Da allora il mondo non fu più lo stesso.

Da allora la storia che conoscevamo non servì più.

Da allora l'ordine fu uno solo: PES2008 DEVE girare su Ubuntu.

Passarono così i mesi come una lunga agonia, molto sangue fu versato...

Ma un giorno, i guerrieri appoggiarono le spade sul terreno, utilizzarono i loro cervello, condivisero quello che poteva essere la soluzione finale.

Da quel giorno permisero a Slaykristian di far girare pes2008demo.exe su Ubuntu Hardy Heron!

Bando alle ciance.

Gira, eccome! La versione che ho provato è la demo. Viaggia, leggermente lenta, ma abbastanza da permettermi di levarmi quello sfizio, una volta ogni tanto...

Il mio Hardware è, visto che non ne ho mai accennato:

Notebook DELL Inspiron 1520

Ram 2 Gb

Processore: Intel Core Duo 2x1.50Ghz

Scheda video: NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS 128Mb

Come ben sapranno coloro che hanno combattuto a lungo fino ad ora per far girare pes 2008 su Ubuntu, la versione 1.0 di Wine non funziona, o meglio, il gioco si installa, ma non viene allocata sufficiente memoria video.

E' "scientificamente provato" che le versioni di Wine che invece lasciano girare PES 2008 sono quelle che vanno dalla 0.9.46 in su, fino alla 0.9.58 circa.

COME FACCIAMO ALLORA? HARDY HERON MI FORNISCE SOLO VERSIONI DI WINE >1.0...

Compiliamola!!! Ma va lààààà... Che compilare e compilare???!!?!?!?!?!?! O compilate oppure seguite qui...

L'idea mi è venuta dopo aver letto il post di Divilinux riguardo l'utilizzo di "PlayOnLinux".

Il seguente progetto, permette di evitare l'installazione di Cedega per far girare i giochi windows su sistemi linux, in un'ottica sicuramente più, diciamo, open-source.

Ma la particolarità che lo rende adatto al nostro scopo ( far girare PES2008 ) è che questo programma permette di installare versioni passate di wine. Quindi quella ci interessa!!! E non solo, possiamo scaricarne diverse e provare le miriadi di combinazioni possibili di configurazioni. Una volta dopo averlo installato e speso 20 minuti in configurazioni, le successive modifiche richiedono 2 secondi massimo.

Iniziamo coi comandi??? Va bene!

Installiamo prima wine, poi PlayOnLinux:

Aggiungiamo i repo ufficiali del progetto:
sudo wget http://playonlinux.botux.net/playonlinux_hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/playonlinux.list

wget -q http://playonlinux.botux.net/pol.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install playonlinux wine

Scarichiamo PES2008 demo. (Consiglio che vi lascio è che è meglio utilizzare un download manager tipo Gwget (per installarlo: sudo apt-get install gwget), gli si copia-incolla l'indirizzo e lui scarica proteggendovi da eventuali stop improvvisi dello scaricamento...)

Va bene, aprite PlayOnLinux.
Andate su Strumenti>Gestisci le versioni Wine
vi si apre una finestra con tutte quelle disponibili, selezionate la 0.9.48 e fate "Aggiungi" verra installata la versione di wine da voi scelta e chiudete.

Poi, dalla schermata principale:
Impostazioni>Ambiente
mettete come versione principale di sistema la 0.9.48 e non la "System".
Fate "Apllica" e chiudete.

Iniziamo ad installare la demo di Pes, mettiamo insieme anche le conoscenze che si trovano nel Wiki su PES2008.

L'installazione richiede un po' di tempo... fino ad un quarto d'ora, ma visto che abbiamo aspettato 7 mesi per cercare di farlo partire...

Come si installa tramite PlayOnLinux?

Nella schermata principale del programma clicchiamo sull'icona "Installa".

Si apre una finestra, dove sul fondo, c'è "Installa un pacchetto .pol o un'applicazione non supportata", cliccateci sopra.

Selezionate "Installazione manuale">Avanti>Installa un programma in un nuovo prefisso>Avanti>(ora diamo il nome al prefisso che vogliamo creare, tipo "pes2008", con "prefisso" è come se creassimo un profilo...)>Avanti>Fate "esplora", cerchiamo il file eseguibile PES2008demo.exe>date "Avanti" ed incomincerà l'installazione.

Aprofittatene, riposatevi e bevetevi un caffè che c'è da lavorare un po'...

Ad installazione finita, il programma vi farà cercare i file eseguibili di Pes 2008 per creare i collegamenti.
Cercate prima "Pes2008demo.exe" (in programmi>KONAMI>Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 DEMO) poi, nella stessa cartella, cercate "Settings.exe" per creare il collegamento al file di configurazione. Quando i collegamenti sono stati creati, chiudete.

Quindi installiamo le Direct X allo stesso modo e NELLO STESSO PROFILO, scegliendo nel processo di installazione "modifica prefisso esistente e scegliendo l'eseguibile delle direct x, senza necessità di dover creare collegamenti...

Ora configuriamo playonlinux e wine 0.9.48 in modo da dirgli "quando apri pes 2008 ed il suo settings usa wine 0.9.48", in più modifichiamo il registro di sistema come suggerito nel Wiki su PES2008.

Andiamo con ordine...

Configuramo PlayOnLinux:
Nella finestra principale, torniamo su Strumenti>gestisci le versioni di Wine ed andiamo su "le mie applicazioni". Qui modificate la versione di wine assegnata a Pes2008 ed a Settings. Selezionate la 0.9.48. Fate applica, ecc. e tornate nella schermata principale.
Ora, SENZA CLICCARE 2 VOLTE, selezioniamo l'icona nella schermata principale del collegamento a pes2008DEMO.exe (la mia l'ho chiamata Pes2008..... fantasia....) in modo solo da evidenziarla. Andate su Strumenti>configura Wine> e sotto settate come versione di sistema operativo "Windows XP".
Applicate, uscite e create le chiavi di registro, dalla schermata principale, in Strumenti>Editor di registro, con la procedura consigliata qui.
Con la mia NVIDIA, in OffscreenRenderingMode ho dovuto mettere "fbo" come valore, il resto è uguale.

Ok, pronti? Asciugatevi il sudore...

Avviamo il file Settings.exe. Nella schermata principale, clicchiamo sull'icona che lo collega.
Qui configuriamolo come: risoluzione 640x480, finestra 4:3 Qualità "Bassa" e non flaggate "utilizza il salto fotogramma".

(Più facile farlo che seguire la guida)

Incrociate le dita...

Fate partire PES, dall'icona sulla vostra schermata principale di playonlinux.
Bestemmiate o esultate, il mio risultato è stato questo:

Per qualsiasi problema, e penso ce ne saranno, commentate!

AGGIORNAMENTO: Avviso che funziona anche con la versione completa di PES2008!!!

Nei settings va flaggato sia "utilizza il salto fotogramma" che "disabilita il video", così funziona anche ad una velocità decente.

La versione di wine è sempre la 0.9.48.

Ciao!!!

BPEG LEAGUE A

BPEG LEAGUE B

KNOCKOUT STAGE

PICTURES ON THE DAY
  [gallery]

Es difícil encasillar a la Wii, sin duda la consola más innovadora de todas las que hay en el mercado, se aleja de todo convencionalismo. Su sistema de control esta basado en una captura de los movimientos del jugador. Su catálogo esta enfocado a multijugador.

El principal reclamo de Wii es la originalidad de su propuesta, para nada puede competir técnicamente con Ps3 y Xbox 360. Su procesador Broadway no es tan potente como el de sus rivales de nueva generación, lo podemos ver como una versión mejorada de GameCube (para mi muy limitado para los tiempos que corren).

El control de nuestra consola, se divide en dos mandos que son el mando Wii y el Nunchaku, que detecta los movimientos que hacemos con las manos. De esta forma, los protagonistas de los juegos imitan nuestros movimientos (esta captura es realmente fiel, no tendremos problemas con la respuesta del juego).

Wii puede mostrar imágenes en 480p (no las 1080 de las otras consolas), y reproduce sonido Pro Logia II (que viene a ser un sucedáneo de un 5.1). También nos permitirá jugar a nuestros títulos de Game Cube, ya que son compatibles.

En lo que a aspectos multimedia se refiere Wii, desde su canal imágenes puede reproducir tanto imágenes como archivos de música. Las imágenes las podremos modificar, tenemos algunos juegos para trucarlas y divertirnos con ellas.

La consola puede leer tarjetas SD, que se introducen en la ranura frontal, pero no lee DVD´s ni CD´s de audio.

Desde el canal “Mii” podremos crear nuestro avatar para que nos representen ante cualquier persona. Los Mii´s pueden pasarse a nuestros amigos, o introducirse como personajes en un juego.

Con los componentes de Wii poco juego nos puede dar en lo que a Internet se refiere, hay pocos juegos con prestaciones online. Hoy el más interesante es el Mario Snikers.

Tendremos (de serie) una agenda en la que podremos incluir a nuestros amigos que tengan Wii, a modo de favoritos, para poder mandarles rápidamente mensajes, archivos o Miis.

Tendremos distintos canales, que más que juegos nos proporcionaran pasatiempos, aprovechando las posibilidades online de la consola. Hay uno que nos da las noticias, o el parte meteorológico.

El modo Wii Connect, nos avisa mediante una luz azul, pese a que la consola este apagada de la llegada de nueva información procedente de la red.

Los accesorios son más bien escasos en comparación con las otras dos consolas, pero si que son asequibles, sin duda al alcance de cualquier bolsillo.

El catálogo actual es cuanto menos variado y divertido, tendremos grandes clásicos como Mario, Zelda o Metroid Prime, y alguna que otra súper novedad como Wii sports, o Wii play.

Conclusiones:

En los dos artículos anteriores os comente las características de los soportes de moda en el mercado, y esta simplemente es mi opinión personal, y para nada pretendo caer en el fenómeno del “fan boy”, pero si que tengo (a día de hoy) un soporte favorito, y este es Xbox 360, pero mucho ojo, que la victoria del Blu-Ray puede suponer un duro golpe sobre la mesa a medio y largo plazo.

Tanto Ps3 como Xbox 360 son muy similares en lo que a prestaciones se refiere, únicamente se diferencian por un mayor catálogo para la consola de Microsoft y por parte de Ps3 la posibilidad (la más económica del mercado) de tener un Blu Ray en casa. Cada soporte tiene sus títulos en exclusiva que nos podrán gustar más o menos. Pero yo, que soy un asiduo jugador premio el extenso catálogo de Xbox 360, eso si, dentro de no mucho ambas consolas estarán a la par en lo que a títulos en el mercado se refiere y ahí no se yo si se cambiaran las tornas.

En lo que se refiere a Wii, donde tiene su mayor virtud se encuentra su mayor defecto, es tan sumamente innovadora, que a gran parte de los jugadores de toda la vida no nos encaja. Yo no me veo jugando con ese estilo de control. Si que me resultaría atractivo durante un tiempo, pero no mucho. También comentar sus limitadas posibilidades técnicas. Este soporte se orienta hacia el multijugador y hacia aquellas personas que no sean grandes jugadores, aquellas personas que únicamente busque un momento de esparcimiento esporádicamente. Como ya comente en algún artículo anterior, le auguro un mal año a esta original propuesta de Nintendo.

::Fran Viejo::

::Mentes Inquietas::

Petit reportage sur le bien aimé PES: jeu sur playstation qui est devenu aux fils des années culte.

Qu’est ce que « Pro Evolution Soccer » ?
· C’est le Jeu vidéo le plus vendu en France avec plus d’1,6 millions d’exemplaires achetés . A titre de comparaison, seuls une dizaine de jeux peuvent prétendre se vendre à plus de 100.000 exemplaires par an.
· 1er produit culturel vendu en France deux années consécutives devant Harry Potter, le livre et la Trilogie Star Wars en DVD.
· Il existe autour de ce jeu un engouement phénoménal qui a permis de développer une toute nouvelle façon de jouer : la PESLeague.

Qu’est ce que la PESLeague ?
Le Championnat de France de Football virtuel ou la PESLeague est une compétition nationale et européenne sur le jeu vidéo de football Pro Evolution Soccer, parrainée par Didier DROGBA.

La PESLeague en quelques chiffres :
· 6ème édition
· 11 mois d’événement non stop tous les week-ends
· 22 000 joueurs
· Plus de 60 000 demandes de participation
· Un parrain prestigieux : Didier DROGBA
· Classement national de 18 000 joueurs type ATP, qualificatif PESLeague
· 80 clubs PES (association loi 1901) créés depuis le début de la PESLeague
· 35 reportages TV, 620 articles de presse (éditions nationales, régionales et locales)
· Finale au Stade De France

Déroulement
L’organisation met à disposition des joueurs le matériel ( jeux, écran plats, écran géant, les manettes ), la décoration, l’arbitrage des rencontres en WiFi (arbitres et logiciels de gestions de tournois), l’animation dans une ambiance festive respectant les valeurs du sport.
Les rencontres se jouent en formule Coupe du Monde par poule ( 6 joueurs ou équipes ) dans un premier temps puis par match à élimination directe.
Plusieurs catégories existent : simple ( 1vs 1) double ( 2 vs 2 ) ou même quadruple ou 96 équipes de 4 joueurs s’affrontent. Tous les supports sont concernés et mènent au Stade De France : PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, Wii et PSP. L’épreuve reine qualificative pour l’Europe est le simple PS2.

Parcours des catégories PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, et Xbox 360

Si vous souhaitez participer à une des étapes qualificatives de la PESLeague, rendez-vous sur la rubrique inscriptions (calendrier) et sélectionnez l’étape la plus proche de chez vous.
Attention les inscriptions sont ouvertes 2 mois avant la date du tournoi. Avant cette date, vous ne pouvez pas vous inscrire. Les inscriptions peuvent se faire soit :

· En ligne avec un paiement sécurisé par carte bancaire,
· Par courrier en envoyant votre bulletin (disponible ici ou dans les magasins Micromania) + votre chèque (à l’ordre de « Au Delà Du Virtuel ») + une enveloppe à votre adresse et timbré.

Adresse d’envoi :

AU DELA DU VIRTUEL, « Inscription ( ex :simple Xbox 360 + nom de l’étape choisie (ex : Rennes ).
23 rue du Commandant Jean Duhail
94120 Fontenay Sous Bois

Yes. I lost 8-1. The CPU put eight goals past me. I conceded EIGHT times in Pro Evolution Soccer---a resounding first and, I hope, a last. I don't know how I even managed to get 1. Take a look at the CPU's Shots on goal...

Now is it obvious that I've never been 'playful with the truth' by saying I'm only an average PES player? At the moment I'm not even average. I'm way below average. I'm playing terribly.

In mitigation (there isn't much), I was playing on the PSP for the first time after a long weekend on the PS2 version (played on my PS3). The game is just different enough on the two consoles for things to feel awkward immediately after a transition from one to the other.

It still doesn't excuse the scoreline. Nothing excuses it. Not even my new slimmed-down squad can really be seen as a reason why I lost 8-1. The screenshot on the left shows exactly what I see when I look for substitutes mid-game---it's scary stuff, having so few players to choose from.

But this was the first game of the season and none of my First XI---all decent players---were even tired. No excuses there.

I was hoping for a good start after having to lay off a load of players to avoid a Game Over after last season. And this is what I get. 8-1.

I also had four players sent off. It was due to my old bad habit of getting one sent off, and going a few goals behind, and trying too hard to get a goal back while defending deperately, and having another sent off, and conceding more goals, and losing all hope and discipline...

When I was 6-0 down I received my fourth red card---Handanovic, my keeper, dismissed for bringing down a Sparta player in the box. I was so befuddled and demoralised that I let Jaric go in goal for the rest of the game.

With 7 men on the pitch I did try my best to get another one sent off and the game abandoned. Would the CPU have been awarded 'only' a 3-0 win? I never got to find out. The CPU scored another two goals, and I somehow got a consolation goal, and that was humiliatingly that.

At times in PES you just have to lick your wounds and get on with it. I played game 2 of the new season straightaway. Things couldn't get any worse. Could they?

It was tricky to field a team. Four of my players were suspended. Lehmann stepped into goal. Don't get him sent off whatever you do, I told myself. I had to play Che Hyon-Hon at left back.

With my trimmed-down team and squad, I dug deep. I concentrated. I defended with discipline and care , and ground out a precious 2-1 victory.

I'm 6th in the table, just 3 points from the top, although my goal difference is naturally the worst in Division 2 by a long way. I could still do something this season, I think. But will those 8 goals conceded cost me at season's end?

Hier gibts die Eindrücke zu PES

Quelle:Wiiz.fr

But then I lost my second game to RC Strasbourg (yet another bogey team candidate). The score? 1-5. Oh dear...

The pattern for me and PES2008 on PSP/PS2 is becoming clear.

Either I concentrate and defend properly---standing off attackers, bringing across a second defender, executing perfect sliding challenges, shepherding the CPU away from danger areas---and thus keep a clean sheet, or I cave in after I concede just one goal, and go on to concede a hatful of goals.

It's all to do with my current lack of patience that I mentioned a few days ago.

When I go 1-0 down in this last-gen version of the game, my next-gen version instincts kick in and I start to play as if this PSP/PS2 version is the same quasi-arcadey mess that the PS3/360 game was and is. (Sorry to all fans of next-gen PES2008. This is just my opinion, of course.)

I tear forward recklessly, losing the ball often and inviting the pressure that leads to the hatfuls of CPU goals.

I need to wake up and accept that I'm not playing the PS3 version any more. The PSP/PS2 version is a 'proper' PES game, i.e. there has to be some semblance of realistic football gameplay involved.

In the end it does all come down to that one word: patience. Before this year I had it in abundance for nigh on 7 years of continuous PES gaming. And then the so-called next generation came along and I unlearned all of my patience---the core of my PES nous, if you will. I need to relearn it again, in full, and fast.

I had three games remaining and I lost them all in the worst way possible: miserably. I wasn't even close to getting a result in any of them, not even any of the trusty 0-0 draws which have seen me through many a bad patch in many a Master League.

I'm getting concerned about my PES2008 incompetence. I've had the game for two weeks now---first the PSP version, then the PS2 version. By now I should have picked things up, mastered the basics, and be able consistently to get results.

I think I know the problem. Playing next-gen PES2008 for several months has taught me bad habits. Chief among the bad habits is impatience. When I have the ball I want to get the ball forward and score goals quickly. You can do that on next-gen PES2008. You can do that on last-gen PES2008 as well, although not in the same way, and not reliably---you have to be patient a lot of the time. I never had to be patient at all on next-gen PES2008. That game was made for scoring goals in abundance, whereas the last-gen version is---thankfully---more subtle, and more in keeping with the traditions of PES.

I have learned impatience, and I need to unlearn it.

Moving onto the main negotiation period, pre-season 2010, I'm not too bothered about getting new players, but I will get some. I think my squad is good enough to get promoted, if I can just approach the games in the right way.

I'm really suffering from having played a far, far easier game for the past 5 months. I've said numerous times on this blog that I was always just an average PES player. Returning to the game's roots here on the PSP/PS2 version has reinforced that. Now all I have to do is fully exorcise my demons (i.e. next-gen PES2008).

I drew 1-1 with Strasbourg. I was 0-1 down for almost the entire game. I got the equaliser in the 87th minute with Garcia. It was the culmination of a nice dribble and lay-off from Podolski. The CPU defenders were starting to swarm him and I thought the chance was slipping away. I was delighted with the goal and the result.

But I can't seem to get any kind of run going on this game yet. I lost the next game 0-1 against Mallorca.

They got their goal thanks to the single most annoying feature of PES2008. Often when I put in a good tackle, win the ball, and send the CPU player sprawling with the ball sitting out in the open, I expect my player to be controllable and to be able to get the ball and then pass it or dribble away with it. There's certainly enough time. But no. My player just stands there, unable to be controlled for the vital split-second that it takes the CPU player to recover and retrieve the ball.

It was after such a tackle that Mallorca swept upfield and got their goal. I was fuming, but what can you do? This is PES. We've now had to put up with it for several versions.

Perhaps PES2009 will see a tackled CPU player stay tackled. Total Player Control should be the next big thing for PES. The mythical Teamvision should be kicked well and truly into touch.

My position in the league is shocking. After three seasons I'd expect to be at least challenging for promotion. I have grounds to believe that next season I could do so. In the recent games that I've lost, I've put up a better fight, shipped less goals and created more chances.

Three more games to go. It's all about preparing for next season now. I have 11000-odd points in the bank and my end-of-season salary will be 10000-odd. If I get rid of my surplus Default players I'll have a few thousand points to play with. I think I'll pick up some quality youngsters---two or three should suffice---as well as a couple of experienced heads from the ever-faithful Openness To Negotiation list.

I can't beat them. Even if I'm 1-0 up and it looks as if I will beat them, they'll score two or three goals with seeming effortlessness, and beat me. Being in a small league I seem to be playing them every few minutes.

They're also my current Cup opponents. I'm pretty sore about the first leg. I was 1-0 up, at home, until almost the end of the game. Then somehow ended up losing it 1-2. How the---? I don't know how I let that happen, but it'll make the second leg---which I'll play sometime later today---very interesting. I'll need to score at least two goals, against my bogey team, in a game that I'm still learning.

Last-gen PES2008 plays a sublime game of football. I have to mention the speed of the game. When I tried to get back into PES5 a few months ago, one of the factors that ultimately turned me off it was what that it seemed just too fast for me. I'm happy to report that I don't find this to be the case at all with the PSP/PS2 version of PES2008. I think a lot of this satisfaction has to do with me not playing the ultra-slow-paced FIFA08 so much nowadays. (It's been two or three weeks since I last played FIFA08.)

Slowly I'm picking up what can and cannot be done in PES2008. (Pretty soon I'm going to drop the last-gen/next-gen thing and just call it PES2008.) At the moment, defending cannot be done. The CPU attacks me with pace and deadly passing and I'm all over the place at the back.

For me, this PES2008 is effectively an all-new PES game---and I'm delighted with it. It might be March, but in PES terms it feels like October. My PES year has been saved.

But I should have done with it what I usually do with a new PES game every October: just play Exhibitions and Tournaments for several days until I feel I've got the measure of things.

When the PSP version landed on my doormat a couple of weeks ago I skipped the preamble and jumped straight into a Master League. On Top Player. It was a mistake to do that, but having done it I don't want to undo it. I'm having a great time in PES again.

In the league I've played a couple more games: won 1, lost 1. The one I lost? Yes, it was against Valenciennes...

At least that solitary victory---a 1-0 win with an explosive centre-forward's header from Podolski from the edge of the box---has lifted me off the foot of Division 2.

Due to certain circumstances of my life at the moment (a big personal project that's taking up 95% of my free time) I didn't have the chance to play it until late last night. First I was very disappointed to find that the pre-owned disc was excessively dusty and smudged with somebody's great big thumbprint on one edge. Grrr. I hate it when I have to clean a pre-owned disc. Hate it!

After running a cloth over the surface it seemed decent enough to be put into my PS3. I started to play.

And I'm still very impressed by the so-called last-gen PES2008. It strikes me as being a better game than PES6---almost, I have to say, on a par with PES5.

Sprinting has been toned right down---the CPU is much more capable of stopping you now. It's tougher to make space in the middle of the pitch and run and shoot. Shooting has also become ultra-sensitive. You only have to feather the shoot button to fire rockets at the goal---or, more commonly for me right now, at Row Z behind the goal...

All in all, the PSP version and this PS2 version are indeed identical games---as they darn well should be, what with the transferability between the two. That function is an absolute godsend for me. Due to that big personal project I mentioned, I could probably only play the game at home for an hour or two every week. Thus I can see many exciting bus journeys and work breaks in the months to come...

Transferring my fledgling Master League career from the PSP to my PS3 was the work of moments. All that was needed was to connect the two consoles with a USB cable, and select the relevant options in both games, and it was all done in about 2 seconds.

I played two games, losing the first one 1-0---unluckily, I thought. I also lost the second game, against Real Mallorca, 3-1. I took a pounding in this game. It has to be said: I am nowhere near being properly up to speed on last-gen PES2008.

My goal was pretty special, for what it's worth. Here's Camacho, playing as DMF for the day, scoring a classic DMF goal:

A nice goal, and I was happy to score it. I laughed out loud and punched the air. (It was unlike my tepid, so-what reactions to even the most 'extraordinary' moments during my latter weeks on next-gen PES2008.)

It's my third season of this career. I've played four games. I've lost them all and I'm bottom of the league. This is disgraceful. I should be embarrassed, and I am embarrassed. I'll need to turn things around quickly, or face an unprecedented fourth season in the lower division.

I've been playing the PSP version for over a week now. I'm in my third season in a new Master League career. Thankfully the career is transferable to the PS2 version, which I'll be playing on my PS3. Hopefully there'll be no difficulty with the transfer.

I'm playing as Coventry City again. (I started out on next-gen PES2008 as Coventry City.)

As ever, I took over PES United and edited everything except the badge. I changed the name to Coventry City and the kit to a lovely all-Sky Blue colour. I went with all-white for the away kit.

I started out poorly. There seems to be a pattern with me and PES2008, whatever the version. It seems to take me many seasons to get to grips with the game. It has to be said that I have really, really struggled with the Default squad this year---much more so than in previous years.

In my first season I finished a predictable rock-bottom of the eight-team Division 2. I scored a paltry, laughable, embarrassing 3 goals in 14 games. I lost one game 6-0. I didn't have a clue. I'm just about to start my third season and I'm still in Division 2. In many ways it's business as usual...

PES2008 on the PSP and PS2 is a very different game from the one I've been playing for the past 5 months. It's like playing a brand-new release right here in March, almost the middle of the PES year. Konami should release different versions for different consoles every year. Then PES junkies could experience the real pleasure of exploring a new PES game more than once a year.

I can't wait to get the PS2 version playing on my big screen. Next-gen PES2008 was a painful experience for me in so many ways.

I'll be updating the side bar with the new Master League team information tomorrow. For now, here's a taster of my latest pre-season 3 transfer activity: I got Yamada. I GOT YAMADA.

It's probably not an exaggeration to say that next-gen PES2008 is one of the most dismaying things in the whole world, ever. The fact that I played it for a couple of months is a testament to my powers of self-deception.

I'm currently giving the last-gen version a try-out on the PSP. If I like what I find, I'll get the PS2 version (from a bargain bucket; Konami and Team Seabass will not get another penny out of me this year).

I'm liking what I've found so far. Thankfully, wonder-dribbling is nowhere to be found. It's what I think of as a proper PES game. I'm halfway through my second season in a Master League career with Coventry City. If I do make the transition to the PS2 version, I'll be able to transfer this career over to it from the PSP, and back again, as often as I like. It'll also become the main focus for this blog.

At the moment it's almost certain that I'll be doing this. I've found no drawbacks on the PSP version that would stop me. The CPU teams are super-aggressive, and infuriatingly prone at times to forcing their way through my entire defence---with every ball-bobble bobbling back to them---but that's okay.

The only slight concern I have is that the PS2 version on my PS3 might cause me a small amount of graphical snobbery. Despite the next-gen version's awful gameplay, it does have decent next-gen HD graphics. They're not great---more PS2.5 than PS3---but they are considerably better than PS2 graphics. A few months back when I tried to revive my love of PES5, its terrible-looking graphics---all chalky and grainy---were one of the reasons I couldn't get back into it.

But I'm having no trouble playing the PSP version with great enjoyment. Come the moment of slipping the PS2 disc into my PS3, I'll be okay.... After I spend a moment or two sulkily wondering why I had to go and spend £400 on a next-gen console just to end up playing a PS2 game on it (curse you, Seabass!).

I don't think I will ever get over the fact that next-gen PES2008 was and is a disaster. I'm traumatised for life. There's nowhere to even begin to try to convey the extent of my feelings of betrayal, loss, disappointment, anger, and frustration. It was supposed to be the greatest-ever PES. It was supposed to be the reason to buy a PS3. It turned out to be easily the worst PES game ever, and barely deserving of the name. I, for one, still cannot believe it has happened. Why, why, why?

I'm still playing the PSP version every day with great enjoyment. Another few days should confirm for me whether or not my first impressions---that this is the quintessence of PES, and the game that the next-gen version should have been---are lasting impressions.

I'm going to give it until Tuesday of next week and then make the final decision. That's another 6 days, and it'll make it 11 days in total that I've played the PSP version. That's plenty of time to determine whether the last-gen version has the depth and longevity that I need. (If I decide against it then I won't have a PES game at all this year.)

I disagree with some people---on PESfan and elsewhere---who say that PES2008 on the PSP is basically just PES6 with new box art. I notice dozens of differences---some subtle, some not-so-subtle.

For me the biggest changes have come in shooting and in AI aggressiveness. There are at least as many differences as there have been between successive games in the past. I was never one who complained too much (really!) about the changes, or alleged lack of them, between PES4/PES5, PES5/PES6. Yes, I can see how many people thought that each of those games were only minor updates to each other; that the cumulative changes were not big enough to justify whole new games; that we were being taken for a ride by the corporate whores of Konami. Maybe we were. But it was a ride I very much wanted to be on at the time.

The same goes for PES2008 on PSP (and, presumably, PS2). Yes, in many ways it is PES6 with a lick of paint and new menus. But I played PES6 on this console just last week, and the game is different---different enough, in my opinion, to warrant the new name.

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An acknowledgement of yesterday's crass mistake: I said that I was in a 12-team division in the PSP version. Of course, Division 2 in the PSP Master League is an 8-team division, not 12. My bad.

I don't know how I made such a mistake. I have been paying attention to the game's menu screens, honest. Perhaps it was because I finished rock bottom in my first ML season and I'm not doing too much better in my second season: maybe I want there to be 12 teams in the division and for me not to look so bad? Who knows.

The so-called last-gen version of PES is the true version. It's where the action will be, if it'll be anywhere, from now until PES2009. (And if PES2009 is just an updated next-gen PES2008? I don't even want to think about it.)

I regret starting my PSP Master League on Top Player. Last-gen PES2008 is a wholly different game from next-gen PES2008---different passing, different shooting, different tackling, different through-balls. Everything is different. I already knew this before I started, but after playing a few warm-up games I confess that I thought I could handle it.

I'm not handling it at the moment. I'm mid-table (in a league of 12) in the middle of my second season. I get pummelled in every game, lose most of them 1-0, and have only scored about 6 goals in an entire season and a half so far!

The CPU seems to be extraordinarily aggressive in PES2008. It'll snap at any loose balls, regardless of whether you have a player in between or not. It's also pretty skilful, and has scored some great goals. I rarely post CPU goals on this blog, but I had to post this one:

A 35-yard volley from a cleared corner. I'd have been proud of that goal. The CPU scores long-range shots against me for fun in the PSP version of PES2008---something I am very happy to see. The better the CPU opposition, the happier I am, and the more longevity the game will have.

There are some downers. Here's some shocking collision detection, as showcased by my goalkeeper:

What's remarkable about this clip is how unremarkable this kind of thing has come to seem. Collision detection in PES2008 (all flavours) is as bad as it has ever been in the franchise's history. When did PES players just start to accept things like this as being normal?

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The competitive league season of Football Manager Live (Beta) has started today. I'm about to play my first proper game, after several days of largely meaningless (but useful) friendlies.

My team's profile in the game is pretty poor. Most of the other new players were cannier than I---they spent a longer time exploring the menus on Day 1 of the Beta. FM Live uses a database of real players, not made-up ones. Everyone else found all the good players before I knew where to look. I played a friendly last night against a guy who had David Beckham and Gilberto in his team, among others. My best player is a non-entity striker called Robbie Simpson. It's still too early for me to know how I can go about catching up, but I'm sure there is a way.

POSTSCRIPT:

Doh. The season starts tonight, not this morning. I won't play my first proper game until tomorrow morning, Thurs 6th March. FM Live features a host of playing options suited to the time of day you can play. Due to my working hours and other commitments, I joined a daytime league where I can play all of my games in the mornings.

When I was logged on just now I took the opportunity to play another friendly. I was 1-2 down going into the last few minutes. I rejigged my formation to beef up the midfield, and instructed my players to start thumping long balls into the box. It worked, and I came away with a 2-2 draw despite being the inferior team. I think I am going to love FM Live.

This time I mean it. I did try the House Rules route, which extended the game's life for a while, but the quality of the game is just too poor to sustain a long campaign until the next release.

It's the first time this has ever happened to me. Every year since there's been a PES I've played it solidly, almost every day, for the whole PES year.

Perhaps that is my problem with next-gen PES2008: playing every day. I know there are many people still playing the game with great enjoyment. I suspect they're playing occasionally, as their routines permit, perhaps a couple of games once or twice a week. Perhaps my daily play habits did not do the game, or me, any favours.

My opinion on it is only my opinion, but I believe that PES2008 on the PlayStation3 is a disgrace to the PES name and should never have seen the light of day. It's a decent enough football game in its own right---I played it for over a hundred hours---but it's a shockingly poor excuse for a PES game.

So it looks like I picked the wrong year to start a PES blog. Ouch. What is to be done now? I've just got the PSP version of the game, which offers a way out if I want it: back to the last-gen version.

I've been playing it over the weekend and it seems very, very solid indeed. After getting well and truly burned with the next-gen version I'm understandably cautious to rush to final judgement. But it's looking good.

I might---just might---get myself a copy of the PS2 game (from a bargain bucket so that Seabass & co. don't get another penny of my money). I might keep the daily PES habit going that way. It depends on me continuing to find the PSP version playable over a longer period. I'm going to give it a week or two and a few Master League seasons. I'm already in season 2 of a career with Coventry City. The gameplay is so utterly different that I'm having to (re)learn PES all over again. I'm loving it.

As well as the PSP/PS2 version of PES2008 to fall back on, I have several other football games that I could devote space to: Football Manager 2008, Football Manager Live, FIFA08, LMA Manager 2007, and even Sensible Soccer on XBLA. In particular I am very, very excited about Football Manager Live. The competitive season starts tomorrow (it's been all friendly matches until now) and Beta testing will start in earnest.

I don't know where the future will take me or this blog, but one place it will never take me---as God is my witness---is back to the semen stain on the fabric of reality that is next-gen PES2008.

That mood is not helped by the arrival of the comparatively excellent PSP version. This version, although 'last-gen', strikes me as being quintessentially PES-like. It's true to its roots. The 'next-gen' version is... well, I don't know what it is, but it ain't PES.

I've been entranced by the PSP version over the weekend. After playing my usual test games against Scotland and Germany, I skipped the customary warm-up tournament and jumped straight into a Master League career.

Naturally, I started my new Master League with the Default players on Top Player. My players are terrible and I'm finding the difficulty to be formidable. Am I some kind of masochist? What possessed me to start ML with the Default players again? On Top Player? Sheesh.

The scripting in this last-gen version of the game seems, if anything, more overt and more annoying than the next-gen one. All versions of the game over the past few years have featured a phenomenon I will call CCOP, or CPU Continuity of Possession.

This is where the CPU will maintain possession in and around your penalty area no matter how heroically you defend, no matter how many blocking tackles you make, no matter how clearly it seems that you've finally cleared the ball and/or won back possession. The CPU will always get the ball back immediately and keep the little spell of pressure going and there's nothing you can do about it.

In Master League the length of time the CPU can get away with this is relative to the quality of your players and the difficulty level. (And, allegedly, how good you are at the game...)

At least I'm playing as Coventry City again in a Master League that I enjoy. Being in a second division with just 12 teams again is also very fine. The first transfer window rolls around just when you're starting to get bored with losing 0-1 to goals conceded in the last five minutes. I got Camacho again. And I just signed Podolski in the end-of-season window. Whoo-hoo, etc.

PSP loading times are less annoying that before, but they're still annoying. The most annoying blank screens are the ones that come during a match when the game takes an infuriating time to load a yellow card or a substitution cut-scene, or even just a free kick scenario.

Why don't they simply remove all of the cut-scenes for the PSP versions of this game? Watching your own distorted reflection in the blank screen (is that really me) and listening to the UMD drive grinding away for several seconds is not what I signed up for here. Yes, it is only several seconds each time, and it is less than in previous PSP versions of the game, but they all still add up.

Over the course of a game with 5 bookings, say, and a couple of injuries, you're looking at a total of a few minutes of time wasted loading up (IMO) redundant cut scenes. Just drop them completely next year. No one'll miss them.

And then getting back to the main menu after completing a game takes a grand total of 80 seconds each time (I counted). Grrrr.

It should be borne in mind here that my PSP is a launch-day model from 2005. I understand that the latest PSPs feature improved UMD drives with much better loading times. Despite all of this signature moaning from me, the loading times for PES2008 on the PSP are still a lot better than before and not an issue for me right now.

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Now I'm faced with a dilemma regarding this blog.

Do I make the leap to the PSP version permanently, or do I go back and give the PS3 version another chance?

I hate the PS3 version now---make no mistake about it: I HATE THE PS3 VERSION OF PES2008.

But I can't imagine myself blogging long-term about the PSP version---not unless I also get the PS2 version to complement it, and transfer my Master League career back and forth to...

Decisions, decisions.

First I decided that the next-gen version of PES2008 actually makes me want to cry with sorrow for a potentially great game (you can kind of see what they were trying to do with it) gone horrifically bad (the sprint button is an 'endow my players with superhuman abilities' button).

Second, wondering what the hell to do with my gaming time and this blog, I received a timely email invitation to the ongoing Beta test of Football Manager Live. I was more than happy to accept. After several hours on FM Live now, I can report that this is potentially a superb translation of Football Manager into the MMOG form, and an absolute must-have game (and a must-play game) for any football fan. The world it creates around you, your team, and all of the other managers and teams is truly startling. I should have plenty more to report on Sunday.

Third, my copy of PES2008 on the PSP arrived at just after 10 a.m. yesterday (Friday).

Any PES fan worth his salt has to approach the game on the PSP with a lot of caution and a hefty dollop of scepticism. A couple of years ago, one of the main reasons to get a PSP was in anticipation of PES's hotly-anticipated debut on the new handheld console. (Does that story sound familiar to any PlayStation3 owners out there?)

PES5 and PES6 on the PSP were both disappointing efforts. PES5 in particular was a shocker: no Wide camera, and no Master League. PES6 partly made up for the disappointment with the inclusion of the Wide camera, and a kind of Master League... But with no player development, there was little point in playing it.

Now, with PES2008 on the PSP, everything that's in the 'big' PES on its parent console (the PS2) is in the handheld version. (How does that familiar saying go? "If it's in the [PS2] game, it's in the [PSP] game."? Yes, something like that...)

How does it play? It plays like a dream. I love it. I've spent the past few months playing PES6 on the PSP quite a lot, and I can see and feel a pretty huge difference between the two games. PES2008 on PSP is the PES game that we should have got two years ago.

(Has it really taken Team Seabass this long to get to grips with the PSP hardware? Hopefully they won't have to go through a similar learning curve with the next-gen consoles---especially the PS3.)

One of the major plus-points for this 'last-gen' version is the camera panning feature, a glaring omission from the next-gen effort. It is so much more pleasurable and intuitive to play PES with the camera anchored near the halfway line and turning to face either end of the pitch, rather than scooting up and down the touchline from box to box as it does on PS3/360/PC.

A wider view of the penalty area and the net seems to enable a better, more languid style of play. It definitely enables more and better kinds of shots on goal.

Here's a goal replay. It's from my second game, England vs Germany on Professional difficulty. The scorer is Lampard:

A pretty special goal that had me stifling a shout when it flew in. I don't think I could have scored that goal in that way in the next-gen version, with its restricted, cramped gameplay around the box---or if I could have scored it, there's no way it would have looked as good. It's all in the angle for me.

So I'm loving the PSP version of the game. With its connectivity to the PS2 version I'm sorely tempted to buy the PS2 version and make this so-called last-gen PES my PES for the rest of this year.

On the one hand I don't want to reward Seabass & co. for their shoddy, unprofessional, and deeply cynical next-gen product; but on the other hand it'd be money well spent, and I'd buy it second-hand anyway. I'd bet it's only £10-£15 in some bargain buckets around town. Seabass and his evil corporate cohorts wouldn't see a penny of the cost.

But I'll give it a while. After getting burned by the next-gen version following a similar enthusiastic start, I'm actually suspicious of PES. Curse you, Seabass. Look what you went and did.

I'll start a PSP Master League, play a season or two, and see how the land lies. For now, though, I couldn't be happier with this game if it came with a groinal stimulation attachment.

I spent the day mooching about on the computer. In mid-afternoon I was happy to receive a confirmation e-mail from Amazon telling me that my PSP copy of PES2008 has dispatched.

At least that's something, I thought. I have high hopes for the PSP version of the game---maybe it'll save my PES year. Something's got to save it, because next-gen PES2008 might never see the inside of my PS3 again. Seriously.

So the approach of the PSP version was a bonus. I felt slightly cheered up, and then in the early evening I received another email:

About four months ago (not 'recently' as the mail claims) I put my name down to be a Beta tester on the forthcoming Football Manager Live. And then promptly forgot all about it. Until yesterday afternoon, when the above invitation landed in my inbox.

As well as the expected Terms & Conditions (please don't ask me for a download link and a password), there was a pdf. guide. The first paragraph contains a very concise, in-a-nutshell description of what FM Live is:

I downloaded the client---a very quick download and a trouble-free installation. A couple more emails and secret passwords later, and I was playing. I was playing Football Manager Live!

At the time of writing I've only spent about 40 minutes in the game. I plan to spend a lot more today and over the weekend.

That 40 minutes was long enough for me to set up a manager profile; choose a team and customise its name, appearance and home stadium; acquire a full 22-player squad; choose an initial formation and some basic tactics; and, of course, play a friendly game against another human opponent. (The full competitive season doesn't get underway until next week.)

My human opponent was a Dutchman who, like me, had received his invitation email less than an hour previously. We sent our teams out onto the virtual pitch and watched the action. Attentive readers of this blog will know that the regular Football Manager game is a little too taxing for my PC and causes it to reboot at random. So I was worried how FM Live would perform, especially during the 2D matches. But the FM Live client seems to be a touch 'lighter'---in terms of system resources used---than its bigger, older sibling.

I won my game and went back out into the game world lobby, which was rapidly filling up with new and excited players. Doubtless I was one of several hundred new Beta testers, most of whom would be discovering their invitation emails and logging on over the course of the evening.

Anybody who has played any recent version of Football Manager won't have any trouble finding their way around the FM Live menus. Everything from the main game is in the online game. The tactics screens---for the team and for individual players---are exactly the same. Ditto the player transfer screen.

All in all I am very impressed. The FM Live interface is clean, intuitive, and compelling. You want to do more, discover more, see more. Unlike most MMOG experiences, the other players seem to be a sensible, mature lot. I'm not saying that I dislike the kids who inhabit most other MMOGs that I've played. Just that their brand of 'OMFG u suk!' interaction isn't to my taste...

It was perhaps the most intriguing 40 minutes I've spent on an online game in a very long time. I'm looking forward to sampling some more of that world later today and over the weekend. And with a bit of luck my PSP version of PES2008 will turn up in today's post. After being almost in the pit of despair yesterday, happy days are here again.