Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 09 Mar 2010
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. I write this watching Arsenal playing some quite delightful football against Porto in the Champions League. Following writing this, I know who I will be playing as on PES 2010! Another busy week which has seen the announcement of a brand new footballing franchise along with steam building up for Konami’s summer offering (its Asia exclusive I believe!). From a personal point of view, I have not heard anything about either game, nor from FIFA’s World Cup offering that will justify the £40 price tag all three will be slapped with! However, I am always happy to be proved wrong, and look forward to experiencing all three games first hand in the coming weeks. Following last week’s Master League based column, this week’s instalment returns to form, as I am finalising the points being raised to Konami. Of course, a copy of these points will be included in this site prior to it being sent to the powers that be, and any response will also be made public. With that said, lets crack on with this week’s Interfering With Play.
“It’s Not Getting Easier”
On a slight detour to start off this week, but has anyone else noticed the huge change in the ‘Fake Shot’ trick on PES this time around. In the past, the ‘old square – x’ would be a sure fire way of getting past a defender in PES, or rounding the GK on a one on one, with a ridiculously high success rate of around 2 out of 3. In PES 10, the trick is far less potent, and in a trial game, only worked on wrong footing a defender 1 out of 5 times.
Your views on this would be greatly appreciated. As far as tricks go on PES, the majority are more for show than genuinely affective ways of getting past a defender. The scissors step over looks brilliant, but doesn’t really commit an opponent. The spin is even more cosmetic, as most human players will just take the ball with ease. So the fake shot was a decent trick when attacking, especially in wide areas for cutting inside. However, it being too successful made beating players too easy, especially against lower level opposition. At the moment, do you feel Konami have struck the correct balance? Do you feel the trick needs to more effective, or even less effective? Leave your comments in the usual way, or via the regular e-mail address.
“Get Set”
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago about my admiration of EA Sports for their inclusion of a set piece editor, and how I would love to see it in future PES instalments. I have changed my mind slightly on this issue, and now believe it is crucial that Konami look at implementing such a feature in the franchise, as with little effort, it would offer a whole new way of playing the game.
There is a lot of emphasis on this site about working on the passing system of PES, and I am personally a strong advocate of the passing game. However, I have mentioned many times recently that only a handful of teams are actually good enough to play passing football on a regular basis, and that the majority of teams in the Premier League rely on set pieces, especially away from home, as a means of scoring goals. A prime example of this would be Aston Villa, who win a lot of free kicks in and around the box, then use Milner or Ashley Young to provide quality delivery for Dunne and Collins to attack.
This is a perfectly acceptable tactic, and one that with a set piece editor would be quite logical to play. At the moment, we rely on the AI to make the runs in the area, with our job being to put the ball into the right zone for scoring. This may mean one of the smaller players ends up at the near post looking for a flick on, or a winger ends up in a prime position for an attacking header. Not ideal, and definitely not realistic.
PES already uses a shoulder button/face button combination to relay pre determined tactics during open play (Counter Attack, CB Overlap etc.) so when the ball is dead, there should be an option to call on four free kick or four corner plays to try and create yourself some space. It would still rely on your own ability to deliver the ball into the right area, but now you know if you get it right, you will have the best possible player meeting the chance. No more bullet headers for Nani whilst Vidic stands on the edge of the area bemused! Implementation would be pretty simple, with the player having a training field with 11 players on and the option to switch to a top down 2D view or real camera 3D view. Players could be dragged into a position from which they start the move and then given arrows where to run to. Each arrow would be numbered, and then that is the order they move. So for example, Terry is number 1, Alex and Drogba number 2. Terry would make his run first and then when he stops Alex and Drogba would make their run together. You can choose at any point during the routine to take the kick, meaning some players will get a running jump whereas others may not have started their run yet.
To counter this, especially when playing against Human opponents, their would be an option on the style of defending from set pieces. You could choose specifically to go zonal or man to man, and even select which player each is marking. I am aware that you can do this in open play at the moment on PES, but it is a feature missing from set pieces, something which is a weekly occurrence in real football.
Of course, the delivery is the key, and if Konami get it wrong, it could mess PES right up. But with a demand for Konami to include a variety of playing styles and different ways of approaching the game, surely it is a risk worth taking?
“It’s Been A Long Time Coming”
The first batch of IWP League invitations are out. Out of the first 30 contestants, I have received 16 confirmations, and four declinations. This means that the second batch will be going out this weekend. If you have received an invite to take part in this year’s competition, please e-mail me your response as soon as possible. I understand that some people do not check their e-mails daily, but failure to respond by Saturday 13th March will make your invitation invalid and your place will be offered to someone else. The friendly phase will begin the first week in April, with a mid-April start pencilled in for the final league.
“Shameless Plug”
I am a PES fan. That is no huge surprise at all, as for the past 30 months, I have been working for this site as a columnist. However, I do love football gaming in general. I play many hours of Football Manager on a yearly basis, and also love playing the retro titles of yesteryear, mainly to appreciate just how far the franchises have come in what is a relatively short time.
I am currently involved as Senior Editor of Soccer Gaming, the world’s original and longest running football gaming website. I am using this opportunity to draw the attention of the PESGaming.com community to the site, which features news about all football gaming along with friendly discussion, banter and chat from the world of ‘real football’. It also has comprehensive forums and a downloads section, which feature a great deal of modifications for the PC version of PES 2010.
The site, www.soccergaming.com is currently looking for a Senior PES journalist, who will be in charge of reporting all of the latest PES news. As part of your role, you will receive the latest PES news as soon as it goes on general release, and have access to the latest videos and screenshots when they become available. There are also opportunities to write columns and articles, similar to IWP should you wish to try your hand at what I do! For more information, please check the site out and click the link ‘Jobs’. As I promised, shameless plug!
“Whoa, We’re Half Way There”
Finally this week, the crux of the column and it’s the opportunity for you guys to be a bit creative. In the past, we have taken the views of what PES 2011 needs to be very seriously, and rightfully so. We all crave a more advanced AI, we all want a better set of animations and greater difficulty settings and we all now expect a vastly superior online mode. All of these issues have been discussed on the board, and will be formulated into sensible points for Konami to examine quickly and with ease.
However, PES was always the game that went the extra mile. It was the first game to include coloured football boots and the first to offer varying hairstyles for it’s players. It has always been the ‘little things’ that made Pro Evolution Soccer the franchise that it is today. So my question to you is what minor detail, no matter how trivial, would you love to see in PES?
As I have said, the major issues will not be ignored, and they will take priority in all correspondence with Konami, but with them excluded, what features do you want to see. I have petitions for 7 a side or 5 a side football for a long time now, and I would also love to see the ability to adjust manager appearances, especially as the generic ones are so far off the mark its untrue! But this is genuinely fantasy land. Anything that is both applicable and viable can be included, from Female players to the ability to rename the Master League players to even create teams of under 15s for youth matches. Playground football, floater or sponge balls or the ability to actually referee the game yourself, it’s totally up to you to pick your football game fantasy and put it out there.
You can either e-mail them too me directly or alternatively open yourself to the ridicule of the community and post them as a comment.
That’s your lot for this week. A fair bit to chew your way through there. The e-mail address is interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk. Feel free to get in touch direct, as I do try to respond to each mail whenever possible. Please keep checking your e-mail inbox for IWP League invitations. Anyone who has played in previous leagues but had not received one needs to get in contact with me ASAP if they wish to take part.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 02 Mar 2010
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. It does seem at the moment I am making excuses every other week for shorter IWP columns than usual, and this week is no exception. Busy personal lives and side projects do take up a fair amount of time, and with my desire to get the IWP League going soon, the column is something that will have to suffer, albeit temporarily. This week’s column focuses on the Master League mode of PES. Having spent a fair amount of time with the game mode in PES 2010, I can now make an informed and honest judgement about the mode, and hopefully this will provoke some interesting discussion within the community. It is no secret that when it comes to PES, Master League has always been a key selling factor, and with this years becoming more realistic and improving many aspects of the game, I believe there is a lot of scope for discussion. With that said, lets crack on with this week’s Interfering With Play.
“Simply The Best”
I think it’s fair to say that for me, there is only one way to play Master League, and that is with the original ‘Master League’ Players. This year, Konami have definitely opted for a more realistic experience, using real divisions and real currency to make the game feel, well more life like. However, to me Master League has always been taking a team of nobody’s and turning them into a footballing master class, wheeling and dealing on the way.
This first question I ask today is therefore quite simply, how do you play your Master League? Do you take control of your favourite team with its proper players and act as real manager would? Do you take the helm of a foreign club that you have little or no knowledge of, and take them from there? (Shout out to Dave O and Wolves for that one) Or do you like me take charge of a random team and put the Jaric and Valeny boys in, and build up from scratch? Playing on Top Player, I know which one is the more taxing game mode, and the bigger challenge, but personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way!
“Bright Eyes”
As mentioned, dedicating this as somewhat of a Master League special, and having spent the best part of 8 hours on Master League over the weekend, I have come to notice the plethora of new features the mode has to offer. In some cases, these are vast improvements, other the jury is very much out and finally, there are some features that simply need to be dropped and never looked at again. I will deal with each in turn.
Firstly, the positives, of which there are a fair few. The first being currency, and knowing that this was a huge issue for some gamers; I feel it has been implemented into the game perfectly. Values may seem low at first, but realism dictates you will still pay a great deal more than the ‘market value’ for a player, a figure which is grossly underestimated. However, a concern of mine was that the monetary values would take away from the mode, something I am pleased to say has not occurred! Another excellent addition is the injury system. Whilst there are still no specific injuries, players are now picking up knocks during training and more importantly missing realistic periods of time for these knocks. I have had quite a few 1-3 week length injuries, which are common in the footballing world and I can fully tolerate. The bonus of being able to choose specific aspects for improvement in training also adds value to the game mode. Now buying players can be seen as more as an investment to sell them on than to just look for huge stars straight away, and this feature adds to that. Whilst these are only small issues, they make the game run very smoothly, and are actually very welcomed to the Master League experience, which was already very strong.
Next to the issues which I am still not sure about. I don’t know how exactly to feel about the staffing issues, as I am still in the early stages, but I feel that especially in the transfer market, you backroom staff have far to much say in dealings. The option should be there to leave negotiating transfers to staff, but there should still be an option to let the terms be negotiated quickly by yourself, at the risk of getting a weaker deal. I know that real manages don’t deal in transfer fees themselves, but the Master League is more about running your club than just tactics, and I feel this is important to keep control of. The condition arrows still continue to do my head in too. With the new random injury factor, these arrows are beginning to lose meaning, and the fact they affect players performance in such a way is both unrealistic and improbable. Foque scored a brace for me one week, and come to the next match his arrow was purple! If these arrows are to dictate form, they need to be realistic towards the player’s previous performances. The other feature I missed was the random leagues. I know there is the option to make up leagues yourself; however, these are named La Liga and Seria A, which makes using Arsenal or Chelsea in there seem a bit of a joke. All leagues should be re-nameable, just to allow for those who want to have fantasy leagues to do so.
Finally the negatives, the things that need to be changed. Probably the biggest disappointment for me is the decision to lose stat tracking for your squad, and see how many goals, assists etc. your team has managed over the season. Maybe I have missed this mode and urge people to pick me up on it, however I have been unable to find it by my own devises. Master League should be looking to involve stats more, not less and this is a real kick in the teeth. The other real negative I have found is actually the way the opposition play in Master League. It has taken a few hundred words to even speak about game play, because as a whole the issues about it echo the sentiments of my words in previous articles. However, in major Master League games, the opposition don’t seem to want to win games, and stick 10 players in their own half just passing the ball, even when losing or at home. This may be realistic for one or two teams, but not the case for nearly every match. It is different when playing friendly games of even in a League or Cup, as the other teams want to win, but it has been really noticeable that sides set up for a draw and don’t care if they are home or away or the importance of the match.
Master League is currently my video gaming life, and has put Heavy Rain and Uncharted 2 back on the shelf. That statement in itself holds a great deal of weight, but I am hoping that the improvements to come in future years make the mode even better, and the above issues support some of my findings early on.
“It’s Up To You”
Which leads me almost seamlessly to what you guys think! Master League has always been, in my opinion, the people’s game mode. There are very few modes in video games that cause so many great pub based / common room conversations as those from Master League experiences. But really, it can still improve. Would you like the ability to switch teams or even manage national teams during you Master League campaign? Would you like to see an online Master League occur in the future, in a similar way to Football Manager Live? Do you feel the mode is good enough but presentation needs an overhaul?
This is your point to say you loves or pet peeves over Master League. I appreciate the minority may not play the mode, but for the thousands that do, let us know exactly what you like and what you hate, and the most common points will be passed onto Konami. E-mail me on the address below or alternatively just leave a comment.
“Then I Turned On The TV”
I haven’t ‘completely’ forgotten about my cry for PC gamers a few weeks back. I have recently come into contact with some individuals running the mod sites, patches for PES 2010 that make the game look stupidly awesome. The patches include everything from new stadiums to ad boards, kits faces and boots. By a show of opinion, I was wondering how many PES PC gamers edit their game, and is there a demand for this kind of information to be made regularly available on PESGaming.com. If so, I will use my sources to good effect and keep you guys updated. If not, I don’t wish to detract away from the PES 2011 news and updates. Get in touch in the usual way.
That’s your lot for this week. If you don’t like Master League, it’s fair to say this week’s IWP wasn’t for you! However it is a topic I have held back on for a few months now with a view to speak about it after giving the mode some real game time. If you have any comments about anything read on here, interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the place you can send them direct, or you can be public and post them by clicking below. I have had to ban one individual and delete all content from another over the past 7 days, so keep it clean and on topic!
Thanks for Reading
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 23 Feb 2010
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. I am writing this on Sunday evening this week, so should any outstanding developments occur in the world of PES over the next 48 hours, I assure you it is not ignorance, it is simply time management. I am pleased to see so many people agreeing with my comments surrounding NBA 2K10. I do not for one second claim the title to be ground breaking, nor expect 2K Sports to become a leading title in the world of football gaming, but instead appreciate the level of commitment to detail the company show in the presentation aspect of their sports titles. Presentation in any game is a key aspect of the end product and should be taken into account when looking for the complete package of a title. As I said, it is very interesting to see so many people who agree with the aspect of the way 2K Sports deal. On a slight side note, I am looking forward to picking up a copy of MLB ‘The Show’ to see if it agrees with the hype. With that said, lets crack on with quite a hectic Interfering With Play.
“You’re Big In Japan”
My first point this week is actually thanks to PESGaming.com’s contact with Konami. I have said from day one that we are still very much an independent fan site (something which I hope my next topic will validate) but we do have people from Konami who we are in regular contact with. However, there will still be people who will read that first sentence and claim we have sold out or don’t care about the game anymore. That’s fine, but those people can stop reading right now, because obviously I am a liar!
Still with me, ok, good. Following a fair few e-mails from various communities members, I have been in touch with Konami about getting a copy of Winning Eleven 2010, the Japanese version of Pro Evolution Soccer. The word was that the game was superior to PES in a number of ways, and was a better product. Having heard this, I found myself angry that Konami were treating the EU gamers with contempt and releasing a weaker product in the West. Konami responded, and a couple of days later I was holding a copy of WE2010, complete with Japanese instruction manual and unreadable case!
May I go on record saying, that during the several hours I have spent with the title, there have been no major noticeable differences at all. The game feels near enough identical to Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, with maybe a slightly different animation or two. The only one of these I noticed was one when a player was reaching out for the ball when dribbling to change direction. This animation seemed slightly more fluid. The other difference was the inclusion of the Superstar difficulty, a feature which MUST be included in the next instalment of PES.
On Superstar difficulty opponents defend realistically, goalkeepers react much better to certain types of shots and attacking players try different ways of getting in behind your defence. I have never seen the AI use the long ball tactic as much in PES as I have in one game of WE, especially when losing the game. The defenders still do silly things (head the ball back into their own penalty box) and there is still no blatant penalties being awarded, but at least the game is challenging to a veteran player, something which is slightly lacking in PES 2010.
Of course, people are fully entitled to their opinion, and if having spent a lot of time with PES, you buy Winning Eleven and prefer it, all the more power to you. In my opinion, I am quite good at noticing when something isn’t there, and I don’t see much difference at all between the two games. If you can get your hands on a loaner copy, or have money to burn, it is worth trying Winning Eleven simply for Superstar difficulty, but other than that, the core game play, graphics and AI is the same. A huge note to Konami, and the one that I will include following playing WE is that Superstar difficulty has to be included on future PES and a minimum, and maybe even one more level above too!
“We Are Broken”
For those of you that are unaware, the latest downloadable content was made available by Konami last week. You way wonder why it wasn’t reported on PESGaming.com’s main page, but the simple reason is, it’s a complete waste of time. Most people will have done more transfers themselves in the January window than Konami managed with an actual development team, and the new pair of boots is quite simply embarrassing. The whole update reeks of laziness and quite frankly incompetence on the developers part, and it would have been better not doing an update at all that offering what they have done so far.
Tottenham were active in the January window, with players like Robbie Keane, Kaboul and Hutton all moving around. None of these transfers have occurred on the update, and if you made these changes yourself, the update moves the players back to their old clubs! Konami even put upon downloading the update the warning that ‘not all transfers are up to date’. That is ridiculous. It is like buying the box set of a DVD and when you get to the counter, the cashier saying ‘there are some scenes missing on this DVD’.
Now I am a realist. I know that boot manufacturers are holding off releasing their new lines, as the World Cup is only a few months away and they have the best PR opportunities available during this time. That’s perfectly acceptable and whilst the one pair of boots from Konami isn’t great, at least they have offered something. I also understand the DLC is free, so it’s not like we have had to pay for it. But these are not excuses for incompetence. If you have not downloaded the content yet, and don’t play PES online, I strongly suggest you boycott the download until Konami ‘pull their finger out’ and provide an update worthy of your time. Personally, updated Champion’s League squads and even new licensed teams would go along way to appeasing my frustration about this recent offering, but as I said, I am a realist, so all up to date transfers is a start.
“Must Be Something In The Atmosphere”
Does anyone notice anything different about any of the stadiums in PES when you take away the graphical appearance? I know this is something I have discussed before, and will do in greater detail another time, but to me pitch sizes are all the same, ground textures are all the same and even crowd noises are all the same. The variation occurs by the teams playing not by where the game is taking place.
Playing Ashes 2009, you know when the game is taking place in India by the atmosphere, the weather, the pitch, the outfield and the fans. You play on a different golf course in Tiger Woods, you feel the difference in the way the ball moves and rolls. You go to Wimbledon on Virtua Tennis; it feels a heck of a lot different from New York. So why are football games so backwards? Looking at the San Siro, it’s a completely different prospect to a half full Reebok Stadium. Going to Moscow or Zenit is a much colder experience than travelling to Brazil or Spain, yet on PES, they could all be the same thing! Your comments on this are greatly appreciated.
“It’s All About The Game”
I was going to hold off writing this final piece until next week; however I believe Double D’s column has lead onto it nicely. I have spent a lot of time over the last few weeks with FIFA 10, hoping and trying to understand where all these people were coming from. I have more years of gaming experience than I care to remember. I was the kind of person who would sit for hours in front of the text screens of Championship Manager 93/94. I was the one who would wait 20 minutes for the cassette to load on my spectrum to play just one game of Emlyn Hughes Soccer. I love my football games with a passion, irrelevant of who develops them, and what format they are played upon.
Last year, I wrote a review saying that I believe FIFA 09 was the best the franchise had ever produced and I thoroughly enjoyed certain aspects of the game. It had improved immeasurably over the past few years, and that is was simply a matter of opinion as to whether or not you preferred it to PES, which had improved, but by no means at the same rate. So, along comes FIFA 10, and for the first time, I actually looked forward to a FIFA game. Gone were the buzz words of the PR campaigns and new features that you knew would be on the scrap heap the following year. ‘Let’s FIFA 10’ Simple, to the point, and watching the PR videos, I was optimistic. Do not get me wrong, if FIFA 10 was my preferred video game, which is the one I would be playing, not PES. I have said before, I am not going to waste my free time doing something I don’t enjoy just to be stubborn. It really isn’t my style.
There are certain features on FIFA 10 I love. The set piece editor is something that makes a huge difference as it adds a completely new dimension to the game play, especially when playing against your mates. Now, you know that if you get a corner or a free kick, you have a specific plan from scoring, and will be able to outsmart your opponent. Get good at doing this, and you can build an entire game plan on being a side like Villa, sitting back, counter attacking and knowing that from set pieces, you are going to get your chances. I am more than willing to say I wish the feature was in PES, and it is a feature that Konami need to copy from EA Sports.
I also am a huge fan of the way FIFA has developed its online modes, in particular its Be A Pro mode. Personally, I feel that EA Sports, Konami or a third party need to dedicate an entire gaming franchise just to this one player on the pitch experience to truly get the best out of it, but for the time being I find FIFA’s offering to be much more advanced than the one featured on PES, which still feels far to arcade like.
But onto the pitch, and this is where my view remains the same. I feel FIFA 10 and FIFA 09 are all too similar. Yes the introduction of 360 movement adds something, but for me, I find FIFA to be monotonous and at times, a little boring. I have turned a number of games off half way through for the simple fact I wasn’t enjoying playing them, and these were games I was winning! I find the way the AI attacks unrealistic and bland, and find myself playing the same way with every team.
Of course, these same criticisms can be thrown out into PES as well, but the difference is for me, I enjoy playing PES. My opinion of FIFA is that it is still not as enjoyable to play as PES, either short term or long term, and this can not be confused or mistaken as fact. A fact would be that FIFA has improved over the past few years, due to its new features and game play. A fact would be that FIFA outsells PES. But my feelings and opinions make me find PES a more enjoyable, playable and even realistic football gaming experience. I believe that in PES, I can choose whether to place the shot, chip the shot or go for power, using the shoulder buttons. I can chose which foot my player strikes the ball with depending on my angle of approach and on the % success rate based upon my positioning in relation to the goal and space/time I have. I personally find FIFA’s shooting bland and unrealistic, and find the % of chip shots on one v one opportunities rivals the homing missile on the great Worms 2!
I fully respect everyone’s opinions, whether they differ from my own as some people’s do, or are pretty much the same. As I said, I am not playing blind, I have spent a fair amount of time with FIFA and find it a good game with some nice features, many of which were available in FIFA 09. I don’t believe myself to be a fan boy because I will only play PES as long as I feel it offers me the best football gaming experience. I welcome people discussing all aspects of football gaming on this website. I know Double D’s opinions may differ too, but at the end of the day, football gaming choice is totally down to the individual, and you can’t really argue to change that, it’s not something you or they can be write or wrong in.
That’s your lot this week. Quite a bit to read and digest there and I expect to be writing a follow up to the FIFA section next week, regarding a variety of views. interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the place to direct your e-mail to. I am always up for a little one on one discussion about topics on that e-mail address via MSN Messenger too. As I mentioned last week, I am still looking for contributors for a new project, in particular PES fans, so if that is something that might interest you, make sure you drop me and e-mail on the above address.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 16 Feb 2010
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. Some great discussion last week regarding the ‘genetic’ problems with PES. Some of these are quite obvious, namely issues such as online and animation problems, whereas some of the others are things that no doubt only bother specific people. All of this information is golden when speaking to Konami about the future, and I am hoping to get dialogue going over the next few weeks, something which I know Double D likes to take the lead upon. This week’s IWP will drift away slightly from the topics raised over the previous weeks, however, I will be returning to them next time round. I also hear quite a lot of talk from people regarding FIFA being a far superior product. In my personal opinion, especially having spent some time with FIFA over the past two weeks, I don’t see it, but I am going to carry on my month long run with the game before writing any more on the issue. Finally, due to a very busy personal few weeks in the real world, I have had to put a slight delay on the IWP League. I haven’t forgotten or neglected the competition at all, but the initial e-mail and set up phases take several hours, something which I have been unable to spend in front of my laptop this year. The league will still go ahead, but it is running slightly behind schedule. With that said, lets crack on with this week’s Interfering With Play.
“Just Enjoy The Show”
This may seem like an old topic, and one that has been discussed on many other sites, but when it comes to presentation in sports games, it is not Konami nor even EA Sports that know how to put on a show, it’s the US franchise 2K Sports who are the definitive market leaders. Recently, I managed to pick up a copy of their yearly basketball franchise, NBA 2K10, having missed out on the previous two years. For those of you who haven’t tried it, I strongly urge you to either buy or rent a copy. Even if you don’t like Basketball, the design and presentation within the title is worthy of your appreciation.
From the starting menu, the fixtures are accurate to the day, meaning instead of playing random or meaningless friendly games, the matches you will be playing are the games that the real life teams will be playing over the next few days, This means all the in game stats such as league tables, player stats and scoring charts are bang up to date. It also means that when the game breaks for a time out or pause in play, the charts that pop up on the screen are real life accurate representations of the sport. LeBron James top scorer for the Cavaliers, no problem that’s there, you opponents keep on scoring three points, a quick check of the stats will tell you which players are the most dangerous from ‘down town’. Just like EA Sports Live Season, these stats are updated on a daily basis, but unlike FIFA, its all free and part of the package.
The in-game presentation is like watching a TV show. I know this is a claim that I made regarding NBA 2K7, but I must retract this after viewing what 2K10 has to offer. Whilst some of the graphics aren’t as good as they should be, the way the game uses replays and stadium atmosphere gives the true illusion you are playing a real game of Basketball. At the end of each quarter, the game puts together an accurate highlights package of the best dunks, shots and interceptions, and accurately follows each player. At the end of the game, you can select a player, and watch his personal highlights, be they rebounds, blocks or points being scored. Just imagine being able to do that with Wayne Rooney or Didier Drogba, something which Sky Sports and Match Of The Day both do. Also, the in game branding feels very natural too. Never mind tagged on adverts for ESPN or whatever is Konami’s flavour of the week, features such as the T-Mobile half time report, Sprite players to watch out for or the Gatorade stamina bars probably earn the franchise as much money as any Konami do, but also feel genuine and part of the game.
Of course, I understand the numerous differences between Basketball games and Football titles, and nor do I believe 2K Sports would be the right people to create a Football game. At a push, there are 50 teams, each fielding a squad of 15 players. These stats can be tripled and doubled respectively for a weak line up in a football game. This makes stat tracking much more difficult. Also, the NBA is limited to one licensed league, whereas PES currently has a mix of licensed and non-licensed teams spanning over 15 leagues. Take into account editing, and you suddenly begin to lose a way of keeping track. However, production values can not be taken for granted. The 2K Sports team have produced a franchise renowned for it without sacrificing realistic and addictive game play. This is the blue print for football gaming to follow within the presentation field, and I urge anyone to check out NBA 2K10, as it sets the bar for where I believe both PES and FIFA should be heading in the presentation stakes. Your views, especially those of people who play NBA 2K10, are greatly appreciated.
“Calling All Cars”
My next point is a personal one. I believe we have some very creative minds on this site, but more importantly than that, I feel we have open minds too. I know there are a group of people here who are die hard PES fans, whereas there are others who can see the gaming world objectively. I know we have FIFA fans who visit the site, and I am also aware that we have some people who would claim themselves to currently not be into football gaming due to the current selection available, I also know we have many fans of the Football Manager franchise, we have fans of Retro football games and I am also pretty sure we have a fair few flitted in between.
In spite of my strong PES roots, I have owned every instalment of FIFA football since its inception, and spent time with all the major franchises such as Sensible Soccer, Actua Soccer and This Is Football. I like to believe I know my football gaming. I am looking for a couple of good people who know their football gaming as well to take part in a new project I am currently working on. The roles are very much open, and I am looking for fans of all franchises, both past and present.
If this seems something that may interest you, please contact me on the usual e-mail address (posted at the bottom).
“It’s Not For Gaming”
I am constantly speaking to different people regarding football gaming at the moment, and I was just wondering a simple question. How many of you guys play your PES on the PC version of the game? Personally I used to own the PC version each year alongside the PS2 version, as it was an easy way of playing online, adding new teams and creating a more visually realistic experience. However, now I am a laptop user, I have stopped updating my PC making it borderline redundant for gaming (bar Football Manager). I just wondered, mainly by a show of posts, if there are many if any PC PES gamers out there. Make yourself know, either via e-mail or comments, as I have a few pieces of information regarding PES on the PC. However, I am not going to waste time on it if it’s falling on deaf ears.
“Was It Worth It After All?
Finally this week, I go back to an old gripe, trophies. For those of you new to the site, I am a huge fan of trophies/achievements. I feel they add an extra dimension to some games, and add lifespan to others. When done properly, and linked with unlockable content, they can make completing a game all the more rewarding. To earn a Platinum trophy (on ps3) requires a level of skill and commitment that takes it one step further than just completing the game and spending loads of time on it, something which I can testify to with my recent 100% completion of Assassins Creed 2. Other games require a huge commitment to the online portion, something which quite honestly I don’t have the time for, but understand the developers thinking when including these trophies.
For the first year of including trophies in PES and the fourth year of having achievements, I must say Konami have come up with the blandest and boring set of potential trophies. Very few of the trophies actually relate to your skill as a player, as they can be achieved on any difficulty setting, and what’s arguable even worse, most require simply playing the game for a set period of time. Dedicating so many trophies to the Master League and Become A Legend section does show that not only are Konami being slightly lazy with their trophy choices, they are not actually taking into account what’s going on with the football.
Looking at FIFA trophies, you have a range of options from editing to uploading to physically playing the game and scoring specific goals. Going even that one step further and back to NBA 2K10, there are player specific trophies. Score at least 29 points with LeBron, with 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Difficult to achieve but worth it when you earn it. Imagine a Xavi trophy for having at least 40 touches of the ball, setting up at least one goal and having a pass completion ratio of at least 80%. You have to complete this with Xavi playing for either Barcelona or Spain. Then you could have trophies for ‘lesser’ players, requiring gamers to be forced to use weaker teams in order to earn these trophies should they want them. It seems simple, yet I have a horrible feeling that Konami will once again cop out and offer a very poor selection of trophies.
I asked last year, but I will open it again. If you have a suggestion for a good trophy or achievement which is both fair and tricky, please leave it in the comments section below. If like me, you have a fair few ideas, e-mail them through to me, and I will try to compile a dream list of potential trophies and achievements. Of course, some may depend on a mode being in the game (enhanced training mode or scenario mode) but as we stand, think of ideas that would work on PES 2010. The more we get, the better the selection will be, and I hope to have a list to show you guys prior to sending it through to Konami.
That’s your lot this week. As promised, I diverted away slightly from the long lists of improvements, to give both myself and Double D opportunity to ensure we don’t miss anything. intereferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the place to direct your e-mails to, should you wish to speak to me direct. If you would like to be involved in this new project (and for that, I look towards those individuals responsible for the longer comments), please contact me via e-mal direct. Comments or e-mails are welcome for other subjects.
Thanks for Reading
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 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 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 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 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
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 05 Jan 2010
Welcome to a New Year at PESGaming.com, and perhaps equally importantly, a brand new decade. Not to spend too long on the past, but 10 years ago, PES was just making a name for itself on the Playstation 2. There were no big names promoting the product, no cross console options (ISS was branded as a different game) and features such as downloadable content were nothing more than a pipe dream for the average gamer. 10 years on, and the game has improved, but is still fundamentally the same product. The limited number of games modes may have slightly been expanded, but the new additions (online and BAL) have so far failed to outshine the old favourites, most namely, The Master League. As we move into this decade, Konami’s awareness of its fan base is arguably greater than ever, and with EA Sports now producing a quality title to rival PES, it is time for the Japanese to prove they can still make a top level football game. Over the past ten years, it would have to be said that Pro Evolution Soccer won the battle for football franchise of the decade. However, it was a victory on points, and not the straight knockout that many would have expected after Pro Evolution 6 arrived in our consoles. The next 10 months will pretty much decide the future of football gaming once and for all, and whilst I much prefer PES 2010 to the FIFA counterpart, I am well aware that this is the year that PES will have to be nigh on perfect, or face being replaced as the top football franchise. With this said, lets crack on to the future with this week’s Interfering With Play.
“What’s Going On”
Two weeks off, and I for one and personally itching to get back in the saddle. I have received many e-mails regarding a number of issues, and thought it would be best to address the plans for this site over the next month or two. For regular visitors, the January to March time is usually the quietest period in the PES calendar. Excluding the post-January transfer window update, there is usually little official regarding news from Konami, with April and May seeing the announcement of a new instalment to the PES franchise. Therefore, we usually use this time to put together a structured suggestion list for Konami for future improvements for the next game, and this year, I genuinely believe we have a chance to make a difference.
Like many of you, I was exceptionally disheartened two years ago with the lack of response to my own personal letter to Konami. I felt let down by a company whom I have supported as a customer from the 90’s. However, the last few months have given me renewed hope a sincere expectation that we can actually make a difference, and striking whilst the iron is hot and the game is very much is its infancy is the way forward.
I will personally look at a couple of different ways of taking your views on board, with the option of holding a couple of chat room events to let people get their points across in a PM style environment. On top of this, I am sure Double D, the man responsible for most of the direct Konami contact, will have many ideas as of ways to get your ideas and formulate them into a working plan.
But this site won’t just become an ideas base. We support PES, and therefore will offer a number of different articles, features and competitions designed to get you, the PESGaming.com community involved. PRO-ve Your Skills will return in June, with the opportunity to show off your unique PES playing talents, whilst there will be a number of other events and tournaments taking place throughout the next 6 months, which will lead us nicely to the summer, when the hype begins all over again.
I would like to remind you that this site is up to you guys, if there is an issue or topic you feel needs discussing, let us know and we will get it out there. My e-mail address is located at the bottom of this column.
“Don’t You, Forget About Me”
Needless to say, I haven’t forgotten about the IWP League either. I am in talks with a couple of sponsors for the league this year that may or may not be able to offer some form of prizes. Until this is decided, I am reluctant to sort out drawings, groups and even the format of the league itself. With so many entrants, there will have to be a cut off, and a reserve list. I can only apologise in advance if you don’t make the league this time, and urge you to try again in future years.
What I will say as a quick reminder to those that have applied to the IWP League is that there are no ‘major’ teams involved. There will be no Real Madrid v. Barcelona dribble fests in this competition. I contemplating using unlicensed teams this time, for the first time, and maybe even upgrading the pay packet to include teams like Liverpool and Juventus, however if I feel a team would make a huge difference, and allow a weak player to outclass a far stronger one, then I will make sure they are not featured in the competition. If there are teams people would like to see added into the reckoning, please feel free to place them in a comment or e-mail, and I will take a look at them personally.
“Stop Me, Oh Stop Me”
Thank you to everyone who has got in touch with me regarding PES crashing. The problem seems to relate to the PS3 system only, and occurs whilst the players are waiting in the tunnel pre-game. This is completely unacceptable in this day and age, and whilst games may experience occasional glitches and crashes, especially in volatile online environments, to have an offline error constantly crash the system is not good enough, and this will be relayed back to Konami during our next correspondence with them. The problem does seem to be limited to certain stadiums, with Monaco’s home ground seeming to crash for me every single time, making the trophy for playing at all stadiums inaccessible
My nature; however is to solve problems as well as moan about them. At the current time, PES crashes before certain games, but I am not going to stop playing the game if I can avoid it crashing. My tip is pretty simple, and whilst not ideal, seems very effective. By pressing start as soon as you select Start Match, the PES starts come up in the bottom corner of the screen. This means the game is loading, and will cancel the cut scene as soon as the game is ready. Every time I have done this, the game has gone on and played perfectly, without a glitch. Yes, it is far from perfect, and I for one look forward to the big game atmosphere the pre game cut scenes bring to the table, but it does mean that in the short term, you won’t be penalised online or suffer any punishment from your Master League crashing with Cheat Prevention enabled. If this works for you, fantastic, and let others in the community know that you’re having joy, or in some cases failings with it. I believe it doesn’t matter if you have n option file installed or not, and that you lucky 360 gamers don’t have the problem. Any news let me know on the issue.
“It Hurts To Be This Good”
For those of you who don’t know, I am very partial to a bit of Fix mode with my mates on PES. This means we all control a single player on a team, and battle through a Champions League or World Cup sticking with that player, and allowing the AI to control the relevant other players. For people who play this game mode, the positives speak for themselves and on a slight deviance, how annoying is it that before each game, you have to once again reassign every player to their AI team member, a feature that used to be stored automatically on PES 2009. I now sympathise with those people complaining about not being able to play as opposition in Master League or League matches. Whilst this weighs no significance to me personally, it is the removal of good features that are some of the most annoying things Konami do.
Anyway, I digress. Following a disastrous with Liverpool in the Champions League (Fiorentina, a personal bogey team for us, knocked us out in the first knock out round), and a gutting loss in the semis as Portugal on Christmas Day, we approached the Champions League with Manchester City, both with a lack of confidence and missing one of our usual 7 players. Please bear in mind that we never managed to win the Champions League on PES 2009 in fix mode, losing once in the final on Penalties and 3-2 in another final, both to Inter Milan.
After a 3-1 hammering at the hands of Juventus in the first group game, some of us were making plans as to what we would be doing after the game, it being 11pm and knockout would have meant some of us could still hit the nightclubs. However, since that point we never looked back, and went on an unstoppable run. Usually a defensive midfielder on the game, I took charge of Adebayor, and managed to bag a very impressive 13 goals, although most were simply being in the right place following a free flowing move. We made it through to the semi finals following a brace by myself against Barcelona at the Nou Camp, with Chelsea standing between us and another final. We did play well, but to win the first leg away 6-0 really killed the tie off as an affair, and the second leg’s 2-0 defeat didn’t matter. It led to a final against Inter Milan, and arguably the biggest game of the year. We had maybe managed 12 evenings of this nature throughout 2009, and this would have been the final one of them. Inter had defeated us twice in finals before, a feeling that hurts when you realise it has take 4 and a half hours to get there and to lose thanks to a penalty kick.
We won the final 6-1, I managed to bag a hat trick, and we lifted the Champions League trophy. Yet it felt empty, we felt like in spite of playing well, we were given victory. I have never once complained about PES being too easy before, and believe it is the challenge you make it, but there is no denying that the difficulty level needs to be upped again for future years. I hate losing matches on PES, but I hate winning them without trying either, and the term anti climax was the best one to describe that Champions League. If you play the game mode, you may know how we felt, but a 1-0 victory in a cagey affair would have been much more realistic, and I dare say more satisfying too!
That’s your lot for this week. interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the e-mail address on which you can reach me. I hope that this year provides as many talking points, debates, arguments and laughs as the past year of PESGaming has done. There will be more news about more features coming up over the next couple of weeks, and feel free to leave a comment about anything you have read here, or anything you have the desire to discuss.
Thanks for Reading
