Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Thu 30 Aug 2007
Konami has announced the release of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 in North American regions. No release date was set, but the press released carried a ‘Winter 2007′ tag. The news will please gamers in the States who usually have to wait until at least February to get their hands on the game.
Thanks to Robbye Ron who dropped us a comment giving us the heads up about the news.
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Wed 29 Aug 2007
Very disappointing news for fans of multi-player action online, as Pro Evolution Soccer is taking a step-backward by once again only allowing 1 vs. 1 play. After the promising progress of 2 vs. 2 in PES6, many fans had hoped this would be increased further… especially with the news from EA of up to 10 players online in the same game. This becomes yet another thing which Konami MUST get right next year!
I only hope that the reason for the lack of multi-play online is that they have been working hard at reducing the lag for 1 vs. 1 games.
source – WENB
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Mon 27 Aug 2007
With Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 just around the corner it is high time you guys got your pre-orders in to avoid the disappointment of not getting a copy of the game come release day October 26th. Every year there are literally 100’s of places you could order the game, but we have come to learn who to avoid and who is likely to get the game to your EARLY!
HMV (PESGaming Recommends)
HMV are relatively new to the online selling business. Certainly, it was not until late 2006 that they really took off and began advertising here, there and everywhere. They are very eager to please, and offer competitve pricing and the all important FREE delivery. They are quicker than Play.com, and unlike Amazon.co.uk their free delivery is not price dependent (spend as little or as much as you like). Also, they have the game listed as being released 21st September! Although we don’t think it’s accurate, we still do believe they will almost definitely have the game in stock early meaning you are likely to get the game early by ordering with HMV.
Gamers with a student card can save 10% making the game £4 cheaper than anywhere else!
For further ordering details click the console you play…
Playstation 3 – £39.99
Playstation 2 – £29.99
XBox 360 – £39.99
PSP – £29.99
NintendoDS – £24.99
AMAZON.co.uk
Without doubt the daddy of online retailers. These guys almost always get the game to you by the release date it’s self, but you have to be careful. Make sure you don’t order anything else at the same time as you order PES 2008. You are generally safe enough choosing the free delivery option, as they send out the game a couple of days early to compensate for delivery times. What you won’t get with Amazon (usually!) is the game any earlier than the Friday
For further ordering details click the console you play…
Playstation 3 – £39.99
Playstation 2 – £29.99
XBox 360 – £39.99
PSP – £29.99
PLAY.com
Play are a Jersey based company which can sometimes slow down your delivery, but generally speaking they get the game to you on time. Best thing about Play is that delivery is free no matter what you spend, and they have during past Pro Evolution Soccer releases got the game to people EARLY. This is dependent on you buying the game well in-advance of the release date as they will ship out the game to people in the order that the pre-orders were made. One of the few places you can pre-order the PC game… only £17.99!
For further ordering details click the console you play…
Playstation 3 – £39.99
Playstation 2 – £29.99
XBox 360 – £39.99
PSP – £29.99
NintendoDS – £24.99
PC – £17.99
CD-WOW (Worldwide Delivery)
I’ll be honest, I haven’t actually tried buying from cd-wow before but I have only heard good things. The big plus factor with these guys is that they will ship worldwide absolutely free, which is great for gamers in North America not wanting to wait until the new year to play the game (it is due for release February 2008). The following is the dispatch information taken from their FAQs:
Unfortunatley, you can’t currently order the game at CD-WOW… watch this space for updates as soon as it becomes available!
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Sat 25 Aug 2007
Scans have landed at WENB courtesy of Rob Taylor which give us some further info on Pro Evolution Soccer 2008. In the mag there is a massive TEN page spread dedicated to the new game which covers just about everything. We highly recommend you download the .RAR file (17mb) which has hi-resolution copies of each page for you to read in full.
But for you lazy so’n’so’s, here is a brief run-down of what they say:
- Extended amount of stats (most hat-tricks, longest shot etc.)
- Longer replays
- 59 tracks for you to pick and choose to have playing on any menu
- Players seen to bend down and pull socks up during breaks in play
- Red icon appears over player when tired
- Referees will show cards in-game rather than cut scenes
- Players can be heard shouting for you to pass
- 30 types of boots
- Upload your photo and use it to create your likeness in game
- You can scan badges to use as logo’s or sponsors
- Audioless interaction between players and the media in Master League
- Choose your teams chants in the ML option menu
- Better players can shoot more accurately and consistently
- Defenders throw themselves at the ball to perform a block tackle
- 74 types of goal celebration
A lot of this information is rather refreshing after the poor gameplay videos of Leipzig. I guess it’s hard to judge a game before you play it, but I still stand by my points made the other day regards FIFA catching up. Many of you criticised me for saying PES 2008 looks rubbish, but that was not what I was saying at all. If you took the time to read the article carefully, you would see that it’s not that I think PES 2008 will suck, nor that FIFA 08 will be better. I was merely pointing out that FIFA is no longer the game that it was 5 years ago when many of you converted to PES. It’s improving vastly year upon year, where as Konami merely adds the odd new feature here and there. And, whether you like this statement or not, it’s a fact that Konami need work hard on the next-gen graphics for PES 2009 because sooner rather than later FIFA’s gameplay will be good enough to be worth playing.
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Sat 25 Aug 2007
We were delighted when Konami finally dumped Peter Brackley and Trevor Brooking, but it would seem the scripting for the commentary is going to be just as cheesy. Here are just a few examples of the new commentary lines:
Jon Champion: (score at 0-0) “This is far too tentative. There’s plenty of possesion in midfield, but no penetration.”
Jon Champion: (offside decision) “The ol’ lino got that spot on”.
Mark Lawrenson: (Man Utd vs. Barcelona) “Two sides who prefer to attack… rather than defend”.
Seriously, Konami? Lino? Can’t they just watch a match of Sky Sports to see what they actually say. My bet is they just get someone to literally translate the Japanese commentary script.
Fortunatley, however, they have boosted the commentary by now having it realise when you are on a strong winning-streak and they will discuss it during the game. This also works for the cup, with stories about previous victories.
source – October edition of the PSM3 magazine
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Fri 24 Aug 2007
I’m not going to lie to you folks. If you plan on playing PES 2008 on the PS2 I think you’re going to be fairly disappointment. Judging by this gameplay video posted up by the guys at WENB from the Leipzig convention, it seems clear that Konami have not spent much time upgrading the PS2 version of the game.
Other than the new passing animation… I honestly can’t see anything new here. The PS2 still get’s the nice new menus but to me the graphics look identical to PES6. Likewise, our man out in Leipzig indicated to us that the gameplay has barely been touched. Make your own mind up by viewing the video below:
[youtube sLsBBwt544w]
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Fri 24 Aug 2007
Some more videos from Leipzig have popped up. They show us the faces for the rest of the teams in the demo. You can see the Portugal/Brazil faces further down this page.
Brazil/Argentina
[youtube _UiTgDjF-xY]
Spain/Turkey
[youtube kaMlwaaE1H0]
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Thu 23 Aug 2007
Well after much anticipation, Leipzig has arrived and with it feelings of general disappointment. The team at Konami have been developing a next-gen version of Pro Evolution Soccer for almost 2 years now, and yesterday they showed us what appeared to be nothing more than a polished up PES6. Yes, we KNOW it is only ‘75%’ complete (how do you define how complete a game is anyway?) but with the game released in 2 months there surely can be no time left to make any major changes.
Gameplay wise, our man in Leipzig said he almost felt as though he was playing XBox 360 PES6. There are not enough new animations and judging from the movies we’ve seen, the in-game graphics are not next-gen. You want to see next-gen? Take a look at this FIFA 08 gameplay video. Yes, that’s right, I’m endorsing FIFA on a Pro Evo fan site. It’s all well and good PES 2008 having what appear to be fantastic cut scenes in the new game (especially goal celebrations) but what is most important is how the game looks and feels when you play it. Now, I’m sure some of you will disagree… but FIFA 08 looks the business. The lighting, the textures, the atmosphere… it all makes it feel a lot more real than PES 2008. And you know something else, it’s not just the graphics. If you ask me FIFA has been catching up to PES for the past 5 years with the gameplay side of things. After the abysmal FIFA 2001 the guys at EA have been working hard and in FIFA 08 I think it’s going to finally pay off.
Konami need to realise that they can’t rely on the old foundation that made their game so popular (the gameplay). Here’s something interesting. Take a look at this screenshot… it’s of Pro Evolution Soccer 3 released on PS2 in 2003.
Now let’s take a look at PES 2008… released on the PS3 in October 2008 (four years later).
Does this really represent next-gen quality graphics? Sure, I love the new presentation, and the animations of course have ‘evolved’… but it DOES NOT represent 4 years worth of ‘evolving’ – no way.
I thought surely this year they’d get it right for the new generation of consoles. Remember the HUGE leap from ISSPE2 on the PSone to PES on the PS2? It was amazing! I truly expected the same leap this time around, but it just hasn’t happened.
It’s always the little things that Konami managed to screw up over the years. If they had included stuff that the fans have been asking for for years there wouldn’t be so much backlash. Where is real master league currency? Where are the 2 player master leagues? Where are the scenario modes? There is just so much missing that wouldn’t take long to include. The currency issue is the main thing that annoys me. No body wants to be spending 14000 points on a player, you want to be spending £14 million pounds, or euros… hell, I’d settle for dollars if it meant having real currency!
While Konami struggles with the basics, EA are already streaking ahead as they announce a 10-man online mode. You’ll now be able to complete a full career online and join teams to play against others as a unit. The best Konami can manage is a lag fueled game with a maximum of 4 players.
Konami MUST respond to the critism by coming out next year with an absolute knock-out of a game, otherwise I am sure I won’t be the only one who gives up on the series altogether.
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Wed 22 Aug 2007
WENB have served us up more visual loveliness with a new gameplay video. YouTube video coming soon.
Spain vs. Brazil. Commentary doesn’t seem fully implemented as of yet. The net’s continue to impress us here at PESGaming (although no goals are actually scored in this particular video!), as do many of the other new animations and ball physics.
Shirts can be seen to be untucked.
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Wed 22 Aug 2007
Our insider out at Leipzig has had the chance to see the game in action and even got a couple of minutes on Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 himself. Here are his first impressions:
Keep it tuned to PESGaming for more updates as they come in.
