Soccer Gaming Catch-All

Ugh the many many many hours I'm going to be wasting. I know they already have takeovers in the game but I wonder if they will add the ridiculous you've just been purchased by an Arab investment firm, here's 100m pounds to spent ridiculous Would be kinda fun to be slugging it out as mid level team and suddenly be thrown into a position where your expected to become a super club!

edit: oh yea love the 3d.... 2d dots kicking a smaller dot really took some imagination

100m ? Don't you mean 100 billion, unless you mean £100m a day - except that if you lose two games in a row you get a hand chopped off...

To be honest, I loved the little dots (which will still be ideal for anyone using a laptop etc) - most of the 3d soccer match engines have not been good. The CM ones looked like Subbuteo men, and the FIFA Manager ones didn't really inspire me either, though you could be safe in the knowledge that if you watched every game 3d for the season you'd pick up about 4 bookings.

100m every second! One of the things that bugs me about the 2d engine was when there was a bad tackle, questionable penalty or offside call and you had to give a player a warning, appeal the decision or comment to the media it was all pretty silly to click on the replay button watch the dots run around and know wtf was going on let alone have a opinion on the close call.

I'm hoping atleast with the 3d engine I can review an offside call spin the camera in circles and be confident that calling the ref and moron was justified.

davet010 wrote:

To be honest, I loved the little dots (which will still be ideal for anyone using a laptop etc) - most of the 3d soccer match engines have not been good. The CM ones looked like Subbuteo men, and the FIFA Manager ones didn't really inspire me either, though you could be safe in the knowledge that if you watched every game 3d for the season you'd pick up about 4 bookings.

That's exactly how I feel ('cept this time 3D is driven by 2D match engine so we won't get any stupid things like this).

jowner wrote:

100m every second! One of the things that bugs me about the 2d engine was when there was a bad tackle, questionable penalty or offside call and you had to give a player a warning, appeal the decision or comment to the media it was all pretty silly to click on the replay button watch the dots run around and know wtf was going on let alone have a opinion on the close call.

I'm hoping atleast with the 3d engine I can review an offside call spin the camera in circles and be confident that calling the ref and moron was justified.

I agree, I will use 3D for highlights of goals and situations like this. Rewind button looks really functional for that, it really puts you in control along with ability to switch between 2d and 3d on-the-fly (I'd love an option to watch both views simultaneously, i.e. full 2D view with small widget of close-up 3D action)

Big news on PES/FIFA front: demos of both games are hitting XBL and PSN on Sep 11th

UCRC wrote:

Big news on PES/FIFA front: demos of both games are hitting XBL and PSN on Sep 11th

If last year is any indication, neither demo will tell us anything useful about the finished product. FIFA especially. One four-minute half will not teach me a goddamn thing about your game.

Yep, but they should be out on the intrawebs as well, and usually it takes less than three days to release 'frozen timer' patch.

We creep ever closer.

I've spent some time with the FIFA 09 Demo, which is same-old in terms of telling me nothing of real use about the game due to its truncated nature. Seriously, I just can't understand the logic that puts you in a "practice" area that pits you against a goalie and noone else. Sure, it's nice for fun, but it doesn't really help you practice because...

1.) Everything's happening in a vaccuum. You don't get to learn about passing, crossing, anything of that sort or how to dribble contextually in a match. I'm still unsure as to how to use the "Jockey" button, even though it's apparently quite important.

2.) With all the special moves being positioning specific (i.e. - relative to the direction your character is facing), the practice area isn't exactly conducive to learning them in-game.

Sadly, I haven't heard much from the PES camp other than some screenshots and a few gameplay videos which are nice, but again,at this point, I really need to get my hands-on.

I turned in my copy of PES 2008 today in an exchange for other games, but I gave it last go-round, if only to remind myself of what I think needed improvement. and another thing stood out. Through balls in PES have been atrocious for years now, even the best players in the world are incapable of properly cushioning a through ball (especially near the 18-yard box) so another player can run onto it without the goalie scooping it up or a defender easily snatching it away. I hope that's been improved too.

I tried FIFA 09 on PC and was disappointed. Graphics look poor and it still runs slow. It's very 08 to me. I mean, I believe they made some improvements, maybe even comparable to leap that PES makes this year, but that won't change fact that for me PES gameplay is few paces in front of them. First touch and general lack of control are still there and that turns me off already.

Prederick wrote:

I turned in my copy of PES 2008 today in an exchange for other games, but I gave it last go-round, if only to remind myself of what I think needed improvement.

I've done the same thing, after giving it a month or two of rest, and I was positively surprised. I tried to play it thinking about way I play real football (well, right now I don't and I won't for couple of weeks, cause I sprained/twisted my ankle during game yesterday ;]) and was astonished that everything I tried 'translated' so good into game world. That said all those flaws we've talked about are still there.

I followed new PES news for past few months and I'm beginning to get an idea how's it going to play (or at least I believe so). Everyone describes it as PES 2008 without all those mistakes they've made during development, with slower - and somewhat more intuitive - gameplay. Given how mediocre PES 08 was and how many hours I sank into it, I'm already sure that I will love new instalment.
Also, additions and tweaks like new cameras, Champions League, nicely animated menus certainly add some flavour to it.

Tried the PES 09 demo. Feels very nice, less cheaty. While the game still hasn't addressed some of my concerns (there needs to be a hell of a lot more to define how good a defender is other than a nebulous "Defense" stat) it felt good and played well. That said, I said the exact same thing about last year's demo so YMMV.

There is tweak out there to change match length to something like 15-60 minutes (or play without clock).
I'm a little worried about players getting lost on pitch. It's great that they've made ball "unglued" from players even more, but it seems that sometimes AI isn't sure whether to attack ball or not. (In PES 5-6 most of time you didn't even had to press A/X to get ball from opponent, you just needed to run toward him. In PES 2009 sometimes you just ran past opponents and doesn't make any contact.)
Other than that I like it pretty much, can't wait.

Ah, one more thing. DON'T BUY FIFA 09 FOR PC. It's not the same game as 360 version, as they said it will be. It looks like FIFA 08 with postprocessing effects and better textures. Other than that it's FIFA 08 all around. Shame.
I plan on borrowing 360 version from some friends, hopefully it's better than 08. Considering leap between FIFA 08 and EURO 08 it seems reasonable to believe so. I'll find out this evening.

So I have only played demos on the 360. I've enjoyed PES2009 and EURO 08. I was kind of disappointed in the FIFA09 demo after how fun EURO 08 seemed. Based on the demos I'm inclined to go with PES2009. Would we have enough people to field a four person Legend team?

Since we're currently at three...

...no.

But, we can hope and pray and advertise to the mildly interested.

I've tried out FIFA 09 (360) yesterday and got to say: what a great engine they have. Great lighting effects, models, kits, real stadiums, great animations for tricks, tackle animations based on real impact... That made me forgot that it is still FIFA game. I can't get past anyone. I'm still not in control of ball. Computer opponents are still plain stupid, running for a corner flag after getting through ball for one-on-one with keeper. Shame. There are so many tweaks and small touches to it that I have hard time not enjoying it.

maxox wrote:

Based on the demos I'm inclined to go with PES2009. Would we have enough people to field a four person Legend team?

Legends seem like a great idea. I will be all over it anyway, I guess three people should do if we can't find anyone else.
//btw: You've got to have same option file during online play. But I understand it could be modified, right? If so we'll have to agree on specific one and use it (WENB is finishing one already) Cause, I'm not sure I want to play as North London ;]

Oh I forgot about the option files and the names. How do you get the option files over. I'm guessing it requires one of the PC->XBox Memory Card or HDD gadgets?

Wait, you picking it up for 360? ;] I don't think you could do that, I'll be buying PC version. Performance on PCs is really great this year.

I'd be buying it for the 360. It's just easier for me that way. I've made the fatal error of buying it for both systems once before (two iterations ago) and I won't do it again. The option file does sound wunderbar, but it'd take some real convincing to get me to shell out for the PC version.

Get it for PC, WOULD YOU KINDLY?
(Will this do?)
360 doesn't allow you to import own option file, does it? I've had PES 2008 both for PC and 360 (though I haven't played the second one too much cause disc was scratched and most of time it wouldn't load). There is no difference in performance, nor graphics. I play on PC with my 360 gamepad, so what's the hassle?
And one more thing: game is moddable on PC. That means real adboards, high res kits, real emblems, real chants, tens of hundreds of new faces and so on. And of course option files with real names and Bundesliga.

Just been announced that FM 2009 will be sold via Steam, $49. That should save me overloading the US postal service with copies sent to US fans of the series, as I've ended up doing in the past..

Someone send a bunch of ice scrapers down to hell, I've heard they need them - it seems that FIFA is wiping the floor with Pro Evo Soccer/Winning Eleven this year. I've only checked out a demo of the latter, but played the hell out of FIFA 09 (PS3) at some friend's place last weekend, and it simply felt like the better of the two. Physics and animations are terrific, and the atmosphere and the interface simply are way better. I also hear that the online mode of EA's title is more solid. Pro Evo Soccer 2009 still is a good soccer game, but it seems there hasn't been much progress since the previous version.

This is coming from someone who preferred Konami's soccer games ever since International Super Star Soccer (aka Perfect Eleven) was released on SNES.

From some of the stuff i've gathered, it may be more of a dead heat this year than any other. I think a lot of it lies in the fact that Shingo's only been tweaking the gameplay for the past few years, when it really could use a overhaul. I know i've heard enough to convince me to try both. First game that allows me to play "tiki-taka" and illustrates why having a Marcos Senna in your team is a good thing wins.

I picked up FIFA09 yesterday and already tore through season one of "Be a Pro". This game is way better then the crappy demo led me to believe. I'll probably pick up PES, but right now I'm enjoying mulling over whether to play another year in MLS or jump into the fray as a reserve for Celtic or Barca.

I've played both already but haven't bought either, I need to finish Witcher, Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3 first. I'll be getting PC PES 09 and FIFA 09 maybe.

I'll be getting PC PES 09 and FIFA 09 maybe.

If you intend to play on PC, don't get FIFA 09. Like its predecessors, it's still based on the PS2 version. And that one can't hold a candle to the PS3/360 versions at all. Bad graphics, outdated physics.

UCRC wrote:

Ah, one more thing. DON'T BUY FIFA 09 FOR PC.

Yep, noticed it already ;] I meant FIFA for 360, have played it already at friend's place, but since I don't have Gold XBL membership I'm not sure I play it too much. For me this year is PES once more, I simply feel more 'in control' when I play it.
Pred, you picking it up for 360?

I picked up FIFA09 because the reviews made it seem like it was both games were on equal footing. None of the reviews that I have seen so far mentioned just how buggy FIFA is. There are some inexcusable bugs in FIFA09 that make it seem very much like EA Sports American Football counterpart.

A brief list of the bugs that stick while playing "Be a Pro":
* There are a few different issues with boundary recognition, but the big one for me is players with possession running out of bounds for no reason.
* Phantom red cards. It seems to happen on delayed calls usually after a goal where the animation for a red card will play, but the player stays on the field and there is no statistical evidence of the card.
* Shots on goal not being credited. This is a big one while playing a strike in "Be a Pro" when you have objectives that say "Take x shots".
* They've had a license for MLS for how long now and they can't get the format or scheduling correct? Maybe it works right in different modes, but with "Be a Pro" I'm playing a very EPL type of schedule (39 games no playoffs).

UCRC wrote:

Wait, you picking it up for 360? ;] I don't think you could do that, I'll be buying PC version. Performance on PCs is really great this year.

Currently, i'm probably going to pick it up for 360. If it's gob-smackingly amazing, I may grab the PC version for the Option file and other goodies. But as of this moment, i'm leaning way-heavy on the 360.

EDIT: Anyway, my most reliable retailer doesn't even seem to have it for PC. And I can't find one that ships to the US.

Prederick wrote:

EDIT: Anyway, my most reliable retailer doesn't even seem to have it for PC. And I can't find one that ships to the US.

Meanwhile I've started CL with Inter and I'm coming to conclusion that I hadn't had such fun with soccer game since early days of PES 5, if ever. With Mancini - Ibra - Quaresma attack I don't only score loads of goals, I also look like 2006's Argentina. I've got to upload few replays somewhere to illustrate why it's still better than FIFA ;]