

Through my long hours playing it, I often thought that Konami and EA Sports could learn a thing or two from its success and that of games like it. By breaking football down into short bursts of its most exciting and rewarding elements, like long-range shots and Hollywood passes, and tying that into a shallow but addictive management sim, New Star Soccer completely took over my free time.


Weirdly though, this unexpected interloper wasn't PES 2013, although Konami's latest is a fantastic football game. If you had told me at the start of the year that I would spend more time in 2012 playing a football game not made by EA Canada than I did in the grip of its imperious FIFA series, then I guess I would have told you there was more chance of Robin Van Persie signing for Manchester United.
