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Dissecting the Next Iteration of Winning Eleven
What's brilliant, what's missing and what's next?
By Todd Zuniga, 02/09/2007
For so many footie fanatics, Winning Eleven is a religion -- and each new release is met with thrilled enthusiasm. The game's commitment to subtle gameplay tweaks over back of the box fireworks has worked for years, but will soccer gamer's have the same patience as the game moves to next-gen? We chatted with Colin Ferris, the game's Associate Product Manager on the present and future of the beautiful (playing) game.
Todd Zuniga: Winning Eleven Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 -- quite a title, length-wise! That mixes both the European title and the Japanese title into one lengthy titled package: why the change?
Colin Ferris: We felt a need to differentiate from the Winning Eleven product released in Japan, for a couple reasons. First, they release in the early summer with a much different product -- mostly based on the Japanese and Korean leagues. Second, Pro Evolution Soccer is so successful in Europe and with soccer fans worldwide, so we wanted US fans to know that they were getting the best of the best. And finally, we were rapidly approaching Winning Eleven 11 and Winning Eleven 12, which just gets confusing.
As for the title length, don't forget that Winning Eleven 8 was officially titled 'World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International,' just most people didn't use the full title.
TZ:The game's making its Xbox 360 debut, which is thrilling for lots of hardcore soccer fans -- what were you able to do with the extra development time, as this released three months after FIFA 07?
CF:We were focused on giving the best soccer experience on the next-gen and building a whole new game engine from the ground up. This is not simply a port of our PS2 version -- we wanted to start over for this generation.
TZ:In terms of beating the competition, what's the WEPES2007 development team most proud of in this installment?
CF:The team loves what we've been able to accomplish on the 360. In fact, all the screens and videos we have used for marketing the 360 version have been created using the in-game engine. There's no need to touch up the video when it looks this good.
TZ:For years FIFA has always had the licensing edge over you guys, and while they have my favorite team (Chelsea) and you guys sort of do (North London Blue, right?) you guys win out on number of teams: 179 to 154. Plus, you did include Zinedine Zidane, even though he retired after the World Cup (I'm overjoyed about this, as I'm a France fan, by the way). The biggest win, though, in my eyes, was the inclusion of all of the World Cup teams -- while FIFA left eight of those teams out. So, I'm guessing you guys sit around playing Angola versus Iran, high-fiving how you -- at least mildly -- beat FIFA at their own game, yeah?
CF:We work hard on including the licenses for the teams we know our fans want. We are very happy with the licensing successes we've had in recent years.
TZ:Speaking of licenses, one massive gripe I have to call out is the lack of the USA National team license (meaning the players all have goofy names) for a US release! What gives?
这段搞笑 意思是质问KONAMI工作人员：作为一款美版的实况 为什么连我们国家队的球员实名都没有呢！（我们用自己国家队的时候看到的都是一群白痴的名字）你们怎么解释？（笑：也不想想 谁让你们当年不注意环境卫生 随随便便就在人家家里扔了两个原子弹呢）
CF:As with all sports games, licensing is always difficult. In the case of soccer, you have the leagues, the teams, and the team's sponsors all to deal with. Do we get everything we want? Absolutely not, otherwise every single team in the world would be in the game. However, we are very focused on increasing the presence of North American teams in the game. Personally, the addition of Argentina in WE: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 is one of my favorite new teams to play with.
TZ:As for gameplay, that's always been where Winning Eleven shines with fantastic control. I noticed that the ball played a lot looser on the 360, which was far more realistic, and truly separated players like Ronaldhino from, say, Claudio Reyna. When games go to a new generation of consoles, everyone throws around "built from the ground up" -- but is that what's happened here?
CF:We truly did build the 360 version from the ground up. I'll repeat: this is not a port of the PS2 game. Besides amazing graphics, the next generation of consoles allows us to get more realistic in terms of physics and gameplay. In order to take full advantage of new features in coming versions for next generation, the development team felt the need to start over and not burden themselves with code designed for the last generation. Pro Evolution Soccer is the best soccer series in the world, and you don't keep that position without planning for the future. We always plan on how to make the game bigger and better for our fans.
TZ:Gripe Alert: in the 360 version the player's hair and jerseys have no life to them -- the shirts don't move -- the players have used some serious hairspray to get that helmet-like hold. In FIFA 07, they've got this cloth and hair technology nailed. It only shows up in close-ups, but this is what the next-gen tech offers, and it didn't happen for you guys this year. Why not?
CF:While the potential for such features is there and we always look to incorporate as many beautiful graphical touches as we can in the game, the designers are focused on one thing: the gameplay. When playing a soccer game, what's more important: smooth and realistic gameplay or making sure the jersey and hair flop properly in the closeups? I'll pick gameplay any day of the week.
TZ:Your PS2 version of this game is simply better than ever, hence my 9.5 score on 1up. Plus, the new International Challenge is brilliant! Can you talk about the future of the series on PS2 -- is this the swan song?
CF:While not the swan song, we definitely didn't want the PS2 version to be lost in all the next-generation hype. Every year we try out new features, the best of which get incorporated into future versions. International Challenge is a mode that the designers have been thinking about for a long time, we're glad you like it. The PS2 has been the core platform for Pro Evolution Soccer for many years and we have built quite a following for it. We're not ready to leave those fans yet.
（上面两段能看懂：意思是问PES2007会是PS2版本的绝唱吗？答：不会 我们希望PS2不要错过任何下一款实况作品）
TZ:Speaking of the Sony, what's the plan for PS3 -- is 2008 going to be the Winning Eleven PES debut, or should we expect a 2007 version?
CF:WE: PES 2007 will not be released on the PS3, but Konami does support all the next generation consoles. You'll have to wait and see for future announcements.
TZ:Okay, there are 32 stadiums on PS2, only eight on 360. The editing of team names, and player's physical characteristics isn't available on next-gen. And there's no way to save my wonder-stunner goals. That's some serious strippage. Instead of asking why, can you promise me that not only will I be able to save my best goals in the 2008 version of the game, but that I'll be able to put them online for other people to ogle?
CF:What I can promise is that the current 360 version is our first step into the next-generation. Think of it as the first stone in our next-generation foundation. Now that we've accomplished bringing the award-winning soccer gameplay to the next-generation, we have the best base on which to make the game bigger and better every year.
TZ:Alright, it's no fun to end on a serious note in terms of the 360 (especially as I love the game--gave it an 8.0 on 1up/EGM), so I'll end on a life and death note: Who's going to win the Premiership title in real life, Chelsea or Manchester United, and why?
CF:Even though they lost a great game to Arsenal a couple weeks ago, I'm going to have to place my bet on Manchester United. With the lead they have and the solid play they ve been showing, I think its Man U's title to lose. In the end, I just want a good end to the season and to be able to watch at least the finals on an HD TV in the US. One can always dream...
恩 全文如上 小弟E文实在太寒了 哪位高人有兴趣的话翻译一下阿:bz13:
PS：用金山词霸对了一个多小时 才翻了一半（翻的很差大家见谅） 有高人的话帮着翻一下吧
分析下一款实况
有哪些闪光点 哪些不足 下一款究竟会怎么样？
对许多实况狂热爱好者来说 实况就是一种信仰----接下来的一些看不懂 最后他说请来了KONAMI产品经理Colin Ferris一起聊聊关于实况的一些情况
Todd Zuniga:Winning Eleven Pro Evolution Soccer 2007名字不伦不类 等于把欧洲和日本实况的名字加在一起了 为什么要这样呢？
Colin Ferris:我们感觉应当把美洲发行的实况和日本发行的的实况加以区别开来(原来美洲和日本都叫winning eleven)有两个理由：1、亚洲发行的早 而且多为日语和韩语 2、PES早已享誉欧洲 我们希望美国玩家知道我们的实况产品占尽优势(估计指的是相对FIFA...)而且最后也是最重要的是:我们将在以后迅速的发布实况11和实况12 这样就避免搞混了(实况11也是07年出 这样就和WE2007区别开了)还有大家别以为PES2007名字长 相当年WE8的名字还要长呢（Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International）只是多数人都简单的称为WE而已
TZ：作为首款登陆XBOX360的实况 哪些地方可以吸引那些真正的足球玩家呢？作为一款比FIFA07晚出3个月的游戏 你们是否在程序上做了一些额外的调整呢？
CF：我们致力于给大家最好的游戏体验 在下一作中我们将彻底采用全新的游戏引擎 而不是简单的移植下PS2的版本 我们将结束这一代引擎的使用（妈的你这代游戏内核从实况7用到现在了 早该换引擎了）PS：指的是XBOX360上的
TZ：作为竞技类游戏，什么是WEPES2007开发小组最为骄傲的部分？
CF：小组对我们能够在XB360上取得的成就非常欣喜 事实上所有XB360的宣传画面都是游戏的实际运行效果 我们完全没有必要对宣传画面作假 因为画面确实非常好
TZ：（这段太长了翻不来）大致意思是说：在球队授权上FIFA比你们有很大的优势
CF：我们非常努力的在获取着部分授权 主要是我们的玩家特别喜欢的球队优先考虑 我们对于这几年能拿到的授权已经是非常非常高兴的了
[ 本帖最后由 nosky 于 2007-2-10 16:56 编辑 ] |
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发表于 2007-2-10 16:45
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