It has been a big weakness of the PES Chronicles format that at times the posts blur into each other. I think this can also be a strength, as it provides familiarity. Readers know they can dip in and out, and pick up the ‘story’ even after a long break. And, of course, roughly once per week I can push the boat out and make a special post—usually ranting about scripting or the like (!)—to provide some contrast. I think that in a way I’ve been lucky PES is no longer what it used to be, as it’s obliged me to cover other games such as FIFA, Football Manager, and now other games entirely. I think the blog would have totally stagnated if PES was still the all-year-round game that it used to be for me.

Like I say below and in a few recent posts, I will see how it all goes, but I think I should probably keep the football posts outnumbering the non-football game posts by about 2:1. There are thousands of general gaming blogs and sites around and I absolutely do not want to try to occupy their crowded space. There are still only a handful of sport video game ‘story’ sites (a niche market if ever there was one!) and I won’t be moving too far from my roots here.

Thats a nice goal, I haven’t scored anything like that before (on purpose at least).

I have my custom Atletico tactics, yes, although I haven’t paid as much attention to this aspect of FIFA09 as I might have. I haven’t paid as much attention to FIFA09 itself in recent months as I might have. As things stand it looks as if I might be getting back into FIFA09 and if I do then I’ll certainly be looking more in-depth into the sliders. Have you got a copy of the game yet or still playing PES2008?

Liam – don’t worry, when I do finally get round to BaL I’ll give it proper attention! That should be before PES2010 comes out…

As for the new ‘all games’ angle on the blog, its purpose is really to give me a chance to play those other games without feeling that I should be forcing myself to play one of my football games. In a nutshell, as a general gamer I want and need to play those other games, but I was kind of forcing myself to play PES2009 there at times towards the end in order to have something to write about on the blog. That’s not a healthy state to be in so I decided to go with the option of including my other gaming in the blog in order to make sure I only ever played the football games when I really wanted to.

FIFA09 has grabbed me again and I am enjoying it, and you can rest assured that whenver I talk about that or any football game I’ve played it because I’ve genuinely wanted to and not because I have felt the need to fulfil a blog post quota. The same goes for any other games I mention. It’s very early days yet and I can always revert to football-only if necessary.

I’m not sure what to make of the new “all games” approach to the blog. I’ve enjoyed reading about Valkyria Chronicles and the piece on Final Fantasy, but i’m missing the daily Pro Evo entry (and Fifa to a lesser extent).

My own BAL mode has taken a back seat for a while. I’m around 14 seasons in and needed a break. Master League got a decent look in, but i’ve found myself playing Call of Duty 4 and giving Star Wars a bit of air time as well.

Anyway, keep up the good work (I think)!