Nintendo's Uncertain future.

[Damian79]

That's the whole thing. You at least have the option of paying to play. Nintendo won't even give you that.

And that is something everyone can agree on.

[Drewbacca]

Anyway, basically what Nintendo is saying is, "the minute online console gaming blows up and becomes great and starts making money we will be there with a perfect online system and a perfect scheme and everyone will love us and we will take over the world once more". Not gonna happen.

It's better to be around now, setting up the technology, laying the groundwork, getting what customers you can, so when it gets big you're gonna be right there.

As of this moment it looks like Nintendo will be left behind, because they're gonna have to play catch-up.

Exactly. Look at them now with games like Metal Gear, Final Fantasy and Resident Evil. They want to bring game companies in to their console with open arms... as long as they've had a million dollar hit on the PS2 or Xbox or some other system before. Why would fans who're accustomed to buying said titles on other console suddenly switch?

They won't and it's a dumb policy. Big results take sacrifices and time. You can't get the end result to pay off for you and that's it.

Oh.... that and they have shitty marketting.

[gamevet]

That's the way it is, though. Sony spent like $10 or $12 million developing EverQuest, which is a huge amount for a game even today (it was developed in like 1997-1999, though). Now look at it. And it's not like Nintendo doesn't have that money to spend, either. In fact, aren't they privately owned? That way they can invest in this sort of long-term shit without having to deal with investor squabbles.

The PC market is 10 times that of consoles. What home does'nt have some sort of PC in it? Any home that has Broadband/ dial-up service, is going to have a PC first.


Everquest is quite old now and has a loyal following that started on PC hardware that is at least 5 years old. A console is lucky to get such a long shelf life and a game like Everquest would hardly have such a long run. Just how many subscribers to Everquest are there? I'm pretty sure it's a small percentile of the total amount of PC's on the market.


The only way I can see console online gaming hitting the mainstream, is if the console market becomes the set top box everyone's been talking about, since the days of the 3DO multiplayer.

[Tracer]

The PC market is 10 times that of consoles. What home does'nt have some sort of PC in it? Any home that has Broadband/ dial-up service, is going to have a PC first.


Everquest is quite old now and has a loyal following that started on PC hardware that is at least 5 years old. A console is lucky to get such a long shelf life and a game like Everquest would hardly have such a long run. Just how many subscribers to Everquest are there? I'm pretty sure it's a small percentile of the total amount of PC's on the market.


The only way I can see console online gaming hitting the mainstream, is if the console market becomes the set top box everyone's been talking about, since the days of the 3DO multiplayer.

FFXI just surpassed EQ's userbase in terms of numbers of paid accounts. Soo....

Maybe if you can hold an argument without name calling, you can have a reasonable debate. As it stands, I may aswell be talking to a brick wall.

But anyway, the problem comes when those 250k is split among 20 or so games which then would make it a loss making business. I know the would be more people online if there were, but I doubt it would be even 5x more.

That would matter to me if I cared about talking with in the first place.

[gamevet]

FFXI just surpassed EQ's userbase in terms of numbers of paid accounts. Soo....

How about the PS2 version? Will it even make an impact on the console market? Looking at the Japanese charts and the most wanted charts, I'd say no. www.the-magicbox.com

[Damian79]

That would matter to me if I cared about talking with in the first place.

Talking with what? Your dick? Speak English dumbass. And if you mean talking with me, why the heck did you respond to me? You sir, are are an idiot, plain and simple.

[Tracer]

It's across both PC and PS2. My point was going against the whole 'but everquest has been out for so and so long which is why it has made so much money,' when given that without recurring fees and withheld users profis disappear. A game can make as much money as EQ provided ONLY that it has a large base of subscribers.



FFXI, at 12 dollars a month has a substantial user base that only promises to grow not only on its own accord but with the release of the PS2 version in the United States/Canada. Japan has already proven itself moreorless inconsequential when it comes to profits in the online arena. Korea in this respect is more signifigant. Lineage for instance, has more paid users than all MMO's combined I think. Perhaps not all but the point is that it has lots of users and is profitable. With the coming of World of Warcraft, expect to see Korea to provide a signifigant portion of its userbase.

[gamevet]

It's across both PC and PS2. My point was going against the whole 'but everquest has been out for so and so long which is why it has made so much money,' when given that without recurring fees and withheld users profis disappear. A game can make as much money as EQ provided ONLY that it has a large base of subscribers.



FFXI, at 12 dollars a month has a substantial user base that only promises to grow not only on its own accord but with the release of the PS2 version in the United States/Canada. Japan has already proven itself moreorless inconsequential when it comes to profits in the online arena. Korea in this respect is more signifigant. Lineage for instance, has more paid users than all MMO's combined I think. Perhaps not all but the point is that it has lots of users and is profitable. With the coming of World of Warcraft, expect to see Korea to provide a signifigant portion of its userbase.

EQ had to establish it's name. Everyone knows what Final Fantasy is. I'm willing to bet that the PS2 version will only see moderate success at best. The price of admission is pretty steep at $90 for the PS2 version.

[Tracer]

100 dollars.

Doesn't matter anyway. The PC version is a wildfire sucesses as far as MMO's go and that's more than enough.

Besides: what does it matter if EQ had to establish its name or not?

[gamevet]

100 dollars.

Doesn't matter anyway. The PC version is a wildfire sucesses as far as MMO's go and that's more than enough.

Besides: what does it matter if EQ had to establish its name or not?

EQ helped establish a large following of PC online games, along with titles like Quake III and War Craft. These games kept fresh blood coming in for a long time. Not just a short burst and then done, like the console market.


FFXI is a success on the PC, because the market is suited for it. Everyone that has a PC, has it online. It's online content is more than just gaming, so the need for the online component is viable. Consoles on the other hand, benefit from online content through games only.


Like I said before, just about every household that has online capability, does so because of the PC, not the console. If your online connection is where the PC is and your gaming television is sitting in the next room, what are the odds that the console will get the online playtime over the PC?