SCOTS FANS GET BEST VIRTUAL VERSION EVER
AS CELTIC captain, Scott Brown is used to having his picture taken.
But he’s never had 110 flash bulbs shoot at once – until now.
The Scotland star was one of the first in line when his team were called up to have their images 3D mapped for inclusion in the brand new game, Pro Evolution Soccer 2019.
The Konami game giants were at Celtic Park yesterday for the new title’s UK launch and the announcement that for the first time, the iconic title would feature all 12 Scottish Premiership clubs, fully licensed.
There will be special Celtic and Rangers editions of the game, with both club’s famous stadia included for the first time and proper renders of all first team squad players – with the Rangers squad images also captured.
When the game’s Celtic partnership was announced earlier this week, a rougher graphic of Brown was included in the promotional material, leading him to joke on Instagram: “Think I have just went 12 rounds with Tyson with a nose like that”.
He said he was thrilled to get the chance of a digital nose job by stepping inside the special PES photo booth which was brought to their Lennoxtown training ground for the unique photo shoot.
He added: “This is fun, at least my nose might look a bit better now.
“I used to play PES when I was younger but I’ve got three kids now and it is harder to get the chance.
“It’ll be really good to have the proper teams and the proper players from the league – and see my mug in it as well.”
In early years, Pro Evo featured Celtic and Rangers in disguise, under the names of Ulster (Celtic), Conmacht (Rangers) or Old Firm Green and Old Firm Blue.
In later editions of the game they appeared properly named but with very little mention of other SPFL sides.
There have been no Scottish sides at all in the game for the last few years and PES European brand manager Lennart Bobzien said he was delighted that the game had changed all that.
He said: “We have had clubs like Celtic and Rangers but we wanted to go the next step by signing the whole league and letting everyone have the experience of playing with their Scottish teams.
“FIFA have the league featured but they are not giving so much love to it and this was an opportunity for us to tap into the market.
“Celtic and Rangers are global brands and when we announced the partnerships on social media, fans from all over the world are asking about the stadium.
“For us, there are a huge amount of PES fans in Scotland. We are so happy to please our fans and let them know we are listening to them.” ● Pro Evolution Soccer is out on PS4. XBox One and PC, on August 30.