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PlayOnline Network To Use Dreamcast Technology
Iron Chef Japan writes: "Squaresoft announced that they have teamed up with ACCESS to develop middleware for their upcoming PlayOnline network, set to debut in Japan soon. The PlayOnline network is the service that Square has setup for such games as Final Fantasy XI, and will be used for future games. Well the software that ACCESS is sharing with Square, is all built on the same technology that the Sega Dreamcast used (called NetFront). Full details here."
Face facts. Xbox is dying
In the name of logged in trolls who are being surprisingly coherent today! In order to fill out these two minutes, I'd just like to state that the Dreamcast was an EXCELLENT piece of hardware, years in advance of it's time. The major innovation? Online connectivity out of the box.
On-line gaming, as evidenced on the PC, is the next stage of the console revolution. Any console which refuses to support it OUT OF THE BOX will fail. Gamers don't want to buy additional peripherals.
So why did the Dreamcast fail? Simple. Marketing. Sega chose to throw their money into online game development and superior software. Sony threw all their money into advertising. Spreading FUD about the Dreamcast. In the end, people are stupid, and went for the blocky, poorly textured, movies-instead-of-gameplay embarassment of the Playstation, instead of the smooth, photo-realistic, gameplay enhanced qualities of the Dreamcast.
It is no co-incidence that the Dreamcast was responsible for one of the best console games ever - Phantasy Star Online. Groundbreaking in its short tenure, this game provided global online play. But of course, the gaming community, not willing to accept innovation, would have rather chose the myriad of cloned 'Rhythm Games' on the Playstation.
So, gamers have another choice. The PS2 WILL win, due to superior marketing. That leaves the X-Box, somewhat derivative, but capable of breathtaking gameplay. And the Gamecube, with arguably the best 'franchises' in the home console market.
However, the Gamecube's online plans are feeble to say the least. Does the consumer choose Broadband or Dial-up, and can gamers on one choice play with gamers on the other?
And don't even get me started on the Playstation 2's 'online' plans. A hard disk and Broadband connection, pushing the price of a combined PS2/Online setup BEYOND that of the X-Box.
The choice, dear consumer, is yours...
"Why did they cancel my favorite Sci-Fi show? I downloaded ALL the episodes!"
Now, the question is, since all these adaptors exist in Japan, how long until we see this stuff in the USA? This is where I think Microsoft will get a step ahead, since their marketshare here is pretty decent.
Well, i'll be glad to be playing Phantasy Star 2 and FFXI on my Gamecube thats for sure, the question is when. And Gran Turismo 4 on my PS2 will rock as well. Long as they find a decent service that my Cable modem can connect to..
Hell, the only thing we've gotten BEFORE them was the damned X-Box...what kind of deal is that!?!
Beer, now there's a temporary solution -- Homer Jay S.
You ignorant piece of shit. You try to make a (very, VERY poor) joke, and your stupidity shines blazingly through. It was Dec. of 1941 dumbass.
Beer, now there's a temporary solution -- Homer Jay S.
From there website -
Talk about having one hell of a vision and forsight in the mid-1980's!
It seems (at least according to their website) that they make most of their money from wireless phones by providing different services and wireless applications.
From their site:
This seems like a pretty interesting company. This is the first I've heard of them. I hope you guys find the background info useful, because the article that is linked is *very* light on information.
:-)
How in the hell is this racism? Yen is the name they use for currency in japan. Do you consider it racism when a homeless man comes up to you and asks "May I have a dollar for some food?". I'd bet this anonycow isn't even japanese.
Can I get an eye poke?
Dog House Forum
NetFront is just a web browser for appliances. English info here
Access also makes the cHTML browser behind NTT-Docomo's popular i-mode phones.
Well... seeing as over an addict to EverQuest who was so consumed with his online identity that he lost site of reality and finally committed suicide. Or so is being claimed by the plaintiff!
:(
This may be bad news for the company right about now.
Vital Idea
They're just porting some software they've used for the DC originally. Big deal - many companies port applications from one platform to another. It's probably just a communication library - and not a very large one, at that.
Sorry to go offtopic, but...
It's sad that someone kills themself, but if you read deeper into this, you'll find that the man (he was in his early twenties) had been diagnosed w/other emotional problems/disorders...Everquest was not the direct result of his death but only one of many factors. There is negligence on behalf of the mother since she was attempting to get him into some kind of group home, but she was too late.
The mother is supposedly only suing to get warnings about the game's addictiveness, but whether there's some kind of monetary goal is unclear.
It will be interesting to see how the pricing scheme ends up considering that there will already be a substantial charge to obtain the HD/modem combo in the first place. Some are saying that they will take the X-Box approach and have a service charge which allows access to only a limited number of games and then expand the costs to more "elite" titles. Sega had the right idea by letting users use their network for free with the exception of Phantasy Star Online v2, where they were able to give their v1 addicts a free taste before charging $15 for 3 months of play on the new version. It will also be interesting to see if the games will internetwork across systems (i.e. PSO on the Gamecube). Should be an interesting time, but it's too bad that Sony waited so long. Not only is time against them, but so is the fact that a non-bundled video game accessory has never sold enough to make every game take advantage of it. If people choose not to buy the HD/modem combo, we may only see one generation of online games on PS2.
The biggest hurdle I see from FFXI is going to be all the subscribers trying to play all at once when the game is first released. Battle.net got swamped by players when Diablo 2 was released because they went through a million copies in about two weeks. With the popularity of the FF titles (FFX sold about 4 million copies world wide, about a million of those in the US) I can see PlayOnline getting hammered unless there's some alternate direct network play available. That of course may not be possible with the style of the game but I suppose time will tell. Square's facing a playing population four times the size of Everquest's. That is an awesome amount of networking power to muster up.
That sort of leads to something I've been kicking around lately, I've noticed few if any games having modem to modem multiplayer options anymore. I know the venerable modem is a little long in the tooth but I like playing over one. The lag is virtually non-existant and the bandwidth of the connection is enough to play most types of games. I'm hoping in vain that maybe when modem and broadband adapters are more prevelent in the current generation of consoles that maybe a couple games have the option of a direct modem to modem connection. If you take a sample of ten people with GCs, one or two might have cable modems another one or two might have DSL but the others are going to still have a regular modem dialup. These are the people that would play a two player (or more) modem to modem game. You could have two players per console and have two consoles connected over the phone for up to four people to bash one another in Killer Instinct 8:Killerest Instinct of All or Ultra Smash Brothers Melee. I used to have a lot of fun playing Warcraft 2 and Diablo against my friends on a modem game. The internet is fine when I'm busting the skull of some dude from the east cost in CS but against my friend who lives a few miles away the extra overhead is just problematic, from my point of view at least.
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
Got the link.
The technology that both to work is a protocol that allows packets to be sent and be guaranteed to get to the other side, or be notified that they didn't/ This little known magical protocol is naped TCP/IP, and ahs worked wonders for any net based aplication
slashdot!=valid HTML
Basically its the same old story all over again...
:)
Great, amazing technology gets incorporated into low-marketshare platform, creating amazing product. Innovation goes virtually unnoticed. Small marketshare platform dies, squeezed out by its semi-monopolistic comptetitors who, though they use (perhaps) inferior tech, have the benefit of a well-known brandname, more apps, established user base, et etc.
That was the death of the dreamcast. Now we enter Chapter Two:
Tech used in low-marketshare-yet-advanced platform gets bought up (or copied) by its larger, and now former, competitors. "Innovations" are much heralded. Amazing "new" features are aplauded by all, and large, monopolistic companies get kudos and make more money.
Basically, history repeats itself. Microsoft is notorious exactly for this sort of behaviour. Sony's rep isn't too good, either. But I am the first to admit that the PS2 kicks ass. Anyone have a nice, free one for me?
And the European release is still to come.
The best thing about this argument is how you followed it up; by showing us that the hurdle has already been met and overcome. Not just by Blizzard, but also by Sony (Everquest) and countless other MMORPGs.
Square's stepping up to the plate to join the field of online rpgs -- not to pioneer it. They've seen the mistakes that Sega made, the mistakes that Blizzard made, and have learned from them. Best of all they've got *Sony* to work with on this (as FFXI is for the PS2 platform)..
And for Sony, this kind of endeavour should be old hat. :) I'm hopeful.
Its time to get started on ponlined!
Shockwave Flash movies are the greatest thing to happen to non-sequitur humor since Japan.
so i thought i'd post my page for what its worth... and here it is.
Yeah, its MUCH cooler to support a Japaneese monopoly than an American one...
The two rules for success are:
1) Never tell them everything you know.