Human beings love sports. It’s a simple truth, but a universal one. The most recent Olympics proved that, even if the regularity of the event is 4 years apart and it costs billions to produce, we will flock in our droves as to be at the epicenter. But if a global spectacle such as the Olympics breeds such a level of fandom, then peoples’ following of domestic sport is even keener. In the US it’s the trifecta of basketball, baseball, and American football. In the UK there’s a dedication to rugby, a fondness for cricket (I don’t know why), but nothing rivals the unbridled passion for football. Our national pastime, soccer has been glamorized and exported to the Nth degree, but at its core has remained the simple activity of two teams turning up to the same venue and seeing who can kick, dribble and punt a ball into the opposition’s goal the most. With regards to the sport’s depiction in the gaming world there is a similar level of simplicity. Every year, around about September/October, just as the real season has started two behemoths (Konami and Electronic Arts) go head-to-head in a regular battle to see who can impress the game-buying public the most. For the last five years the winner has undoubtedly been Fifa, but for half a decade prior, it wasn’t EA Sport’s baby who held the title. No…that distinction went to Pro Evolution Soccer.

I’ll be blunt; fifteen years ago I wasn’t that into football. I mean, I knew a few of the players names and watched England from time to time if ever there was something big showing on TV but, in terms of my knowledge and support things were decidedly token (a fact made even worse by the notion that I was a Manchester United fan, didn’t live anywhere near them and seemed to perpetuate the common ‘glory hunting’ claims). To this end, football games weren’t really flying on my radar either. Being a loyal Megadrive owner Fifa ’95 was the only genuine sports-related purchase I’d ever made. But it was a good one. EA had a polished take on the franchise back in the 2D days, bright visuals and entertaining gameplay meaning a fair few sessions were spent post-school in front of the ‘box’, black control held tightly as you weaved past defenders hoping to hear the immortal sound of the voice over guy screaming ‘GOAL!’ It was fun…but it wasn’t to last. There’s no doubt in my mind that advent of the Playstation and Nintendo 64 completely derailed EA, their lack of understanding with the hardware and focus on advertising campaigns instead of how the games handled lead to an excess of dire software (little did we know that this would last for ten years!).

But there was a silver lining. Roughly about halfway through the N64’s lifespan I started hearing rumblings about something called International Superstar Soccer 64. A port of the ISS on the PSOne, this was supposed to be the next big thing in football games, supposedly receiving rave reviews after being released on its preliminary format. People said it was good…and it was. ISS was a slick production, exhibiting smooth frame rates and flowing matches that breezed with excitement. It had a more arcadey feel than its Sony counterpart, but all-in-all it was a solid rendition of series that we all thought would only get better. My memory’s hazy when it comes to the following few years. I think there was an ISS ’98 that was better still (there may have even been a Fifa Road to World Cup ’98 that clawed back some respect) but for now let’s jump straight to 2001 or the ‘Playstation 2’ years as I like to call them. Yes, the PS2 provided a lot of fond memories; Dead or Alive 2, Burnout 3, Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution. Loads of great titles that received wide-spread acclaim. So there we are around about early December and I’m sitting in History class and our teacher (one of those cool ‘down to earth’ types who everyone liked. She was slightly heavy but it didn’t make a difference -if she had one day said ‘James…forget your homework and focus on me’ I would have gone ‘…Let’s rock, baby’-Devil May Cry reference there), our teacher starts asking everyone what game(s) she should purchase for her son (or maybe it was her nephew) for Christmas as he had recently acquired Sony’s second console. So she’s going round and people are giving the expected answers (GTA III, SSX etc), by the time it gets round to me I’ve had a couple of minutes to ponder but almost out of instinct I exclaimed ‘Pro Evolution Soccer.’ There was a moment’s pause, followed by the rest of the boys in room looking at each other and then in unison smattering comments like ‘oh yea’ and ‘good choice’ and ‘bloody yes’. I can’t think of a better way to sum up the appeal of the first few Pro Evo’s than with such an anecdote.

The story goes that coming off the back of Konami’s final football release on the original Playstation (International Superstar Soccer: Pro Evolution 2- a mouthful indeed) the development team was split in two. One of half went off and started work on the now defunct ‘ISS’ games, and the other came together to produce what we know as Pro Evolution. It was clear from the get go of the last generation that the later of the two was where the talent lay. ISS was clunky, unrealistic and a stunted portrayal of the beautiful game. ‘Pro Evo’ was just the opposite; responsive, challenging yet accessible, it instantly became a mainstay for any multiplayer session. If you had the friends, the ‘multitap’ and the control pads (with those annoying wires that always got pulled out mid-play) then you were either having one of the most fun four-player experiences of your life or reminiscing about exactly how good it was the next day. There was the ‘Master League’, numerous cup competitions and all of it playable with up to three friends. Perfection in digital versatile disk form…well not quite. We all know today that Fifa has the licensing for football down-pat; the leagues, the players, the rights, they’ve got it all locked in and it makes a huge difference to the authenticity of it all.

In ‘01/’02 this was a big deal. In fact it was more of a running joke between Pro’ fans. Fifa was shambolic back then; cheap gameplay and the ability to score at will made things unrewarding at best. Fan boys of said franchise had nothing to wave in the faces of us ‘Pro Evo’ players except for that ‘Ronaldo is actually called Ronaldo’ and Madrid is actually called Real Madrid’. Those of us playing PES didn’t actually care. When we fall in love with something or someone it’s not for the exterior it’s for the substance. You don’t love your girlfriend because she looks like Charlize Theron with her make-up on, you love her because when you put your favourite movie on she’ll sit there and watch it with you, or if you call her at lunchtime and tell you’re having a bad day by the time your home your favourite dish is on the table. Unfortunately the boys and girls at EA Sports didn’t quite get that. From 2001-2005 Fifa became more and more contrived. PES on the other hand went from strength to strength. ‘Pro Evo 2’ was more refined, the game almost being a love letter to David Beckham his likeness was so well captured. ‘Pro 3’ was faster, sharper and more fun. And then we come to my personal favourite: Pro Evolution Soccer 4. For the longest time this was my favourite sports game ever. I don’t know whether I was used to PS2/Xbox by this time or I’m looking back with rose-tinted spectacles but ‘Pro 4’ was a dream. The way the players moved, the range of passing and dribbling afforded to an experienced player and the first steps into online play (as tentative as they were). It was the total footballing package. Fifa couldn’t even lace up PES’s boots.

But then something changed; between the years of ‘05-‘07 EA got their act together. Either the staff at the company changed or their philosophy did, but through a number of trial-and-error releases Fifa slowly started to turn on the charm. In my opinion it started with the jump to next-gen. Konami released a port of ‘Pro Evo 6’ (2007 if you lived in North America) but it was mediocre, it didn’t feel completely finished (what’s worse is it didn’t have half the features of the PS2 version?!). Fifa ’06: Road to the World cup wasn’t much better, but there glimpses of quality; the arena where you could now practice whilst the game loaded, the improved graphics and of course that all important genuineness provided by the official licensing. It wasn’t game over for Pro’, but it was a warning shot. Konami did not head the message. By the time Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 hit the shelves the tide had completely turned. EA advanced their gameplay, added new features like ‘Be A Pro’ (almost a taunt to their competitor) and turned the online experience into an art form. Konami did little to fight back. A session with your friends was still supreme fun, but the Master League started to look dated and a blatantly plagiarized ‘Become A Legend’ mode was dull and laborious. Also the lack of licensing was now less of a joke more of an albatross around the developer’s neck. They managed to lock down the Champions League (theme tune and all) but compared to the hundreds of legitimate teams Fifa was parading it was stark consolation.

Today Fifa is the ‘Barcelona’ of football games; an opulent package that’s value for money and a one-stop-shop for any sports-enthused gamer. Pro Evo has gone from being Real Madrid to being Liverpool; a franchise that was riding on the nostalgia of previous successes but is now showing signs of breaking back into the top flight of the industry. We all secretly know that things will never go back to the way they were. Electronic Arts have the fan base and the production values to keep them at the head of the table for years to come but, just around the corner, there’s the release of a new wave of Sony and Microsoft consoles. Could this be the time for a change? After all, the game is never ending between EA and Konami…and Fifa wouldn’t be Fifa without Pro Evolution Soccer.