PES series creator Shingo "Seabass" Takatsuka recently assured football fans that Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, Wii, PC, PS2) will have a more robust online system compared to last year's release, considered by many PES fans to be a disaster in the online front. Takatsuka's statements are in the full article.

Producer Shingo "Seabass" Takatsuka was recently pulled in for an interview regarding the release of his game, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008. Takatsuka took the time to discuss his studio's apparent disappointment over the game's PS3 release, while looking forward to the upcoming next-gen sequel, PES 2009. Details on this interview are available in the full article.

In a recent interview with CVG, Shingo "Seabass" Takatsuka, Executive Producer of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, talks about the game's transition to the PlayStation 3 - how this affects the game and how it will affect its evolution.

Takatsuka goes into the multiplayer aspect of the game, saying that the game will only support one on one for online gaming. He explains that the experience you get from two on two or even six on six while playing online is simply a different experience than offline gaming and you wouldn't enjoy the game as much.

He explains that there's "absolutely no difference in terms of code between the PS3 and 360 versions" which is not to say that you get exactly the same experience between the two, with the obvious difference between the consoles' controllers. Takatsuka gives is own opinion:

If you're asking about the controller I can only give you my personal opinion. I am really bad at using the 360 controller and I make a lot more missed passes and mistakes using the 360 controller, so I like the PS3 controller more. However a lot of my friends prefer the 360 controller so it's really personal preference.

New modes and new features will be introduced in the following games in the franchise, but the move to include the game on the PS3's roster would probably leave room for adapting the PS3's DualShock 3, not particularly for the rumble feature though. As Takatsuka explains, the motion sensing capabilities is more of a priority to give the game a simpler yet more accurate control system.

And the battle for the best soccer video game title continues. It should be remembered that it was just recently that Electronic Arts announced FIFA 08 for various platforms. Today, Konami Digital Entertainment unwrapped the covers on the latest iteration of its own soccer franchise, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008.

It will be available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, and Games for Windows platforms.

One of the more interesting features of this title include the Konami-developed AI system called Teamvision. Basically, this programming learn new ways to build attacks and to counter specific movements and to learn from previous attacking or defensive errors. This means that the system adapts to an individual's style of play.

Creator of the series and producer of PES 2008 Shingo "Seabass" Takatsuka mentioned that their team took the time to figure out what makes the Pro Evolution Soccer franchise so popular, and they started from there. He explained:

With the new Teamvision AI system, we truly believe that we have elevated the game to a new level. The movement of players off the ball, coupled with the total control given to the player, creates the closest simulation of real football to date. We really hope everyone enjoys our evolution. I promise it will be worth the wait.

Konami added that fans can get their hands on Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 starting this autumn.

See the rest of the screenshots after the jump - just click on the Full Article link below.

Yes, we know. It's April 1. This writer just sat on an oatmeal bomb for a too-early breakfast, okay? And now this: a nice little interview between PS3 Magazine and Pro Evolution Soccer creator Shingo "Seabass" Takatsuka that may have happened... or not. Because it's PS3Mag's April issue.

A member of the European PlayStation community forums posted scans of the inty and feature up because, well, "Konami takes FULL licenses from FIFPro for FIVE YEARS!" This is supposed to be big because:

Seabass: The real uprising will be with the licenses of the teams included in PES7... Thus in PES7 there will be 13 full licensed leagues, the English Premiership, the English Championship, Primera Division, Serie A... (and so on, and so forth...) In my point of view the new licenses makes the game the most complete Pro Evolution Soccer ever.

Hmm, is Ashton hiding in a bush somewhere? Look, I'm not so sure how this licensing thing works out in the professional football/soccer world, but checking up on Wiki, FIFPro, or Federation International de Footballeurs Professionels, it is "a worldwide representative organization for professional football players." They represent the players, not the leagues.

Using FIFA as an example, EA negotiated with the FA Premier League to nab the rights to that League's clubs in the games. Now, maybe negotiating with FIFPro may give rights over using the players in the games, but not the league. Really, I just don't know how these agreements work out - maybe one could negotiate with FIFPro for the teams or the players, or most likely not. Can anyone from FIFPro help us on this?

The interview looks legit enough, but one member of the EU PS community forum noticed that the "trivial" text on the bottom border of the page was meaningless mumbo. Might as well have been "Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy" and it still wouldn't have helped. No updates like this on the major internet outlets, either.

Better to be safe than sorry, this is going under humor, but honestly, it ain't that funny. Look, if you guys don't get PS3Mag where you live, we're including the PS forum member's scans of the article as evidence for your judicious review. And do yourselves a favor: mind where you sit, for the feel of oatmeal on one's bottom brings back some memories best kept in pre-potty infancy...

The last time we featured a "Seabass" Takatsuka interview, it was in the wake of that "PES6-is-console-exclusive-no-it-isn't" debate between Konami and Microsoft. He's still saying that PES6 is out only on the Xbox for the remainder of this year, after which the team will be working on and releasing the game for the other platforms.

Other than that old story, this interview with CVG touches on some online multiplayer ideas Takatsuka and his people are tossing around, the virtues and vices of the PS-style controller and the Xbox 360-style controller, and the game's appearance on the PSP.

Short version of online: the Winning Eleven/PES team aren't satisfied with the current online build. They want to go back to square one. Their ideas are still formless, however; Takatsuka promises that he can talk about them in greater detail "next year." But he does have a few idea nuggets to reveal. They're thinking about online leagues and tournaments, and even what looks like a multiplayer game wherein there's more than two players in the same field. "I think we can go into multiplayer and maybe not 11 versus 11 next year, but something close to that."

Read the rest of Takatsuka's interview after the jump.

Straight in the wake of the entire debate on the exclusivity of Pro Evolution Soccer 6, Shingo "Seabass" Takatsuka speaks with IGN about the latest title in the series that he helped create. That debacle was sparked when Microsoft Europe execs claimed that PES 6 would be a 12-month next-gen exclusive for the Xbox 360, a statement that was quickly denied by Konami. Takatsuka had this to say:

"There's been a lot of confusion about the Microsoft announcement. We never said that it would be exclusive for a year on 360. We said 2006, so for this calendar year it will be exclusive to 360. But from 2007 onwards we're free to work with the other consoles. At this moment in time I cannot officially say that we're working on a PS3 version but we might be, and that's a strong 'might'."

It can be recalled, however, that he also told 1UP that the PS3 version of PES 6 was still in development, and would not be released until early spring 2007 (or at least not before January 1, 2007).

On the other hand, Takatsuka spoke more clearly on matters less controversial than that miscommunication between Konami and Microsoft. He has also noted that he had been "very tempted" by the opportunities offered by Live and Marketplace, but those options won't be available in the initial release. The development team decided to concentrate on the next-gen aspects of the main game, and they wanted to "make the online game much better" - presumably referring to perfecting the Live multiplayer aspect of the game. The team is considering using Marketplace to update team rosters, but that would depend on licensing agreements with the actual football/soccer teams, he says.

Takatsuka is also interested in developing PES for the Wii, but is still thinking about how to use the unique Nintendo controller setup so that players won't tire themselves out with all that hand motion.

The PSP and DS versions of the game however pose a different development challenge. "We're not attempting to squeeze the full version of the game on handheld because it wouldn't work. Instead the game will have the same simplicity of PES1 and PES2 but we'll add all of the new features to make it play like the latest versions on the other consoles.", says Takatsuka.

"Note to Microsoft: You're not special."

Perhaps that's what Konami should have put on a giant banner at Leipzig Games Convention. Some tensions arose during the Leipzig Games Convention as a result of what seems to be misleading PR. Microsoft announced earlier that they would have exclusive rights to both Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer and EA's FIFA Soccer for the 360, monopolizing the soccer games for the newest generation of consoles.

Luckily for fans of football, Pro Evolution Soccer's "Seabass" Takatsuka set the record straight on the exclusivity of their game. According to him, "The presentation was misleading. We never said exclusive for one year on the next-gen platforms. We said this year. We were agreed that it was this year."

Since the announcement was bound to piss off other console makers, it's a good thing Seabass said the equivalent of "Shut yo' mouth, foo'!" at Microsoft's statement. Expect a non-360 version of the ball-kicking extravaganza to come out next year, and remember, "If you piss off the Seabass, you get a boot in the ass."