Interfering With Play – Tuesday 13th January 2009
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 13 Jan
IWP League Champion 2008: Martin Ginnelly (River Plate)
As always, I would like to start by wishing you a warm welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. It is good to be back writing on a regular basis and hopefully there are people out there who enjoy reading on a weekly rotation! PESGaming.com has been bustling with activity this week, a very strong sign when taking into account the first few months of the year are known to be our quietest period. It is of great credit to the columnists who provide interesting and insightful viewpoints for visitors to keep coming back on. It is proof of a strong, passionate community that enjoys its football gaming, which exactly the kind of audience this site wants. With that said, let’s get rolling with this weeks article.
“Around The World”
I don’t want to step on Double D’s feet too much regarding his MMO topic for a PES 2015 that is of a similar ilk to GTA! That’s his angle, so anyone who has anything they wish to discuss on that front can do so with his blog. However, with my own experience and others regarding Football Superstars, the ‘first’ football MMO, I feel it would be worthwhile addressing the problems that any company, be they Konami, EA Sports or a third party, are going to face when they try to make a football game that is predominantly multiplayer.
Currently, multiplayer is done best on PC. Yes, the consoles are starting to catch up with some excellent first person shooters and the Call Of Duty franchise has brought online multiplayer out of the closet and into the mainstream. But PC games have been doing this for years, and are already leaps and bounds ahead in modding, character creation and real world simulation. Console gaming will catch up, because overall online gaming on 360 and PS3 has been a huge success, and it is right for companies of games that don’t usually lend themselves to multiplayer worlds to start looking that way. Football Superstars, as mentioned last week, is the first to try it, and having sampled the game personally, the nice touches and good ideas always fall down against the key fundamentals of a game, and that is the Gameplay itself. Role Playing Games have spent decades working out new fighting systems, be they real time or turn based ones in order to give the opportunity for all people involved to benefit from being in a fight. Football Superstars currently lacks a half decent football gaming engine, which makes the rest of the game world seem a tad pointless. It doesn’t matter if your wearing the latest crocodile skin football boots if your player pots around like an elephant in clogs. The game engine has to be the first priority; everything else should then be a bonus.
The second problem, and one which Call Of Duty have aced is the EXP points, or in basic terms, ways of upgrading your character. Obviously, in any game you play, the more you play the better you will become. Normally there will always be someone better than you but there will definitely be someone worse! EXP points are a way of increasing your in game ability by completing online challenges and giving you a slight edge, be that new weapons, spells or skills. Still, a weak player with high EXP points will be defeated by a stronger player with lower EXP nine times out of ten, as skill outweighs accessories. Football games in particular need to increase a levelling up system in any online format, but at the same time must not make skill become pointless. The 16 year old without a job could potentially spend 12 hours training and upping his stats to become an unstoppable player, whilst the 30 year old football gaming veteran with a wife and 2 kids might not be able to train daily, and only have average stats. The line is very fine in this case, and hopefully gaming developers will find the line before releasing to many football MMO games upon us.
The final problem is the fact the game still has to be enjoyable. I have personally never played World Of Warcraft, and I wouldn’t want to. However I have spoken to people who absolutely love it. The enjoyment factor is there. The same can be said for the Sims, a good idea for younger gamers or those into the whole alternate life scenario, but not for your typical football gaming fan. A football MMO needs to be football related in every way, and reach the market in that fashion. Football clips, highlights, news, competitions, TV shows are what is going to entice the football gaming public, not a choice of which kind of sofa you are going to place in your fictional apartment. PES works for me because I can sit down, throw on a friendly against the AI while my dinner is cooking, or spend 2 hours playing in a league if I have an evening to myself. The fact that on most MMO games you need to spend at least 20 – 30 minutes each time you log on in order to get the full benefit out of it simply doesn’t entice me, and I am sure I am not alone.
It is a great idea to have an alternative online footballing world for those of us not gifted with the talent to be earning serious money playing the real game, but it needs to be approached in the right manor, and appeal to the right demographic. Unfortunately, and again this is simply my opinion, Double D’s idea of PES 2015, and more importantly Football Superstars are just not the answer!
“Cause If Your Not Really Here”
Trophies, as I have spoke about for many weeks are starting to dictate my gaming experiences, in particular the way I play games. For example, I am killing as many enemies as possible on Resistance 2 using as wide a variety of weapons as I possibly can, a huge change from the original, which saw me stick to the two main guns. I have spoke at length in the past how trophies/achievements are a positive thing for gaming in general and add life to games once they have been completed. I have also expressed my frustration that both Konami and EA Sports have failed to support the Trophy format on PS3, although I am aware they have been using achievements for the 360.
The achievements list for PES2009 is the same as that found in the gallery of the PS3 version, and to be honest is a bit, well, rubbish. Scoring large numbers of goals and winning large numbers of tournaments does not really bring any alternatives to your game, and potentially all awards could be unlocked by rushing through the game on 1 beginner! The achievement list on FIFA 09 is a lot more realistic to a football game, offering rewards for changing your style of play by the goals you score or the way you approach games.
With trophies now having to be a mandatory part of any new PS3 release, the hope is that Konami will include them in the next version of PES, but my open question to the PESGaming.com community is what kind of trophies/achievements would you like to see in PES? Personally, I would like something that would involve beating good teams with lesser teams, and encourage different styles of football. For example, score a goal after stringing together over 20 passes on Top Player would require a fair level of skill and discipline. But for some, an achievement or trophy of scoring a goal less that 5 passes after your own GK has touched the ball would be just as difficult. Other ones such as first half hat trick or weaker foot hat trick would require different levels of ability and actually be achievable by players who have genuine skill, and not simply by those who sit through playing the game for hours upon hours back to back. Please feel free to include your own suggestions in the comments section at the bottom of this column.
“Someone Like You”
I have had quite an overwhelming response to the e-mail sent last week regarding the Interfering With Play league. I already have over 30 application forms in, and expect another few to fly in over the next couple of days. Because of this, I am opening the application window a week earlier than planned, with the view that I want everything sorted by January 31st.
The tournament is not confirmed on Playstation 3, which whilst being my own console, has actually proven to be the more popular format amongst those interested in the competition. I have kept the information of all those who applied to participate on X Box 360, and intend to run an IWP World Cup Tournament on the console in the upcoming months. Please continue to check your inbox and this site for the latest news on that front.
As I just mentioned about the application window is now open for one week. This means that if you got a Playstation 3 for Christmas or in the festive period, and would be interested in participating in an online Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 league, please e-mail me with your name, location and PSN to the below address. The closing date for all new applications is Monday 21st January 2009. After that point, you will receive an e-mail explaining the league set up and full application procedure. If you have already received an e-mail and wish to take part, please reply as soon as possible. Demand is high for places, and enthusiasm goes along way!
“My Last Request”
Finally this week, I am opening up the floor to the community for some slight help regarding a couple of matters. Firstly, I am looking for someone who plays / owns PES 2008 and/or 2009 on PC. I have personally not picked up a copy for the last couple of years, and would like their help on a couple of issues. Failing this, I will end up buying the games, but seeing as I know there are a fair few PC gamers who regularly visit this site, it would be a great help to me if I could speak to you about a couple of issues. If you have the PC version of either, or ideally, both games, could you please e-mail me direct on the address below, and I will get back to you.
Secondly, the IWP League is currently in the process of having its own, very trendy sub site. The site will feature all the latest results, tables and statistics as well as all the news from the competition. Each player will have their own small profile section, and there will be the ability for other gamers to beat challenges set by those playing in the league. For the site, I am offering the opportunity for someone to design a new logo for the IWP League. The IWP logo itself was designed by regular contributor Dave O, and will remain the official logo for this column, but I am open to a brand new logo, which may or may not feature the original one, being put in place in time for the new season. The logo must be unique, and not feature any brand names. The designer will be given full credit and their name will feature in the footer of the brand new website. Anyone who is interested can get in touch via e-mail, or simply send their design. All logos will receive a response.
That’s your lot for this week. Hopefully there will be some interesting suggestions for the potential trophies / achievements for the new PES, maybe even a list could be published and sent to Konami themselves. If that is the case, please keep them clean, and the ‘Make It Through An Online Game With Lag’ trophy will not be published! If you are willing to apply for the IWP League, or get in touch regarding the “My Last Request” topic, the e-mail address to do so is interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk. Also, if you have the time, please check out my other column, which has recently been re-launched on www.thefootballforums.com, which features news and discussion topics from the footballing world.
Thanks for Reading
I play the PC version!
/sends email
I agree. An Mgame like that, would attract fans of games like sims. Who arent hardcore PES gamers, therefore the dilema will arrise:
Make the football(on the pitch) easy for every1.
OR
Keep it like the Pro Evo we love at the expense of the newcomer gamers(Sim fans).
Either way its a lose lose situation, cause most PES fans dont want to spend a minute off the Pitch, and would be annoyed with the time consuming “after game” life!
ignore the “n M”….soz
I’m still waiting on pes 09 trophies, come on Konami.
Enjoyed the column, as I do every week.
Not to be an ass, but Monday is not the 21st. It is the 19th.
if they fix the online problems then perhaps they should reward people with 0 disconnects…???
like my good honest self :)
Good column Dan, I agree with you about MMO games, they don’t really appeal to me either, I thought the sims was a fun game, but then you think to yourself “hang on a minute, why am I sat here, playing a dude, who’s just come home from work and playing on his computer, when I’ve just come home from work and am on my computer, isn’t this a bit sad.”
As for the point about gameplay on the pitch being pretty poor, I think if there really is a market for this sort of game, then Konami or EA should make a seperate game, which incorporates their game engines, or a third party could design a game and then pay to use the Pes or Fifa games engine, in a similar way that the Unreal engine, from Unreal Tournament was the model for years in first person shooters.
Trophies – I wrote a comment at the end of last year in your column Dan, where I briefly described my personal vision for how the Online and trophies feature could work in future Pes titles. I gained most of my inspiration for this from Call Of Duty 5 and it’s stupendous Online system, which has seen the Online mode totally eclipse the single player game. I think that EA are very close to achieving this with Fifa, as I barely touch the single player ‘Managers Mode’, because the Online mode is so good.
One of the problem that EA and Konami still need to fix, is the problem of players choosing the same teams perpetually. I think this could be over come by using EXP points, Ranking points and Trophies. Offer less exp points for players using the same team, offer less ranking points for a player using the same team, offer trophies for players beating each other using different teams. It’s simple, easy and offers reward ’s in trophies and extra ranking points for having a complete all round game. By playing using different teams to your favorite one, you would bring the penalization of your favorite team back down, thus making it worth while picking it again.
As for trophies here’s a few – Giant killer: For beating a team or player that is much higher ranked than yourself.
Coming from behind:(but not in a gay way) For completing a comeback.
Hat trick hero: Obvious.
Long Shot Legend: scoring a certain amout of long range.
Baby Beckham: scoring a certain amount of goals from crosses.
On The Volley: Scoring a certain amount of goals from volleys.
Rounding The Keeper: I remember years ago when Frank Skinner got Alan Hansen “I think,” to say rounding the keeper for the first time on Match Of The Day, after he had been on Fantasy Football. So as the term states this would be a trophy for running round the keeper to score.
Thats it for now, I’ll add a few more when I think of them and I’m a bit more awake.
dear lord, i guess not bein a pompous, boring beleif pusher anymore was nt one of mc dermot s new year resolutions. Give it a rest, i ve already had to read all that crap last year. All the best by the way!
I am still trying to get the pC version in Canada. No luck yet. Most won’t ship here
The only boring git on here is you Franky two thumbs, I guess one of your new years resolutions wasn’t to not continue being a nob jockey, never mind I guess you’ll be winning the coming from behind trophy, but definitely in a gay way ;-)
good one, i m impressed. Thought i d never get a rise out of you but i guess santa fetched you some balls. Well done.
^^You two should take this show on the road, maybe something to replace “I’m on Setanta Sports…”
Be Champions.
Hahaha, yeah right! we should have a topical debate show, right here on Pesgaming.com. Just imagine if there was a talk show on sky dedicated to football games and people phoned in to air their grievances with the genre; it would be hilarious.
You would have someone phoning in to say they liked Fifa better than Pes, then you’d get a Pes fan phoning in and calling the previous caller a massive gay; you could even let them have it out with each other, there and then, live on TV.
You could have a ‘one off special’ wit Ross Kemp on gangs. He begin the program by saying, “I’m here to meet the Pes Possy , one of the most fundamentalist and violent gangs in Britain.”
Then the camera would swing across to a group of lads all dressed in balaclavas, with the voices digitally altered. One of the lads would say menacingly, “Yeh we hate those Fifa SCAB’s, there scum.”
“what do you mean scum,” Ross Kemp replies.
“You know ****ing low life’s,”
“what the Fifa crew,”
“yeh!”
Kemp says, “What would you do, if one of the Fifa crew wandered onto your Patch?”
“****ing rip their heads OFF,” replies one member of the Pes Possy vehemently.”
I’d watch it!
y dnt they run a xbox league alongside the ps3 league…even though i have a ps3 n participated in the old league…the idea of running it side by side with perhaps another memeber of pesgaming team can run the xbox league while dan runs the ps3 league??
SIMON MCDERMOTT are you still taking your medication.. that last rant sounded like a cry for help..
PES4ever