http://fp.scea.com/Content/consoles/3/info/images/PS2New_l.jpg

Option files don’t transfer between the two games. They’re essentially the same, so again, I’m not sure why it works this way, but US PES won’t recognize European Option Files. Further, there is no desktop software editor for the US version the way there is for the Euro version, so creating one is a loooong, laborious process.

I have this PS2:

So it’s flat the whole time.

I’m sure you remember the saga with this game that I went through this Christmas — I could always just bite the bullet and order another Euro verison, but with the dollar so weak against the Euro and shipping costs so high, it’d be like paying $70.00 or $80.00 for a $29.95 game.

In the interim, I’m back to PES 2007, and I have to say it’s still really good. It’s funny how the little things you can get away with change. Wingers in 2008 are king, but in 2007, it’s all about the strong CF.

That’s terrible news about your Euro PES2008 - why won’t the OF files etc. work on a US edition? And have you tried playing the disc with your PS2 standing on its side/laid flat yet?!

That said, I do have more hope for the FIFA franchise than I do for PES going forward. I think FIFA have demonstrated that they’re going to put resources toward building the first legendary next-gen football game. I tend to believe that the team at FIFA look closely at the PES play experience, and will try to cull the best parts from it. For me, I hope that includes a robust editor. In fact, there’s no reason they can’t outdo PES in this regard, save that with their licenses they may feel there’s no need. Hopefully, their game-theorist PhDs will explain the psychology of the creative fan to them.

PES, on the other hand, hasn’t shown me that they are in touch with their market — this would be somewhat typical, as the Japanese gaming industry tends toward the insular. I wouldn’t expect criticism from the fan-base to mean much, until such a point when we stop buying PES, and their numbers plummet. By that point, it may be too late to stop the rot.

Of course, none of that detracts from the fact that last-gen PES was a fabulous franchise, and PES 2008 for the PS2 really is a work of beauty. Seabass and Co. (curse them) understood the platform and made a great game on it.

But alas! My copy from Europe just died (as in, won’t play at all), and there are no Option Files for the American version — and no software for editing them that works, either. To be honest, an un-patched PES 2008 with the dumb names and all-caps text (which genius thought that up?) is unplayable for me. I’m spoiled by my Euro copy with a round dozen good OFs.