"PES7, the next real football game of the next generation?
It's the first time ever for the japanese version of PES: winning eleven, to not be released earlier than other versions, we have to say that with the movement to the next gen games, a new war begins. We still remember the arrival of the PES series to the ps2 that made a big impact for all the years of the ps2 lifespan, it will probably be the same for the ps3. But with FIFA trying to return furiously. The battle wasn't won in advance with the very average version on the xbox360, but it let the developers to concentrate on the online play (PC too) which will be, we know for certain, focused on during the next versions.
Evolution or revolution: About the graphics there is a big question mark, what we know for sure is that the graphics won't be as stunning as they used to be when we first moved from the psone to the ps2. The change will be all around the pitch, with stadiums full of details, more player animations, and most players will have very close attention to their details.
According to the developers, the players will move and act like they are in reality, the runs of Cristiano Ronaldo, the ball control of Kaka, the accelerations of Ronaldinho, etc. Luckily it's impossible not to know the players from the way they look in the game. With the powerful processor of the ps3 and the work done on the AI, most the scripted play will disappear and the characteristics of the players will be refined. We can expect the shot of Thierry Henry will have a precise trajectory but that's the case with special players, and it's the general way of the players' reactions that will make the game revolutionary. With a new "foot plant": foot to earth collisions the players won't look like they're sliding across the field. On the ps2, we had the players only moving in 8 directions, now on the ps3 we have double that, so we expect that the analogue stick will be decesive in gameplay. But there won't be any radical changes to the gameplay, after all why changing a winning team?
Top left corner: the processor of the ps2 used to make calculations to provide a chance factor to the game. It took in consideration the stats of the player adding a coefficient of the environment (defenders, position) and makes its calculations by luck like throwing a dice. With the new Sony console and its new processor, it will have the capacity of making more complicated calculations and more rational ones that will depend on the player mentality, how much your team is pressing on the other team and the overall teamwork of the players.
Interview with Seabass:we had the chance to meet the master himself and ask him a few questions.
According to you, what will next-gen really improve?
For me, what really matters is the ability of players playing against eachother. from this point of view, The future consoles will be revolutionary. The introduction of online play was a major set forward to our genre, not needing to be physically there to compete will change the way we play and even the way we develop games.
From your point of view, what's the most important thing for a football simulation?
From my point of view, the most important thing is the feeling of realism, the gamers should feel that they're immersed. we always try to add new animations, but we were limited by the capacity of the ps2 processor as we insist on the fluidity of the game. Now we'll take advantage that next-gen gives us.
What are the most important aspects of the game that should be enhanced to make the gameplay even better?
There are always lots of things to enhance,even though we're globally satisfied with the overall product we have to offer every year. What really catches my attention is the liberty of players. With the ps2 we were limited by the capcity of the ps2 procesor so we had many scripts for the game stays and acts fluid. We had to adjust the game speed to not to notice any slowdowns. With the ps3's processor we have limited to the maximum the number of scripts, so that the choices the gamers do will affect how the game is playing. In the near future, we'll do games that will depend entirely on the players' choices and it will affect online play the most.
What are you most proud of in this installment of PES?
We are very proud the game is where it is today, and that millions around the world appreciate what we do. We care about gameplay the most since we started our little project long ago, and we make football first next to anything else and we'll continue through that road as long as we can. I enjoy in particular the different reactions the players experience during playing the game. It's the Europeans who react the most, they don't hesitate to jump off their seats to scream "goal!!", also the Japanese forums credit us too much, things like that make us strong enough to carry on.
What's your ultimate goal that you try to get to with the PES series?
I am dreaming of setting up 11vs11 games, that you will only be able to control 1 player through the game and put his talents for the sake of the whole team. Also to make a player adopt the role of the referee. Luckily all that can be done through online play. I don't know if it's going to be popular among gamers. But that's what i want to accomplish, gamers come online to practice together, make a strong squad and try to take on other teams. (laughs)
Pro Evolution Soccer 7 is Due for release on 26/10/2007 UK"
www.qarxis.com/node/1903