March is upon us, and that means one thing – PES 2011 news is just around the corner. Last year new PES was announced in the first week of April, and I’d be taken back if a similar unveil date wasn’t in place this year. Seeing as it’s that time of year again, I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on the previous year, and discuss what turned into a topsy turvy year for both Konami and WENB.
They say you learn from your mistakes, and as a group WENB has made a few. From the mess we made from PES 2008, to the easily excited views of PES 2009, and the early hype of PES 2010 – you name it, we did wrong. Hand in hand with Konami’s achievement on this generation of consoles, I feel we failed the fans in giving clear and concise views on what was in store. From that bleak period, WENB emerged as a site to be visited for news, but never trusted for views.
Still to this day we’re judged on past failing, although the sites scope continues to grow. That says one thing, and thats the fact that no matter what you think of us on a personal level, when it comes to news we provide you guys a great service. It also proves that overall everyone who plays footy games are real world football fans, and any game based on their favourite sport will be given a chance – despite obvious past problems.
Towards the end of the PES 2010 pre-release run-in, I publicly went soul searching, realising the game wasn’t good enough. That resulted in a review that most agreed with, although some suggesting it was too little too late. It wasn’t until an online chat with some of my biggest critics in the summer did I truly understand the wrongs of past, and how we as a site were abusing our position in ways that wasn’t helping the community. False representation of acceptance, and willingness to believe – 2 things everyone ceases to maintain after some years of hurt from Konami. Yet every year we were the same, as if nothing wrong happened.
Well, not this year.
Since the release of PES 2010, as a site we’ve pushed forward and worked hard with PES 2011 feedback – putting it above any PES 2010 feedback issues. Our focus is to improve the series once and for all, and not ignore the obvious problems the community and the series has. Personally, we all have to look at ourselves, and see what PES has become. I’d never thought I’d hear the day when magazines and websites were writing things like “…and this year untucked shirts are in, that should please the fans.” Is that what the PES community is about these days? If thats what makes us happy, then we really need a reality check.
But it’s not just us who need to wake up, as Konami need to deliver this year. PES 2011 is a few years in the making, and anything less than a dramatic change would see the final nail in the coffin. Playing games like Winning Eleven 9 on PS2 makes me realise how great the series was, and how far Konami have fallen. We hang on though, as we know the highs they can hit, and because no one has managed to better them during the steady decline.
So it’s a year that WENB promise to win your trust, and a year we hope Konami finally deliver. And with the site moving onto our own dedicated servers this year, we aim to take this community site gig much more seriously. It’s time WENB became a site thats known for honest views, and not just great news.
Make sure you stick around in the comings months to judge us accordingly.
