'I wanted to delay PES 2008'.

Monday 26th November 2007 - 17:00


Pro Evo boss talks tough, Assassin's Creed patch announced for PS3 and Operation Darkness Xbox 360 screens



You may not have heard of Shingo 'Seabass' Takatsuka; but if you're a fan of football videogames you'll certainly be familiar with his work. The legendary developer behind the classic Pro Evolution Soccer series of games has created the benchmark titles in the genre, standing tall as the only real competition to EA's FIFA series of games.

But in a recent interview, the veteran designer admitted that his team struggled with the multi-platform development timetable when producing the latest instalment in the Footy franchise. As a result 'Seabass' has announced that he is going back to the drawing board for Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 and starting from scratch.

He stated: 'PES 2008 is so far from what we wanted. In fact, we thought about delaying it but different factors meant we had to release it. As a developer, we've worked the same way since the days of the SNES. We're simply not set up for multi-platform development.. PES 2009 is in development, but after hearing the criticism, we'll be taking it back to the drawing board. It might not be next year, but it will be soon."

Meanwhile, if you've been experiencing any technical problems with the PS3 build of Assassin's Creed then worry not as a patch is on the way. There have been wide reports of players experiencing hanging screens and full on crashes - especially during loading sequences. Fortunately, veteran publisher Ubisoft has been quick to respond and has announced a patch is in the pipeline.

An Ubisoft spokesman stated: "We can confirm that we are actively working on a game update. This update will help improve the stability of the game and will be released as soon as possible. In the meantime thank you for your ongoing feedback and patience."

Finally, feast your eyes on some brand new screens of Operation Darkness coming early next year courtesy of Atlus on the Xbox 360. The title is a WWII Real Time Strategy (RTS) game with a bizarre twist that apparently involves an unholy alliance between the Third Reich and hordes of demons and zombies! Expect to see more of this game early in the New Year.