Interfering With Play – Tuesday 14th July 2009
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 14 Jul
IWP League Champion 2009: Ivan Kostic (Internacional)
Welcome to this week’s Interfering With Play. I would like to start off this week by thanking all those who took time to share their views, opinions and experiences about Pro Evolution Soccer’s and ISS from days gone by. I have said many times that I have been playing the series for as long as I can remember, and its very interesting to hear other peoples views about games I have been playing for so many years. I will be collating these views into some sort of tribute page over the next few weeks, to coincide with the launch of the “History Of PES” website in about a month’s time. This week is the one that many of you have been waiting for. The contract of silence is lifted, and those individuals who have played PES 2010 are allowed to publish their views. I know Double D is looking forward to doing this on PESGaming.com and therefore don’t intend to use IWP to steal his thunder. This means for a second week, IWP will be slightly shorter than the norm. I make no apologies for this though, as I believe the site will be fit to burst with PES information, and will give enough for you guys to read. With that said, lets move on with this week’s Interfering With Play.
“You Can’t Stop Me”
Firstly, a slight apology should go out on behalf of PESGaming. Following the announcement that PES 2010 was getting a Wii Release in Autumn, it was drawn to my attention via the comment section of this site that mn9ajas penned a review of the 2009 game, only to not have it published on the site. I am aware that his copy was won as part of a competition run on this site, and part of the terms of winning was that your opinions on the game were registered. In spite of my own video review, I believe that this review should have been included on PESGaming.com and apologise for its exclusion. It is probably a little to late in the day now to publish the review on the main page, but if mn9ajas wants to send me a copy of the review, I will do my best to incorporate it into some form or website or article in the future.
One of the biggest pleasures of writing these columns is the feedback, both positive and negative, that we receive. If you write something, you do so for it to be read, and therefore I once again offer my apologies for these events.
“Under Pressure”
At the time of writing, it’s around four months until the scheduled release of PES 2010. As with this time of year, the winter gaming line up is also starting to take shape, and this year sees the return of a lot of big name titles after a couple of years absence. Uncharted 2, Assassins Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2 and Gran Turismo have all been promised before the turn of the year, yet for many gamers, especially those on this site, the sole focus is PES.
Believe me when I say I refuse to make an excuse for Konami. There was a time in the late nineties when they would work on a two year development cycle for the ISS series, producing some fantastic results and groundbreaking improvements. The decision to make the PES series a yearly update was one Konami took in order to play with the ‘big boys’ and therefore they have to follow through on this. Where other major gaming franchises get a couple of years to work on new ideas, PES is a annual release, something that is not an excuse for a lack in improvement or quality, but also a much greater burden on the developers.
Being a sports fan, I own many sporting games. Aside from football, the one franchise I have always followed in the Brian Lara’s Cricket series. This works under many different names, dependant on region but in a similar way to Konami, Codemasters offered a fun and realistic alternative to the EA Sports version of Cricket. This year, Codemasters have rebranded the series Ashes2009 to tie in with the current test series between England and Australia, but the game has got to within a month of release slipping through a lot of people’s radar.
This could quite simply be because no one likes Cricket games, or that the people who play them tend to stick with the older version for a couple of years, but it was early 2007 when the last Cricket game was released. This means that for 2 years, people have made do with the Cricket titles on the market with little fuss, and now have a game which features a brand new engine to play with. The news including screenshots and in game footage is at a minimal and overall, there is very little PR about the game, yet its release alone will be enough to bring the Cricket fans in their thousands.
Compare this with PES. 4 months away and we are analysing every move that Konami make, every build of the game is being play tested and debated within a public forum, and games magazines can dedicate entire issues to the information available. Yes, football is a more popular sport than cricket, and yes Konami made the decision to release an annual title, but the pressure being placed upon Konami now is so high, that I am glad I am not involved in the final result. I make no excuses for Konami, but at the same time, I wouldn’t want to be doing what they are either!
“Slam Dunk Da Funk”
So based on initial polls, it was Pro Evolution Soccer 5 that earned the title of best PES Game ever. Of course, this poll has really only just started, as over the next few weeks, there will be a number of different ways to vote for your favourite PES of all time. I will still be looking for PES memories too. The more, the better, as it really gives us the feel of a Pro Evolution Community that actually cares about football games.
As for Pro Evolution Soccer 5, I would find it hard to argue too much with that. I personally found that to be one of my favourites, for the simple fact I was untouchable with Chelsea on the game. That may sound a tiny bit arrogant, but I was beating people 7 or 8 nil for the simple fact that Duff and Robben were unstoppable, It was also the game that brought Henry to the level of PES superstar, as until that point he always handled just a little bit off.
As I said, the next few weeks will be full of little polls and stuff building towards the history of PES. Hopefully, by the end there will be a mini site dedicated for a trip down memory lane, and maybe even a little bit of downloadable content for you guys to get stuck into. I mean, who wouldn’t want Go For The Goal as their ring tone!
“I Don’t Feel Like Dancing”
One final little point, and again, it borders on the petty. It has been brought to my attention that people are multi posting in the comments section. In other words people are writing four or five consecutive comments, which is not only a tiny bit annoyed, but wastes the time and space of other people who wish to get involved. I am therefore politely asking you to try and only send one comment at a time, allowing others to react to your post and keeping the conversations relative. I do have the ability to edit or delete comments I think do not abide by this simple request, and will start grouping large consecutive posts together into one post if I see fit. Writing a structured and well written comment might take a little bit of planning, but it is something that will earn your views the time and respect they deserve.
That’s your lot for this week. There are a number of things within this article for people to get their opinions stuck into, so feel free to comment or e-mail in the usual way. I expect Double D’s posts this week to draw a lot of attention, so an extra thanks to those of your taken the time to get your weekly IWP fix. As always, interferingwithplay@hotmail.co.uk is the place for your e-mail.
Thanks for Reading
1st
Ban these morons ^^
I can’t wait to hear what information DD can supply us with!!
Good or Bad, I just want to hear an honest first hand review of what Konami have come up with so far.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIiyT81k_tQ
I like how the sliders work in the video
shame its not in english :(
Thanks Dan for the recognition. I suspect it was just an oversight that it never got published alongside your video review, which was a shame as they tied in quite well together. Many thanks for the acknowledgement though and looking forward to new PES10 news.
p.s. Ashes 2009 looks pretty cool. I will also be buying it so maybe see you online!
great artical dan!!
i belive that u are right about pes 5 was the best and stil is for me. it had everything in real football which was really enjoyable to play i always had a challenge in the marster league time i would win the league and time i would loes it and that frustrated me!!!! and made play it more and more!
but since then all the other pes i have really been finding them really easy and boring so i dont kno why pes has really gone down hill i dont even enjoy the marster league anymore which is a big let down for me
after dusting off my ps2, i pulled out the all the pes’s again and gave them another play. i have to say pes5 was the hardest of them all. i remeber once again what pes use to be about and why it didn’t get boring like it does now. pes2008 and 2009 are to easy and the cheating al is more obvious in these two versions, 2009 even more so. i want that feeling back again with pes2010. i must say i feel a sense of excitment building inside me, especially for this 15th of july deadline to pass. but i won’t be conned by you konami, so fix up look sharp.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm9obmmEGnE
The video above but with english subtitles for the sliders!
what is happing on the 15th of july??
15th July is when the embargo set in place by Konami is lifted, and those who have had a chance to play the game will be allowed to share their thoughts with the public.
Also – To me it sounds like PES 2010 will be much harder. It sounds like it’s definitely more difficult to score, but more importantly, much more diffciult to dribble and run past everyone like in 09, so… more passing, build up, off the ball runs and using tight control in closed spaces will be key I think. To me this is great news, but I hope they haven’t gone too far with this and made it impossible to beat players one on one with pace every now and then with the likes of Walcott, Messi, etc.
One more thing – From what I have seen and read (confirmed, not rumours) it looks like the dribbling is very responsive, not 360, but very, very, very responsive so that you have a lot more control over player movement. It will, I think, be more like the slow dribble in 09 being the regular pace, and the overall game will be slower as a result as well.
Tactical slider looks good as does the new graphics as well as the card system.
My only worry is konami are making tactical player control better but forgeting pes biggest flaw,actual physical player control.Its almost like somethings being lost in translation or konami are totally un-receptive to change in relation to better true 360 degree movement and analog control.
Any game of real merit over the last ten years has thrived on responsive fluid player control and movement and why should football games be abscent from this party.
While many might be happy to carry on with the current 8-axis system,i personally want a change and a greater level of player physical input on the pitch more akin to the practises of a real pro.
Having already had this level of freedom and control with ISS and perfect striker every PES has felt one-dimensional to play.
Pes2010 is currently showing so much promise,would it really be that hard for konami to implement a system where you can turn the player on the pitch in a 360 degree circle via the d-pad or thumbstick with the ball at his feet giving the user the ability to walk,run or pass in any direction.
I really enjoy PES have done for 10 years but always feel frustrated at the limted amount of movement and passing angles currently offered by the game within its 8-axis plain and feel if ea with fifa10 get there 360 degree movement anywhere near the same level as it used to be in ISS200 AND PERFECT STRIKER3 this is where my time and hard earned cash will be spent this autumm.
You can have all the tactical options in the world but when your players move like wooden puppets on a invisible grid within a 8-axis plain your never going to energise the hd graphics or tactics you employ.
If in the next couple of weeks 360 degree movement is not annouced for pes2010 we will have another great looking football game that clings to a 8-bit control system that is as outdated as 2d games.
Does anybody know how this ‘overall’ stat works or is calculated? Because in the new behind the scenes video; xavi’s overall stat is 96 (way too high) and messi’s is 82 (way too low in comparison) Explain please
Thanks RFC-CHAMPS-09 for english subtitles
I thinks this COULD be the best pes yet!!!!!!
Fingers x
@ hugzinton
Correct me if im wrong but i think
Players stats in pes 2010 change depending on postion they are playing in and the ability cards being used.
Im well up for Ashes Cricket 2009
I love the brian lara games
@j22
I understand this but how does messi end up worse than xavi even though he was playin as a SS if I remember correctly, that is one of his favoured positions?
Actually contary to what a lot of people believe pes09 is exactly the same speed as a real football game.
When the play is compact and the opposition are behind the ball the overall game pace is slower but when hitting teams on the counter or when the play and game is more stretched the game becomes quicker almost to the point of unrealistic but this is what happens in reality.
I have analysed this against real premiership footage at a tv studio against pre-recorded pes09 footage.
What you will probably find is the real truth is to keep the framerate high konami have had to reduce the overall speed of the game due to greater graphical fidelity and a improved crowd.
The speed and dribbling skills of the better players in pes09 is accurate its the ease in which defenders are wrong footed that is innacurate.
This reduced speed and making the back four almost in-penetrable sounds more like a easy way of disguising game inbalance and lack of realistic player movement and control.
@ cutting
The game pace in PES09 does not reflect a ‘real’ game to me…my opinion just like your claim is just your opinion
Previous version like PES5 are more fitted to the true pace of a football game in my eyes.
Pes09 is very arcade like in some ways enjoyable end to end stuff but by no means accurate to the pace of a true game. for example it only takes a matter of seconds for ronaldo to take the ball from his own box before sprinting past everyone and rounding the keeper.