It’s 2010, a new year that will see yet another PES game. What tends to happen, or what certainly has been happening in recent years, is fans feel they know just how Konami should handle the strategy of pre-PES release. There’s obviously many factors that go into planning such things, but seeing as its very early in the year we thought we’d do the same.
After the jump we have a Top 5 list, in no particular order of importance, of things we feel Konami need to do to convince a waning fanbase thats ever so keen on keeping their options open.
1. First press release to come with less close-up screens
It’s one thing that certainly riles the more cautious and critical lot, and after the past couple of year’s you can’t blame them. PES has portrayed itself to be the prettier of the nextgen twosome when viewed in still close-up frames, but flattered to deceive when in actual gameplay angles. There’s good reason why a company wants to show off it’s game the best it can, but this year no one will bought by the detail of Messi’s skin texturing.
We’ll need something else besides the text to keep us stimulated after all, as we were all impressed with the content of the one that introduced PES 2010, but the game didn’t live up to the billing.
2. Consistent communication with the fanbase
Something me and Suff are very lucky with regarding FIFA and EA, and in respect to that our relationship with Konami UK is just as strong. The big difference however, is the fans access to consistent updates. As we mentioned on a recent podcast, it’s not just community leaders who have access to the important people in the FIFA team. Via twitter and official EA forums, anyone can sign up and ask a question, always feeling in the loop and in the know.
It’s something forever repeated, but the excuse for Konami is that it’s a Japanese speaking company, so any access would be useless. I sincerely hope though that avenues are explored (translators, English lessons? etc), as it’s a huge advantage EA have right now.
3. First trailer to answer everything
So many things have been asked for and requested from the fans in the feedback sections, and what better way to answer their critics then showing they’ve listened with an awesome first trailer. Lets see the new animations, lets see the new gameplay innovations, lets see some new gameplay angles, lets see a deeper edit mode, lets see a new penalty system etc etc. The first trailer shown for PES 2010 had a purpose, and that was to show the new strategy elements that impacted the game on the fly. Lets hope the first PES 2011 trailer shows much, much more.
4. Great showing at Gamescom
Gamescom 2009 was a bit of a catastrophe if you ask me, and that’s because we were here handling the huge backlash from fans who played the game, especially in direct comparison to FIFA 10. The videos didn’t show to well, and the consistent moaning about the response times and dated animations didn’t soften the blow. We then had certain parts of Konami, including Seabass and PESFan, detail that the demo on the show floor wasn’t the most updated code.
It’s worth noting Gamescom had around 250,000 people visit the event over 5 days. A quarter of a million. It’s suicidal to have a poor showing at such a massive event. And lets not forget I’m attending this year 😉
5. Get the demo right
While WENB, PESFan and PESGaming reach millions of fans worldwide, its obvious the majority of the people who go out and buy PES have never visited a fan site. So for the people who don’t have access to news and information, a demo is their one-stop experience of the latest PES before they decide on their purchase. And when you factor in the amount of people on XBOX LIVE and PSN, it’s imperative you show the game the best possible way.
So no early code talk, and no improved smoother demo for the guys in Japan. One demo, one message, worldwide.
And that’s that.
As always let us know what you think on the boards.
