PES 2010 Announced News

Japanese publisher Konami has officially announced PES 2010, which will be released on PS3, Xbox 360, PC, PSP, and PS2 this coming autumn and is set to improve on a number of the features in last year's title.

By making some new additions to PES Productions' backroom staff in Tokyo, Konami is now able to promise a greater commitment to providing downloadable content for PES 2010, a strategy that has been introduced this year with team license and transfer updates for PES 2009.

Other new features include an official license for next season's Europa League (which will take over from the UEFA Cup next year), while Konami will also continue to offer a UEFA Champions League license through PES 2010 as well.

In terms of gameplay, improvements have been made that incorporate better zonal defending, more versatile goalkeepers with more realistic performances, and smarter referee AI (no more condoning of ankle-tappers please).

Konami is stating that significant improvements have been made to the visuals and animations for PES 2010 including better lighting and more individual player skills, although Konami say that every year - we might have to wait and see unfortunately.

Equally, crowd reactions and commentary have also seemingly been reworked with a stronger emphasis on fans responding to events on the pitch, although it's difficult to tell exactly how far reaching these improvements will be.

Master League will get a longer career lifespan and Konami is promising further enhancements to the mode as well, although they're not announcing them quite yet so you'll have to stay tuned for that.

In terms of the AI, the big story this year will be the implementation of Teamvision 2.0, which will apparently encourage midfielders and attackers to actively close down space and provide cover for defenders.

This new Teamvision iteration will also provide more options when attacking from a freekick. Before the kick is taken, gamers will now have control over the sort of runs that attacking players make into the box.

Konami is also touting "Individual Play Characteristics", which will provide stronger ties between gameplay and player stats. For example, more AI players will flock into the box if the player delivering a cross has high crossing stats, or defenders will try and force strong dribblers onto their weak side.

On the strategy side of things, a new power gauge system will allow gamers to tweak tactics such as pass frequency, movement, and line of defence more finely from the formation settings menu. Konami is promising that this year's PES will mark a return to the series' simulation roots.

In a change that should arguably have been made years ago, PES Productions is working on the game's penalty system this year and aims to improve a gamer's control over placing and accuracy during pens.

"We have been monitoring feedback and comments on the progression of the PES series for some time now, and PES 2010 will see us implementing a great deal of the ideas players have been requesting," commented Naoya Hatsumi, Producer for PES Productions at Konami Digital Entertainment Japan. "We aim to make PES 2010 a more user-friendly, immediate experience that places the emphasis on getting straight into the gameplay for which the series is famed. PES 2010 will look better, will play better, and will recreate real football as closely as the current hardware will allow."

"The preparations for PES 2010 have been in place for some time now, with the reorganization and increase of the Tokyo-based studio allowing expert teams to concentrate on their particular area," commented Jon Murphy, PES European Team Leader. "We are now in a better position to implement the greatest raft of changes and improvements to the series we have seen, and thank the PES community for their input."
 
Finally, as with PES 2009, this year's poster boy for the game will be Lionel Messi.