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PC Games (Games) Role Playing (Games) Entertainment Games

Will MMO Platform Segregation Continue? 37

Posted by simoniker from the one-nation-under-a-groove dept.
Thanks to Stratics Central for hosting an opinion piece discussing whether MMORPG titles will stay segregated by platform, or whether (as in Final Fantasy XI's dual PC/PS2 release) the separate SKUs will "adopt salient features and begin to look alike." The piece points out that in-game controls matter: "In the world of MMOs, the PC is king for two of many reasons: Key binding, and the mouse-keyboard combo", and concludes that "The irony is, for most of the consoles to compete with the PC [in MMO titles] they must become more like the PC."
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Will MMO Platform Segregation Continue? More

Will MMO Platform Segregation Continue?

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  • wrong #1 reason (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Vaevictis666 ( 680137 ) on Thursday September 18, 2003 @03:38PM (#6997744)
    "In the world of MMOs, the PC is king for two of many reasons: Key binding, and the mouse-keyboard combo"

    The real reason PC beats Console for this kind of thing is the keyboard alone - you know, COMMUNICATION being key for MMOs. Without a keyboard for chat purposes, you end up just doing canned pre-translated phrases and emoticons.

    • I would think that anyone who was serious about playing a MMO on a console would already have invested in a keyboard [ebgames.com], they're even available at EB so the gamers don't even have to go to another store.

      The PC is king because the PC is a much more mature platform for these types of games. The online capability of consoles is still in its infancy.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
      Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re:wrong #1 reason (Score:3, Insightful)

        by wynterwynd ( 265580 )
        The problem there is many people trying to talk at once (the whole massively part of MMORPGs). And if there's anything like the number of tells, guild chat, and immediate-area chatting that usually goes on in MMO games it would get very confusing and hard to differentiate between the conversations. All in all, a keyboard is a better solution; voice chat works great in some games (shooters, action games, RTS) but with as many people talking at once as there are in MMORPGs it would be like roleplaying in a

      • Richard Bartle sums up the arguments against voice chat in MMORPGs, here [gamegirladvance.com]. I find voice chat to be useful in team-based action games, like CTF and Allegiance, but not really appropriate for roleplaying games.

        PSO got away with it, in many ways, because PSO is an action game at heart.

    • The real reason PC beats Console for this kind of thing is the keyboard alone

      When FFXI comes out, I'm getting it (on da HD) and the PS2 network adaptor, and I'll plug my keyboard (on wich I'm typing right now) straigth in the USB port next to the controller port on my PS2.

      Without a keyboard for chat purposes, you end up just doing canned pre-translated phrases and emoticons.

      lol! : )

  • What about cell phones, browsers, etc? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by bmyers ( 643397 ) on Thursday September 18, 2003 @03:39PM (#6997749)
    My prediction is that to really gain mainstream acceptance MMOs will need ubiquituous access, including from cell phones, browsers, consoles, webTV, etc.

    Not always to actually *play* the game, but to give a touchpoint for seeing what's going on, chat, etc.

  • control is minor. PS2 has usb ports. What's really the problem is you can't upgrade a console as easily (proc, gfx proc, ram, etc).

    A MMO game can last for years. Look at v1 everquest requirements compared to the later add-ons. The PC version would rapidly outperform the non-pc version.
    • try taking notes on that ps2 while playing, keeping tabs on where the best stuff is at, logging conversations, email addresses for clan members.. doing email on it to arrange meetings.. the sort of stuff that make you stick to a mmo.

  • "The irony is, for most of the consoles to compete with the PC [in MMO titles] they must become more like the PC."

    Xbox is doing this with updates via the live network, and allowing people to use keyboards and mice. Dreamcast had a mouse/keyboard, so does the PS/2. I dont see any reason that you cant ship a mouse and keyboard with a console unit. Most have either a modem/network card or now even wifi.

    Really Quake 3 on the dreamcast looks awesome, but just cant compare with a mouse+keyboard controller. A

  • irony? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Corporal Tunnel ( 642897 )
    "The irony is, for most of the consoles to compete with the PC [in MMO titles] they must become more like the PC."

    How is that irony? The best way to compete with anything, in any market, is to do things more like the winners. When SUVs became big selling cars, what did other companies to do compete? They made their own SUVs! How ironic, eh?
    • the word "irony" gets thrown about so often it doesn't mean anything anymore. It totally detracts from the article! I mean it's not like the console came out said, "We want our OWN MMOs because they are so lame on the PC!"

      People shouldn't write if they don't know how to use common words. That's like letting someone be a doctor without knowing what Aspirin does.
      • That's like letting someone be a doctor without knowing what Aspirin does.

        That would be pretty ironic if you had to go to the ER tonight and were treated by a doctor who doesn't know what aspirin does. Especially if Alanis Morissette drives the ambulance. :)

    • I think the irony is that the big thing about consoles is that they are NOT like PCs. Like being able to play on the couch is a major selling point. But, to merge they must depart from that.
  • Logitech has come out with one [pcvsconsole.com] earlier this year. You can get them for the DC and XBox as well (AFAIK re XBox). Its not enough to make me want to go over to a console, but its a start.

  • Xbox Live can... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Iscariot_ ( 166362 ) on Thursday September 18, 2003 @05:10PM (#6998598)
    I think Xbox live can support a nice MMO game due to the fact that it has excellent voice communication abilities. I've found that playing a game, then stoping whatever action you're in to type is a horrid thing. It is difficult to communicate and battle at the same time. Even on PC. Gestures don't make it any easier.

    I have yet to see any MMO game attempt voice communication, but I think it would be a really cool thing to try. Sure there are things to work out, like who exactly hears you talk? Or how "loud" is your voice. But those are good problems if you ask me. I'd love to see someone take a shot at it.

    Anyone know if something like this is planned for True Fantasly online?
    • While I love the attempt at voice communcation on Xbox Live, I've played it, alot, and found that for the most part its too gimmicky to be of any use.

      Besides that, its an optional component, so whats the point, you can't tell your teammates in a game anything unless they have the thing plugged in as well. So you might find yourself sitting there talking to yourself. Even still, its not very optimized voice chat (see teamspeak [teamspeak.org])

      I'd prefer a keyboard chat interface for those who shy away from voice commu
    • practical voice communication has been possible on the pc for years(even ms has a product for that, that it bought).

      how often is it used? not very.

      there's many reasons, including that i don't find it very nice to yell things in my apartment in the middle of the night(maybe for a really important match i would, though, but _not_ for casual playing). bad language skills are another, writing english is a lot easier than speaking it understandably.

    • I have yet to see any MMO game attempt voice communication, but I think it would be a really cool thing to try.

      Planetside [planetside.com] has this built in, and its rather good. Its only for the squad youre in, and everyone around cant hear you, but it works very well.

      Im in an Outfit (think Guild, but with guns) which has our own TeamSpeak server, and the ability to call for backup or repair, or call down some Death From Above(TM) is great.

  • Right, It's Voice (Score:4, Insightful)

    by zeasier ( 708695 ) on Thursday September 18, 2003 @05:26PM (#6998711)
    In order for consoles to compete with PC in mmogs voice communication is essential. My brother learned to play online role playing games while he was learning to read and write. Given a choice at that time he would have gone with a voice game if it was availible. Unfortunatly for him he was forced to become literate.

    The first developer to make a good voice communication game and market it to young children stands to make some money. The only problem is that future generations of kids will be exposed the jungle that is the internet at an earlier age. For example, if you ask someone online if Santa is real they'll tell you the truth.
  • Or is it a PC? Technically, I believe that it's the closest thing to a PC the gaming console market has seen, and I'm sure the Mod-Community running Linux on it with some success (until recently) has shown that it's more amicable to doing so than any other console out there.

    In keeping with the topic of the article, there's obviously gray areas where the PC and game consoles are overlapping, and it's been brought on by demand from consumers who don't want to buy another computer when their console will/can
  • '"The irony is, for most of the consoles to compete with the PC [in MMO titles] they must become more like the PC."'

    Or MMO games could become more like console games. Just looking at the now faded Phantasy Star Online for the Dreamcast, if they had good voice communication like XBox Live and maybe added an extra button or two to the controller, you'd have an excellent MMO game right there. The fact that people played the game up until Sega was forced to pull the plug is evidence of that. (Voice communicat

  • The irony is, for most of the consoles to compete with the PC [in MMO titles] they must become more like the PC

    This is such a non-sequiteur. If you want to play MMO games that use keyboard and mouse, you already can, on your PC. There is little point for the console makers to move into that space. Console MMOs are being designed differently, to suit the strengths of consoles (we are developing 3 in this office where I'm sitting right now). This comment may be true for a certain limited class of MMOs,

  • TerraForge [terraforge.com] is working on that

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