Just so you guys know... Winning Eleven already hit retail a few weeks ago (that's for all platforms: 360, PSP, and DS). Now, if you still haven't gotten your head in the game (either because you've been broke since Valentine's day or maybe you just haven't simply decided yet if the game is worth getting), now's your chance. This is actually one of the few demos that get released after the actual game.

The game demo is now available on Xbox Live for free. It's worth a little over 1GB of your downloading time and is playable in either English or Spanish (Spanglish?). Gold Members get "first dibs" on the demo for a week - after that it's a free-for-all.

Note the emphasis on "first dibs." This is because the demo has already actually been released before in Europe and Australia, but under the title of Pro Evolution Soccer. Now, it's the United States' turn. Well, different regions have different versions, different release dates, and different titles. Confusing as it may be, hey!, at least the demo is now out.

 

Konami's Winning Eleven (Xbox 360, PSP, Nintendo DS) series has made football lovers believe that there is a good football game out there that they could enjoy playing hours with. Every release is met with excitement and enthusiasm from football/gaming aficionados. Now, the game's associate product manager, Colin Ferris, chatted with 1UP about what's next for the series, what's missing from it, and what makes it kickass.

He mentions that one thing that he is proud of is their accomplishments on the Xbox 360 version. He shares that:

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....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

Now, the inevitable question - what is Konami's plans for the PS3? He divulges that "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."

Ferris also shared that they have worked very hard on including the licenses for the teams that they know that their fan-base would want. Unlike FIFA, Winning Eleven Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 included all of the World Cup teams (FIFA excluded eight teams). He was also questioned about the lack of the USA National team license for a US release, which he answered by saying:

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.

You could check out the word-per-word account of the interview by clicking on our read link below.

And after an entire year's worth of reports, Konami's multi-platform sports title Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 finally makes its way to retail stores in the US. Though we are once again at least a month behind our Japanese counterparts who got theirs last December, it's still a good thing to know that fans of this video game genre haven't grabbed another title to add to their list of choices.

Besides enhanced online play, improved graphics, new fully licensed international and league teams, and new game modes, this title will also feature the addition of several new licenses such as the French League, as well as fully-licensed uniforms for the Czech, French, Australian, English, Italian, Argentinean, Spanish, and Swedish national teams. On top of that, the Master League mode also makes a comeback, and once again allows players to fully manage and train their own team of choice.

Now available in stores, the PS2 version costs US$ 39.99, the Xbox360 version costs US$ 49.99, the PSP port goes for US$ 39.99, while a copy for your DS sells for US$ 29.99.

Buy: [Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 (PSP)]
Buy: [Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 (DS)]

And the gameplay videos are starting to trickle in, what with the nearing release of next-gen soccer action from Konami's Winning Eleven 2007 (a.k.a. Pro Evolution Soccer). You didn't really think we'd just stop at serving you the Masterful Handling vid now, didja?

Anyhow, this should give you an idea on how to kick to your heart's content, while making it count as well. And the U.S. release is just in time to welcome the Beckhams, actually. Date set is February 6, 2007. Enjoy the vid, y'all!

Ever seen someone completely psyche out his competition by doing something so outrageous that it seems physically impossible? For some men, such things fall in the realm of relationships. For others, it's good ol' Pele driving the ball down the field and firing a well-placed bicycle kick past the keeper.

Of course, we don't necessarily have those things, unless you're also an athlete. As gamers, we have a duty to follow our icons by playing the games they love. Of these, soccer is one of those punishing games that forces you to run around, be good with your feet, and do a victory dance every time you score a goal. Yeesh.

Konami's Winning Eleven 2007 game will be in the US in a few more weeks. Perhaps it's time we celebrate its coming. Let us enjoy this well-played video of the game and think fondly of the memories of our childhood. So long as we never have to step anywhere near the real thing, we surely won't have to think about how those soccer players will always get the girls in the end.

 

As the year enters the last quarter, it seems that Microsoft Japan is still hell-bent on winning over the elusive Japanese market. While the Xbox 360 is definitely struggling in terms of sales in Japan, Microsoft Japan is banking on upcoming games such as the Mistwalker RPG Blue Dragon to increase interest in their next-gen console.

And just so the public doesn't get tired of them always using the Blue Dragon card when asked about their year-end releases, they've finally decided to stamp a release date on Winning Eleven. Word has it that the Xbox 360 version of Konami's uber-popular soccer title will hit Japanese retail stores on December 14 at a price of 7,329 Yen (a little over US $61).

Seems a bit expensive, but with Winning Eleven's track record of having each of its PS2 installments sell over a million copies in Japan alone, Japanese fans will surely come to stores in droves on its release date. The game will also be released in the US under the title Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 in January 2007.

Over at the Xbox360Fanboy website, OrangeLoungeRadio s come up with a hefty compilation of hearsay from a supposed sales meeting with some higher-ups. Some of these rumors have been mentioned in the past, but some are just totally too good to be true to pass up. Some of them have already been cleared up and debunked, but are somehow still re-surfacing as rumors once again.

And so, we're posting this, partly to refresh you with what's been (or will be or won't be) going on, and partly just as an interesting compilation for the future. And here's the long and short of it:

• Winning 11 Pro Evolution 2007 won't be exclusive to the 360. The PS3 version, however, will come out as late as May because the developers haven't received the final dev kits yet.
• Activision says Guitar Hero sequel goes to Xbox 360.
• No charge for online play of Phantasy Star Universe on the 360. But there will be a monthly fee for ps2">PS2 and PC users.
• Full Auto 2 is scrapped out of the 360 due to low sales of the first installment.
  
• Gears Of War will actually be out by November 7. But the "Emergence Day" is still November 12th. That's the hyped up event Microsoft was talking about.
  
• Halo 3 will be out as early as March or April of 2007. Not Fall 2007.
• Test Drive: Unlimited gets new download packs (ranging from Free to around $7.99) every month until June 2007.
  
• No price drops and new "bundles" for Xbox 360. About Canada releasing a new bundle, their office works a bit indie from the US office, and the latter didn't know about it.
• The vision camera bundle ($79.99) will replace the current 12-month Live bundle.

Again, these are just rumors from OrangeLoungeRadio, people. So if you have any info or reactions to some of them, let us know. You can also click the game title links above to read more on our updates for those individual games. Maybe soon, we can prove or disprove some of these rumors, so just keep checking from time to time.

Everything needs replacing. Unfortunately, even the good ones. But still, we were rather amused as Konami changed the name of its upcoming soccer title. Previously known as Winning Eleven, the awaited game of the year will be now officially known as Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 (Xbox 360, PSP, DS). Maybe they wanted a more cohesive campaign as they tie it up with the UK release.

As Winning Eleven, we've seen constant excellent things and good surprises. But even though they changed the name, don't expect the new member of the franchise to disappoint. Happily, the game runs very smoothly and fine. Although the overall increase of speed worked within the game is very noticeable in the X360 version, we also didn't fail to see the limited number of teams available for gameplay (Brazil, Italy, Spain and Czech).

Chip shots and trick dribbling now comes not awkwardly, thanks to the addition of RB and LB. It's also worth mentioning the improvements Konami done with the graphics as the details become more intricate: players position the ball with the inside of their foot before actually kicking it, celebrations, and collisions aside from many others.

They also fixed players just running through fallen opponents as they now jump over obstacles. Expect now more timely slide tackling and call watching from teammates as a smarter A.I. was promised. Pro Evolution will be available on January 9, 2007.

Hey Soccer fans, are EA's FIFA Soccer games just not tickling your fancy? Well Konami's popular Winning Eleven Series, Pro Evolution Soccer in the UK, will be coming to the 360 and will be unveiled at this year's E3.

"The game is set for release on PlayStation2 and Xbox 360 later in 2006, and this will be the first time the game has been publicly shown. No other details are being released ahead of the presentation at E3, but there will be a roster of new moves, licensed clubs, and gameplay modes in the game. The game is currently pencilled in for an October release date."

More news will be coming soon with E3 coming up on May 10th so well keep you informed as the information trickles in.