We have something a bit different for you now, with a special Guest Article, by none other than Mr Ben Ward from our sister site, Next-Gen Gaming Blog. Known for his fantastic previews, reviews and opinion pieces, Ben has kindly offered to give his thoughts on PES 2015 and WENB as a whole. Enjoy!
Hi all, I’m Ben. I usually write over at NGB, but I’ve felt compelled to write something for WENB today after some of the things that I’ve read over the past few weeks and months.
This week, Adam Bhatti responded to Adam Neaves’ request for an interview for WENB with some rather stern but fair words. After being subjected to some pretty intense abuse, the PES EU Brand Manager has decided to focus his efforts elsewhere with official quotes and interviews. And frankly, I can’t say I blame him.
Let’s take a step back. I used to be a HUGE PES fan. I still hold PES5 and 6 in as high a regard as anyone, and although I’ve fallen out of love for football in general for a number of reasons, I always had a soft spot for the franchise. When the PS3 and Xbox 360 launched, I was linked to a new blog that a couple of guys from AVForums.com were starting up, preliminarily titled “Winning Eleven Next-Gen Blog”. I remember subscribing to the podcast, listening to Adam and Suffwan arguing about whether footplanting would be implemented, or seeing builds of PES2008 behind closed doors that should have been on show floors. It was a really fun time to be a fan of PES, which was somewhat dampened with the release. A few years went by of being ultimately over-hyped for the latest title and being ultimately disappointed when it fell short. Ultimately, I decided to stop buying PES. I still listened to the podcast every now and then, but I didn’t really bother with the game at all. I picked it up and played it every now & then, but by the time 2014 rolled around, I was more or less done with PES.
Jump back to the present day. One of the guys who founded this very site is now working at Konami, looking after the brand and trying to bring it back to how it should be. He’s admitted that 2014 was far short of what to expect, and what did he get in return on this site? Threats, anger, and pure vitriol. I understand that this is a site for hardcore fans, and that tempers can flare, but seriously, what the hell?!
It’s an age old argument of “being keyboard warriors”, but it’s so true. Instead of being the best place to go for PES news, which WENB seemed to be (and still is, IMHO), a select few vocal idiots have pushed away any sort of official endorsement to other forums, purely thanks to a lack of simple human decency. Put it in perspective. If you saw Adam Bhatti in the street, would you say to his face that you “hoped he got cancer”, or that he should “Go die”? I’d like to think you wouldn’t. Because, I’d hazard a guess, you aren’t all despicable human beings.
I’ve met Adam on a number of occasions. This year at E3, myself, Gari and Asim met up with him a few times, and I voiced my opinions about where I thought PES had gone with him. He took the time to listen, give feedback and let slip a few things that I probably still can’t talk about, but it was a great conversation. Adam’s a good guy, and he wants the best for PES. It’s obvious he cares for the brand, and it’s proven by the fact he started this very site before being picked up by Konami and is now looking after the brand in Europe. He’s really trying his best to get the fans’ messages fed back to the dev team and everyone else associated with the game, and all he gets to hear from a section of this place is horrendous abuse.
Additionally, this abuse is being thrown at the likes of the guys who run this site. Put yourself in their shoes. They don’t get paid for this. They take time out from having full time jobs to update this site with info because they’ve got passion for the series. They’ve got passion for videogames in general. Hell, I write for NGB because I love games in general. I don’t get paid for it, but that really doesn’t bother me. Don’t throw abuse at these folks, they’re there to give you information. This is supposed to be a community, and all I see is a bubbling pot of bile, spewing out horrible things to people that don’t deserve it. And it’s led to the BRAND MANAGER for the game turning down the opportunity to do an interview on the site that HE founded.
I suggest a few of you take a step back, and take a long, hard look at yourselves and what you’re posting. Because it’s disgusting. To those this doesn’t apply to, I apologise, but those who have nothing constructive to say, why the hell are you even here? If you don’t like what PES has become, then don’t buy it. And if your only satisfaction comes from telling another human being that they should contract a terminal illness from the safety of anonymity, I’d probably take a step away from the internet for a bit and reconsider your life.
Anyway, that’s my bit done. I honestly couldn’t believe some of the things I read coming from this place, and when Adam said he didn’t want to do an interview the other day, my heart sank a little bit. Partly for Asim and the team, because of the work that goes into this place, but mainly for the people that visit the site for news and info about this year’s PES. It’s a shame that, as with most things in life, the loudest minority ruin everything for the majority.
Ben, NGB.
