for Master League Moments, please send it to interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 12 Jan
2010
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. Before we go onto the usual PES and football gaming related topics for this week, I would like to take this opportunity to address two serious issues from the past week or so. Firstly, the tragic news surrounding the Togo national football team, and the death of backroom staff. I do not claim to have an advanced knowledge of African politics, but from the brief reading I have done on the subject I know that life is very different in that particular continent as to the rest of Europe and in particular the United Kingdom. I would like to extend my thoughts and prayers along with those of the PESGaming.com community to the families of those involved in the tragedy, and hope for a safe and peaceful remainder of the tournament. Secondly, and slightly closer to home, I hope that everyone is staying safe on the roads during this extreme weather. Whilst certain countries may be used to these kinds of conditions, I assure you the United Kingdom is not, and driving conditions have been horrific. If, like me, your job involves you spending any period of time in your motor vehicle, I urge you to stay safe and take care. Yes, these above points are not directly PES related, but sometimes a slight deviation away from the topic helps put things into perspective. With this said, lets crack on with another week of Interfering With Play.
“It’s Not Difficult”
Firstly this week, I would like to address the issue regarding difficulty of PES I touched upon last week. When playing alone in friendly matches, I usually play on professional difficulty. This is not because I struggle on Top Player, in fact its quite the opposite, I find that the opposition actually try harder to score on the Professional difficulty, and even sometimes hit hopeless long balls into the box, whereas possession and laboured build up is the name of the game on Top Player. This does mean teams commit fewer men forward and as a result it is harder to create goal scoring opportunities, but it also makes it less likely for you to concede a goal, resulting in many 0-0 draws.
Following my comments last week, I believe I am not alone in this suggestion, as many gamers also believe that this is the truth. If you are finding Top Player too easy, try and have a drop back to professional and see how you go. It does however drill home the issue that Konami must address the difficulty settings in future PES games, especially as the Game Play system has been so similar for the last few games. On one hand, Konami probably do not want to alienate gamers who lose every game, but they also need to realise that PES is a 12 month game, and that gamers need a challenge to progress to and aspire to beat, especially with online mode still being far from perfect.
One other topic is the so called ‘Supermen Players’. The Cristiano Ronaldo’s and Lionel Messi’s of this world that can simply turn a game with a moment of brilliance. I will openly admit that in my many years of PES gaming, I have occasionally resorted to giving the ball to one of these superstars and letting them run at my opponents, safe in the knowledge that they had the ability to provide the spectacular more than say a Gary Neville or a Wayne Bridge. This is a tactic that many professional teams use, isolating their stronger players in one on one situations against a weaker opponent, for example Robben at Chelsea playing on the right hand side, cutting in on his left foot and taking the left back onto their weaker right. This is a tactic, and if a player has that ability, why not exploit it. If you don’t like a player having that ability on your team, don’t be that particular team, but you can’t moan or complain if someone else uses it. It is less of an issue when someone is Tottenham and lumps the ball up to Crouch all day, but it is exactly the same premise, just easier to use players than are quick and good dribblers.
Football at any level is a game about speed, both physical and mental speed. Players like Fabregas may not be super fast over the ground, but their mind works so quickly, whereas stars like Messi and Ronaldo have the physical pace to devastate opposition. Anyone who has played football at a decent standard will be able to tell you how dangerous pace is, and therefore I believe this is represented accurately in PES 2010. There have been years when pace was too much of an asset and unrealistic (ISS Pro Evolution Soccer 2 for the PS One being a prime example) but this year the balance is as close to perfect as it has been for a while, so just because players are quick in real life, they shouldn’t be punished for it on the game.
“Is It Me Or…”
Two little points that I have noticed this week, mainly about the shirts the players are wearing in PES 2010. The first is the fact that I haven’t noticed any distinctive shirt pulling in PES 2010 with the matching animation, something which I was really impressed with in PES 2008 and 2009. Yes, it is slightly unethical but it is a part of football, and if Konami have removed it, surely this must be seen as a graphical step backwards. Anyone who has noticed any, please feel free to get in touch, either via e-mail or comment below.
The second point, and one that definitely caught my attention, was regarding the Sporting shirt. Before I go any further, I would like to point out that it is no longer politically correct to call them Sporting Lisbon, and therefore I will be addressing them as simply Sporting for this piece. Anyway, playing as PSG against Sporting in a winter match, I noticed that the majority of Sporting players seemed to be wearing base layers or ‘Under Armour’ shirts under their tops. I went in for a closer inspection and it definitely looked as if the players had their club shirts on with a long sleeve top underneath, as opposed to the long sleeve shirt option. Whilst this may only be cosmetic, it is a great step forward graphically for Konami as they are starting to catch up with the times regarding player styles and fashions, features which will only enhance the games realism. If you wish to make your own mind up, you can do so by playing for or against Sporting in a match set in the winter. I’ll leave that with you guys, make your own judgements.
“He’s Been Brought Down In The Box”
If I am entirely honest, I have failed to notice the mass improvements brought about by the recent patch. I have enjoyed PES 2010 since the game came out, and therefore I am not entirely sure what the patch is deemed to have improved. What I will categorically say, however, is that when it comes to penalty kicks, the referring is awful. Challenges all over the pitch are pretty realistic, with soft fouls occasionally being given and firm flying tackles missed by the ref. This is part of football, and I would go on a limb to say the refereeing from penalty box to penalty box is pretty fair. Sliders and unique refs aside, I am pleased with what little improvements Konami may have made.
In the area, however, it is a completely different story. Blatant fouls are ignored and late tackles that stop goal scoring opportunities mean nothing other than cheating is deemed acceptable. A ridiculously late challenge from Hughes of Fulham on my Arsharvin, which would have seen Hughes walk for a second yellow cost me during a recent league match. The ball was gone, Arsharvin was one on one and a tackle from behind was ignored and the ball rolled out for a goal kick! In fact, during however many matches I have played over both my PS3 consoles, I am yet to have seen a penalty during normal play, either for or against me. That must be close to 60 hours of gaming if not more and not one spot kick. There have been over 55 penalties on the Premier League, this season, yet I have not seen one on PES! This is not realistic at all, and I would go on record as to say I would rather have soft penalties as opposed to none at all!
If you have the time, I would ask you to go onto your Gallery screen, and check you own personal penalty number; I would love to see if anyone has managed to get into double figures yet! Comments and emails in the usual way! Even better, I would love to see a video of a penalty actually being given, just to prove that it actually can happen.
That’s your lot for this week. I have had to cut myself short slightly due to another project set to be released on PESGaming.com later this week. As always, interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the place to send your e-mails to, and your comments about anything you have read here are more than welcome. Double D is having some technical difficulties at the moment, and should be up and running again with a new laptop in a couple of weeks. Finally, the PES 2011 campaign and the IWP League process will both be up and running over the next 6 weeks.
Thanks for Reading
