Pro Evo, Pro Evolution Soccer, PES - call it what you will, footy fans all know the only true football simulation game worth playing is the popular franchise from Konami. It's history stretches all the way back to 1996, when it was released for the first time.
But what makes the PES franchise so popular, especially in light of another great footy video game which goes head to head with PES every year - FIFA?
FIFA took over the domination of the footy console wars in the late 2005 era and since then it's been Pro Evo and Konami who've had to go back to the drawing board and figure out a way of getting back on top. What makes the fans of Pro Evo stick with the second place franchise?
Playability - this has always been the strength of PES over FIFA, even when Konami have made big changes to the gameplay. They're retained a feel for what football computer games should play like and have often shaken up the AI, so that one year you can slip straight into the new version and the next year it takes you several games to get used to it.
PES can be frustrating at times, but the gameplay is never intentionally designed to make it easy for you. You have to work for your goals and victories and at first this can seem annoying, as what worked in the previous version is completely worthless in the new version, but it's this mentality that keeps the whole series fresh.
PES seems to generate a kind of finger memory in your playing, that means you instinctively know how to play each new version, but that this behaviour is subconscious and the developers are going to tease this out of you over the first few weeks of you playing the new version.
Realism - PES generally comes out on top when it comes to the visage of players faces and movements of the football. FIFA constructs can't be called pretty and the ball seems to have been filled with helium in some versions. The football in PES moves and floats like a real ball and the players look like their real life counterparts.
The whole style of gameplay has always mimicked real life football better than FIFA and that's not to say PES haven't messed up in the past, but players move like real people, they like the ball, have a real weight to them and even the goalies make mistakes like their real life counterparts!
Player likenesses is where PES usually comes up trumps again, thanks in part to detailed facial juxtapositions that are accurate to real life players. We've seen some monstrous visages over the years between these two games and Rooney gets compared to Shrek in real life, so won't appreciate FIFA making it worse.
Speed - this is a setting that gets changed almost every year, as Konami look for an ideal speed in which to create their new AI gameplay. In the past PES has been labelled too fast and therefore arcade like, but the latest version PES 2013 promises to be one of the slowest versions for years, which should enable better player movement and touch.
As we've mentioned the PES games have been accused of being too quick in the past, with gameplay suffering as a result. Luckily the developers have installed a speed slider in the newest version, which gives you the control over five speed levels.
Licenses - or in the case of Pro Evo, a distinct lack of them, explains why PES has always struggled and in fact failed to match the licensing rights of FIFA, but in a strange way, this has helped PES become stronger.
With the FIFA domination of the licenses, PES fans have had to work for themselves and using in-game editors, plus computer editing software, every year they come up with option files which take PES from fake names to real. So the millions spent on these licenses seem somewhat pointless.
Having not played FIFA for years I can't comment on their editing system - if they have one, but the latest PES edit functions are now so savvy you can accurately recreate any team, player or stadium you wish, with photo realistic faces and advertising board accurate football stadia.
Innovation - every year Konami tweak the computer AI and things will be no different in PES 2013. They've promised us ultra-realistic top player movements using Player ID and Full Control, so Messi and Ronaldo will move, pass and shoot like they do in real life situations. Whether this will extend to lesser known players remains to be seen.
Two Player - always the most interesting focal point for me personally is the two player battles. Playing against the AI can be good for training, but most people who play PES play against other friends or strangers online.
It's the not knowing that worries people, like the not knowing if your mate is holding triangle to bring his goalie out when you've just slipped a sumptuous through-ball to your striker. I never get tired of my own triangle press lifting the ball gracefully over his goalie and into an empty net.
For me it's the two player skirmishes and online activities that increase and maintain the lifespan of all Pro Evo games and I don't see the latest version being any different in this respect.
But what makes the PES franchise so popular, especially in light of another great footy video game which goes head to head with PES every year - FIFA?
FIFA took over the domination of the footy console wars in the late 2005 era and since then it's been Pro Evo and Konami who've had to go back to the drawing board and figure out a way of getting back on top. What makes the fans of Pro Evo stick with the second place franchise?
Playability - this has always been the strength of PES over FIFA, even when Konami have made big changes to the gameplay. They're retained a feel for what football computer games should play like and have often shaken up the AI, so that one year you can slip straight into the new version and the next year it takes you several games to get used to it.
PES can be frustrating at times, but the gameplay is never intentionally designed to make it easy for you. You have to work for your goals and victories and at first this can seem annoying, as what worked in the previous version is completely worthless in the new version, but it's this mentality that keeps the whole series fresh.
PES seems to generate a kind of finger memory in your playing, that means you instinctively know how to play each new version, but that this behaviour is subconscious and the developers are going to tease this out of you over the first few weeks of you playing the new version.
Realism - PES generally comes out on top when it comes to the visage of players faces and movements of the football. FIFA constructs can't be called pretty and the ball seems to have been filled with helium in some versions. The football in PES moves and floats like a real ball and the players look like their real life counterparts.
The whole style of gameplay has always mimicked real life football better than FIFA and that's not to say PES haven't messed up in the past, but players move like real people, they like the ball, have a real weight to them and even the goalies make mistakes like their real life counterparts!
Player likenesses is where PES usually comes up trumps again, thanks in part to detailed facial juxtapositions that are accurate to real life players. We've seen some monstrous visages over the years between these two games and Rooney gets compared to Shrek in real life, so won't appreciate FIFA making it worse.
Speed - this is a setting that gets changed almost every year, as Konami look for an ideal speed in which to create their new AI gameplay. In the past PES has been labelled too fast and therefore arcade like, but the latest version PES 2013 promises to be one of the slowest versions for years, which should enable better player movement and touch.
As we've mentioned the PES games have been accused of being too quick in the past, with gameplay suffering as a result. Luckily the developers have installed a speed slider in the newest version, which gives you the control over five speed levels.
Licenses - or in the case of Pro Evo, a distinct lack of them, explains why PES has always struggled and in fact failed to match the licensing rights of FIFA, but in a strange way, this has helped PES become stronger.
With the FIFA domination of the licenses, PES fans have had to work for themselves and using in-game editors, plus computer editing software, every year they come up with option files which take PES from fake names to real. So the millions spent on these licenses seem somewhat pointless.
Having not played FIFA for years I can't comment on their editing system - if they have one, but the latest PES edit functions are now so savvy you can accurately recreate any team, player or stadium you wish, with photo realistic faces and advertising board accurate football stadia.
Innovation - every year Konami tweak the computer AI and things will be no different in PES 2013. They've promised us ultra-realistic top player movements using Player ID and Full Control, so Messi and Ronaldo will move, pass and shoot like they do in real life situations. Whether this will extend to lesser known players remains to be seen.
Two Player - always the most interesting focal point for me personally is the two player battles. Playing against the AI can be good for training, but most people who play PES play against other friends or strangers online.
It's the not knowing that worries people, like the not knowing if your mate is holding triangle to bring his goalie out when you've just slipped a sumptuous through-ball to your striker. I never get tired of my own triangle press lifting the ball gracefully over his goalie and into an empty net.
For me it's the two player skirmishes and online activities that increase and maintain the lifespan of all Pro Evo games and I don't see the latest version being any different in this respect.
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