PES6 vs. PES 2008
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Thu 27 Sep 2007
Just a quick update with one of your requests. Here is a shot from PES6 compared with that of one taken from PES 2008.
Archive for September, 2007
XBox 360 achievements announced
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Wed 26 Sep 2007
Dan19 has shrewdly spotted the announcement of the XBox 360 achievement list for PES 2008. You can find it here. There are 28 achievements in total, with a maximum of 1000 gamer points obtainable.
Introducing ‘Memorable Moments’
Posted by James in PES 2008 News on Wed 26 Sep 2007
Hello and welcome to my new weekly article ‘Memorable Moments’. My name is James, and I’ve recently joined the team here at PES Gaming to assist with title research and content building.
So with only a month to go, this article is all about crowning the moments of magic, mischief and madness that reinforce PES as the top footballing title, bar none. We’ve all been there, hanging on for a 1-0 victory when disaster strikes. What about that time when your no good donkey striker netted that 20 yard shinny? Or when you hacked down Adriano to preserve your clean sheet despite being 5 or 6 up?
As an Xbox 360 user, online play has brought me times or sheer anger, disgust, and laughter. But never boredom. I’ve bought and sold games all year, but PES has always stayed. And rightfully so. I’ve played a part in some trully incredible matches. But I want to hear some of your stories. This is for you, the gamer, to share some of your most memorable matches from all PES titles and platforms. Set the scene, wait for the whistle, and rant away. Good and bad stories alike, let’s hear em’ all.
Please send your stories to cubecube@hotmail.co.uk. The best stories will be featured in next week’s article.
I look forward to hearing from you.
PC Demo Gets The Thumbs Up!!
Posted by Steven Kewley in PES 2008 News on Tue 25 Sep 2007
After lots of waiting and wondering if Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 would be an improvement on the last game it seems that they have done it again. Graphics have come on leaps and bounds, passing seems more slicker and the shooting has been tweaked. I think we are all in for a treat come October the 26th so remember to order now to ensure you get your copy in time.
Quick note… People seem to be having some problems with installing and running the game.
If you are running vista then right click on the exe file and run as administrator - (Bit of a Pain I Know). Also, make sure you have the DirectX 9.0C installed on your computer.
Interfering With Play 25/09/07
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 25 Sep 2007
As it gets closer to the release of PES2008, the information is starting to come thick and fast. With the release of the demos, and indeed the release of Fifa 2008 on Friday, it is a good time to be a fan of football gaming. With this said, I am going to start this weeks Interfering With Play.
No Way, Jose
Just want to open with the football news that has dominated the papers for the past 7 days, Jose Mourinho leaving/being sacked from Chelsea. No one will ever be 100% certain of the reason for his departure, and I am sure there are pages worth of legal documents protecting that illusive secret. What I would like to say is, whether you love him or hate him, he was defiantly good for English football and the Premier League. His confrontational style may have not always sat well with rival fans, but he was coach who knew how to get the best out of his players. You could see that his players were playing his tactics and his game plans, more often that not resulting in positive results. He is one of the few foreign managers to have purchased a wealth of English players as well as looking abroad. Whilst some of these may not have worked out as he planned, he did not always look overseas for answers, a lesson which should be taken onboard by managers at other premier league sides. His press conferences were entertaining, and whilst coming across as arrogant, he had a self belief that I am sure Derby and Bolton fans would currently wish to see in their bosses. There will always be questions asked, the main one being did he really want Shevchenko and Ballack? But as a boss, and a coach, his success record is up there with the best of them, and he will be missed.
Lasting Impressions
After a week of hearing what fellow PESGAMING.com fans have had to say about the Fifa 2008 demo, I have decided to give my review of the game. With its release only a handful of days away, I am guessing the demo will be very similar to the finished article, and whilst there will be many more options and areas available, the game play won’t change too much. As with each Fifa game, 2008 has set a high standard for graphics. Many of the player models available look realistic, and there are certain moments, usually in cut scenes, where you could actually be forgiven for thinking it was a live TV game. The pitch detail is excellent, and the wide variety replay angles show off some impressive rendering techniques. Of course, if this were a movie, that is all that would matter. But its not, however good looking a game is, it won’t last two minutes if its not playable. And that’s where my review really begins. The loading/menu screen is an interactive mini game in itself. A one of one feature in which you can practise using the tricks and skills on the trick stick, or practise your shooting using the default player, Ronaldinho. This feature was present on the Fifa 2007 on the X Box 360, and is a tidy addition to any game. Like many years ago, when waiting for games to load, you would have a basic version of Space Invaders to occupy the time, the one on one mini game provides a better alternative to the plain loading screen. Will it get boring? Most defiantly, but its better to have it there than not. So after selecting your teams and choosing your starting line up, you find your players making there way onto the pitch. No questions about the presentation, whilst not perfect it is very nice. The in stadium announcer reels off the starting line ups (well, two players) and the sides warm up.
And then the game begins. From the very first pass the game oozes Fifa, a very slow and remedial game that seems to have players taking too long over playing the simplest of passes. Moving with the ball, whilst improved from maybe 3 years ago, still feels very slow and unnatural; with players around you not seeming too bothered about creating space for you. The controller set up is very similar to Pro Evolution, with the most unusual change being the fact R2 has been adopted as the run button as opposed to R1. As the game progresses, more things start to frustrate and annoy the player. The passing system seems to be getting slower and less accurate with each pass, resulting some times in you moving forwards with the ball in a risky area as opposed to playing a ‘simple’ pass. Football fans know this is not the way football should be played. Heading the ball seems more about luck than judgement, with pressing the button harder and longer than your opponent prevailing over actual positioning and timing. Of course, it’s a different game to Pro Evolution, and therefore is going to do things in a different way, but realism cannot be hidden, and making certain aspects of a game ‘gamer friendly’ will isolate players who are fans of the sport. Then, after about four or five games you realise something that is truly shocking. Despite all these players looking exceptionally realistic, their skill levels and attributes do not differ at all. Playing with Manchester United, you will normally have to check the name bar to decide if it is Cristiano Ronaldo or Gary Neville running down your right hand side, with both players possessing almost identical speed and ball control. Whilst Vidic is a top centre back, and one of the best headers of a ball in the Premier, he is not as comfortable at doing step overs as Ronaldo or Giggs, However, you can perform them with wreck less abandon if you wish, and due to exceptional ball control from the big Serbian, still maintain possession. Thirdly, the new ‘improved’ shooting technique seems to be as random as ever. Players strike the ball equally on either foot, and will be able to provide wonderful curling shots, irrelevant of their real life ability. Yes, we have all seen Messi score some wonderfully struck goals, but Carlos Puyol? It seems that whilst they have tried to improve the shooting, and to be fair shooting from close range does seem to be more realistic, long range shooting still seems to be as wild and wacky as ever!
These are observations I have made over a period of a weeks gaming, not after one or tw
PC Demo: Requests
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Tue 25 Sep 2007
For those of you on a slow connection or who don’t have ISP’s that will allow you to download 1.1gb worth of content, we are now taking requests for screenshots, videos and information. We will publish a selection of your requests over the course of the week.
PC Demo is HERE!
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Tue 25 Sep 2007
You are not going to be even reading this, so I won’t bother wasting my time with any pleasantries, here are the download links (if one is down, try another).
Demo weighs in at a hefty 1.1gb
OFFICIAL LINK
MIRROR 1
MIRROR 2
MIRROR 3 - Working but slow
MIRROR 4 - BEST
Check the ‘responses’ for more links.
Don’t Forget… Pre-order your copy of the game in good time to ensure you get on release day. Check out our full guide on ordering the new game.
Normal service will now be resumed
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Mon 24 Sep 2007
After a fortnight of little connection to the old WWW, I am now back online. Many of you have played the demo which was released on XBox Live late last week, and thus far the response has been mostly positive with the only negative feedback being aimed at the diving feature (come on, you all love pulling one off really!).
Here is a quick snippet thanks to the WENB guys off a dive being successfully carried out.
This time without Internet has made me realise we really need more support here with regards news and download postings. If you think you have what it takes to keep one of the largest UK fan sites up to date, be sure to drop me an e-mail via the contact us page.
Also, with the new game just around the corner, what kind of features or coverage would you like to see here at PESGaming? Feel free to leave your comments.
Demo hits 360 Live
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2008 News on Fri 21 Sep 2007
Still got some troubles with my connection, but I have managed to steal the neighbours wireless to get this post up!
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 has finally landed on XBox 360 live and you can download it right now. No word as yet on the PS3 or PC demo’s.
Interfering With Play 18/09/07
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 18 Sep 2007
In a 7 day period that has seen International games, Premier League matches and the first stage of the Champion’s League begin, as well as the release of the Fifa 08 demo, I am going to kick off straight into my topics in this weeks Interfering with Play.
Big Games, New Names
I’d firstly like to start off by congratulating England on a job exceptionally well done over their past two qualifiers. Despite my previous comments about the boss and the way some of the bigger ‘stars’ play in recent columns, I am English and an England fan, and as a result like any patriotic individual, want my country to succeed and do well. However, with the above said, three of the biggest changes Mr. McClaren had to make over the past games were forced, the introduction of Heskey, Barry and Wright Phillips in place of England ‘regulars’ Beckham, Lampard and Rooney. I have very little doubt that should those three players have been healthy and available for selection, it would have been unlikely that the other three would have played more than 45 minutes in the two games, which leads me to my point. The decision will need to be made as to who plays and who doesn’t when England next play in a few weeks time, and should, if fit, the three players who were England’s overall best performers during the games against Russia and Israel start against Estonia. In my opinion, all three should, but I am going to leave a lingering thought. Heskey, Barry and Wright Phillips all know the importance of playing for their place. They have all been on the fringes of the national squad for several years, and have taken their opportunity to perform. Perhaps a few games on the bench for Lampard and Rooney, players who are undoubtedly top players, but fail to perform consistently for England, might make them realise that they have to produce the kind of form they show for their table topping sides in order to hold down their England shirt. In my opinion, if you don’t perform for two or three games at a club like Liverpool or Chelsea, you will find yourself on the bench, having to earn your place back, so the same should be said for the national team, especially when the players who are coming in are doing such a fine job!
Frogs Legs Or Scotch Eggs
Whilst on the subject of international football, I just want to take my hat off to the way the Scots performed in Paris last week. As I said, I am English, and as a result am conditioned to believe Scottish football is a more primitive form of the Premier League! However, there is no denying any side that can do the double over France in a qualifying campaign must be doing something right, and I honestly hope to see Scotland at Euro 2008!
The Kids Are Alright
Honestly, I did not expect to be seeing Arsenal at the top of the pile come mid September, or all season for that matter, but I will be the first to take my hat off to Arsene Wenger and his young group of players. Before I go any further in this section, may I stress two things, I do not support Arsenal football club (or any Premier League side) and therefore am reasonable neutral when it comes to my opinion of top-flight football. The second thing I would like to point out is that in my opinion, Thierry Henry is the greatest player I have ever seen play. This opinion is based over a number of seasons, watching him both live and on TV. As many Liverpool fans will tell you, he could carry Arsenal on his back and beat you almost single-handed. He scored both incredibly difficult goals, and wonderful individual efforts for Arsenal, and when he was in the mood, he was pretty much unmarkable. Also, if my statistics are correct, there was a season in which he scored over 20 goals and assisted another 30+, an amazing piece of information that other top players can only dream of.
With all that said, I believe Wenger may have done a great piece of business offloading him to Barcelona this summer, and picking up a reasonable amount of money in the process. It has meant that a lot of his young stars have had to step up to the plate, and it is probably the reason why they are top of the pile at the moment. Players like Fabregas and van Persie have always been top players for Arsenal, but the start of this season has seen them playing as well as anyone in the world. Couple this with players like Adebayor and Hleb, who almost seemed to be intimidated by Henry, starting to perform to stop standards, you have a very impressive looking side. There is no doubt they pass and move better than any side in the country, and when they are playing well, they are a true delight to watch, but now they have some of the squad players starting to stand up and be counted, and that is always the sign of a very good side. People questioned their ability to still be a top four side, but Saturday’s game against Tottenham was just proof that you cant write off a side that plays as a team, and in a day and age when its part of the summer to see how many big names you can bring into your club during the transfer window, Wenger proves there is still a lot to be said for team spirit. Personally, I would love to see the Gunners sit at the top of the table in May, and although it seems highly unlikely, if they play the kind of football they have done during the opening weeks of the season, who could begrudge them.
The First Demo
For those of you who are unaware, a demo of Fifa 2008 is available on the Playstation Store. The Playstation Store is an area on PS3 that allows you to download the latest game and movie trailers for viewing on your PS3, as well as game demos. You can also buy full games, or extras for existing games on the store, but of course these must be purchased using a Credit Card. The Fifa demo was a free download, and was made available towards the end of last week. It features several sides, and allows you to play a 4-minute half of football, with complete access to substitutions and tactics.
I strongly encourage anyone with a PS3 to download the demo and post your opinions of the game in the responses section of this article, as I would be very interested to here your views and comments on how the latest EA Sports offering rates in the eyes of the PESgaming.com community. I have played several games on it since I downloaded it over the weekend, and have opinions about the game myself. However, I am going to hold these back another week, to see what the visitors of this fine site think. This is mainly because I have spent a great deal of time talking about Fifa in my column the last few weeks, and wish to have a break from the topic!
I Can’t Handle The Truth!
As it was pointed out in one the responses to my last column, there will be a 5 on 5 players online option on Fifa 2008, not the 10 on 10 options I had reported. I hold my hands up, as this was an error on my part. Preliminary reports suggested that the EA Sports game would have this feature, but it has since been confirmed it will be shaved down to a 5 on 5 option. As I have said before, I am always open to both positive and negative comments, and take all on board when writing Interfering With Play each week.
6 Weeks Until It Arrives!
My final point of this week’s column regards the build up to the new Pro Evolution Soccer game, and how Konami have seemed to really work on the marketing this year. It has been a great criticism of Konami in the past the that they have not tried to compete with Fifa when it comes to adverts, and creating awareness about the product, however, I feel this year the advertising is more in your face that ever. Whilst in previous years, there way have a been a solitary advertising board announcing the release of the new Pro Evo, this year is seems to be popping up at every Premier League ground in the country. When Adebayor scored his header against Tottenham on Saturday, the electronic board behind the goal all said PES2008 in flashing text! I have seen adverts in national newspapers promoting the game using Michael Owen as the poster boy after his goal scoring performances for England. On the net, sites like Play are creating a huge buzz about Pro Evo, with the £50,000 competition being one of the sites major promotions! All of this is six weeks before the game is available in the shops. With Fifa 2008 due out in just under two weeks, the marketing push has hardly been the same. Normally you can’t turn on a TV channel without catching some part of a Fifa advert, however this year, I have not seen one yet. There is no doubt the hype about the two biggest football games is starting to reach the national media, so if you have any unique sightings of adverting either game, add your responses to the article in the usual manor.
Again, I take this opportunity to say, if you have any comments or points about anything you have read in this article, feel free to respond, or mail me on danbolas@hotmail.com. If you have a PS3 and are connected to the net, my PS3 Gamer Name is thebolder, so feel free to add me and send me a message on there. I would especially like to hear the views of people regarding the Fifa 2008 demo, as I will be giving my opinions in next weeks Interfering With Play.
Thanks For Reading
