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Which Console Is Leading The Online Race?

Posted by simoniker on from the i-vote-for-the-dreamcast dept.

Thanks to GameSpy for their 'Sole Food' editorial discussing which console has the lead in the online marketplace. The author says: "If you asked me a year ago which console would be the online leader, I would have said Microsoft Xbox - no doubt." But, twelve months later, he's rapidly drawing other conclusions: "I forgot the most important lesson in publishing: Content is king. And most of the killer online content is not on the Xbox, but rather the Sony PlayStation 2." And, after citing specific examples of great titles on both PS2 and Xbox, he concludes: "There's just more games for the PS2, ergo there are more online games. It doesn't matter how good and how uniform the online user interface is if the content isn't there."

1 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. How do you wanna look at it? by MMaestro · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    In terms of finance : Xbox is killing the PS2. With its right hand tied behind its back and blindfolded. With a pay-to-play system and everything else already provided (no need to buy a network adaptor and for the FFXI people a hard drive as well) even if the PS2 was to suddenly get another 50 million PS2s sold and put online, in the long run the Xbox WILL win. The only way they would lose this battle is if Bill Gates decided to spill a couple gallons of coffee on the servers, "accidently" pull the plug on the servers for a couple hours without telling people before plugging it back in, and tell all the subscribers that he's "gonna make them his bitches."

    In terms of "look how many people I got" : The PS2 looks nicer than the graphics of Doom 3 or Half-Life 2. Nuff said.

    In terms of the consumer : The Xbox owner is winning. Kinda. See the Xbox owner already knows what hes getting. He knows what hes paying for. And he knows that Microsoft isn't going to do something stupid and anger gamers. The PS2 owner on the other hand WILL -eventually- have to pay fees. I don't know exactly how many people play online with their PS2s but the cost for servers, paying for a dedicated line, and paying for support people is certainly hurting Sony. In the long run, the PS2 owner will get bitten by Sony and he may not be prepared for it.

    Who's winning right now : The PS2 owner. He doesn't pay fees. He can connect using dial-up. He has the huge PS1/PS2 offline library to play if he doesn't want to get owned by cheaters in SOCOM. He has the support of the majority and the majority get the number one games.

    Who's most likely gonna win in the future : The Xbox owner, most likely. The Xbox Live system and Xbox hardware are probably the biggest steps toward console online gaming since the Dreamcast made gaming history with Seganet. Voice chat is very nice, even if the kid/guy on the other side sounds like hes a 7 year old. The broadband online helps keep laggers away, course its not perfect but PC gaming hasn't done it perfect yet either.

    Who's left out in the middle of all this : Gamecube owners. (I pity those who were foolish enough to buy a Gamecube for online play)