Archive for June, 2009
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 30 Jun 2009
IWP League Champion: Ivan Kostic (Internacional)
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. This week is a hectic week for me personally regarding PESGaming. Along with the screenshot mini site and the PRO-ve Your Skills challenge, I am also at looking to introduce a brand new graphical look to the site, with a few people who know slightly more about design than I do! As regards new columnists are writers, we are still holding an open forum for one or two individuals to potentially join the team. If you feel you could bring something different to the site, please do not hesitate to make contact, using the usual IWP e-mail address. Finally within this little introduction, I would like to open a Facebook site for PESGaming.com, but simply don’t have the time to run it and upkeep it. If you are interested in taking charge of a Facebook site for PESGaming.com, please e-mail me and I get back to you within a couple of days. With that said, lets move on with this week’s Interfering With Play.
“And Everything’s Gonna Be, Alright”
Extra marks for anyone who get the topic of this week’s first point based upon the song lyric above. Guessing games aside, the first port of call this week is something that is very close to my personal opinions, and an issue that has been raised on the forums and comments section of this site over the last week or so. Thanks to a great deal of hard work by Double D, PESGaming.com is now ‘in the loop’ when it comes to Konami. This does not make us an official Konami website, but instead means we will have ongoing contact and communications with Konami, both at an ideas level and more importantly, at a play testing and developmental level. As a result of this, there are some people out there who feel PESGaming may become another fan boy site, simply sucking up to Konami at every opportunity and not allowing the Japanese company’s title to be criticized in any way. I would like to assure each and every one of you that whilst Interfering With Play is being penned by me on this site, the only thing you will read is my hand on heart opinion, couple with fact. I will never praise something that I personally believe is poor, and I will never talk badly about something I personally think is good. Hopefully, after 94 weeks of doing this column, the community can understand that, and whether or not you agree with my views, the fact that they are genuine and honest can not be questioned.
The truth is, the way video games are being made is ever changing. I have said many times, and people have been discussing this on the boards, that football titles, as with most sports titles, get less development time than any other title. They follow a different pattern, as they have a year to try and fit in what other developers get double the time to do. Of course, this is no excuse for a sub standard or even average gaming experience. In this current climate of economic depression, every pound, euro or dollar counts and spending a number of these of a computer game must be justifiable. Furthermore, gaming is becoming more about communities than it is the company that is making the game. Titles such as Halo and Call Of Duty 4 are still thriving because of their online communities, and now gaming companies are starting to realise that by asking the fans what they want, they can tailor their gaming experience as appropriate.
For the last few years PES has missed out on even scratching the surface of an online gaming experience, and therefore Konami have had to look to the message boards, the forums and sites like PESGaming.com to find out what their gamers want. This year, they have actually got us involved, and hopefully, the end product will be what we are all looking for. This is the progression within the way video games are being developed, and if we as a community are being invited to take part, it would be naïve to do anything other than get involved. This will not in any way change my personal integrity, nor will be it edit the credibility of PESGaming.com. It is instead a way of getting our views heard, and doing so in a manner where we, as a community, can change the face of football gaming. For me, that is something I want to be part of.
“PRO-ve Your Skills Challenge”
A rare change coming with the lack of a song lyric for the paragraph title can only mean its todays PRO-ve Your Skills challenge. A lightening quick response from Craig Grant was enough to give him the title of champion on Monday, and his challenge is probably the most tricky one set so far. As the screenshot shows, he managed to defeat France using the England U21 team, and it also proves that a phone camera is a perfect way of showing off your work! Craig has set the following challenge
Win The Eredivise (Netherlands) With Any Team That Finished In The Bottom Half Of The 2008/09 Season, Losing Your Last Game Of The Season In The Process
Tricky, yes, but also a challenge that will really set apart the men from the boys. As always, difficulty, match duration and console choice are totally at the choice of the participant. This would also work well as a good way of gaining an achievement on the X Box 360, and get you one step closer to the Ultimate Player achievement. interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the place to get your entry to, and this challenge stays active until someone beats it. A progress report will be released on Thursday, unless someone beats it before then. The screenshots (two of them) must feature the completed league table, with your side at the top, and the final week’s fixtures, showing a defeat in your last match! Good Luck.
“We’re The Stars Of CCTV”
A little topic that I am hoping to put to bed now in the next couple of weeks, regarding the compilation video of goals by the PESGaming.com community. I have been playing around with the 20 or so clips I have received in one form or another for a while now, and am yet to be satisfied with the length of the overall result. Therefore, I am looking for a few more goal clips to save for this compilation, which I plan to release this summer. Basically, the idea is to put together a collection of special goals scored by the community and throw some trendy titles and music over the top to form short video package. I feel this will look good as the PES 2009 era draws to a close and PES 2010 starts to reach a release date.
To take part, simply save your goal to your systems hard drive, and then e-mail me for further instructions. All goals, no matter how weak or seemingly unimportant will be considered for inclusion, however the goal must be scored by a player representing their real life club, and the goal must be scored on the EU PS3 version of the game. International goals or those scored in the Champions League will be welcomed. I will be closing this for good in a few weeks time, so if you want to get one of your wonder goals shown on the world stage, do get in touch.
“Nobody Does It Better”
One thing that I think many people have trouble grasping is the way that licensing is implemented within Pro Evolution Soccer. It was spoken by a community member that although PES 2009 has the Champion’s League license, teams like Arsenal and Chelsea are not licensed, which seemingly makes no sense! I am not a lawyer, and make grasping of some legal terminology may be slightly confused, but I will try and explain this is a simplistic manner, without sounding condescending.
When acquiring a license to represent anything within a video game, you are basically paying to show that product. In some games, this can be in the form of advertising, something shown in Dreamcast classic Crazy Taxi as well as the ad boards in many sports games. When you wish to represent a real life team or organisation, it is up to that organisation what actually gets used. For example, the licenses included in PES 2009 include the England license. This deal was struck with the FA to include an exact replica of the new England shirt when it was released. However, this license is completely separate from one such as a license to include all English club sides, a deal which would have to be arranged by the FA Premier League.
FIFA Football has a huge advantage. EA Sports affiliating their title with the world governing body means issues such as acquiring national club licenses and use of the World Cup, a FIFA run competition, is a doddle. Konami have recently struck up a decent understanding with UEFA, but this has only been to include the Champions League, and doesn’t actually reflect the teams involved in the competition. That license allows PES to include the Champions League, trophy, logos and music, along with the TV style presentation many gamers have enjoyed over the past 8 months. Teams such as Liverpool and Manchester United would have their own terms to be included within the game, and require a separate license as a result.
Of course, there is a much more in depth way of looking into this; something which if you wish to investigate further could probably turn into something of an obsession. However, from a personal point of view, the best way to look at it is Konami has started gaining more licenses, and includes the best edit mode featured in any sporting title. Therefore, whatever isn’t licensed can look pretty close within a couple of days, and issues such as game play, online and game modes are a far more productive use of time.
“I’ve Had The Same Jeans On”
Finally this week, just a little food for thought, something which may be worth looking at in the future? I am personally very happy with the controls for PES, and the way players are controlled by the gamer. 360 vs. 8 directional movements aside, the use of the shoulder buttons and face buttons work well for me. However, if we look back, this has been the same since football gaming began. On one hand these controls are well known, comfortable and a safe option for developers, but on the other they are always going to bring out the same kind of constraints and limitations.
The Nintendo Wii has, for the past two years, tried something very different, with a certain level of success. For the middle aged gamers amongst us, it may seem a case of unnecessary change, but for younger gamers who only own a Wii, this way of playing football games may be the only way they know, and therefore become the accepted way. In a similar way, Call Of Duty: World At War is unplayable of Nintendo Wii for most gamers, but those who haven’t played it on any other format find it more responsive and oddly, easier to play!
So, just as a little idea, imagine a football game that you’re left and write feet were controlled by the left and write analogue stick. Direction changes could be made using the shoulder buttons, and the speed in which you moved would be determined by both speed and co-ordination within your movements. Kicking the ball would be a case of swinging the stick in a similar manner to the movement your foot would make on screen, something which would allow for more skills and tricks to be implemented. This would leave the face buttons free for tactical controls, and would open up a whole new gaming experience. Of course, it would only work when playing a Become A Legend style game mode, using that sort of camera angle, but with online teams and individual human player control becoming the normality; it is something that may just be on the horizon. Any views on this alternative control method would be appreciated.
That’s your lot for this week. As always, the e-mail address is interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk. Comments are also very welcome. Remember the PRO-ve Your Skills challenge is open all week this week, meaning whoever comes up with the completed challenge first becomes the new champion, and has to set a new challenge for the following day. PES 2010 news is coming soon, so sit tight and hold on, because things on PESGaming.com are about to heat up. If you’re interested in running the PESGaming.com Facebook, please feel free to get in touch.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by Dan Bolas in Site Updates on Mon 29 Jun 2009
A Huge Start to the Multi Challenge Week in the PRO-ve Your Skills competition. Over 15 entries for the USA v.s Brazil challenge, but it was former champion Manuel Sacco who 
came up with the goods. Of course, the USA use fake names for their players on PES, and therefore many of the entries featured oddly named players. However, as the screenshot shows, Manuel was the first to complete this challenge correctly, and therefore becomes the first two time champion. I have had to make up the challenge on his behalf, due to being unable to contact him before the deadline. Therefore, the next PRO-ve Your Skills Challenge is
Win An International Match Using The England U21 Team, Playing Against Any Major International Footballing Nation.
For this challenge, you will need to change the England National Squad to feature the players who took part in the recent UEFA Under 21 European Championship. The majority of the squad is featured in the game. The match can be against any major footballing nation, and that squad can be the original, mixed age squad. As always, it is open to any format of the game on any console, however the players must be from the current Under 21 squad, which can be found on wikipedia. As always, its first correct entry becomes the champion, and the screenshot must feature the ratings screen with the players used on it. Should this challenge be completed within the next 24 hours, the next challenge will be included in Interfering With Play.
Good Luck
Posted by Dan Bolas in Site Updates on Sun 28 Jun 2009
This week’s PRO-ve Your Skills challenge was one of the more lengthy tasks, as 
completing a Champions League takes more time than playing a single match. However, there were quite a few entries, but getting there first was Asem Ataullah, as the photographic evidence shows. He did also include a screenshot proving the players he used were all Helskini players, but this file was a few MB in size, and sizing it down was not necessary. As a result, Asem was responsible for setting a new challenge, but having not had any contact from him this weekend, I have had to make one up on his behalf. This is to keep the competition running and make sure everyone has a fair chance. Therefore this weeks challenge, on behalf of Asem is
Beat Brazil Using The USA, Keeping A Clean Sheet In The Process
This challenge is following the Confederations Cup which, if the USA had kept a clean sheet in, would have been won by the North Amercian side! Therefore, this is the opportunity to re write footballing history. As always, the challenge is open to any version of PES, using any difficultly level and on any gaming console. You must include a screenshot of your achievement, featuring the final scoreline All of this must be e-mailed through to interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk as soon as possible.
This week is also going to be known as “Multi Challenge Week”. In other words as soon as I receive an e-mail with the challenge completed, the new champion will ahve to defend their title straight away, and a new challenge will be posted on a daily basis, providing the old one is beaten. So in other words if someone beats the challenge on Monday morning, there will be a new challenge up on PESGaming.com by Monday evening. This is “Multi Challenge Week”, and means the title of PRO-ve Your Skills Champion could potentially change hands a whopping 7 times.
Good luck and get playing!
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2009 News on Thu 25 Jun 2009
Thank you to everyone who has responded with questions for us to ask the Konami Producer. I shall be creating a list of questions to ask shortly, and your input has been central to this process, so hopefully we get some good answers to questions that matter to us.
There has been a wide range of questions posted back in comments, and we will be looking to prepare a list which will mean a good few of the questions won’t make the list. So the priority will be on the more deep and meaningful questions, such as about online play, rather than using up a valuable question to ask whether shirts will be untucked (sorry to the guys who wanted to know this!).
I’ve been reading comments being left on the site for a couple of articles, and feel that I have to address the undercurrent of fans who can’t quite seem to shake off the shackles of pessimism for the game. I can totally understand where they are coming from, based on the last few iterations of the game, particularly on the 360 and PS3 systems. I can also understand that a lot of people don’t want to get excited, since they will only more dissappointment to deal with IF the game did not deliver an acceptable level of improvements. But I would like to say to these people to just cast their minds back even two to three years ago and to think what has changed between then and now. I’m talking about the recognition of fan power by Konami. We have never had a solid platform from which to voice our concerns.
Konami have never in the past entered into serious dialogue with us, or truly listened to our concerns and complaints with the game. I’d now like these same people to ask themselves whether they see a significant change in Konami’s attitude to the game this time round.
Again I’m talking about the fact that they have increased their development team size by 200 people. In game development team sizes this is a huge increase, and demonstrates how they are taking not only the threat from FIFA seriously, but also listening to what we want fixed in PES.
I think it’s fair to say that the PES games (as well as all previous iterations of the game in the past – ISS, ISS Pro, Winning Eleven etc) have always had a quirky but charming nature. We’ve all laughed at the presentation, or the stupid player names, or various other aspects which weren’t exactly great. But now that the core game has so many flaws that the core fans are disenfranchised with the series, we’re not going to sit back and keep playing the game with all it’s faults.
So to address this, Konami are making strides to address the types of concerns we have. You only have to read the range of comments from any article to see the types of things that matter to PES fans, to understand that Konami won’t be able to satisfy everyone’s requirements. There are various areas of the game which all need addressing, and so these will be rightfully prioritised by Konami. In the past, we didn’t care if the stadiums didn’t look great, or if hairstyles weren’t up to date on players etc, as long as the game engine was the brilliant one which we have been accustomed to for so long. But with the new PS3/360 machines, we have seen Konami struggle to continue their work seamlessly.
To these people who fear for PES 2010, who think that Konami will just release the same old game with a few tweaks here and there, I’d like to say that they should keep faith, and trust in Konami. This is a bold statement for me to make, since I haven’t seen what the game will end up as. So what’s making me think and believe in Konami? The answer is simple – look back at Konami’s footballing legacy, and ask yourself whether the geniuses that made PES what it is, can come back from the criticism they have received in the past? I have faith in Konami because for years they gave us footballing brilliance. They’ve struggled of late, but the key thing is that they have recognised this, and have taken steps to try to rectify the situation.
If Konami hadn’t conversed with the fans through various forums, if they hadn’t increased the development team size, then I too would be very worried for PES2010. But the reality is that they have.
I want to say that we shouldn’t expect a perfect PES 2010 come October either. Personally I think it will be very unrealistic to expect Konami to have addressed everything that is wrong with the game in such a short spell of time. But I think that if we see significant evidence and proof of a vastly improved game, we will stick with Konami to perfect the series. I think Konami will need at least another iteration to get the game back to the top of the pile, but this is purely conjecture on my part – it’s not based on facts. We may be very surprised at the level of improvements this time round, but I won’t expect everything to be fixed.
If I see the core game engine improved, with better footballing abilities for players then that will give me hope for the game.
People are also questioning the timing of the new Official Konami PES Forum, and it’s impact on PES2010. I think it’s fair to say that the forum has been set up for future PES work. Regular readers from our site will know that the criteria for PES2010 was set in stone by December 2008, and has been worked on since.
Maybe one or two minor tweaks may be made from the new forum for PES2010, but certainly nothing fundamental will make PES2010.
One interesting question I may be asking Konami is whether we can expect regular game updates throughout the game to make tweaks to gameplay for future releases. This may be something they are considering already, but hopefully I can get some info on that.
The new forum is a fantastic way for everyone to ensure Konami hears what they have to say. So as long as the comments are respectful, I’m sure they will be read, and maybe even acted upon. This is all new for us and Konami, and I’m sure we will see how it works, and hopefully improves going forward.
Right, that’s me done this week. I hope that I have helped those people who are set up for dissappointment to not quite give up on PES.
Konami know how important PES is not just to their success, but to us, real fans of the beautiful game.
Thanks for reading.
Dougiedonut
(dougiedonut@pesgaming.com)
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 23 Jun 2009
IWP League Champion 2009: Ivan Kostic (Internacional)
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. Following the return of Double D, and the promotional launch of the PES 2010 website, it has become public knowledge that Konami are now physically asking for the help of the PES community, and with it PESGaming.com has launched its own form section that is directly linked with Konami. I do not wish to dwell on this, as it’s explained perfectly by Double D in the post below, but would like to pass on my support to the idea, and my appreciation towards Konami that sites like this very website actually can make a difference. Two questions have appeared as a result of these developments, both of which will no doubt be answered with time. The first would be just how much input Konami wish to take on board, and exactly how many of the ideas raised within the community will be implemented. With some people’s ideas directly contradicting each other, not everyone is going to be listened to. The way this potentially difficult subject is dealt with may be the make or break of the whole idea. The second, and rather more pressing issue is why Konami have waited until now to release this forum? With the game scheduled for release in just under 5 months, are some ideas going to be crammed in, or this is their usual way of working, concentrating on the previous title before giving the new one a 6 month development? With this said, I am going to watch on eagerly and see just how the forum works. It is a new era for the site, and indeed for Pro Evolution Soccer, something which many gamers have been looking forward to for a while. Let’s crack on with this week’s Interfering With Play.
“The Kids Aren’t Alright”
Maybe an obvious one to start the week off, but I have been following the UEFA Under 21 Championships with great enjoyment in the last few days. In my opinion, it is a great place to see some of the young stars playing top quality football in high pressure matches, and is something that players like Owen and Rooney missed out on, which in turn may have helped them develop further as players, although Rooney still has a lot of career left. Following on from this, I am very surprised the Konami haven’t picked up on the Under 21 squads, and decided to include them in a version of Pro Evolution Soccer.
If my memory serves me correctly, the original ISS on PS2 allowed gamers to pick from the current International or Under 23 squads, as the games release was just after the Olympic Games. However, many sides still featured fake player names, and therefore the game mode itself came across as slightly pointless. But with some real top young talent featured in these Under 21 squads, including them in the game would add a further dimension, as well as a handful of new players to each nationality. Furthermore, playing an Under 21 competition would act as a shorter, licensed competition to say a Champions League or World Cup, but at the same time feel authentic and genuine.
I may be slightly blinded by its obviousness, and missing some fundamental flaw in why it hasn’t been done before, but I would love to heat the views of the community on a potential Under 21 game mode. Perhaps it could be something that may be included in the new Konami forum.
“Get Your Booty On The Floor Tonight”
As mentioned within PRO-ve Your Skills, I have decided to give the Big Survey a miss this week, but instead I am going to use IWP as a front to discuss the main topic of the survey, football boots. Before we go any further, I would like to point out that football boots are nothing more than a graphical addition to the game. Certain players on PES do not run faster when put in certain boots, nor do the kick harder or turn quicker. They simply look nice, and hopefully this will put to bed a couple of the weirder questions that have been raised via e-mail!
From my own personal view, I believe it would be near enough impossible to have PES keep up with the latest football boot trends. The top players have alternating boots for home and away matches, and the big designers change their colour schemes, brandings and styles three or four times throughout the season. The best example of this would be the Vapour boot by Nike. At the start of the season, the Blue boots with the green tick were considered to be the height of footballing fashion. PES included these, only for Nike to release the much slated Pink Vapour boot and the eventually the much hyped green boots. As the season drew to a close, Ronaldo and co were wearing the two tones Red and Silver Vapour boot, a design that will no doubt be re tweaked and re evaluated for next season. Keeping up with this kind of fashion for nothing more than graphical changes seems like a fair waste of developer’s time, especially for no financial gain. The same could be said for the wide variety of boot brands. Along with the main ones, Nike, Reebok, Umbro, Puma and Adidas, you have the wealth of foreign makes and less popular designs, all of which are worn by different players.
It is pretty obvious, however, that the number of boot variations in PES is too few. Yes, the brand names have started to creep in over the past few seasons; however, having 12 – 15 styles of boots is simply out dated and needs to be readdressed. The solution could be to include an in depth boot editor, similar to the logo or kit editor. Players would be given a template and a set number of slots, (40) with the view to design their own boots using a colour palette and the ability to upload logos. This could be coupled with a number of default styles and patterns similar to the T90 and Predator styles featured in PES 6. Another possibility is the option of paid for content in the form of boot packs. Whilst I know this will cause uproar amongst some gamers, the majority of major franchises now offer paid for downloadable content. Things like Transfers and Squads should always remain free for gamers, but when the download enhances the way the game looks, a nominal fee is highly acceptable. Games such as Street Fighter IV and Little Big Planet have made good money post release charging a couple of pounds for new costumes, and four or five new pairs of boots every couple of months would be worth a £1.99 download for most gamers.
It is one of the biggest talking points within my e-mail inbox, and something which the patched PC game leads the field on still by several lengths, but with football boots being so popular nowadays; it would be wise of Konami to get in on the act. Your views, as always are welcomed!
“Spin Spin Sugar”
I am not going to dwell too much upon the 360 vs. D Pad debate that has been spoken about following last weeks IWP; however I did not want ignore the issue, and therefore would like to follow it up with the following comment. I am all for progression and moving forward, and would welcome the addition of 360 degree movement if it improves the PES franchise both in the short and long term. My concern would be, as a D Pad user, that the option would be removed from controlling players using the D Pad, and that the analogue stick movements become mandatory. With many franchises, the change between D Pad to Analogue was pretty smooth, in particular with fighting games, but I know many PES gamers that still swear by the D Pad for close control, and taking it away from them would be the final nail in their PES coffin.
As many mentioned within the community, as long as PES continue to cater for both, the inclusion of 360 degree movement will be a welcomed one, but as soon as the option is taken away, this is when Konami may start to run into some problems. Once again, it seems to be another case of wait and see!
“I Feel, So Untouched”
Regular community member Dave O must take much credit for the final topic this week, as it was his discussion point on menus that led me to the following views. Basically, why are football games still using a very menu based system, similar to that seen within the old Mega Drive titles to navigate around the settings? I use the example of the NBA 2K series a lot, but when that games starts up, it feels like you are watching a TV presentation, and this feeling helps to add to the pre match atmosphere. The same can be said for the Madden Franchise, with a bit of a different feel, especially during the loading screens.
More and more, TV shows are using video game style graphics in a true life imitating art style, and yet the video games themselves use dated and tired methods. Even a menu screen incorporated into a TV studio or 3D characters that present the match in a build up fashion instead of a loading screen would be more 21st century, and much more entertaining. I feel this is something you guys can give a fair amount of feedback on, and therefore I am willing to write a general piece within the Konami forum section about it, should the demand see fit. Get in touch in the usual ways.
That’s your lot for this week. As a quick recap regarding the PRO-ve Your Skills competition, the challenge can be completed on any difficulty setting. Also, the current champion is not permitted to enter the competition, meaning that we a guaranteed a new champion should anyone manage to beat the challenge. More information can be found by scrolling a couple of posts down, or simply e-mail me if you have any questions. At the time of writing, no one has beaten the current challenge. As always, you can comment in the public environment, or e-mail me personally at interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk. As always, offensive, rude or off topic e-mails will be deleted.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2009 News on Mon 22 Jun 2009
Everyone here at PESGaming.com is very proud to announce that we are now officially working with Konami to run an official PES forum.
This is something that has been in the pipelines for a little while, and marks yet another landmark in the continuing support from Konami for us, fans of PES.
For years many of us have been complaining at the lack of official recognition of what the fans think. Well this new forum is a massive step forward by Konami
in showing that they want to work with us to improve PES and to give us features that we want to see.
This means that the old dark days of moaning and knowing that our voices weren’t being heard are now over. Finally we will have a proper say in the matters which mean the most to us.
With this new found power comes responsibility. Now that Konami will be closely monitoring the forum, we have a duty to remain mature and positive in our criticisms. We would like to make it clear that if anyone breaks any of our rules with regards to conduct on the site, as well as in the Konami forum, which we will be especially monitoring, then we will not hestitate in issuing life bans.
Please remember that constructive criticism goes a lot further than abuse – in life generally, as well as this new Konami forum.
We have now been given a voice, so let’s use it for the greater good, let’s use it for PES.
By the way – don’t forget we have been granted an audience with a Konami producer, and we’re still collecting questions from my blog last week.
So please get those questions in quickly!
New note (22/10/2006 22:15 BST)
Please note that a couple of other fellow PES sites also now have official Konami forums. This is a joint venture, so please can we avoid any situations where people begin questioning the validity or exclusivity of these new forums.
Thanks for reading.
Dougiedonut, on behalf of the PESGaming team.
Posted by Dan Bolas in Site Updates on Sun 21 Jun 2009
Another week and another champion in the PRO-ve Your Skills competition. Steev 
managed to get two assists with Porto GK Helton this week, and as a result is the current PRO-ve Your Skills Champion. The competition is really hotting up now, and Steev was lucky to pip a couple of other competitors to the title. Steev’s challenge is one that is doable, but may require a little concentration.
Win The Champion’s League With Helsinki, Using Only Helsinki Players
This challenge is limited to PES 2009, as it is the only version of PES that features Champion’s League mode, but can still be completed on any console or most importantly, difficulty mode. The winning photos must be one of Helsinki celebrating with the Champions League trophy, then one showing the Match Ratings screen to ensure all players are genuine Helsinki players. Send these photos to interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk as soon as possible to stand the best possible chance of winning. An update will be included in this week’s IWP. Finally, with the return of Double D and the great response to his posed questions, I have decided to give The Big Survey a miss again this week. Good luck with the challenge.
Posted by dougiedonut in PES 2009 News on Thu 18 Jun 2009
Apologies all round for dissappearing off the face of the planet for the past month without notice, but there have been events in my personal life which took precedence over my obligations with the site. I do not envisage any more disruptions to my weekly column, so hopefully it will be back to business from me.
Anyway, moving on swiftly, I haven’t been totally bone idle in the period I’ve been off the radar. But have some rather exciting news which I shall go into a little later in this article.
Just recapping PES news over the last month, I think the main key debate point was the PES teaser trailer which emerged a few weeks ago. We have as always the usual split of people who are very excited (myself included!) by the snippets shown within the video, and then the people who are more cynical about the nature of these videos which some see as just smoke and mirrors. So what can we tell from the video?
I think we may see the use of stats for players becoming more key factors in how they play.
One new feature which may have been alluded to is being able to draw more players into to defend and close down the player on the ball. How this will work in terms of being able to specify how many players to use to close down is unclear, but I’m sure all will be revealed in good time.
Having just re-read the comments to the video, I think it’s fair to say that a good many of you are pretty apprehensive about how PES2010 will turn out. The video raises more questions than it answers, which was always going to be the case, which is what fuels the frustration more for many of us.
A key question which many of us are asking is whether we will still have 8 way directional movement control, or whether we will see that improved to be at least 16 way directional control. Many of us are already aware that FIFA will see the introduction of 360 degree control which will be fascinating to see how it works out.
But getting back to PES more importantly, we have so many questions to ask, and I can now proudly reveal that we have been granted permission to field five questions to one of the producers of the game!
There will be some subjects which Konami will keep close to it’s chest, but equally there should be plenty of information which they should be happy to divulge to us. So we now need to collectively come up with a list of around ten questions which we would like to have answered, in a prioritised list. Depending on the level of input from you guys out there, we may either have a huge diverse response and range of questions being asked, or we may have a few key similarly themed questions.
So I would like to invite you all to submit questions which you would like us at PESGaming.com to submit to Konami. Please note that we will have to filter through the range of questions to decide on the final questions which we will send to Konami, but we can decide how best to handle that once we have questions from you guys.
To help start you off, here’s a couple of questions that spring to my mind to ask about PES2010:
1) What details can you give us about the core game engine and how it has improved?
2) What measures are you taking to ensure that online play is going to work properly?
3) Are players still restricted with 8 way directional control, or can we expect to have at least 16 way directional control?
I would like to remind you all once again to please be very respectful to one another and especially Konami with your questions and comments to this article. We will not tolerate any abusive posts, or spoof posts as some of you will have already noticed with the degree of bans that have been handed out.
Thanks for reading
Dougiedonut
(dougiedonut@pesgaming.com)
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 16 Jun 2009
IWP League Champion 2009: Ivan Kostic (Internacional)
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. I would like to open this week with the announcement that there will not be an IWP World Cup this year. Whether it is down to the X Box 360, PES online gaming mode or simply lack of interest, but not enough people were willing to take part in the competition, and therefore I have decided to scrap the idea. Apologies to anyone who may have been inconvenienced by this, and I will hopefully be able to run a competition on PES 2010, online permitting! I will do my best to e-mail all those who did show an interest in the tournament, and I would like to thank everyone who constantly support the IWP online leagues and competitions. I would also like to inform you we have a new PRO-ve your skills champion, so there is no point entering this week’s challenge. With that little bit of housekeeping out the way, lets move on to this week’s Interfering With Play.
“We Are The Cartoon Heroes”
Over the past months, there have been a number of community members making claims that PES 2009 graphics come across as too cartoon based. Whilst some may explain their views in a manner that are slightly difficult to understand, I can understand where the majority of points are coming from, even if I don’t necessarily agree with all of them.
As we look at some of the hottest titles on the Playstation Three and X Box 360, we are treated to some of the most life like models in gaming history. Actions such as blinking, breathing, sweating and in depth facial expressions all add to these realistic characters, but it is the attention to detail that is amazing. A prime example would be on Resident Evil 5. Taking a sniper rifle, you can zoom in on your partner’s neck to relieve a scary level of skin texturing and detail, almost to the point where the skin pours are touchable. Having grown up playing games such as Manic Miner and Dizzy, this is a huge leap forward, and something that will no doubt be surpassed again in 5 years time.
At the same time, there are still titles that embrace the cartoon aspect. Games such as Rock Band use over the top cartoon images to portray characters that are designed upon human beings, with Street Fighter IV taking the task one step further. There are few that criticize these games for their looks because they are achieving their targets and producing a very enjoyable gaming experience. My current chosen game, inFamous is further proof of this. The game play is so enjoyable, that the occasional pop up or glitch in the graphical system generally goes unnoticed.
Sports games, however, go with their own set of rules, and the graphical department is just another bullet point within that list. Games like Madden and NBA 2K series have reached a stage new where graphics can only be tweaked in order to improve the experience, as the standard is already exceptionally high. Ice hockey games tend to lose a little in looks, especially when moving at speed, in order to obtain frantic game play, whilst Tiger Woods Golf features limited motions, meaning graphics can be fine tuned to borderline perfection.
Football games on the other hand are yet to really find their balance. I personally believe this years PES looks slightly better than FIFA, a view I have maintained all season long. I feel subtle animations and actions give the players on Pro Evo a little bit more realism, and tend not to notice their graphical accuracy as much, whereas all FIFA players give off a very similar feel. If we look back 15 years ago to the days of Sensible Soccer, it is fair proof that graphics are not as important within in a football title, but in 2009, surely we all expect an experience akin with the American Football and NBA titles on the market. Based upon the screenshots of both FIFA and PES, I don’t feel either will be receiving a huge graphical overall, which leads to the question, how import are graphics too you within football gaming? As always, comments can be registered in the usual manner.
“I Don’t Feel Like Dancing”
A personal gripe of mine, and something that leads to a greater topic overall, is why, after 4 seasons, the Anelka butterfly celebration is not featured in PES? I am a huge admirer of the range of celebrations available for customisation in Pro Evo, and would not like to see any of these removed. However, there are a handful of new, regular celebrations missing, and now would be as good a time as any to implement some new ones. Off the top of my head, there is Tim Cahill’s corner flag boxer, or one of the more ridiculous Peter Crouch ones that would add a bit of life to scoring those goals. For me, rubbing a goal in a mates face with your player dancing around on the screen is part and parcel of football gaming. Be interesting to see if anyone is with me on this.
Couple this a little further, would you like to see players removing shirts or jumping into the crowd following a late winner, in doing so receiving a yellow card? I will leave that one totally up to you guys, but from a personal view I maybe pick up 5 yellow cards a season in Master League, and a late winner against a top side would be worthy of an addition to that tally.
“You Have A Drumstick And Your Brain Stops Ticking”
Just a little bit more news about this fine website, and how we are looking to take it forward. Over the next few weeks, a new sub section dedicated to screenshots of PES 2010 will emerge, giving you a one stop shop for the latest PES 2010 media. This will hopefully to go on and be a database of all PES 2010 media, including Videos and reviews once they become available. Of course, all the latest news will come first on this very site, courtesy of the home page, but once it becomes old news, I think a separate storage site would be more appropriate.
Secondly, the much delayed Big Survey will be hitting the site on Thursday. A busy weekend stopped me posting it until this week, and Thursday will be the next time I can spend some quality time constructing one. The survey will focus on editing modes, and will ask questions not just about PES 2010 but the future of the franchise. It is no secret that editing is a huge part of PES, and indeed a very key experience for many PES fanatics, so hopefully some interesting views will be recorded. If you have a question you would like to see included, please e-mail it to me on the usual address, with your details.
Finally on this topic, the lack of Double D’s column for the past 4 weeks leads me to believe it may be time for some fresh blood on this very site. Over the past 6 months, I have received a couple of enquiries about writing columns on here, and with PES 2010 a scary 4 months away, now is as a good a time as any to start up, Therefore if your are interested, you must be reliable, focussed and able to work to deadlines and as part of a team. The job in unpaid, but there are a fair few perks that come out over the course of the year. Simply send an e-mail including your name, age and location to the IWP address. Depending on interest, you will be asked to write a sample article, more information on which will be e-mailed to you. As always, the site is looking for Video editors, musical talent and graphic designers to help work on the site, with all credit being given where appropriate. For more information drop me an e-mail on the usual address.
“Turn Around, Bright Eyes”
Finally this week, the hot topic for PES 2010 is the term 360 degree movement. There is a lot of talk going on about it, and I thought I would include my personal views, along with a brief explanation of what it actually is. In the simplest terms, games used to work on a 4 way movement system. Many top down shooters and driving games on the late 80s allowed you to move forwards, backwards or side to side. As the joysticks were replaced with the gaming controller, the D Pad was introduced, with the NES being the best example of 4 way movement. As gaming progressed, 8 way movement was introduced. On top of the aforementioned directions, there were now 4 diagonal directions which the player could now move. As with anything, if you double the amount of movement available, the scoop for creation becomes much wider. This was the way until first Nintendo and then Sony brought back small analogue joysticks to their controllers, almost 10 years ago now! This meant that players could move in full 360 degree motion, going off any a variety of angles. Many games took a lot time to implement this, with varying levels of success. First person shooting games and RPG’s have made the most of this system over previous years, and FIFA has been using the format as a way of controlling its players in recent titles.
With PES 20009, directional movement was still limited to 8 way movement, and whilst Konami do quite a decent job of hiding the fact, when you have the ball, without accelerating, your player can only move in one of 8 ways, a limitation that seems horrific in a day and age where free roaming cities are at your finger tips. Therefore, many PES fans are urging Konami to implement the 360 degree movement system, bringing the game up to the year 2009 and progressing the franchise, which has been renowned for its stellar game play, forwards.
I am all for updating games to modernise the way they play, but will remain to be convinced about 360 degree movement until I see it work naturally within a football game. Whilst FIFA does use the system, it is arguable my biggest gripe with the game, as players seem to take too long to change direction and take that extra touch when turning. Also, many gamers still use the D-Pad, and changing to 360 degree movement would me the analogue stick would be the only port of call, alienating some of the fans that have stood by Konami in the recent years.
Making a change for the sake of making one is not always the best idea, and I am sure Konami will have weighed up the transition before hand. There are a vocal number that believe PES has been ‘broken’ in recent years, but if 360 degree movement is used, and doesn’t work, there will be a much larger number of angry fans. Of course, if it works, PES will have finally reached a next generation level. At the moment, based on what we have seen, there is simply no way of knowing. However, like many of you, I am eager to see the results!
That’s all for this week. There were some brilliant comments on last week’s IWP I simply didn’t have time to address. Hopefully over the next few weeks they will be looked into, and maybe be discussed in slightly more depth. As always, interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the place to direct your e-mail to, and comments can be left in the usual manner. Make sure you check out the Big Survey on Thursday, and the wheels are in motion for new bloggers, along with anyone interested in running a Facebook site for PESGaming.com.
Thanks for Reading
Posted by Dan Bolas in Site Updates on Sun 14 Jun 2009
A new champion was crowned again this week, as James Davies aka 
Snake managed to score two goals with the Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech. This makes James the champion in a format I am sure regular visitors are now familar with. James has set a challenge now that is open to everyone involved with PESGaming.com. The challenge is first come, first serve, meaning whoever successfully completes it becomes the new champion. It is open to any difficultly level, and any format of Pro Evolution Soccer using any console you can play the game on. This weeks challenge follows suit on last weeks, as James uses the Goalkeepers once again.
Have Your Goalkeeper Assist Two Goals In The Same Match
The possibilites are wide for this challenge and the end result only requires one screen shot. Following the completion of a match, go onto the goals scored screen and show your goalkeeper assisting two goals. Alternatively, and for a more clear image, select your goalkeeper on the Player Ratings screen to see his assists. An example of this screen is the second of James’ two screen shots. Whoever e-mails the following challenge through to me, with photographic evidence becomes the new champion. interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the place you need to direct your entries to, and as always, good luck!
A rare change coming with the lack of a song lyric for the paragraph title can only mean its todays PRO-ve Your Skills challenge. A lightening quick response from Craig Grant was enough to give him the title of champion on Monday, and his challenge is probably the most tricky one set so far. As the screenshot shows, he managed to defeat France using the England U21 team, and it also proves that a phone camera is a perfect way of showing off your work! Craig has set the following challenge
