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General: Sony and NCsoft Ink Deal
Szark
News ManagerMember Posts: 4,420
Sony Computer Entertainment and NCsoft have announced in a press release that they have signed a deal that will have NCsoft making several online games for the PS3 and PSP platforms. No titles were named in the release but the games will be both from existing and new intellectual properties.
Santa Monica, Calif., July 11, 2007 -- NCsoft® Corporation (KSE:036570.KS), the world's leading developer and publisher of online games today announced an exclusive game development deal with Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) that provides for NCsoft to create several online games for SCEI's PlayStation® platforms, including PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3) and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), accessible through PLAYSTATION®Network. The announcement was made today at the E3 Media and Business Summit taking place in Santa Monica, California.
Although company officials did not divulge any details regarding the names or types of games in development, NCsoft officials did say the games would be created from both existing intellectual properties (IP) owned by NCsoft, as well as new IP.
"This is a great step forward for online gaming," said Geoff Heath, CEO of NCsoft Europe. "We are delighted to be working with Sony Computer Entertainment. PS3, with its advanced Cell Broadband Engine and standard hard disc drive on every unit, has already demonstrated it is a truly versatile online platform that gives NCsoft the potential to create massively multiplayer environments. Together with the Internet-enabled PSP, we're confident that SCEI and NCsoft can develop unique and compelling online experiences that will be found on no other platform."
NCsoft is known for its highly successful online game products such as the Guild Wars® and City of Heroes® brands and its flagship product Lineage®, which has a customer reach of more than 70 million worldwide.
"NCsoft has established itself as one of the preeminent developers in the online space," said Riley Russell, vice president of third party and developer support, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "Their track record of creating successful online games is exactly what we are looking for as we grow the PLAYSTATION Network, delivering new, rich experiences on both PS3 and PSP. SCEI's hardware leadership matched with NCsoft's extensive online experience are the hallmarks of what is sure to be a fruitful relationship for both companies, ultimately benefiting our core audience -- the gamer."
Read more here.
Comments
Oh dear oh dear ... could this be the precursor of a SOE and NCsoft merger I wonder? Seems odd Sony .. a company with its own online development firm would go out of house. Is the evil empire getting a little larger?
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
Why moan about them making games for the PS3? What does that have anything to do with SOE? It doesn't........ Sony a evil company? People say that about every company tbh. Personally it means nothing to me cause NCsoft are crap and i aint buying a PS3 any time soon.
Suddenly, the Tabula Rasa control scheme makes SO much more sense.
It seems more to me that the heads of the Sony corporation know that the products so far produces/bought by SOE is of medium to crap quality so now they want a company with a bit more sucess in the online gaming field to step in and produce games for their consoles.
Statement from Mr. OBVIOUS: If a superior MMO gets produced to the PS3 by another company than Sony, Sony still wins as people will have to buy the PS3 to play it.
Cool, so NCsoft can now re-release Auto Assault for PS3
Tabula Rasa looks like it could easily run on console with it's limited hotkeys/target tagging and arcade style of play. This announcement just confirms that, like it or not, MMOs are set to move to consoles in a big way. Time for a sweepstake on when Blizzard will make a similar press release...
I wonder how many console players are willing/able to pay subscription fees though...
My initial thought when I saw this headline was, "Oh, SH*T...not NCSoft!" As I refuse to play anything that comes out of SOE, I was briefly concerned that I might have to give up my beloved City of Heroes. Fortunately, reading entire articles is a fruitful activity.
I still won't have anything to do with the new games coming out; I refuse to shell out enough $$ to pay for a PC when all you get is a console.
Oh noes!!!
Let's hear it haters!
eqnext.wikia.com
great news, finaly, swg crafting system with lineage 2 arr works = i'm going to be an armorsmith again, :-)
I think Guild Wars and games like it would be great on the PS3, PSP, andything subscription based wouldn't be advantagious in my opinion.
exactly - it does make sense now
painful and sad but now i get it
After reading the article, I don't believe smed or SOE are involved with this venture. It's going to be a project for the PS3, that being said, who cares
I Reject your Reality and Substitute it with My Own!
Before we get a huge influx of "Oh Noes, SOE SUX" posts, I just thought I'd point out that this deal has nothing to do with SOE. It's a deal between SCEI and NCsoft to bring games to the PS3. This is not a new thing in the console world and will not affect any of you, unless of course you own a PS3 and want to play GW on the big screen. Oh, and MMO's don't all have to have gimped controls to work on modern consoles. The PS3 has USB ports and can also sync with bluetooth hardware, so most keyboards and mice should work without a problem.
ya thats what i was going to say...SOE and SCE are 2 TOTALLY different parts of the sony ladder...so make sure you actually read it and dont get the 2 mixed up. Ones evil and the other just wants to make ps3 games
Good news for PS3 owners...now they'll have a game to buy!
a Crappy game most likely.
I could see Aion possibly making that route as well as whats suggested about TR.
Anyone who thinks SOE has anything to do with this deal needs to stop posting to these and any other forums until they sit down and learn a thing or two about the corporate side of gaming. Uninformed opinions are less than worthless; in fact, they can be needlessly destructive.
Hmm I wonder if SOE is learning from EA and is just going to try to buy up existing game companies? We will know its the end of NCSoft if Lineage, City of and GW appears on the Station Pass soon....
This doesn't bode well.
Hmm I wonder if people will eventually get over their blind hatred of SOE and actually read the articles they post in.
What does SOE have to do with it? Did the article say SOE have bought NCsoft? This deal has absolutely nothing to do with SOE.
And on a general note:
I'm not happy about what happened to SWG either, but I'm also intelligent enough to know that it was not all SOE's fault. In fact, LA had more to do with what we have now than SOE. The constant moaning from the community didn't help either. I'm not saying SOE are without blame but lets get a little perspective here i.e. grow up and use that mushy grey thing in your head.
since playstation 1st came out it has been on top of the console wars and i think ps3 will also be at the top again and dont forget that ps3 only came out in march so it has alot of new games to bring out, like when 360 came out you could hardly buy any games for it and people hated it. and the WII when it came out it was very populer with the new controls but that will get boreing very quick as you can make the technology for any console and WII cant do next gen games and have HD so it looses there, so i think NCsoft joining to make ps3 games is a awsum idea as it will mean good games will comeout that are mmo's. also im fed up of people saying WoW clones dont forget WoW is also a clone from everquest but no one says everquest clone.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/3845509852.png
Problem is SOE really angered many people so anything they do now will be criticized. Not to mention how they treated Sigil employees didn't sit well with people who were aware. Basically, Sigil (maker of Vanguard) for whatever reason came back to SOE for distribution. SOE then fired a majority of Sigil employees in the parking lot. Yep, way to get in good with the new people.
Plus we've seen how EA does business, by gobbling up smaller companies when they are either (1) too lazy or (2) not skilled enough to make new games themselves. The "gut reaction" is that SOE is now doing the same thing here with NCSoft.
It's true that SOE are just a branch of Sony.... But my SOE senses are tingling regardless
I am so making sure I can get with an indy developer now....
Quoting people doesn't make you clever, in fact, it makes you all the more stupid for not bothering to read the quotes you post in the first place.
Also, I know exactly what it's like to be made redundant. It's not a new concept in the games industry, unfortunately. It comes with the territory. Yeah it sucks, but that's what happens when your game is overdue and over budget. Remember, it was Sigil employees that signed the deal (employees that probably didn't get the chop I might add).
SOE have angered a lot of people, myself included, but like I said, it's not entirely their fault. Not that it's even relevant to this news article anyway. SOE are not buying out NCsoft, they are not even in talks with NCsoft. SOE will not be distributing their games, they will have absolutely zip to do with the whole thing. SOE has about as much to do with SCE as Sony Pictures does. OH NOES, SOE R MAKIN TEH GUILD WARS MOVIE!!!!!
Though i don't own a PS3, having Tabula Rasa available for it makes it more likely i'd buy one.
Reason: for me it's cheaper to buy a PS3 than to upgrade my pc (again? already?! arg!!!
) so i can play the damn thing at a decent framerate with good graphic features enabled.