GC: PES 2012 Is Looking Rather Special

Just because Konami have been concentrating so much on the gameplay in PES 2012, don’t think they’ve ignore the graphical side of the game. As you can see below, the graphical detail in each of the players faces are absolutely stunning! Congratulations have to go to Konami for pulling off such life-like appearances.

Bastion Launch Trailer

Bastion Launch Trailer

FIFA 12: Tactical Defending Explained

With FIFA and PES now gathering some momentum, It seems each game is trying to get a little bit more information out than the other. This as you can imagine can be exciting yet frustrating as the developers can't give away everything and need to hold back so we all have something to look forward to when we pop that brand new shiny disc in our systems. Which is why this little treat from Darren Cross explaining FIFA 12's new Tactical Defending system was enough to keep me occupied until the next wave of announcements.

Football Journalist and FIFA Gamer, Darren Cross:
http://www.ea.com/uk/news/the-backpage-tactical-defending-explained?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=Twitter


"Hello, and welcome back to The Backpage.

It’s been ages since we’ve spoken, but I’ve been quiet for a very good reason… I’ve spent the last few weeks and months getting to know FIFA 12 a whole lot better. Among trips to FIFA HQ in Vancouver and the UK offices in Guildford, I’ve also managed to wangle a day playing a very early version of the game.

Just don’t tell my Editor at MATCH that, he thinks I was in meetings.

By now I’m sure you’ve hoovered up all the available info on the new game, so I’m not going to go over old news by writing about the headline features that were announced last month. Instead, over the next few weeks I’ll be focusing on what these features and changes actually do to the game and the gameplay, what that means to you and – in some cases – how you can start preparing for them now. And as always I’ll aim to include a bit of real football insight if it directly relates to the game, which will prove to be the case a lot as we take a much closer look at 12.

So you’re going to notice that FIFA has changed as soon as you turn 12 on for the first time. I’m sure you’ve picked that up so far. You’ll instantly spot the new menu system – horizontal instead of vertical – and the improved presentation of the matches, which is now closer to the kind of package you’d expect to see on Sky or ESPN.

Once you’re done being quietly impressed with that, the game will kick-off and you’ll immediately see the new Player Impact Engine at work as players move about the pitch and react to what’s happening around them. It looks amazing, and some of the collisions and their effects will have you wincing… then quickly accessing the replay function for another look as you wonder just how the team at EA Canada have made this all look so real.

However, it’s not how things LOOK that will make the biggest impression on you initially, but how things FEEL. I’m talking about the new Tactical Defending feature, which is going to slap you in the face and shout ‘I’m new!’ as soon as you start working on winning the ball back for the first time.

In FIFA 11 you don’t really have to work all that hard on defence. The press and standing tackle feature take care of all that for you, tracking down the player with the ball and pressing them constantly until your team win it back. As the defender, all you are doing is holding one button to press – or two to double press – but as the attacker you feel a bit like the ball is a hot potato… something to get rid of quickly due to the heatseeking defender that is inevitably closing in on you.

Great for the defending team, but a little unbalanced and not really all that realistic.

Realism, as I’m sure you know, is something the team behind the game strives for and prides themselves on, so it’s no surprise that this system has been completely overhauled, but let me just explain what I mean when I say that the defending system in 11 isn’t as realistic as it could be…

For starters, constantly pressing with multiple players can rip a team’s shape and formation to pieces. I’m sure you’ve seen this happen in FIFA 11 and – if you’re anything like me – you’ve probably fallen into the trap of over-pressing then watched with horror as the opposition skips through a gap in your defence, which has parted like the Red Sea, due to both of your centre-backs being roughly 40,000 miles out of position.

You just don’t see that in real football (well, unless your unfortunate enough to be watching my amateur team play on a Saturday) and so you no longer see it in FIFA. Now a defender will track the path of the ball, but won’t go surging in to win it right away like he will do in 11. You now control the distance your defender stands from the attacker, and you also have control over which areas of the pitch you want to shepherd the attacker into. If he wanders into an area that would take your player out of position, you switch to a defender in a better position and begin the process again. Finally, and crucially, YOU choose the exact moment to make an attempt for the ball.

This is exactly how defending works in real football.

If you speak to any professional footballer, they will tell you that the first job of a defender is not to win the ball back, but to slow the opposition player down and direct him to areas of the pitch where he will either do no damage, face more traffic or be forced to turn back.

If, during that process, they get a chance to win the ball back then they will of course take it, but what they don’t do is go mindlessly rushing forward in search of the ball without any thought to positioning.

Neither will you in FIFA 12, and it’s this that will take the most getting used to.

I don’t mean that in a negative way though. Yes it takes time to forget the pressing system from FIFA 11 and you will spend the first few games instinctively trying to press, but once you get the hang of it – and you will – the experience is infinitely more engaging, rewarding and realistic.

Which brings me on to my final point; how you can prepare for this new system now.

The answer is simply to watch some football. As much football as you possibly can, paying particular attention to what is happening with the defending team.

Watch the body shape and positioning of the defenders and notice how they attempt to direct the attackers into disadvantageous positions. They will do things like force a player on to his weak foot by standing to the attacker’s stronger side. Wide midfielders will show attackers infield where they know they’ll have more bodies in the way to intercept and – most importantly – all defenders will stay on their feet until they’re as certain as they can be that they’ll get something on the ball if they go for the tackle.

Look out for these things, take a mental note of how they’re done and I guarantee you the transition to FIFA 12’s Tactical Defending system will be smoother.

And don’t worry that’s it’s the closed season either; there’s still plenty of live matches for you to check out. The Copa America starts on July 2 and there are more than a few players there who can teach us all a thing or two about defending. I know I’ll be watching"

Pro Evolution 2012 WENB Playtest

As you may or may not know, I am a huge lover of Pro Evolution Soccer. I would even go as far as to say that playing them games back in the day with my cousin were some of the best days of my life. PES in the PS2 days were head and shoulders above just about every other sports game at the time. Even through the dark times, my PES addiction needed to be satisfied! And believe me there were dark days (PES 2009, OH GOD!) PES 2011 was a huge jump in the right direction, giving the series hope that it could once again reign supreme in hearts of football fans everywhere. Which brings me on to PES 2012. I have to say, I have not been this excited about a game in a very long time. Such hype in my own brain has forced me to follow every single nook and cranny of PES 2012's development process. If like me you are giddy with excitement or if you are just intrigued, this article over at WENB should answer some very important questions. My hype-o-meter just went through the roof! Check the article written by Alan Curdie and tell us what you think.

http://winningelevenblog.com

If you have been following WENB’s own @Adam_Bhatti and@Suffwan on Twitter you will already be aware that today’s playtest seems to be going down rather well. Below are just some tweets that have surfaced throughout the day, with more sure to follow. Oh, and it is great to see Jon finally get that mug at last!

Suff has been positively purring over the game and these tweets in particular speak volumes:

@Suffwan – ”I have to say that #PES2012 is a fantastic game of football to play. Purity and the most advanced AI seen in a footy game. #joy”
@Suffwan – ”Intelligent runs, constant passing options, fluid gameplay and many new features we don’t even know about. #PES2012”
@Suffwan – ”It makes me smile like the PS2 days #PES2012”

@Suffwan – ”In my opinion #PES2012 is a better game than #PES5, but then again I’m Next-Gen baby!”

@Suffwan – ”Shooting better but I have given them some tips. When u get tackled now the fluidity of game not affected.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be a WENB playtest without the PES messiah and Adam has been sure to keep us briefed as well:

@Adam_Bhatti – ”Played first game. Beat Suff 4-2, Milan derby. Great match. Main thing is it’s super fluid. Wonderful ebb and flow. Now for single player.”

@Adam_Bhatti – ”Big news is, keepers are looking really good. Need animation work, but overall so much more reliable than in PES 2011.”
@Adam_Bhatti – ”Can’t describe how happy I am with keepers. Need to say still need animation work, but so much reliable. Spill less, catch more etc.”
@Adam_Bhatti – ”Also new camera angle called pitch side is awesome. Used it more than wide cam. Lower hung, great detail.”

@Adam_Bhatti – ”Detail in wide cam much better, @Suffwan reckons it’s awesome. So much detail held, but needs another lick of paint IMO”
@Adam_Bhatti – ”Estadio De Escorpiao stadium is in the build.”

@Adam_Bhatti – ”And it’s over! @Suffwan wins on pens! And yes, pens fixed! More like FIFA 10. @JonMurphy_PES, you have been served!”

Sounding very promising indeed.

One particular tweet that has caused the raising of many eyebrows in true Carlo Ancelotti fashion is this:

”Lunch time with the guys now. Btw, sort of an exclusive, saw a new mode in menu called Football Life. @JonMurphy_PES won’t say a thing tho”

We wait and wonder what Football Life will prove to be.

Remember, that this isn’t all that will be coming regards the WENB playtest. We should have written impressions and a podcast with the lads following later, so stay tuned!

Bodycount Trooper Target Reveal Trailer

Hey! Do you like seeing big strong dudes with white face paint getting shot by crazy robot looking dudes? Great! Because your in luck, Bodycount has a new teaser trailer. 

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L.A. Noire Seven Year Production Hell

L.A. Noire is so far my favourite game of the year, It could even be one of my favourite games of all time. A delicate balance of impressive detective work, fantastic chase scenes, movie like storylines and all round incredible game world that Team Bondi created. Yes they must be incredibly proud of what they achieved, but it seems that things were not always rosy within the studio. A great article from Owen Good at Kotaku explains the bad times of working on a game that spans seven years.

Owen Good, Kotaku

It took seven years. It spanned two console generations. It was the biggest undertaking in Australian games development. And the seven years it took to bring L.A. Noire to store shelves was consistently an unhappy time for many who worked on the game, reports IGN.

The freelance journalist Andrew McMillen, writing for IGN, gives a comprehensive look at L.A. Noire's development, with stinging criticism from former Team Bondi staff and remarkably candid replies by the studio's founder, Brendan McNamara. Throughout, Team Bondi is depicted as a contentious studio populated by exhausted developers perpetually in the throes of "crunch," an industry term and one of its nastier little secrets.

McNamara, to his credit, does not evade questions with corporate speak. Asked to account for turnover that saw at least 100 staff enter and leave the studio during Noire's making, McNamara replied that he thought the figure was actually higher than that. "Of the people we tried to build the game with, most of them would've never had any experience with this kind of thing before," he said.

He also doesn't run from anonymous-sourced complaints about his management style, which some called verbally abusive. "Am I passionate about making the game? Absolutely," he said to McMillen. "Do you think that I'm going to voice my opinion? Absolutely. But I don't think that's verbal abuse."

More troubling are the allegations IGN reports of unpaid overtime and manipulated job titles that dumped multiple job descriptions and 110-hour workweeks on some at insubstantial salaries. (The story alleges that overtime would only be paid out three months after the game was completed, requiring everyone to stay in order to be paid for that.) This is a common complaint in games development, especially here in the U.S. McNamara chalks up the workers' unhappiness to their disillusionment about what kind of field this is, and what it really means to be competitive in it.

"The expectation is slightly weird here, that you can do this stuff without killing yourself; well, you can't," McNamara told McMillen. "Whether it's in London or New York or wherever; you're competing against the best people in the world at what they do, and you just have to be prepared to do what you have to do to compete against those people."

Crunch is not a virtue. It's poor management coupled with abusive labor practice. Games development is shot through with the attitude that it's OK. We saw it when Danny Bilson of THQ casually remarked on the "thousand-yard stare" of Kaos Studios after two months of seven-day workweeks, making Homefront. (Kaos' ultimate reward:Studio closure and the project being shipped to Montreal.) And they get away with it because the layperson conceives of video games development as a Wonkaland of fun that anyone should feel lucky just to be a part of. That, and the lines of developers waiting at the door for the next disgruntled employee to quit, help keep things solidly in the favor of ownership.

"There's a lot of naivety amongst young game programmers out there," said one unnamed Bondi developer. "There's all this young enthusiasm to get into the games industry. People are willing to do so much to do it, but they're not educated about how they really should be standing up for themselves, and making sure that the conditions are right."

Thank you Team Bondi, Thank you.

Rockstar's Agent On It's Way to Xbox 360

Agent was revealed in 2009 at E3, but since then Rockstar has been very quiet regarding this mysterious title. At the E3 press conference it was made very clear that the plans for the game were for it to be released on PlayStation 3 only, however news from MSXBox-World shows that there may be a broadening of these plans and a lowering of the barriers to entry for Microsoft.

With the recent release of L.A Noire being for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, you would be shocked to hear, if you did not know already, that this title was also thought to have a single console release. Sony were the first to confirm the title’s release whereas there was no signal from Microsoft, however in the end it was released for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, which makes us wonder whether developers and publishers are not as keen to bring titles exclusively to Sony’s console as they once were.

The source reveals that when in question regarding Agent’s platform release details, the Sony Computer Entertainment president Jack Tretton replied, “I don’t know where we’re going to end up on that”. Further suspicions arose when more questioning revealed that Tretton implied that the PlayStation 3 title would definitely offer the best content (or words to that effect), surely if it was a PS3 exclusive this would be a given?

Although the claims are fairly weak still and the game is very much in the pipeline stages, details of the issue remain very quiet and nothing was revealed this month at E3 2011. The official Agent website still infers that the game will be exclusive to PlayStation 3 (see below), therefore for now we will have to assume that this is the case, however don’t be too surprised if things change.

At the moment we are keeping an eye out for any more details regarding game, however the way things look, we anticipate that a multi-platform release will be more likely. Sony’s president says that “it is up to Rockstar as to what happens now”, which we think are very weak words from a huge corporation such as themselves. We can only wait and see what the outcome will be. What do you think of the plans? Would you like to see Agent on the Xbox 360?

Why Work Sunday?

This is indeed a daily gaming blog and I have indeed been updating it daily. Although Sunday is a day of rest, lazyness, even God for some. So instead of bringing you news about gaming on the day of doing fek all, I will be relaxing just like the rest of the world. What I am trying to say is, No news on Sundays.


I am now going to lay in my paddling pool, Have a nice Sunday!

Rumour Mill: Sony Planning On Unveiling Playstation 4 Next Year

Rumours, Rumours Rumours. I suppose every console starts with a rumour so sometime we have to take them serious. IndustryGamers is speculating that Sony will unveil the Playstation 4 next year. The Website cites from an anonymous source from a top developer, although obviously no names were spoken of. This is what Michel Patcher had to say about it.


“I think it’s unlikely [that PS4 will be announced in 2012]. Wii U isn’t going to pressure anyone, it’s Nintendo’s catch up to this cycle, and the other guys are going to see if the tablet integration is worth copying first. That means nobody is going to finalize specs till they see if Wii U succeeds. I am sticking to 2014, so an ‘unveil’ in 2013,”

EEDAR’s Jesse Divinch added: “The interactive entertainment industry is rapidly evolving and broadening. No longer is the idea of ‘video games’ limited to a traditional console and a PlayStation-style controller and the inability to play these touch and social games on traditional consoles are hindering factors for all three major players.

“Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all have a similar goal; they want their consoles to be constantly powered on in the household – from watching movies, television, and of course playing games. But as the mobile, tablet, and social sector grow, it is forcing gamers to go outside of the traditional console experience to interact with these emerging style of games. Of course, I do admit that Microsoft is certainly the forerunner and their recent E3 2011 presentation certainly paints a clear picture that the future of consoles are not ‘video game consoles,’ but a complete entertainment medium.

“I don’t feel the Wii U is a threat to either Microsoft or Sony’s current platforms. I believe the biggest threat remain themselves and their attempt to elongate this current cycle. The data is pretty clear; it is incredibly tough to launch successful new IPs late in a cycle, as there is simply too much consumer muscle memory that hinders our desire to play new IPs. Consumers are more open to trying new IPs and new style of games when the technology itself is relatively new. It is very tough for consumers to break habit.

“Just ask yourself, would Avatar have been as successful if it wasn’t in 3D (which at the time was a new way of experiencing movies)? Would Avatar have been successful if it launched 2 years from now? Probably not, on both counts.”

Brazilian Media Talks Highly of PES 2012

Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 was on show to the Brazilian media recently to show them what the new game was all about. They seem to talk very highly of the new AI system that's been put in place which if done right could replicate the beauty of the PS2 PES days.

Saints Row: The Third - Gunning For GTA

Most people were getting excited and speculating over all the leaked information about GTA 5. I on the other hand was over the moon when Saints Row: The Third was announced. OXM Magazine gave Grand Theft Auto IV 10 out of 10, Saints Row 2 got an 8. In my eyes this was obsurd. Yeah GTA looked stunning and created an impressive lively world, but if I had to do another chase mission across that long ass map one more time, I would of lost my mind! Very repetitive and just a bit boring really, Taking all the fun out of what made San Andreas so amazing. This is exactly what drove me to Saints Row. Similar to GTA: SA in many ways, the game is all about non stop fun. Good story, great variety of missions and a lot of creativity, Also great co-op. Now Saints Row: The Third is coming and I for one can not wait! They look to have taken everything from the last games and ramped it up to 11! I mean come on, You can beat someone to death with a giant pink dildo.. If it ain't worth buying this game for that then you are just plain crazy.


Saints Row: The Third Dev Walkthrough

Wii U Visuals Superior to Xbox, PS3

Wii U will not only match but beat out PS3 and Xbox 360 in visual terms "for some of the games", according to Ubisoft boss man Yves Guillemot.

When quizzed - as every developer at E3 will have been - on how Wii U compares to the other HD consoles, Guillemot replied: "I think at least [as powerful]. It should be even superior for some of the games. We don't know everything, so we have a few things Nintendo is telling us that will have such and such powers."

He goes on to confirm that the firm has had the Wii U dev kits for "quite some time", and that "from the beginning when we saw that console we were impressed by the level of quality of the experience you could get."

Guillemot is unsurprisingly optimistic of the opportunity for another capable platform in which Ubi can release its high-profile titles at little extra cost. "[Wii U] doesn't increase [development costs] very much because the advantage is in being close to the other machines, you can do the game for all the formats at the same time."

In contrast to Guillemot's statement, Ubisoft Quebec's senior technical architect Marc Parenteau told press its too early for comparisons between Wii U and the current HD platforms because developers have yet to learn their way around the new Nintendo hardware.

21 Interesting Gaming Facts

The Sega Dreamcast was the first console to implement online play over a phone line, calling the system Sega Net.

The Microsoft XBox is the first video game system to completely support HDTV.

Popular Science recognized the Sega Dreamcast as one of the most important and innovative products of 1999.

The Magnavox Odyssey, released in 1972, contained 40 transistors and no microprocessor. The new Pentium 4 microprocessor contains 42 million transistors on the chip itself!

The PlayStation 2 is the first system to have graphics capability better than that of the leading-edge personal computer at the time of its release.

The Nintendo N64 marked the first time that computer graphics workstation manufacturer Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) developed game hardware technology.

While the original Atari Football game was first created in 1973, it wasn't released until 1978. It was delayed because the game couldn't scroll the screen -- players couldn't move beyond the area shown on the monitor. When the game was finally released, it became the first game to utilize scrolling, a key part of many games today.

The Atari Pong video game console was the No. 1 selling item for the holiday season in 1975.

The first console to have games available in the form of add-on cartridges was the Fairchild Channel F console, introduced in August 1976.

The PlayStation 2 is the first video game system to use DVD technology.

On the original Magnavox Odyssey, players had to keep score themselves because the machine couldn't.

The Nintendo GameCube's proprietary disc can hold 1.5 gigabytes of data -- 190 times more than what an N64 game cartridge can hold.

On the market from 1991 till 2004, the SNK NeoGeo AES has tied the Atari 2600 (1977-1990) as the longest supported gaming console in history.

The Sega Genesis featured a version of the same Motorola processor that powered the original Apple Macintosh computer.

Mattel's Intellivison system, introduced in 1980, featured an add-on called "PlayCable," which delivered games by cable TV.

Nintendo's Game Boy is the most successful game system ever, with more than 100 million units sold worldwide.

The word atari comes from the ancient Japanese game of Go and means "you are about to be engulfed." Technically, it is the word used by a player to inform his opponent that he is about to lose, similar to "check" in chess.

In the 1980s, a service called Gameline allowed users to download games to the Atari 2600 over regular phone lines. It was not a success, but did form part of the foundation for America Online, the world's largest Internet service provider.

The first color portable video game system was the Atari Lynx, introduced in 1989 and priced at $149.

Introduced in 1993, the 3DO was the first video game system to be based entirely on CD Technology

The Sony PlayStation was originally intended as a CD add-on to the Super Nintendo. When licensing problems and other issues arose, Sony decided to develop the PlayStation as a machine of its own.