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Are we ready for on-line gaming? Most of us probably can't wait to get on-line and beat friends and even foreigners and also get some extra services from some of the developers. But are we really ready for our consoles to go on-line?
I for one don't think we are, there are a few reasons why I have this opinion and I shall share them with you here.
First one has to be lack of games to support it. I have only noticed a handful of games that have a certain kind of on-line feature, surely if this was going to be such a big event as the developers make it out to be then a little more effort to produce a wide variety of games before it all takes off so it is actually of use to some would be a good idea. Probably after people realise what exactly on-line gaming allows they will buy more games which support it then more developers will produce games that support it and so on.
My second reason has to be today's technology, today's games have great graphics, sounds and move smoothly. What kind of internet connection would be required to allow games to play on-line the way they were intended too with no slowdown or jerks in the graphics? Probably broadband, How many of you have broadband? Will you get it soon? Also I can't help but think that as soon as we all get our modems and get a connection that something better may come along. The way I see things is that 2002 will be the year all the consoles compete with each other. On-line gaming may be used as a marketing gimmick to try sell more units ie we got on-line first, buy our console and play on-line now. Until the technology is available all over and the cost is fair I don't think on-line gaming will take off in the big way people expect.
Thirdly, as we are British we seem to be a fair bit behind Japan and the US. If this is the case then what kind of service can we expect from the developers? Will it be the same? Will we all have identical features or will the usual thing happen and not only do they get it quite a bit before us but they also get more extras than us. I guess in a way this time round it could be a good thing to get this after Japan and the US, if it doesn't live up to the standards we are expecting then we know not to get involved until they get it right and make a success of it.
Next we have the cost. The cost of all this sure does go up and up. Firstly you need all the hardware, console, modem and possibly the hard disk if it isn't already included with the console. Then you need the games which use an on-line feature. After that you will need an ISP. Hopefully a deal will be made by the developers to have reduced costs for the ISP, It would be amazing if it was free but sadly I doubt it. If that is the case then you will have to pay for all the time you spend on-line playing games. I think Microsoft will be able to get the best deal by splashing their money around and with the way they dominate other industries it does look likely that they will try to top the market by trying to buy the best services for X-Box users. In saying that though we never know what is going to happen until it happens. Lets just hope for our sake that the cost is fair and worth paying.
I remember my younger cousin got a dreamcast on import when it was first released. He worked and worked until he and his friend could afford one, he also swapped his N64 for it too. His dad works for BT so they got free internet and he used to play on-line from time to time. I must admit the idea seems a good one but the service was poor and due to slow connection speeds and well in my opinion a rushed service it wasn't much of a good experience. On-line gaming can and probably will be a huge success but when? I just think it is a little early for it.
I am sure when the X-Box and GameCube are released over here then more effort may be put into getting on-line gaming to take off in a big way. I just hope we are ready for it when it happens.
Knowing the way things go though in the games industry it is unlikely that a developer will risk slipping up when there is so much money at risk and huge profits possible. So probably things will go smoothly and on-line console gaming will be a huge success.
I for one don't think we are, there are a few reasons why I have this opinion and I shall share them with you here.
First one has to be lack of games to support it. I have only noticed a handful of games that have a certain kind of on-line feature, surely if this was going to be such a big event as the developers make it out to be then a little more effort to produce a wide variety of games before it all takes off so it is actually of use to some would be a good idea. Probably after people realise what exactly on-line gaming allows they will buy more games which support it then more developers will produce games that support it and so on.
My second reason has to be today's technology, today's games have great graphics, sounds and move smoothly. What kind of internet connection would be required to allow games to play on-line the way they were intended too with no slowdown or jerks in the graphics? Probably broadband, How many of you have broadband? Will you get it soon? Also I can't help but think that as soon as we all get our modems and get a connection that something better may come along. The way I see things is that 2002 will be the year all the consoles compete with each other. On-line gaming may be used as a marketing gimmick to try sell more units ie we got on-line first, buy our console and play on-line now. Until the technology is available all over and the cost is fair I don't think on-line gaming will take off in the big way people expect.
Thirdly, as we are British we seem to be a fair bit behind Japan and the US. If this is the case then what kind of service can we expect from the developers? Will it be the same? Will we all have identical features or will the usual thing happen and not only do they get it quite a bit before us but they also get more extras than us. I guess in a way this time round it could be a good thing to get this after Japan and the US, if it doesn't live up to the standards we are expecting then we know not to get involved until they get it right and make a success of it.
Next we have the cost. The cost of all this sure does go up and up. Firstly you need all the hardware, console, modem and possibly the hard disk if it isn't already included with the console. Then you need the games which use an on-line feature. After that you will need an ISP. Hopefully a deal will be made by the developers to have reduced costs for the ISP, It would be amazing if it was free but sadly I doubt it. If that is the case then you will have to pay for all the time you spend on-line playing games. I think Microsoft will be able to get the best deal by splashing their money around and with the way they dominate other industries it does look likely that they will try to top the market by trying to buy the best services for X-Box users. In saying that though we never know what is going to happen until it happens. Lets just hope for our sake that the cost is fair and worth paying.
I remember my younger cousin got a dreamcast on import when it was first released. He worked and worked until he and his friend could afford one, he also swapped his N64 for it too. His dad works for BT so they got free internet and he used to play on-line from time to time. I must admit the idea seems a good one but the service was poor and due to slow connection speeds and well in my opinion a rushed service it wasn't much of a good experience. On-line gaming can and probably will be a huge success but when? I just think it is a little early for it.
I am sure when the X-Box and GameCube are released over here then more effort may be put into getting on-line gaming to take off in a big way. I just hope we are ready for it when it happens.
Knowing the way things go though in the games industry it is unlikely that a developer will risk slipping up when there is so much money at risk and huge profits possible. So probably things will go smoothly and on-line console gaming will be a huge success.
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AliBoy wrote:
Ok seems fine to me as that is what most of us want to do,
> but what if the idea of on-line gaming is used to it's true potential with all
> the extras like downloadable demos, music, clips, offer feed back etc, will
> Nintendo miss out on these until the console after the GameCube (assuming there
> will be one)?
There's always Panasonics S.D. Memory cards. They hold up to 64Megabytes of info which should suffice for most games/downloads.
Ok seems fine to me as that is what most of us want to do,
> but what if the idea of on-line gaming is used to it's true potential with all
> the extras like downloadable demos, music, clips, offer feed back etc, will
> Nintendo miss out on these until the console after the GameCube (assuming there
> will be one)?
There's always Panasonics S.D. Memory cards. They hold up to 64Megabytes of info which should suffice for most games/downloads.
AliBoy wrote:
Ok seems fine to me as that is what most of us want to do,
> but what if the idea of on-line gaming is used to it's true potential with all
> the extras like downloadable demos, music, clips, offer feed back etc, will
> Nintendo miss out on these until the console after the GameCube (assuming there
> will be one)?
There's always Panasonics S.D. Memory cards. They hold up to 64Megabytes of info which should suffice for most games/downloads.
Ok seems fine to me as that is what most of us want to do,
> but what if the idea of on-line gaming is used to it's true potential with all
> the extras like downloadable demos, music, clips, offer feed back etc, will
> Nintendo miss out on these until the console after the GameCube (assuming there
> will be one)?
There's always Panasonics S.D. Memory cards. They hold up to 64Megabytes of info which should suffice for most games/downloads.
AliBoy wrote:
Ok seems fine to me as that is what most of us want to do,
> but what if the idea of on-line gaming is used to it's true potential with all
> the extras like downloadable demos, music, clips, offer feed back etc, will
> Nintendo miss out on these until the console after the GameCube (assuming there
> will be one)?
There's always Panasonics S.D. Memory cards. They hold up to 64Megabytes of info which should suffice for most games/downloads.
Ok seems fine to me as that is what most of us want to do,
> but what if the idea of on-line gaming is used to it's true potential with all
> the extras like downloadable demos, music, clips, offer feed back etc, will
> Nintendo miss out on these until the console after the GameCube (assuming there
> will be one)?
There's always Panasonics S.D. Memory cards. They hold up to 64Megabytes of info which should suffice for most games/downloads.
Prawn Star wrote:
I'm in trouble, I mean financially. I was given a DC for my Birthday (in September), mainly for PSO, but found the 60p per minute outrageous! Think about it. 60x60= £36.00. Thats right, £36 an hour!
Are you having a giraffe?
Are you sure it's not 1p a minute = 60p an hour?
Fool.
I'm in trouble, I mean financially. I was given a DC for my Birthday (in September), mainly for PSO, but found the 60p per minute outrageous! Think about it. 60x60= £36.00. Thats right, £36 an hour!
Are you having a giraffe?
Are you sure it's not 1p a minute = 60p an hour?
Fool.
AliBoy wrote:
> Obviously the developers have done their homework and know
> exactly who they are aiming the console at. But could
> being different cost them in the long run?
Hmmm, good point, but if you think about what we are saying about the UK infrastucture, Nintendo may be waiting in the sidelines for broadband to reach critical mass in 3-4 years, by which time they can bring out GamePentium... or GameHexagon, or something like that.
> Obviously the developers have done their homework and know
> exactly who they are aiming the console at. But could
> being different cost them in the long run?
Hmmm, good point, but if you think about what we are saying about the UK infrastucture, Nintendo may be waiting in the sidelines for broadband to reach critical mass in 3-4 years, by which time they can bring out GamePentium... or GameHexagon, or something like that.
I was in the car driving to uni about an hour ago and there was a guy on talking about the GameCube saying that it was cheaper because it dosn't have the extras like a DVD player and hard disk. Yes I know we all know this but it got me thinking on another area for this post. If the gamecube dosn't have a hard disk does that mean the only on-line features it will use is the ability to log on and play games?
Ok seems fine to me as that is what most of us want to do, but what if the idea of on-line gaming is used to it's true potential with all the extras like downloadable demos, music, clips, offer feed back etc, will Nintendo miss out on these until the console after the GameCube (assuming there will be one)?
Obviously the developers have done their homework and know exactly who they are aiming the console at. But could being different cost them in the long run?
Ok seems fine to me as that is what most of us want to do, but what if the idea of on-line gaming is used to it's true potential with all the extras like downloadable demos, music, clips, offer feed back etc, will Nintendo miss out on these until the console after the GameCube (assuming there will be one)?
Obviously the developers have done their homework and know exactly who they are aiming the console at. But could being different cost them in the long run?
I'm in trouble, I mean financially. I was given a DC for my Birthday (in September), mainly for PSO, but found the 60p per minute outrageous! Think about it. 60x60= £36.00. Thats right, £36 an hour! I hope none of the other consoles make a mistake like they did, especially not the PS2.
The PS2 is getting AOL which seems to be the best of the bunch when you've got a 56K and they also own the Netscape Browser :-)
Imagine the whole UK population stuffed into the area of London, and you have a rough idea of how densely populated Japan is. This allows them to have briliant high-speed broadband connections and cheap deals for getting online.
For that reason, online games like FF11 and the like will be huge in Japan.
Over here, things are different. We have slow 56K lines, expensive internet deals, and the fact is that online gaming is just a chore to set up.
Whatever MS and Ninty do, this will always be the case until we all get cheap broadband lines.
Sonic
For that reason, online games like FF11 and the like will be huge in Japan.
Over here, things are different. We have slow 56K lines, expensive internet deals, and the fact is that online gaming is just a chore to set up.
Whatever MS and Ninty do, this will always be the case until we all get cheap broadband lines.
Sonic
We are ready for online gaming, broadband is a different issue but I was playing Quake, Jedi Knight and Redneck Rampage with school mates almost 5 years ago!!!!!!
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