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Which Console Is Leading The Online Race? 90
Thanks to GameSpy for their 'Sole Food' editorial discussing which console has the lead in the online marketplace. The author says: "If you asked me a year ago which console would be the online leader, I would have said Microsoft Xbox - no doubt." But, twelve months later, he's rapidly drawing other conclusions: "I forgot the most important lesson in publishing: Content is king. And most of the killer online content is not on the Xbox, but rather the Sony PlayStation 2." And, after citing specific examples of great titles on both PS2 and Xbox, he concludes: "There's just more games for the PS2, ergo there are more online games. It doesn't matter how good and how uniform the online user interface is if the content isn't there."
Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:3, Insightful)
As of right now, the Xbox has PS2 beat or dead even in pretty much ever catagory of game interest (Rainbow Six 3 vrs Socom2? No competition). But Xbox just doesn't have the install base to get the same numbers.
eh. Anyway, the real winner is the consumer; more than one online colsoe competitor makes gaming better not matter your preferred console.
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:2)
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:2)
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:1)
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:1)
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:2)
you misunderstood his statement (Score:1)
hardcore vs casual (Score:4, Interesting)
ps2 sales have predominately been to casual gamers. why else could the ps2 have 4x the installed base and yet there's still an actual competition on the game sales chart each month?
one would expect even a halfway decent title for the ps2 to have 2x the numbers as a good xbox game, and yet that doesn't happen.
because xbox gamers buy more games. because they have more hardcore gamers - and hardcore gamers buy more games.
hell, alot of the ps2 installed base was solely due to the dvd playback functionality. that and 'playstation' was the name on the tongues of parents come the holiday season. 'xbox' is relatively new, and parents are always buying last generation's winnner. (note strong n64 console sales despite ps1 overall dominance)
but frankly, i could care less whether there are 'more' people on one service or not. pc gaming taught me that you're better off -not- playing than playing against HPBs. it just isn't fun to try to shoot someone with a 400ms ping. xbl does its damndest to minimize lag, and for that i applaud it. (though they'd do better to have more highbandwidth dedicated servers like unreal has)
microsoft had the foresight to realize that a consistant, quality experience was the way to bring console gamers online to stay.
Sony's just trying to keep up, and as the original poster pointed out - is leading due to their raw numbers. keep in mind, their lead isn't that significant, and their product is -free-. microsoft can not only charge for their better product - but they can charge -and- compete with free.
that's an achievement.
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:2)
Xbox Live, while certainly a great thing for users, only increases this problem for developers and publishers because it's
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:2)
Also what is to stop a group of gamers setting up their own leagues, much like the PC world.
CJC
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:1)
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:3, Interesting)
We could implement our own league system on Xbox Live but it would be really expensive and time-consuming (such servers have to live inside Microsoft's data center so the testing is pretty exhaustive). On PS2 we get all that stuff basically for free because we use Gamespy for our frontend (ie. lobbies, chat, matchmaking).
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:2)
Since my initial post was written before I really read the article, I would add that now I have read the article, I can conclude that it is total masturbation opinion. His argument isn't based on online player statistics, but on whose games he thinks are best - and he doesn't even back it up. If you look at the reviews on A
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:2)
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:2)
Also, I am pretty confident that the bulk of the back end in all XBL games is done with a common API that MS wrote, not the game developer.
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:2)
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:2)
And it goes beyond just 'adding' the support in the game, but supporting it outside the game - IE - infrastructure.
Re:Content? It's just a matter of raw numbers! (Score:1)
As much as I hate to admit it.... (Score:1)
Seriously though, I think that platforms that are easy/easier to mod/pirate would be the more popular. But thats another issue for another time...
Article quote (Score:3, Funny)
Who wants to bet he wouldn't have said "ergo" if it wasn't for the whole Architect conversation in Maxtrix: Reloaded?
Re:Article quote (Score:1)
Or his years as a countercultural icon in 1960's San Francisco?
Oh, wait, that's "ergot".
Re:Article quote (Score:2)
Who wants to bet he wouldn't have said "ergo" if it wasn't for the whole Architect conversation in Maxtrix: Reloaded?
This is obviously correct, because as we all know, professional writers learn most of their vocabulary from movies. Their writing skills and their profession are a complete coincidence, just like strong people doing construction work or people that know what the word "antibiotic" means having the legal license to prescribe them.
but PC still beats both (Score:2, Insightful)
X-Box - 7 Million
PC - you do the counting, its simply too high
i love my PS2 and i love my X-Box, but lets face it, neither of them are even close competitors to the online gaming giant that is the PC, every Genre is covered in many different ways and has many millions of users and all times of the day or night
AND, with a CP, games that are meant for single player, can be modded for Multiplayer (ie. GTA3 & GTA: VC)
Re:but PC still beats both (Score:2)
Re:but PC still beats both (Score:1)
second, i do play my PS2 and X-Box online, and i do enjoy it, but that doesn't mean that PS2 is number 1, it just means its the best of the consoles. but playing a console online is a completely diff
Re:but PC still beats both (Score:1)
They're not. Simple as that. Even if you don't consider the crossover between games, you'd be extremely lucky to come up with a number near 65-70 million.
heck, i think Counterstrike players are numerous enough that they beat PS2s numbers by themselves
It depends on what numbers you're talking about. At the height of CS' popularity it had about 3 times as ma
Re:but PC still beats both (Score:2)
Quick, name a recent fighting game from the arcades that you can play on the PC that has a built in ranking system like X-Box Capcom vs SNK EO. While I agree that the PC is a much better platform for multiplayer games (for now) than the consoles, the PC hasn't covered every genre.
I stated this in a post before, but the way for the consoles to really be sucessful is to o
Quality VS Quantity? (and a PA quote) (Score:5, Insightful)
i sure ps2 online is great, and EA has really driven it home; however XBOX live is absolutely fantastically, exponentially better than ps2 online. freinds list, effortless patches, easy login, downloadable content, voice for *every single game*, rankings, rosters, tournaments, clans, leagues, game invites... it is practically flawless, undoubtedly the best microsoft produect i have ever encountered..
in contrast, SOCOM is plagued by cheats, (and let's face it -- no one is going to develop a game that requires a 200$ hard drive just to prevent cheats) each game requires its own accoutn and password, EA is threatening to charge 10 bucks a month per game (someting MS won't allow, which is why EA has refused to develop games for xbox live, by the way)....
also, while i dont want to scream out "BIAS!" too loud, raymond (the article's author) has always been a huge ps2 fan..
lemme just end with a huge penny-arcade quote as i always like to do..
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It was easy to think of EA's offering and Microsoft's offering as fungible initially. EA was doing theirs for free, and Microsoft had a pay service, and obviously free is... nice. But while I was being desiccated by Las Vegas nights soaked with alcohol, it seemed to me that their service is free because it sucks. It's free because it is so without ambition that it can be offered for nothing, until such time as they want to charge for it. Why else would they reserve the right, why else would they go through all the trouble?
I've spent enough time on Live with recent titles that it's impossible for me to compare the two approaches. You don't sign in to Live, you don't create a password, you push A. Every game supports voice and a universal friends list I can view from the web. I have a hard disk built in for content. There is an ethernet port. That's not so you can put a jelly bean in there in case you need it later, it's so you can put in a cable and access the Internet. You assholes.
That is all to say nothing about game invites. If I'm playing a game by Ubi Soft, I can still receive invites to play games from other developers - each publisher doesn't have it's own little fairy land where I can only play games with other people who have their games. I can be playing Crimson Skies and get an invite to play Ghost Recon. If I say yes, the tray pops out and I put in the other disc. Then, it joins me automatically. When I can do that with games from EA, I'll shut the fuck up. Until then, they need to act like big people and make choices that are of value to consumers.
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Re:Quality VS Quantity? (and a PA quote) (Score:1, Troll)
I also don't understand this sentence: "The
Re:Quality VS Quantity? (and a PA quote) (Score:2)
The advantage of the friends list is that it integrates with the rest of the system. If you're online and I log in for some Crimson Skies I can invite you to come play with me no matter what game you're currently playing. You'll get a popup showing the invite and if you accept your system will prompt you for your Crimson Skies d
Re:Quality VS Quantity? (and a PA quote) (Score:2, Interesting)
I think they're just pointing out that, while online works on both, XBox's iteration has that much more polish. Logging on in Madden is a simple process, but logging on to XBox Live...uh, well, you don't have to. Instead of selecting "1 Player" or "Multiplayer", you select "Play Online". For the most part, there is no login.
They jellybean comment just refers to the fact that the XBox has online capability from the get-go, not as an expansion pack. I don't find it a very useful statement
Re:Quality VS Quantity? (and a PA quote) (Score:1)
Re:Quality VS Quantity? (and a PA quote) (Score:2, Insightful)
"...effortless patches..."
"Effortless patching" will make the console game market the same cesspool of unfinished, buggy software that PC gaming currently is. Why bother to put another month of dev work into the game to polish it and fix those last few bugs, when you can just patch it after it's released?
The fact that console games were NOT patchable has meant that console game developers put a lot more ef
Re:Quality VS Quantity? (and a PA quote) (Score:1)
I also think it is nice that the people at Ubisoft could patch Ghost Recon so an unforseen networking issue did not make it near impossible to find a game to play in. Or when MS patched mechassault to add more features to the lobby.
Re:Quality VS Quantity? (and a PA quote) (Score:2, Interesting)
You're a crazy person.
There are plenty of console games that crash and generally have all kinds of bugs. Enter the Matrix leaps to mind but it isn't alone. Pick up a copy of GamePro magazine and check their monthly
Re:Quality VS Quantity? (and a PA quote) (Score:2)
However, the online components are not tested as thoroughly as the single player components. Nor can they be, since there will not be enou
Re:Quality VS Quantity? (and a PA quote) (Score:1)
Re:Quality VS Quantity? (and a PA quote) (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Online="Hardcore"=Most Avid Buyers (Score:1)
Best Microsoft product I've encountered (Score:2, Funny)
Keyboards and mice are superb too.
I also really enjoy Slashdot, which while technically not a Microsoft product, this place really gets a lot of mileage from that company.
Re:Quality VS Quantity? (and a PA quote) (Score:2)
BZZZZZZT!
Oh, I'm sorry, but that answer is incorrect.
The truth is that Microsoft DOES allow third party publishers to charge money ON TOP OF the Xbox Live fee, if they so wish. Sega already does for PSO Ep I&II, at $8.95/month, which is ON TOP OF the $50/year Xbox Live subscription cost. Expect games like True Fantasy Live Online to charge ex
the moral of the story (Score:2, Insightful)
One can't help but suspect that the uniform user interface created the lack of content. Even in the general population, freedom creates more opportunities and productivity, but the game creator demographic leans more libertarian than average.
Re:the moral of the story (Score:1)
The uniform interface that was mentioned refers to the ability to go on-line with any game without entering a user name or password. It refers to having friends lists that you can use to invite friends to play with you, or that you can use for voice chat. It refers to basic functions working predictably across the board so you don'
Re:the moral of the story (Score:1)
Because a lot of people would feel like Cern's hypothetical developers [slashdot.org]. I wouldn't want to develop under someone else's idea of how I should code the interface. I presume other people would have the same desire for individual expression too, especially in a community well-known for rampant individualism.
(And Cern, if you're reading this, I sympathize. I've been wrongly Flamebaited, too. I hope y
Re:the moral of the story (Score:1)
Re:the moral of the story (Score:1)
That's true, but believe me, my inner caveman is nagging me night and day to get an XBox and DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball. I'm just afraid I'd start skipping work to tweak the "jiggliness" settings. Don't tell anyone.
The consistency being fostered by XBox Live is closer to the ideas, that, for example, "Ctrl-C" is for copy on a Windows app, and "Ctrl-V" is for paste.
Okay, but fo
Re:the moral of the story (Score:2, Informative)
The consistency has to do with the features supported and the idea that you don't have to sign into different services to play different games.
The player can use their friends list to invite people to play, regardless of what game they are playing at the moment. The service can handle the exiting from one game and loading (and connecting to a game) of the next when the user decides to accept
Re:the moral of the story (Score:1)
I'm in no way chiding anyone for saying their opinions without using XBox Live first, but in this case the you'd really have to understand the functionality to understand where us XBox users are coming from. The standardization is not complete front end standardization. A developer can make a Friends list front end where everyone is represented by a hamster and the friends jump around the screen. What the standards (to my knowledge) dictate is: the universal Friend's list must be accessible. Vo
Re:the moral of the story (Score:2)
Re:the moral of the story (Score:1)
And don't be fooled into thin
Re:the moral of the story (Score:2, Interesting)
Unfortunately, they also haven
Re:the moral of the story (Score:2)
Rumor has it though that since the upcoming Nintendo racing games will have LAN capability, Nintendo will provide some "Gamespy" branded software that will support packet forwarding that works along the lines of the Warp-Pipe project's software. I wish that more companies would just start making Inter
How do you wanna look at it? (Score:1, Flamebait)
Re:How do you wanna look at it? (Score:2)
Moreover there's no need to be number one to survive and even flourish; afaik Burger King and Pepsi are all but about to go out of businness, and their chances to become #1 are just marginally higher than zero.
Re:How do you wanna look at it? (Score:2)
I've got PSO on my Gamecube, and overall it costs me less to play it than an XBox Live owner, evern if I have to buy an adapter to play it online. Is that so foolish? You get to
Re:Xbox? (Score:1)
Hm? I think you must mean Cock Box [somethingawful.com].
Re:Xbox? (Score:2)
Consoles (Score:3, Funny)
Oh..., you're talking about game consoles...
the guy is clearly drunk (Score:1)
how does one imply the other?
My comment (Score:3, Insightful)
A question for the online gamers out there.. (Score:2)
Re:A question for the online gamers out there.. (Score:1)
PS2 Online Capable Games [ebgames.com]
Re:A question for the online gamers out there.. (Score:1)
A different case in Europe (Score:1)
You expect me to beleive... (Score:2)
What a tard.
Did you also notice that the games they list are also available on other gaming platforms?
What a tard.
Gotta stick with Tech TV's X-Play for somewhat acurate game reviews.
Dolemite
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