Last week, legendary ex-football player Diego Maradona announced that he would be suing Konami for his inclusion in Pro Evolution Soccer 2017. Konami has since issued a statement to Kotaku on the same and noted that Maradona’s appearance was appropriate “with the basis of the license within the contract.”

“At this time, there have been news that in Winning Eleven 2017 (international title: PES 2017 Pro Evolution Soccer) there is one player that is being used without permission; however, our company is using [this player] appropriately, with the basis of the license within the contract.”

Maradona’s likeness is primarily used in myClub mode where players can forge their own team of past and present football stars. It will be interesting to see how Maradona responds since he revealed plans to pursue legal action against Konami, noting that, “I hope this is not another scam.”

What are your thoughts on the whole ordeal? Let us know in the comments.

Konami will be facing legal action from ex-footballer and legend Diego Maradona for including his likeness in Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 without permission.

Posting on Facebook, Maradona – who played for Argentina and Barcelona and deemed FIFA’s Player of the Century in 2000 – said that he had “heard yesterday that the Japanese company Konami uses my image for its game PES 2017.

“My lawyer Matias Morla will initiate the corresponding legal actions. I hope this is not another scam.” Konami has yet to issue a statement on Maradona’s complaint.

The complaint stems from Maradona’s likeness being used for myClub mode in PES 2017. This is where players can create their own dream team composed of former and current professional footballers.

What are your thoughts on Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 using Maradona’s likeness and how will it pan out for Konami? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned for further updates in he coming days.

ReCore

Keiji Inafune and his team at Comcept haven’t exactly had the best year so far with Mighty No. 9 flopping miserably. However, with former Bungie writer Joseph Staten and Armature Studio aboard on ReCore, it’s hard to not get excited about this futuristic platformer/shooter. If anything, ReCore feels like a proper spiritual successor to the Mega Man legacy (namely Mega Man Legends). Time will tell if the $40 title, priced for the “value” it offers, will actually set our collective hearts aflutter when it releases on September 13th for Xbox One and Windows 10.

FIFA 17

You can’t fault EA for trying new things with its FIFA franchise. Each iteration has a number of different improvements and enhancements and this year’s FIFA 17 is no different. However, along with additions to Ultimate Team, FIFA 17 will also include Journey mode. This story-based campaign will follow footballer Alex Hunter from the amateur level all the way up to the Premier League. It’s out on September 27th for North America and September 29th in Europe for previous and current gen platforms.

Forza Horizon 3

Speaking of trying something new, Playground Games is stressing connectivity with Forza Horizon 3. The open world racing game will head to Australia, presenting a large and beautiful outback to explore along with four player co-op support. The twist is that players can join in regardless of being on Windows 10 or Xbox One. Co-op joining is also seamless so you won’t have to re-instance to join friends’ games. With a release date of September 27th, Forza Horizon 3 could once again cement the series as the top-tier racing game of the year.

NHL 17

Last year’s iteration of EA Sports’ NHL proved to be quite the hockey simulator and NHL 17 is looking to continue that trend. Along with Hockey Ultimate Team and improvements to the physics, there will be new World Cup of Hockey and Draft Champions modes, the latter differing quite significantly from HUT.  There’s also the fact that the ECHL’s 27 teams are all playable for the first time. Then there’s the new Creation Zone for crafting your own arena among other things. NHL 17 is out on September 13th in North America and September 15th in Europe.

Destiny: Rise of Iron

Even if it’s not $40 like The Taken King, Destiny’s next expansion Rise of Iron is promising quite the content delivery. Along with lots of new gear pieces across PvP and PvE, Rise of Iron will feature weapon ornaments, new lens filters, new story missions (including post-campaign quests), new artifacts, a new raid and much more. There will also be a new zone with the Plaguelands, a revamped Cosmodrome, three new PvP maps (four if you’re on PS4) and lots of other improvements. Look out for it on September 20th for PS4 and Xbox One.

Dead Rising Triple Pack

It’s not really a new release but there’s still a ton of value to be had in the Dead Rising Triple Pack. This isn’t a collection of all the past Dead Rising titles though. In fact, the Triple Pack actually contains remastered versions of Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record for Xbox One and PS4. The original Dead Rising will also be releasing for PC via Steam though the other remasters are for consoles only. Dead Rising Triple Pack releases digitally on September 13th but the retail version of Dead Rising is out on September 13th in North America. Dead Rising 2 arrives shortly after on September 27th.

NBA 2K17

Welcome to the jam once again. Visual Concepts’ NBA 2K17 sees the MyGM and MyLeague modes featuring different improvements and more in-depth customization facets. For those interested in the game though, there will be national teams and past greats like the 2016 United States men’s Olympics team. It also helps that the soundtrack has been curated by Imagine Dragons among other artists. NBA 2K17 is out on September 20th worldwide.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

WayForward Technologies blew us away with Shantae and The Pirate’s Curse in 2014 and the sequel Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is finally upon us. Along with featuring the lovable genie and her magical powers, Half-Genie Hero will also allow players to take on the role of Risky Boots, Shantae’s nemesis. Xbox One, PS4, PC, Wii U and PC users can look forward to the game releasing on September 27th while PS3 and Xbox 360 players will have to wait a bit longer.

Yo-kai Watch 2

The sequel to the popular ghost battler will finally be making its way to North America. Yo-kai Watch 2 will include new yo-kai to battle including Legendary yo-kai and promises to have almost 450 different spirits throughout the experience. Like Pokémon, Yo-kai Watch 2 will be divided into two versions – Bony Spirits and Fleshy Souls. They’ll both be available for Nintendo 3DS users in North America on September 30th.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2017

What’s this? An upcoming Konami title that everyone doesn’t outright hate? PES Productions’ Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 will mark the return of “not-FIFA” to the world and offers quite the feature set. Along with Real Touch ball control and improved mechanics, there will be a match analysis feature to properly observe your opponent’s moves and the flow of matches both online and offline. Konami has also officially partnered with Liverpool FC and Borussia Dortmund to allow for exclusive content and kits among other things. PES 2017 releases on September 13th in North America and September 15th in Europe.

GamingBolt recently had a sit down with Steve Merrett, who works at Voltage PR, the firm handling PR for Konami in the UK, to ask him some interesting and intense questions we’ve been scratching our heads over since the game’s announcement.

"It’s all about having a wider range of ways to receive the ball. And with the passing, you can make higher passes, faster passes, passing to space; but you’re always going to be hurried by a defender."

Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 is introducing some rather interesting changes this year, particularly with the Real Touch system. Could you explain it in greater detail?

It’s the whole point of beating a man using the skill of your player. Making sure players who have the ability to turn a game are truly represented. It’s not just you receive a ball, you run with it. It’s you receive a ball with the outside of your boot, you can shield it, you can chest it away from them to gain a couple of yards. It’s all about having a wider range of ways to receive the ball. And with the passing, you can make higher passes, faster passes, passing to space; but you’re always going to be hurried by a defender. So consequently how you react with the ball for the first time is vital. You may be able to lose them by cutting in. So consequently you need to have your players shaved to control the ball perfectly and take it, maybe immediately left, or take it away from the usual pace. So it’s all about presenting you with the right a range of options for when you first receive the ball.

How do changes to the passing system affect the overall movement and flow of a match, both against AI and other players?

One of the most satisfying things about PES is scoring a goal, as it should be. You’ve worked hard for it, and the euphoria of  scoring a goal should be like a player scores a goal for your team. To get to that point you have to have players who can pass good, find a player, pick them out, see the run, and you should get the same level of satisfaction about creating the scoring opportunity as you do scoring the actual goal. And the thing about PES is it gives you much more freedom how you pass. So you can bend your pass, you can loft your pass, you can play short, intricate ones, and you can hold it off while other players find space and try to defend it. So again, it’s just opening up the number of options available to you. You don’t just pass to someone’s feet anymore; you can pass immediately to a player, but the true key to it is passing into a space where they can be able to gain an advantage, and it’s just a total freedom of passing.

It also seems like players can now craft more in-depth strategies. What kinds of strategies can they pull off and how much freedom do they have?

It depends totally on the context of the situation. PES has always been renowned for its menus. But we have simplified a certain number of in – game things. Though, consequently when it comes to a set peace, you know, if it’s a free kick you can have it preset on the D pad – so your players are going to go do some runs, come off the ball, spin off the marker, that sort of thing. On a corner you can send a train of players to disrupt the box, which means as defenders are trying to react to that threat whatever spare man in the back who hasn’t been picked on the marking. It just, again, it’s – works with the adaptive AI game as well in so much as: if all players were coming through one pivotal player than the AI will work to counter that.

So it becomes a tactical battle – and that means you’ve got to think on the fly. So having the shortcuts to make your teams work more organized defensively if you’re under a period of pressure or having them ready to counter. So if you get the ball under a period of pressure, your players are automatically programmed at your response to stop running and causing mayhem in the field. So it’s just freeing up your options of attack, but if making sure that if somethings not working you can change it and adapt out properly; which is what all managers should be able to do.

"It’s realism as much as anything is. It’s making it authentic."

How does the adaptive AI work on opposing side?

The adaptive AI works so much as it recognizes when someone is trying to spam a certain thing. So if you’re going down the wing all the time, say you have a player that’s really fast down the wing with very close control – if all your threat is coming from one period, the game will work to counter that. So it may be putting in an extra marker, or shifting up another player to cover for another player. So if he beats him there’s a immediately a second player he’s got to beat. It’s a lot of skill.

If you have players doing something all the time it’ll try and counter it. But it’ll only do it if over reliant on. The manager will soon determine which players having the biggest influence on the game, and will snuff it out. Consequently, if a team is playing really tight defensively, maybe with a high defensive line, then you can use it to employ runners that will — so you can do a long bolt to beat the offside. It’s a very much, if somethings not working it I’ll seek a way to counter it and send your players into positions that – if you’re coming up against a brick wall it starts thinking of ways to get around the wall.

We heard that PES 2017 will also look to update player stats on a weekly basis. What kind of benefits will this bring to the game over PES 2016?

It’s realism as much as anything is. It’s making it authentic. You have a situation like last year’s premier league, where at the start of the season nobody would have thought that Jamie Vardy would have scored 20 – odd goals, and played for a seemingly small side. He went on to exceed expectations. So our stats will reflect that. So if you got a series of players who are in a purple period- rough patch, their stats will go up. So you might get a player who is actually perceived as 68% player out of 100 – whatever, but by the end of the season because he’s performed consistently really well, not struggle with injuries that sort of thing. It basically mimics that real football – players have up-and-down weeks. Some have barren spells, some have scoring streaks – those weekly updates have allowed us to mimic those for authenticity.

How many teams, players, stadiums and so on can be expected in the final game?

We can’t say anything about that at the moment. We’ve got a number of announcements. At E3 we are kind of showing off the game play, all the periphery and modes. Stuff like that will be fully disclosed in the run-up to launch.

Will there be any new modes and such to compete with the likes EA’s FIFA series?

We are focusing on what we’re good at, at the moment. We’ve got My Club which has got a wealth of new additions, and Master League has had its biggest ever revamp. People love Master League. It’s a incredibly engrossing game, it’s one of the things that makes PES popular in the first place because it gives it a huge depth that you wouldn’t expect from a football game. And now that they’ve added various things, like proper transfer deadlines and training and stuff like that, it’s going to make it more engrossing. We’re just going to continue to refine what’s in there. I think that we are always up for coming up with new ideas but they’ve got to be bolstering the PES experience. Because gameplay is key, you buy a game to play it and that’s where we want it to be.

How has the FOX Engine been changed to further enhance the visual fidelity of players?

FOX engine is it constantly evolving beast. It’s one where it’s been adapted perfectly for PES now. So what it allows us to do is, it’s just giving us ever more accuracy in terms of it handles the animation, and the faces, and stuff like that. It does it all in real time. So it means that we can focus on the animation and the gameplay. Making sure everything is smooth and the FOX engine handles everything else. One of the reasons why PES is so fast is because of that engine.

"There will be the constant roster updates. The weekly updates. In terms of modes and things like that we’ll wait and see, really. There are a few things planned."

What improvements and new features will be added to the multiplayer this year to make it more intuitive for fans?

We’ve got 11 versus 11 which is always a big thing. In terms of online, we really haven’t outlined our plans yet. That will all be revealed shortly.

What post-launch content can we look forward to for PES 2017?

There will be the constant roster updates. The weekly updates. In terms of modes and things like that we’ll wait and see, really. There are a few things planned.

Will the PS4 and Xbox One versions both run at 1080p and 60fps?

Don’t know at the moment.

Is there a specific reason why you are launching the game on last gen consoles?

Because there is still demand there. I know a lot of people have migrated across to PS4, but all the time there is sufficient demand for other versions so we are not going to ignore it. I think PES was one of the last games to appear on PS2 simply because there was huge demand for it in certain territories.

There has been a lot of talk regarding Konami not interested in developing AAA games. What do you have to tell your fans about this?

Well, PES 2017 is coming. If that’s not enough indication that Konami is still interested in the market then I don’t know what is.

What is the future of Metal Gear Solid series? Many fans were quite upset when a Pachinko machine was announced for MGS3. Are you guys working on a new AAA Metal Gear game?

Can’t say.

Microsoft has confirmed that Xbox One Scorpio will launch next year. What kind of gaming experiences will be possible with that hardware?

Didn’t know anything about it before the Microsoft conference.

Do you think PES will have a future on Xbox Scorpio?

It’s not my decision.