Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Coming to Wii

By Kris Erickson

Posted on Aug 1, 2008

PES 2008 won positive reviews for its innovative use of the Wiimote: players could guide the action on-screen simply by pointing the cursor where they wanted a team member to go, and they could pass and shoot the ball in much the same way, simply by pointing at the screen. While this took the series in a slightly different direction by removing some of the direct control in favor of a more tactical approach, the game worked well.

Now, Konami has announced a followup to their first successful effort with PES 2009. PES 2009 for the Nintendo Wii will feature a number of key additions over the previous version. An enhanced shooting system will offer more control while hopefully remaining as easy to use as last year’s version. The development team has also reworked the defensive elements of the game, with more control over defenders and more ways to close down attacking threats. While the first game had pretty solid AI, the team has re-worked that aspect as well. A new AI system reportedly produces more sophisticated and intuitive movement from teammates depending on the player’s commands.

Konami promises that the qualities which made the original so appealing will remain intact, while new features improve the overall experience of soccer on the Wii:

"Despite these many additions, PES 2009 for Wii is accessible as before, but offers a more fluid and flowing match-day experience. It is a game that could only be produced for Wii and truly marries the unique control system of the format with the PES series’ utterly realistic and addictive action."

Unfortunately, fans of the series will have to wait a little bit longer for the Wii version of the game. While the editions for other consoles will launch this fall, the Wii version of PES 2009 won't arrive until Spring 2009.