PES vs FIFA,
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Part I, "360 dribbling"
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I think that, when talking about "360 movement", it is important to acknowledge "360 running" and "360 dribbling" as different and independent areas, which complement each other, but different areas nonetheless.
To call it "360 movement" is too generic and vague, because movement could be running or dribbling, it's not tied to running or dribbling, movement is everything, walking is moving.
As for the idea of 360 movements... I'm going to start by questioning the 360 dribbling that PES and FIFA use: is it 360 dribbling? or 360 running? and how about 360 man-marking?
The 360 "dribbling" that PES and FIFA sell... It's not dribbling, it's running... they are selling an idea of "dribbling" which is in fact an illusion. TRY THE FOLLOWING: stop the movement of the ball, and when stationary, try to direct the left analgue stick...
Does the left analogue stick produces on-the-spot dribbling animations or does it produces moving-from-the-spot running animations?
In PES10, and FIFA10, and PES11, and FIFA11, and PES5, and PES6, it is impossible to do any stationary dribbling via the left analogue stick, because the left analogue stick always produces RUNNING ANIMATIONS... it does not matters if you are holding or not holding the R1 SPRINT button or the R2 CLOSE CONTROL button: the left analogue stick ALWAYS produces or triggers running animations.
This means, that it is very possible to cover distances of over 100 feet, without ever touching the SPRINT button... because the left analogue stick AUTOMATICALLY produces running animations.
This is why you can play PES5, PES6, PES10, FIFA10, PES11, FIFA11, on the same day; and you will find out that the left analogue stick still works identically to how it worked in PES5, the only difference is that there are now more directions to run into.
Adding directions to a FLAWED CONCEPT will not rectify or fix the flaw, it will hide the underlying flaw better, but the flaw is still there at the end of the day.
I describe the left analogue stick concept, as a uni-polar concept, because there is only one facet to it, one layer to it, one dimension to it: RUNNING ANIMATIONS...
And why is this such a big problem?
It is a big problem because the left analogue stick is the heartbeat of everything, the left analogue stick is responsible for running, dribbling, passing, and shooting. And what happens when the left analogue stick concept is a uni-polar concept?
What happens is, that if you direct the left analogue stick mid-way, this will be enough to produce or trigger RUNNING ANIMATIONS... And when you want a subtle passing animation, or a subtle dribbling animation, or a subtle shooting animation, you need to be very precise because the left analogue stick is trigger happy, and will produce RUNNING ANIMATIONS at the slightest of touches.
And the big problem with this, the big limitation, is that the scope of non-running animations that can be implemented into the left analogue stick... is very limited; so limited, that, as a matter of fact, it is impossible to dribble without running because the left analogue stick does not produces on-the-spot dribbling animations, and we only have a handful of passing and shooting animations to choose from.
In other words, if the moving range of the left analogue stick, from the center to as far as it can go in any direction, is of 1 to 10; and out of that range of movement, 3 to 10 produces running animations... this means that you can only implement non-running animations from 1 to 3.
The scope is very limited because the left analogue stick concept is a uni-polar concept.
In PES10, and FIFA10, and PES11, and FIFA1, and PES5, and PES6; if the player had his 1st touch on the ball, and you are not holding nor tapping the SPRINT button, and yet, you are directing the left analogue stick towards the right... What would happen if, I do this in any of the mentioned games?
No, the ball carrier will not pass the ball from his left foot to his right foot, without the necessity of running; no, the ball carrier will not shield the ball with the left side of his body, whilst remaining stationary; instead, directing the left analogue stick towards the right, will produce running animations towards the given direction, and will have the ball carrier running 5 or 10 feet into the given direction.
This is why, slow but technically gifted players like Xavi Hernandez tend to loose the ball too easily, because when they start running, they cannot out-run anyone because they are slow... it is impossible to dribble without running; or to be more accurate, it is straight out impossible to dribble on-the-spot with the left analogue stick.
This is why, Kun Aguero is actually better than Xavi Hernandez at shielding the ball, because Kun Aguero has the pace to RUN away from the opponent, and thus maintain possession of the ball.
And this is why EA Sports invented the right analogue stick gimmicks, this is why such gimmicks exist, to give you the ability of dribbling on-the-spot... to give you a cheap alternative without going through the trouble of actually replacing the outdated concept.
The problem is, that the right analogue stick gimmicks are repetitive and systematic, always producing the same identical animation; the other problem with it, is that it's not very accessible, not intuitive enough... for instance, the thumb that you use when passing the ball or when having a go at goal, is the same thumb that you use when using the right analogue stick dribbling tricks.
On the other hand, if we had all these dribbling animations attached to the left analogue sick, it would be a lot more intuitive and acessible, because your right thumb is ready to measure that pass or that shot.
In other words, EA Sports did not fixed the flaw, EA Sports did not replaced the outdated and flawed concept, EA Sports simply offered an alternative, added a detail which is attached to the right analogue stick; yet the FACT remains, that the left analogue stick is the hearbeat of everything, you do not use the right analogue stick when you pass the ball nor when you shot the ball.
The right analogue stick gimmicks, help hide the flaw, it minimizes the limitations of the uni-polar left analogue stick concept; yet the flaw is still there at the end of the day, because the left analogue stick is the heartbeat of everything, and if you minimize the scope of non-running animations which can be attached to the left analogue stick, you minimize everything.
So, 360 dribbling?
I do not think so, Konami and EA Sports have sold you the idea of "dribbling" when in fact you cannot do any dribbling, in truth, it is 360 RUNNING with the brand name "360 dribbling".
Now, what would happen if the uni-polar left analogue stick concept is replaced with a bi-polar concept?
A bi-polar system where,
1st -- it would be impossible to cover distances of over 100 feet, without using the SPRINT button or SPRINT buttons.
2nd -- it would be necesary to kick-start the movement of the ball by tapping one of the two SPRINT buttons (R1 and L1) because the movement of the ball will not automatically kick-start itself.
3rd -- similar to the passing power bar concept, where the left analogue stick determines the direction, and the passing buttons determine the power behind the pass; there would be two different SPRINT buttons, L1 for shorter strides , R1 for longer strides. Thus relieving the left analogue stick from the burdon of determining the distance covered, as well as the direction in which you run.
4th -- there would be a concrete difference between running with the ball and dribbling with the ball, because the left analogue stick will produce different types of animations depending on whether or not you are using the SPRINT button.
5th -- it would be near impossible to dribble past defenders by simply running at them and changing directions, as it would require some build-up dribbling, like in real life, before actually running past the opponent.
A bi-polar concept that would have four different areas attached to the same button,
1st -- running animations: dribbling animations that will move you through the space, animations that will only work when using the SPRINT buttons and maneuvering with the left analogue stick.
2nd -- statinary animations: dribbling animations that will only work when stationary or when the ball movement is dead or nearly dead.
3rd -- dribbling animations: the on-the-spot dribbling animations that will be used when not stationary, when moving or running through space with the ball at your feet.
4th -- shielding animations: animations that would function by holding the R2 button and maneuvering with the left analogue stick.
So that, if you are not holding nor tapping any of the SPRINT buttons, and you direct the left analogue stick slightly towards the right: this will produce a specific type of on-the-spot dribbling animation. On the other hand, if in the same scenario you direct the left analogue stick as far to the right as it can go: it would produce a slightly different, but noticeably different, on-the-spot dribbling animation.
Can you imagine the scope or amount of non-running dribbling animations that could be implemented into a bi-polar left analogue stick system?
On-the-spot animations, dribbling, man-marking, shielding, tackling, passing, shooting, without the necessity of moving from the space nor moving through space; it would change the whole experience.
In case you are baffled by the "bi-polar" concept that I just tried to explain as best as I could and as briefly as I could. Here is a clearer article which might, perhaps, give you a better understanding of where I'm coming from,
http://abyss-watcher.livejournal.com/5261.html
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Part II, the defensive system
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Both PES and FIFA revolve around the same uni-polar concept, and this is why, the defensive system in PES is broken and the defensive system in FIFA is also broken.
I think 360 RUNNING is rather unnecessary, I don't want 360 running, I don't see footballers running in circles like a bunch of morons...
Yet with PES and FIFA, you can choose to be a moron, you can decide to run in circles whenever you feel like it, you can break the game whenever you feel like it because there is no structure and no consistency to how the game is played, and this is the reason for why the game is broken...
You see, the defensive system and the one versus one system are different areas of the game, you could have an outdated one versus one system and yet, have a very good defensive system. However, the problem is that a competent defensive system would expose the uni-polar left analogue stick concept for what it is.
Of course, to hide the fact that you cannot actually do any dribbling, they use a broken defensive system...
In real life, before you get past a defender, there is some build-up dribbling before actually running past the defender; in PES and FIFA, it skips the build-up dribbling and goes straight to running... this is why the one versus one system is hugely outdated, because it's PES5 with more directions attached to it.
This is why in PES10, it is actually easier to give the ball to Lio Messi and RUN your way to goal, than actually playing proper football... because the one versus one system is outdated and the defensive system is broken,
Which means that the ball does not nessecarily dictates the movement of a DMF because the user literally has full manual control over the direction in which the DMF runs, the DMF can always move in accodance to how the user wants him to move, the DMF can always move in accordance to what the user can see from his wide view perpspective... the DMF has a super-human perspective, which enables him with the ability of reacting and moving in accordance to things that are happening behind his back.
This means that there is no structure to how the game plays, and also, that the movement of the ball does not necessarily dictates the movements of the DMF; but of course, this broken defensive system minimizes the limitations of the outdated left analogue stick concept... because the broken defensive system and the outdated one versus one system, both revolve around RUNNING, and thus creates the illusion of "dribbling" when in fact it is impossible to do any manual on-the-spot dribbling nor any manual on-the-spot defending, you can only RUN with the ball... and this is why the gameplay concept revolves around RUNNING and not around playing proper Football.
This is why in PES10, it is actually easier to give the ball to Lio Messi and RUN your way to goal, than actually bother playing proper football... because the gameplay concept as a whole, is broken and revolves around RUNNING, and Messi is a fast and skillful player who can consistently RUN his way past 4 defenders and score an easy goal.
If you stop running around like a headless chicken, and if you ever get tired of holding on to the R1 SPRINT button, you might acknowledge just how fruitless the defensive concept is...
Having full manual (left analogue stick) control over the direction in which your DMF runs without the ball... In what way does it enrich the experience? In what way does it requires any skill to hold the R1 SPRINT button and run after the ball like a headless chicken?
It is completely redundant, it creates an illusion of control and responsiveness when in fact it gives you LESS control and LESS substance, and it is the reason for why the game is broken; and obviously, it barely requires any skills, because everything is overwhelmingly obvious and predictable from our wide view perspective.
The full manual control that you have when defending, in terms of the direction in which a defensive midfielder RUNS without the ball, is attached to ONE button: the left analogue stick...
And guess what? You have 9 players on the pitch, the 9 players are attached to ONE button, which renders the defensive system as redundant and 90% automatic and scripted.
This is why Bolton can hold possession like Barcelona FC, and this is why, when it happens, you cannot do anything about it... because the defensive system is broken; when defending, you can only react to circumstances by running after the ball like a headless chicken or by reacting like a human being who has eyes behind his back and can react and move in accordance to things that are happening behind his back.
This does not gives the user more control, this merely minimizes the limitations of the outdated one versus one system.
The defensive system is currently broken, has always been broken, and will always be broken: it needs to be replaced with a competent system that has more to do with playing football and less to do with running around like a headless chicken.
Adding directions to a FLAWED CONCEPT will not rectify or fix the flaw, it will hide the underlying flaw better, but the flaw is still there at the end of the day.
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Part III, bottom line
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So between PES and FIFA,
Both video games revolve around the same outdated concept, with a different feel to it, a different look to it, but the same old concept at the root of it all. it's great to have a bi-polar passing concept where you need to be accuracte in terms of directions and power, but passing is attached to the left analogue stick, and the left analogue stick concept is a uni-polar concept.
This is why I can play PES5, PES6, PES10, FIFA10, on the same day, and not notice any difference in how the left analogue stick works and how the game is played; it's the same old concept with more directions attached to it, but just as broken and as predictable as it's ever been.
PES or FIFA?
A matter of opinion, both video games have the same fundamental flaws, which one you like the most is down to your taste; but to say that one is better than the other, I believe it is subjective and far from the truth.
I prefer PES over FIFA for whatever the reason, perhaps due to the player individuality and the L2 Strategies; FIFA is too easy and superficial for my taste.