New features for Pro Evo 2008 on DS and PSP revealed

Back in November we were first to bring you the news Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 was set to be delayed until January next year on DS. Then later in the month, we learnt the PSP version had suffered the same fate. Bad news for anyone who'd been planning on spending Christmas locked in their rooms playing the latest handheld PES until the last annoying family member had left.

Today, Konami has finally released an official press release confirming that both versions have been delayed until the New Year but also offering new details that hadn't previously been revealed about how the games will play.

So, the DS instalment of Pro Evo 2008 will include Exhibition, Penalty Shoot-Out and Konami Cup modes, as well as a variant of the World Tour system where you face elite teams from every continent.

The game will also support wireless play. Four players will be able to compete in matches provided they all have a copy of the game, but DS gamesharing is also supported so that, with a single copy of the game, you'll get to play one-on-one matches against a friend. In addition, expect to trade players and collect coins to buy the best world players to your team.

Meanwhile, PSP PES 2008 has some unique gameplay of its own, too. Although Konami says it shares a lot in common with the recently released PlayStation 2 version of the game, there will be a new World Tour mode in which players are set a series of challenges as they travel the globe.

Full edit options are also incorporated, so your team is easily transformed to have all the correct names of real-life players. Master League, League, World Tour and Cup mode information can also be shared between your PSP and PS2, enabling you to continue building your team on the move.

So it's not all bad news. The handheld versions might be arriving later than planned but at least they're coming complete with plenty of platform-specific features. Konami is still only saying Q1 2008 as a vague release date for both handhelds, but retailers have them listed as late January, so here's hoping that's correct.