The trouble with dribbles
What a weekend that was. The long-awaited first peek at PES2010 appeared in a PSM3 magazine article. It wasn’t the most encouraging article in the world, it has to be said. It kicked off the most intense weekend of activity across the PES forums since… Since last year, actually. Why, PES? Why can things never be simple and straightforward with you any more? Why can’t you just be routinely great every year, as before? Why can’t it just be like 2004 again?
In Wednesday’s post, I’ll kick through the ashes and doubtless end up looking on the bright side. There really is a long way to go before I’m ready to turn my back on new Pro Evolution Soccer games. I still have a crazy hope that just won’t die.
For today, though, it’s a FIFA09 goals post. Perhaps this is very appropriate. If the sum of all fears comes to pass, FIFA and I will be spending a lot of time in one another’s company in the months and years to come.
I’ve assembled three goals from a single session played on Saturday morning in my Manager Mode career. Before I started the session, I’d made up my mind to save every half-decent goal I scored. There were four goals, but I messed up one of the uploads and only saved the celebration and subsequent kick-off. You can see loads of those kinds of cock-ups at any one time on EA Sportsworld. Now I’ve done one too.
(NB: All goals scored using my usual controls set-up, which features semi-assisted shooting.)
First up is a rare dribble. It’s not rare because it’s Maradona-esque (it’s not). The only rare thing about it is that it’s a dribble, by me. Seasoned dribblers may smile indulgently, but this was a different kind of goal for me and I enjoyed it.
I got the ball with Pavlyuchenko and just headed for goal (laying off the sprint button). Big Pav is my favourite striker in either of the next-gen FIFAs. I really rate him. He’s got the lot: strength, height, speed, skill. He’s the Schwarz of FIFA09 for me.
Link: 
Next up is a fairly standard shot with my skilful Brazilian midfielder—who goes by the singular name of Joao Luis Locke. This was notable for being outside the box, and being driven quite hard and low. All three (outside of the box, hard, low) are tricky to pull off in FIFA09:
Link:
And now finally—a goal from ‘me’. Way back in November or thereabouts, I set up a Be A Pro career. I only played a few games of it. The player I created, ‘not-Greg’, was allowed to join Coventry City at the start of this Manager Mode career. ‘I’ have cheerfully played in the first team, in various midfield berths, ever since. I’ve got pretty good too. Arsenal offered to buy me for £4m in the last transfer window.
This season I’ve moved myself back to central midfield after a few seasons out wide. I’ve scored a few goals. This goal was scored from a lay-off from a free kick. I’ve kind of specialised in these goals over the months of FIFA09:
Link:
The opponents in that match were Bayern Munich. It was a must-win final group match in the Champions League-equivalent. I won the match 3-0, but got knocked out anyway when the other result didn’t go my way.
I’ll probably only play Manager Mode until I win the Treble—League, Cup, European Cup—with my Coventry City team. I could have a team of galacticos if I wanted them. But I’m sticking with my existing squad. Pavlyuchenko and Bojan up front. Djemba Djemba and ‘not-Greg’ in the centre of midfield. A couple of bog-standard wingers on the flanks. Some journeymen central defenders. Lahm at right back. A 31-year-old Ashley Cole at left back. A good goalkeeper.
That’s the peculiar thing about Manager Mode: the lack of immersion. I’m playing and enjoying Manager Mode, but I don’t really care about my team (Pavlyuchenko excepted). In Master League I’d know all my players’ names. Sitting here now, I can’t remember my Manager Mode goalkeeper’s name, and I’ve had him for a few seasons. He’s pretty good too, a Casillas-type who’s rated 85 overall. Not the tallest, but a great shot-stopper. Manager Mode—and next-gen FIFA—won’t have really, really arrived for me until I know all my players’ names without trying to remember them. FIFA10, I await your pleasure…
I was in a video shop at the weekend and as I was walking out I noticed pre-owned games for sale. Sitting there, staring me in the face was FIFA 08 for €4.95.
After reading your praise for it’s gameplay, I thought i’d give it a go. For that price, it was basically a pint (Ireland is expensive). When I got home and loaded it up, ready for at least a season, I was horrified to find out that you can only use the analogue stick to dribble?!
Needless to say, i’m too stuck in my ways to handle this change, and turned it off at half time and put PES2009 back in the PS3.
I gave it a shot though, that’s the main thing. Over the past year i’ve bought two FIFA games (PSP and PS3) and am still not won over. I could have been different if it wasn’t for the analogue stick fiasco. I understand FIFA09 this is playable, but that was a bit more!
Liam—that’s a shame—but I’m sure I remember that FIFA08 could be played with the D-pad. I think it lets you choose. I’m not sure. I’ll check later and get back to you. [EDIT: no, no D-pad option unfortunately. Ah well. Maybe one rainy day you'll give it another go.]
I made the switch from D-pad to analogue stick back in the PS1 days—ISS2 I believe! I’ll never forget the decadent luxury of suddenly playing ISS with an analogue stick. It was weird at first and I kept automatically going back to the D-pad, but I gt used to it and now couldn’t play any other way. When I played ISS a few months ago it felt odd and wrong using the D-pad.
Yeah maybe i’ll revisit it but i know what i’m like and after what seems like 15 years (since iss on the super nintendo) on the d pad, i’m just not ready or able for change! I’ll probs buy FIFA09 next year for a similar price. I played the demo again at the weekend but feel i need to do a tournament or two to get a true feel.
I’ve been reading up on the response to the pes2010 review. People just seem really tetchy now. Good are the days where any snippet of information was welcomed with arms wide open. Again, i think people are overly paranoid given 2008. It was only a 50% completed game so an 88% score isn’t too bad.
Liam—Review scores aren’t an objective truth. I think PES2008’s good review scores were more a reflection of past PESes—and the literal inconceivability that PES could be bad—than a reflection of PES2008’s actual quality. It was more of a 5/10, 50% game really. The inflated review scores and the strange reviews (that failed to mention slowdown and super-sprinting in particular), for my money caused a lot of the bad karma that the community is still struggling to work through—as seen over the weekend with the PES2010 fights breaking out all over the place. I know there are plenty of PES fans for whom PES2008 was and is a decent enough game—ditto PES2009—and they’re bemused by all the aggro that’s gone on lately.
I think you’d be better off approaching FIFA08 as a totally different kind of game (which it is) that just happens to use analogue sticks as the control method. Try forcing yourself to play 5 matches on it. At the very least, even if you never played it again you’d come away knowing what everyone has been going on about now for two years.
I’ll give it 5 games if you can stay at a club on BaL for 2 seasons!
Enjoyable post today. All three great goals but my favorite was the not-Greg lay-off cracker.
You told Liam to play 5 games . . . I’d tell him to play 10! Courage my friend, where there’s a will, there’s a way =].
Not-Greg, you mentioned the PSM3 PES 2010 preview. Did you actually get a copy of the magazine, or should I be looking for leaked scans on the web? Sorry if the conversation is innapropriate.
Seeing those videos (as well as all replays on EA’s site) reminds me of how much I really need PES2010 to move in a more “natural” way.
I can only imagine with 360 movement, the overall animation look of FIFA10 will be even much better…
But then again Steve who works for Konami made it clear that animations have almost not been added to PES2010 at the time of the PSM3 playtest, and that it will indeed move great…. so.. fingers crossed.
Also, about PES2008-09, my guess is that those satisfied fans could be PC gamers like myself, as FIFA hasn’t made the next-gen jump on the platform (and probably never will). I remember playing FIFA09’s PC demo and wondering what all the fuss was about, it was almost as horrible as each FIFA I played before discovering PES.
Liam—we shall see. I haven’t been back to BaL for a while now, but on Friday there’ll be some PES2009-related stuff to report on. Saying no more….
Steph Wheeler—there’s certainly no problem with posting the link to the PSM3 scans. Here you go. Enjoy!
Looking through the article again now, days later, it’s an interesting read, and for all the frightening negatives there are some positives in there.
I liked the not-Greg goal best too. It was the only one of the three that I might have posted on the blog on its own merits. Like I said in the post I was determined to record and upload a few goals from this session, no matter their quality.
I’ve got used to my FIFA09 sessions every morning over these past few weeks. It just goes to show that nothing is irreplaceable in life, not even PES.
TareX—Regular FIFA09 sessions nearly every day for the past three weeks or so – my most sustained FIFA09 play all year – have gone a long way to convincing me that if we do finally ‘lose’ Pro Evolution Soccer in this generation (and that’s still a big if), it wouldn’t really be that big a deal. FIFA is already the game PES could and should have been. There are lots of bad things about FIFA, but its dizzying variety of good things far outstrip them (in my current opinion). Full 360-degree movement in FIFA10 is probably going to retrospectively make FIFA09 redundant, so I’m glad we’re having this time together…
I still have this feeling that PES2010 will be a great game. It’s not just wishful thinking. It’s a gut instinct, a hunch. The next big milestone is Gamescon in August. although I bet we’ll see and hear leaks before then.
not-greg – thinking with your gut??? Try your brain perhaps