I could spend months picking out elements from the many stories submitted in comments, but it wouldn’t be fair to the people I was unable to pick out.  Many of the stories had me laughing, crying and downright sombre on occasion.  PES has always managed to pick at so many emotions in so many of us.  Anyway, I decided to use a scientifically approved model to find just one story to comment on, and that will be for…. James Goblin!

For all those disappointed to have not been picked, I can only apologise.

Anyway, James Goblin – I hear what you’re saying, and I have to say back in the day I had my favourites from the default bunch of players too.  Castolo was my perennial up and coming striker who would embarrass the stars that I would buy, by putting in performances that meant I just couldn’t leave him out.  At one stage in one lifetime, the great Batistuta couldn’t oust Castolo from the first team, and eventually sulked until I sold him.  Such was the strict regime of not pampering to overpaid primadonnas that I employed.

Right, with nostalgia clearly not weighing heavily on people’s minds, I thought I’d change tack and ask whether we felt that Konami’s post-sale service (primarily focussing on DLC delivery) was up to scratch.

Now I for one have always applauded how Konami have never ventured into paid DLC territory.   It’s refreshing to see, and means they focus on trying to give us a complete package over the course of the game’s general 12 month cycle.

However, as Paul has highlighted, there does seem to be some discrepancies with DLC delivery of squad updates post transfer windows in particular.  I’ve always used PC patches which incorporate squad updates, so haven’t really applied them per se.  Since I haven’t ventured online this year, the updates are meaningless to me.

But that’s just me – I’m sure the majority of you do depend on timely squad updates.  Are they handled in an efficient enough manner?  Are the updates delivered in a timely fashion?  Please have your say on Konami’s after-sales service and let’s see if we can get some salient points to deliver to Konami.

Thanks for reading.

Dougiedonut

I think we have probably seen the last DLC for PES 2013, but I want to look forward to PES 2014 and how DLC could be implemented and would like to hear your opinions as well. First up as good as the option not to apply squad updates is it would be good if we could say no, but then default individual teams. Currently if you default one team it defaults them all which isn’t really much use unless you decide after saying no to the squad updates that you would like them after all.

In both PES 2012 and 2013 there seems to have been a reduction in the amount of new boots added with each Data Pack, after the October update we only seem to get new Adidas and Nike boots with no updates to the other boot makers like Puma or Umbro. I know boots are only a small thing, but they do add a extra layer of realism to the game so I would like to see more boot updates for all brands.

Kind of following on from that over this same period there have been less updates to national team kits, I remember on PES 2010 most licensed national teams had their kits updated around March/April as the new kits were released. This could have just been because the World Cup version of Winning Eleven was coming out, but again it would be nice to see this implemented again even though we can now edit licensed kits using the w!LD editor.

Something I’m sure you will agree with is that the timing of Data Pack’s needs to improve, we shouldn’t be waiting until mid March for updated squads when the transfer window closes in most countries at the end of January. I understand that it takes time to make the update, plus the review periods from Microsoft and Sony, but really there should be no reason for the DLC not to be out by mid February. I’m not 100% sure, but I believe EA Sports manage it with FIFA. There could then be another update in March/April to update the squads of the teams where the transfer window closes later.

Finally something which again there are ways to get around, but would be nice if it could be incorporated into the updates is not removing players when they transfer to teams not in the game. Surely it would be pretty easy to have these players instead move to the Free Agents section meaning more players in the game for ML/BAL.

That’s enough from me, what are your thoughts?

Thanks for reading, Paul

To help get into the right mood for this news, I thought now would be a good time for you guys to share some of your best memories of PES with us. What’s the most endearing quality about the game for you? What was the most satisfying moment ingame that you’ve experienced?

To help start you off, I’ll go over one that did it for me.

Whilst playing the Master League mode I was in the second division fighting for top spot. I was in second place two points off the leaders. It was a classic top of the table crunch game, with only two more games to play. If I lost, then winning the league was virtually out of my hands IF my opponents won their remaining two games. So getting a win was vital in my eyes. My team itself wasn’t the strongest, but we had a great team ethic, which helped us in games, rather than any individual brilliance.

I started the game poorly, going 2-0 down within twenty minutes and was left reeling. It was turning into one of those games where no matter what I did, it seemed like the ball was destined to not go in for me. Despite making some great opportunities, including one on ones with the keeper, my shots just wouldn’t go in. Usually you just despair at these times, and pretty much accept that you won’t win this game. But I was determined to go up to the first division as champions. Going in 2-0 down at half time was acceptable, as I hadn’t conceded any more goals, which was the main positive from the first half.

After slaughtering my team in the changing rooms at half time (cut me some slack here – I take my role as player/manager in ML very seriously!), we scored from kick off after retaining possession and driving straight through the middle, intent on burying the ball in the net. Game on!

They drove at me for a short while, but I held resolute before the pendulum swung back in my favour again. Wave after wave of attacks and corners were had, and I was battering them on the statistical side. But stats don’t win you games, goals do – and around the 86th minute, I got my well-earned equaliser. This close to full time, my heart rate was increasing, and anxiety was kicking in as I fought for the ball and tried to get some momentum for the final push. Again with the clock ticking away, I was getting sloppy with attempts.

Wayward shots from range, the wrong option when in promising positions, over-running dribbles, it didn’t look like I was going to make it. But then, in a moment of inspiration, a midfielder broke through from a through ball in to the penalty area. He was centrally placed with the keeper bearing down on him, and with what turned out to be the last kick of the game, he placed it into the corner, well out of the keeper’s reach.

It was one of those rare get-in-there, jump out of your seat type goals, which at my age shouldn’t be readily admitted to. With adrenaline pumping through my veins, I managed to compose myself having watched the replay of the move and the goal a few times. When they opposition kicked off, relief and euphoria at the drama as it unfolded kicked in as the ref blew his whistle. The victory was complete.

Over to you guys now!

Thanks for reading.

Dougiedonut

In 2012 I saw the light and switched back to PES (flawed as it may have been) and started creating then uploading PES 2012 tutorials to youtube to see what the response would be like. I got several of my videos featured on Konami’s official page and my channel has gone from strength to strength.

Now that you know who I am, in future posts I will by guiding you through the basics of PES for people who are new to football games or possibly considering converting to PES, and eventually I will be demonstrating how to perform the most difficult skills in PES for people who are thinking of taking their game to the next level.

The video below is a tutorial on how to create a player in the “Become a Legend” gamemode with the hairstyle and face of any player in the game. First you must set the features of your online avatar then every time you create your legend or manager they will have those features.

PES 13 Become a Legend Hair & Face

I should make it clear I’m not trying to further their advertising request for more testers, but would like to point out the level of interaction for their product.

Something we have been talking to Konami about for several years has been early involvement in the testing of the game. I can recall a couple of years ago we had a brief flirtation with testing when Konami chose a select few of us to help beta test the MLO mode. The focus of that was to test the online element purely, since many of us complained back then of very poor connectivity.

Since then, there hasn’t been any initiatives to engage anyone outside of Konami to test the game at any phase.

Something I am adamant on is that in-house testing, whilst being vital, will not hit the kinds of real world issues that gamers will carry out. Formal testing is very prescriptive and focused on key aspects of functionality. You could say during this type of testing, it’s very possible to lose focus of the bigger picture.

As we all know, the acid test for any product is to put it into the end users’ hands. People will do things with products that architects are on occasion dumb-founded about. Take the very usual day one patch for most releases these days – to smooth over problems they’ve missed –  but which are being experienced by early adopters.

A general strategy of mine for major game releases I’m interested in is to wait at least a month after their release before picking them up. Purely because the early day glitches and issues will get ironed out. Why play through the frustration and potentially spoil the experience for yourself?

You will find a new poll up along with this article to try to get your input on whether you agree with me on early test involvement.

We’d like it known to Konami yet again that involving us with testing will only help the overall product, not hinder it in any way. Let’s hope we can get lots of responses back and healthy high numbers on the poll to make Konami sit up and listen.

Thanks for reading.

Dougiedonut

April 22, 2013

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has announced an agreement with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to incorporate the AFC Champions League, the prestigious tournament that decides Asia’s greatest club team, into forthcoming versions of Pro Evolution Soccer.

The deal will see KONAMI working closely with the AFC to integrate the club competition into forthcoming Pro Evolution Soccer titles. The game, which enjoys a global presence, will feature a dedicated mode, allowing users to control one of the 32 teams that compete in the AFC Champions League tournament.

The Pro Evolution Soccer series holds a wide range of soccer licenses from around the world, including Europe’s premier club competition, the UEFA Champions League. Since its inception, the series has enjoyed wide-ranging acclaim worldwide, and the addition of Asia’s highly-regarded club competition will only serve to extend its range and awareness within football fans across the globe.

KONAMI is committed to the continual pursuit of realism within its Pro Evolution Soccer series, and the new agreement furthers the publisher’s quest to recreate the excitement, atmosphere and skill of football played at the highest level.

“The acquisition of such a high-profile license such as the AFC Champions League is integral to our ambitious plans for the Pro Evolution Soccer series,” commented Shinji Hirano, President for Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH. “We look forward to a long and successful partnership with the Asian Football Confederation, as we look to bring the passion and skill of the AFC Champions League to vivid life.”

“Konami is rightly regarded as the leader in the field of football video games and their expertise and enthusiasm shines through,” commented Dr. Hafez Al Medlej, Chairman of the Asian Football Confederation Marketing Committee. “We are very excited to see the AFC Champions League integrated into the acclaimed Pro Evolution Soccer series, and foresee a long, close and mutually beneficial partnership for us both.”

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is an organisation regulating all Asian soccer, and is one of the six continental associations that make up FIFA. It governs 46 member associations from countries and regions representing over half of the world’s population. Established in 1954, the AFC is now headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from which it conducts duties that include regulating soccer across all of Asia, proposing new rules for the further development of the sport, promoting youth soccer, and organising a range of tournament events.

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) official website: www.the-afc.com/en/

AFC Champions League 

The AFC Champions League is a tournament organized by the AFC to determine Asia’s greatest club team. 32 of the strongest teams from Japan, China, South Korea, and other key regions throughout the continent annually compete for its illustrious prize

AFC Champions League official website: www.the-afc.com/en/tournaments/clubs/afc-champions-league.html

Pro Evolution Soccer

The Pro Evolution Soccer series began in 1995, and has since grown to become one of the Konami’s most recognisable and acclaimed titles. Its pursuit of recreating every nuance of the beautiful game has earned it high praise from around the world, and total sales have exceeded 81.7 million copies.*

* As of December 2012

Pro Evolution Soccer official website: www.konami-pes2013.com/

All copyrights or trademarks are the property of their respective owners and used under permission

He has produced some incredible material for PES6 to keep it relevant and alive.  I managed to contact him to conduct a mini-interview, which I would like to share with everyone:

Questions:

1) Please tell us a little about yourself – in terms of your history with PES games.

I’ve been playing Konami football games since the ISS Pro on PS1, before that I played FIFA games like everyone else, but Konami “bought” me with their realistic gameplay.   Although those first versions didn’t have licenced team names and player names, it felt more realistic than FIFA.  The game became better and better with every next version, including first Konami releases for PC (PES 3, PES 4,PES 5, PES6).  I started editing with PES 4.

2) What do you think of the current direction of PES games? Why aren’t you playing PES
2013?

I am very dissapointed with the development of PES games after PES6, because PES2008 was a BIG step backwards in terms of gameplay, which was the main reason why PES was so popular at the time, and so much better than FIFA.  Also graphics became very ugly (player faces and bodies looked awkward and very ugly at times).  So, after only few days  (better say hours) of playing, I uninstalled PES2008 and never played it again. The same happened with every PES game until today, including  PES2013.  Every year I gave the new version a chance, usually playing with my friends, but every year it was the same thing with new PES versions – a huge disapointment, because Konami is going in a wrong direction with all that “next gen” idea, which didn’t bring anything good to PES games.  That’s why they are losing fans, and we have a situation today where many people say that FIFA13 is better than PES2013.  In 2007.
Everyone was playing PES6, no need to say anything else.

3) Why have you decided to work on PES6, and not the latest PES games?

During the first year of PES6, I started working on an option file, when PES2008
was out and when I saw what a disaster it was, I decided to keep updating my PES6 because at that time we already had many great stuff created for PES6(stadiums, faces etc..).  That option file later became a basis of my patch, that until today hasevolved many times, became bigger, and now includes several versions (Total Club version, All national teams in the world version, and Classic teams version). This is possible thanks to the fact the PES6 editing scene is still very large and there is so many custom made stuff during these years (faces, stadiums, boots, balls, kits, chants, graphics and other editing material) that keeps getting better and better, and with it the game that is six years old lives through big patches like mine, survives all these years, and not only survives but keeps getting better and more updated.  Every day we have new stuff created, PES6 faces look so realistic because face makers have reached perfection in what they are doing, same goes for kit makers, stadium makers and all other editors that share their work with each other inside PES6 community. They make PES6 look like a real game of football.

4) Are you looking forward to the next version of PES?

I am really not interested in next versions of PES, because in PES6 I have everything I need – the best game play, all clubs with their home stadiums, actual kits, chants, flags, players with their real faces, boots. This makes the PES6 atmosphere during the match a real enjoyment, something that will never be possible new PES versions.  I hope you’re enjoying the patch :) cheers!

So there you have it folks.  Thanks again to Shollym for taking time out to answer my questions.

Thanks for reading.

Dougiedonut

Hey lads,

A quick update on the PES Podcast. We have renamed the podcast to PesCast after a poll on my youtube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfT0D8hEWrc

We have episode three complete and it will be live Thursday next week. There is a new episode every second Thursday for those keeping track.

The PesCast will will be up on iTunes soon too so I will update you all when it lands on the store.

Our very own Dougie Donut will be making an appearance quite soon so if you have any questions for either of us, get in touch in the comments below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj-5hSFxI2w

More importantly, I want some of you guys who post regularly to come on to future episodes too. Dave-O, Gola, Paul, Amateur and a few others – I would be interested to hear some of your points in more detail.

PES 2014 will mark a significant change from years past. I can’t say much now but let’s just say, it’s gonna be one hell of a year!

Having had a great blast on PES6, I’ve decided that I’ve had enough of a nostalgic return to it, and should look to the future. PES6 had it’s time, and definitely has a special place in my memories.

Returning to PES 2013 has been interesting for me. Something which bugged me about the game prior to ditching it, was beating CPU players. I pretty much solely played Master League offline – I gave online a wide berth this year. I found the constant tricks required to beat a man tiresome. The way that animations meant that you were unopposed on occasion as you ploughed your way past players as unrealistic and just plain wrong.

Having got back to basics in PES6 and getting my mojo back, I’ve felt a lot better about hitting PES 2013 hard.
I’ve got a few tricks which I use to try to get past players when need be, or just use good old dribbling skills to get past players, and I’m comfortable with PES 2013 again.

I have to say that the integration of online play into offline modes definitely does not sit well with me. You get the constant messages from the system saying you can get new abilities and boots and stuff if you play online, which can be used offline. Whilst I appreciate that Konami were trying a new direction, and trying to get you to experience the whole package as such, for me it was a joke. You can’t ask people to embrace a broken online system.

If the process was seamless, and didn’t have a tiresome, unintuitive interface for online play, then perhaps there would have been some use in doing so. Having to endure online play to enhance offline play does not work for me. I’d be interested in your views on that.

Another thing which still bugs me is the nicknames thing. Yes they’ve nicked the idea from COD, but what a completely superficial implementation. Not a single word about what each nickname means, or why it was awarded. What is the point?

The fact that Konami in the past have a track record of just implementing mind-bogglingly stupid features speaks for itself. The whole boot saga of this year’s game undermines the whole experience and only serves to endear kids under the age of 10 at best.

The biggest fundamental issue I take with Konami right now is their lack of interaction with gaming forums for feedback on their ideas. Never mind taking our ideas onboard, they don’t even feel we should know what they are thinking of introducing. I appreciate they want to protect some ideas, but they really should engage trusted sources to sound out ideas. It would save a lot of time, focus and pain on our part.

The way they focus on idiotic aspects is painful to see. I think it was PES 2012 where we saw promotional material where you could see veins bulging in a player’s neck in slow-mo. What the hell was that about?
What purpose does that serve in the game? How does it enrich our experience? How does it endear us to the game? So why do they spend time working on such pointless aspects of the game?

So far there’s only been the Edge reveal, which I’ve not read, so can’t comment on. I am waiting for the latest PR material to appear, and can’t wait to see it. For me, this year’s key to success is going to be focus on the core game, and not on the superficial elements which they force feed us to try to keep pace with FIFA’s latest enhancements.

But for now, I’m going to try to enjoy my PES 2013 experience a bit more. Having customisable camera angles for the PC version is a definite Godsend – playing from angles with much more pitch visibility really does make the game so much more enjoyable!

Thanks for reading.

Dougiedonut

First up is your starting club, as anyone who has played BAL this year knows you create your player and get assigned to a random club. In previous years you had a choice of a few clubs which worked better as you could decide to sign for a team that used your position as well as see which team would give you the best chance to play, rather than just sit on the bench (or even worse not be selected) as can happen this year.

Another thing which I have seen a lot of people find annoying (not so much myself) is the over dependence on you to win the game. This tends to happen when you sign for a big club, the first half of the season is great your team mates play as you would expect them to and you contribute as well, then comes the second half of the season, your teamwork stat has built up and you have a bad game and suddenly your team forget how to play. This needs to be addressed as you should be rewarded not punished for signing for a good club. PES 2011 had the balance right in the respect for me, so it can obviously be achieved.

Something that has never been included, which is the introduction of managers, preferably real, but fake would still have the same benefits to the game. Say you start at Wigan and you manager is Roberto Martinez, you build up a good relationship with him and he rates you highly. After a couple of seasons he become manager of Juventus and so tries to take you with him, you have three options. Go and he builds the team around you, stay at Wigan (keeps your relationship with the team, but harms your relationship with Martinez) or move to a different team harming your relationship with both Wigan and Martinez. This would in my opinion be the best thing that could be added to BAL due to the added realism and depth it would add.

My final suggestion would be the introduction of a system that gives a perception of you as a player. This would depend on the actions you take on and off the field and effect the whether you get a contract renewal or transfer. As a example, say you get lots of yellow or red cards you would be regarded as a “hot head” meaning big clubs might not want to take a risk on you. Other things that could change this could have a effect could be skipping matches, moving clubs a lot or never passing.

What do you all think? Or maybe you never play BAL, if so why?

My next post will concentrate on what I like about BAL and why I play it more than all the other modes.

Thanks for reading, Paul

Hey lads,

Quick post today, as I’ve been super busy with some very exciting projects regarding PES. I’m delighted to introduce the first Episode of a brand new PES PODCAST run by fans for the fans which also will involve fans!

I host the show along with

http://www.youtube.com/user/MGovier6

http://www.youtube.com/user/PESskillerHD

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrMarkcoos

Every week, we aim to get a special guest (or two!)  onto the podcast so it should provide some interesting chat!

Our own Dougie Donut will be joining us in the next few weeks so that should provide some hilarious discussions. Can we persuade him to try PES 2013 again? Or is he destined to keep playing PES 6?

Most importantly, I want you to join me on an episode or two. Community manager Adam Bhatti will be coming onto a future episode to answer some questions which should be amazing!

If you’re interested in joining in on one, drop a comment either here on on the video comment box. Let’s make things happen for PES 2014

As it stands, I’m actually enjoying my football right now!  I’ve got various patches which bring PES6 up to date, and it plays a solid game of football.  I think the key difference with the game is that I feel totally in control of my players.  Which is crucial.  A little test I’d like you guys to try right now is to do a 360 pirouette with a player in PES2013.  Do it again, but this time note how long it takes from the time you execute the move on your game pad, to the player actually performing the move. I believe there is way too much of a delay in control.  Players don’t snap into moves as they would if you had full on control.  It’s something that is fundamental to how I believe the game should be enjoyed.

Hey Moatstar, I appreciate the comments – but ultimately the game just doesn’t cut it.  I’m lying to myself if I say it’s a great game.  Don’t get me wrong, Konami have worked hard to try to move the series on.  But in the cold light of day, it is pretty clear they have kept the same underlying engine and have just tried to tweak it, rather than really address the key issues.  It’s a balancing act they have to work with.  They clearly know what they want to do, and don’t want to make any radical changes to their strategy.  This has cost them many fans over the last few years unfortunately.

Hey Makkak-Yema – I’d like to try answer your question about blind loyalty to footy games.  For some of us, it’s the love we had growing up playing THE most awesome football imaginable.  Once upon a time, the ISS Pro series, and then the PES series was just immense.  Every year it just got better and better.  Each year we thought – how can this possible get any better, but then Konami would show us just how.  For those fans, of whom I’d proud to say I’m one – that is why we’re loyal to PES.  It’s almost comedic how each year we’re waiting for the game to finally come good.  But there’s enough baby steps to keep us hoping.

We could just move on to FIFA, but for me that is a very dangerous move.  Whilst FIFA may be doing very well, and raking it in – their motivation is purely a vehicle to make money.  They have the power to sink opponents in most genres as we’ve seen over the years.  For many genres this results in their competitors just going bust, and then EA can release whatever they like annually.  I’d hate to think what football games would be like if EA were the only player.

EA raised their game when they saw just how good PES was.  They’ve done exceptionally well, but I can never bring myself to pay good money to play that game.  I’ve tried to get on with it, but as many of us will attest – it lacks soul.  Many people have lost faith in Konami and have just adopted FIFA.  For some of us, it’s more than just a game.

That said, I am fed up with the direction of PES currently.  Instead of enjoying football, I feel you have to learn how to exploit the game to get some joy out of it.  You can forget crossing balls in from the wing and trying to head.  If you don’t play how it wants you to, then you’re not going to get along.  Once you adapt to their new way of thinking and behaving, then perhaps you can tolerate it.  Seeing the ball virtually trickle past defenders, seeing stupid shots go in – there’s only so much you can take that sort of stuff.  And as for refereeing – I can’t believe anyone can release a game which blatantly disregards basic rules and we’re just supposed to get on with it!

For these sorts of reasons, people have moved on, or just stuck with PES and are waiting for the new incarnation.  For me, the answer was to go back to PES6.  By using some great option files, I’m still playing with relevant teams and right now loving it.

I’m using players’ strengths and the balance between attack and defence is very good.  I can play my play, and decide on strategies as I please.  Since PES6, the strategy elements of the game have been watered down.  Dare I say it – to appeal more to the casual crowd who most companies are going to great lengths to please.  You used to be able to set the level of aggression with which players could man-mark players.  It was a vital tool in keeping star men at bay – especially online!  You always had a chance with smaller teams with good organisational skills with some moments of brilliance thrown in.

PES2013 is all about building a team with the quickest players that can go on mazy runs.  That’s not football for me.  Which brings me nicely to online play.  I’m sure Barry will have different views on the online experience – given his brilliance at the game.  But for most of us average joes (yes that is an admission that I’m not that good with the game online!) it’s a mess.  Whilst some people tolerate playing against super duper teams all the time, most of us are so fed up of it.

PES6 online was utterly brilliant.  It was simple – and that was it’s key strength.  Fancy a friendly game?  You would just either accept a random opponent – where you had the opportunity to reject the game, if you felt they were too strong for you.  Or you could go through a list of potential players and issue an invite to play.  Right now, that is all many of us want.  Give us that over all the various tournament options anyday.

I can’t say enough how much I despise the current online system – the match rooms system is appalling.  Who in their right mind when looking for a friendly game is just going to find a server, set up and match room and just sit there waiting for someone to come along and decide to play against them?  It’s engineering for engineers not for players.

I’ve had to sacrifice online play on PES6 on the PC, but it’s worth it just to be able to have a meaningful master league mode which delivers.  The biggest compliment I can pay to PES6 is that when I lose a match against another opponent (non-cpu), I know I only have myself to blame.  It’s that simple.  It’s not because of the game engine, or anything else.  It’s down to my own mistakes which I am more than happy to live with.

Thanks for reading.

Dougiedonut

(dougiedonut@pesgaming.com)

So where do I go from here I hear some (artistic license applie sparingly there..) of you say?

Well to help explain where I am now, I’d like to draw on a bit of an analogy to help explain my state of mind.
Imagine you spent a couple of years with a great girl, only to find the relationship hit the buffers. You move on, but over time you realise you’re spending more time thinking about that girl. You’re comparing girls since her to her, and at times almost convincing yourself that the current girlfriend is great.

She understands computers, and hell she even plays the odd game with you. But even then you long for what you had with that one girl whom you now consider very special. So instead of continuing on to live a lie, you finally decide that you need to be true to yourself. You think back to when you were happiest – with whom you were happiest even…

There endeth the analogy: I’ve gone back to PES6.

There it is. I’ve shunned the last 4/5 years of PES incarnations for the one game where I felt truly happy.
A game where I felt my footballing abilities can be fairly judged. A game where I feel in charge of my players and team. A game where I dictate the play.

I first pulled out my old 360 copy of the game, which admittedly has a bit of a dated look, but I was up and running. But then I managed to find myself a PC version, and a very special thanks to DoubleDipMatt for guiding me towards a great option file to get cracking with.

At this juncture, I’d like to open the floor to any questions you guys may have about why I’ve done this.
I’m still acclimatising to the gaming mechanics so getting to terms with how to play it all over again.
I will be writing about how I’m getting on a little later. But for now, do you think I’ve finally gone nuts, or do you understand where I’m coming from?

Thanks for reading

Dougiedonut

This new update includes all the transfers from the latest transfer window as well as 8 new pairs of boots.

Xbox and PC data packs if not already available should be soon. This update is only a data pack and there is no new patch, so this means gameplay will not be altered after downloading this which is either a positive or negative depending on your views of this years game.

Enjoy, Paul

 In conjunction with PlayStation, KONAMI will be offering PES 2013 players the chance to enter an amazing competition that could see them watch the UEFA Champions League Final live at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 25^th May.

The competition is open to PES 2013 PlayStation®3 players aged 18 years and over, and entering the event couldn’t be easier – players simply have to head to www.peschampionsfestival.com and opt in to the tournament using their home country, PSN ID and contact details and that’s it. Every online game registered users then play against one another throughout the duration of the competition will count towards their placing in the league table.

Six individual tournaments will run, which begin at 00.01 on the Monday of a UEFA Champions League match week and end on the following Sunday at 23.59. Whoever is top of the individual league tables for each of the participating countries will qualify for the online final for their region. We’ll also take the two best runners-up for the entire six tournaments to make up the eight players needed for the local online final. The local champions will then be on their way to London to compete at the ultimate stage in European club football: the UEFA Champions League.

Players can enter each of the six tournaments and do not have to opt in each time – simply keep playing and winning online and you’ll appear at the top of the local league tables, which can be checked at any time on www.peschampionsfestival.com. Each competitor can only secure one space at the local finals however.

Dates for the six tournaments are:

Monday 4th March to Sunday 10th March 2013

Monday 11th March to Sunday 17th March 2013

Monday 1st April to Sunday 7th April 2013

Monday 8th April to Sunday 14th April 2013

Monday 22nd April to Sunday 28th April 2013

Monday 29th April to Sunday 5th May 2013

The online finals for each country will be held on the evening of Wednesday 8th May.

Winners of the online finals  will be flown into London for Friday 24th May, with the UEFA Champions League Final taking place on Saturday 25th May at Wembley Stadium.

Two tickets, presented by PlayStation, to the UEFA Champions League Final, will be awarded to the overall winner of the PES UEFA Champions Festival Tournament with other prizes generously donated by Konami Digital Entertainment, PlayStation and more to be announced.

OVER the course of my gaming life, there has been few games that have gotten the better of me. Alex Kidd was my first rage filled experience, followed by the maddeningly frustrating Soul Caliber. However it wasn’t until PES 2012′s MLO that I fully embraced my inner Hulk.

Looking back, even through rose tinted glasses, PES 2012 was a major let down for online gamers. I have defended Konami for years but I’m not going to lie when the evidence is so clearly laid out. Why I hated PES 2012 boiled down to the fact that it just couldn’t be played properly, no matter how skilled you were, how much time you put in or what players you had. The game was fundamentally broken online – end of.

I still accomplished my goal of making it into the top 10 players in the world but to be honest, the end result didn’t justify the effort. In hindsight, with all the problems that PES 2012 suffered from, I can understand why people cheated and played cheaply. I can accept why ‘PES fans’ turned the community sour and bitter. I can even see why some longtime players turned to the rival game on the market. But for all those frustrations, for all the lag quits and abusive messages that PES 2012 brought, nothing has upset as much as PES 2013.

PES 2013 is a wonderful game and while offline still remains king (boots scandal not withstanding), MLO has been ruined this year yet again. But what’s more upsetting is the fact that for once, Konami aren’t to blame. You can complain about the matchmaking or the much maligned server issues but by and large, PES 2013 has fixed most of its predecessors problems.

Competitions offer more variety and the rival rankings really add life to the game. I find myself logging on to amass enough points to win the top prize money every week without fail. Most importantly, speed has been reduced. This was a huge area of the game that threatened to kill off PES once and for all. Skilled defending can give players a huge advantage and even the latest patch updates have improved the matchmaking, especially in regards to manual settings.

Yet for all these additions, tweaks and changes, the PES community has gotten worse. For all the complaining these so called ‘fans’ did when PES ’12 failed to live up to expectations, they are the ones now ruining a perfectly worthy game – the first complete package from Konami in years.

I mean, it’s funny really when you think about it. PES has a small but passionate fan-base which follows Konami out of sheer love and nostalgic memories. But it’s ruined by a select few who cannot accept losing in a video game.

I’m not claiming PES ’13 is perfect, far from it. As I mentioned above, speed is still too prevalent and spamming through balls is nearly impossible to defend against without tactics. Saying that, the game doesn’t have to be played that way. I always find it hilarious to play a team of speed freaks and simply destroy him by passing it around, creating space. PES rewards skill as much as patience, it’s just harder to execute.

After a five week break from MLO, I returned to PES online for one last adventure. It’s not do or die for me with the PES series but online is a frustrating playground that requires a calm personality – something I lack. Master League will always be worth the games price in my opinion anyway but for now, I’m concentrating on MLO.

If you have given up on PES 2013 this year or you’re just curious about my progress, please check it out. I aim to play a different style, expose cheaters and try out most of the top players in the game.

To start, I have €250 million to spend so let me know your favourite players and hidden gems (muniain is the best player in he game IMO).

More importantly, over the next few weeks, I plan on discussing PES 2014. Obviously take this with a huge pinch of salt, but I’m hearing rumours of an earlier release date which will coincide with the new football season. There’s also a few more nuggets of information but I’m afraid you will have to wait until my next post for that!

But the real reason I want you all to check out the vids and get in touch below is feedback. I want to hear it all because my two next posts will be dealing with changes to both MLO and Master League.

So that’s your lot, updates will be more frequent now so do get in touch and ill talk to you soon!

I’m sorry but this post will mostly concentrate on the PS3 side as that is what I use, but I will post links to the forum threads for both PS3 and Xbox as well as download links for the tools needed for both. These tools have only recently become available for PS3, but Xbox users have had access for a while.

Those of you who are not already aware of these tools will wonder what they enable you to do, so I will explain. Using these tools you are able to convert your option file to PC format so you can use one of the many PC editors to edit your game, this means the ability to bring back old preset faces, edit hidden teams, edit licensed kits or just edit your game on your PC when away from your console.

First up you can bring back old preset faces by relinking them with the editor, Konami rarely remove players presets from the game so they are still in the game just hidden. In the PS2 days it was just a matter of selecting “Special” then the number of the players face, but this is not a option on next-gen, but the editor allows you to do this so for example if you have created the Championship you can add the faces to players like Kevin Davies or Sam Ricketts that were removed.

Next up comes the hidden teams, not everyone will have noticed these but there are 4 or 6 (we are not sure yet) teams that appear when playing ML/BAL that appear in the Europa League that are fake teams with fake players. The editor allows us to edit these teams/players to real teams, adding to the realism of the game.

Another great option is the ability to unlink licensed teams kits; this means that when Barcelona or Milan change their kits for next season we can edit them just like a unlicensed team. It is also god for licensed NT’s as Konami haven’t been as good at updating these in recent years as they were previously.

There are other little hidden gems like being able to edit the staff members that appear in ML and import players from Football Manager which are all nice additions.

Xbox users are also able to convert kit and face PNG’s created on PS3 so they can import them into their game as Microsoft still don’t allow them to add PNG’s to their console like PS3 users can.

Here is a video I made of the process of converting a PS3 option file to use with the editor, then converting it back. If anyone knows of a similar video for Xbox let me know in the comments.

Here are some useful links for more info on using the tools

PS3 http://www.pesgaming.com/showthread.php?t=92991

Xbox http://www.pesgaming.com/showthread.php?t=90183

Download Links for Tools

• Bruteforce (PS3) http://www.aldostools.org/ps3tools.html
• PS3 to Xbox Converter http://www.pesgaming.com/showthread.php?t=90183
• Horizon (Xbox) http://digiex.net/downloads/download…2-5-4-0-a.html
• Leflufie (Xbox) http://www.filecrop.com/le-fluffie-xbox-360.html
• USB Xtaf (Xbox) http://digiex.net/downloads/download…-download.html
• PES 2013 Multiconverter http://www.pes-patch.com/2012/10/pes-2013-multiconverter-by-starvin-and-smeagol75.html
• w!LD Editor http://www.fifacz.com/editor.aspx
• Pro Evo Editing Studio http://www.moddingway.com/file/28440.html

Have you been using these and what do you think of them? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading, Paul

I think there is probably an even split in the fundamental reasons for playing FIFA between the decline of PES, as well as the incline of FIFA.

But it’s important to hear why people have been moving. It provides a timely reminder to Konami of why they’re haemorrhaging fans big time over the ast few years.

So to help answer this question, it would be good to get an idea of the following:

FIFA:
what are the key features which put it above PES?
what is the most exciting aspect of playing FIFA?
is the core gameplay superior to PES?

PES:
what are the key features which have let you down the most?
is the core gameplay experience still delivering a great game of football?

The questions above should help to understand where PES is, and more importantly what it needs to address.

For too long we’ve seen wasted effort from Konami to improve fringe/negligible areas of the game, instead of focussing on the most important and fundamentally crucial areas.

Let’s provide an insight into the mind of a football game fan by highlighting what it is that we crave in a great football game.

I haven’t received any sort of comments or entries for our competition!

So I thought I’d raise awareness on this:

Print off our logo here, and display it prominently for maximum coverage at a busy place with you in it.  The prize money is yet to be determined, I’m working on it, but that’s no reason for you guys not to get cracking!  The most entertaining/well located picture will win, so good luck with getting inventive on that.

I’ve added another logo which can be used for the competition, so please do get involved.

Just send your entries to my email address.

Thanks for reading.

Dougiedonut

(dougiedonut@pesgaming.com)

Which kind of got me thinking.  Is PES alone in you having to adapt to a game’s core mechanic to excel? Do other games you play force you to almost adapt to the system by learning as many exploits as possible to win games?  Is that acceptable?  Are you the sort of person for whom the ends outweigh the means?  Or like me are the means paramount?

Would you rather play ugly, effective football and win, or play entertaining football and lose?  I’d like a game where playing entertaining football AND winning was a possibility.  But perhaps I’m being too harsh – is playing well and winning possible on PES?  Please do step in and set me straight if I’ve got it wrong.

I’ve not got on with the online game and just won’t go back to it in its current guise.  The real question is will there be enough radical change to the online experience in the new game to warrant going back?

There is a general consensus of feeling amongst the hardcore element that we’re not really being listened to.  The new ideas presented to us in PES 2013 weren’t communicated, and as a result alienated more people than it should have.  As yet, precious few details have been communicated, and I fear the same pattern will re-occur.

But if Konami are reading this article, then I sincerely hope they start the charm offensive very soon, and with key players  from the fans to deliver us a great game.

Anyway, we’re going to be looking to run a series of competitions over the course of the year to drum up interest in the site.  To kick this off, I’m starting us with a new competition to run for the whole of February:

Print off our logo here, and display it prominently for maximum coverage at a busy place with you in it.  The prize money is yet to be determined, I’m working on it, but that’s no reason for you guys not to get cracking!  The most entertaining/well located picture will win, so good luck with getting inventive on that.

Just send your entries to my email address.

Thanks for reading

Dougiedonut

(dougiedonut@pesgaming.com)