Ahhh Interchangeable kits...... 4 long years ago they gave us that "souvenir" as someone else posted and they decided to remove it. The same way they removed teams so they could place whatever team qualified for that upcoming world cup. Does anybody remember the gameplay speed bar in WE4? (or was it WE3: FV? I can't remember) That might be asking for too much, and of course, with online gaming you can't have something like that anymore.
There are definitely many variables that add to my perception of this "lack of evolution" of the series. Chris mentioned how we are actually growing older and the game doesn't have the same impact in our lives. It's very true. We are also growing older of the game as well. Because we haven't noticed this evolution. And what's even worse is that we've noticed the change in other Konami games, other sports games, and the actual competition (FIFA). The same aging engine has been around for too long. Unfortunately, a next-gen based engine will always be a risky move. Unfortunately, Konami understands that they still need to support the PS2 market. Unfortunately, Konami realizes that multiple localized releases is profitable. I don't really know for sure but I can't explain otherwise why in the past we've had WE, PES, WE:FV/WE:FE/WE:LE, WE-Jleague, etc all in one year.
I'm aware that I sound like I'm exaggerating when I talk about this lack of evolution but I get disappointed every time I see the same lame free kick engine or pk engine or the same lame movement of the keepers when they have the ball. I remember it took them years to add overarm throws and underarm rolls to the Ps2 version of the game. In fact, I was very glad when they added to option to have the keeper drop the ball to his feet. I'm actually glad they are finally doing something about the PK. Yes, I know, it's a feature that rarely happens in a game but why make it dull when it can be more exciting and it has been relatively the same. (a different keeper camera and various PK kick animations are not exactly an evolution.)
I understand that animations, ball physics, and the collisions systems are very important if not, the most important part of the game but there are certain aspects of the game that need a lot of work, and most likely, should be done by a separate crew. I'm talking about the in-game environment. It is pitiful and has always been. I remember patching my WE with the current Solidus chants patch and one could notice the difference. The players don't emit any sort of sound whatsoever, only the fans, ref, and the ball. Players yelling, or asking for the ball. They don't need to be loud but loud enough to notice. These little things add value to the game. Wouldn't it be awesome that out of a sudden you hear a loud firecracker and the fans for no apparent reason going nuts and LOUD? Even better, you depend on the score of another game in ML and the crowd is loud b/c of the score of a different game.
I'm sorry for the little rant but something so.. trivial. But something like interchangeable kits... made me remember of the fun days. IMO PES2009 is not a bad game but it's not game that matched our expectations. PES2010 will probably be better but doesn't sound like a radical change in the right direction. Seabass has always bitched about having a small team and it seems he has a decent sized one this year but we don't know how long ago he's had it and for how long he'll have it.
From where...
