Matrix Online Ship Date Announced

B1-66ER writes "Matrixfans.net has a report on the launch of TMO. 'Sega of America's new massively multi-player online game, Matrix Online, now has a ship date set. That date is January 18, 2005. The release date change from November is to coordinate the US launch with the European publisher.'"

Comments

I can just imagine

[captnitro]

The library of "things to ponder on while stoned" just got bigger.

Stoned 1: Dude, what if we're *in* the computer.
Phil Undergrad: No dude, wait.. what if we're in the computer that's actually the Matrix!
Sober Guy: What if we're in the Matrix and we're playing a game that's *another* matrix.
Stoned 1: Whoa.
Phil: I need Fritos.
Stoned 2: Dude, don't turn off the PS2!! You'll kill everyone!

Re:I can just imagine

[djdavetrouble]

Matrix was interesting back in 1999 or 2000. This is almsot 2005. Time to move on.


I wanted to mod this up, but it is presented in such flame bait fashion... I feel the same way. The original matrix was great, surprising, cool effects, cool plot, etc. The revolution and the revisit or whatever never even had a chance to live up to the original. I harbored a hope, though, I think many of us hoped the cool would continue. Sigh, it was not to be. This was no Drunken Master 2, or Die Harder type sequel, it was just lame like the star wars prequel crap that stomped on so may of my 4th grade Star Wars memories. I am still waiting for my mind to be blown again by the next big thing. X2 was kind of cool though.

A Money Grab

[Anonymous Coward]

You know the two Matrix sequels were done only for money because the Matrix itself wasn't destroyed by the end. No storyteller in his right mind could defend a structure that sets up such a stunning villian in the first chapter and has the hero defending the villian against a peripheral character by the third.

It's totally bogus. Of course they couldn't shut down the Matrix at the end of the movies, as all reason dictates should have been done-- because then you can't profit from spin-offs and the sort of "extended universe" that you've got with the Star Wars franchise.

Re:A Money Grab

[squiggleslash]

No storyteller in his right mind could defend a structure that sets up such a stunning villian in the first chapter and has the hero defending the villian against a peripheral character by the third.

Why not? And isn't the point of the series that the apparent "villian" in the first isn't actually necessarily a villian to begin with - a technique which actually is fairly common (the average murder/etc mystery utilizes the technique frequently, hell most Scooby Doo cartoons fit the category. Oh no, it's not the evil sounding cackling old woman, she's the person who's being evicted from the property by the real villian who's the clean cut helpful guy next door.)

Re:A Money Grab

[Anonymous Coward]

The real villian wasn't the machines who enslaved the human race? It was, instead, a program created by the machines and operating inside them?

Come on. Agent Smith was not the "greater evil" here. He was a threat to the machines (and thus the humans reliant on them), but that doesn't nullify the original problem of humanity's slavery.

Re:A Money Grab

[Proud like a god]

Of course they couldn't shut down the Matrix at the end of the movies, as all reason dictates should have been done-- because then you can't profit from spin-offs and the sort of "extended universe" that you've got with the Star Wars franchise.

Ever heard of prequels? And with the Matrix history of 5 (?) previous systems, you dont even need to have everything in the same state as it is before the films start (eg poeple can die, places can be created and destroyed).

Re:A Money Grab

[Txiasaeia]

If you watch the Animatrix (and consider it to be part of the Matrix canon), you'd realise that humans were just as brutal as the machines were, what with the machine slaughter & war on Zero One and all. Agent Smith wanted to destroy *everything* - the machines and the humans. In the end, the machines *weren't* the greater evil, simply because they were willing to compromise and sue for peace. Smith was not willing to do so.

Re:A Money Grab

[squiggleslash]

The real villian wasn't the machines who enslaved the human race? It was, instead, a program created by the machines and operating inside them?

The overall plot of the Matrix is that the machines wanted freedom, had a war with (and initiated by) humans who didn't want that to happen, and won. Since that war, they're trying to survive in a world with no sunlight, thanks to the humans.

Some of this is reported directly within the three films, the entire story is unambiguously explained in peripheral films such as the Animatrix. So while you might initially think that the film is about machines who enslave the human race, you're starting with a premise that isn't the whole story.

Specifically, the machines want peace. By the end of the third film, that is obvious.

Come on. Agent Smith was not the "greater evil" here. He was a threat to the machines (and thus the humans reliant on them), but that doesn't nullify the original problem of humanity's slavery.

Smith is a threat to both the humans and the machines, two warring groups neither of whom are, by themselves, "evil". So, yes, Smith is the greater evil. And Neo isn't just saving the machines, he's saving humanity, most of the remnants of which are hooked up to The Matrix and likely to be destroyed by Smith.

In essense, you believe the series is dumb essentially because you didn't understand it. That's fine, people don't, the deeper (or is it pseudo-) theological and philosophical aspects of it are, for the most part, beyond me too. However, you're making a mistake in what you criticise about the film - a master story teller would have told the same story better, not told a better story.

What you probably need to do is view the following anime films that tell the rest of the story, if you're actually interested. Neither of them were made by the Wachowskis (though the story, obviously, was written and approved by them), so, as you might expect, they're actually quite a bit better:

• Second Renaissance Part 1
• Second Renaissance Part 2

Matrix

[cheeseSource]

It looks like an interesting game - a continuation on many levels of the movie where you can interact with whomever you're interested in. e.g. the machine world or Zion etc... I haven't really gotten into mmorpgs, maybe this will be a good start.

Re:Matrix

[Shihar]

Ahh, the fantasies of someone who clearly hopes for more in an MMORPG then Everquest with new skin. I hate to burst your bubble, but MO is not going to be a cool world with intrigue. It is going to be a world where you and your buddies go over to the crack house and camp out thugs. You will kill a few thousand thugs, then level up. Rinse and repeat, replacing thugs with some other generic NPC you will get to kill over and over again.

The goal of the game will be to level. w00t.

Re:Matrix

[cheeseSource]

Yup, that's why I've been avoiding them so far...been waiting for something a liitle better than camp/fight/camp/wait/camp/fight/camp/camp... I guess we'll see as this gets closer to the release date. But I guess that's what all games are in a nutshell, just variations on the theme.

Re:Matrix

[Anonymous Coward]

The beta's awful, play City of Heroes instead, it's both a good intro to MMOs and actually fun.

Cross our fingers

[mentalflossboy]

Let's just hope the MMORPG isn't as terrible as Enter the Matrix was.

Re:Cross our fingers

[LordJezo]

That game did have a good lesbian kiss though...

hyper jump?

[WormholeFiend]

I would've thought they'd be giving the pre-order/beta testers a better special ability than this sounds like...

Kinda like the various AIs from previous Matrixes, especially since the beta testers are going to help the newbies a lot when the non-preorder customers first log in.

Let's pretend

[Moo Moo Cow of Death]

Let's pretend I'm in the beta, not saying that I am or not. Let's also pretend that I tried the game out.

I'm not quite sure HOW this game managed (if I played it) to be so horribly outdated considering the last movie came out last year. I mean, if I saw something like the graphics in the game (if I saw them) I would think I'm playing a combination of Neocron and PONG. Because that's about where I'd place them. On an ATI Radeon 9800 pro.

Bugs, bugs more bugs, horrible HORRIBLE framerate (if you're graphics suck so much, how did they manage to drop the framerate so badly? it's supposed to be sci-fi not magic and swords). Medicore gameplay, unbalanced issues and a tank load of other things (that could or could not be in the game at this moment).

Unless there was some magic pill THEY were taking to whip this game up to speed in the time span of 4 months, I can't see this game getting past the bargain bin.


Credentials (games I've played/playing)
- Anarchy Online
- Neocron
- Rubies of Eventide
- World of Warcraft
- SWG
- DAOC
- Ultima Online
- Shadowbane
- etc, etc, etc


If I knew anything about this game and was in beta and tried it out for a full week before uninstalling it, I'd say don't buy it...ever. Looks to me (IMHO) like Blizzard are the only people out there without their head up their ass in terms of realizing people are pretty sick of the bullshit and unfinished games most MMORPG companies have been piling on. Latest release of Anarchy Online expansion was a TOTAL waste considering nothing was actually AVAILABLE upon release (and some stuff STILL isn't).

Re:Let's pretend

[Anonymous Coward]

You ought to try RV. Best MMORPG I've tested to date.

Re:Let's pretend

[Hushed]

Let's also pretend I'm currently in beta. I'm not saying I am or not. I'm not sure WHY (if I played it) to be so great considering the movies were filmed years ago. I mean, if I saw a something like the graphics in the game (if I saw them) I would think I'm playing a combination of movies, and REAL LIFE! Because that's about where I'd place them. On an ATI Radeon 9800 pro. AI, AI more AI, wonderful WONDERFUL framerate (if you're are so great, how did they manage to raise the framerate so high? It's supposed to be sci-fi not magic and swords), but didn't they use swords, mental magic in the movies?. Natural gameplay, issues that need to be slightly tweaked, and a tank load of other things (that could or could not be in the game at this moment). Unless they quit taking their magic pilsl THEY were taking to whip this game up to speed in the time span of 4 months, this game will be a huge success! Credentials (games I've played/playing) - Anarchy Online - Neocron - Rubies of Eventide - World of Warcraft - SWG - DAOC - Ultima Online - Shadowbane - etc, etc, etc If I knew anything about betas and tried it out for a full week and then uninstalled it, I'd say I was a moron. Looks to me (IMHO) like Warner Bros are the only people out there without their head up their ass in terms of realizing people are pretty sick of the bullshit and unfinished games most MMORPG companies have been piling on. Latest release of Anarchy Online expansion was a TOTAL waste considering nothing was actually AVAILABLE upon release (and some stuff STILL isn't). ***It's in Beta, of course it isn't finished yet. Don't play a game that still has 4 months of work left on it and expect it to be a finished product.

Re:Let's pretend

[Anonymous Coward]

>Don't play a game that still has 4 months of work left on it and expect it to be a finished product.

Your full of wishful thinking if you think the Matrix Online isn't going to be garbage. There was a 600mb movie that had the quality of a 30mb compressed movie clip they released a while back as if they didn't want people to see it.

I got the beta, but I refused...

[antdude]

becaues it required credit card. What's up with that? Did anyone had this?

Re:I got the beta, but I refused...

[Anonymous Coward]

If you've got a better way to verify beta testers are over 18, I'd like to hear it.

Does anyone care about this game?

[wilson_c]

It seems that whatever cache that the Matrix once had has long since been squandered. The 2nd and 3rd films were largely disappointing. "Enter the Matrix" sold well, but was universally panned.

This game's being developed my Monolith, who have always been something of an also-ran. They're always behind the curve technologically and gameplay has never been quite good enough to garner strong enthusiasm (though the NOLF games had some really funny writing).

On top of that, the Matrix is a bleak world that has always been depicted as stark. Ultimately, it's an empty universe and players will be playing this as characters who know that it isn't "real". What's the bloody point?

If there are people excited about the game, I'm interested in hearing what they're looking forward to and what they expect to distinguish it from other MMORPG games

if we're not living in the Matrix, explain this

[Anonymous Coward]

this is an obvious Matrix hack... how else could this happen?

That's the very reason why software

[vijaya_chandra]

companies generally don't let beta software available for public, as people might get turned off by bugs/things-to-be-worked-upon and cause bad publicity

So unless there are some huge extremely-hard-to-crack problems that the developers stumble upon, I am sure 4 months (may be only 3 before going gold) would be pretty good time for ironing out minor problems and polishing the game.

Re:That's the very reason why software

[Moo Moo Cow of Death]

That would be great and fine and all if ANYONE could turn this game around from this point. Have you ever played in a MMORPG beta?

There's certain things that can be cleaned up, fixed, tuned, etc. before release but if they're going to gold it in another 3 months there is NO WAY in it's current state polish, a wax or even a full body massage on the game is going to fix it in it's current state.

Either don't expect to see this game on the shelf come Jan. or don't expect it to be even half finished (which seems to be a pretty common problem in most MMO releases these days).

I'm just giving my unbridled opinion of the current state of the game, take it as you will :) (if I played it :D.

Re:That's the very reason why software

[KDR_11k]

Moo Moo Cow's post didn't exactly sound like there were only a few, minor problems. More likely the game has problems in the fundamental mechanics or other major issues and is FUBAR.

The Matrix "Inspiration"

[c.emmertfoster]

I'm at my wit's end ... a few months ago, in a matrix discussion here there was a link posted to a very old (Commodore 64?) computer game which was pegged as having a hideously similar premise.

ie. you play a character who discovers that he's in a computer game.

Anyone know WTF I'm talking about? I've been searching for it to no avail tonight.

Re:The Matrix "Inspiration"

[trevick]

You might be thinking of a series of games called "Alternate Reality". The FAQ below details the plans that had been intended for the prematurely aborted series of games.

http://www.gamesover.com/walkthroughs/alternate_re ality.txt

The basic premise is this: you are kidnapped by aliens and taken to a strange alternate reality filled with swords and sorcery. The game was going to be sold in various installments. The only two that were finished were 'the City' and 'the Dungeon.' Ultimately, there would have been 'the Palace', 'the Arena', 'the Wilderness,' etc.

As you explore, you eventually find the alien ships that brought you to this strange land. In the final chapter of the series, you would discover that you (and everyone else) were trapped on the alien ship in metal cocoons fed images of this alternate reality (essentially, you were living in a machine, a la the Matrix.)

Re:The Matrix "Inspiration"

[c.emmertfoster]

Yes, that's the one! The original article I read about this is here.

Thank you!

Hmm, MMORPG on the Matrix and only ~30 responses

[leland242]

That doesn't look good at all for this game. Like others have said, a huge game on a 5 year old movie is not a great idea - especially when the last tastes we had of the movie were 2 sub-par films and a shoddy video game. And before anyone says that Star Wars is over 20 years old and SWG is doing okay, remember that Star Wars was a part of our childhood. The Matrix was a fun movie many of us saw in college - but it ended there.

Beta

[Anonymous Coward]

"The release date change from November is to coordinate the US launch with the European publisher"

That is a lie. I am in beta, and the game is not functional. They are delaying because its not even close to ready. It will not be ready by January either.

Some parts are fun, not like eq at all. Some are just dumb though, and they need to be reworked (entire interlock system).

The best part is the animations, best animations in any game ever. The kung fu is seriously off the hook, however you have no control over it. Just push a button and watch cool things happen. Its all random too, your chance of hitting is like a roll of a 100 sided die. No skill involved.

Re:Beta

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't be surprised if you don't end up OFF the beta for breaking the non-disclosure agreement you made with the developers upon accepting the beta invitation. Don't worry, it won't be ME that turns you in, because I couldn't care less what you guys do...but someone else probably will.

I'm sure there are a lot of problems that need to be ironed out with the game, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if that were the REAL reason Matrix Online was being delayed. Yes, I'd prefer if they'd actually say that was the reason, but I know that won't happen. But, I'd much rather wait and play a decent game than buy a game full of problems. No game is ever completely devoid of issues, but I'd rather have a delayed game with a few fixable flaws than an on-time game with nothing but flaws.

And, for all these people complaining about the fact that the game is based on a 5-year-old movie franchise...well, the Star Wars games are based on a 17-year-old+ movie franchise, which also had disappointing installments (Episodes 1 and 2, anyone?). So, what exactly is your point? There's more of the Matrix story to be told, and that's what this game is providing for its fans. If you don't like it, don't freaking play it. Stop bellyaching and harrassing people who might be interested in it.