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Broadband isn't the future of online gaming, well actually it is but now is the present, not the future. I was inspired to right this by Franny's topic but its not hte same, I'm arguing that Broadband isn't the solution to console gaming yet.
Seeing as NTL is facing someting of a crisis at the moment regarding its future - it has 12 billion in debt that it can't really make an attempt to pay and face bankruptcy - it seems a little bit optimistic to rely on them for the future of Broadband access, in fact it's highly questionable as to whether its worth Sony and Microsoft pursuing it, though Microsoft have no option but to now, really.
As it is, NTL's much vaunted network is a mish mash of bought out companies - they haven't so much as made it as patched it together ! Bt has been slow off the mark but they are at least upgrading lines, not trying to patch up a makeshift network. In addition, BT is solely a telecommunications company, NTL has to worry about its cable and digital television branches - an area dominated by SKY who have seen off ITV Digital and are probably going to face off to NTL next. In a digital price war NTL will have to cut costs as it offers fewer channels for more money at the moment. Cheap and free phone access was one of NTLs winning points, but their bad reputation in this area is killing them.
Broadband is the future of internet gaming, thats definite, but now isn't the time for it. Many gamers with PC's have only just recently started out on the internet, and the internet itself is only just gaining recognition as something worthwhile. Undoubtedly some X Box owners have Broadband via NTL/BT/Telwest or whoever, and they pay a subscription fee for that use. Microsoft have made it quite clear that their gaming site is going to exist as a subscription site, unlike the existing zone.com for PC gamers. Sony haven't made any firm announcement yet, but subscription fees are likely. Last week saw the cost of normal analogue internet access rise for many who are on unlimited plans - AOL, Freeserve and BTOpenworld all raised or intend to raise prices. This morning BT has announced its intention to clear 10 billion of its own debt - thats not a recipe for falling charges is it ? So Braodband is farely rare, expensive, but good.
56k access, whilst not brilliant, is quite reasonable when used on a subscription gaming site - like the old BT Wireplay one. Most gamers, with a PC, have this kind of access and could probably afford £5 or so to play every month on a subscription site. Sony have allowed their usersthis option and it may well win them the first round of the online gaming contest.
By relying solely on Broadband Microsoft have alienated a vast number of potential buyers, sureall of us here know the benefits because we are mostly experienced gamers, but imagine this scenario being played out in your local game, when the PS2 and X Box are being compared by a customer;
CUSTOMER: So that one can use a modem for broadband and normal access, and *points to X Box* that ones just broadband ?
SALES PERSON: Yeah, but broadbands better, its faster and a lot more fun.
CUSTOMER: Which is cheaper ?
SALESPERSON: Normal access.
CUSTOMER: Get us a Playstation 2 then....
(I'm not saying here that Gamecube isn't worth comparing or anything, I just don't know much about the Gamecube yet)
Price is everything in Britain, cheapest wins nearly every time. Why is Sony doing so well now ? Their console is cheapest of the current ones, their games are cheaper. Why are DVDs so popular now ? The players are cheaper. Digital tv ? Its cheaper than it was.
It's okay saying Broadband is the future and that its brilliant, but for any online site to be viable, and for publishers to make the games, you've got to have a large user base of people that can afford to access them. Sony and Microsoft, and Nintendo, need to establish large user bases before trying to wrench more money from them. Come back in five years time and maybe Broadband will look good then. At the moment it's a bad idea and unless the big three are careful, online games will be the 21st century equivalent of light gun games. And we all know how many light gun games there have been through history don't we, you could count them on your fingers and toes.....
Seeing as NTL is facing someting of a crisis at the moment regarding its future - it has 12 billion in debt that it can't really make an attempt to pay and face bankruptcy - it seems a little bit optimistic to rely on them for the future of Broadband access, in fact it's highly questionable as to whether its worth Sony and Microsoft pursuing it, though Microsoft have no option but to now, really.
As it is, NTL's much vaunted network is a mish mash of bought out companies - they haven't so much as made it as patched it together ! Bt has been slow off the mark but they are at least upgrading lines, not trying to patch up a makeshift network. In addition, BT is solely a telecommunications company, NTL has to worry about its cable and digital television branches - an area dominated by SKY who have seen off ITV Digital and are probably going to face off to NTL next. In a digital price war NTL will have to cut costs as it offers fewer channels for more money at the moment. Cheap and free phone access was one of NTLs winning points, but their bad reputation in this area is killing them.
Broadband is the future of internet gaming, thats definite, but now isn't the time for it. Many gamers with PC's have only just recently started out on the internet, and the internet itself is only just gaining recognition as something worthwhile. Undoubtedly some X Box owners have Broadband via NTL/BT/Telwest or whoever, and they pay a subscription fee for that use. Microsoft have made it quite clear that their gaming site is going to exist as a subscription site, unlike the existing zone.com for PC gamers. Sony haven't made any firm announcement yet, but subscription fees are likely. Last week saw the cost of normal analogue internet access rise for many who are on unlimited plans - AOL, Freeserve and BTOpenworld all raised or intend to raise prices. This morning BT has announced its intention to clear 10 billion of its own debt - thats not a recipe for falling charges is it ? So Braodband is farely rare, expensive, but good.
56k access, whilst not brilliant, is quite reasonable when used on a subscription gaming site - like the old BT Wireplay one. Most gamers, with a PC, have this kind of access and could probably afford £5 or so to play every month on a subscription site. Sony have allowed their usersthis option and it may well win them the first round of the online gaming contest.
By relying solely on Broadband Microsoft have alienated a vast number of potential buyers, sureall of us here know the benefits because we are mostly experienced gamers, but imagine this scenario being played out in your local game, when the PS2 and X Box are being compared by a customer;
CUSTOMER: So that one can use a modem for broadband and normal access, and *points to X Box* that ones just broadband ?
SALES PERSON: Yeah, but broadbands better, its faster and a lot more fun.
CUSTOMER: Which is cheaper ?
SALESPERSON: Normal access.
CUSTOMER: Get us a Playstation 2 then....
(I'm not saying here that Gamecube isn't worth comparing or anything, I just don't know much about the Gamecube yet)
Price is everything in Britain, cheapest wins nearly every time. Why is Sony doing so well now ? Their console is cheapest of the current ones, their games are cheaper. Why are DVDs so popular now ? The players are cheaper. Digital tv ? Its cheaper than it was.
It's okay saying Broadband is the future and that its brilliant, but for any online site to be viable, and for publishers to make the games, you've got to have a large user base of people that can afford to access them. Sony and Microsoft, and Nintendo, need to establish large user bases before trying to wrench more money from them. Come back in five years time and maybe Broadband will look good then. At the moment it's a bad idea and unless the big three are careful, online games will be the 21st century equivalent of light gun games. And we all know how many light gun games there have been through history don't we, you could count them on your fingers and toes.....
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Broadband isn't the future of online gaming, well actually it is but now is the present, not the future. I was inspired to right this by Franny's topic but its not hte same, I'm arguing that Broadband isn't the solution to console gaming yet.
Seeing as NTL is facing someting of a crisis at the moment regarding its future - it has 12 billion in debt that it can't really make an attempt to pay and face bankruptcy - it seems a little bit optimistic to rely on them for the future of Broadband access, in fact it's highly questionable as to whether its worth Sony and Microsoft pursuing it, though Microsoft have no option but to now, really.
As it is, NTL's much vaunted network is a mish mash of bought out companies - they haven't so much as made it as patched it together ! Bt has been slow off the mark but they are at least upgrading lines, not trying to patch up a makeshift network. In addition, BT is solely a telecommunications company, NTL has to worry about its cable and digital television branches - an area dominated by SKY who have seen off ITV Digital and are probably going to face off to NTL next. In a digital price war NTL will have to cut costs as it offers fewer channels for more money at the moment. Cheap and free phone access was one of NTLs winning points, but their bad reputation in this area is killing them.
Broadband is the future of internet gaming, thats definite, but now isn't the time for it. Many gamers with PC's have only just recently started out on the internet, and the internet itself is only just gaining recognition as something worthwhile. Undoubtedly some X Box owners have Broadband via NTL/BT/Telwest or whoever, and they pay a subscription fee for that use. Microsoft have made it quite clear that their gaming site is going to exist as a subscription site, unlike the existing zone.com for PC gamers. Sony haven't made any firm announcement yet, but subscription fees are likely. Last week saw the cost of normal analogue internet access rise for many who are on unlimited plans - AOL, Freeserve and BTOpenworld all raised or intend to raise prices. This morning BT has announced its intention to clear 10 billion of its own debt - thats not a recipe for falling charges is it ? So Braodband is farely rare, expensive, but good.
56k access, whilst not brilliant, is quite reasonable when used on a subscription gaming site - like the old BT Wireplay one. Most gamers, with a PC, have this kind of access and could probably afford £5 or so to play every month on a subscription site. Sony have allowed their usersthis option and it may well win them the first round of the online gaming contest.
By relying solely on Broadband Microsoft have alienated a vast number of potential buyers, sureall of us here know the benefits because we are mostly experienced gamers, but imagine this scenario being played out in your local game, when the PS2 and X Box are being compared by a customer;
CUSTOMER: So that one can use a modem for broadband and normal access, and *points to X Box* that ones just broadband ?
SALES PERSON: Yeah, but broadbands better, its faster and a lot more fun.
CUSTOMER: Which is cheaper ?
SALESPERSON: Normal access.
CUSTOMER: Get us a Playstation 2 then....
(I'm not saying here that Gamecube isn't worth comparing or anything, I just don't know much about the Gamecube yet)
Price is everything in Britain, cheapest wins nearly every time. Why is Sony doing so well now ? Their console is cheapest of the current ones, their games are cheaper. Why are DVDs so popular now ? The players are cheaper. Digital tv ? Its cheaper than it was.
It's okay saying Broadband is the future and that its brilliant, but for any online site to be viable, and for publishers to make the games, you've got to have a large user base of people that can afford to access them. Sony and Microsoft, and Nintendo, need to establish large user bases before trying to wrench more money from them. Come back in five years time and maybe Broadband will look good then. At the moment it's a bad idea and unless the big three are careful, online games will be the 21st century equivalent of light gun games. And we all know how many light gun games there have been through history don't we, you could count them on your fingers and toes.....
Seeing as NTL is facing someting of a crisis at the moment regarding its future - it has 12 billion in debt that it can't really make an attempt to pay and face bankruptcy - it seems a little bit optimistic to rely on them for the future of Broadband access, in fact it's highly questionable as to whether its worth Sony and Microsoft pursuing it, though Microsoft have no option but to now, really.
As it is, NTL's much vaunted network is a mish mash of bought out companies - they haven't so much as made it as patched it together ! Bt has been slow off the mark but they are at least upgrading lines, not trying to patch up a makeshift network. In addition, BT is solely a telecommunications company, NTL has to worry about its cable and digital television branches - an area dominated by SKY who have seen off ITV Digital and are probably going to face off to NTL next. In a digital price war NTL will have to cut costs as it offers fewer channels for more money at the moment. Cheap and free phone access was one of NTLs winning points, but their bad reputation in this area is killing them.
Broadband is the future of internet gaming, thats definite, but now isn't the time for it. Many gamers with PC's have only just recently started out on the internet, and the internet itself is only just gaining recognition as something worthwhile. Undoubtedly some X Box owners have Broadband via NTL/BT/Telwest or whoever, and they pay a subscription fee for that use. Microsoft have made it quite clear that their gaming site is going to exist as a subscription site, unlike the existing zone.com for PC gamers. Sony haven't made any firm announcement yet, but subscription fees are likely. Last week saw the cost of normal analogue internet access rise for many who are on unlimited plans - AOL, Freeserve and BTOpenworld all raised or intend to raise prices. This morning BT has announced its intention to clear 10 billion of its own debt - thats not a recipe for falling charges is it ? So Braodband is farely rare, expensive, but good.
56k access, whilst not brilliant, is quite reasonable when used on a subscription gaming site - like the old BT Wireplay one. Most gamers, with a PC, have this kind of access and could probably afford £5 or so to play every month on a subscription site. Sony have allowed their usersthis option and it may well win them the first round of the online gaming contest.
By relying solely on Broadband Microsoft have alienated a vast number of potential buyers, sureall of us here know the benefits because we are mostly experienced gamers, but imagine this scenario being played out in your local game, when the PS2 and X Box are being compared by a customer;
CUSTOMER: So that one can use a modem for broadband and normal access, and *points to X Box* that ones just broadband ?
SALES PERSON: Yeah, but broadbands better, its faster and a lot more fun.
CUSTOMER: Which is cheaper ?
SALESPERSON: Normal access.
CUSTOMER: Get us a Playstation 2 then....
(I'm not saying here that Gamecube isn't worth comparing or anything, I just don't know much about the Gamecube yet)
Price is everything in Britain, cheapest wins nearly every time. Why is Sony doing so well now ? Their console is cheapest of the current ones, their games are cheaper. Why are DVDs so popular now ? The players are cheaper. Digital tv ? Its cheaper than it was.
It's okay saying Broadband is the future and that its brilliant, but for any online site to be viable, and for publishers to make the games, you've got to have a large user base of people that can afford to access them. Sony and Microsoft, and Nintendo, need to establish large user bases before trying to wrench more money from them. Come back in five years time and maybe Broadband will look good then. At the moment it's a bad idea and unless the big three are careful, online games will be the 21st century equivalent of light gun games. And we all know how many light gun games there have been through history don't we, you could count them on your fingers and toes.....
Broadband is a general term encompassing many forms of high bandwidth internet access. NT: and Telewest both provide 'cable' access, which means they use their own cables, laid underground (the same ones that are used for cable TV) to provide high speed access. BT and other companies use existing telephone lines, in a service called ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) at present both offer around the same speed for the home user.
Cable is restricted to those areas with cable TV, and installing it in new areas means digging up the roads etc. to lay cables. Although ADSL only presently cover 70% of the country, no new wires have to be laid - the telephone exchange simply needs to be upgraded. This means BT can cover the rest of the country (though not rural areas easily) quite cheaply. I think this will lead to further price cuts as ADSL becomes more widespread, and there is more demand for it.
What I'm unsure about is what broadband connection the consoles use (as I said before, broadband is a general term) Cable and ADSL services are incompatible with each other, so this would mean many people loosing out, whichever one they use. Or have Microsoft developed their own broadband? Highly unlikely because of the cost and time to roll it out. So they will have to choose one of the existing services (which are already quite costly) then they will charge their own fees on top of this?
I think the VERY high cost, and the limited capacity for people to take up the broadband access (if what I said earlier was correct) will mean MANY people changing to PCs for their online gaming, and having a PS2 or Gamecube (the cheaper options) for console gaming (not bothering to play them online, as after all, many console games are ported to PC anyway)
So, I think you're right in saying that broadband is not the future of console gaming, I think there is no future for console gaming.
Cable is restricted to those areas with cable TV, and installing it in new areas means digging up the roads etc. to lay cables. Although ADSL only presently cover 70% of the country, no new wires have to be laid - the telephone exchange simply needs to be upgraded. This means BT can cover the rest of the country (though not rural areas easily) quite cheaply. I think this will lead to further price cuts as ADSL becomes more widespread, and there is more demand for it.
What I'm unsure about is what broadband connection the consoles use (as I said before, broadband is a general term) Cable and ADSL services are incompatible with each other, so this would mean many people loosing out, whichever one they use. Or have Microsoft developed their own broadband? Highly unlikely because of the cost and time to roll it out. So they will have to choose one of the existing services (which are already quite costly) then they will charge their own fees on top of this?
I think the VERY high cost, and the limited capacity for people to take up the broadband access (if what I said earlier was correct) will mean MANY people changing to PCs for their online gaming, and having a PS2 or Gamecube (the cheaper options) for console gaming (not bothering to play them online, as after all, many console games are ported to PC anyway)
So, I think you're right in saying that broadband is not the future of console gaming, I think there is no future for console gaming.
This should have gone in Prime.
Your Honour wrote:
> This should have gone in Prime.
Too true.... with the amount of chat in this forum, great topics like this dissapear in a day or two (possibly less)
:(
> This should have gone in Prime.
Too true.... with the amount of chat in this forum, great topics like this dissapear in a day or two (possibly less)
:(
Your Honour wrote:
> This should have gone in Prime.
Is this all you can say?
> This should have gone in Prime.
Is this all you can say?
Jimmy Duck wrote:
Is this all you can say?
Nope.
But this is the CHAT forum.
All I'm saying is that is will probably be off the bottom of the page by the end of the day. If it had gone in Prime, as it should have, then it would last a lot longer and possibly be a better discussion.
Some people don't visit chat any more, but do go to Prime. They would have missed this as it's in the wrong place, which is a shame, as it's a good topic.
Is this all you can say?
Nope.
But this is the CHAT forum.
All I'm saying is that is will probably be off the bottom of the page by the end of the day. If it had gone in Prime, as it should have, then it would last a lot longer and possibly be a better discussion.
Some people don't visit chat any more, but do go to Prime. They would have missed this as it's in the wrong place, which is a shame, as it's a good topic.
Your Honour wrote:
> This should have gone in Prime.
Maybe, but Prime's boring because no one hardly goes in there .
> This should have gone in Prime.
Maybe, but Prime's boring because no one hardly goes in there .
Belldandy wrote:
Maybe, but Prime's boring because no one hardly goes in there .
People DO go there.
But more people aren't as topics are being put in the wrong place.
Sod it, what's the point. Stick it wheree ever you want.
Maybe, but Prime's boring because no one hardly goes in there .
People DO go there.
But more people aren't as topics are being put in the wrong place.
Sod it, what's the point. Stick it wheree ever you want.
Last time I posted a topic in FOG Prime all that happened was Sonicrav going ott about how wrong I was, he hten came back later and said he'd gone ott himself but it killed the topic before it even started.....
Anyway I think Darkness has a point. The 3 consoles are facing each other off over online gaming and gaming in general but what if the real winner - in terms of dominatin online gaming - is the PC ? It offers a wide choiceofgames an genres, free play, unlimited access over 56k and a choice of broadband or analogue connections.
Anyway I think Darkness has a point. The 3 consoles are facing each other off over online gaming and gaming in general but what if the real winner - in terms of dominatin online gaming - is the PC ? It offers a wide choiceofgames an genres, free play, unlimited access over 56k and a choice of broadband or analogue connections.
Last time I posted a topic in FOG Prime all that happened was Sonicrav going ott about how wrong I was, he hten came back later and said he'd gone ott himself but it killed the topic before it even started.....
Anyway I think Darkness has a point. The 3 consoles are facing each other off over online gaming and gaming in general but what if the real winner - in terms of dominatin online gaming - is the PC ? It offers a wide choiceofgames an genres, free play, unlimited access over 56k and a choice of broadband or analogue connections.
Anyway I think Darkness has a point. The 3 consoles are facing each other off over online gaming and gaming in general but what if the real winner - in terms of dominatin online gaming - is the PC ? It offers a wide choiceofgames an genres, free play, unlimited access over 56k and a choice of broadband or analogue connections.
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