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?
Even though FIFA has outstripped PES in the rankings over the last 4-5 years, the Konami favourite refuses to be beaten and instead of being the market leader, is now playing catch-up to FIFA. What makes the fans come back for more every year and part with the best part of 40 pounds every September/October?
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.
PES has never pandered to your whims like FIFA, it has never made it easy to score or create chances. The ethos behind the PES games is to make you work hard, learn and practice each new version, so that you can truly appreciate the beauty of the game. None more so than when you win a game on the hardest difficulty for the first time with an injury time rocket into the top corner.
What we love about the PES games is the clever way Konami teaches you how to play each new iteration. You instinctively start doing things that you didn't in the previous game and you learn the new ways of the new version, almost like your fingers jump onto autopilot, but this doesn't seem to kick in until you've played for a while first.
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 have been a forte for Konami and usually magazine or newspaper reviews will run comparisons between the same players in PES and FIFA. PES has always won this battle, even when it's lost the overall war. Some FIFA Rooney faces have definitely borrowed heavily from Shrek!
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 latest game Konami have included a speed setting which allows you to control the game speed. You have five settings to choose from, so if you still fancy bombing down the wings like PES games of yesteryear you can.
Licenses - PES has never been able to compete with FIFA when it comes to the realism of player names, team names and football strips or stadia, because FIFA has always owned the rights.
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 - PES has always pushed the boundaries and creates new innovations for every new game. In recent years the artificial intelligence (AI) has been vastly improved and PES 2013 now features Player ID and Full Control, which basically tries to marry players in the game with their real dopple-gangers. Movements are synched so that Ronaldo runs and shoots like Ronaldo and Messi likewise.
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.
Everybody who has ever played against a mate will know the joy of a strike into his top corner and the despair of him chipping the ball over your onrushing goalkeeper and into your empty goal. Friendships have been put on hold for the duration of these games before.
The longevity of PES games is tied into two player battles and online gaming, much like it is for other computer games. You get the most out of PES and see its strength best against another human player.
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?
Even though FIFA has outstripped PES in the rankings over the last 4-5 years, the Konami favourite refuses to be beaten and instead of being the market leader, is now playing catch-up to FIFA. What makes the fans come back for more every year and part with the best part of 40 pounds every September/October?
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.
PES has never pandered to your whims like FIFA, it has never made it easy to score or create chances. The ethos behind the PES games is to make you work hard, learn and practice each new version, so that you can truly appreciate the beauty of the game. None more so than when you win a game on the hardest difficulty for the first time with an injury time rocket into the top corner.
What we love about the PES games is the clever way Konami teaches you how to play each new iteration. You instinctively start doing things that you didn't in the previous game and you learn the new ways of the new version, almost like your fingers jump onto autopilot, but this doesn't seem to kick in until you've played for a while first.
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 have been a forte for Konami and usually magazine or newspaper reviews will run comparisons between the same players in PES and FIFA. PES has always won this battle, even when it's lost the overall war. Some FIFA Rooney faces have definitely borrowed heavily from Shrek!
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 latest game Konami have included a speed setting which allows you to control the game speed. You have five settings to choose from, so if you still fancy bombing down the wings like PES games of yesteryear you can.
Licenses - PES has never been able to compete with FIFA when it comes to the realism of player names, team names and football strips or stadia, because FIFA has always owned the rights.
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 - PES has always pushed the boundaries and creates new innovations for every new game. In recent years the artificial intelligence (AI) has been vastly improved and PES 2013 now features Player ID and Full Control, which basically tries to marry players in the game with their real dopple-gangers. Movements are synched so that Ronaldo runs and shoots like Ronaldo and Messi likewise.
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.
Everybody who has ever played against a mate will know the joy of a strike into his top corner and the despair of him chipping the ball over your onrushing goalkeeper and into your empty goal. Friendships have been put on hold for the duration of these games before.
The longevity of PES games is tied into two player battles and online gaming, much like it is for other computer games. You get the most out of PES and see its strength best against another human player.
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If you enjoyed reading this article, please visit our PES 2013 website, for even more detailed news, including the PES history.. Unique version for reprint here: PES 2013 Will Again Take Its Place At The Top.
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