Archive for June, 2008
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2009 News on Mon 30 Jun 2008
OK… take this with a pinch of salt given that we already heard earlier today that the game will most likely be released October 17th, but ShopTo are currently carrying a 19th September 2008 release for Pro Evolution Soccer 2009.
Even if this changes, ShopTo nearly always get games out before the actual release date so are a great place to order from. Not to mention they are a few quid cheaper than the competition. Click the link for your console of choice for more details or to get your pre-order in super earlier.
XBox 360 - http://www.shopto.net/page.php?page=…R15FUC97114060
PS3 - http://www.shopto.net/page.php?page=…R03FUC97114060
PS2 - http://www.shopto.net/page.php?page=…R32FUC97114060
PC - http://www.shopto.net/page.php?page=…R17FUC97114060
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2009 News on Mon 30 Jun 2008
It is being reported across the web today that PES 2009 will be released Wednesday October 15th across, with an expected Friday 17th release for the UK.
WENB are reporting that KaiWai of WeArePES.com picked up the information while at the recent PES Cup Final in France.
At the event the attendees were then told that PES 2009 would be released on October 15th on PS2/PS3/X360/PC, with the PSP version to follow later that year. Added to that there was news that the game would be released on the DS and Wii in 2009.
No word on a worldwide release just yet.
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 24 Jun 2008
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. As expected, the information about the new PES is slowly starting to filter through, and with it, the masses are beginning to return to PESGaming.com. For those unfamiliar with Interfering With Play, this article is a weekly column written by me, Dan Bolas. I cover a wide range of subjects from the PES world, the computer gaming world and the footballing world, giving visitors of this site the opportunity to get involved, leave feedback and stress their own opinions in a very public forum. With that said, lets get started with this week’s article.
From Russia With Love
As Euro 2008 winds down, and having seen my fancied Croatia lose in a bitter blow for positive football, the cream of the crop has risen, with some surprising names still in contention for the trophy. Some of the fancied sides, such as Portugal and Holland, who started off playing delightful football, ended up succumbing to hard working and grafting teams, whilst the less said about Turkey’s constant last minute goals the better. Many expected the famous underachievers, Spain, to have a good tournament, and their game against Russia will be exceptionally interesting, especially after the 4-1 beating they handed out to Guus Hiddink’s side just a couple of weeks ago. But, as my topic heading suggests, I am deciding to focus upon the Russian’s, and am going to heap praise on one of the most impressive sides in Europe. Yes, they qualified from England’s group, yes they were very poor at Wembley stadium and even worse in Israel, but the bottom line is, when it has come to the crunch, when they have needed to pull out the big performances, they have done exactly that. No player’s ego is too big to fit on that pitch, a prime example being Yuri Zhirkov. Here is a player who makes a living playing in centre midfield for one of the topsides in Russian football, CSKA Moscow. His country has needed him to play left back for this competition, and instead of moaning about it, he has buckled down and given his all every game, making him a genuine contender for player of the tournament. In spite of the fact that a great deal of money is being invested into Russian football, there are no prima donnas in that squad, with everyone willing to give 100%, no matter if its for 5 minutes or the full 90. They out worked, out countered and out played the much fancied Dutch with relative ease, and in the form of Pavlyuchenko, Arshavin and Bilyaletdinov they have some genuinely talented players. I am not for one second claiming to have known this from the start of the tournament, yes I knew these players, but I did not realise the level which they could perform, and hands on heart, how many people out their honestly expected them to make the last four, especially after seeing David Villa destroy them in Game One. Fair play to Guus Hiddink, fair play to the Russians, and a little note to the F.A, this is a fine example of how to organise international football.
Screen If You Want To Go Faster
Anyone in the know when it comes to computer games would have expected to hear something about the latest PES in the next couple of weeks. Konami’s big game, Metal Gear Solid has proven to be a huge seller, a great hit and an excellent game. EA Sports will be waiting until Euro 2008 is completed, and their latest release, UEFA Euro 2008, is out of date, before announcing Fifa 2009, and around this time every year, with the summer weather fast approaching, its always nice to know that come the Autumn, we will have something to look forward to.
To quote Peter Willis, yes, we have seen this all before. The beautifully rendered screen shots, the excellent hi resolution stadiums and the intense facial expressions. But all Konami have really provided us with is news that PES 2009 will be released this year. The deliberately vague press conference has not confirmed or denied anything, only following up what Seabass ‘promised’ late 2007, that online will be improved for PES2009. Of course the graphics will be better, and more customisation features are a must, but at the end of the day, it was press talk for not saying anything. The naïve out there will have got exceptionally excited by these shots, but like many PES veterans I am waiting until mid August, and the screen shots and confirmed game features start coming thick and fast before getting two excited. Lets just hope they don’t mess up the game play!
I’ll Be Left Alone Forever With My Magazines
The next topic will be more relevant if you are a UK resident, and regards Computer Game magazines. Growing up, I always purchased computer game magazines with my pocket money. Without the Internet, this was really the only way to pick up reviews of games, and give you an idea of which games were to appear on your Christmas list. They also offered demo discs (or tapes!) featuring snippets of the latest games, making the £4.99 price tag seem justified. Nowadays, I see less and less point in these ‘official’ magazines, that charge over the top prices for bias opinions, out of date screen shots, cheats and demos that are available free of charge online! With this said, I still buy one gaming magazine a month, but it is one that features no demo disk, no cheats, and focuses its 180+ pages on news from the gaming industry. Anyone looking for a good read, interesting opinions and unbiased reviews could do a lot worse than check out Games tm , a monthly magazine that features some excellent articles, fair reviews and interesting news in the gaming industry. If you are a commuter, or regular have breaks at work, give it a try. Any readers let me know what you think of this publication.
Pacing Issues
Simple question, ‘Is PES2008 too fast?’ The game can be played slow, with build up play, working the ball through midfield and tidy one twos, but as a general rule, do you personally think it moves too quickly, with fast players having too much of an advantage. This will be further addressed in next week’s column.
Look’s Damn Fine
After an hour on Metal Sold 4 a couple of nights ago, I did the usual pre sleep ritual of a game of PES before bed. Looking at the images on the screen, it makes you realise that although being an improvement, the graphical quality of PES, FIFA, and all sports games are far behind that of the top end games. Of course, these games are years in development, but they are graphically beautiful, and set a very difficult bar to reach.
That’s all for this week’s article. There is a lot more to get through, and will be addressed over the upcoming weeks. One thing I would like to say is that all new visitors get involved, be it leaving a brief comment on this article or anything else you have seen on this fine site. PESGaming.com is, in my opinion, the best PES related website online, and we are always looking for new contributors, columnists and feature writers. If you wish to e-mail me, you can do so at danbolas@hotmail.com. Finally, can I give a quick shout out to Dynamo Dragons, who won the Monday Night League this week, the first team to ever win back-to-back titles, and have done it with games to spare.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2009 News on Mon 23 Jun 2008
We have already seen a 5 of these accompany the press release, but IGN have now uploaded 8 fresh screen grabs (which they have now pulled from their site… but can still be found here) from the upcoming Pro Evolution Soccer 2009. I can’t say there’s much to get you excited just yet (or maybe I’m just getting tired of this same crap year in year out?)… but I guess anything is better than nothing.
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2009 News on Mon 23 Jun 2008
As promised, the official press release for Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is here… and along with it a bunch of high-res screenshots courtesy of our friends at PCAction!
Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has announced that it will release PES 2009 for PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360, PC-DVD, PlayStation®2, and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) this Autumn in Europe. PES 2009 is the latest installment of the award-winning Pro Evolution Soccer Series, which is known by millions of fans for its superior gameplay and incredible realism. For PES 2009, Konami is already planning a raft of extensive new additions that will further bridge the gap between PES and the real thing. The new game has undergone a stunning graphical update to ensure its players look and move even more like their real-life counterparts. Similarly, all-new options allow users to tailor the game to their own tastes, while new moves, innovative new control elements and key online elements will further the realism of the new game.
“The announcement of a new PES game is always a highlight for Konami, but PES 2009 looks set to reaffirm the series’ utter superiority,” commented Jon Murphy, PES Project Leader for Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH. “We are committed to extending the realism of the new game with a wealth of key gameplay additions, and will produce a football title that truly embodies all the skill and pace that is good about the modern game.
Pick up the uber high-resolution shots over at the PCAction site, click on each image for the bigger shot.
So - let’s review these announcements.
- Launching “this Autumn in Europe”.
- A raft of new additions to “bridge the gap” between PES and reality.
- A “stunning graphical update” for PES 2009 which will see players looking more life-like than ever.
- New moves and “innovative” control elements.
- “Key online elements” - One can only assume this means the game will actually be playable online this time.
One question. Haven’t we heard all of this before?
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2009 News on Mon 23 Jun 2008
The official press release for Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is said to be hitting the web today and will be accompanied by some high-resolution screen shots, according to insiders in Germany. And, just to wet your appetite, you can find below the first grainy images of PES 2009, courtesy of WENB.
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 17 Jun 2008
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. At the time of writing, it is possible that both Italy and France could be out of the European Championships during the group stages, and Germany look far from convincing as they scrape through. On the other hand, Portugal, Holland and Spain all look exceptionally strong contenders to go all the way and my Croatian boys are looking good! An interesting point raised in a comment last week, that players are playing for passion not money is something that I do like about the Euros. Most players in the Croatian, Turkish or even Romanian squads would not find a place in the top clubs in Spain or England. The fact that they not only hold their own, but also outperform these players on the International stage is a testament to both excellent coaching, and the correct attitude from the players. I mean, none of the England squad wanted to miss Rooney’s wedding, so European Qualification wasn’t an option. Lets get going with this week’s article.
Space: The Final Frontier
First point tonight is something that has been raised by evo_legend, and had been backed up on many other message boards and forums. The majority of PS3 games nowadays feature a mandatory install ranging from a few hundred MB to a huge 5GB, which decreases loading times. For those gamers with 20GB hard drives or even 40GB on their PS3 consoles, space is starting to become an issue, with large game collections having to be sacrificed in order to play the latest titles. There is an option to simply expand your hard drive, but by doing so the original data of many games will no longer be on your system. I open the floor to the PESGaming.com community as to whether it is a good idea to shrink these loading times. I personally hate waiting for games to load half way through a level or between each race/round, but feel Sony needs to address the issue of space management with official storage devices, be they USB style memory cards or larger hard drives. 360 users don’t currently have this option to install many games, but would it be something you would want to see in order to shave loading times, especially on games like Smackdown Vs. Raw 2008. Finally, has anyone tried to place a new Hard Drive into your PS3? I know it does not invalidate the warranty and is perfectly legal, but still seems risky when dealing with hours upon day’s worth of saved data. Your views would be appreciated.
I Open Up The Floor
Whilst doing my weekly read through various forum comments on this website, I had to smile as I came across a number of comments still claiming Fifa 2008 to the a superior game to Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, and that only Fanboys think that PES 2008 is the better game. Regular poster Steve From Stoke brought this up again as a comment in Interfering With Play, however for the first time, I am willing to give EA Sports gamers the opportunity to pass on why Fifa 2008 is the stronger game. I own both titles and have played Fifa 2008 for a number of hours, online and offline, with mates and on my own. As I have been saying for months, the online set up of Fifa is much better than that of Konami’s game, for the simple fact it works and is linked into the menu system much better. Graphically, there are very few gamers that would argue Fifa 2008 is not the better-looking game. PES has come along way over the past 10 years, as has Fifa, but player models and light rendering techniques do make for some pretty impressive looking images. But when it comes to game play, Fifa 2008 is still a long way behind. Any realism of player models, stadium likenesses and exact replica shirts are worth nothing when the AI runs away from you. Aerial battles are based on luck, not judgement and set pieces require very little skill. The trick moves are the epitome of EA Sports, whilst looking excellent and giving the player the illusion of being able to do one of hundreds of combinations, all give a very similar result and have very little impact on what goes on in a match. For all the nice menu screens, presentation and game modes, Fifa 2008 lets itself down in the biggest place possible, on the pitch, and gamers who believe it to be the superior game are those who are too dazzled by the presentation to realise the substance is very much lacking. Yes, it is getting better than maybe 5 years ago, but it is still a long way from the goal mouth scrambles, defensive master classes and keep ball sessions constantly seen in PES matches. Fifa gamers, if you’re reading this, defend the game.
I Saw Her Face, And Now I’m An Achiever
My next point relates to PES to an extent, but can be taken further to many game genres. Since the introduction of the achievement system on X Box 360, and with the imminent trophy system arriving on PS3, game developers seem to feel this is enough to warrant completing a game. Rather than giving gamers new levels, weapons or characters, they are instead asking us to complete the game again without using the jump button, or by only using the analogue stick! The same is for Pro Evolution Soccer, whereby the track record, whilst being a good introduction, has been brought in to have gamers try and complete tasks for no reward over than a stamp, as a way of covering over the lack of shop or very few unlock able teams or players. Some games do offer bonus videos, concept art or soundtrack options, but unless your into that kind of thing, it is not going to make you want to go back to play a game again and again. Imagine completing a game only to have to play each boss battle as the boss itself, or even play the entire title from the view of the end boss, killing good guys until you finally meet your match in the form of the games hero. Or giving a new selection of racetracks that feature physical obstacles being places on the road, even having to avoid people as you race around the course. Fifa has always offered alternate strips when completing tournaments, or by buying them using in game currency, but I am thinking of actual game play modes. For example, being able to play the game using old-fashioned rules, with back passes being allowed to be picked up by the GK, and only one sub being available. Couple this with harder balls, more lenient refs and even old style TV presentation and commentators and you have a completely different gaming experience. The same could be said for adding indoor football, 7 a side or even unlocking pub style pitches, complete with bias linesmen, bobbling pitches and muddy goalmouths. As I mentioned before, there is more and more focus on aftercare when it comes to games, and by adding these things, you will satisfy gamers for a longer period of time, and keep challenges fresh an original. It might simply be a case of downloadable content has replaced the unlockable now. Instead of having to be skilled at a game in order to gain new levels or weapons, you simply have to hand over more cash. For some games like Sing star or Guitar Hero, I fully agree with this kind of content, but sport and FPS games should have their own extra, game play based content included upon successfully completing in game challenges.
Easy, Easy, Easy
I consider myself a decent PES player. As soon as a respectable online mode of the game is available, I will offer open challenges on Interfering With Play, with big shout outs being made available for those who defeat me, or even give me a good game. I would not claim to be unbeatable, but can give anyone a good game. I have won the Master League on Top Player without signing any superstars and have a win ratio in the high 90% region. At times, I have been tempted to call the game too easy like many people out there, especially when turning over a ‘big team’ on the top rating. However, the game will always through you a curve ball, such as a 4-1 hammering by Germany as Croatia or a 3-0 battering as Portugal by Holland. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 may not be over difficult, but it is definitely not an easy game, by any stretch of the imagination.
That’s it for this week’s article. I have intentionally avoided the Cristiano Ronaldo subject until he comes out and decides his future, whether he stays or goes will be spoken about in Interfering With Play in coming months. I am currently loving Metal Gear Online, anyone who is playing this excellent game at the moment will find me on the there as The Bolder. Leave comments on anything you have read above, or anything of interest, and I will bring them up in future articles. You can also e-mail me on danbolas@hotmail.com if you have anything you wish to stress in private, or of particular length.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 10 Jun 2008
This week’s Interfering With Play is probably the hottest one ever written; mainly due to sheer temperatures we are experiencing here in England at the moment. So much so, that the last thing many people wish to be doing is sitting in front of computer screens or in offices, working away. With such good quality football available on our TV screens for the next few weeks, the dilemma of beer gardens vs. big screen TVs is truly upon us, and as Euro 2008 carries on, the big games will only continue to come. In this busy time, both socially and weather wise, it is important to the remember that the gaming industry is still ticking on, with a number of huge titles, both single and multiplayer making their ways into the shops over the next few weeks and that sooner rather than later, the latest PES news will arrive on our doorsteps. When this occurs, be sure to become a PESGaming.com regular, as it is the best place for official press releases, news and facts about the latest Konami offering. But for now, lets move on with this week’s Interfering With Play.
Not On My Radar Mate!
Last week, during a gaming session round my mate’s house, I experienced a new aspect of PES2008. I turned off all player names, on screen displays and meters and just played the game, as it would be if it were a televised game. I kept the radar on, as I find it very useful, but other than that, it made playing the game a great deal different. I had to concentrate more which player was in possession of the ball before deciding which foot to shoot with, and found myself conserving energy as to not have players stamina bomb out before half time. Anyone who has not tried this yet, its something worth giving a go, as well as experimenting with different camera angles to make the game more challenging. Following this, I received e-mail from Jonathon, who made an interesting observation. Whilst I personally love having the radar on screen, he hates it, and informed me that there is no way of turning it off completely. On closer inspection I found this was true, and has been for a number of previous PES games. So I am offering this up to you, the PESGaming.com community. Is the radar a crucial part of your game? Do you wish you could turn it off completely, to add realism or do you feel it should not even be on the screen in the first place, and allow gamers to have the option to turn it on? Your comments, as always are greatly appreciated.
Fishing Or Angling
On the subject of camera angles, a huge debate always rages between me and my mates on which camera angle is superior. I am a PES veteran and therefore favour the Medium camera angle, which was the default angle on earlier PES games. Since PES5, the default camera angle has been changed to either long or wide, making the action seem to far away for me. However, most of my mates have got used to play with this angle and claim it to be the only way to play the game. Anyone who plays a lot of PES knows the way the different angles can affect a game, and that someone who is used to playing one angle will have an advantage over someone who doesn’t. With online gaming still poor when it comes to PES, the camera angle issue continues to be a problem between my group of mates, resulting in unfair multiplayer matches. Again, I ask the PESGaming.com community, which is your preferred angle? Do you use the default angle for each game, or do u prefer one slightly closer in? Are you even one of the strange folk who like to use the Vertical camera angle, similar to old school footballing games? Your views are welcomed on this subject.
Wii-For-All
There is a saying that it is a good man that sticks to his convictions, but it is a great man that can admit when they are wrong. A great woman, however, can find a way to blame the nearest man, and make it seem like they were right all along! Far from calling myself a great man, I will readily admit I was wrong about the Nintendo Wii. No, it is still nowhere near on a level playing field with the PS3 or 360, and probably never will be, but for what it is, it does it pretty darn well. I speak of course about the aspect of social gaming, and the way that anyone can pick up a controller and play a game, irrelevant of experience and ability. It is a great leveller among parents and their children or boyfriends and their girlfriends, being a real example of simple to play means everyone can enjoy it. I purchased one last week, for the soul purpose of social interaction. I have people round my house on a regular basis and find it to be a light hearted alternative to poker or PES, which do exclude certain people and normally sees the same people being victorious. I am not buying games like Super Mario Galaxy or No More Heroes, which are both excellent single player titles, instead I am opting for party games like Mario Kart and Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games, which can be played by everyone. Following on from this, the question I am putting on there is Pro Evolution Soccer on the Wii, is it worth the purchase? I do not expect an experience to rival PS3, but is it a game that is both multiplayer friendly and simple to play? Any advice would be taken on board.
English And Proud
Without England being at the European Championships this year, it allows me to be completely unbiased when watching games, simply enjoying them for what they are. Yes, as I stated a couple of weeks ago I will be hoping Croatia do well, but if they get knocked out in the group stages, my enjoyment of the tournament won’t be lowered. My point is, following a very poor game between France and Romania; International Football is nowhere near as enjoyable as the English Premier League. Yes, the Holland match was a very decent game, but you would expect to say games of that quality every week in the English top flight. Holland did show some excellent counterattacking play, but not as good as Manchester United or Arsenal have shown against Roma or AC Milan in the previous season. I am delighted to be able to watch this football on TV pretty much every night, but can’t wait the domestic season to return.
Wonder kid or Wonder bra
Final point of this week goes to the best player in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo. AC Milan fans, he has had a better season than Kaka and Barcelona fans, he score more goals than Lionel Messi. Technically he is superb, his trickery is as good as anyone ever, he is excellent in the air, exceptionally quick and can score shed loads of goals. He is at a great club in the form of Manchester United, who have a manager who has helped him developed into this phenomenal player. So why on earth would he want to move to Real Madrid? Whilst Madrid have found domestic success, they are still a long way off European glory, and have a team that is both unsettled and at time unprofessional. They have top wingers such as Robinho and Robben, who have failed to show consistent form due to constant position switching and so far are failing to fulfil their potential. The only reasons I can think of are the simple fact that his current female, a Spanish part girl, wants him closer to home and that the immense amounts of money are too much to overlook. But with footballers relationship’s lasting less time than their boot deals, his move to Spain could end up spoiling him as a player. Just look at players like Ronaldo and Henry, top footballers who have struggled in La Liga, and are nowhere near the players they once were. Your views on this would be, as always, very much appreciated.
That’s it for this week’s article. Get in touch via e-mail on danbolas@hotmail.com, or by leaving a comment on the bottom of this section (it’s the red button below). Its good to see some new names getting involved on the boards, and if you are going to leave a comment, make sure you leave your name, so everyone knows who is saying what!
Thanks for Reading
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 03 Jun 2008
Welcome to this week’s edition of Interfering With Play. With the big four section now behind us, Interfering With Play enters the summer months looking towards information about PES2009 being revealed, made public and the wild speculation regarding features and game modes will surely follow suit. So much so, that PES 2009 is now listed on Play.com, allowing you to add yourself to a mailing list for news regarding the games, as yet unconfirmed, release date. It is crazy to think that 9 months after its release, we are still discussing its merits and flaws, with the underlining factor being, most gamers are still playing PES2008, in spite of huge titles such as Grand Theft Auto IV being in our gaming collection. If only the online mode… Anyway, on with this week’s column.
Metal Gears Of War
For those of you who own a PS3, the waiting is almost over for the first ‘real’ exclusive title. For those of you not keeping track, Metal Gear Solid 4 is released 12th June 2008, and as seems to be the big trend nowadays, the title is on worldwide release. I am well aware that bringing this up will have some members of the PESGaming.com community in uproar, as it doesn’t feature PES, but this release has ramifications for gamers all over the world. When speaking about Sony’s consoles, Metal Gear Solid has very much been a benchmark for which other games are judged. A lot of titles released over the past 12 years have been good, but many fall behind when related to “Is It As Good As Metal Gear Solid?” There is a lot of pressure on Konami once again to deliver and with the game being the final title to feature Solid Snake; there are a lot of questions to be answered too. Bottom line is, if Metal Gear Solid is poor, not only will X Box 360 obliterate PS3 in the next generation console war, but Konami will lose a great deal of credibility as a developer, not to mention income. Seeing as Konami are heavily involved in PES, granted at different studios, finances will definitely come in to play when money is being issued for licenses and marketing regarding PES 2009. I have intentionally avoided all the media hype about MGS4, and am quietly looking forward to what could prove to be a triumphant return to form for Konami!
“If I Had Another Chance Tonight”
I remember, many years ago, when you purchased a computer game and that was it. You played the game, either saved it or obtained passwords, and gradually made your way through to the final levels, defeating bosses as you go. If a game was rubbish, you would take it back, or simply not buy it. Some would claim that this is the way gaming should be and whilst it is slightly old school, I can appreciate where they are coming from. Nowadays, no sooner have your purchased a game, than the developers are adding a new patch for you to download, in order to increase camera angles, or control sensitivity or even giving you new levels and characters to play with. A prime example is PS3 flop, Lair. The game was toted at the PS3 launch to be one of the best looking games ever, coupled with a unique game experience involving a combination of regular controls and motion sensor movements. Then the game came out, the frame rate was too slow and the motion sensor controls shoddy. Reviewers slated the game and it was dunked into sales and bargains bins all over the high street. Four months after its release, the developers release a patch, combating all the problems reviewers had picked up on and turning it into a very playable title. I personally feel it is excellent commitment to a game that it is constantly being looked at and improved, even after its release, and sports developers should follow this trend as soon as possible. Yes, PES2008 had a couple of dodgy updates, but nothing that changed the online experience one dot. What are the views of the PESGaming.com community on gaming add-ons? Should developers be allowed to add bits to their games, or should they make sure its 100% perfect before release, resulting in delays to release dates? Your comments at the bottom, if you wish to do so.
Free Kick Specialist
A big talking point on PESGaming.com this week has been about free kicks on PES2008, mainly how they are too hard to execute. Whilst for a casual gamer, I can fully appreciate their concerns, but have no sympathy for them, and as for hardcore PES players the idea of a arrow pointing towards the goal is both insulting and far too arcade based. Yes, quick free kicks need to be made more consistent, and 100% yes, short free kicks need to be easier to control, but the idea of taking the shine off a 25 yard pearlier with Beckham by using an arrow sends shivers down my spine. I will spend a good few hours on the games training mode, practising Free Kicks with players from all different angles. I work on using the different power combinations, the different height combinations and the different swerve settings. I will place the ball out wide and whip 100’s of balls into the box, using a variety of different players, and will blaze the ball over the bar hundreds of times in order to find that perfect sweet spot. But when my player is fouled 30 yards from goal, I know I will be able to step up with Cristiano Ronaldo and cause problems for the GK. I know that if I get brought down whilst beating a full back, Ashley Young’s delivery will cause the opposition problems, and I believe my practise time was worth it. Of course, you are not going to score a free kick every time. Taller players in the wall may block a shot that would be goal bound should a smaller man be occupying that spot, but the idea of getting the power in the right area, getting the angles right and basically, practising provides the best results. I know hardcore PES players will be with me on this one, but for those on the fence, believe me when I say, put the hours in on the training field and the results will start to show, especially in multiplayer games.
Foul And Abusive Language
Reading through PESGaming.com the other day, some of the comments left by anonymous users are both humorous and at the same time, completely unacceptable. Writing this article requires a tad more than a barrage of four letter words, and structured opinions will always be listened to ahead of abusive slang. I am not really talking about comments left on IWP, mainly because it doesn’t bother me personally, but on the comments left to Seabass based articles, it is no wonder Konami don’t take the time to read their fans views. I can appreciate how being firm and forceful may help to get your views across, but racially abusing someone or swapping every other word for a curse certainly doesn’t get my attention. And it doesn’t particularly look mature either.
Cold As Ice
90th Minute, Master League, you have to score to win the title, and you are awarded a penalty. Unfortunately for the AI, if you place the penalty straight down the middle along the floor, you are virtually guaranteed to score. Every time I have done so, and the GK has saved it, the ball has rolled straight back to my striker for a tap in. This is based on maybe 100 penalties, and although I don’t go down the middle every time, when I do it’s a positive I will score. Any views on this from the community?
That’s your lot for this week. As always get involved by adding comments at the bottom of the article, or by e-mailing me direct on danbolas@hotmail.com. Just to back up a few views, the commitment some people show to PES is staggering, especially regarding editing. Its almost funny that Konami pay people money to do what many of us will do in our own time for hours on end, for free! Mad world, but I think PES does drive gamers to new levels of crazy.
Thanks for Reading
