Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 (PS3/360/PC)

[nakamura]

Announcement trailer is up for those interested.

http://winningelevenblog.com/blog/pes-2012-announcement-trailer/

Also some thoughts from PSM3.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/301270/blog/pes-2012-psm3s-verdict-on-what-konami-are-doing-well-and-not-so-well/?site=psm

[hudson]

Must admit that this year I will be trying the demo before I part with any cash this year. I played way more FIFA this year and really looking forward to that.

[Adam]

Good to see they are fixing the teamwork AI, but if they are constantly playing the game during development why didn't they notice it last time? Not believing any of the hype this time around. As it stands, for me FIFA has better gameplay but PES has better modes (Master League) which I'd love to play if they fix the game.

[bash]

Bah, same old same old. Konami have let me down too many times. They still havent made a PES for this gen that can match anything on last get FFS. This is just their cash cow. I dont think they even care if it beats Fifa, its not like they try and outbid them for licenses or anything, is it?

[vanpeebles]

After being massively cheated with the broken master league in 2011 which makes the game worthless I doubt I'll be touching this unless it's like 4.99.

[25.05.2005]

Its unbelievable that I am not looking forward to this...again.

After years (literally being playing ISS since the SNES) of spitting on the FIFA fan boys, I joined them in 2010 after Konami continually began to release poor, broken games that moved further and further away from football and the spirit of PES.

FIFA is better now, but I have NEVER had the same amount of fun with FIFA as I did PS2 era PES. The latest incarnations of PES are little short of a joke, and it pains me to say that, it pains me to my core.

I pray for a return to PES greatness, but sadly have lost all hope of such a return.

[JU!]

Seabass seems to have fixed everything that was wrong I think. Sounds like its gonna take all the good stuff from PES 2011 fix it and add all the old stuff from previous games. Which to me sounds ace. I`m very excited and like the simulation style of PES 2011.

[hudson]

If they sort out some of the jittery look and feel of the gameplay, along with a major improvement of AI i.e intelligent runs from my own player. The give and go (L1 + X) function is pretty dumb looking and lead to some indefensible attacks. Do that move and watch your attacker run in a straight line like a headless chicken. I've scored many a goal from kick-off abusing it.

Still, PES2011 was a big improvement, if they can tighten it up, I'll be interested,

[25.05.2005]

Seabass seems to have fixed everything that was wrong I think. Sounds like its gonna take all the good stuff from PES 2011 fix it and add all the old stuff from previous games. Which to me sounds ace. I`m very excited and like the simulation style of PES 2011.

How many times have we read/thought this in recent years though? Then the game comes out and they have ruined it even further. Seabass continues to dissapoint.

Granted, 2011 did start the long road back in the right direction, but as hoolak said, it the jitteryness of the gameplay was a major distraction. The running animated was so poor it was laughable - which was a real shame, because the graphics otherwise were stunning (especially on my PC) - the player likenesses are a step above FIFA. Although you can 'fix' it on the PC, the speed of the game needs to be lessened greatly. Way to fast.

[vanpeebles]

Plus the salary issue in the master league which sees your team broken and unuseable after 3 to 4 seasons.

[Stoppy2000]

What is this salary issue you speak of?

[vanpeebles]

"Well, this game has PISSED ON OUR CHIPS so much, my fingers are almost bleeding from the fury of slamming these keys.

Seabass and his box of turds have managed to completely ruin the Master League mode with the most stupidly flawed piece of programming I've seen for years.

It all boils down to money.

Basically, after season number 4 in the ML a load of contracts have come up for renewal on the team. The players are mostly in the 80s and 90s, stat wise, and have a considerable market value. Fair enough. When the contracts came up for renewal we expected to have to shell out a load more for the star players. Ok, fine. But this has brought to light a design decision so appallingly ****some, I want to vomit on the disc.

What happens is this: Take a random player. Palmieri, the centre half. He's turned into a decent player. WE paid for a top coach to up his stats, WE paid for focus points to give him skills. Obviously he was going to demand more wages, after becoming a super star.

Let's have a look at his wages immediately prior to contract negotiations:

Palmieri ..... Wages per season ?200,000. Market value ?11,000,000.

Now lets look at his contract demands:

Palmieri ..... Wages wanted per year: ?11,000,000

WTF!?!? So his yearly wages now MATCH his market value, precisely, to the digit?! We checked this with other players.
Schwarz .... Wages ?125,000. Market value ?7,200,000. New contract demand ?7,200,000 per season.

EVERY player up for contract renewal now has a yearly wage demand that matches their market value precisely. This is outrageous. After trying, and failing, to negotiate down, we had to agree to the astronomical wages, and we now have a wage bill of ?75 million a season. With only ?30 million carefully accumulated in the kitty, we'll face a massive shortfall. Some oaf somewhere has made a massive error.

- It will mean we have to sell half the team every year to balance the books.
- It will mean coaching and focus skill development is pointless, because it inflates the stats of a player, then his market value, and thus his wage demands.
- It means that some players will have to be shipped immediately, as their cumulative wages will soar above their market value. Take Palmieri. He'll cost us ?22 million in wages over 2 years, But his sale price is only ?11 million.
- It will mean that the WHOLE POINT of the ML - finely crafting a team over the years, balancing experience and youth, tinkering with formations and tactics, and making key personnel adjustments; to create the perfectly well-balanced footballing machine carefully attuned to your style - is POINTLESS, as you have to make wholesale changes all the time.

This is a gamebreaker for us, and has ruined the ML. We're playing to the end of the current season to see what we're left with, but if half of our players are flogged by the AI to balance the books, the the game can get stuffed. "

[Stoppy2000]

Seabass seems to have fixed everything that was wrong I think. Sounds like its gonna take all the good stuff from PES 2011 fix it and add all the old stuff from previous games. Which to me sounds ace. I`m very excited and like the simulation style of PES 2011.

Is this post a joke?

[bash]

I dont believe Seabass one bit, he's a bloody salesman for Konami. The L1 player selection is still not perfect, fast players can not sprint past slower ones and the shirt tugging is ridiculous. Also agree on the L1+X, teams like Barca and Arsenal can really abuse this as their player can start a 1-2, run in ANY direction and still get on the end of the pass because the opposition decide to turn into statues or do a 360 pirouet. I think upgrading to this gen i.e more power and potential has given more problems for Konami rather than improvements. Its like their noo8s again FFS.

[hudson]

"Well, this game has PISSED ON OUR CHIPS so much,..."

Apart from your ML bug finding, how did you think PES2011 played?