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PlayStation (Games) XBox (Games) Entertainment Games

Sony's PS2 Online Lays Claim To TV Generation 30

Posted by simoniker from the and-it-turned-into-a-pr-blitz dept.
Thanks to Yahoo for reprinting a Sony press release in which they claim online gaming using the PlayStation 2 is taking away viewers from the TV, noting that "...the audience for online gaming with the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system grew to 2.6 million this month" - though that figure seems to be the number of PS2 systems with online adapters, not the amount actually online. Elsewhere, Sony notes that online play is "...up 239 percent when compared to February of last year, with 67,708 new gamers registering during the 29 day month", and that some games have extremely committed players: "SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs players spend an average of 4.2 hours a day playing the game online." This comes shortly after news that 25 million PS2s have been sold in North America, a figure "contributing to overall worldwide shipments of more than 70 million units" - meanwhile, GI.Biz notes that Xbox Live "has been celebrating having 750,000 Xbox Live users [in the States], with a target of a million by June."
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Sony's PS2 Online Lays Claim To TV Generation More

Sony's PS2 Online Lays Claim To TV Generation

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  • Take with a grain of salt, please (Score:4, Insightful)

    by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Saturday March 06, 2004 @05:56AM (#8483803) Homepage Journal
    Thanks to the invention of TiVo and the VCR, people can play these games for hours on end. Frankly, in my Quake days, I did the same thing. I found that between 7pm and 9pm was the ideal time to get on for the particular servers I visited, everything else was put on hold.

    This statement could be true, but I'm not sure I'd quite say that it's eating too heavily into TV. I can't speak for any household but my own, but when work or games interfere with my watching TV, other members of the family suddenly take an interest in it. Did TV go down or up?

    Sorry Sony, but people still want to watch their favorite shows.
    • There's always PIP ... play AND watch tv simultaneously.
    • "Sorry Sony, but people still want to watch their favorite shows"

      They don't want to watch drek though, it was'nt that many years ago I would watch alot of tv including drek just because there was little else todo, these days with games being so cheap and so much choice I only have time to watch show's that are definatly my fav. The problem of not watching tv will egtw orse as people's fav show's go off air as well, since like alot of people I'm sick of investing time into new shows just so they can be

      • Re:Take with a grain of salt, please (Score:5, Insightful)

        by bigman2003 ( 671309 ) on Saturday March 06, 2004 @10:41AM (#8484561) Homepage
        I haven't had any type of TV reception for about a year now.

        I got rid of DISH for two reasons:

        #1- I would much rather play games, just as the article suggests.

        #2- TV is generally shit anyway, just as we are all aware.

        The last show I really enjoyed was The Office. That was painfully funny stuff. But when my house seemed filled with MTV and stupid 'entertainment' shows, like Extra, and (Insert other crappy shows about celebrities here) I figured that myself and my family don't really need to be inundated with news and information about Paris Hilton, Martha Stewart and Janet Jackson. Now we spend more time doing things.

        The one time I am really bummed about not having TV is when I am sick. Somehow being at home sick, and brainlessly watching TV just go together. Now what does that say about watching TV?

  • It's interesting that it's online games (Score:4, Interesting)

    by foidulus ( 743482 ) on Saturday March 06, 2004 @08:29AM (#8484152)
    that they are talking about. Could people finally actually want to communicate in a slightly social setting instead of getting the one-way communication that television offers us.
    I still personally would prefer a trip out to a local eatery etc for my social interaction, but it's definately interesting to see how much better people respond to playing other people(or at least what they think are other people, I wonder how many people have an internet buddy that is actually a chatbot)

    • Re:It's interesting that it's online games (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      "I still personally would prefer a trip out to a local eatery etc for my social interaction"
      So you're the guy that comes up to strangers at Burger King and asks them if emacs is better than vi?

  • Well Duh (Score:4, Insightful)

    by BigDork1001 ( 683341 ) on Saturday March 06, 2004 @08:52AM (#8484185) Homepage
    Sony press release in which they claim online gaming using the PlayStation 2 is taking away viewers from the TV

    This can be said about any of the game consoles whether they are online or not. It's pretty hard to watch TV when you are playing Nintendo, X-box, or PS2 on the TV.

    A new report also shows that listening to CDs is taking away listeners from the radio.

  • I remember asking for that game from my wife for Christmas last year when I bought our PS2. Turns out I played it for exactly 10 minutes, found I kept getting killed on the first boat mission, and promptly got bored of it and shelved it since last year. I don't know how these kids can play FPS games on those dinky controllers... I need a decent keyboard and trackball to kick ass.
    • 10 minutes might not be enough time to make the adjustment. How long did it take you to learn to play first person shooters on your keyboard and trackball? I doubt you were an expert after 10 minutes. Possibly the millions of console FPS players are not all wrong. The controls can, and do work.

      One thing that every single person I've played with on a console-FPS does though- that you might want to try. Invert the controls. This seems to be a much more 'natural' method of control. I don't know about

      • Re:SOCOM Navy Seals... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Pluvius ( 734915 ) <pluvius3@gmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Saturday March 06, 2004 @03:29PM (#8486250) Journal
        10 minutes might not be enough time to make the adjustment. How long did it take you to learn to play first person shooters on your keyboard and trackball? I doubt you were an expert after 10 minutes. Possibly the millions of console FPS players are not all wrong. The controls can, and do work.

        You forgot the word "poorly" in that last sentence. There's a reason why most console FPSes have autoaim and most computer FPSes don't.

        The millions of console FPS players that actually like using a controller to play have almost certainly never tried using a keyboard and mouse.

        Rob
        • Oh please, that's the most tired argument in the book. Some people prefer a controller. Some people prefer a mouse and keyboard. One is not inherently better than the other. And

          You forgot the word "poorly" in that last sentence. There's a reason why most console FPSes have autoaim and most computer FPSes don't.

          cough... Doom ...cough

          • Re:SOCOM Navy Seals... (Score:3, Interesting)

            by Pluvius ( 734915 )
            Some people prefer a controller.

            Chances are those people aren't all that serious about FPSes. If you don't really care about how well you play, then controllers are fine.

            One is not inherently better than the other.

            The assertion of one who has never actually tried playing the same game with both control methods. Try playing Rainbow Six, first on a console, then on the PC. Tell me which one is easier to play.

            cough... Doom ...cough

            Oh, no, you've defeated my argument by mentioning a decade-old game
            • Oh...so console FPS players are not 'serious'?

              First, I wonder what is required to be considered 'serious'. Second, I wonder what is more important- being serious, or having fun.

              But- all fun aside. Really, 10 minutes probably isn't enough time to determine how good or bad a certain control scheme is for a game. The first time I tried a console FPS, I thought it was horrible. But it ended up being pretty good, and a lot of fun. It was, as they say...different.
    • The cool thing WITH the PS2 is it does have 2 usb ports for such devices as a keyboard and mouse...
    • I played it online (for long enough) at a cousins house once, and I was totally unimpressed too - the original version, not the sequel. It just seemed like it was knocked up* conveniently and thrown in with the modem.

      *Knocked up meaning made, not impregnated.

  • XBL 750K.... (Score:4, Informative)

    by unclethursday ( 664807 ) on Saturday March 06, 2004 @02:00PM (#8485672)
    meanwhile, GI.Biz notes that Xbox Live "has been celebrating having 750,000 Xbox Live users [in the States], with a target of a million by June."

    Actually, the 750K users is worldiwde, not just in the US. Europe has around 100K subscribers, and so does Japan, with the remaining ~550K in the US and Canada.

    The 1 million subscribers by June also reflects worldwide subscribers, not just the US.

    The actual quote from GI.Biz: In other words, this is Sony's distinctly unconcerned response to recent announcements from Nintendo (which stated this week that the GameCube has sold out in many retailers in the USA, with emergency supplies being shipped in from overseas) and Microsoft (which has been celebrating having 750,000 Xbox Live users, with a target of a million by June).

    • Japan has 100,000 subscribers to Xbox live? Are Xbox sales even that good in Japan?
      • Well, they sold 300,000 copies of DOA3 and Halo so I guess so. Xbox Live sales probably aren't that healthy though.

        I think that 100,000 figure sounds more like the whole of the Asian territories Live has launched in (including Taiwan and Korea, and possibly even Australia).
  • I think the article paints Sony as taking too much credit for this phenomenon. Video games have been taking people away from TV watching from the very beginning. (cause after all, they are mutually exclusive activities). The only unique thing about the PS2 Online service is that they can actually measure it.
  • I just bought a network adapter, but am sadly distressed that many of the net-capable games are only sufficient for putting one person online.

    For example: Amplitude. This game supports 4 players at once, locally. So me & my wife play, and sometimes we play with another couple or other friends.

    But online, only 1 person can play. Sure, I can join a 4-player game, but there is no way for BOTH of us to join a game online.

    This just sucks. What good is a network adapter if I have to play alone? I pr

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