Sony's PS2 Online Lays Claim To TV Generation

Thanks to Yahoo for reprinting a Sony press release in which they claim online gaming using the PlayStation 2 is taking away viewers from the TV, noting that "...the audience for online gaming with the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system grew to 2.6 million this month" - though that figure seems to be the number of PS2 systems with online adapters, not the amount actually online. Elsewhere, Sony notes that online play is "...up 239 percent when compared to February of last year, with 67,708 new gamers registering during the 29 day month", and that some games have extremely committed players: "SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs players spend an average of 4.2 hours a day playing the game online." This comes shortly after news that 25 million PS2s have been sold in North America, a figure "contributing to overall worldwide shipments of more than 70 million units" - meanwhile, GI.Biz notes that Xbox Live "has been celebrating having 750,000 Xbox Live users [in the States], with a target of a million by June."

Comments

Take with a grain of salt, please

[NanoGator]

Thanks to the invention of TiVo and the VCR, people can play these games for hours on end. Frankly, in my Quake days, I did the same thing. I found that between 7pm and 9pm was the ideal time to get on for the particular servers I visited, everything else was put on hold.

This statement could be true, but I'm not sure I'd quite say that it's eating too heavily into TV. I can't speak for any household but my own, but when work or games interfere with my watching TV, other members of the family suddenly take an interest in it. Did TV go down or up?

Sorry Sony, but people still want to watch their favorite shows.

Re:Take with a grain of salt, please

[bigman2003]

I haven't had any type of TV reception for about a year now.

I got rid of DISH for two reasons:

#1- I would much rather play games, just as the article suggests.

#2- TV is generally shit anyway, just as we are all aware.

The last show I really enjoyed was The Office. That was painfully funny stuff. But when my house seemed filled with MTV and stupid 'entertainment' shows, like Extra, and (Insert other crappy shows about celebrities here) I figured that myself and my family don't really need to be inundated with news and information about Paris Hilton, Martha Stewart and Janet Jackson. Now we spend more time doing things.

The one time I am really bummed about not having TV is when I am sick. Somehow being at home sick, and brainlessly watching TV just go together. Now what does that say about watching TV?

It's interesting that it's online games

[foidulus]

that they are talking about. Could people finally actually want to communicate in a slightly social setting instead of getting the one-way communication that television offers us.
I still personally would prefer a trip out to a local eatery etc for my social interaction, but it's definately interesting to see how much better people respond to playing other people(or at least what they think are other people, I wonder how many people have an internet buddy that is actually a chatbot)

Re:It's interesting that it's online games

[Anonymous Coward]

"I still personally would prefer a trip out to a local eatery etc for my social interaction"

So you're the guy that comes up to strangers at Burger King and asks them if emacs is better than vi?

Well Duh

[BigDork1001]

Sony press release in which they claim online gaming using the PlayStation 2 is taking away viewers from the TV

This can be said about any of the game consoles whether they are online or not. It's pretty hard to watch TV when you are playing Nintendo, X-box, or PS2 on the TV.

A new report also shows that listening to CDs is taking away listeners from the radio.

XBL 750K....

[unclethursday]

meanwhile, GI.Biz notes that Xbox Live "has been celebrating having 750,000 Xbox Live users [in the States], with a target of a million by June."

Actually, the 750K users is worldiwde, not just in the US. Europe has around 100K subscribers, and so does Japan, with the remaining ~550K in the US and Canada.

The 1 million subscribers by June also reflects worldwide subscribers, not just the US.

The actual quote from GI.Biz: In other words, this is Sony's distinctly unconcerned response to recent announcements from Nintendo (which stated this week that the GameCube has sold out in many retailers in the USA, with emergency supplies being shipped in from overseas) and Microsoft (which has been celebrating having 750,000 Xbox Live users, with a target of a million by June).

Re:SOCOM Navy Seals...

[Pluvius]

10 minutes might not be enough time to make the adjustment. How long did it take you to learn to play first person shooters on your keyboard and trackball? I doubt you were an expert after 10 minutes. Possibly the millions of console FPS players are not all wrong. The controls can, and do work.

You forgot the word "poorly" in that last sentence. There's a reason why most console FPSes have autoaim and most computer FPSes don't.

The millions of console FPS players that actually like using a controller to play have almost certainly never tried using a keyboard and mouse.

Rob

Re:SOCOM Navy Seals...

[Pluvius]

Some people prefer a controller.

Chances are those people aren't all that serious about FPSes. If you don't really care about how well you play, then controllers are fine.

One is not inherently better than the other.

The assertion of one who has never actually tried playing the same game with both control methods. Try playing Rainbow Six, first on a console, then on the PC. Tell me which one is easier to play.

cough... Doom ...cough

Oh, no, you've defeated my argument by mentioning a decade-old game!

Rob