STOP PRESS: The PS3 patch for PES2008 is now available - as of 15.30 on Monday 26th November.

At 130MB, it’s got to be a pretty substantial set of changes, Shirley? I’m hoping for things like kit changes as well as for an improvement to the offline game’s framerate. If they’ve fixed the online lag, I might have myself a few games with some actual ‘people’ later.

I’m downloading it right now as I type. It’s downloading very slowly. 14% after 5 minutes, and I’m on an 8MB connection. I should probably clear off here and give the data stream some room to breathe…

I’ll update later with what I see and don’t see, post-patch.

Fingers crossed for PES2008. And for Konami…

EDIT: 17.24, 26th November 2007

Well, I finished the download and played a full game to test things out. I set up an International Tournament to see if kit selection has been put back in the game. It hasn’t.

I played an Exhibition Game in the Bernebeu, with rain, and with the circular pitch pattern that always makes me groan when I see it in my Master League. Early results look good. I saw none of the Bullet Time I’m used to seeing under such conditions. There were occasional stutters, but really no more than 2% of what they used to be.

That’s all I had time for just now. Later today and tomorrow morning, I’ll be playing my Master League for a long period under all kinds of match conditions. I will be a lot better placed to report on how the patch has affected the offline experience.

Regarding online play, I have yet to try it out for myself but early reports from various forums on the internet are a mixed bag. Some say the online lag is still present. Others say it’s gone or vastly reduced. Hopefully I will get the chance to see for myself later.