Then why does FIFA outsell KONAMI? Simple, is because of their reviews, adverts on TV, marketing style and the margins etc. Its not only because of the gameplay - many peoples minds are eluded to what other people hear instead of inspecting the game itself. KONAMI could outsell FIFA with decent gameplay with no bugs and with their advertising easily, they just fail with things such as licenses etc. Gameplay is the hugest thing in selling but a game with bugs and crappy advertising would sell less than a game with bugs and decent advertising. So aslong as they fix the bugs, they are gonna sell a lot more this year and by marketing it makes the whole thing look more professional than Amateur if you get what I'm saying
A fair point but I disagree, FIFA will always sell more copies than PES irrespective of how much better PES might be, the casual market is bigger than the hardcore market, and there's absolutely no way that Konami has enough money to compete for the casual market, as simple as that.
Furthermore, PES was doing great back in the PS2 days, but FIFA still sold more copies every year. The real problem that Konami's had with this gen of consoles, is that ever since the complete bag of shit of a game that PES08 was, they lost the hardcore market, and ever since they've been playing catch up with EA Sports.
Meanwhile, EA Sports invests and makes too much money out of insubstantial video games, so I don't see them making something serious any time soon, and the only reason why hardcore gamers bother with FIFA is because PES is an embarrassment. Konami on the other hand, is copying everything that EA Sports is doing, and adding a little spin on it to make it feel more hardcore, yet falling embarrassingly short every year.
All things considered, I think the hardcore market is there to be won by a third party, but I don't see Konami doing it any time soon. The first company that realizes that EA Sports owns the casual market, will win the hardcore market.... It's not very difficult in my opinion, a third party comes in, they look at what the casual market likes, they realize that features such as 11 vs 11 and BAL mode must be avoided at all costs, they never start a fight that they know they cannot possibly win, and instead of wasting their time with a video game that will probably end up disappointing both casual gamers and hardcore gamers (which is what PES does on a yearly basis), they simply invest all their money into ONE simple and solid gameplay mode designed to win the hardcore market.
If I had it in my power, the footy sim would be simple: just two playing modes,
1st mode -- you won't get any real football teams, you'd get current gen football players, classic football players, and you would select your own fantasy team. As is to be expected, due to the lack of other playing modes and due to the lack of leagues, all the money would go into the things that really matter: the best animations that current gen consoles have to offer, incredible player individuality, the best graphics, the best commentary, etc, etc.
1st mode -- the online game would function around a one per one player selection, meaning that it would be impossible to have Romario on one team and at the same time have another Romario playing on the other team as well, if Player-A selects Romario as his first pick, then Romario will be unavailable on the screen of Player-B by the time Player-B has his first pick.
1st mode -- added to that, licensed uniforms from the past and present would be available for online play, so that absolutely nobody can complain about unlicensed uniforms or boots. And the same with stadiums.
1st mode -- and of course, with the non-online experience, it would be possible to create your own league or tournament with the players and teams that are available, though it would be impossible to create new players and new teams. And a training mode goes without saying. But for the most part, the game would be focused on the online experience more than anything else.
2nd mode -- you won't get any real leagues, only real teams from the past and present: everything would be the same as the first mode, but with real teams from the past and present.
I'm very certain that as soon as a hardcore gamer experiences the freedom of a proper analog system, and gets to play with the likes of Robero Baggio, Romario, and the rest of his fantasy team, and gets to experience the level of detail that would go into each specific player, that the game would be successful in creating its own niche within the industry, and that neither PES nor FIFA would be competent enough to compete gameplay-wise.
I look at PES and FIFA the same way I look at Santa Claus, it's something you believe in when you're younger, you believe it will get better, but then eventually you realize that making shitty video games on a yearly basis is actually much more profitable than taking five years off and coming up with a real effort, and when that reality sinks in you stop believing in what the system has to offer. So considering that sentiment, my disappointment at this point is not really that PES and FIFA are complete shit year after year, it's mostly the fact that no third party has come out with the "five year in the making footy sim, set to reinvent the genre" announcement that the genre is screaming for.
But all that asides, I think that's one of the best trailers I've seen from Konami, dramatic and ambitious, a good message (albeit a bit hypocritical if you considering who said it), I almost bought it, but then I remembered that there's only so much that can be done in such a limited time....
I'm thinking that PES13 will be a "re-worked" version of what they've been doing with PES11 and PES12, the flaws will be the same because the foundation of the game is the same, the flaws will be the same because the analog stick is not used properly, and PES14 will be another "re-worked" piece of work. That's the main reason why PES became stale in the first place, because Konami continues "re-working" on things that don't work anymore.
I want to like them, I really do, but a company that releases games like PES08 is shameless, and to believe that such a company can produce a solid effort without taking two to three years off, is foolish.
