Point 3 is spot on. A lot of the joy was having my friends around and playing against them. I remember one of my friends lived nearby our school so for lunch we'd pick up some chips on the way to his house, I'd bring my N64 controller from home and the three of us would play Goldeneye. I'd also invite friends around so we could play Mario Kart together and my Grandma would bring us all food and we would not leave the room until the evening and they had to go home. Being care free, quickly doing my homework so I could get on my console, fun times.
My friend passed away a couple years back and some of the most fun we had in recent times was playing FIFA online during Covid lockdown and we'd play in the 2v2 online leagues, managed to get up to Division 1 for a little bit. When you are playing with a mate it is a different feel.
Get your point about PES, I was the same as well but when all my mates switched to FIFA I eventually moved but still hope one day they'll pull their finger out and get a good footy game out, I think they'd sell fuck loads as so many people hate these FIFA games but only buy as there is no alternative.
