10th December 2003, 11:11 AM
Starcraft is five and a half years old. Its Brood War expansion is five years old. Right now, 38,000 people are online playing Brood Wars, and 150,000 people are on Battle.Net.
If not for online, of course, no one would be playing any of these games.
How many people are on Live at any one time? I know consoles have a sales advantage over PC games, but PC games have a huge lead in online gaming... I mean, releasing a PC FPS or strategy game without online would be something that would have gotten you harshly critisized even several years ago!
The only question is, when will consoles catch up to PCs on this market... they clearly aren't anywhere near there yet. I think it'll require all the consoles having built in enabled multiplay, not these add-ons you must buy. Add-ons just don't sell anywhere near well enough, and many people just won't buy Live or a broadband adaptor if it's not in the system... for the next generation of consoles they must ship it, enabled, with the system. That is the only way to really start console online as a mass-market thing like it is in the PC world (where your computer comes with a modem ready for the internet...).
Seriously, I think that PC online gaming in 1997 was in far better shape than console online gaming in 2003.
I like complex controls. I think they often add depth to games. I can see how casuals wouldn't, but Nintendo can't rely just on casual gamers, as they don't buy anywhere near as many games as hardcore gamers! Same with children... that market is static and not growing. The growth in the industry is in adult gamers, and Nintendo will be in serious trouble if they don't wake up and finally realize that. That doesn't mean ignoring the kids, it means diversifying...
If not for online, of course, no one would be playing any of these games.
How many people are on Live at any one time? I know consoles have a sales advantage over PC games, but PC games have a huge lead in online gaming... I mean, releasing a PC FPS or strategy game without online would be something that would have gotten you harshly critisized even several years ago!
The only question is, when will consoles catch up to PCs on this market... they clearly aren't anywhere near there yet. I think it'll require all the consoles having built in enabled multiplay, not these add-ons you must buy. Add-ons just don't sell anywhere near well enough, and many people just won't buy Live or a broadband adaptor if it's not in the system... for the next generation of consoles they must ship it, enabled, with the system. That is the only way to really start console online as a mass-market thing like it is in the PC world (where your computer comes with a modem ready for the internet...).
Seriously, I think that PC online gaming in 1997 was in far better shape than console online gaming in 2003.
I like complex controls. I think they often add depth to games. I can see how casuals wouldn't, but Nintendo can't rely just on casual gamers, as they don't buy anywhere near as many games as hardcore gamers! Same with children... that market is static and not growing. The growth in the industry is in adult gamers, and Nintendo will be in serious trouble if they don't wake up and finally realize that. That doesn't mean ignoring the kids, it means diversifying...
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