Archive for February, 2009
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2009 News on Thu 26 Feb 2009
Well I have to say that it seems that everyone seems to be preoccupied with the recent PES update.
We have several camps of people, as Dan elaborated a little on in his latest IWP. I am a primarily 360 gamer, so can only vouch on the validity of it’s patch. Apparently there was a minor issue with the patch name being the same as the October patch, but that was cleared up.
I have some news for our long suffering North America (inc. Canadian and South America) PES gamers. I have managed to establish contact with Konami US and have begun a dialogue in getting across the pain you guys are going through.
Since this is still only initial contact, I haven’t made much progress in terms of getting to the bottom of why the updates are taking so long to get through to you guys. But the important thing is that Konami US are very willing to talk to me as your representative. As I am uniquely placed to be able to communicate on your behalf, I’d like to ask you guys to please get in touch with me (usual email address at the end of the article) if you have any specific questions you need answers for.
Before you all inundate me with the usual questions of “where’s our *&^&$% patch?”, I’d like to say that Konami US are on the case. I hope to be able to tell you that guys should start to see some positive moves on their part in a matter of days. Please don’t assume this means you will have everything you want immediately, but hopefully I can help to get a focused idea from them on what the delays are, and hopefully quicker responses to when solutions will be made available.
I would like to remind people that Konami (Japan, Europe and US) do now visit our site regularly, so they are listening to what you have to say. They are aware that general communications with the fans in the past hasn’t been very good at all, but I can vouch for their willingness to improve communications with you guys. PESGaming.com is now an established conduit for achieving that, so please do make positive use of our site.
I have been reading general comments left in articles (we all generally do read them all – we may not reply to them all, but they do get noticed – something a few people who have been barred from the site for misconduct can vouch for!) and would like to address a comment left by Adam B – who clearly feels very let down by Konami – understandably so. Anway, here’s what Adam B had to say:
“Konami needs to be taught a lesson. Year after year they release another pes which has problem after problem with it, whether its one thing or another or several & it’s always down to fans to try sort out what they could’nt be arsed to do. When they release the game in its incomplete form they dont have any problems releasing it at full price & this is going to happen again this year & then the next & the next.
Fifa’s gameplay aint great but atleast EA dont keep insulting the fans like Konami do. I would love to start an online petition gathering all pes fans & refusing to buy any more pes games until they give pes fans some respect & complete a pes game properly for once. Its not like Konami dont have the funds!!! Until something like this happens us pes fans will be forever picking up the pieces of Konami’s slackness. How many of you would like to see Pes raise its standards to Fifa in terms of kits, presentation, features etc?????? Konami does’nt seem to listen or care about fans so its about time we all make them….”
I would like to say to Adam B and the people who agree with him that whilst I share your frustration at the direction PES has taken over the last couple of years, I would like to ask him to reconsider his views on starting up some sort of online petition.
We at PESGaming.com have made massive strides in actually getting through to Konami, and if you’re a regular reader also know that we have contributed to the content of PES2010. We don’t know the full degree to which our ideas will be incorporated, but they have been considered – which is a major breakthrough for fan power. Konami recognise that there are issues that fans are very unhappy about, but they’re trying to put it right. We have been going to great lengths to work with them to try get PES back to the top where it belongs.
I have said in the past that before we look to bitch and moan, we should try to fix what’s broke. If our attempts are futile, then we say with a clear conscience that we tried to make a difference, but failed – and then bitch and moan all you like! Let’s try to be constructive with our criticisms of the game, and try to get the most out of the game. Konami are more than aware that this is last chance saloon for them in many gamer’s eyes. I’ve seen articles generally on the web where people are writing about Konami’s PES franchise being in dire straights, and how FIFA now rules the roost.
Whilst PES has its issues, I do not for one second believe that Konami can’t come back from this situation and resolve it. It may take another two iterations to achieve this, but they will get there.
We will get a good measure of progress when PES2010 hits the streets, and I fully expect to see major strides in it. One of my many mottos in life is: Plan for the worst, Hope for the best.
I think that perfectly describes my philosophy on PES2010. I know collectively we have done everything we can to highlight to Konami what is wrong with the game, and what we want to see fixed. Going forward, this relationship with them can only get stronger and our influence on the game will also increase. How fantastic could this turn out to be?
To end this sermon, I’d like to point out that whilst FIFA ‘09 is a very good game, its still not heralded as the best football game ever. It has its flaws and well as strengths. Its just that this time it is a stronger game than PES. But ask yourself - is PES really finished? It’s going to be a long journey getting to October of this year to see what PES2010 is going to be.
But I know that the journey will be an exciting one for me, and I’d like to invite you on this journey of optimism for the future with me.
Thanks for reading.
Dougiedonut
email: dougiedonut@pesgaming.com
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 24 Feb 2009
IWP League Champion 2008: Martin Ginnelly (River Plate)
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. Due to time constraints coinciding with the setting up of the IWP League, this week’s column will be slightly shorter than usual. For some this may make the article more accessible, but for others I know this may be bad news, as I am well aware that IWP is seen by many as the ideal dinnertime or coffee break companion. I assure you the column will be back to its full, healthy length next week, but simply because of setting up the IWP mini site and producing graphics, I have had to sacrifice I bit of the article. I would also like to take this opportunity to lend my full support to Double D’s competition, which started last week. I would obviously have entered already, but columnists are not allowed to take part. I recommend putting posters in sporting related places, and if possible printing them even bigger than A4 to get them truly noticed. The prizes on offer are pretty decent, and it’s not really a lot of work for what it technically a free game. With that said, lets move on with this week’s Interfering With Play.
“It’s About Time”
So, last week saw the launch of version 1.30 of PES 2009, along with the much sort after transfer update. Having been checking the site frequently over the past few days, I can see that the community is split into four distinctive categories. The first group are people who have downloaded the patch and transfers, and are enjoying the update. These do tend to be the less vocal, but those I have spoken to either via MSN or face to face seem to be pretty happy with the end result. The second group are those who seem to have had problems actually getting the update to work. From my experience, 99% of the transfers have occurred, and this all happened first time straight away. There are numerous step by step guides to follow, and I personally did not lose a single megabyte of personal or kit data. Beckham is at Milan, Jo at Everton and all the others in between. Whilst I don’t understand how people have different versions downloaded, I am sure it is the case and do sympathise with them. Konami have made the update procedure unneededly complicated, something which follows the long list of online failings in the PES franchise. The third group of people seem content on not downloading or supporting Konami’s post release content. Of course, this is matter of opinion, but if its free and easy to use, I feel is should be used! And the fourth group are our unfortunate friends in the U.S, who are, the time of going to press, still well behind regarding updates!
It is commendable that Konami have tried to include this feature, and as with all new features, ironing out the bugs is just part of the process. However, my question to the PESGaming.com community is would you rather not have this feature in the game? Would you personally rather be responsible for editing transfers, or use one of the many user designed option files to do the job for you? Konami repeatedly acknowledge the fact that we, as a gaming public, edit their game with kits and logos, at this year, for the first time, kept kit data separate from player and transfer data. This for me was a hugely positive step. I know there are a lot of gamers out there that would rather edit the entire game themselves, and see it as part of playing PES as the actual football itself! Konami tried to use the updates to support online play, but with that game mode being so poor, was it time wasted? My personal views aside, I would love to hear what the community thinks on the situation. We have had two updates now, October and February, has the gaming experience been enhanced by these patches, or simply made more work for you? Comments can be posted, or sent as an e-mail to the address below. I intend to continue this topic next week.
“I Won’t Quit ‘Cause I’m A Street Fighter”
As I sit here typing, by left thumb is severely blistered. My second and third finger on my hand is also an unusual red. The cause, the return of one of the greatest gaming franchises of all time, Street Fighter IV. I am fully aware this is a PES site, but there are moments in gaming that come along that really define a year within the industry, and Capcom’s latest instalment is doing just that. Anyone who has played the original will feel right at home picking up the latest copy of the game, something I did this past weekend for under £30 in Asda. I know the majority of gamers over about 20 years old will have spent some time playing Street Fighter II, and probably rushed out to purchase this game, but if you were reluctant, or simply just haven’t yet, my I give it my full recommendation. It’s still enough of a challenge to give even the most experienced beat ‘em up gamer headaches and has enough depth, unlockables and game modes to keep the completionists happy, but for me, it’s something more that this.
Capcom are a very similar company to Konami. Both are Japanese based and feature a long line of reputation titles and series under the belts. Both also are responsible for some of the greatest arcade titles this planet has ever seen. With the exception of Metal Gear Solid, Konami seems to have fallen behind when it comes to next generation gaming. Whilst PES was a huge graphical improvement, other ‘as standard’ features failed to materialise. We have spoken too much about online play, but it is something that so many games feature now, it is seen as almost mandatory. Capcom analysed this and included several decent online ideas in Street Fighter IV, in spite of it being as faced paced as any online titles needs to be. Just like PES, it only involves two gamers playing against each other, and yet suffers with minimal lag at breakneck speeds. Capcom’s next offering, Resident Evil 5 also features a reasonably handy online mode, again for two players and again not suffering any discernable lag. Capcom took their time, didn’t rush and did the Street Fighter series proud with the latest game; hopefully Konami will follow their Japanese brothers and do the same with their legendary gaming series!
If you’re Street Fighting online for PS3, drop me your PSN via e-mail and I will add you for a couple of bouts. That is, of course, once the blistering on my thumb goes down from one too many Sonic Booms!
“World Of Our Own”
I have taken the plunge and dived into the world of Football Manager Live. I purchased the DVD version of the game, and intend to start up this weekend (March 1st). If you’re in a similar boat to me, feel free to wait to then e-mail me with which game world you are playing in. It would be great to run a PESGaming.com tournament live in the Football Manager Live world. If you’re not involved with FML yet, I will include my initial views on the game in next week’s IWP, along with a recommendation, if I feel it deserves one!
“Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous”
My final topic this week is in response to a comment made upon last week’s Interfering With Play. The individual who posted it may very well me a PESGaming.com regular using a different name, and to keep his wish anonymity, I have not spent the time searching through the IP Addresses to find out. The comment was made by someone called “Pissed with PESGaming”, who said:
“Highlight Videos, Leagues! Why though the PS3 Bias? This site actively alienates 360 owners who love PES! Sort that **** out, this site is supposed to be for PES gamers not exclusively PS3 PES gamers.”
I would like to address this personally, as I feel it is something that may be on other visitors mind’s as well. First of all, the comments made in Interfering With Play are my views and opinions, or facts. They are not the views of the PESGaming.com community as a whole or indeed any of the other columnists or bloggers. I know both Double D and Francis are X Box 360 owners and gamers, so they have the option of choosing to talk about 360 issues if they so wish. I am personally a PS3 owner, and make a habit of talking about what I know. It would be ill informed and naïve of me to try and talk about the 360, a console which I have some, albeit limited experience on.
Regarding the IWP League, I left an open invitation to all gamers of both consoles prior to setting up the league. I received almost triple the applications from PS3 gamers as I did from those owning a 360, and therefore opted to run the league on this backing. I have already committed to running a World Cup style tournament on X Box 360 this summer, providing the demand is high enough, and would not begrudge any 360 owners the opportunity to take part.
In order to do the video editing, I actually need the console at hand. As I mentioned before, I own a PS3, and therefore can only capture footage off that console. This has to be coupled with Microsoft’s strict file sharing policy, meaning it would be slightly more difficult, albeit no impossible, to send files between two X Box’s. If someone is interested in capturing data from their X Box 360 to a laptop of PC, I am happy to report I have the knowledge and backing in order to do this now, and would be more than happy to point them in the right direction.
Finally, I would like to point out that wherever possible, we focus PES as a multiformat game, be that PS2, PS3, 360 or PC. There are obvious exceptions, notably the Wii and PSP versions, but these are for just cause and would be considered by many to be very different versions of the game. Personally, I can only support the consoles I have at my disposal. If someone out there wants to send me a nice new X Box 360 (Microsoft?) I will be more than happy to capture video footage and edit it together. At the same time, if people want to send me their own .avi or .mpeg files I will happily include them in any editing. I do not intentionally discriminate, and would like to once again remind all those involved that PESGaming.com is a multi console website.
That’s your lot for this week. As mentioned above, I now have the knowledge to video edit and more importantly, capture data! Seeing that there was a decent response on the e-mail, I will be looking into purchasing the relevant equipment over the next couple of weeks, hopefully to put together an interesting montage of action. For my first video piece, I am looking at Goalkeepers, and in particular, great saves. If over the next few weeks, when playing matches on PES, a GK makes a fantastic stop, either for you or the opposite team, make sure you save the replay. I will give you information on what to do with it as soon at I have the technology. The same could also be said for showboating moments, pieces of unique or simply brilliant skill. By the looks of it, my column has actual ran on to normal length, but has taken less time due to the nature of the topics. If you have read anything here that you want to get in touch about, you can do so either via the comment section, or by e-mailing me direct on interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk. Remember to support Double D’s competition.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2009 News on Thu 19 Feb 2009
For everyone who owns a Wii, or is thinking about getting one, how’s this for incentive:
We have three copies of the Wii version of PES2009 to give away!
Konami have very kindly donated three copies of the game for us to give away to fans of our site.
We also have three signed Messi PES2009 posters (Limited Edition – only 50 in the world!) to give away.
I am kicking off a series of mini-competitions which we will be running not only on the main site, but also within the forums. So there will be ample opportunities to pick up a copy of the game very very soon.
The game isn’t due for release until some time in March, which is in fact, just a stone’s throw away.
I’m not sure whether Wii games are region protected, since the versions we will get will be European PAL versions. So apologies if this means that non-PAL regions won’t be eligible. If this is the case, then we will fight hard to try to get more copies for all the other regions to ensure you’re all included in the competition. But hopefully there aren’t region protection issues to worry about. I’m not particularly savvy on the Wii, so do forgive my ignorance. I’m sure a few of you will see fit to set me straight on the status of Wii games.
As regular readers of my PES OFF!! articles will be aware, I’ve been asking you guys for ideas for competitions, and to date, no-one has volunteered any ideas – so thanks a lot guys. This means that you have to make do with whatever ideas we come up with for the competitions, so no moaning about the choice of ideas.
Now we’d like to think PES gamers are a cerebral bunch (you wouldn’t tell from the nature of some of the comments left on this site and in the forums!), and so we want to test how much you really want a copy of PES2009 on the Wii. My competition is quite simple. I am attaching several PESGaming.com posters (Big shout out to Dan for producing these for us!) which I would like you guys to print out and put in your place of study, work or play. The bigger the poster is, and the more imaginative the placement, the more likely you will be to win a copy of the game. We would like you to take a picture of yourself alongside the poster, wherever you choose to place it, and then email me the picture at my usual address, as listed at the end of this post. It’s that simple!
There will be one copy of the game given away in my competition. Now here’s the rules bit, which i’m making up as I go along:
1. The final decision on who wins rests solely with the PESGaming.com panel, and can’t be contested.
2. The copy of the game will be sent to the winner as soon as we receive it from Konami.
3. The winner of my competition will also get a bonus item, which I will keep secret for now…
4. The closing date for this competition has not been finalised yet, but will probably be around when the games are in our hands. At least a week’s notice before the competition ends will be given.
Right then, here the posters which you can choose from to print off and stick up where you choose to do so.
Please put the posters up responsibly – i.e. not illegally – we do not in any way wish for anyone to break the law in trying to partake in our competition. There’s no bonus points for picking any particular poster, so there’s no real strategy in choosing which one to pick. Or is there?
Thanks for reading
Dougiedonut
dougiedonut@pesgaming.com
Posted by Dan Bolas in PES 2009 News on Wed 18 Feb 2009
As Double D has posted today, the 1.30 version update of Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is now live. The official Konami press release is available to read below, but I thought I would briefly explain how updating the game works. Upon turning on PES 2009, you will be prompted to install the latest version of the game. This is mandatory, but will no effect anything noticable in the game (or that I have noticed yet anyway!)
Following this being updated, you will need to go into the system settings menu and click Download, to which is will say a new download is available. This will then update the transfers for the January window and add new youngsters to pretty much every squad. Following the download, you must overwrite your edit data file and then save the new one. Nothing needs to be deleted. Finally, turn off the game and restart. When doing so, you will be prompted on the main screen to once again overwrite saved data. Click yes once more. Now, you should have all the latest transfers done, players added, but kit and logo data still remaining in tact. This worked for me, and also kept my editing team, Wolves in the game. I edited over TEAM A.
Certain players have noticeable stat increases, especially if you play the game with a certain team alot. For me, Gabby’s pace has greatly increased as a Villa forward. I am sure you guys will all notice little stat changes for your players and teams. The option file SHOULD NOT overwrite any kit data or saved leagues/cups, although PESGaming.com takes no responsibilty for any loss of saved data at all.
Finally, by the looks of things, there are no new graphical or gaming features included in the update, meaning no new boots or no trophy support (PS3). Hope that helps a few people!
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2009 News on Wed 18 Feb 2009
PES 2009: Free January Transfer Window
Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has announced the release of a free download containing all the moves within the January transfer window for PES 2009.
The download will be available as of today to users of PES 2009 for PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360 and PC-DVD. It’s accesible via the game system settings and will bring all club sides’ rosters in line with all the transfers made before the end of the January 2009 transfer window. Hundreds of players have been updated and corrected according to their moves, with approximately 200 new players added to the game for the first time. The stats of thousands of players have also been refined, in line with their performances so far this season.
The new team data follows an update released yesterday, which corrects small technical issues within PES 2009, including the importation of photo data. These downloads further demonstrate Konami’s commitment to continually updating PES 2009, with further exciting downloadable content set for release in the coming months.
Enjoy!
Cheers
Dougiedonut
dougiedonut@pesgaming.com
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 17 Feb 2009
IWP League Champion 2008: Martin Ginnelly (River Plate)
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. It is still all quiet on the official update front for PES 2009, something which I know will frustrate many European and American gamers our there. However, I am of the school of thought that it is better Konami takes the time to ensure the update is complete and thorough, as opposed to leaving out key players or key transfers. Fellani was missing from Everton on the last update, lets hope the same kind of blooper is avoided this time out. It is, of course, exceptionally commendable that Fifa and EA Sports keep up to date with the latest transfers on a daily or weekly basis, but sometimes, this is simply not practical, and as long as Konami provide a complete update, with new players as well as up dated stats for others, very few gamers will be left wanting.
“Cleaning Out My Closet”
The draw for the Interfering With Play league took place this past Thursday, and at the off chance any of the participants did not get the e-mail sent at the end of last week, the video of the draw can be found on youtube.com by simply typing in ‘IWP Draw’. As mentioned on the video, the next few weeks are designed to give the players taking part an opportunity to practice with their designated side, learn no tactics and try out a variety of formations and players. I have taken the time testing the majority of teams within the league and have found a couple of hidden gems in some of the sides. Of course, with no Ronaldo or Messi to bail you out, tactical play, working set pieces or even playing for a draw becomes a genuinely acceptable means of playing the game.
To put those involves mind’s at rest, the full list of league rules will be arriving in your inbox during the final week of February, and a copy will be included on the IWP League website, which is set to be launched very soon. I am hoping to run a competition alongside the league on the mini site, but more information will be available on this in the coming weeks. If you would like to check out the league draw, or are just curious about the IWP league format, head over to youtube now for more information.
“You’re My Number One”
It was nice to see a fair few responses to my captaincy dilemma in last week’s column. I also remember reading somewhere, many moons ago, that the choice of captain influences the way your team plays, yet have never really experienced it during the game, so can not confirm it either way. Perhaps a leadership stat could be added in future editions of PES, in a similar way to the condition or weaker foot stat. A simple one to seven number that can be used to multiply others teamwork stats by, meaning having a player like Terry or Gerrard leading your team will make the whole team gel better, whereas a less influential youngster would see your team struggle to play as a unit.
This kind of feature is definitely not an urgent point, yet it is one that could and should be looked at for future versions of Pro Evolution Soccer. There has been a lot said in the past few months about the game not ‘evolving’ in the way it used to, and whilst there have been definite motions forward in the field of graphics and licenses, it is the small features that made PES so great in the late nineties and into the 2000’s. PES fans do tend to notice and appreciate these small points, because the majority of PES fans are huge footballing fans (obviously). Konami now are said to visit the site on a regular basis, so make sure you little things are spoken about. Whether its substitutes warming up on the side of the pitch, editable managers or interactive drinks bottles by the goals, the little things that other people miss are what has, for years, made PES the top football title. Make sure your little things are included!
“And Then I Turned On The TV”
A quick point thanking all of those who took the time to get back to me regarding recording PS3 footage onto my laptop. After speaking to a few people with more advanced technical knowledge than myself, I have found a couple of ways of doing it, and am now opening up the floor to the community. If you would be interested in uploading goals or action to a set file server or e-mail address, with a view to them being put in a highlights style package, potentially the best of PESGaming.com each month, please get in touch and say your on board. It would be a simple case of copying data off your PS3 onto a USB pen, and then e-mailing it through to myself, who would be able to capture it into a format viewable on PCs or Macs. Obviously, I would do this for free, but am only willing to put my money down and purchase something of this nature if it is going to be used by the community, so the ball is in your court. Either leave a comment saying you’re on board or drop an e-mail letting me know you would like to be involved. I think a monthly video showing the best goals, skills and saves from the PESGaming.com users would be very interesting, and also be an excellent way of showing off!
“If I Give You My Number”
Great points raised over the past few days following underrated or overrated players on PES2009. I think there are a couple of issues that have been brought to my attention that I would like to address on the subject, and then leave it up to you guys to mull over them. I will also end with the promised underrated PES United, although I have had to call in a couple of my mates to fill in the blanks regarding underrated players for specific positions.
One point that has seemed to pop up over the last few weeks regarding this topic is that is believed the Konami team are very biased towards certain players. Even the most hardened PES fan would have to agree with this statement, as certain players, who fail to perform for their club teams are unrealistically good on Pro Evo. As mentioned on the comments last week, Brazilian centre forward Adriano falls heavily into this category, as he has been poor for Inter Milan over the past couple of seasons. Any one who is a fan of Italian football will support this case, yet it seems when he gets the ball on PES, his shots will rocket towards goal, normally bulldozing through anyone on there way. Another player is Harry Kewell. Whilst an exceptionally good player in his Leeds days, the Australian had a terrible time at Liverpool, but was still fast and tricky on Pro. Finally, the players from Japan and Korean do seem to be a lot better than their real life counterparts. If we are to go on the reasoning that the Premier League, Seria A and La Liga are the top three divisions in the world, then surely there would be more of these ‘top’ players playing in them. As it happens, the Japanese and Korean players have better stats than a number of Premier League players who would definitely be considered better than them by the football viewing world. The best example of this would be Park for Manchester United, who although is a very decent Premier League player, is not the machine Konami would have us believe.
So what is the answer to this dilemma of having players overrated, or indeed underrated? It’s no secret that Football Manager has a huge team of researchers and fans more than willing to spend their time observing and assessing individual players. Whilst Seabass and company may view a fair amount of western football, surely using people who eat, sleep and breath the European game would result in a more accurate depiction of these players. I know this is a suggestion aired by several of you and one that I would personally support. Even using something as simple as a Football Manager to Pro Evolution Soccer stats converter (they are free to download) would give certain players a more realistic feel. Another suggested point would be to add new statistical information for players. I know this was spoken about with regards to defenders, who would have strong attributes for intercepting, or reading the game, but taking it one step further could bring in a whole new style of game. Stats such as special awareness, support play or run timing could help bring players like Fabregas up to the standards we saw at the end of last season, and would add an entirely new dimension to these players game.
Of course, this is all critical, when in fact there are a lot of players who feel and play like their real life counterparts. For years Henry has realistically cut in from the left, Drogba has bullied many a centre half and Gerrard has gone from box to box dictating the pace of the game. In fact, what is being asked is to once again take it to the next level, and bring in new features which will improve the gaming experience. After last years title, PES 2009 relies less on pace players and more on the ability to make the correct decision, and nay future inclusions, be they animation based or statistic based must take this into account.
So, I leave this section with the underrated stars of PES 2009. Granted, this list will hopefully change following the transfer window update, which is said to include new statistical information for players, and it should also be noted that a couple of these players were relatively unknown up until this season, meaning Konami had no way of gauging their ability until now.
Gk: Reina (Liverpool) Arguably one of the best keepers in the Premier League, but can’t catch a cold on PES.
Def: G. Johnson (Portsmouth), Juan (Roma), Jagielka (Everton), Mexes (Roma)
Mid: Fabregas (Arsenal), De Rossi (Roma), Quaresma (Inter/Chelsea) needs to use his outside of the foot more. Noble (West Ham)
For: Zaki (Wigan), Bojan (Barcelona)
That’s your lot for this weeks Interfering With Play. As always, the e-mail address is interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk, so feel free to direct any comments there. You can also do the simple version, by pressing the comments button below and registering your views in a live environment. I believe Double D is firing up his competitions this week, so make sure you take a look, to have a go at winning some very cool PES related prizes.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2009 News, PES Off!! on Thu 12 Feb 2009
This week I would like to dedicate this article to the perceived plight of our fellow North American gamers.
I couldn’t help but notice in the comments to the Transfer update post I added last week, that a fair few guys from North America seem to have issues with updates to PES games. I have to say I’ve kind of noticed the odd comment here and there about updates in North America in the past, but given how these complaints are still persisting, we at PESgaming.com would like to try to help you as much as possible.
So I would like to invite all our North American site viewers to please post back with comments, telling us of your problems with updates. I would appreciate a picture of what the issues you guys face with the game are, and what you think needs to be done (this may be stating the obvious, but I’d like to get as much info as possible).
The aim will be then to put together an email to send to Konami on your behalf to help you guys out.
I can’t promise it will resolve your issues, but we are more than happy to lend you our voice for your concerns.
So if you are from North America, then please do reply – and also inform other PES players who may not necessarily visit our site, to please do so and leave comments. The more comments and support we have from your region, the more gravity the complaints will have.
So please – the likes of Charles B., Robbie, pategato, sandaweches, GascoigneUSA, mrgametight, J and everyone else complaining – please tell me your story!
I don’t want to isolate issues people around the world have with updates for the game, so if you are from any other part of the world, and have similar problems with updates, then by all means do get in touch too.
Please note – I am only looking for information about PES2009 updates, NOT the main game itself.
We have various other forums for those complaints, so please don’t reply back with general gaming issues with PES.
I’m afraid I don’t have any more updates on the actual date of the patch, but i’m hoping to secure that information some time next week, so watch this space.
We are nearly ready to launch our competitions, so keep an eye out next week, and hopefully they should be live on the site.
Thanks for reading
Dougiedonut
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 10 Feb 2009
IWP League Champion 2008: Martin Ginnelly (River Plate)
Welcome to a landmark Interfering With Play. A landmark in maybe personal terms only, as after 74 weeks, this will be final IWP I write on this computer. I have decided to purchase a laptop as a way of having more time to give to the various projects I am committed to. This will hopefully mean I also have more time to dedicate to answering various e-mails and comments from the PESGaming.com community, as well as ensuring the pending Interfering With Play League is fully supported and runs pretty much glitch free, apart from the obvious, PES lag! I would also like to use this area to inform the various PESGaming.com bloggers that the various pieces for the PESGaming.com competitions should be ready within the next few days, in particular regarding Double D’s excellent poster competition. The PESGaming.com community always throws itself into the events and ideas we put forward, and hopefully these competitions will be met in the same spirit, especially with the prizes that are on offer! With that said, lets move on to this week’s Interfering With Play.
“Fighting For, Nothing”
I start this week with an issue that has been bothering me for quite a while, and yet every week, it seems to fall on the back burners. About 12 months ago, I wrote a quite lengthy letter to the people at Konami, structured from suggestions raised on this website. The letter included the majority of issues which the community as a whole felt was key to the improvement and indeed survival of the PES franchise. The letter received no acknowledgment from anyone at Konami, and like many of you, I believe the letter was either never received or just deleted without even being looked at. Obviously annoyed, I put very little thought into the letter, and ignored it for a while.
However, upon the release of PES 2009, and following the initial honeymoon period of the games release, I decided to have a read through the points raised when writing the letter, and indeed the letter itself, just to see if any of the ideas the we had raised had been implemented into the game. I am not suggesting for even one minute that the ideas would have been brought in because of those points raised in our letter, but when looking back through the evidence, there are a fair few similarities between the two. Granted, the major points needed to be fixed, and would have been exceptionally foolish of Konami to avoid them, yet its still interesting to look back on and analyse.
The major points of the letter where regarding the lag and edit modes. Offline in PES2009 suffers from no noticeable lag at all, a massive improvement on the lag ridden 2008 edition. The edit mode is also hugely improved, and whilst key issues such as base copy are still missing, the image importation option is a huge bonus, and is almost back to the glory days of PES6 editing. Both of these points were highlighted within the letter wrote, and as mentioned before, needed to be sorted by Konami for PES2009 to even be considered an improvement. Online’s lag is still exceptionally poor, and is something that Konami must address in future, yet the letter’s opening two points were included in PES2009. Another nice inclusion, and a personal favourite of mine was the ability to import MP3s and chants into the menu screens and game respectively. This was mentioned in the letter, and is still relatively groundbreaking, with very few mainstream franchises opting to include MP3 importing. The letter also focused on bringing in new game options, and although the suggestions of a 5 a side mode was not implemented, PES2009 has three brand new game modes ahead of its previous incarnation, Champions League Mode, Legends Mode and Become A Legend Mode. All three modes are positive steps in the right direction, especially bringing in licensed competitions and teams.
As I said, I was very annoyed about the lack of response to the letter we as a community submitted. However, in hindsight, the lions share of the topics from the aforementioned letter are now features in PES2009, and therefore my complaints are less justifiable. I don’t know whether or not Konami ever saw the letter, and coincidence is more than likely playing its part here, but I do not regret writing the letter or expressing the views of the community as a whole. Nowadays, with the sites contact with Konami is well documented, and we will hopefully have some kind of say into what PES2010 looks like. If there is a feature, such as a 5 a side mode or the option to create your own set piece routines, that no one else has mentioned but you think would be a useful addition to the game, make sure you express your views in Double D’s next column, and he will pass on to the appropriate sources.
“You Come And Go”
There was a lot of hype these past few days about the transfer update patch being released for PES 2009, in the EU at least. Other, less reputable sites may have fed visitors the fabrication of an unconfirmed release date, but once again, PESGaming.com held back and provided the official press release. The update itself, for those of you not familiar, will update player’s stats, transfers and potentially a handful of new boots, erasing over some older pairs on the game. It is highly unlikely to influence anything else. The majority of new licenses (if any) will be saved now for the next version of the game.
If the update is similar to last time around, all kit data and saved games will remain in tact. The only problems will occur with edited players and teams. We are not sure at this time how the update will affect this. But as soon as we do, I will make sure it is posted in Interfering With Play. My advice has always been to hold off editing anything yourself until Konami have released the latest patch, and this time is no exception. I definitely wouldn’t spend time creating James Beatie or Mark Davies, as both will more than likely be included in the update. As always we hope for surprises to be brought in, but with nothing confirmed or even teased about, I would simply expect updated transfers and player stats for version 1.30.
“I’m The Leader”
One glitch that has plagued the past few versions of PES, and I was wondering if it bothered anyone in the same way it constantly frustrates me. I am not sure whether or not the chosen captain for you side actually affects the way your team plays on PES at all. It has never been proven to increase the side’s stats, and whilst a potential future improvement could be an influence rating for each player a la Football Manager, it is not something that has yet to happen on PES. With that said, I am the first to ensure that Terry is leading out Chelsea or Giggs replaces Rio as captain should an injury occur. Whether this is just for the realism side or because of some deeper, hidden controlling nature I am not sure, I know it is something that plays a part in my everyday PES experience.
So, imagine my frustration when every time I select a free kick taker in a defensive position, the player is given the captains armband! This was a featured that occurred on PES 2008 and has been kept on for the latest edition. Exceptionally annoying when you consider the majority of good features left out each year. If you haven’t experienced this yet, I urge you to try it. The next time a player is brought down in your own half, opt to change the kick taker. The new player will then step up to take the free kick, complete with shiny new armband! If you are a tactical player, and like having left footers curl the ball in, this could mean having to change the captain of the side 5 or 6 times in a game, and as a result switching back to the original captain the same number of times. When looking for a flowing footballing experience, constant pausing to swap your skipper about is 100% not the answer! Anyone else with the same gripe, please get in touch.
“Video Killed The Radio Star”
I am far from a technophobe, but am looking for some guidance from maybe someone who could offer some help. For a long time now, I have been looking for a way to upload my PES saved goals online. I know Francis wants to run a Goal Of The Month competition and would be more than willing to help out. My new laptop is HD compatible, meaning it has a HDMI Out. I am looking for someone to tell me whether or not I can convert this to a HDMI In slot, with the potential to plug my PS3 into my Laptop.
If this were possible, I would have absolutely no problem receiving people’s best goals via e-mail, and then uploading them as a video file. This would offer a whole new level to a Goal Of The Month competition, would mean we could edit it in a Match Of The Day style environment, and would also mean the PES community would have an active voting competition each month, complete with prizes. If anyone has more information, or could shine some light on the HDMI Out to HDMI In converter, I would be greatly appreciative. My e-mail address is below.
“Overprotected”
Inspired by the previous post, a simple one to end this week’s IWP. Who is the most underrated player on PES 2009? Easy one to comment on, so if you’re a first time visitor or a silent viewer, take this opportunity to get involved. Please remember that stats change in Master League, and therefore ratings should relate to the Exhibition or League modes of PES 2009, obviously with unedited players! I plan to compile a ‘Best XI’ of underrated players in next week’s IWP.
That’s your lot for this week. If you are taking part in the IWP League, please continue to check you inbox, as the draw for teams will be taking place this week. A youtube link should be e-mailed through to you with the draw taking place, just to prove it is complied completely at random. The IWP League website should also be up in the next 7 days for those of you wishing to keep track of the league. As always, your views on anything read here, or PES related are welcomed with open arms. Send comments through with your under rated players, and you can also e-mail me direct on interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2009 News on Fri 06 Feb 2009
Guys
I have the following newsflash from Konami, that I can share with you:
PES 2009: Free January Transfer Window
Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has confirmed the content of its latest free download for PES 2009 for PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360 and PC-DVD.
Due for download at the end of February, the update will bring all club sides’ rosters in line with all the moves and transfers made before the end of the January 2009 transfer window. Hundreds of players have been updated and corrected in line with their moves, with approximately 200 new players added to the game for the first time. The stats of thousands of players have also been refined, in line with their performances so far this season.
The download demonstrates Konami’s commitment to continually updating PES 2009, with further exciting downloadable content set for release in the coming month
Before we’re inundated with the question about the exact date of the patch- we’ll tell you as soon as we know!
Cheers
Dougiedonut
dougiedonut@pesgaming.com
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2009 News on Thu 05 Feb 2009
I’d like to start by saying thanks to all you guys for the positive messages to last week’s post.
I think we have collectively made a breakthrough in our relationship with Konami, and hopefully we will forge a new way of having a say on the beautiful game.
I read the comments posted last week with interest, particularly to the ones about whether we should have monthly polls, or an annual list of ideas (Amateur and Simon McDermott respectively).
For those of you not familiar with what we managed to do back around November, please take the trouble to go back into past postings around October/November to get an idea of what we did on the site. You will also find one of my columns had the complete listing of ideas which were submitted to Konami.
We also subsequently fed back information about how we all hate the current online implementation of the game, since it is broken. But Konami have been eager to soak up this feedback from us, and are more than happy to listen to what we have to say.
Anyway, getting back to the monthly/annual posting of ideas – I’d like to throw in my two pence worth on the subject. Personally I think collating ideas and presenting a final list of them on an annual basis is the right approach. Once Konami have had their development kick off sessions which they then agree on what will make the next version, that’s it. No more suggestions realistically will make it. So our efforts need to be targeted to having our say prior to this meeting, so that we can influence it at the most important stage of the project.
BUT I would also say that there is no harm in having monthly polls/lists of ideas which we all try to nail down in terms of what we’d like, ready for the annual submission.
We would effectively have two strands of effort:
1) A long term strategy which defines the direction we’d like to see the game developing in.
2) Once a new version of the game is released (i.e. PES 2010 around October), we will need to work hard to test the game, and formulate a response on what we think needs to change, based on what the then version of the game offers.
Something I have on my agenda long term is to try to get Konami to agree to having something like an Emergency Response Team (ERT) for immediate fixing of issues. For example, we all know that the current online version has Team AI set to “Beginner” hard coded, rather than allow you to set the difficulty level. Now Konami have not been particularly keen to fix this minor bug. The infuriating thing is that it is so very easy to fix, and a quick update to fix it would really be little effort, but because of their focus on various other versions of the game, they have not been willing to rectify it. This new ERT could come in and sort out minor gameplay bugs and keep us all happy. I’d be interested in knowing if you guys back me on this idea.
Again please reflect your thoughts via the comments to show support!
Finally, I have come up with an idea for my forthcoming competition (prizes to be announced very soon!): We are going to design a PESgaming.com poster which we would like you guys to advertise at various events. The events don’t necessarily have to be a football match (though that would be nice!). I’d like to see what weird and wonderful places you guys can think of to stick the posters (legally please!) and to take photos of your achievement.
Again – would you guys be up for that??
Thanks for reading.
Dougiedonut
dougiedonut@pesgaming.com
P.S. I should hopefully get details on the January Transfer market update very soon, and will post them as soon as I get them.
