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MMORPG on consoles, when?
Boldgrim
Member UncommonPosts: 69
Now, I am not talking about porting an existing MMORPG to console, which would only annoy the current player base, I am talking about a MMORPG build from the ground up for console. I think it would be fantastic! Considering that every next generation console have USB ports, we are not limited to the controler anymore, the keyboard and mouse is viable.
What prompted this post is the fact that I will have, yet again, to upgrade my computer to play the next generation of MMORPG (Vanguard, Age of Conan, etc ...). I just upgraded last year for crying out loud! 
With a console, no worries about anything, insert the DVD, install on hard disk or play from thr DVD, depending, and play. No fuss, no mess, just fun! Plus from the comfort of my big sofa chair! 
I'm sure there's a market for it!
What do you all think? Do you think there is a market for it or is the potential market too small to warrant the high development cost of a MMORPG?
Comments
Didn't Sony release an Everquest MMO strictly for the PC?
Edit : Yeah, just remembered the name. "Everquest Online Adventures".
I also hope MMO gaming will switch to consoles someday. the bill for the computer upgrade I will have to make soon just makes me cry.
We are already seeing MMO developers branching into console technnology.
Take a look at Final Fantasy XII available on xbox360, Then there is everquest online adventures, and that one by sega, phantasy star online. And then all the titles that are being 'considered'. At the minute many mmorpgs are perhaps console friendly, but I would assume developing them on the console architecture has been cost prohibitive until now and possibly risky. But now with the prevalance of online gaming with consoles - xbox to be specific, it is a clear winner and proof that people do go online with their console.
With the advances in developing for console markets, as they are now much more accessible I can only see developers expanding their titles to the popular consoles. I mean what do you do in an mmo these days other than push about 10 - 15 buttons repeatedly. It's a sad truth that PC specific titles have been tailored towards the console market ( younger gamers with less PC expertise, or should I say in a word - not geeks) and I suppose in the future it will be pushed even further towards it. Is this a good thing or a bad thing ? A good thing as Perhaps in the future Imagine, P2P online communities - true server-less enviroments... ? Its bound to happen on the consoles sooner or later. Although I don't like that idea as I believe mmos shouldn't be a grind but skill-based and complicated
*FORMER ultima online fan*
does this answer your question ?
Well if they design an MMO just for consoles like Everquest did for its PS1, than I would think that there would be a market for it. I'd even go as far as to say that they should allow the use of a controller. Also, the MMO could have built in voice chat, so you can use a controller and a headset instead of a mouse and keyboard. This would only appeal to the non-rper types, but a good MMOFPS or even a game like DDO would be good on a console.
Like you said, it would have to be a new MMO and not a pre-existing one. I don't agree with mixing game systems. I definitely think there is a market for it, just not as big as one like the PC versions.
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Don't click here...no2
I think mmos need to be PC first before consoles. I prefer being able to take advantage of a games full potential, graphics and gameplay included. Everything has to be limited with a console. Only so far you can go before you hit a wall. That limit is basically removed with a PC. Time people updated their comps up to todays standards anyway. Tired of having to hear people complain because they can't get EQ2 or anything else to run on their Windows 98 300MHz machine "that should be more than capable of running this sucky game"
Phantasy Star Universe! :O
I like games on pc though but if you gave me a mouse,keyboard,and a windows like operating system on PS3 i'd be the happiest person on earth.
That will introduce a level of competition that most PC MMOG makers will not survive...I expect to see more than 70% of PC MMOG development studios either convert over or be crushed out of existence!
MMOGs for the PS3 will automatically be/have:
Pure 64-bit code
Optimized for a multi-threaded/multi-processor environment
Realtime photorealistic Raycasting
Optimized for Distributed Computing (you can have multiple Cell processors in your house connected via WiFi)
There are other things, but these four are the ones that will lay waste to the PC MMOG industry!
That said there have at least been a couple of MMO's developed for consoles. As mentioned above EQOA and FFXI. EQOA never really took off (although oddly still has nearly as many subscribers now as it did at it's peak, see a recent article in Officicial Playstation Magazine). I have actually played it quite a bit, and while i would say it's the better of the two current console choices for a casual gamer, it really pales before much of what is available on a PC (EQ II, WoW, and DAoC are all far superior even for a casual gamer). FFXI on the other hand, has done pretty well. It has something like a half million subscribers an is currently available for the PS2, X-box 360, and PC. Oddly, for a console game, it's also one of the most "hardcore" of the currently popular MMORPGs. Casual players need not apply.
The DC heroes MMORPG that SOE is currently developing is supposedly being developed for the PC and PS3 simultaneously. I'd also be surprised if some update of EQOA were not being planned for the PS3. Rumor has it that SWG is also being developed for the PS3, but this has never been confirmed.
Auto Assualt was supposedly being ported to the X-box 360, but I haven't heard anything about this in a while. Who knows if it's still in development.
There are also a number of console MMOGs, and ORPGs...but few of these really qualify as MMORPGs (how's that for jargony):
Phantasy Star Online: plays a lot like Diablo, save that it was designed to be played primarilly online. Parties of up to four hunt together in instances, classes fall into various combinations of ranged attacker, melee attacker, and support (healing, buffs, debuffs) depending on what you choose. Science Fiction theme, rather feeble offline /solo play. The classes actually tend to mesh into parties better than in most action RPGs. When online there are lobbies (for any number of players) where you can hang out, play pointless mini-games, and organize parties. In addition to the main game (going through the same instances over and over again for XP and loot) there are a number of PvP and timed challenge mission options. First appeared on the Dreamcast, updates appeared on the X-box, gamecube, and most recently the PC (the PC version is the only one currently worth playing for a number of reasons).
Phantasy Star Universe: coming out for the PS2 / 360 in about a month. Has an online mode similar to PSO, but also includes a separate offline RPG with a linear story arc. I'm really looking forward to it.
Monster Hunter: never played it. Available for PS2 and the Playstation Portable. Rumored to be much like PSO (lobbies, instances) but with more varied party missions, deep crafting system, and a terrible cluncky combat system.
Champions of Norrath I and II: very close to the Diablo formula. Primarilly designed for offline play, but it is possible to create and join games online. Played the first one, honestly didn't like it very much (despite liking the similar offline only Baldur's gate games).
I don't want to write this, and you don't want to read it. But now it's too late for both of us.
It was designed to work with consoles, but as a result they had to gimp the interface for pc users so we wouldn't own them.
Most of it was through drop down menus. I suppose they could be faster on consoles which are usually 64 bit, and have no compatibility concerns. On a PC there was not only server lag, but client interface lag.
The ingame macro builder helped, but it rarely solved the problem the way hotkeys would have.
That was one of the reasons I quit besides my need to focus on my finals and because I was sure I wasn't going to get my warrior past lvl 39 any time in the near future b/c I didn't realize DD weren't popular at the beginning. [b]I would have gone back to FFXI, except their policies are very greedy to the point that they require you to buy a whole new box just to reactivate an account. [/b]
Plus the whole JP-NA rivalry thing was uncool on the part of playerbase, but it didn't help that the NAs were all a year behind them. They should have just made separate servers and been done with it.
To be fair, I also blew at the game. I didn't have the leadership clout or charisma to get the gang to use element combos correctly. Obviously I should have joined a real guild, but I never got around to that in the first month.
I think that more Massivley Multiplayer Online FIRST PERSON SHOOTERS will start appearing on the console market before "traditional" MMORPGs, simply because it's not very hard to play a shooting game on a console - look at the success of Halo, and Battlefront II. Huxley looks very promising (Xbox 360), and I think will probably be the first of many games on consoles with more than 32 players in any one "world" at once (250+).