XBOX Live vs other consoles

[LA_MERC_Cowboy_From_Hell]

According to XBOX.com this is all the specs for XBOX Live compared to known info about PS2 and Nintendo plans for on-line gaming.

K-BOMB....note at the bottom where it says 50 titles by holiday 2003. My bad. I was sure I read 2002 in the mag.

http://www.xbox.com/system/onlinespecsheet.htm

I tried to copy the page so you would'nt have to link but it wouldn't work.

Scott

[Lexian]

all i gots to say is--- blah! /me only wants ps2 and gamecube... :P

[K-BOMB]

OK, first off BB, please don't take anything I write here personally. These comments are directed towards M$, not you :). Besides, I actually have a couple of good things to say at the bottom. As usual, I way overthink these things, hehe...

First off, this reminds of the the XBOX pre-launch chart that spewed forth tons of useless (and sometimes false) comparisons - seems like old habits are hard to break unless the federal government breaks them for you ;)

50 games by EOY 2003 I can believe...I still wouldn't be surprised if you actually did read 2002 in the mag - I wouldn't put anything beyond the M$ hype machine.

A lot of the "info" on this chart seems kind of pointless or insignificant IMHO. It is obvious they were reaching very far up their collective arses to make the chart as long as possible. For example, military grade encryption - does anyone really care? Geographic matchmaking - who cares? Just show me the ping - it's all gonna depend on the route your cable/DSL modem takes to the XBOX server and to your opponent. As most of you know, you can get horrible pings even with broadband. The entire Friends section is pointless - you could find a friend on the Dreamcast two years ago - I'm sure you'll be able to find a friend on the other systems as well. Granted it may not be quite as centralized, but I just don't think it will be a big deal. I also find it interesting that they contradict themselves in their own self-promoting chart. It says the GameCube is narrowband only, then says its broadband and 56K. Oh well, at least they got it right once :) Do they really think that SOCOM will be the only PS2 game to support voice? If one does it, I am sure more will. And doesn't the PS2 have 2 USB ports? Isn't it at least possible that you could use two headsets? The use of the N64-inspired controller slots will be very convenient for using the communicator on the XBOX, but there is no reason there can't be communicator devices on the other consoles as well.

I realize they are trying to promote the fact that they will be the premier console for online gaming this holiday season - they obviously will. They are taking advantage of the fact that they have the most concrete online plans right now. However, I would be willing to bet that a year from now the information in all three columns will be a lot more similar.

This chart really emphasizes how much like a PC the XBox really is - something they were trying desperately to NOT promote when the system launched. A lot of the games that will be online will be on the PC as well in some form (Halo, Star Wars, Counterstrike, Unreal, Ghost Recon). I think a lot of XBOX owners are PC gamers as well. Will it really be worth it to pay an extra charge when you can play it on the PC over the same broadband connection? For some folks it obviously will. The sports games should really benefit, as playing sports games on the PC just plain sucks compared to a console. But ultimately, they will benefit from broadband on all three consoles.

I gotta give M$ credit, they are going full-tilt-boogie at this thing. I think it will take a while to pay off, if it ever does. Will their broadband-only stance help or hurt? Are people willing to pay even more money to play online? I think Nintendo, and to some extent Sony, are content to sit back and let M$ work out the kinks - online gaming didn't help the Dreamcast even though it worked quite well, even through dial up (except for sports game - see above comment).

Don't take this as me saying I don't care about online games. I would love to play some Cube games online as long as the single-player or offline experience doesn't suffer. For example, Mario Kart was a multiplayer blast! I see no reason why they couldn't have 4 player action at home in addition to an online component. Some kind of cooperative play on Zelda could be sweet as well. But, Nintendo's stance is not completely without logic. Making a game solely for online play really fragments your potential market. They will provide the peripherals for the third parties that want to use it, but they aren't going to invest tons of capital $$$ in servers, etc until it proves profitable. They have focused a lot of energy on the GC-GBA connection - it will be interesting to see if that pays off. With the absolute abysmal sales of the online Final Fantasy game in Japan, I can see why Nintendo is in no hurry to dive into the online market. If a FF game can't sell well in Japan, what will? Lucky for M$, online gaming is more popular in the only market in which they are actually competitive, and that's the USA.

The next year will be VERY interesting. Sorry for yet another rant...

[Dead]

I have to agree with a lot you said "K" I used to work for a large IT Consulting firm, we were actually sued by M$ for some stuff that we said that was really true. Our clients for the most part were IBM and Compaq and Intel - Intel is the worst with claims and stuff but M$ follows a close 2nd.!!!

Broadband only with hurt them - since i own a ISP and Hosting firm only like 55% of america can get BB and to make matters worse only 25% of those have it. so 75% of the people out there refuse to pay for the price of BB.

[Lexian]

well as i see it due to the dismal sales of FF11 in japan they shouldn't have included 11 in the ongoing series instead made it a spin off much like tactics... main reason i say this is because you can't (so far anyway no one has done it, not to say one day it couldn't happen) have a game thats been about the story and evolution of the characters through there experiences together leading to an ultimate goal ending their journey online... mainly because the online world has always been neverending even in pso true you could beat the game but then you had to do it again at a higher level and so on until the next game came out where you could do more, but it never really had anything to do with the story all the time i spent playing the people i spent time playing with kept an rpg stand point we would act out our own story and conflict with other clans and players making up our own story as we went... FF however has always had its own story to follow... i realize this may not make sense to most of you, but i know what i'm trying to say i just don't have the vocabulary i don't think to explain it...

[LA_MERC_Cowboy_From_Hell]

You're right.......it made no sense at all.

Scott

[Lexian]

im just saying FF games are played for the graphics and mainly the story... i dont see how they can make an online game that has more to do with continuous story than online play... that clearer? :P

[K-BOMB]

:slp

Please tell me he didn't just say you play the game for it's graphics. Ughh...

I understand what you are trying to say about the story, I just don't have the energy to translate.

[Lexian]

i was talking about how FF has always been on the cutting edge of new graphics a good reason the games have done so well... believe it or not alot of peeps play games for the graphics whether you care to admit or not...

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

You have to be talking about the cutscenesa and not the gameplay right? Some of the gameplay graphics were lamer than Jerry's kids on labor day!!! IMHO

[K-BOMB]

I will totally admit that people play games for graphics - and I think anyone that values graphics over gameplay is a fool. Especially if the "graphics" are just pre-rendered full-motion video.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for attention to detail and immersive gaming experiences. But the first step to immersion is the gameplay, with graphics a distant second IMHO. Screw the polygons and FMV, make the game fun...

[Omega_Prime]

so you trying to say final fantasy games are not fun??? dang boons if you would just learn how to play them and then my friends you would step into a much larger world of games, i love all kinds of games but to this day there isnt a game id rather play than a good old final fantasy game! or any rpg made by squaresoft!!! and you say final fantasy doesnt have gameplay, once again learn how to operate the menus and the commands on it, learn the system that is final fantasy and you will fall in love with it. and last but not least there isnt a game out there in my opinion that can match the final fantasy games, sure you get a good game every now and then but there isnt a game out there that can match this whole series ( which some of you think sucks) , no company can began to compete with the money squaresoft has made off it. also you say final fantasy 11 didnt sell to good in japan, well i dont even think square thought it would outsell the other games, they clearly stated before the ps2 was ever released that ffXI was going to be a stepping stone for what is to come of online ff. they have already made clear to the world that the series is going back to its regular game and story driven style come FFXII, and i might add that FFXII is anounced only for the ps2 as we speak, square has no plans on sending it to gamecube or that silly thing they call a console x-box. sure gamecube may get some square titles but dont expect it to be a final fantasy game with the series behind the name, expect a runoff of the game, something like tatics or mystic quest (i bet most dont even remember that one) but really people come on get with the program and give this series a chance, and for those of you who worship the ground square walks on like me then you already should know what i just said. nuff said!!!!!!! final fantasy roxors joo boxers foos.

[K-BOMB]

I wasn't talking about specifically about FF being fun, although I've said many times before that traditional turn-based, menu-driven RPG's tend to bore me (not just FF). I was simply referring to the fools that always want to talk about polygons and MHz, regardless if the game sucks or not.

And for the record, I hope the GC FF game is NOT a part of the series with the traditional gameplay. I would prefer an action-based spinoff.

Later...

[Omega_Prime]

its just i know how most none rpgers are and how they will dis the greatest series known to man:p

[Omega_Prime]

Gaming wise; no, star wars is not the best series of all time. Movie wise; yes, I think so.

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

Is that a sentence? LMAO

[-FA- Th|3f]

His all time fav comment, that and shut up



Originally posted by Vicious
no comment...

[Noxious]

that and "b00n"