Interfering With Play 20/11/07
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 20 Nov 2007
This weeks Interfering With Play will be slightly shorter than usually, due to a number of external factors. In a week which has seen a fictional release date for a much sought after patch and had the Premier League knocking on the PESGaming.com door, there is a lot to cram in, so lets get rolling with Interfering With Play.
Who Needs David Blaine?
So, Mr. McClaren has worked his escape act, and at the time of writing, England are in pole position not only to qualify for Euro 2008, but to do so as winners of their group! What we must remember that as great as it is to see England almost at another major finals, it is because of an incredible Israel performance, and not of anything that England have done that has resulted in this situation. There is no doubt McClaren would have been sent on his way should England have failed to qualify, but the fact that we may now qualify should still make the FA have a long, hard look to see if this is the man who can bring us European Championship success. I know this site is dedicated to football gaming, but I would love to hear the opinion of you, as football fans about whether or not the former Middlesbrough boss is the man to lead England into Euro 2008.
Patches Win Matches
So, the 19th of November came and went, and the rumours of a patch to fix online play turned out to be nothing more than just that, rumours. Of course, PESGaming.com never once mentioned anything about an official release date, or even an interview with a Konami member discussing the patch. It is obviously a work of fiction, something that if someone tells someone else, and a gossip tree occurs. Before you know it, there are ‘official sources’ and an ‘official release date’. Like every PES2008 fan out there, I believe there should be a patch made available by Konami, so sort out the ridiculous level of lag that is occurring online, but at the moment, there is no say as to whether or not there will ever be one. I am also well aware that people will message me asking about when it will be available, or leave comments at the end of this article. The answer is, with no official word on the matter, no one knows if and when a patch will be released. I am sure though, as soon as an official patch comes available, Peter will have news of it here on PESGaming.com!
Ready, Edit, Go!
So following on form lasts weeks Interfering With Play review of PES2008, I would like to spend a few moments discussing the Edit Mode of the game. Editing football games is nothing new. From back on the days of the Spectrum ZX, you could change the names of the players in your team, your teams kit colours and the name of the side itself. I personally remember leaving my Spectrum on for 3 days in a row, in order not to lose my edited teams on Emlyn Hughes’ Pro Soccer, and finally managed to complete my ‘First Division’ season. The early nineties saw arguably one of the most editable football games on the decade, Sensible Soccer. Whilst there is no denying this was one of the greatest football games of its generation, if not of all time, what made it different from some of the other titles on the market was the fact you could edit team names, player names, strip styles and even players hair and skin colours. This meant, for the first time, you could easily make your Sunday League team, with reasonably realistic appearances and kits, even if the graphics were far from realistic. Then, with the Playstation and PS2 arriving on the scene, with memory cards, editing was no longer restricted to the PC. Whilst Nintendo and Sega had tried to include the ability to save teams onto their cartridges, the introduction of MB to save your games meant editing became a whole new world. Features like hair styles, boot colours, gloves, shirt styles and even jewellery could all be customised, meaning your Sensible Soccer team no looked the part, sometimes to the point of scary likenesses.
Pro Evolution Soccer 6 for the PS2 was arguably the pinnacle of console game editing. The editing options were seemingly endless, allowing sponsors to be added to shorts, and even the ability to customise the style and colour of branded boots. Some of the option files created were out of this world, and the credit should go to some of the creators, the time and effort they put in was appreciated by all who used them, even it may have not been expressed.
The editing options on PES2008 are, at best, on a par with those of Sensible Soccer. Whilst yes, players can be edited to a much higher standard, the strip editing leaves a great deal to be desired. Having a meagre 12 different short options is quite frankly not acceptable, and the people responsible for this section of the title should be ashamed. The ability to important images using the PS3-eye, or the X Box Live Cam is no substitute for being able to create your own pixel images and the fact you can only use eight images is defiantly underwhelming. Option file makers in the past have done a fantastic job of making the game as realistic as possible, but to those gamers out there who are expected the same thing this time out, I am sorry to say the tools Konami have provided for PES2008 are far from suitable to do the job. At the time of writing, there is no way of getting real badges or real kits for more than 8 teams on the game, and it seems highly unlikely that this will change for this version of the game.
Online Fraud Protection
All UK based readers are sure to have seen the Barclay card adverts, bragging about the cards top-level online fraud protection. It seems the Premier League may have been taking some advice from their sponsors and following the message sent to Peter Willis this weekend, are banning any option files featuring Premier League teams. The term unbelievable springs to mind. Yes, the FA do have a contract with EA Sports allowing Fifa 2008 to feature all official team names for that seasons version of the game. Konami have a deal that allows them to feature two sides names, which this year are obviously Newcastle and Tottenham, although in the past has featured Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea. Konami are therefore sticking by their side of the deal, only including the two sides as their contract allows. The Premier League seems to be fighting a battle here against the consumers for no reason at all. The fact that PES2008 does not have licensed teams is nothing new and the fact that we can edit the game is something that should be our own choice. The Premier League are not losing out on any money here, they still have their deal with EA Sports, and Konami are still only providing their two registered Premier League sides. No one on PESGaming.com is making any money from the Option Files, and sharing files of this nature is perfectly legal, because it is user created, and therefore copyright of the creator. The likenesses, however good they are, will never match those of Fifa, or other Licensed PES2008 teams, so it seems a silly battle.
The Premier League has enough on their plate, with corrupt agents, dodgy refs and the controversy that surrounds the top flight of this countries football seemingly every week. It seems insane that they would spend the time and manpower trying to shut down fan sites for computer games that they have some form of sponsorship within. I am sure they weren’t looking to stop file sharing when Konami were paying to have PES2008 ads popping up all over Premier League stadiums up and down the country. Whether this has something to do with the poor editing mode on PES2008 will no doubt remain to be seen, but I find in a coincidence that a game which usually takes so much pride on its editing features makes so many of them unavailable for the next gen, alongside a footballing superpower trying to shut down those few sites that do offer a more realistic experience. I never mentioned the word conspiracy, but it seems to look that way! Well, I would like to let the Premier League know that I will be editing the game myself, and I will make sure all my Premier League teams have correct names, with as many realistic strips as possible, and I will enjoy using them when playing in my computerised version of the FA Premier League, unofficially of course!
He Fell Over
Just a quick point raised from a couple of comments and e-mails about me praising the new dive feature in PES2008, and how people are saying it should not be allowed. Anyone who has watched football over the past 10 years will know diving is becoming an ever-increasing part of football. Many years ago, sides never used to take quick free kicks, and would always opt to punt the ball long, no matter whereabouts on the pitch. But as football has developed, the quick, short free kick is as common as a throw in or a slide tackle, and as a result, Konami added this feature to PES6, with mixed results. The 2008 version of the quick free kick is much better especially on the next gen consoles. For those of you having trouble, you can only take a quick free kick if the ball hasn’t moved from the place in which the foul was committed. Then simply move your player towards the ball and press pass. People have been struggling because following most tackles the ball rolls away and the computer doesn’t allow the kick to be taken from the wrong place. Again, a feature that will hopefully be improved for 2009. But Konami identified that this was a part of football and brought it in. Diving is exactly the same. Whilst officially there is not one football fan that will agree that diving is good, I am sure that they are delighted when their hero goes over in the box to win their side a penalty. Drogba, Gerrard, Pires, Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Owen and even Wayne Rooney (Man United V. Arsenal, the game which stopped Arsenal’s undefeated streak, no contact from Sol Campbell) are all culprits of it, and like it or not, its part of the beautiful game. Ignoring it in a football game is taking away part of the realism of that game, just in a way that blood is an important part of any shooting game, or huge crashes any part of driving games. These are features that are not necessarily the glamorous side of topic in which the game is about, but by adding them, it increases to the realism. 21st Century football features a lot of divers, and to exclude that feature from a game is blinkered.
That’s your lot for this weeks Interfering With Play. As always any comments are more than welcome, either at the bottom of this article or in my e-mail inbox, at danbolas@hotmail.com. Your views on Steve McClaren and England would be greatly appreciated. I apologise to those people I have not got back to yet, due to a very busy week. I will do my best to answer all e-mails before next weeks Interfering With Play.
Thanks For Reading
I completely agree with your opinion on the diving aspect of the game. I hate to use an EA slogan but “If its in the game, it’s in the game.” Well…diving is in the game so put it in the video game. Also, I agree it is rediculous about the FA wasting time trying to put a scare into this website about option files. I don’t know about European laws, but my Aunt is a lawyer here in the US and I am going to find out if they are allowed to control this. Great article!
Bryan
Wrong date. Todays the 20th. Though hopefully by the 30th you’ll be reporting that a patch had been released that solved all the games problems.
out of interest has anyone ever won a freekick / penalty with a dive? i always get booked even when it looks so good i begin to wonder if it was a foul! If so how do you manage to do it?
yah tried diving i alwalys get booked but i have won alot of penalty and freekicks!!
I completely agree with you on the premier league/option file front. Has it really resorted to trying to shut-down ‘fan’ sites who create their own content. Stupid **cks go and do something more beneficial to improve the real game instead of wasting time on a computer game.
Interesting post regarding the Premier League. As if they don’t make shedloads enough money as it is, they want to ban the working class of England playing as their favourite footie team. Smacks of hypocrisy and greed of the highest order. And how can anyone really respect that. I downloaded the option file and will be actively looking for even more improved option files in the future.
Regarding McClaren, I wish everyone would get off his back. I’m not his biggest fan but you can only try your best and thats what he’s doing. Whats the point moaning that he was third choice, or that he’s not the best coach in world football?
England are not the best team in the world. So get over it. Winning five games 3-0 in a row but then losing to a very lucky Russia 2-1 away is not what I’d call a shambolic campaign. Yeah, England drew 0-0 with Macedonia but they beat Croatia the other day.
I’m so tired of people fearing England might do well, simply because that would mean McClaren will stay on. One idiot on football365 actually wrote in and said his greatest fear is England winning the Euro Champs, purely because of his dislike of McClaren.
What kind of warped logic is that? To everyone in England. Stop bloody moaning about English football and get behind the team.
I’m happy they’ve added the dive feature. And quick freekicks are an intelligent addition. But I think we should also be able to take our freekicks quickly at goal (with the referee calling it back at times or not).
so ppl win free kicks and pens with diving? i tried diving non stop for 2 matches and still got nothing
no more lag, just went to play online there is a notice from konami saying sorry for the issues as from the 20/11/2007 everything is alright, just played and yes NO MORE LAG FUCKING COME ON!!!!!
apologese lag still there after one game it is back what a load of shit
you SOB lol. got me well excited for a split second
Chuckle @ Jon. Counting your chickens! :P
Jimmy Saville said he is working on the PS3 “lag” issue..
The diving feature is stupid and the arguements for it are too. Allow me to quote myself from another thread:
“You guys are right. I get so pissed when I’m playing online Poker and I can’t cheat. I mean, it would be more realistic if I could have an extra deck in my sleeve or shoe. Also, when I’m playing my Baseball video game, I really want to get my players ‘roided up. I mean, it happens in real life, so it’s a part of the sport, right?
But seriously, however you view it, diving shouldn’t be represented in a video game. Having it in a video game is practically supporting it. “HEY, check out the NEW Diving feature! Dive like your favorite players! Great fun!”
And for those arguing for a realistic ‘football sim’, you should know refs don’t pull out automatic yellows for 95% of the dives. In fact, I would say diving succeeds 40%, while 50% not being called, and only 10% being booked.
Diving is destroying the prestige of the sport. In fact, I know many of the criticisms of Americans, as bias as they might be, is the fact that there is diving. And now diving is ruining PES. This makes EA Sports seem like the lesser evil.”
I’m in the US and was playing the game since release and having slowdown problems offline , but just now after installing firmware 2.01 the game has gotten faster. It seams that the resolution/graphics have been toned down. Is anyone else experiencing the same thing? The game feels different to me
Although you say there isnt an official word on a patch to solve online lag, I would like to post the email I received from Konami support when I complained about lag and other issues
—————————————————————–
my email address (Yes, this is you.) Learn more,
dateOct 26, 2007 3:10 PM
subjectRe: [Ticket#2007102610001847] Support Anfrage
hide details Oct 26 Reply
Dear customer,
Thank you very much for contacting the Konami customer support team.
Konami Digital Entertainment has uncovered issues which affect the gameplay
quality online of PES 2008 on Xbox 360. Weare working at full strength to
find a solution as quickly as possible. We sincerely apologise for this
inconvenience. Further announcements will be made as quickly as we have
additional details.
Your Konami Support Team
Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH
Berner Str. 103-105
60437 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
Local Court of Frankfurt am Main: HRB Nr. 24990
Managing Director: Kunio Neo, Kazumi Kitaue
———————————————————————-
This leads me to believe that we will eventually see a patch, although no idea when this will be.
I don’t mean to rub salt into open wounds but I just picked up the Korean version of Winning Eleven 2008 which was released today… This version doesnt have any framerate problems and and even has a higher “superstar” difficulty setting. Replays are smooth and the game engine feels a bit tweaked and faster than my PES 2008. The commentary can be played in Japanese or English and all of the game text is in English as well. I havent played online yet but this version is IMO, a much better version than PES 2008.
Just my 2 cents, I hope it helps.
BTW, I had to upgrade to system version 1.93 to play Winning Eleven 2008… I played over 300 games of PES 2008 and this game definitely feels different. Again, now there are 6 difficulty setting and no framerate issues during gameplay, replays or introductions. I havent played online yet but I will post as soon as I do.
boys how do you get hold of a copy winning eleven? can you let me know please nice one
ppl try play-asia
tried it does not work tell me they wont deliver to my location anybody know where to get winning eleven 2008
Beaten by Croatia and bent ova by Konami , what a X-mas Present
anyone know about winning eleven yet? where u can get it?
Why do i come to this site? it’s boring now, nothing new or interesting to read about.
Is anyone doing enough to get the problems with 2008 fixed?
Hey Dirty Harry, are you working on an option file or working for Konami to get a patch sorted out? No? Didn’t think so. So why the hell do you expect something new to come out if you can’t be arsed to work on something yourself.
Some of us still like the site and appreciate it for what it is - A place to talk about PES
hahahaha u faggot! go lick some more ass!
I sent the below email to Konami after heraing about the price drop. I am not stupid enough to think I’ll get a measured response, but, I have checked what I have said in the email with a solicitor and do have a couple of mates capable of getting small snippet type stories in a couple of UK red tops (Their not VIP enough to get large editorials). It’s not an easy process the small claims court, but, given the problems with the original game purchased by us PES fans, it is perfectly legal to expect a full refund.
Email sent to Konami 23/11/07
Can I have my money back! I bought this ‘broken’ game the day it came out, it has now been reduced in price by 50% in most stores around the UK. You have ripped your customers off and I am currently in discussions with the department of trade and industry and the UK national press to highlight this fact. You sold European gamers an unfinished product and therefore you should, as a company, offer anyone who purchased PES2008 a full refund. Failure to do this will be in breach of European retail law and as such you could be taken to small claims courts all over the UK by every individual who purchased the game.
I expect more than your standard response, failure to give me a considered reply, will, I promise you, start the ball rolling on your first visit to a UK small claims court for damages and a published story in two of the major UK national newspapers.
woo hoo. i like ur style!
I like your mum but she’s got no style!
u like ur sister and u sucked off a donkey
i have played iss/pro evo since the early days and in the long term the games are great. I heard loads of critisism last year over pro evo 6 but got over it and turned out to be the best one id ever played.
i will wait for the patch and enjoy playing this game online and offline without lag. that is.. if there is a patch. if not then i may be taking the same action as you