Winning Eleven is a football (soccer) video game series made by Konami Tokyo. It is the original Japanese version of Pro Evolution Soccer. Every year, the new version of the game is released first as Winning Eleven in Japan, and after a few months a slightly modified version is released worldwide, in two different packages: Winning Eleven International for the Americas, and Pro Evolution Soccer for the rest of the world. Additionally, in some countries a localized version is released, featuring local leagues and teams, instead of European ones. From 2007 and on, the franchise uses the name “Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer” for the American market.

History and Features

Winning Eleven’s popularity has grown over the years, and is currently one of the most popular football games world-wide, fiercely rivaling EA’s FIFA Series. Winning Eleven 10 is the latest version of the game and was released in Japan on 27 April 2006.

The Winning Eleven series has been produced under the guidance of Shingo “Seabass” Takatsuka at KCEJ.

Winning Eleven 8 screenshot.

The main single-player mode is the Master League mode, where the player is given control of a team of his/her selection. However, the players are all generic, fictional players with relatively poor statistics. These players have become cult figures to many people playing the Master League. The aim is to use these players and gain points by winning matches, using acquired points to purchase real players to join the team. Ultimately, one should end up with a team of skilled players. In Winning Eleven 8, players’ growth and decline curves were added, where a player’s statistics may improve or decline, depending on training and age. This added a new depth to purchasing players, as one is less likely to purchase an aging star whose statistics are declining over an up-and-coming youngster whose statistics rise dramatically.

Since Winning Eleven 3, the game has been co-narrated by Japanese commentator Jon Kabira.

Starting with the Japanese release of Winning Eleven 8 LiveWare Evolution, an online multiplayer mode was introduced into the game. This allowed for players to compete with each other online. The game is primarily made to be played in Japan and therefore has most changes done in Japanese.

Contrary to popular belief, the Winning Eleven series does not precede the International Superstar Soccer (ISS) series which debuted on Super Nintendo. The ISS series on Super Nintendo was created by a different division of Konami, not by KCET. A version of ISS was made for the Gamecube and Playstation 2, ISS2, while ISS3 was also available on Xbox.

Winning Eleven 9 International introduced a unique new feature for online games. While waiting for an opponent to be found, you are able to just play for a short while against a CPU player. When an opponent has been found and selected, you will switch back to this new match.

Versions

PlayStation

• Winning Eleven (jul/1995)
• J-League Winning Eleven (jul/1995)
• J-League Winning Eleven ‘97 (nov/1996)
• Winning Eleven 3 (dec/1997)
• Winning Eleven 3 World Cup France ‘98 (may/1998)
• Winning Eleven J-League ‘98-’99 (dec/1998)
• Winning Eleven 3 Final Version (dec/1998)
• Winning Eleven 4 (sep/1999)
• J-League Winning Eleven 2000 (jun/2000)
• Winning Eleven 2000 U-23 Medal heno Chousen (aug/2000)
• J-League Winning Eleven 2000 2nd (nov/2000)
• J-League Winning Eleven 2001 (jun/2001)
• Winning Eleven 2002 (apr/2002)

PlayStation 2

• Winning Eleven 5 (mar/2001)
• J-League Winning Eleven 5 (nov/2001)
• Winning Eleven 5 Final Evolution (dec/2001)
• Winning Eleven 6 (apr/2002)
• J-League Winning Eleven 6 (sep/2002)
• Winning Eleven 6 Final Evolution (jan/2003)
• Winning Eleven 6 International (mar/2003)
• Winning Eleven 7 (oct/2003)
• J-League Winning Eleven Tactics (dec/2003)
• Winning Eleven 7 International (also available as an Adidas Premium Package in Japan) (feb/2004)
• Winning Eleven 8 (oct/2004)
• J-League Winning Eleven 8 Asia Championship (nov/2004)
• K-League Winning Eleven 8 Asia Championship (nov/2004)
• Winning Eleven 8 International (feb/2005)
• Winning Eleven 8 Tactics European Club Soccer (dec/2005)
• Winning Eleven 8 LiveWare Evolution (mar/2005)
• Winning Eleven 9 (oct/2005)
• Winning Eleven 9 LiveWare Evolution (only for Korea) (feb/2006)
• Winning Eleven 9 International (feb/2006)
• J-League Winning Eleven 9 Asia Championship (nov/2005)
• K-League Winning Eleven 9 Asia Championship (dec/2005)
• Winning Eleven 9 Bonus Pack (jan/2006)
• Winning Eleven 10 (also available as a Konamistyle Special Edition in Japan) (apr/2006)
• J-League Winning Eleven 10 + Europe League ‘06-’07 (nov/2006)
• Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 (feb/2007)

GameCube

• Winning Eleven 6 Final Evolution (jan/2003)

Xbox

• Winning Eleven 8 International (feb/2005)
• Winning Eleven 9 International (feb/2006)

Xbox 360

• Winning Eleven X (dec/2006)
• Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 (feb/2007)

PC

• Winning Eleven 7 International (apr/2004)
• Winning Eleven 8 International (feb/2005)
• Winning Eleven 9 LiveWare Evolution (only for Korea) (mar/2006)
• Winning Eleven 9 International (apr/2006)
• Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 (jan/2007)

Arcade

• Winning Eleven Arcade Game Style (2002)
• Winning Eleven Arcade Game Style 2003 (nov/2003)
• Winning Eleven 2006 Arcade Championship (dec/2006)

Game Boy Advance

• Winning Eleven (apr/2002)
• J-League Winning Eleven Advance 2002 (oct/2002)

PSP

• Winning Eleven 9 Ubiquitous Evolution (sep/2005)
• Winning Eleven 9 International (feb/2006)
• Winning Eleven 10 Ubiquitous Evolution (dec/2006)
• Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 (feb/2007)

Licenses

Over the years, Winning Eleven has tried to get licenses from international teams and clubs. This helps create realism by allowing the game to include real clubs, their players and kits. The following licenses were obtained for Winning Eleven 10.

Leagues

• Serie A ^{except Cagliari}
• La Liga
• Eredivisie

Clubs

• FC Porto
• Celtic F.C.
• Rangers F.C.
• Arsenal F.C.
• Manchester United F.C.
• Bayern Munich
• Galatasaray SK
• F.C. Copenhagen
• Djurgårdens
• Rosenborg B.K.
• Dynamo Kyiv

National Teams

• Australia
• England
• Netherlands
• Japan
• South Korea
• Italy
• Spain
• Sweden
• Argentina
• Turkey

Pro Evolution Soccer

Pro Evolution Soccer is the European counterpart to Winning Eleven. It is slighty updated and focuses on European clubs, rather than Winning Eleven, which focuses on the Japan national football team. Purists traditionally prefer the Japanese release, feeling that the European version is faster and less subtle, although differences in gameplay between the two versions have become less pronounced in recent years.

Arcade Versions

There have been a couple of arcade games based on Winning Eleven. The very first one was Winning Eleven Arcade Game Style, released in 2002, and the most recent was Winning Eleven 2006 Arcade Championship, released in 2006. Winning Eleven Arcade Game Style was simple, with three buttons for shooting, passing, lobbing and tackling. It had quite crude graphics and unlicensed players, not like Winning Eleven 2002, which was released around the same time. Only national teams are in the game and it featured a card system to save data. Winning Eleven 2006 Arcade Championship’s arcade cabinet was similar to Sangokushi Taisen, with a big screen showcasing highlights and some playing cabinets. It had six buttons - shoot, pass, through ball, sliding tackle, conversative tackle and lob. Each playing cabinet also had a jack to plug in PlayStation 2 controllers, and play the game using them instead. Winning Eleven 2006 Arcade Championship had a direct approach to playing the game, rather than the Winning Eleven games on the PlayStation 2 which are more passing-based. It also had licensed players and teams, but still no clubs. It also used a card system to save data.

Source: wikipedia