🚀 go-pugleaf

Another obstacle is that online gaming currently requires accessories (modem,
hard drive, microphone or keyboard for communication) and a credit card, both of
which PC gamers are willing to use, but console gamers aren't.

I think online console gaming today is where CD-ROM console gaming was 10 years
ago; everyone is talking about it and it provides many benefits, but the current
consoles aren't made for it and it's too expensive and complicated.  I also feel
that console gamers want to play against others online, and have access to every
title made without leaving their home, but they also want none of the current
hastles.  I believe that online console gaming will take off on the next
generation of consoles, starting in 2005 or 2006.  And, just like in 1995-1996,
somebody (probably Nintendo, again) will ignore online gaming and lose most 3rd
party and consumer support.

You are right that online gaming has too many obstacles to work in this
generation, but I think it will work in the next generation.  I think that most
of the offline gaming's possibilities have been explored, while online gaming is
full of unexplored possibilities.



> Interesting article, but I don't believe that consoles ever will take off in
> online gaming, and for several reasons, mostly related to the nature of
> consoles.
>
> The ideas presented by STEAM are not new.  Subscription game downloads were
> done by SEGA as Sega TV many years ago, and as you can see, the idea didn't
> last.  Online console gaming has been tried as well, with the X-Band
> matching service (SNES and Genesis, failed), the Saturn Netlink (failed)
> and most recently the Dreamcast with Seganet (pretty much dead).
>
> There are several reasons why there is a natural resistance to online games
> involving consoles, imho.  I'll outline a few of them.
>
> Unlike a PC, a videogame console is a "set top box" design, much closer in
> the intent of use of say, a VCR or a DVD player (some actually DO that) in
> conjunction with other entertainment components than a self-contained PC
> typically is.  Consoles therefore lock up common shared household resources
> (the TV set, stereo, and all of the attachments) to a much greater degree
> than a PC does (in typical use).  This is the resource issue, and until
> it's resolved, online console gaming has a tough row to hoe.
>
> Another issue which causes problems is one of spontaneity, as console
> gamers are used to moving from one game to another almost as quickly
> as one goes from machine to machine in a video arcade.  Unlike PC online
> games, many console games actually have arcade origins, and more than a
> few of the big names in the console world began as arcade developers.
> So, traditionally, console games are much more along the lines of say,
> slam-bam-thank-you-ma'am than PC games.  This is not the way most online
> games can be played, as it often takes so long to find an opponent that
> for a shorter arcade-style game, it's simply not worthwhile.  This is
> the spontaneity issue, and it too will be difficult to resolve for online.
>
> Last, but hardly least of the issues, is the issue of cost.  The single
> most OBVIOUS difference between a gaming-class PC rig and a console is
> the price tag.  Consoles pretty much max out at $300, and you couldn't
> even get a PC worth LAUGHING at for that little money.  Console gamers
> often game with an eye towards costs, with very few expensive peripherals
> ever becoming very successful and the costs of games constantly causing
> much grumbling.  To put it mildly, console gamers are a lot more frugally
> minded than what PC gamers are, and the minute anyone mentions a "fee"
> for playing a game, the console userbase all but evaporates instantly.
> This is the sticker-shock issue, and it will possibly be the most
> difficult of all to resolve, because it requires changing the entire
> console gaming attitude.
>
> All imho.