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 - Konami's one saving grace over FIFA has always been the actual gameplay. Forget the gimmicks and the licences, this is what you play video game footy for and Konami usually nail this on the head. From year to year they change the gameplay making your new acquaintance with it easy or difficult, but always guessing what will come next.
The game has always rewarded learning and perseverance, maybe not what you think you want at first, but PES has a habit of showing you glimpses of what's on offer in each new version and then making you wait until you master the new techniques. Then you really feel like you've earned your reward, just like the first time you win a game on the hardest setting with a screaming half volley.
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 - PES has generally been the quicker of the two games, too fast for some in previous years, so much so that its been called an arcade game. Konami change the setting most years, but PES 2013 is vaunted as the slowest version to date, which will help Konami focus on the new Player ID and Full Control introductions.
In the past PES has sometimes blurred the realism line with players flying down the pitch like their shorts are on fire. If you still wish to recreate these days, the development boys have included a handy speed setting which lets you choose your own.
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 - there's only so long you can play against a machine before you yearn to destroy another human being with your footy skills, bring on the two player and let the insults begin.
The above factors all come into play and games feel fairly free to try and do whatever you want with your eleven players. If that means bringing your goalie running out with triangle, only for your mate to chip him with much glee, then so be it.
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 - Konami's one saving grace over FIFA has always been the actual gameplay. Forget the gimmicks and the licences, this is what you play video game footy for and Konami usually nail this on the head. From year to year they change the gameplay making your new acquaintance with it easy or difficult, but always guessing what will come next.
The game has always rewarded learning and perseverance, maybe not what you think you want at first, but PES has a habit of showing you glimpses of what's on offer in each new version and then making you wait until you master the new techniques. Then you really feel like you've earned your reward, just like the first time you win a game on the hardest setting with a screaming half volley.
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 - PES has generally been the quicker of the two games, too fast for some in previous years, so much so that its been called an arcade game. Konami change the setting most years, but PES 2013 is vaunted as the slowest version to date, which will help Konami focus on the new Player ID and Full Control introductions.
In the past PES has sometimes blurred the realism line with players flying down the pitch like their shorts are on fire. If you still wish to recreate these days, the development boys have included a handy speed setting which lets you choose your own.
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 - there's only so long you can play against a machine before you yearn to destroy another human being with your footy skills, bring on the two player and let the insults begin.
The above factors all come into play and games feel fairly free to try and do whatever you want with your eleven players. If that means bringing your goalie running out with triangle, only for your mate to chip him with much glee, then so be it.
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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