The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
How the hell does Ms and Sony expect the online games industry to be a big player in years to come in the UK when only 7% of the country have taken up broadband and that only 30% of the country is covered anyway. This represents such a small amount of the gaming public problably 2%, is it worth the effort?
I for one have not even been upgraded to digital let alone Broadband and I would certainly not pay an extra £10 a month on top of the already over priced broadband access to get Xbox live.
I am sure they think the UK is like a mini America but it is just not the case 250,000 users is nothing like the figure in US, X-box hoping to have 1mil users by the end of 2003 and when X-box2 comes out in 2005 4mil they are living in dreamland. You would think companies like Sony and MS would be more in touch with the UK consumer.
I think it is a very big gamble and one that is to early for the technology in place in 5years time it might be different, but I wouldn't count on it.
A good judge of this is FF11 which was released in Countries like the US and Japan that have a lot of Broadband coverage and the sales of the game were pathetic compared to the numbers they sold as a stand alone game FF10.
I for one have not even been upgraded to digital let alone Broadband and I would certainly not pay an extra £10 a month on top of the already over priced broadband access to get Xbox live.
I am sure they think the UK is like a mini America but it is just not the case 250,000 users is nothing like the figure in US, X-box hoping to have 1mil users by the end of 2003 and when X-box2 comes out in 2005 4mil they are living in dreamland. You would think companies like Sony and MS would be more in touch with the UK consumer.
I think it is a very big gamble and one that is to early for the technology in place in 5years time it might be different, but I wouldn't count on it.
A good judge of this is FF11 which was released in Countries like the US and Japan that have a lot of Broadband coverage and the sales of the game were pathetic compared to the numbers they sold as a stand alone game FF10.
Page:
I think you are wrong as I have stated BT themselves admit 30% of the country might never get broadband, they want 500,000 users by summer 03 that is a pathetic amount and certainly not enough to justify total online games as the way to go. There are already 500,000 copies of Gta VC in homes now that would mean for it to go online every user in the UK would have to buy 2 copies, that is not counting on whether they want to play games online.
Then there is the cost, faced with the choice of Sky or Broadband I know which one I would go for.
Then there is the cost, faced with the choice of Sky or Broadband I know which one I would go for.
What it comes down to is whether you have a use for Broadband. I'm currently in the process of it being activated and it's not cost a terrific amount;
£27 a month with Tiscali for 512k ADSL
£65 for USB modem
Free line activation
£20 for RJ11 cable - needed 20 metres, but most people will be fine with what you get with the modem.
On top of that I want to use it for Xbox Live, so;
£8 for a PCI Belkin NI Card new from Ebay
£3 for an ehternet cable, again new, from Ebay
It'll save me time, let me play my Xbox online, download faster, and I'm happy with what I paid. Just counting the days until it's activated !
BEar in mind that just 3 years ago a lot of us paid about £15 just for an ISP, and had phone calls on top of that to pay for, ADSL is a good deal for anyone.
Sony and MS have got it right - Broadband is rolling out faster in the UK, and will do even more with the announcements from the conference thing today - BT are expected to say they will extend to cover 89% of the country.
~~Belldandy~~
£27 a month with Tiscali for 512k ADSL
£65 for USB modem
Free line activation
£20 for RJ11 cable - needed 20 metres, but most people will be fine with what you get with the modem.
On top of that I want to use it for Xbox Live, so;
£8 for a PCI Belkin NI Card new from Ebay
£3 for an ehternet cable, again new, from Ebay
It'll save me time, let me play my Xbox online, download faster, and I'm happy with what I paid. Just counting the days until it's activated !
BEar in mind that just 3 years ago a lot of us paid about £15 just for an ISP, and had phone calls on top of that to pay for, ADSL is a good deal for anyone.
Sony and MS have got it right - Broadband is rolling out faster in the UK, and will do even more with the announcements from the conference thing today - BT are expected to say they will extend to cover 89% of the country.
~~Belldandy~~
More hardware u might need.
For standalone pc's you can get away with a box which connects to the BB and to your pc. Most are USB or FireWire based. If you have an older computer, you may need to upgrade for this or choose another connection method. You also need some software to be installed.
Another single user option is to have a BB PCI card which fits inside your pc. All computers have had pci slots for many years, so this option is open to more people. The BB is connected to the back of the card that sticks out the back of your pc. You will also need to install some software.
The 3rd option is to connect the BB to a router, then an Ethernet HUB. The Ethernet HUB is a network device to which you can connect lots of devices. An RJ-45 cable connects your Ethernet card (inside your pc - you may need to add this) to one of the sockets on the HUB. You can do this for each device which you want to use on BB. Any device you want to use will need the software installed on it. This option is the most expandible, since you can simply hook up extra pc's (or consoles) to BB as and when required.
For standalone pc's you can get away with a box which connects to the BB and to your pc. Most are USB or FireWire based. If you have an older computer, you may need to upgrade for this or choose another connection method. You also need some software to be installed.
Another single user option is to have a BB PCI card which fits inside your pc. All computers have had pci slots for many years, so this option is open to more people. The BB is connected to the back of the card that sticks out the back of your pc. You will also need to install some software.
The 3rd option is to connect the BB to a router, then an Ethernet HUB. The Ethernet HUB is a network device to which you can connect lots of devices. An RJ-45 cable connects your Ethernet card (inside your pc - you may need to add this) to one of the sockets on the HUB. You can do this for each device which you want to use on BB. Any device you want to use will need the software installed on it. This option is the most expandible, since you can simply hook up extra pc's (or consoles) to BB as and when required.
I have to say i agree with the original post, if you care to take a look at the registration levels for exchanges which have a trigger level you are lucky to see more than 40% of the trigger level reached. Broadband rollout may be on the increase, but it is still lagging behind.
phi11ip wrote:
> Top score wrote:
>
> The price is another issue £20 gets you the slowest internet
> 120k connection where as if your want the fast service which is more
> idealy suited to gaming 512k that can cost between £30 and
> £40, with the charges being so high will face the same fate as
> ISDN people didn't go for that.
>
> You need to sort your prices out!
>
> Xbox live is only £40 for a year, the same as a new game and you
> get two cheap games with it anyway!
>
> NTL do 128k internet for £15, that is the same price as an
> anytime dial-up ISP. Due to connection speeds you can get over 3 times
> faster than your dial-up connection and you can get pings of 20 MS.
> That is easily enough for online gaming!
>
> Most broadband people offer it for £25-£30 now!
>
> NTL offer 600k for £25, others give you 512k for about
> £27.99... (Freeserve, BT, etc..)
That is alright then except for how many parts of the country has cable, we will just dig up the whole of the UK then as you need a cable to go straight to your house rather than your local exchange. We can then all enjoy £15 a month cable DSL which is not the same or as fast as ADSL.
> Top score wrote:
>
> The price is another issue £20 gets you the slowest internet
> 120k connection where as if your want the fast service which is more
> idealy suited to gaming 512k that can cost between £30 and
> £40, with the charges being so high will face the same fate as
> ISDN people didn't go for that.
>
> You need to sort your prices out!
>
> Xbox live is only £40 for a year, the same as a new game and you
> get two cheap games with it anyway!
>
> NTL do 128k internet for £15, that is the same price as an
> anytime dial-up ISP. Due to connection speeds you can get over 3 times
> faster than your dial-up connection and you can get pings of 20 MS.
> That is easily enough for online gaming!
>
> Most broadband people offer it for £25-£30 now!
>
> NTL offer 600k for £25, others give you 512k for about
> £27.99... (Freeserve, BT, etc..)
That is alright then except for how many parts of the country has cable, we will just dig up the whole of the UK then as you need a cable to go straight to your house rather than your local exchange. We can then all enjoy £15 a month cable DSL which is not the same or as fast as ADSL.
More people play more games and buy more games in less populated areas. Those are the areas where there is no broadband. Also, you will have to buy a £80 router or move your pc if you want to use a USB broadband service.
Jokes!
Jokes!
I don't think it will take off in the way people are expecting it to though. Not for a couple of years at least, as I feel the current price isn't worth what you get.
Hey, I could be wrong, but I just don't see broadband as a 'must have' at this time.
Hey, I could be wrong, but I just don't see broadband as a 'must have' at this time.
It will take off soon...
All areas around Upminster have been enabled!
Once the price falls again which it will do soon the demand will rise sharply...
In the meantime, I'm happy with my NTL 128k!
It's amazing!
All areas around Upminster have been enabled!
Once the price falls again which it will do soon the demand will rise sharply...
In the meantime, I'm happy with my NTL 128k!
It's amazing!
There's less than half a million BB subscribers UK wide!
The broadband map for the SW area of the UK shows "pockets" of BB, and great big area's without it.
The broadband map for the SW area of the UK shows "pockets" of BB, and great big area's without it.
Top score wrote:
> The price is another issue £20 gets you the slowest internet
> 120k connection where as if your want the fast service which is more
> idealy suited to gaming 512k that can cost between £30 and
> £40, with the charges being so high will face the same fate as
> ISDN people didn't go for that.
You need to sort your prices out!
Xbox live is only £40 for a year, the same as a new game and you get two cheap games with it anyway!
NTL do 128k internet for £15, that is the same price as an anytime dial-up ISP. Due to connection speeds you can get over 3 times faster than your dial-up connection and you can get pings of 20 MS. That is easily enough for online gaming!
Most broadband people offer it for £25-£30 now!
NTL offer 600k for £25, others give you 512k for about £27.99... (Freeserve, BT, etc..)
> The price is another issue £20 gets you the slowest internet
> 120k connection where as if your want the fast service which is more
> idealy suited to gaming 512k that can cost between £30 and
> £40, with the charges being so high will face the same fate as
> ISDN people didn't go for that.
You need to sort your prices out!
Xbox live is only £40 for a year, the same as a new game and you get two cheap games with it anyway!
NTL do 128k internet for £15, that is the same price as an anytime dial-up ISP. Due to connection speeds you can get over 3 times faster than your dial-up connection and you can get pings of 20 MS. That is easily enough for online gaming!
Most broadband people offer it for £25-£30 now!
NTL offer 600k for £25, others give you 512k for about £27.99... (Freeserve, BT, etc..)
Page: