Archive for January, 2009
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2009 News, PES Off!! on Thu 29 Jan 2009
I’d like to kick off this week with a special message from Seabass himself:
“Please accept my personal thanks to you and all PES Gaming members for such excellent comments and suggestions.
We are fully focused on making a game you will be proud to play and the feedback you’ve given will be key.”
I have to say that I was pretty chuffed when I received this from Konami, and I would like to say that this has been a major breakthrough for a PES site to make the strides that we collectively have made. On behalf of everyone at PESGaming.com I would like to thank everyone that contributed to the effort at the tail end of last year when we put together the list of suggestions for Konami. I think we can all be proud of the major achievement that we have made.
Now before the doubters and pessimists kick in – I would like to point out that the major breakthrough I am referring to is the formal recognition from Konami for the suggestions we gave them. I am not sitting here smoking a big cigar, with smug mode set to HIGH INTENSITY. I do not believe any other non-affiliated site has ever got as far as we have.
So for that reason I am beaming like a Cheshire cat at the monumental achievement!
BUT to bring us back down to earth just a touch, I’d like to go on record as saying that we’re nowhere near home and dry quite yet. The most important factor in what Seabass has got back to us about, is the fact that our collective suggestions are forming the basis of the game. I do not have details of the degree to which they will take onboard all of the ideas presented to them. So it could well be that only a handful of ideas were approved for implementation, equally it could be that many ideas were approved.
I would like to say that my philosophy of trying to actively change situations which we don’t approve of definitely served me well on this crusade. Rather than just moan endlessly into a black hole, or amongst the lads, or on forums about everything that is wrong with PES, and what needs to be done – we at PESGaming.com decided to make the effort to actually get in touch with Konami and try to make a difference. I can recall many people saying it was a waste of time – that Konami don’t listen to the fans, and that they are oblivious to our concerns. I wouldn’t be surprised if these sorts of people would still rubbish the recognition afforded to us guys.
I believe in giving credit where credit is due, and we at PESGaming.com can say that Konami are listening for sure – that’s a fact! I can appreciate that in the past people have failed to make the breakthrough – including a similar attempt from our very own Dan via his Interfering With Play blogs when PES2008 was released.
But with a little strategic maneouvering, in terms of whom to approach within Konami, we have struck gold this time!
Of course we still have a very long wait until October’s release of PES2010 (expected date, not confirmed!) to see just what has actually been implemented into PES2010. But until then we will have to keep an eye out for news on how the development is progressing. We are hoping to secure invites to events where the game will be paraded later in the year, so this should be an exciting journey for all of us, and of course we will keep you informed of all things PES as usual.
In the mean time, as Francis has kindly alluded to in his latest In The Red column (please do have a read if you haven’t done so already – it’s really funny! I have to say I admire his level of perseverence with the problem he had!) I can also confirm that Konami will be kindly donating us some goodies which we will be holding competitions for shortly.
I don’t want to go into what the prizes are going to be, since I’ve been wisely advised by the PESGaming panel that we don’t want to end up dissappointing people. So I’m going to just say that we intend to run a series of competitions shortly, and as soon as the prizes are in our possession, we’ll hopefully surprise the winners of said competitions with their prizes. I know what the prizes are, and I have to say Konami have been very generous, and I’m sure you guys will appreciate them too!
Right now we are trying to decide on ideas for competitions to hold, and I thought since we are PESGaming community – why not open out the ideas to you guys? So if you have any funny/weird/brilliant ideas for competitions that we should hold, then please fire them off our way. Unfortunately I don’t think we will offer prizes to winning ideas for competitions, but we’ll give you full recognition of your ideas, plus I’ll even give you centre stage for having your say on my PES OFF!! blogs if you so desire.
So get thinking guys! This is traditionally a very quiet period for all things PES generally, so let’s try to liven things up for the next month or so with competitions and it will give us guys a bit more to write about too!
Konami representatives regularly visit our site now, and do take note of what we are expressing. It is also for this reason I would like to remind people to please interact with our site maturely and responsibly. We are not against people having a moan or gripe about PES, but any personal abuse directed at anyone will not be tolerated.
If we want Konami to take us seriously going forward, then we would like to maintain standards of decorum befitting our status. We’re serious about PES here, and would like to attract like minded PES people out there.
I’d like to quickly mention that our monitoring of abusive/inappropriate messages is in full force, so please act responsibly on our site. The banned list has grown a fair bit of late, and we don’t enjoy adding to it. Help us to help you stay off it! For those people who have been banned, and are feeling genuine remorse, and would like to rejoin the PESGaming.com fold, then feel free to pop me a nice email explaining why you should be reinstated, complete with apology, and the PESGaming.com panel will decide on your individual application.
Thanks for reading
Dougiedonut
dougiedonut@pesgaming.com
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 27 Jan 2009
IWP League Champion 2008: Martin Ginnelly (River Plate)
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. Before we begin I’d like to make a quick note that all league applications have been processed and information will be arriving in your inbox over the next few days. There are a couple of secrets regarding the league, including a couple of potential prizes that will be announced in due course, but until then please continue to check your inbox and follow the appropriate instructions. I would finally like to take the opportunity to thank all of you who have applied or shown an interest, the sheer volume of e-mails has been quite overwhelming. Hopefully, few will be disappointed, and for this reason I know the competition will be an improvement on last years, which was very good in its own right. For those of you just interested in seeing how the league goes, or wants to be a spectator in preparation for next year, watch this space. With that said, lets move onto this week’s Interfering With Play.
“She Said, Come On Come On”
I would like to start this week with something a little different. I am fully aware that this is a Pro Evolution Soccer fan site, but am also quite aware that usually fans of PES are also fans of football in general. The informed among you will already realise I write a weekly column, ‘This Is Roberto Carlos Territory’ on a new site www.thefootballforums.com, and I would like to take this opportunity to include a piece from that specific column in this week’s IWP.
‘Selling Your Soul. I don’t think I was alone in the world when I fully expecting Kaka to sign for Manchester City and become the world’s most expensive football, along with the worlds highest paid footballer. So it was a nice surprise to see an element of loyalty within one of the superstars of football and stick with AC Milan. Granted, its hardly staying at a lower league club or even an average club, but as has been spoken about greatly over the past few weeks, the kind of money provided would have been enough to keep Kaka’s family, both current and future, in the life of luxury for years to come. This kind of loyalty is what football should be built upon, the Alan Shearer at Newcastle, the Steve Bull at Wolves and its good to see Kaka at least show some element of soul. Corruption, greed and overall money may own the lives of 90% of the footballing world, but it’s a refreshing change when someone can turn it down flat!’
If this kind of discussion and debate seems like it might be for you, please take the time to visit www.thefootballforums.com and have your say. My column is available every Friday, and the forum itself is open to a wide variety of discussion from the footballing world.
“Another Way To Die”
The comments this week from the majority of contributors have mentioned the potential of adding a brand new license to PES for future instalments, most namely a league from outside Europe or even a less publicised league from within the EU. The biggest name that has been banded about is the Championship, which has unsurprisingly come from a number of UK fans who want to see their beloved club in the game. As a Wolves fan, the idea of having the Championship in the game is definitely appealing, but from a commercial point of view highly unlikely. Whilst English football fans would love to see the Championship, I am sure Italian fans would rather see Seria B, or Spanish fans see the Segunda Division. Whilst the Championship teams are probably (arguably) better than their Spanish or Italian counterparts, investing money in a license which is not going to increase the games multi national appeal would not sit well with Konami.
My personal opinion would to be to look towards the MLS. I am aware that FIFA and Football Manager have some sort of license to feature the U.S teams, but how exclusive this is I am not sure. Not only would this potentially boost sales in the United States, it would also open up nearly twenty new sides to European gamers, many of whom feature familiar players. It would also offer a different league format for gamers to participate in, and potentially open up a whole new world of in game licenses and stadiums, even new commentators speaking English! Leagues such as the J league, and Brazilian Leagues run different formats to that which European football fans are familiar with, and adding them would potentially distract Konami from its attention paid on the Champions League license.
Whilst on the subject, would anyone be interested in the potential of a UEFA cup license? With the tournament changing format, the new UEFA Europa League would offer potentially another 48 teams to PES 2010 within the group stage format, including sides from smaller countries with less well known players. This would therefore add an extra level of depth to the Master League format, with the ability to scout potentially hundreds of complete unknown players, and the option of playing friendly matches against these sides in order to unlock a hidden gem would be more appealing.
The licensing issue is one that has plagued Konami since its ISS days, and whilst it has come along way, now featuring some licensed leagues and player names, the lack of the hundreds of available teams, a la FIFA, is always going to be used as an arguing point when discussing the game against its EA counterpart. Konami have taken a big step in the right direction with the Champions League license, and the acquisition of the Liverpool license for the next four years, but this needs to be a stepping-stone towards bigger and better things, such as stadiums, and not the peak of the pyramid! Your views, as always, are greatly appreciated.
“One Is A Genius”
Following the topic regarding the managerial side of PES, and the whole Football Manager debate, I took the time to take an in depth look at the PES tactical system. The formation screen, and the ability to move player’s positions is something I have personally used to years. Even football manager itself doesn’t give you the ability to place players in an exact position, something that PES does very well. The ability to drop Ashley Young wider on the left, or have Sagna slightly forward of the right back position does effect the way that player plays the game, and helps you break down particularly tricky opponents.
But one tactical thing I am interested so see how many people use are the tactical commands within games. Probably by more luck than judgement, many gamers found these out whilst holding down a shoulder button and pressing pass, only to see a coloured button pop up next to their players name. For those unaware, this will initiate a tactical move ‘on the fly’ be it a change of formation, or the option of having the wingers switch flanks to confuse an opponent’s defence. These tactics are probably most effective when used for the Offside Trap or Counter Attack option, which are both pretty self-explanatory. So my question to the community is, how many of you actually use these tactics? They are arguably as simple to use as a one two or a lofted through ball, yet with gamers complaining about the lack of depth within the tactical aspect of PES, it will be interesting to see how many gamers ‘honestly’ use the small means provided. There is no denying that when used well, they can be the difference between a draw and a win, but with so few gamers (in my experience) using them, surely it is understandable why Konami have not invested time into this sector of the gaming experience. Your views in the usual manor!
That’s your lot this week. The majority of my PES related time is being taken up by the organisation of the IWP League, and therefore I am returning to that. If you have any kind of media or graphics you wish to include on the website, please feel free to get in touch. I have plenty of content for the site, but am always open to new details from the community. Highlights packages, video editing and unique audio will all be looked at and considered for inclusion. interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the place to direct e-mail towards, and feel free to comment on anything you have read in this week’s Interfering With Play.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by francis in PES 2009 News on Sat 24 Jan 2009
A New Year
Here’s a little piece I wrote for this column in the closing week of 2008…
“Losers
I am writing this in a frustrated attempt to curb the stupid gameplay that goes on over the internet. I am playing Pes 6 against ‘BalloonAaa’ – who by the way if you’re ever unfortunate to be matched up against, quit as soon as you see who you’re paired up with. I was 2-0 up against his Manchester United side, when he decides after he concedes his second goal to take the centre-kick and run it into his own goal-net. He now has control of the replay, and left it still for an hour in a vain attempt to get me to disconnect from the match and therefore letting him win and take points off me. I’m fed up of people who can’t just play a decent game of Pro Evolution online. Apart from wasting electricity, and both of our time, he’s also preventing either of us using our consoles at all. I cannot even begin to say how much this frustrates me. With a Gamerscore of 50 and a rep of two and a half stars, it just makes me hope that he continues to waste his life away.
Edit; the match took four hours, and I won 11-0 before he decided to disconnect in stoppage time.”
We have here something which really annoys me whilst playing online. Normally when commenting on the online aspect of Pro Evolution Soccer, one would tend to talk about both the lag and the terrible menu system. However, if you play online on PES 6, you can always find a pretty much lag-free (in my experience anyway) game. The trouble is that you always find yourself up against the same teams (Inter, Brazil, Manchester United) and one in three opponents will disconnect when they’re down, or they will do something similar to what I’ve described above in order to make you disconnect. Here’s hoping that Pes ’10 will firstly have a feasible online gaming experience, and that they will have some things put in place to ensure that the majority of gamers do not have their time wasted or ruined by the pettiness of the minority.
Long Live the King!
It’s occurred to me that as Pes fans we’re always waiting for the inevitable. Having played Pes 6 for the last three months for the online play, for the last two weeks I’ve been addicted to Pes ’09. What I think is overlooked is that for all the things we wish to be implemented in Pes ’10 and the minor problems we had when ’09 was released, with the obvious exception of online play – is that this year Konami produced a very good football simulation indeed, and I’m going to stand up and say that. It’s my personal opinion of course, and I’ve talked to some people who say they don’t like it with regard to the fouls and the 8-direction movement! I have high hopes for this years edition, and at this point in time I predict that we’ll be getting more of what the Pes community is looking for!
Lookalike
Now for the lookalike section of the article. A big thank you to Arjun Goel who emailed me shortly before the New Year with this great lookalike!
Jason B – I’ll be posting yours in a fortnight!
Hail the Donut!
Watch out for DougieDonut’s forthcoming column – I had to jump the gun and say he has some exciting news for all of our readers, and also those who come by to browse and comment in the forums!
As always you can email me at francis_newall@hotmail.co.uk and comments on your preferences to what I talk about, whether you liked it, or just general comments on the article, are all very welcome. As are suggestions for lookalikes!
Thanks,
-Francis
Posted by dougiedonut in PES Off!! on Thu 22 Jan 2009
I’d like to start this week’s column off with a big thank you to contributors such as Simon McDermott, Taylan , Jimmy, Amateur and toomerj in particular (as well as everyone else who contributes positively to the site) for their ideas on what they would like to see from the PES series looking forward.
I think that PES isn’t going to have an easy ride trying to mimick everything that FIFA has to offer, but would do well to do the things it does better. What I mean is that PES would benefit from ingame improvements, rather than trying to focus on the overall football package, which is where FIFA’s strengths are.
One of the comments from last week’s post, which was written by Amateur was:
“If the Gameplay is to improve for the better, Konami will have to introduce more Specific settings for each team’s Tactical System. And I do mean “Specific and Detailed”.. we should have the option of choosing how we want Each and every single player in our team to move in each and every different situation.
Defenders, Midfielders, and Forwards, the whole team. How do you want them to move when the AMF is holding the ball, which type of tactical runs you’d like from your forwards, etc, etc..”
This was something which really struck a chord with me personally. Growing up I’ve played many different football titles which have all had some sort of element which you like. There was one Sega Megadrive football game which unfortunately I can’t remember the title of. It wasn’t a particularly good football game, but one element which really stood out for me was the ability to define where players should be when the ball was in certain areas of the pitch.
Basically the pitch was split up into 9 areas, and you got to define tactics which allowed you to instruct players where to move, whenever the ball was in a certain area. So if the ball was out on the right wing of your opponent’s half, as you were attacking, you could decide where each outfield player on your team should be. I don’t remember if it worked particularly well or not, but the crux of the point is that such detailed level of tactics were there to be user defined. I’d like PES to give us the ability to fine tune our own individual tactics in games. I’d like to see more variations in types of teams that you play against.
We can’t just have a single style of play against every single team going. We should know that the approach against Stoke is going to be very different from playing against Arsenal. We should have to decide on which players at our disposal may be more effective against opponents. Just having different teams playing the same way, but varying in their ability to carry out the system is not enough.
Since FIFA has the licensing for the main leagues around Europe, PES should try to get top teams from South America and Asia for example available for all. J League teams would be superb to play against, since most people outside of Asia aren’t all that familiar with them. Their styles of play, and types of players should mean that we get more clashes of footballing styles to combat against.
I’d be interested in people’s thoughts on us having more teams from Asia and Latin America in PES. I can see a world club championship mode with many of these top teams fighting it out as a big plus – what do you guys think?
Finally, I was approached some time ago (apologies to Dennis – sorry it’s taken me so long to get round to doing this) by Clanbase to promote the addition of PES2009 (for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3). If you go to the following address, you can get more info on what Clanbase is all about:
http://clanbase.ggl.com/welcome.php?
They also cover various other games, so do get a look into see what takes your fancy. Please do take a look at what they are offering there, that would be much appreciated.
Thanks for reading
Dougiedonut
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 20 Jan 2009
IWP League Champion 2008: Martin Ginnelly (River Plate)
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. I would like to open this article with a huge thank you to all those who got in touch regarding my requests for help in a variety of ways during last weeks column. A huge shout goes out to all those people who designed the logos for the IWP League; I will be getting back to you guys over the next few days. A big hats off also is aimed in the direction of James Smith, who kindly provided me with a number of screenshots for the new IWP League website, which is set for a February release. It is this aspect of community which, in my opinion sets this website ahead of the other news hungry Pro Evolution Soccer website that run dry for 10 months of the year, and is a great testament to all those involved in the weekly turnover this site experiences. I have spoken to a number of other people regarding PC screenshots, and would be grateful if they could get back to me over the next 5 days. Lets crack on with this week’s column.
“Your Battery Is Low”
I am starting this week with news regarding the Interfering With Play league. The application process is now officially closed. Over the next couple of weeks, all those with successful applications will be informed about the next steps for participating in the league. The demand has been exceptionally high, and I am looking at a number of ways to ensure a fair and just process of selection is employed. As with last year, I expect there to be teething problems at the beginning, but hopefully the league will once again provide the regular shocks and upsets of any good competitive tournament.
A member from last years league has made mention of the possibility of running PS3 and 360 leagues in tandem, with someone else taking up the workload for the X Box version of the game whilst I still concentrate on the PS3 title. If anyone is genuinely interested in running a league for 360 gamers and wishes to speak to me for ideas, please add my e-mail address to your MSN contacts or alternatively e-mail me. It is quite a bit of work to set up, but exceptionally rewarding to see people participating in a competition of your own making.
Finally on the topic, I have a selection of 14 teams that are currently going to be used in the league. These teams are not ‘Big Clubs’ with ‘Superstar Players’ but instead are decent teams, which are licensed on PES 2009. In other words, you won’t see any Real Madrid vs. AC Milan in this league. With 14 teams probably not being enough to fill the quota of players applied, I am open to suggestions for teams to include in the league. Players are drawn at random and paired with teams, meaning there is no way of picking a individuals specific club, but any recommendations of decent sides you have used in your own games would be greatly appreciated. Remember, the team must be officially licensed and feature in Pro Evolution Soccer 2009. Get in touch either via comments, or the usual address.
“Thunderbolts & Lightening”
The link between this title and the topic is a subtle on, but anyone who works it out deserves a full on hats off! I will put you out your misery at the end of the column. Whilst playing on PES 2009 over the previous weekend, I noticed that whilst graphically the stadiums were noticeably different, the actual pitch size varied very little. Upon closer inspection of matches at stadiums like Wembley, I realised there might be slight size differences, but nothing that really would influence the way a game would be played or a team would approach a game. Over the past Premier League season, Stoke City have earned a certain level of press for the Rory Delap long throw in, and how that the Britannia Stadium holds the smallest pitch in the league to help boost the effectiveness Delap posses. On the other hand, Barcelona’s Nou Camp pitch is huge, in a design to give players like Xavi and Iniesta more space in order to pick a pass.
With PES starting to show signs of appreciation for the tactical game, with things such as the ability to send defenders up for set pieces and quick free kicks being brought to the table, varying pitches could really change anyone’s tactical approach. There would be serious advantages to sides like Stoke & Bolton of playing on a short pitch, and would give players like Messi and Ronaldo less time to accelerate away from sluggish defenders. By the same token, larger pitches would encourage a more patient build up game, with passing the ball a sharper alternative to running with it. I am 90% sure the sizes of pitches in PES 2009 does vary, but not to the point where it will ever make the difference in a match, but playing a league game away on a small pitch when your used to a large home pitch, or vice versa would be a real challenge, and would once again result in a different style of play, something that I am personally all for in gaming. Your views, as always are greatly appreciated.
“Baby Come Back”
I took a few hours over the past 7 days to refresh my memory on Pro Evolution Soccer’s of old, for no other purpose than to see how far, if at all, the franchise has come. This would also explain why, if you have my PSN, you would have seen me playing PES2008 as opposed to the most recent version! I remember defending PES 2008 as an enjoyable game, and on returning to the title, I stand by its playability. However, picking up the title and winning 4-0 straight away implies it was the easiest game of the franchise, and graphically far inferior to the 2009 offering. One thing I could not come to grips with though, was the replays. Whether my eyes adapted to the camera or simply I didn’t pay that much notice, but the computer-controlled replays were quite simply awful. The frame rate was embarrassing and at times it physically hurt my eyes to watch. Going back and playing this version made me realise just how far PES travelled in 12 months, and that is a very positive omen for the next game.
As I went back one year, I though I would also go back one generation, and picked up PES 6. Graphically, it was very obvious this had peaked for that generation of consoles, and whilst its playability was still very good, it felt I was playing a weaker version of the current offering, which is surely how playing old games should feel. Concentrating simply on the in-game action, there were lacking animations that meant players could not move in the way I wanted them to, and from a speed sense, loading animations were both frustrating and time consuming. Even the little factors such as shorted replay times made me realise that whilst PES 6 was as good as PS2 football gets, its not next generation.
If you have the ability to do so, take the time and check out some of the old PES games, and then compare them to the modern version. There has been quite a bit of criticism of PES 2009, but overall, it is an improvement on pretty much all that has come before it.
“New Boy In The Neighbourhood”
A big, in fact huge talking point on PESGaming.com over the past few weeks has been where people see PES being in five years time. The general opinion is that many people would love to see a mix between the Pro Evolution Soccer football franchise and Sega’s Football Manager series, both of which have been criticised for failing to live up to past glories in recent seasons. Personally, I am a huge Football Manager fan, I own each year’s version on both PSP and PC, and am not ashamed to admit I have lost many hours to its addictive Gameplay. Very few games provide the, “I’ll Just Play One More Match Before Bed” sentence than FM and that is the sign of a sheer quality title. Obviously, I am also a huge fan of Pro Evolution Soccer, and whilst some may not enjoy this years instalment, like many I really do, and have committed evenings to gaming sessions with mates or snuck a quick game in while the Mrs. is in the shower! So surely the idea of having a game that incorporates the best features of both games would be a match made in heaven?
In my opinion, it would not be! I know to many this may sound controversial, and I looking at the above paragraph, I would have to agree with the controversial statement, but when backed up with logical reasoning, I feel the combination of both games would not be smart from a business sense. Of course, fans of either franchise would quickly hail the title as the prodigal game, come to save them from the EA Sports dominated football & management combined market, but when looked at from a Gameplay point of view, cracks will soon show. The first argument may be that Football Manager could maintain its own format, just allowing players to watch matches using the Pro Evolution Soccer game engine. In other words, instead of the 3D, 2D or match text option, you potentially spectate a game of PES, and make managerial decisions around this format. For anyone who played the Ps2 tile, Pro Evolution Soccer Management, you may know why this idea would be flawed. Whilst the PES Management game lacked a workable menu option, a realistic currency and any kind of resemblance to the real footballing world, it did deliver the ability to watch your side play using the famous Konami game engine. And about half way through, you realise you could control the players on screen better than the AI does, and frustration starts to creep in as you see constant errors from your team. By the end of about seven or eight games, you are just itching to play the real PES in order to teach the AI just how to give a through ball, or head clear a cross. With any game that you have grown up playing, it is exceptionally hard to watch someone play it badly, and that’s exactly with the above suggestion would ultimately entail.
The other option that many people have spoken about would the ability to do everything you can on Football Manager, but then have complete control of your side on the pitch, playing the games as you do on PES 2009. Whilst factors such as the database and injuries would prove to a welcome addition, the ability to play the games yourself would completely take away everything that Football Manager stands for. When it comes to FM, you have the same control as a manager. You pick your team, bring in your staff and buy new players for certain positions, but as soon as you click start match, you are relatively helpless. Yes, you can make tactical changes and substitutions, but there is nothing you can do force a pass, or score a goal yourself. Your always looking to better your squad because in case one player hits a drop in form, or your striker wants to leave, and no matter how good you are as manager, you can always hit a bad patch, lose a title race or be knocked out of a competition. As soon as you get control of the team on that pitch, everything changes. If you have poor players, but are good at the game, you can win matches. Your Gameplay skills are the only thing that will be constantly challenged, and whilst the ability to buy new players will entice some, it won’t be mandatory, especially if you win every game no matter who you field. You could even stick the same formation for every game and never worry about changing it suit tricky opponents, because if you’re good enough at PES, you will win. And finally, you might give players the instruction to pass short or tackle easy, but its you who decides how to pass or tackle when put in that situation. The management aspect of the game would gradually become less important until eventually, you were skipping to matches and taking no interest in the footballing world because it didn’t matter, you were going to win your next game anyway!
The Master League is still, in my opinion, the best console version of any management-based mode within a football game. If played using the default players (Jaric, Valeny et al.) on the hardest difficulty, it will take a decent level of time and skill to build up a squad capable of challenging for the top honours. Features such as more teams, more divisions and a more realistic footballing world would all greatly benefit this mode, but turning PES into a management game didn’t work. Knowing the way the Football Manager team operate, I would be exceptionally disappointed and surprised if they ever allowed the gamer to control the teams on the pitch and the day they do will be the beginning of the end for that franchise. Your views on what you have read here can be expressed publicly, in the form of a comment, or privately via e-mail, but will be spoken about in next week’s column.
That’s your lot for this week’s article. As always, you can reach me personally on interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk or send a comment, which I will read, by clicking on the comments button. The Thunderbolt’s and Lightening heading was in relation to varying pitch sizes, or in fact varying pitch, something which Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody does throughout the track. If you have applied for the IWP recently, expect a message in the next few days with a complete application form, whilst all those who have sent back the application form will be made aware of goings on in due course. Finally if you have the time, check out my column on www.thefootballforums.com. It’s a new community and free to join and participate in, simply all football related.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2009 News on Thu 15 Jan 2009
I’d like to start off this week by thanking Taylan again for his very ambitious view on what he’d like PES2015 to be like. He was brave enough to contact me, and put his ideas out there for all to see.
We never said we thought it was the definitive direction Konami should take, but I just thought I would give someone that is passionate about PES the opportunity to present his views. Thank you also to all those that responded positively to his ideas.
I’d also like to point out to the few people leaving comments thinking that this was my idea – guys – try reading properly – it really helps!
And finally I’d also like to thank Kaiser for his comment: “Dougie has officially lost it.” That made me chuckle!
I would like to again extend an invitation to anyone else who would like to take centre stage with their own visionary view of where they’d like to see PES 5 or 10 years from now. Let’s see if we have any more people with ideas that whilst seem outlandish today, may pave the way forward for future directions.
Of course not all ideas are going to be feasible, but one idea may spark another, which may just provide a brilliant way forward.
I dread the day we fear to express ideas, because of people out there who are more than eager to shoot it down, whilst being as rude and offensive as they can.
For the people out there who do just leave negative comments on this site, I’d like to challenge them to come up with a more constructive method of dealing with viewpoints. Try it – you might even enjoy it! I’m sure you wouldn’t like to get shot down in flames at any suggestion you make. In fact – would you even dare to attempt a vision and see what sort of response you get? You definitely need a pair of balls to do what Taylan did, so come on – let’s see if any of you are up for it.
As you may have seen I put a post out on Monday asking people for PSP feedback for Konami. Thank you to the guys who have responded so far.
If there are more people out there with the PSP version, who could help us with comments, then I’d like to encourage to please leave comments asap.
Even if you have decided not to purchase it, due to not being happy with the mainstream version – if that is an honest reason for not doing so, then I
think its important to spread this message to Konami.
Thanks for reading
Dougiedonut
dougiedonut@pesgaming.com
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 13 Jan 2009
IWP League Champion 2008: Martin Ginnelly (River Plate)
As always, I would like to start by wishing you a warm welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. It is good to be back writing on a regular basis and hopefully there are people out there who enjoy reading on a weekly rotation! PESGaming.com has been bustling with activity this week, a very strong sign when taking into account the first few months of the year are known to be our quietest period. It is of great credit to the columnists who provide interesting and insightful viewpoints for visitors to keep coming back on. It is proof of a strong, passionate community that enjoys its football gaming, which exactly the kind of audience this site wants. With that said, let’s get rolling with this weeks article.
“Around The World”
I don’t want to step on Double D’s feet too much regarding his MMO topic for a PES 2015 that is of a similar ilk to GTA! That’s his angle, so anyone who has anything they wish to discuss on that front can do so with his blog. However, with my own experience and others regarding Football Superstars, the ‘first’ football MMO, I feel it would be worthwhile addressing the problems that any company, be they Konami, EA Sports or a third party, are going to face when they try to make a football game that is predominantly multiplayer.
Currently, multiplayer is done best on PC. Yes, the consoles are starting to catch up with some excellent first person shooters and the Call Of Duty franchise has brought online multiplayer out of the closet and into the mainstream. But PC games have been doing this for years, and are already leaps and bounds ahead in modding, character creation and real world simulation. Console gaming will catch up, because overall online gaming on 360 and PS3 has been a huge success, and it is right for companies of games that don’t usually lend themselves to multiplayer worlds to start looking that way. Football Superstars, as mentioned last week, is the first to try it, and having sampled the game personally, the nice touches and good ideas always fall down against the key fundamentals of a game, and that is the Gameplay itself. Role Playing Games have spent decades working out new fighting systems, be they real time or turn based ones in order to give the opportunity for all people involved to benefit from being in a fight. Football Superstars currently lacks a half decent football gaming engine, which makes the rest of the game world seem a tad pointless. It doesn’t matter if your wearing the latest crocodile skin football boots if your player pots around like an elephant in clogs. The game engine has to be the first priority; everything else should then be a bonus.
The second problem, and one which Call Of Duty have aced is the EXP points, or in basic terms, ways of upgrading your character. Obviously, in any game you play, the more you play the better you will become. Normally there will always be someone better than you but there will definitely be someone worse! EXP points are a way of increasing your in game ability by completing online challenges and giving you a slight edge, be that new weapons, spells or skills. Still, a weak player with high EXP points will be defeated by a stronger player with lower EXP nine times out of ten, as skill outweighs accessories. Football games in particular need to increase a levelling up system in any online format, but at the same time must not make skill become pointless. The 16 year old without a job could potentially spend 12 hours training and upping his stats to become an unstoppable player, whilst the 30 year old football gaming veteran with a wife and 2 kids might not be able to train daily, and only have average stats. The line is very fine in this case, and hopefully gaming developers will find the line before releasing to many football MMO games upon us.
The final problem is the fact the game still has to be enjoyable. I have personally never played World Of Warcraft, and I wouldn’t want to. However I have spoken to people who absolutely love it. The enjoyment factor is there. The same can be said for the Sims, a good idea for younger gamers or those into the whole alternate life scenario, but not for your typical football gaming fan. A football MMO needs to be football related in every way, and reach the market in that fashion. Football clips, highlights, news, competitions, TV shows are what is going to entice the football gaming public, not a choice of which kind of sofa you are going to place in your fictional apartment. PES works for me because I can sit down, throw on a friendly against the AI while my dinner is cooking, or spend 2 hours playing in a league if I have an evening to myself. The fact that on most MMO games you need to spend at least 20 – 30 minutes each time you log on in order to get the full benefit out of it simply doesn’t entice me, and I am sure I am not alone.
It is a great idea to have an alternative online footballing world for those of us not gifted with the talent to be earning serious money playing the real game, but it needs to be approached in the right manor, and appeal to the right demographic. Unfortunately, and again this is simply my opinion, Double D’s idea of PES 2015, and more importantly Football Superstars are just not the answer!
“Cause If Your Not Really Here”
Trophies, as I have spoke about for many weeks are starting to dictate my gaming experiences, in particular the way I play games. For example, I am killing as many enemies as possible on Resistance 2 using as wide a variety of weapons as I possibly can, a huge change from the original, which saw me stick to the two main guns. I have spoke at length in the past how trophies/achievements are a positive thing for gaming in general and add life to games once they have been completed. I have also expressed my frustration that both Konami and EA Sports have failed to support the Trophy format on PS3, although I am aware they have been using achievements for the 360.
The achievements list for PES2009 is the same as that found in the gallery of the PS3 version, and to be honest is a bit, well, rubbish. Scoring large numbers of goals and winning large numbers of tournaments does not really bring any alternatives to your game, and potentially all awards could be unlocked by rushing through the game on 1 beginner! The achievement list on FIFA 09 is a lot more realistic to a football game, offering rewards for changing your style of play by the goals you score or the way you approach games.
With trophies now having to be a mandatory part of any new PS3 release, the hope is that Konami will include them in the next version of PES, but my open question to the PESGaming.com community is what kind of trophies/achievements would you like to see in PES? Personally, I would like something that would involve beating good teams with lesser teams, and encourage different styles of football. For example, score a goal after stringing together over 20 passes on Top Player would require a fair level of skill and discipline. But for some, an achievement or trophy of scoring a goal less that 5 passes after your own GK has touched the ball would be just as difficult. Other ones such as first half hat trick or weaker foot hat trick would require different levels of ability and actually be achievable by players who have genuine skill, and not simply by those who sit through playing the game for hours upon hours back to back. Please feel free to include your own suggestions in the comments section at the bottom of this column.
“Someone Like You”
I have had quite an overwhelming response to the e-mail sent last week regarding the Interfering With Play league. I already have over 30 application forms in, and expect another few to fly in over the next couple of days. Because of this, I am opening the application window a week earlier than planned, with the view that I want everything sorted by January 31st.
The tournament is not confirmed on Playstation 3, which whilst being my own console, has actually proven to be the more popular format amongst those interested in the competition. I have kept the information of all those who applied to participate on X Box 360, and intend to run an IWP World Cup Tournament on the console in the upcoming months. Please continue to check your inbox and this site for the latest news on that front.
As I just mentioned about the application window is now open for one week. This means that if you got a Playstation 3 for Christmas or in the festive period, and would be interested in participating in an online Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 league, please e-mail me with your name, location and PSN to the below address. The closing date for all new applications is Monday 21st January 2009. After that point, you will receive an e-mail explaining the league set up and full application procedure. If you have already received an e-mail and wish to take part, please reply as soon as possible. Demand is high for places, and enthusiasm goes along way!
“My Last Request”
Finally this week, I am opening up the floor to the community for some slight help regarding a couple of matters. Firstly, I am looking for someone who plays / owns PES 2008 and/or 2009 on PC. I have personally not picked up a copy for the last couple of years, and would like their help on a couple of issues. Failing this, I will end up buying the games, but seeing as I know there are a fair few PC gamers who regularly visit this site, it would be a great help to me if I could speak to you about a couple of issues. If you have the PC version of either, or ideally, both games, could you please e-mail me direct on the address below, and I will get back to you.
Secondly, the IWP League is currently in the process of having its own, very trendy sub site. The site will feature all the latest results, tables and statistics as well as all the news from the competition. Each player will have their own small profile section, and there will be the ability for other gamers to beat challenges set by those playing in the league. For the site, I am offering the opportunity for someone to design a new logo for the IWP League. The IWP logo itself was designed by regular contributor Dave O, and will remain the official logo for this column, but I am open to a brand new logo, which may or may not feature the original one, being put in place in time for the new season. The logo must be unique, and not feature any brand names. The designer will be given full credit and their name will feature in the footer of the brand new website. Anyone who is interested can get in touch via e-mail, or simply send their design. All logos will receive a response.
That’s your lot for this week. Hopefully there will be some interesting suggestions for the potential trophies / achievements for the new PES, maybe even a list could be published and sent to Konami themselves. If that is the case, please keep them clean, and the ‘Make It Through An Online Game With Lag’ trophy will not be published! If you are willing to apply for the IWP League, or get in touch regarding the “My Last Request” topic, the e-mail address to do so is interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk. Also, if you have the time, please check out my other column, which has recently been re-launched on www.thefootballforums.com, which features news and discussion topics from the footballing world.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2009 News on Mon 12 Jan 2009
Hey Guys
We have been asked by Konami to ask you guys out there for feedback on PES2009 on the PSP.
So we would appreciate it if anyone that owns the version could please let us know in the comments section what they think of the game.
They are keen to know how the the online mulitplayer game (steady now fellas – sorry to use that dirty word “online”, I know how it gets many of you mad as a rabid dog..) on the PSP version is in particular.
But any/all feedback on the version, such as whether you think it is a worthwhile effort developing on the PSP, or whether you think that they should concentrate on the mainstream console versions more, etc.
And remember kids, be nice – unnecessary rude words in replies only deflect from the message you are trying to send. So bite your tongues if you need to, and give it to us straight.
Thanks as usual.
Dougiedonut
dougiedonut@pesgaming.com
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2009 News on Thu 08 Jan 2009
I’d like to start off the new year by wishing everyone a happy new year, and hope that we all are comfortable for what seems like a tough global financial spell ahead of us. 2009 is going to be a telling year on many fronts, and certainly in terms of PES, it could well be (I’m got some classical music playing in the background, and the current track is the music from The Omen – which is certainly adding effect to what I’m saying!) the beginning of the end of a golden football gaming era for many of us.
But hope springs eternal, as they say, and I certainly won’t be throwing in the towel on PES just yet. There’s a long way to go yet, but I’m going to stick around for the ride, and hopefully be able to say that I rode the storm with PES, and have come through it – just as will millions of other PES fanatics.
In light of the barren period of information regarding PES for the next three to four months goes, its going to be tough to continue talking about PES, but I’ll be trying to innovate with ideas to keep going. Dan has his own style, and is a veteran of the site, so he’s alright, but I’ve got to differentiate and try to stay on top of my game.
Back in November of last year, I was contacted by a PES fan who wanted to share his vision of where he’d like to see PES going, and I have to say it was very, very ambitious. So much so, that I decided that I would not only publish it in my column (brace yourselves – it’s pretty long!, but I would also like to extend an invitation out to everyone else to send me their vision of PES in say 5 to 10 years from now.
I would like to remind those people that will inevitably moan about the article, that it’s a vision that someone has had – its not something they expect in the next version! All ideas should be respected. I loathe the day when we’re too afraid to have an idea and share it with others for fear of ridicule. You may not like the ideas which are about to be presented to you, or feel that they are way too ambitious, but that doesn’t mean elements of the vision, or subsequent spin-offs of ideas won’t be achievable.
So, without further ado, I would like to present Taylan Kursunlu’s vision of PES2015:
PRO EVOLUTION 2015
Here is the direction I think PES gaming should be heading in:
A Footballers Life:
What we want to is to be able to experience 2 types of games in the one. This has not been achieved before and probably be some time before it does. But to be able to control Cesc Fabregas walking/drive, (in the streets of London) running, (with a ball on any park or pitch in the game if you choose to [juggling/tricks] ) attend to training (and actually control the player) when doing runs/sprints, running around cones with or without a ball, shooting, all types of shooting and training that we currently do when we ourselves go to football training. Imagine, that wether Fabregas (you controlling him of course) joins in or stands around, watching, or playing with the ball, the training goes on. Wenger stands on the side, and players are shooting 1 by 1 at the 18yard line, then getting their ball, and returning to the back of the line.
The possibilities are endless. This would all have an impact of a fatigue system, point system, I mean it would really be deep. We would need a large team to dedicate their time over a period of 2 years or more for this game.
After the game, you would choose to go and eat, have a run down, a massage, a swim. Drive the streets, go and watch a Chelsea game. You would have a schedule to stick to that would allow you to free roam. You choose to attend trainings, and games yourself. And if you didn’t, you would be warned, fined and eventually put in reserves, then sacked or traded/sold what ever. You would always, with experience at that level, be able to join a lower rank match and work your way up. Possibly even start here in the beginning.
You would have access to your money and choose what you buy, and wear, drive, where you live, everything will revolve around your contract, and your salary.
You must have the option to do things that will affect your performance, like gamble, drink/drugs party women. Doing these sorts of things, will have an affect on your individual clock, and your clock may say its 12:00pm, but its actually 1:15 without you realising, and you are of course late for training with a slap on the wrist, again, it gets worse with a verbal warning the next time, written warning, managers meeting etc
Of course you can have a career that is perfect, and do all the right things like Dennis Bergkamp, and go to bed early, let your money build up, and buy properties, and invest to become very wealthy. This game could go so deep that there would be 100 seasons involved, and in that you could end up being a manager, or buying a club depending on how you make the football life work for you.
MENU
A game inside a game:
This would be the part I love, when ever you approach a park, field or training ground, outside of your normal routine/training schedule (with the team) you have a menu board open up as you approach. This menu board gives you options, the same kind of options we get on our PES09 menu. But there is no season, masterleague, or tournament option, there are these:
Free run – you and the ball and nothing else, kind of like Fifa warming up but not that camera view (I hate it) or leave it and have other options. This menu lets you do kick ups, tricks, shots runs basically free roam stuff.
Shooting – self explanatory
Set pieces – depending on if you are at your stadium mucking around outside of your scheduled trainging or not. If your not there then you cant do it. If you are, you can. All depends on facilities, team mates etc.
Quick match – if you were in a park, and you were a famous person like Fabregas, then normal people would approach and just watch you, and if you chose this option, you could have a pick up game with how ever many players you chose, 3v3 5v5 (half pitch) or 11v11
The only thing is, once entered in this menu, you regular schedule clock stops. And will resume when you come out of it.
Outside of this you would have a regular scheduled training session with the team. How ever many it is (with Arsenal for example) you have your fitness training, which is mainly running, sprints etc then the second training 2-3 days before game day would be ball work and strategies, in depth stuff created by the programmer which you as a player choose to do it, not do it, and bring morale down, or do it well with minimal mistakes, and all this is your actually directing Fabregas with your controller, not just clicking on and icon that says “attend training” and then its over and your rating falls or rises.
Again, so much you can do with this.
Master League:
Now if your going to create a Masterleague, well give us a Masterleague. You can imagine how much depth I could go into but I wont. But basically, you need to incorporate all the leagues, cups, champions league, pre season matches, called to represent national friendlies, national group stage qualifiers, euro cup and of course the world cup. We need to have a home menu that is deep. The pro player we select, or create ourselves as a player needs to have one heck of a very busy yearly schedule. There needs to be a completely different half than the first. Problems need to occur, choices change your path to better or worse, fights on the field need to happen, 3-6 month injuries, and at 1 yearly injury that could happen every 5 yrs depending on how you treat the body. What you eat, how you train. There needs to be much more interaction with players and fans, definitely more interaction with the other teams and leagues around the world. It must be deep. Don’t have all those other things in the menu. Forget tournament option, simply have Exhibition, online, or Masterleague which is what all this is about, one big game. (but call it (THE WORLD GAME option)
Your Purpose:
Your player has 2 purposes, 1 is to play a PES game when ever be it an exhibition, online or part of the WORLD GAME season. (ill call it that from now on) The world game is the next level of be a pro, but its probably 10 next levels, again, this needs to be deep, I have said it before it needs to take a GTA4 like approach. And by that I don’t mean the main thing is driving cars and planes, its not what its about, but it is in the game, and needs to be at the level of graphics and game engine that GTA have got. You main Job in the game, is to keep your player fit, healthy active and always around the game. You must keep to the Arsenal schedule, and outside of this, you may roam the streets, go to your home, drive your car, sign autographs, talk to people, do fun stuff, parties, sponsorship meetings with Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Asics, player meetings, financial meetings. You must have many things to do and keep up with. But only outside of the MENU that is inside the WORLD GAME menu.
Map of your World:
I believe that, if GTA4 gave us the possibility of having a game engine as good as that, and more importantly a scale that big, then we have nothing left but to expect that from our games in the future. We now know that it is possible, and if they do not deliver something remotely as big as that, then we should know we are not getting our moneys worth. Believe it! Believe that they can do it because its been proven, thanks to Rokstar Games, we know what the gaming world is capable of doing.
PES WORLD GAME needs to have at least the 3 major Soccer worlds apart of it. England, Spain and Italy, hey if they want to go the whole hog and put in France, Germany, Belgium, Sth America, Turkey and the rest, great! If they all cant, then when you take a flight to play somewhere you will be directed straight to the stadium and the life of that country or city outside the stadium won’t be available. But we need to have the 3 main worlds at least a part of it. And they need to be big. Im talking all the cities in between, you and I and Konami all know that things we don’t need in the game will be cut out, so the scale won’t need to identically match. But Stadiums, Airports, Suburbs, Training grounds (if stadiums don’t have them already) Sports centres, Media centres, shops, restaurants, Shopping centres, parks, water ways, rivers, seas, they need to all be in it.
Training/Practice Stadiums:
Training needs to play a big part in the next PES, imagine, you choose the be a pro match camera angle, and you come out of the tunnel, in warm ups and ready for a gruelling training session with the team. First and reserve team train together, and if you fail certain drills, your getting or keeping 1st team position points decline. Time trials, and 1 touch, 2 touch, possession games, and shooting to get on target games, 5 on 5, running drills, sprinting drills, dribbling drills, 1-2 passes, volley ball using only your feet, you must hold down the kick-up button and pass 3 times and get it over, all buttons on controller represent a different part of the body. And it needs to be real life training, 2 days a week training, 1 day a week game, 2 games per week if champions league is on or even 3 if called to represent. All this will be random throughout the season depending on fixtures results etc. your training will have an effect on your rating. And ratings fall and rise, not like fifa09, each game you get points and when you hit 99, what else do you have to play for. You must rise and fall throught the season. Just like your team, just like in real life.
After the game, you choose to take a light jog, a massage, or sign autographs for the fans which increase moral in the fans. All this must be done with the physical movement same as GTA4.
Sound must play a big role at a stadium, the sound of the ball when its empty verses full. The crown at training, quiet an cheerful, the crowd at home game versus away, it all must change, 2 English clubs rivals must have an effect that you do not get in any other match. Champions league, world cup, home chants, highs and lows during a match, singing to get you back on track, and at what point in the season always makes a difference. Stadiums need to be much, much more interactive with our selves. I could go on with electric advertisement boards, colour of the pitch, what happens to it in the rain, snow, sun wind, your pitch has to change throughout the season.
Buying/Selling:
Ok, apart from buying and selling in the outside world, you must have the option as usual to buy and sell, trade players and even yourself or the pro you are playing a season with. If you decide to sell Thierry Henry to Barcelona from Arsenal, then say goodbye to London, because you are going with him. You must sell your house and your car, pack up and find somewhere to live, hopefully close to the Nou Camp. Money has to play a part in your movement. How much is your salary, what the price of your house, car, boat etc. the plane ticket. This is all extras, but the bottom line is if you move, so does your whole life. The atmosphere has to change for you. The game is experience must change. Different world, different game. But all the same J football.
Eating/Training:
A small emphasis that should be in the game, and ive already talked about this, but eating, training, sleeping should have a role on your fitness and your player rating. Dennis Bergkamp maintained his fitness at above 90% for most of his career. You have to have the option to run you guy to the ground or to the top. It seems like in PES become a Legend or Fifas Be a Pro, the only way to tgo is up. I couldn’t fail, it was just a matter of time. The WORLD GAME has to give you options that you want to do in the game, but will give a major effect on your life and your career. Going to parties, doing coke, car accident from speeding, drinking, not following the team schedule, being late for the team bus or plane, or the flip side, skipping the team bus and making it on time, or even earlier. Going to sleep on time, go to the parties, but don’t drink or do drugs. The way you treat fans, and other team mates, managers and owners of the club, al;l play a part.
Switching Roles/Players:
This must be an option, if you get sick of using the same player. But if you change a player, you don’t just change from Ronaldinho in Milan to Rooney in Manchester, and do all the same stuff. Its all gotta change, just the way Rooney plays, no more tricks, better strikes, different car, house, training ability, speed, maybe not so much of a lavish lifestyle, house in the suburbs not by the water. Small things make the difference. And you would want to know what the difference in all players were or at least the marquee players. Different lives are going to make you want to stick with a certain player. And the makers of this game must be favourable. They must make Ronaldinhos live lavish, rich and cameras, press always around him etc. and rooneys life is all about the game, just work hard, practice, get better, win win win. But boring lifestyle. All about he game.
Graphics:
Lastly, and believe me, if there was ever to be a game like this, they would definitely need to go in even more detail than what ive done here in order to make it work. These are just the basics.
But Graphics, graphics would need to be on such a scale, that they would be somehow either breaking history, or on their way to making history. This, is not another football game, this is THE Football game and the graphics will need to match up.
Once again, this is not out of the question, this is simply the next level, and if you want to go to that level, you need to start thinking along those lines, not this same old, menu, season, masterleague and a pitch and a game. Give us depth, gives a scope, give us a scale, and let this game be one that changes things.
Thanks for reading
Dougiedonut
dougiedonut@pesgaming.com
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 06 Jan 2009
IWP League Champion 2008: Martin Ginnelly (River Plate)
Welcome to this first Interfering With Play of the New Year. 2009 has a great deal of potential when it comes to computer games, and with both PES and FIFA putting up strong showings in last years offerings, this year could truly be the closest battle yet. For those new to the site, or just unfamiliar with this column, Interfering With Play is a weekly article expressing news and views from the gaming and football gaming worlds. Everything you read on here is opinion mixed with facts; IWP does not include rumours and never will. This article is also your opportunity to get your views into a public forum, either by clicking on the comments button at the bottom of the article, or by sending e-mail to the IWP address, which is featured at the end of each and every column. If you are a regular, I would like to welcome you back, and hope you continue to enjoy IWP and carry on using PESGaming.com for all your latest Pro Evolution Soccer based news. We are still the highest ranked ‘Pro Evolution Soccer’ site on Google, and look forward to carrying that reputation well into the New Year.
“Jim’ll Fix It for You”
I start 2009 with a topic that has been dear to my heart since its inclusion all the way back in PES3 on the Playstation 2. I am talking about the ‘fixed’ curser. Nowadays, with modes such as Become A Legend and Be A Pro, the novelty of controlling one player in a game is starting to wear a bit thin. As one of my later subjects confirms, this sole control over a player is undoubtedly the future of online football gaming, yet the best PES multiplayer experience, in my opinion, is playing the game on fixed with a group of mates. I will set the scene, a group of lags chilling around, playing PES and drinking beers. At some point the PS3 or 360 will get thrown on and ultimately the one on one battle will commence. Not only does this lead to players sitting off but also endless arguments about dodgy tactics, cheap goals and even shocking refereeing! The same could be said for 2v2 or in PS3 case 4v3 or any combination of teams. Yes, its social gaming and yes it is good fun, but the element of teamwork is lacking.
Fixed mode allows you all to pick your player, and by entering a Champions League or Konami Cup, really work at your performances as an individual and as a group. You start to rely on each other more, and what results is usually a decent, more realistic to watch footballing experience. Gone are the AI runs, instead you can peel wide or arch you run to breach the offside trap. Sending your trustworthy centre back up for set pieces is now actually giving you some human controlled movement in the box, and semi realistic routines can be made as a result. On top of this you band together as a unit, feeling the victories or defeats just as that. From a personal experience, making an defensive error that costs your side a game is actually gutting, and scoring a goal is really that exciting! End of game ratings actually mean something, and you will normally end the night playing more games than you would have if you were playing singles.
For some, the arguments about camera angles and not being able to see your player can be justified to an extent, but I urge any regular group of PES players who are yet to try it to do so. I am more than willing to explain via e-mail how to do so, and a written version of your experiences, positive or negative would be greatly appreciated. I know there are a great deal of gamers out there who do this on a regular basis, but having played the Become A Legend game mode on PES2009, the option of a fixed team may be a lot more palette able. E-mails to the usual address.
“I’ve Never Done It With The Style And Grace You Have”
E-mails are currently going out regarding the IWP League 2009, and should be with all those who expressed an interest within the next 48 hours. The e-mail will simply explain the current state of play regarding the league, along with estimated start times and the kind of matches per week ratio we will be looking at. Following a quick count of the entrants, there is almost double the PS3 entries to 360, and therefore I am going to continue the league on PS3 for another year at least. I fully intend to run some kind of tournament over the summer for 360 users, potentially an international competition.
In a nutshell, this e-mail will double up as an application form. You will need to reply to this e-mail by no later than Monday 22nd January 2009 with the information asked of you. This is to give an idea for numbers, and decide what kind of competition will be run, in other words one division, two division or a group based format where the top 5 teams from the two league join into a super league. I am fully aware some peoples circumstances change, or people simply no longer wish to take part in a league, in which case ignore the e-mail. More information will be posted in this article over the next couple of weeks.
“Your Yes Then Your No”
Before Christmas, I was accepted into the Beta testing for a new football gaming experience that have recently received a great deal of press, Football Superstars. The idea is simple, think PES mixed with The Sims and World Of Warcraft, and you will have the concept for this new found online community. Due to a hectic festive period, I am yet to try it out, but was wondering if anyone from the PESGaming.com community is or has taken part in it. If so, what are your experiences and would you recommend anyone being involved? Comments and e-mails in the usual fashion.
For those unfamiliar with the whole Football Superstars idea, it takes place in a virtual world where you have an online persona, similar to a Face book or Myspace. However, instead of a profile you have a 3D character, which doubles up as a footballer. You play online matches with other humans, as a single player as described above. Your performances earn you money and transfers, which in turn leads to more money and critical acclaim. Your money can be used within the virtual world to kit your character out in the latest threads and drive the flashest cars. Add in features such as the ability to train your player to improve ability and what you have is potential for the future of football gaming. The game engine itself looks a bit ropey, but you can head over to the website yourselves and enter into the transfer window for the next chance to be involved. I will try it out this week and let you know my findings in next week’s IWP.
“We’re Breaking Free”
As with many of you, I am currently playing a number of different games, which were given as Christmas gifts, earning online trophies and experience points aplenty. I have become needlessly addicted to trying to beat my online friends trophy scores and have spent many hours playing games that I would never normally have considered, all of which proving to be great fun. I can honestly say I know where EA now spends all its Fifa money, recording sound effects for when Faith (from Mirror’s Edge) falls off a building. Honestly, it’s a sound I do not look forward to hearing again any time soon. But in the midst off all these games something struck me quite hard, and it made me realise just how difficult it is for any new franchise breaking into the gaming market.
For the last few years, many gamers have taken for granted that there will only be two mainstream football titles coming out, Pro Evolution and Fifa. Even if another company wanted to try and release a new football game, the financial overheads of setting up a brand new engine and gaming system are too greater risk to see it fall flat on its face like so many have previously on the PS2. But this trend isn’t limited simply to football gaming. A brief look around at the Christmas release titles sees exactly the same trends forming in all gaming genres. In fact the past year saw the biggest titles as games like Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto 4, Halo 3 and Gears Of War 2. Even less well-known franchises such as Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3 had previous titles behind them. Everywhere you look now titles seem to be opposing up with a digit on the end or familiar prefix at the start. With the exception of Little Big Planet, which in itself is a standout title virtually unique, the majority of game companies play it safe with a ready made sequel being reeled out every 12-18 months. Then we turn to Mirror’s Edge, a unique idea that is far from perfect, and has been dubbed a flop to all ends and purposes. It is by no means a bad game, but in the industry at the moment, people turn to what they know as opposed to what’s fresh and this results in poor sales, which results in low income, and new series with potential end up being scrapped.
This trend is set to continue, with games like God Of War 3, Gran Tursimo 5 and Resident Evil 5 set to hit our consoles these next few months. I know all of the above will whet my appetite, but it makes you worry where the next truly groundbreaking ideas will come from. More so than ever, the gaming industry is just that, and industry, and companies need sales to stay alive. This has already greatly affected the football gaming industry, and no doubt will continue to take casualties throughout the next few years. Your views, if any on this subject would be greatly appreciated. Do you prefer buying franchises, which you know, or would you rather take a gamble on a new horse, hoping to improve where your current choice of game fails.
That’s you lot for this week. Its good to be back writing and I hope you have enjoyed reading, especially if you’re a newbie. interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the place to direct your e-mails to, and the address your e-mail will be sent from regarding the IWP league. I will be back, every Tuesday with the latest addition of this column, and please take the time to check out the other articles on this site.
Thanks for Reading
