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FF XI Goes Live in Japan
Castolari writes "Gameforms reports about the Japanese launch of FF XI, Square's online venture with
the series. Apparently, there's some serious technical problems with the
server load as well." They also have some
Screenshots.
I'm still hoping that someone will get the MMORPG right in the not so distant
future.
So, Round 1 of the console wars is over, with Sony far in 1st place, and Nintendo and the Xbox somewhere in second. (Most of my figures say Nintendo is in the 2nd place slot, but its so close nobody can tell.)
Round 2 has now begun - and it's over before it's even started. Look at the competition:
Sony - spend $150 on a 40 Gigabyte hard drive with ethernet and modem ports. Use with any ISP you with. Developers provide the servers.
The games: Final Fantasy XI, Everquest, and Star Wars: Galaxies
Nintendo - spend $35 on either an ethernet adapter, or a modem. Use with any ISP you want. Developers provide the servers.
The Games: Phantasy Star Online 1 and 2.
Xbox - spend $0 dollars - but you have to sign up for a fee (price unknown, assumed to be $5-$10 a month). Servers maintained by Microsoft (a point that kept that kept EA out of the Xbox online system.
The Games: Um....
This is why I sold my Xbox yesterday. (And have exactly enough in store credit that I could get a new one in case the Xbox comes out with something pretty damn cool.)
But so far, Sony is far and away doing the best job with online gaming, and with their partnership with AOL, and the Linux system on the PS2, I think the fears Microsoft had (as detailed in the first part of the book Opening the Xbox, where the Xbox was mainly a reaction to the fear that the PS2 would become a hoome computer), are all coming true.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Life isn't watching a TV set, and as good as graphics get, no game will ever equal that feeling as you blast in a shot from 20 yards, or nail a 3 pointer over your work mates.
I respect your opinion, MosesJones, but I disagree with the spirit of your statement. I'm a 26 year old engineer-- I'm not in the best of shape, but I work out three times a week. There's no way I can keep up with a true athlete, a few of which are my [co-workers|work mates]. "Blasting shots", "nailing 3 pointers", wouldn't mean much to me anyway. But when I can challenge my boss's boss to a game of Rush 2049 in Dave and Busters, and actually compete, that means a great deal to me. Electronics in this case even the field. He may be 39, but he runs for an hour every day and helps his 16 year old son practice football (American). With my current goals, I couldn't hope to compete athletically. But, I can keep up in a game, and we can have experiences that he'll talk about for months. What does it mean when your boss's boss happily talks about how you almost ran him off the road in a game 4 months after the fact? To me, that means we used the false reality to actually share a personal experience that ends up benefitting our professional relationship in the end.And no game ever will beat the smile you get from your kid first thing in the morning.
I can't disagree with you there. Some day, God willing, I hope to be able to agree with you.