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Sony and Microsoft are pushing online gaming as the next big thing, the be all and end all. Nintendo are taking their usual nonchalant stance on things (which could be the reason they've fallen behind in the console race). Everybody's excited. But should we all step back, take a breather and look at the whole situation? With Sony, the main online flagships are Twisted Metal Black and SOCOM. The former is seen by many as a poor man's destruction derby. Drive around, kill other cars, that sort of thing...but wouldn't you rather do it in Mario Kart? The latter is a third person action war team based running bang shoot thing...but really, if we're talking squad-based shooting, wouldn't it be an idea to look back to CounterStrike, the most popular online game ever...released several years before the PS2 was released? Then there's FFXI, a massive online RPG (which has seen bugs and cheating in even the final build of the Japanese game) and EverQuest Adventures (a lacklustre port of another PC MMORPG that only the die-hards would buy, and of course the die-hards would already have it, so there'd be no point).
The XBOX is looking slightly more organised, with XBOX Live looming over us like a huge money-waving cloud of gaming fantasy. Where the PS2 is scatty and unorganized, with all servers run by the games developers and not the console company, individual payments and different registrations to fill in for each game, Microsoft are showing their experience. A yearly package, including demos, a headset and a universal account for all games. But what games will be showing off this impressive set-up? Well, there's Unreal Championship (made alongside the PC's UT2003), there's Deathrow (possibly the sleeper hit of the year) and then, there's the big one, the huge game that will definitely shift kits - Halo 2. Although not for a while, mind.
Meanwhile, the GC is being reluctantly pulled into the online revolution, with Phantasy Star Online being the main hook, Sega even ready to market their own modem if Ninty don't get theirselves in gear. But what about the availability? Sony have SOCOM for broadband users only, but all are welcome with most other games, despite the possibility of lag. The same can be said for Nintendo. MS, however, have taken a gamble and only allowed users with superfast broadband connections get in on the act. Some say they are alienating the fanbase, whereas others see it as keeping the experience enjoyable, cutting off the dead weight to allow lightning quick action to fly across the world's TV screens. So really, it looks like from the big three, MS are runaway winners. Of course, with there being so many more PS2s around, they will probably have the largest online community.
But really, can they compete with the almighty internet? PC gaming has always been about depth, attention to detail, better graphics, more options, better customization. Sure there might not be a great football game on there, a decent racing sim...but why play Morrowind when you've got Neverwinter Nights? Why bother with online Timesplitters 2 when there's Tribes 2, pumped to the eyeballs with modifications and new maps? The online gaming community has evolved to a state where it is no longer cool to use wall hacks - you have clans, dedicated servers for established users. Cheaters are quickly blocked out, and when it comes to a nice long round of capture the flag on CS, can anything on a joypad ever compare?
Any way you look at it, the PC is the best. It's like the PS2 leading in sales: it's had the time to hone the product, harness the hardware, and really get to grips with what people want, what people need, what's fresh and new and exciting, and what's useless and not worth bothering with. Even the most one-dimensional of games such as Max Payne is enriched by the PC's life lengthening tools - see the kung fu mod, for instance. I will be going online with my PS2 hopefully, but really I doubt it'll really match the PC. Maybe for GT4, PES3 and the next Mortal Kombat, eh? And then there IS Halo 2...agh!
Thanks for reading, your views are appreciated.
The XBOX is looking slightly more organised, with XBOX Live looming over us like a huge money-waving cloud of gaming fantasy. Where the PS2 is scatty and unorganized, with all servers run by the games developers and not the console company, individual payments and different registrations to fill in for each game, Microsoft are showing their experience. A yearly package, including demos, a headset and a universal account for all games. But what games will be showing off this impressive set-up? Well, there's Unreal Championship (made alongside the PC's UT2003), there's Deathrow (possibly the sleeper hit of the year) and then, there's the big one, the huge game that will definitely shift kits - Halo 2. Although not for a while, mind.
Meanwhile, the GC is being reluctantly pulled into the online revolution, with Phantasy Star Online being the main hook, Sega even ready to market their own modem if Ninty don't get theirselves in gear. But what about the availability? Sony have SOCOM for broadband users only, but all are welcome with most other games, despite the possibility of lag. The same can be said for Nintendo. MS, however, have taken a gamble and only allowed users with superfast broadband connections get in on the act. Some say they are alienating the fanbase, whereas others see it as keeping the experience enjoyable, cutting off the dead weight to allow lightning quick action to fly across the world's TV screens. So really, it looks like from the big three, MS are runaway winners. Of course, with there being so many more PS2s around, they will probably have the largest online community.
But really, can they compete with the almighty internet? PC gaming has always been about depth, attention to detail, better graphics, more options, better customization. Sure there might not be a great football game on there, a decent racing sim...but why play Morrowind when you've got Neverwinter Nights? Why bother with online Timesplitters 2 when there's Tribes 2, pumped to the eyeballs with modifications and new maps? The online gaming community has evolved to a state where it is no longer cool to use wall hacks - you have clans, dedicated servers for established users. Cheaters are quickly blocked out, and when it comes to a nice long round of capture the flag on CS, can anything on a joypad ever compare?
Any way you look at it, the PC is the best. It's like the PS2 leading in sales: it's had the time to hone the product, harness the hardware, and really get to grips with what people want, what people need, what's fresh and new and exciting, and what's useless and not worth bothering with. Even the most one-dimensional of games such as Max Payne is enriched by the PC's life lengthening tools - see the kung fu mod, for instance. I will be going online with my PS2 hopefully, but really I doubt it'll really match the PC. Maybe for GT4, PES3 and the next Mortal Kombat, eh? And then there IS Halo 2...agh!
Thanks for reading, your views are appreciated.
Sony and Microsoft are pushing online gaming as the next big thing, the be all and end all. Nintendo are taking their usual nonchalant stance on things (which could be the reason they've fallen behind in the console race). Everybody's excited. But should we all step back, take a breather and look at the whole situation? With Sony, the main online flagships are Twisted Metal Black and SOCOM. The former is seen by many as a poor man's destruction derby. Drive around, kill other cars, that sort of thing...but wouldn't you rather do it in Mario Kart? The latter is a third person action war team based running bang shoot thing...but really, if we're talking squad-based shooting, wouldn't it be an idea to look back to CounterStrike, the most popular online game ever...released several years before the PS2 was released? Then there's FFXI, a massive online RPG (which has seen bugs and cheating in even the final build of the Japanese game) and EverQuest Adventures (a lacklustre port of another PC MMORPG that only the die-hards would buy, and of course the die-hards would already have it, so there'd be no point).
The XBOX is looking slightly more organised, with XBOX Live looming over us like a huge money-waving cloud of gaming fantasy. Where the PS2 is scatty and unorganized, with all servers run by the games developers and not the console company, individual payments and different registrations to fill in for each game, Microsoft are showing their experience. A yearly package, including demos, a headset and a universal account for all games. But what games will be showing off this impressive set-up? Well, there's Unreal Championship (made alongside the PC's UT2003), there's Deathrow (possibly the sleeper hit of the year) and then, there's the big one, the huge game that will definitely shift kits - Halo 2. Although not for a while, mind.
Meanwhile, the GC is being reluctantly pulled into the online revolution, with Phantasy Star Online being the main hook, Sega even ready to market their own modem if Ninty don't get theirselves in gear. But what about the availability? Sony have SOCOM for broadband users only, but all are welcome with most other games, despite the possibility of lag. The same can be said for Nintendo. MS, however, have taken a gamble and only allowed users with superfast broadband connections get in on the act. Some say they are alienating the fanbase, whereas others see it as keeping the experience enjoyable, cutting off the dead weight to allow lightning quick action to fly across the world's TV screens. So really, it looks like from the big three, MS are runaway winners. Of course, with there being so many more PS2s around, they will probably have the largest online community.
But really, can they compete with the almighty internet? PC gaming has always been about depth, attention to detail, better graphics, more options, better customization. Sure there might not be a great football game on there, a decent racing sim...but why play Morrowind when you've got Neverwinter Nights? Why bother with online Timesplitters 2 when there's Tribes 2, pumped to the eyeballs with modifications and new maps? The online gaming community has evolved to a state where it is no longer cool to use wall hacks - you have clans, dedicated servers for established users. Cheaters are quickly blocked out, and when it comes to a nice long round of capture the flag on CS, can anything on a joypad ever compare?
Any way you look at it, the PC is the best. It's like the PS2 leading in sales: it's had the time to hone the product, harness the hardware, and really get to grips with what people want, what people need, what's fresh and new and exciting, and what's useless and not worth bothering with. Even the most one-dimensional of games such as Max Payne is enriched by the PC's life lengthening tools - see the kung fu mod, for instance. I will be going online with my PS2 hopefully, but really I doubt it'll really match the PC. Maybe for GT4, PES3 and the next Mortal Kombat, eh? And then there IS Halo 2...agh!
Thanks for reading, your views are appreciated.
The XBOX is looking slightly more organised, with XBOX Live looming over us like a huge money-waving cloud of gaming fantasy. Where the PS2 is scatty and unorganized, with all servers run by the games developers and not the console company, individual payments and different registrations to fill in for each game, Microsoft are showing their experience. A yearly package, including demos, a headset and a universal account for all games. But what games will be showing off this impressive set-up? Well, there's Unreal Championship (made alongside the PC's UT2003), there's Deathrow (possibly the sleeper hit of the year) and then, there's the big one, the huge game that will definitely shift kits - Halo 2. Although not for a while, mind.
Meanwhile, the GC is being reluctantly pulled into the online revolution, with Phantasy Star Online being the main hook, Sega even ready to market their own modem if Ninty don't get theirselves in gear. But what about the availability? Sony have SOCOM for broadband users only, but all are welcome with most other games, despite the possibility of lag. The same can be said for Nintendo. MS, however, have taken a gamble and only allowed users with superfast broadband connections get in on the act. Some say they are alienating the fanbase, whereas others see it as keeping the experience enjoyable, cutting off the dead weight to allow lightning quick action to fly across the world's TV screens. So really, it looks like from the big three, MS are runaway winners. Of course, with there being so many more PS2s around, they will probably have the largest online community.
But really, can they compete with the almighty internet? PC gaming has always been about depth, attention to detail, better graphics, more options, better customization. Sure there might not be a great football game on there, a decent racing sim...but why play Morrowind when you've got Neverwinter Nights? Why bother with online Timesplitters 2 when there's Tribes 2, pumped to the eyeballs with modifications and new maps? The online gaming community has evolved to a state where it is no longer cool to use wall hacks - you have clans, dedicated servers for established users. Cheaters are quickly blocked out, and when it comes to a nice long round of capture the flag on CS, can anything on a joypad ever compare?
Any way you look at it, the PC is the best. It's like the PS2 leading in sales: it's had the time to hone the product, harness the hardware, and really get to grips with what people want, what people need, what's fresh and new and exciting, and what's useless and not worth bothering with. Even the most one-dimensional of games such as Max Payne is enriched by the PC's life lengthening tools - see the kung fu mod, for instance. I will be going online with my PS2 hopefully, but really I doubt it'll really match the PC. Maybe for GT4, PES3 and the next Mortal Kombat, eh? And then there IS Halo 2...agh!
Thanks for reading, your views are appreciated.
Xbox live is great and incredibly fast i got it not long ago sadly you can't download new levels on splinter cell until march :(
Shame 90% of the decent games I want to play are on the Gamecube
Makes your 'point' a bit void relly doesn't it
Makes your 'point' a bit void relly doesn't it
Cant get broadband in this area.
Cant afford the broadband connection fee every month (let alone any extra charges for using a console on it).
Cant afford the broadband connection fee every month (let alone any extra charges for using a console on it).
Whitestripes wrote:
> Shame 90% of the decent games I want to play are on the Gamecube
Online games, you mean? If not, it's unrelated.
> Shame 90% of the decent games I want to play are on the Gamecube
Online games, you mean? If not, it's unrelated.
Top.
If Online were to come to GameCube(other than Phantasy Star Online) Then it would Just be a Xbox Look a-like without the dvd. and Unreal Championship.. Xbox is Just Taking all the famous games from Computer and Putting it on the Console, it is Just like a Mini computer in your household for Less. But if this Fast-connection thing is true, 40% of Xbox Owners would not register to the online gaming experience.