Thank soccer title Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, stealth game Metal Gear Solid 4 and Metal Gear Online for that!

Both revenues and income were up for Konami, who reports:

We hereby announce that our consolidated net revenues and consolidated operating income for the nine months ended December 31, 2008 were ¥234,011 million (105.1 percent of the same period in the previous year) and ¥34,712 million (125.7 percent of the same period of the previous year), respectively, and we marked increases both in revenues and income.

Income before income taxes and net income were ¥31,703 million (115.7 percent of the same period of the previous year) and ¥17,826 million (117.3 percent of the same period of the previous year), respectively.

This year has been a big year for Konami — especially as other companies have struggled in this economic climate. Though, we do wonder how the company will fare in 2009.

Reason we bring this up is that Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 will be taking centre stage on Italian Serie A club Lazio’s jersey for their game next week (and that game only) against Inter Milan. Just in time for the Christmas shopping rush.

It’s a smart move on the part of Konami. FIFA has beaten Pro Evo at both the sales register and the reviews circuit for the first time since, oh, ever, so the more exposure the series gets in front of die-hard football nuts, the better.

PES 2009 e S.S. Lazio dal calcio virtuale a quello reale

Siglato l’accordo tra S.S. Lazio e Digital Bros S.p.A., distributore esclusivo per l’Italia del videogioco PES 2009, per la sponsorizzazione della partita Lazio-Inter del 6 dicembre p.v..
PES 2009, il videogioco di calcio edito da Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH, si conferma “il più amato d’Italia”, attestandosi al vertice delle classifiche di vendita italiana ed internazionale.
Continuando la tradizione, infatti, anche quest’anno PES surclassa il successo delle edizioni precedenti registrando, ad un mese dal lancio, oltre 675.000 copie vendute solo nel nostro Paese.

Grazie alla partnership con S.S. Lazio, oggi, PES 2009, raggiunge un nuovo record: è il primo videogame ad essere main sponsor di una squadra di calcio per una partita di Campionato di Serie A, passando così dai campi virtuali a quelli reali.

In occasione della 15° giornata di campionato, infatti, i biancocelesti indosseranno una maglia speciale - un vero “pezzo unico” - che riprodurrà il marchio di PES 2009.

Per Digital Bros e PES 2009, la collaborazione con la S.S. Lazio, rappresenta una scelta importante che apre un nuovo orizzonte sul mondo del calcio i cui dettagli verranno spiegati nel corso di una speciale conferenza stampa congiunta, che si terrà venerdì 5 dicembre alle ore 12.00 presso la sede della società sportiva a Formello (Roma), via Santa Cornelia, 1000.

New licenses coming in PES update [CVG]

Before we begin, know a few things: I was playing the game on the PS3. Against some Japanese kid. He beat me 4-0. My flimsy defence being that I've never actually played the game using a PS controller (Ive only ever used Xbox/360 pads), but hey, it could just as easily have been my flimsy defence.

First thing I noticed? My goodness, Konami have actually changed some things. Important things. While it's not a completely new engine, the player animations both look, and feel, different. This is not a cheap reskin of Pro Evo 5, as 6 and 2008 were. Your players move with a great deal more fluidity, and the ball is even more of a separate entity from the player's feet, adding a surprising level of realism to play when moving through crowded spaces.

Players also seem slower, but in a good way. Because they're more fluid, and there's more animation (players now move in more directions than the old eight-way turns), the game takes on a more deliberate pace, as old tactics of putting your head down and running through defenders didn't work anywhere near as well as they did in 2008.

One totally new thing I noticed was that players would extend their legs to reach for the ball. This was for defenders making tackles, but also midfielders who were clashing over an unpossessed ball. So instead of having to crash your entire player into the other to initiate a challenge for possession - or to gain possession - they'll flick a leg out in front of them, getting the job done quicker.

As for the licensing, I opted for Liverpool (sadly, Villa didn't make the cut for the demo), and my opponent went for Barcelona. Player likenesses looked better than last year's, particularly on the more high profile guys like Messi and Torres, while the kits look a great deal more detailed. The Champion's League license was also being rammed down our throats, with the competition's logo and theme song used at every possible opportunity. Feels a bit strange, to be honest, as that level of licensing is something you'd expect from EA's FIFA, not Konami's offering.

And...that's all I could get out of a 20-minute match. Oh, that and the realisation anyone thinking this year's FIFA v Pro Evo matchup already over is being more than a little premature.

I figure I need to get this disclaimer out of the way. The last soccer game I played dates back to the Sega Genesis days (Fifa 97, I think), so I am in no means claiming to be an expert on this type of game. I also have never played any of the previous PES games, either. So I realize that most of what impressed me about this game may in fact have already been done in previous iterations. Just please bear with me.

My first jump out of the gate with this was a rough one. I didn't quite get the controls down until after about 10 minutes of turning the ball over and over. But when I did get the controls, oh baby was it smooth sailing! With sports games, especially hockey, the players never respond like they should on their respective playing surfaces. In hockey, if I have the puck, I can skate however and whenever I want and I'll never lose control of it, forget the fact the players themselves never feel like they're skating on ice. But with PES 2009, the players look and play like they're on a surface kicking a ball around and don't have a float-y feel like in other games.. You'll quickly realize you can't get the ball and speed boost past everyone or make blind passes and expect them to connect. This isn't the type of realism that's annoying, either.

If I decide to sprint with the ball, I leave myself open to defenders having a much easier time stealing it from me. Likewise on defense, I can choose to try and slide on the ground to kick the ball off an oncoming attacking player's foot, but I run the risk of potentially tackling him at the legs and getting carded. There was just this sense of strategy I've never caught in a sports game before. Like every time the ball was moving up field, it would turn into all these mini chess matches to see who makes the first move.

Everything about this game seemed really polished, from the framerate to the animations and controls. I now know why PES (or Winning Eleven as some folks call it) consider the series to be the best among soccer games. If you're familiar with the series already, then this years version probably seems like another $60 roster update. But if you're like me and new to the whole PES thing, you might want to check this out if you need a new sports game to play.

PES 2009 screens [Luke posted yesterday in case you missed them]

BECOME A LEGEND - They'll tell you this was a part of the Japanese versions of Winning Eleven, but really, the institution of a "control a single player as he rises through the ranks" mode is a response to those found in the EA Sports games. Still, it's a neat addition, especially if you're the type who likes to squeeze every last Master League match out their Pro Evo, especially since you can save your player data and use it during online matches.

SPECIAL MOVES - No more combos or specific controls for special moves. Instead, these are going to be introduced contextually, and will be activated depending on where/how hard you can yank/twist the analogue stick when performing a certain move or dribbling in a certain direction.

GRAPHICS - Konami are promising that the game's had a "radical aesthetic upgrade". Specifically, they say stadiums now have better effects (including LED hoardings), depth-of-field effects and "new face and body detail", along with new facial animations. Which should be nice, but fall short of a full engine overhaul, which the series badly needs, since there's only so long it'll be able to polish up a stiff, robotic player animation system that was developed a generation ago.

EDITING - Ah. Some good, good news. The editing system - crippled in both current-gen versions of the game - is fully-restored for Pro Evo 2009. You'll be able to draw your own sponsors and club crests like you used to, along with new features like the ability to import crowd noises for custom home games.

Course, none of that will matter a damn if they don't fix the awful online play from last year, but we won't be able to test that until the game's out in the Fall/Autumn (unless you own a Wii, then it's out in 2009).

Presser follows. Interestingly, there's no mention of a Wii version. Maybe the Wii series will be permanently spun-off from the "main" Pro Evo games?

23rd June 2007

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has announced that it will release PES 2009 for PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360, PC-DVD, PlayStation®2, and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) this Autumn in Europe.

PES 2009 is the latest installment of the award-winning Pro Evolution Soccer Series, which is known by millions of fans for its superior gameplay and incredible realism. For PES 2009, Konami is already planning a raft of extensive new additions that will further bridge the gap between PES and the real thing. The new game has undergone a stunning graphical update to ensure its players look and move even more like their real-life counterparts. Similarly, all-new options allow users to tailor the game to their own tastes, while new moves, innovative new control elements and key online elements will further the realism of the new game.

“The announcement of a new PES game is always a highlight for Konami, but PES 2009 looks set to reaffirm the series’ utter superiority,” commented Jon Murphy, PES Project Leader for Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH. “We are committed to extending the realism of the new game with a wealth of key gameplay additions, and will produce a football title that truly embodies all the skill and pace that is good about the modern game.”

PES 2009 will be released for PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360, PC-DVD, PlayStation 2, and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) in Autumn.