World of Warcraft has been in development for 4 years now. MMO's have always taken longer to develop than other genres, so I agree. Over time it will take less and less time. Neverwinter Nights is a good example of how a toolset can be used by your average Joe to make some compelling multiplayer RPGs.
However, there is still the hurdle of maintaining server farms to keep your game alive. This is another unique attribute to the MMO industry that it doesn't share with other genres. It's quite costly.
I don't see technology being forgiving enough to advance to a point where having server farms is cheaper to build and maintain, unless someone figures out a way to outsource it and support them.
I don't think video gamers have much to worry about since the console market is already nearing the PC capabilities(and surpassed it depending on what PC you may have).
This trend will continue until consoles are every gamers system I think. I could be wrong but trends tell me otherwise with consoles online, using hard drives. Take a look at Infinium Labs Phantom(http://www.infiniumlabs.com). Pretty good idea as to where the video game market is going.
1) Plasma TV's are awesome. No current PC monitor can really compare size-wise. And the resolutions of the nextgen TVs will be crazy-good. Think about this, alot of people have been buying video cards for their PCs now based on how well it works with HDTV.
2) Console hardware is highly evolved now. You can even write games to the consoles HD to severly lessen load times.
3) There are far more software companies developing games for consoles than PCs.
4) Already the console market is seeing a ton of media push. The Video Game Awards, Xplay on Tech TV is heavy towards the console games, MTV just did a top 20 video games of the year, etc. Rarely do you see PC games marketed on TV, it's almost always consoles.
5) Already we're seeing Massive Multiplayer Online RPGs like EQOA on consoles so subscription based games aren't exactly 'on the horizon' they are already invading the console.
Now with those points out of the way, I'd like people to consider that the console market has sorf of an inside agreement between competing companies where no single company can get ahead of the rest with a new system without all of the companies doing it pretty much at the same time.
This would lead you to believe that since the PC market doesn't suffer this way that consoles would be far in the dark-ages in technology. Now considering that the console industry has that self-made rule(which is what forced Sega out of the market I believe) and is close to surpassing PCs in terms of capability, what's that tell you?
Far more resources are being put into the evolution of gaming on consoles compared to PCs because PCs aren't just for games. That's its downfall.
Therefore I believe that video games will evolve based on the current demand of what's most popular. If MMORPGs like EQOA are the current most popular theme going, then companies will milk it and subscription based games will be dominant in that particular industry. However, that could all change on a dime. Right now there are over 100 MMO based games being developed for the PC because that's where the money is.
Whether or not the console industry is willing to take those risks(read: MMO is a very risky genre of game - out of those 100+ being developed few will see huge profits, some wont see any) has yet to be seen.
That's another discussion in itself, though.
I think the console will replace the PC for gaming altogether. That's just my prediction though. With that said, any 'worries' on console gamers is probably just speculation(much like I'm doing now).
All in all it's like trying to say that PC gamers will have to worry about this and that in a perfect world where the resources that are being put into console gaming are in the PC gaming market. PC gaming wont completely die out, at least not anytime soon, but I truely believe it's inevitable. That or consoles will become our PCs hehe.
I don't think video gamers have much to worry about since the console market is already nearing the PC capabilities(and surpassed it depending on what PC you may have).
This trend will continue until consoles are every gamers system I think. I could be wrong but trends tell me otherwise with consoles online, using hard drives. Take a look at Infinium Labs Phantom(http://www.infiniumlabs.com). Pretty good idea as to where the video game market is going.
1) Plasma TV's are awesome. No current PC monitor can really compare size-wise. And the resolutions of the nextgen TVs will be crazy-good. Think about this, alot of people have been buying video cards for their PCs now based on how well it works with HDTV.
2) Console hardware is highly evolved now. You can even write games to the consoles HD to severly lessen load times.
3) There are far more software companies developing games for consoles than PCs.
4) Already the console market is seeing a ton of media push. The Video Game Awards, Xplay on Tech TV is heavy towards the console games, MTV just did a top 20 video games of the year, etc. Rarely do you see PC games marketed on TV, it's almost always consoles.
5) Already we're seeing Massive Multiplayer Online RPGs like EQOA on consoles so subscription based games aren't exactly 'on the horizon' they are already invading the console.
Now with those points out of the way, I'd like people to consider that the console market has sorf of an inside agreement between competing companies where no single company can get ahead of the rest with a new system without all of the companies doing it pretty much at the same time.
This would lead you to believe that since the PC market doesn't suffer this way that consoles would be far in the dark-ages in technology. Now considering that the console industry has that self-made rule(which is what forced Sega out of the market I believe) and is close to surpassing PCs in terms of capability, what's that tell you?
Far more resources are being put into the evolution of gaming on consoles compared to PCs because PCs aren't just for games. That's its downfall.
Therefore I believe that video games will evolve based on the current demand of what's most popular. If MMORPGs like EQOA are the current most popular theme going, then companies will milk it and subscription based games will be dominant in that particular industry. However, that could all change on a dime. Right now there are over 100 MMO based games being developed for the PC because that's where the money is.
Whether or not the console industry is willing to take those risks(read: MMO is a very risky genre of game - out of those 100+ being developed few will see huge profits, some wont see any) has yet to be seen.
That's another discussion in itself, though.
I think the console will replace the PC for gaming altogether. That's just my prediction though. With that said, any 'worries' on console gamers is probably just speculation(much like I'm doing now).
All in all it's like trying to say that PC gamers will have to worry about this and that in a perfect world where the resources that are being put into console gaming are in the PC gaming market. PC gaming wont completely die out, at least not anytime soon, but I truely believe it's inevitable. That or consoles will become our PCs.
To say that there's a bleak future for video game customers is rediculous.
Slashdot Mirror
World of Warcraft has been in development for 4 years now. MMO's have always taken longer to develop than other genres, so I agree. Over time it will take less and less time. Neverwinter Nights is a good example of how a toolset can be used by your average Joe to make some compelling multiplayer RPGs. However, there is still the hurdle of maintaining server farms to keep your game alive. This is another unique attribute to the MMO industry that it doesn't share with other genres. It's quite costly. I don't see technology being forgiving enough to advance to a point where having server farms is cheaper to build and maintain, unless someone figures out a way to outsource it and support them.
Here's my post with spaces.
I don't think video gamers have much to worry about since the console market is already nearing the PC capabilities(and surpassed it depending on what PC you may have).
This trend will continue until consoles are every gamers system I think. I could be wrong but trends tell me otherwise with consoles online, using hard drives. Take a look at Infinium Labs Phantom(http://www.infiniumlabs.com). Pretty good idea as to where the video game market is going.
1) Plasma TV's are awesome. No current PC monitor can really compare size-wise. And the resolutions of the nextgen TVs will be crazy-good. Think about this, alot of people have been buying video cards for their PCs now based on how well it works with HDTV.
2) Console hardware is highly evolved now. You can even write games to the consoles HD to severly lessen load times.
3) There are far more software companies developing games for consoles than PCs.
4) Already the console market is seeing a ton of media push. The Video Game Awards, Xplay on Tech TV is heavy towards the console games, MTV just did a top 20 video games of the year, etc. Rarely do you see PC games marketed on TV, it's almost always consoles.
5) Already we're seeing Massive Multiplayer Online RPGs like EQOA on consoles so subscription based games aren't exactly 'on the horizon' they are already invading the console.
Now with those points out of the way, I'd like people to consider that the console market has sorf of an inside agreement between competing companies where no single company can get ahead of the rest with a new system without all of the companies doing it pretty much at the same time.
This would lead you to believe that since the PC market doesn't suffer this way that consoles would be far in the dark-ages in technology. Now considering that the console industry has that self-made rule(which is what forced Sega out of the market I believe) and is close to surpassing PCs in terms of capability, what's that tell you?
Far more resources are being put into the evolution of gaming on consoles compared to PCs because PCs aren't just for games. That's its downfall.
Therefore I believe that video games will evolve based on the current demand of what's most popular. If MMORPGs like EQOA are the current most popular theme going, then companies will milk it and subscription based games will be dominant in that particular industry. However, that could all change on a dime. Right now there are over 100 MMO based games being developed for the PC because that's where the money is.
Whether or not the console industry is willing to take those risks(read: MMO is a very risky genre of game - out of those 100+ being developed few will see huge profits, some wont see any) has yet to be seen.
That's another discussion in itself, though.
I think the console will replace the PC for gaming altogether. That's just my prediction though. With that said, any 'worries' on console gamers is probably just speculation(much like I'm doing now).
All in all it's like trying to say that PC gamers will have to worry about this and that in a perfect world where the resources that are being put into console gaming are in the PC gaming market. PC gaming wont completely die out, at least not anytime soon, but I truely believe it's inevitable. That or consoles will become our PCs hehe.
Odd, I had spaces.. I guess HTML formatting wasn't happy about the lack of :(
's I don't see an edit either
Anyone that reads that massive paragraph, kudos. My eyes would be cursing myself right about now if I tried.
Sorry. If I find an edit feature I promise to fix it.
I don't think video gamers have much to worry about since the console market is already nearing the PC capabilities(and surpassed it depending on what PC you may have). This trend will continue until consoles are every gamers system I think. I could be wrong but trends tell me otherwise with consoles online, using hard drives. Take a look at Infinium Labs Phantom(http://www.infiniumlabs.com). Pretty good idea as to where the video game market is going. 1) Plasma TV's are awesome. No current PC monitor can really compare size-wise. And the resolutions of the nextgen TVs will be crazy-good. Think about this, alot of people have been buying video cards for their PCs now based on how well it works with HDTV. 2) Console hardware is highly evolved now. You can even write games to the consoles HD to severly lessen load times. 3) There are far more software companies developing games for consoles than PCs. 4) Already the console market is seeing a ton of media push. The Video Game Awards, Xplay on Tech TV is heavy towards the console games, MTV just did a top 20 video games of the year, etc. Rarely do you see PC games marketed on TV, it's almost always consoles. 5) Already we're seeing Massive Multiplayer Online RPGs like EQOA on consoles so subscription based games aren't exactly 'on the horizon' they are already invading the console. Now with those points out of the way, I'd like people to consider that the console market has sorf of an inside agreement between competing companies where no single company can get ahead of the rest with a new system without all of the companies doing it pretty much at the same time. This would lead you to believe that since the PC market doesn't suffer this way that consoles would be far in the dark-ages in technology. Now considering that the console industry has that self-made rule(which is what forced Sega out of the market I believe) and is close to surpassing PCs in terms of capability, what's that tell you? Far more resources are being put into the evolution of gaming on consoles compared to PCs because PCs aren't just for games. That's its downfall. Therefore I believe that video games will evolve based on the current demand of what's most popular. If MMORPGs like EQOA are the current most popular theme going, then companies will milk it and subscription based games will be dominant in that particular industry. However, that could all change on a dime. Right now there are over 100 MMO based games being developed for the PC because that's where the money is. Whether or not the console industry is willing to take those risks(read: MMO is a very risky genre of game - out of those 100+ being developed few will see huge profits, some wont see any) has yet to be seen. That's another discussion in itself, though. I think the console will replace the PC for gaming altogether. That's just my prediction though. With that said, any 'worries' on console gamers is probably just speculation(much like I'm doing now). All in all it's like trying to say that PC gamers will have to worry about this and that in a perfect world where the resources that are being put into console gaming are in the PC gaming market. PC gaming wont completely die out, at least not anytime soon, but I truely believe it's inevitable. That or consoles will become our PCs. To say that there's a bleak future for video game customers is rediculous.