GameTavern - The next generation of consoles

Quote:

Originally posted by Perfect Stu
Sony Online Entertainment makes great MMORPG's...with Everquest and upcoming sure-hit Star Wars Galaxies. Plus they're making that shooter, Planetside.

If they make those series exclusive to the PS3, and keep Square onboard with the Final Fantasy series, then online RPGs belong to Sony, IMO.

Sony Online entertainment does not make great MMORPG's. Both Everquest and SWG are products of Verant Interactive (989 Studios back in the day). They merely buy the rights and publish the games.

Furthermore, true MMORPG's will not be recreated by consoles. That position will always remain with computers. The dynamic nature of mmorpg's that dictates numerous patches, updates and tweaks in the software cannot be fully attempted without letting the users hold some control over the content of the updates (read: pc programming) via their personal configurations. Doing this is difficult at best with a console.

Not to mention that a lifespan of an mmorpg (taking eq, the most popular of the mmorpg's, as an example) is typically that of a console's lifespan and you have a bad formula for success. mmorpg's need to evolve to stay appealing. And in order to do that, hardware upgrades become necessary.

When you take these factors into consideration, you begin to paint a gloomy picture of mmorpg's future for consoles. Things remain to be seen. But if what I think happens with the Final Fantasy series, it's going to be a dissapointing turnout for the execs at Sony and Squaresoft alike.