PES 2009 demo on Thursday

Konami has said that a Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 demo will be released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC this Thursday, 2nd October.

The demo will focus on a five-minute exhibition match, fit for multiplayer, and will also include promo videos for the new "Become a Legend" and online "Legends" modes, where you control one player on a team throughout the match, rather than swapping control between players.

Teams featured in the upcoming demo are Liverpool, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and the Italian and French national teams - all of whom are licensed with their proper names, kits and players, as Konami boosts PES' authenticity away from the pitch to match the Japanese development team's on-field endeavours.

Konami also recently announced that PES 2009 will include the UEFA Champions League, as well as the usual improvements to controls, visuals and artificial intelligence, which should make for a more fluid, believable game. Yes, they always say that, but at least there's always some truth in it.

PES is also to be supported by Microsoft's new revised Xbox 360 controller, which has a new d-pad designed to work better with the famous football series. You can read more about the pad in our New Xbox 360 Controller hands-on preview, although as PES is one of the first games programmed to take advantage of it, Thursday may be our first chance to really put it through its paces.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is due out on PS3, 360, PC, PS2 and PSP on 17th October.