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PS2 Online User Base Passes 1.4 million

Posted by timothy on from the but-most-of-them-are-dogs dept.

Jane_the_Great writes "The number of PS2 owners who have ventured online with their consoles has passed 1.4 million users. This article cites SCEA Executive VP Andrew House as saying, "What I think is particularly interesting is, not only are we seeing a lot of the numbers being driven off the Network Adapter bundle, but consistently there are sales of the standalone Network Adapter." Does this growth signal the arrival of online console gaming? And if there are so many people online, why can't I find someone that will play Madden 2005 like a reasonable and polite person?"

42 comments

  1. Heh... by MalaclypseTheYounger · · Score: 0

    "I think Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal from ourselves will prove to be very interesting," he continued, "and I think really has the potential to bring in a different kind of user that is perhaps conventionally viewed as beyond the console gamer."

    What a great quote. And, I had no idea R&C was coming out with a new game. I wait with bated breath. This may get me to buy a network adapter, but certainly Gran Turismo 4 will make me plunk down my cash for a network adapter to play online...

    --
    Check out the best P2P sharing website: MEDIACHEST.COM
  2. I would, but... by keiferb · · Score: 1

    I'm stuck with a one-way cable modem, you insensitive clod!

    What? This isn't a poll?

  3. 1.4 million what exactly? by JFMulder · · Score: 1

    Users or network adapters sold? I doesn't say so in the article.

    If 1.4 million adapters were sold and only 700,000 people are really using it, how does that make it more popular than XBox live. At least you're pretty sure with XLive that if people are paying it's because they're playing.

    1. Re:1.4 million what exactly? by Jane_the_Great · · Score: 1
      Why would someone pay $40 for a piece of hardware and then not use it?

      Your rationale is that because people pay for XBox Live, they're playing online. But people paid for network adapters so why doesn't the same argument work?

      --
      THIS ACCOUNT IS OFFICIALLY RETIRED/RETARDED.
    2. Re:1.4 million what exactly? by McKinney83 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Because some network adapters came in a special bundle, which also came with ATV Offroad Fury 2.
      I work at a Game store, and I know that people get mad when they buy a console then have to pay additional for a game, so many people who aren't even online bought that bundle, just to have a game.

      Once Sony dropped the price on the PS2 to $149, the bundle went to the same price (at least at my store).
      So, $150 for a console and controller, or $150 for a Console, game and network adapter?

      --
      Winner of The Second Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence.
    3. Re:1.4 million what exactly? by Allison+Geode · · Score: 1

      this is a good point: i bought the bundle, and frankly, i've only played online a couple times, and ATV offroad fury 2 is only entertaining till you can buy a better game. am I glad i got the bundle? sure: gave me something to do till i could get a game, let me get the console a week earlier.. and its nice to know the adaptor is there should I want it, even though as it stands, i hardly ever use it.

    4. Re:1.4 million what exactly? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I bought the network adapter thinking I'd be playing a lot of socom at first, then other games as they became available. That was a year ago I guess. The only game I can think of that has network support that I am interested in is THUG but I pretty much only buy games for my cube lately. Does anyone else actually use their network adapters? With what games?
      -e

    5. Re:1.4 million what exactly? by c0d3h4x0r · · Score: 1

      The PS2 network adaptor isn't just a network adaptor. It's also an IDE hard drive adaptor, allowing you to plug in an IDE hard drive and copy most games to it.

      This speeds up load times, allows you to take your game library over to a friend's place without lugging along all the CDs, and allows you to more easily copy/pirate games if you have a mod chip.

      I'd say that if sales of the network adaptor are far beyond the number of online users, that would be a big sign that a lot of people are buying the adaptor just to get the hard drive capability.

      --
      Moderator hint: a comment is neither "Flamebait" nor "Troll" if it is true.
    6. Re:1.4 million what exactly? by Jane_the_Great · · Score: 1
      "I'd say that if sales of the network adaptor are far beyond the number of online users, that would be a big sign that a lot of people are buying the adaptor just to get the hard drive capability."
      Yeah, so? SCEA is fairly tight-lipped about how they've computed the user base. They make no mention of how sales of the network adapters correspond to their user base calculation. I'm glad that you have all this information in your head regarding how the network adapter can be used to plug a hard drive in but it's not relevant to what I was replying to.
      --
      THIS ACCOUNT IS OFFICIALLY RETIRED/RETARDED.
    7. Re:1.4 million what exactly? by c0d3h4x0r · · Score: 1

      Karma envy, eh?

      --
      Moderator hint: a comment is neither "Flamebait" nor "Troll" if it is true.
    8. Re:1.4 million what exactly? by mapmaker · · Score: 1
      Why would someone pay $40 for a piece of hardware and then not use it?

      I own a PS2 network adapter and have never used it.

      My GF gave it to me for Christmas because I am an avid (PC) online gamer and also play PS2 games. But I haven't yet seen an online PS2 game that I wanted to buy, and haven't had the desire to string ethernet cable from my home office to the living room either, so the PS2 adapter has been gathering dust in the back of the closet for 8 months now.

      Then again, I suppose the same situation could occur with XBox Live subscriptions. So your argument is correct. :)

    9. Re:1.4 million what exactly? by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 1

      "Why would someone pay $40 for a piece of hardware and then not use it?"

      Because they didn't enjoy it?

  4. Hell Is Other People by 2Flower · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That PA cartoon sums up while I STOPPED paying for X-Box Live. It wasn't the money, the DRM, the hatred of MS, or anything like that -- it was my fellow players.

    I never had a single session of XBL where I wasn't subjected to some of the worst filth the human race has to offer. Cheap players, cheaters, droppers, and countless trashtalkers. What fun is it to play a game when the other players are complete and total assholes? What's worse, because *gasp!* I'm not a particularly amazing gamer, I'd lose a lot -- and that meant being mocked and humiliated and treated like elementary school playground trash.

    Eventually I decided that I wasn't actually having any fun, and I cancelled my X-Box Live. Huzzah.

    This isn't limited to X-Box Live. My first online game, Tony Hawk 4 on the PS2 (with keyboard chat, not voice!) not a single session would go by where I wasn't called a faggot and had to put up with endless stupidity.

    I'm aware the standard defense for acting like a complete dick is "Dude, it's just trash talking, so what?" but not everybody ENJOYS declaring the skewed lineage their opponent's family line. All I want to do is play games, not constantly be reminded why we could use another forty days and forty nights of worldwide flooding, you know?

    Online gaming is in severe need of some player moderation -- some way of getting a rundown on what other people think of that player. If I saw that the folks who were challenging me were flagged as being immature bastards, I'd avoid them. True, that might mean only 5% of the total online population would be worthy, but at least I'd know I wouldn't have to worry about that 5% and could have a smooth gaming experience.

    1. Re:Hell Is Other People by noselasd · · Score: 1

      Agreed! Wtf is up with people, sometimes one really are ashamed of humankind, online gaming and usenet seems to draw all sorts of trash.
      Not to mention cheating, what fun is cheating ?
      Online game servers ought to have moderators.

      --
      mod parent up

    2. Re:Hell Is Other People by GamingEngineer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think online players can be almost categorized into two groups: Group 1: Players that are generally polite, do not want to give anyone a hard time and do not want a hard time in return. They're just there to play. Group 2: Players that for some reason or another act like total jerks. (Hey, doesn't that sound like real life?) My theory is that most of group 1 are pretty quiet around people they don't know online, simply because they're too busy playing and don't have much to say to others that they don't know. That means we're left with group 2 in voice or text chat. This is why I mainly just play with people I know. I play Socom 2 a lot, and tried getting my brother into the game. He didn't enjoy it because (a), the game has a steep learning curve. And (b), as he tries to learn the game he is constantly ridiculed by people with more experience. Combine the two and his motivation to play is lessened. But I find online play to be great fun when one finds a nice group of people to play with. Online clans and teams help make this easier to do.

    3. Re:Hell Is Other People by ricotest · · Score: 1

      I have little experience with Xbox Live, but can you choose to play on regular servers? Pretty much all of my games on Call of Duty have been fun since I stopped visiting the big, 64-player servers and played on small servers. I got to know people, played regularly, and it was fun. Clan gaming is another way to meet like-minded people who don't have any interest in annoying you (although it depends on the game)

      Microphones have made it worse, though. One annoying person can wreck the fun for everyone - hopefully Xbox Live has an ignore feature. Similarly spamming, cheating and camping by a small minority can make games unplayable at times. Some games offer voting, which is incredibly useful as long as it's not being abused. Otherwise, move on to another server. You never know, others might follow suit.

    4. Re:Hell Is Other People by Firehawke · · Score: 1

      Reminds me of when a friend of mine got a network adaptor right after they came out over here. All he had was the demo disc, so he brought the adaptor over and we gave the demo disc a try.

      Three demo runs through Madden, three disconnected opponents as soon as it looked like they were going to lose. You run into this sort of thing on any platform when you're online. It's enough that I only play online in groups of people I know and trust not to play that way.

    5. Re:Hell Is Other People by karnal · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What's funny is, every night about 10pm, me and 2 others join into UT2k4 matches. Lately it's mostly been assault, but we've been known to kick butt through invasion and others.

      The point is though, we've only ever left certain servers for two reasons:

      1. Once (note that: ONCE) there was a guy chatting on the server, repeating himself over and over and over (the text to speech stuff.) We got annoyed and left after the round was up.

      2. Bad maps. Some user-made maps are just nuts.... one we played last night for example was so not fun - you couldn't get away from your spawn point (a no-no in an assault map, since the defaults usually have a gun to defend you the first few seconds of life...) We left since we knew once we were defending, we'd probably be doing the same thing. for 20 minutes.

      So, on the internet gaming side of things, it appears people are a little nicer. We'll make jokes with other guys and have fun with some of their names (especially clan names :) but never take it to the point of annoyance.

      --
      Karnal
    6. Re:Hell Is Other People by *weasel · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yeah, there needs to be a jackass-ometer big time.
      A level of feedback that doesn't necessarily lead to being kicked off xbox live (which the current 'feedback' system is geared toward). But instead just focuses on communicating who's immature.

      In the short term though, XBL just needs 'leagues', so to speak.

      Allow gamers to segregate themselves based on their self-perceived proficiency or intent, and the remaining smaller groups can police the abberant jerks with the existing 'ignore' and 'feedback' options.
      Let the jackasses battle it out on 'ranked' or '1337' servers, and if they intentionally join an 'over 40' or 'casual' game to heckle people, that's justifiably harassment, and ignore/feedback as appropriate.

      And to stave off the inevitable: it shouldn't allow any player rankings to be visible from one league to another. killcount in a casual game should have no bearing or effect on your '1337' league-standing.

      Back on topic: I think it's more telling that XBL is approaching 1 million paying customers. Considering that no-one has ever paid specifically for the privilege of playing non-persistent games online before, it's quite an achievement that they presented an experience that 700k+ console gamers think is worth paying for.

      --
      // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
    7. Re:Hell Is Other People by Sysgen · · Score: 1

      Build your XBL friends list by adding those people that you've had good experiences with and then only play with those people. You can start by adding me, I promise not to call you a loser :)

    8. Re:Hell Is Other People by The_reformant · · Score: 1

      I agree but to do that you really need to pay people to moderate. I mean sure in games with keyboard chat you can filter words but people will still be able to use infinite variations of f4GG0t!!! or whatever, and i cant see any practical automated solution to voice chats at all.

      And of course if people are paid to moderate that cost is going to be bourne by the users. Maybe theres a big enough base of users willing to pay for moderation to set up a smaller select network but Im not sure that this would be possible with consoles especially xbox.
      Its just a shame that people can't play without this kind of pointless rubbish. So my suggestion is that for voice games just turn the volume off on the chat..or failing that play with no sound at all and put some tunes on. The text chat is usually easier to ignore seeing as its restricted to a small consistent screen area.

      --
      I have discovered a truly remarkable sig which this post is too small to contain.
    9. Re:Hell Is Other People by jagripino · · Score: 2, Informative

      Try Xlink Kai. Seriously, since there are not that many players on Kai, we welcome anyone that wants to play, specially if you want to play any other game than Halo or Rainbow Six.

      I gave up on Live when I learned that there are no MS-run servers for the games, forcing users to run servers on crappy home connections. What makes Live better than Kai? Not much, and Kai is free. And the community is smaller, thus friendlier.

    10. Re:Hell Is Other People by xgunnerx · · Score: 2

      I have the same problem on Live. It's a wonderful service, but its dominated by the "OMFG IM SO HIGH RIGHT NOW!!!" crowd. I consider myself a casual gamer due to my work heavy schedule and video game hating wife. So when I jump online I like to have a good fulfilling experience. Unfortunately that rarely happens.

      There really is no silver bullet to this problem either. However I've found that the following does help:

      1. Run your own server so you can moderate

      2. Build up your friends list with people that you know are decent gamers (my fav)

      3. Start your own clan

      I would like to advise using the player feedback system so you can give negative feedback on poor players, but I don't think M$ acts on it. I think the last thing they want to do is kick off paying customers from their system.

      What would be nice is if they created a viewable reputation system. That way I could filter on servers that contained too much "scum". But that introduces the "rep whoring" problem you see on UBB enabled forums. Meh someone will figure it out...

    11. Re:Hell Is Other People by Whooter · · Score: 1

      XBox Live *does* allow you to mute any player who's oral emissions offend.

    12. Re:Hell Is Other People by PretzelWagon · · Score: 1

      A total of 66 games on three platforms are supported. At the moment, the site indicates 32,600 registered users, with 132 currently online. Have you had much success in finding teammates/opponents to play the game(s) you really want to play, or do you find yourself settling for what the rest of the pack is playing? I tried one of the other non-Live tunnel apps, and was disappointed that no one else was playing PGR2.

    13. Re:Hell Is Other People by jagripino · · Score: 1

      Have you had much success in finding teammates/opponents to play the game(s) you really want to play, or do you find yourself settling for what the rest of the pack is playing?

      Right now I play more with my friends (online, through Kai) than with the rest of the community, mostly because there are few people playing other online games. I hope the situation changes... Maybe the problem is that most of those 32K users get online once, can't find anyone to play and never come back.

    14. Re:Hell Is Other People by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      whose

    15. Re:Hell Is Other People by AuMatar · · Score: 1

      No, they're approaching 1 million ACCOUNTS. MS gave away a shitload of free 1 year accounts. How many of those users are paying is unknown. I'd expect to see a huge drop in accounts when they start dieing off.

      We also don't know if the numbers MS is releasing are including inactive accounts or not.

      --
      I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
    16. Re:Hell Is Other People by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Yeah, there needs to be a jackass-ometer big time. A level of feedback that doesn't necessarily lead to being kicked off xbox live (which the current 'feedback' system is geared toward). But instead just focuses on communicating who's immature.

      I think that what it needs is a rating system and a friends-of-friends system, such that your immediate buddies are ranked up significantly, their friends are ranked up less, and so on.

      Furthermore, you should be able to rank people, and your rankings should matter most, then your friends' rankings, then their friends' rankings, et cetera, for however many degrees of separation are reasonable.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  5. PS2 Network Adapter is also a HD adapter by vasqzr · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Lets rememeber not everyone purchased a PS2 Network Adapter to go online. Almost all the people I know, have used them to hook up hard drives, and the rip games to it.

    HD LOADER, most any bargain-of-the-week HD, and a little time and you can have 60+ games on your PS2, without needing a single CD.

  6. A certain game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'd bet that a significant proportion of those 1.4 million (maybe 20%) are people who bought the network adaptor purely for Final Fantasy XI and don't use it for any other purpose. At the moment, FFXI is the only real killer-app for the PS2 broadband adaptor (and it's also available on PC). The release of Gran Turismo 4 may change things a little, but I still don't think Sony's online games lineup is anything like as impressive or coherent as the X-Box's.

    1. Re:A certain game by damien_kane · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I bought the network adaptor for SOCOM II.
      Later I bought the harddrive for SOCOM II. There were supposed to be extra maps, models, weapons, etc available from SCEA.

      At the time of release, there were no maps, no models, no weapons, nothing...
      Since FFXI and a 'free' (as in, the first one is always free) month of access came with the harddrive, I decided to pop it in.
      This was over 5 months ago. I still play it.

      Thankfully I have decent friends whoc an pull me away from it on weekends, and a job which pulls me away from it during weekdays.
      Weeknights and during the days on weekends I'm always playing it, though.

      I want (and am going to buy) MGS3, GT4, GTA4, and SH4, but I dont know if I will have time to play them and cessate my need to play FFXI.
      4 words: The Game Is Crack.

    2. Re:A certain game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but I still don't think Sony's online games lineup is anything like as impressive or coherent as the X-Box's

      OK on the X-box there is Halo and then there is Halo and don't forget about Halo. BTW - Halo is great on X-box.

    3. Re:A certain game by sdhankin · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Agreed. I decided to give FFXI a try against my better judgement - I'd been a beta tester for EverQuest Online Adventures, and didn't enjoy it much - it just seemed repetitive and got old fast.

      So I coughed up the bucks for FFXI ($100! - with the HDD) and tried it out. That was over Memorial Day weekend. I've never looked back - there is so much to this game I discover something new every time I play.

      Now games fall into two categories: FFXI and everything else. I'm looking forward to MGS3 and Killzone and Halo 2. But - then I'd have to stop playing FFXI! I don't know what I'll do...

    4. Re:A certain game by falcon5768 · · Score: 1

      same here friend... i wasnt looking into buy the game, having played UO and at the time playing Lineage after having a hell of a time in EQ and not liking it much at all..... but then my GF got it and she couldnt be pulled away from it and bought it for me.... 4 months later and i own the Logitech netplay, a wireless adapter, and live in Vana Diel.... the game is CRACK man its CRACK

      --

      "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

    5. Re:A certain game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'll give you a good price on the FFXI addict you call GF to help pay for your addiction. Probably won't miss her much anyway.

      I keed.

  7. Turn it off. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can't you just turn the players voices OFF?

  8. "Does this growth signal the arrival..." by Etone · · Score: 1

    Does this growth signal the arrival of online console gaming?

    No, XBox Live did. Anyone remember that?

    -E-

    1. Re:"Does this growth signal the arrival..." by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      I thought the Dreamcast shipping with a built-in modem did...

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  9. It's not just playing games by E-Sabbath · · Score: 1

    Truthfully, I picked up the adapter because it was $15, and I was sick of typing in gameshark codes. Now I can download them. Yeah, I'm a very casual player.

  10. Nintendo responds by Luke+the+Obscure · · Score: 1

    Nintendo recently came out with data suggesting that 1.2 million of those people were not having fun, and would not play online again in the future, and .2 million of them "accidentally went online and now can not get back offline". See? Nintendo was right to shun online play!

  11. What gripes me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    is that Sony doesn't bother with any updates to the 1.4 million systems out there. Would it really be so difficult and unprofitable to give us some way of upgrading our current systems to play MP3/OGG files, view VCDs, or simply giving us "screensavers" instead of that bloody aweful spinning cube during audio CD playback?!

    I believe it could be done on the cheap and promote their harddrive system, too. Sell each update for 30 bucks (plus the need for the harddrive and optionally network adapter for transferring files to/from a PC/Mac/thingamabob) and watch the money come in. It's the perfect PS2 accessory without having to hack your PS2 with case- or chipmods.