PS3 in the Age of MMOs
I have a love/hate affair with MMO’s, as you can see by reading back over the years worth of posts here at Sweet Flag. My affair with MMO’s began with Meridian 59 & 12 years on I still have mud on my boots.
Age of Conan is still in it’s very early stages of post release, receiving very different opinions from around the interweb. Some pleasently surprised at what they found, others not so. I had ignored the title up until a few weeks ago. I just didn’t want to put in the hours of requirement to a MMO only to find the game play was bugged, the community sucked or I got so sucked into the game I did nothing else etc.
In the end, I succumbed & loaded up the game & it just goes to highlight that the affair is still alive & kicking. It may also have a very interesting new ingredient that could add some extra life to what could become a stale genre.
PS3 – future MMOs
The Agency – a fast-paced, online persistent shooter in a modern
setting of bullets, bomb blasts, and betrayal
In a interview SOE President, John Smedley gave one of the strongest affirmations that the PS3 will be in their vision when creating future MMOs titles:
“We’re certainly very focused on making sure all of our next round of MMOs are made to run on both the PC and PlayStation 3″
Evidence of this can be seen with the DC Universe Online MMO & The Agency shooter MMO, both to be published by SOE.
The hope is that both these titles will put the emphasis on fun & immediacy back into MMO gaming. DC Universe Online Creative Director, Chris Cao rounds up the experience in DCUO, “It’s an action game minute-to-minute, a MMO month-to-month”¹.
DCUO – developers SOE Austin are the same team behind the SWG MMO
SOE Austin have a good track record of keeping a MMO alive even through difficult times. Star Wars Galaxies has just celebrated it’s 5th birthday & is still going strong, even if the game has changed violently from it’s early days. SWG may not be the smash hit that SOE had hoped for but you do have to give them credit for keeping the game alive.
Can MMOs create the same impact on the PS3 that they have on PC/Mac gaming?
This is hard to predict. The player base is there but would they be as forgiving when the chips are down? A big swaying point maybe down to subscription fees & with an average cost of £8 a month for PC MMOs, would PS3 players want to subscribe monthly to a game when they can play multiplayer for free on most new titles?
If both DCUO & The Agency had a higher retail price but had no monthly fee associated to them, PS3 players could be tempted even if server & bug problems manifested – as they normally do with any MMO.
Here’s hoping that lessons have been learnt & that the same mistakes don’t get ported when The Agency becomes the first MMO on the PS3.
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¹The Edge Magazine issue 191(page 63)
Tags: SOE
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July 8, 2008 at 11:22 pm
From my limited viewpoint the whole MMO industry is in a bit of a rut at the moment. I actually suspect that the PC mmo industry has past its peak but just doesn’t know it yet. Console MMOs may just be the saviour of the genre. I wonder will they be MMOs as we know them however. I am not just talking about technical limitations like lack of a keyboard, that can be overcome. I really wonder if the millions of armchair gamers who enjoy bouts of casual gaming on their console really want to make the huge commitment required by traditional pc mmos.
July 9, 2008 at 5:16 am
Console MMOs will help the genre immensely. I’ve fallen out of MMO gaming for years now. The grind originally existed due to technology constraints. That the grind endured into modern MMOs is shameful. Consoles are likely to help breathe new life into the genre by focusing on action… by making momentary experiences meaningful, rather than just shallow, redundant steps leading to something worthwhile.
Consoles could do that. We’ll see if they actually do. The Agency looks promising. And though Warhammer doesn’t seem to push beyond some classic MMO problems (like whack-a-mole combat), it has a lot of great features and innovations.
July 9, 2008 at 10:29 am
I agree that console MMO gaming will have hangover issues from PC MMOs.
Yes mbp, keyboard input for chat is something I hope all developers will considered. Age of Conan is due on the XBOX360 at some point & as a traditional MMO that requires a fair amount of text chat it will be interesting to see how they work that in to the port.
The focus on action & less grind will be a hopefully outcome, Aaron. I read that in DC Universe Online to get to fight say, Superman your character need only to cause havoc in the streets of Metropolis. No need to do a tiring quest grind for the opportunity but will that mean that interaction between the big DC characters will have to be instanced based? Which is something which I am not keen on in a MMO.
July 9, 2008 at 12:04 pm
DM I don’t see the lack of keyboard being a stumbling block at all as long as it is sold correctly. They just have to offer a package which includes one of these guys with every game: http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/09/xbox-360s-qwerty-thumb-keyboard-is-official/. Console gamers are used to paying extra for game specific hardware (think Guitar Hero, think Wii Fit) so I think it would sell. Of course consoles can already do voice chat but I think typing is better for casual gamers.
August 4, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Looks like The Agency will be using voice chat but what might ship with the game, if anything, has yet to be announced.
I agree mbp, console gamers may have to pay a little extra for their MMO titles…