NCSoft To Bring MMOGs To The PS3

Eurogamer reports that Massive gaming powerhouse NCSoft plans to bring some of their games to next-gen consoles. Though there is no word on exactly which console, rumours indicate the 360 is not the platform of choice. From the article: "However, [Tack Jin] Kim - who is founder and president as well as CEO of the firm - openly confirmed that the company is now 'actively developing' for next-generation consoles, which he considers key to building the firm up in markets outside Korea. NCsoft is already the largest gaming company in its native country, and its titles are proving a major draw at this week's G* games expo at the Kintex exhibition centre near the capital city, Seoul."

Comments

Easy to figure out why NOT 360

[Bruha]

MicroSoft controls the server enviroment and past experiences with M$ ruining Turbine's games proves that they're least likely to be getting any MMO love other than something they develop for a console.

The PS3 (Mistake IMO) chose not to have a xbox live type of service and let the game companies handle this type of stuff. Now this opens the doors to established MMO developers but actual game developers would not invest in the extras required to even setup a online version of the game. They in fact most likely just turn to Xbox Live and make their online version only available to the Xbox (Another thing that will hurt the PS3/PS2). Hell there's probably a provision in M$'s Live agreement that non xbox consoles cannot play across Xbox Live. I'm sure dev's have though about making a PS2/3 game just use Xbox Live but M$ will not allow it since they dont control the hardware.

Re:Easy to figure out why NOT 360

[Seumas]

Good RPGs (not just linear choose your own adventure type stuff) and MMORPGs are missing from the console world. Part of that obviously has to do with lack of screen resolution. You need more screen real-estate when playing both games and you certainly need higher resolution (even more than the 360's 720p?) just to read all the text that is involved in such games (strategy games, too).

So once they've resolved those couple of things, they're just left figuring out a better control system than they have now. I guess that's where selling the extra mouse and keyboard come in(non-USB, of course - because you want to force the customers to pay into Microsoft's pockets after all!) - so you can have better control of your game and experience.

I think I'll still stick to PC, but that's only because I like the controls and the more involved feeling of playing a game in that environment. On a console, I feel too much like I'm just making insignificant choices to follow someone else's guided paths.

Re:Easy to figure out why NOT 360

[ZMech13]

The way MS handles online play on the XBox is the reason I avoid buying games that don't have a good single player experience. I think the problem is that game developers are not allowed to make online games for the XBox that don't use XBox Live, which makes it a monopoly. Dev's need the option to handle XBox online games themselves, instead of having to rely on XBox Live as their only way to connect players across the internet.

Re:Easy to figure out why NOT 360

[DrEldarion]

they're least likely to be getting any MMO love other than something they develop for a console.

You may want to do some research before you say that...

Re:Easy to figure out why NOT 360

[Guppy06]

It could be something as simple as "Not all X360 boxen have HDDs and Microsoft is on record as stating X360 games will actually require an HDD."

I'm still waiting to see what S-E pulls out of their ass to fix that for FFXI.

Re:Easy to figure out why NOT 360

[Guppy06]

Insert "no" between "stating that" and "X360 games."

Re:Easy to figure out why NOT 360

[Anonymous Coward]

The PS3 (Mistake IMO) chose not to have a xbox live type of service and let the game companies handle this type of stuff. Now this opens the doors to established MMO developers but actual game developers would not invest in the extras required to even setup a online version of the game. They in fact most likely just turn to Xbox Live and make their online version only available to the Xbox (Another thing that will hurt the PS3/PS2). Hell there's probably a provision in M$'s Live agreement that non xbox consoles cannot play across Xbox Live. I'm sure dev's have though about making a PS2/3 game just use Xbox Live but M$ will not allow it since they dont control the hardware.

I don't know where this line of thought came from, but it seems very prevalent among XBox fanboys. The fact is that companies like ID, Valve, Epic, EA, Blizzard, etc. have all been setting up online infastructure for the PC for years, XBox live would actually cause many of these developers to completely overhaul the networking structure they have already built. Certainly, developers who have never produced an online game before will be eager to use XBox live (because of its ease of use); but how many developers, who have never produced an online game before, are going to suddenly jump on the online bandwagon and produce high quality online content?

Now the final point deals with multi-platform games with serious online infastructure; if you're making a game on the PS3 / Revolution / PC / Mac / Linux you can use one online setup for everyone, if you add the XBox suddenly you need two online infastructures which you have to deal with (You can make a game where everyone plays together or you can make a game where XBox owners play together).

Re:Easy to figure out why NOT 360

[abandonment]

it's not exactly hard to setup an 'online infrastructure' for a game - it's the whole convoluted 'you must signup and register and give your first born' type of system that most online games force you to go through (ie BF2, any Steam-based game) etc that makes developing (and playing) online games such a nightmare these days.

Whatever happened to 'run server' 'connect to server' for online games?

Games that FORCE you to signup with whatever convoluted service that they decided to integrate into their game are completely bs.

Re:Easy to figure out why NOT 360

[Anonymous Coward]

How did Microsoft ruin Turbine's games? Last time I checked, it was the gameplay that drove people from AC2.

Re:Easy to figure out why NOT 360

[Anonymous Coward]

I dunno, getting a four year old failed MMORPG hardly sounds to me like "MMO love". :-)

Re:Easy to figure out why NOT 360

[DrEldarion]

Failed? Up until WoW, it was the biggest around. Japan was (and I think still is) hugely into it. I'd hardly call that failed.

Nintendo

[Mirkon]

You know, the need for a patchable hard drive could be emulated on the DS with a simple memory device in the GBA slot (packaged with the game card), and the revolution console could have any number of persistent memory devices still under its sleeve - in addition to the fact that the latter plans on using a robust online network, and the former already has one in place.

I wouldn't be so quick to jump to the conclusion that "Not 360" => PS3.

dept. of redundancy dept.

[joemawlma]

I for one welcome our new MMOG...BLAH BLAH BLAH... Followed by something about dupes, and how Google MIGHT become evil...

Re:dept. of redundancy dept.

[Anonymous Coward]

You forgot Microsoft bashing, since this particular article has nothing to do with the Xbox 360. Replace bashing with praising if it does have to do with the 360.

Again a misleading title

[aztektum]

Yeah question for Zonk. At what point does "there is no word on exactly which console" become "NCSoft To Bring MMOGs To The PS3".

Re:Again a misleading title

[Pluvius]

Pfft... Bahahahahahaha--Wait. That wasn't a joke, was it?

Rob (I knew at least one poor, delusional guy would wonder why the Revolution wasn't mentioned)

Re:Again a misleading title

[aztektum]

Yeah because I explicitly stated "NO IT'LL BE THE REVOLUTION!"

RTFA dumb ass. There is no official statement from NCSoft saying it will be the PS3. The basis for the PS3 claim is that it isn't part of their plans "at the moment." Even that statement was from an unnamed "source" at NCSoft-Europe.

So my statement stands. No where does the article say "Yes we are bringing MMO's to PS3."

Re:Again a misleading title

[jchenx]

Kim did not discuss specifics of the company's development work on next-generation consoles, nor did he reveal which platforms the firm is working on - but sources close to NCsoft's European division revealed that Xbox 360 is not part of the company's plans at the moment, suggesting that the PS3 is the target platform for NCsoft's first console titles.

That's a quote directly from the article. Since when did "suggestions" from unnamed sources turn into fact? It should have just said "NCSoft to Bring MMOGs to Next-Gen Consoles". Even if you assume the rumor is true that the 360 is out of the running, that still leaves the PS3 *AND* the Revolution.

Re:Again a misleading title

[Pluvius]

Yeah because I explicitly stated "NO IT'LL BE THE REVOLUTION!"

OK... so if the console they're designing for right now is not the XBox 360 (and it isn't; that's what "not part of the company's plans at the moment" means), and it's not the PS3 (since you wouldn't be ranting about how the article assumed it would be the PS3 otherwise)... then what would it be?

Rob

Game devs want to work on games, not platforms?

[jchenx]

Some developers do want total control of the online game experience. EA *was* a good example of this. They did not support Xbox Live play for their Madden franchise because of this. I believe Square was much the same way.
Note I said "was", since both are now supporting Xbox Live.

After a while though, I figure most game developers want to focus on the game itself. This is especially true for smaller developers who don't have the time or resources to work on optimizing network code, developing friends-list capability, etc. Let Microsoft, who is primarily a software company and knows how to develop platforms, handle that stuff. Even EA and Square eventually decided that Xbox Live integration is a good thing after all. (Of course there might have been money involved as well ... I have no idea. I'm just speaking from my own opinion as a game/platform developer, although obviously biased)

I can understand Sony's position though. They're not primarily a software company. I don't know how well they'd "get" developing a multiplayer platform like Xbox Live. And there are developers that do want to control the entire online experience (MMO companies especially perhaps). So that's the easy approach for them. Whether or not it'll work out for them in the end, we'll know in a few years.

If this is Korea, it makes sense

[bugbeak]

Given I live here and play games on a regular basis, I know for a fact that Nintendo barely makes squat in this country. I don't know why, but I do know for a fact that there is almost zero Nintendo advertisement while Sony basically rules the airwaves. This isn't to bash any company in particular; I'm just telling what I see. Nintendo goods are well-known only in a niche-based community here.

no love

[chrish]

Be nice if they'd create, or allow, a Mac OS X port of their games. I'd love to be able to play City of Heroes and City of Villains on my iBook in the living room instead of my XP box in the basement.

Rumour has it that NC Soft blocked Cryptic when they wanted to do (or allow) a Mac port. *shakes fist at Lord British*

I'd love this.

[Jaeph]

If they ported city of X and guild wars over to a console, that would give me a strong reason to buy a console. Right now I use my PC for gaming, but I am getting increasingly tired of playing the driver game. I would much rather have a simple mac laptop for email and browsing, and use a console for my gaming.

-Jeff