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Gamescom 2013: Black Desert devs eyeing next-gen consoles
Korean MMO studio Pearl Abyss is talking to the press about its jaw-droppingly gorgeous Black Desert title at this week's Gamescom. According to DualShockers, part of the discourse included the possibility of porting the PC title to next-gen consoles. The website reports that while speaking with Pearl Abyss COO Jaemin Youn and CFO Brian Oh, the duo "enthusiastically answered that, yes, not only [are they] considering porting to the game to both PS4 and X-Box One, but they actually already had meetings with Sony Computer Entertainment." [Thanks Erik!]
DC Universe Online producer: PS4 should 'be a great platform for MMOs'
DC Universe Online producer Larry Liberty recently shared some interesting insights about SOE's cross-platform superhero MMO with NowGamer. The PlayStation 3 version of the game features a userbase that skews younger than its PC counterpart, and Liberty says that DCUO is the first MMO experience for many PS3 players. He also mentions that PC players appear to be more comfortable with traditional MMO gameplay like guilds, groups, and raids. In terms of the eternal controller vs. keyboard/mouse debate, Liberty says he prefers the former. That said, "the top three finishers in our first-ever DC Universe Online Legends PvP Tournament at SOE Live last year used the keyboard/mouse setup," he explained. Finally, Liberty says he expects the recently announced PlayStation 4 to "be a great platform for MMOs."
The Daily Grind: What existing game would you like to see on a console?
Console MMOs have always been a limited breed, due in no small part to the limited lifespan of consoles versus PCs. That hasn't stopped developers from trying, but somehow the games that are set to be ported to consoles later never quite make the transition -- Age of Conan and Champions Online both stand out as games that promised a console adaptation and then later reversed that promise. Most developers don't even promise that a game will eventually be on a console, either from lack of desire or lack of resources. Despite this, there are no shortage of games that prompt the thought of playing on a console. Action MMOs in particular frequently focus on a control scheme that would feel natural on a gamepad, even if the game isn't intended for play on your television. So today we ask you -- what currently-active MMO would you like to see available on consoles as well, even if the odds of that happening are somewhere around nil? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What classic console game would you like to see made into an MMO?
I recently came across an old 8-bit Nintendo on an excursion to the deep, dark recesses of my attic. Soon after, I stumbled upon a Super NES as well as a treasure trove of old game cartridges. After a few minutes of fumbling around with RCA cables, RF adapters, and finally a trip to the local Radio Shack, I managed to get both systems up and running. A weekend of classic gaming ensued, and as is typical, I set about imagining which old console favorites might make for worthwhile transitions into the realm of the MMORPG. Thus far the Final Fantasy franchise is the most noteworthy console property to make the jump, but there are others -- from multiple platforms -- that would likely make for appealing massively multiplayer settings as well as trigger the nostalgia meter in many an older gamer. Today's Daily Grind is all about your favorite classic console titles. Specifically, which game(s) would you like to see made into an MMO? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Blizzard asks console MMO questions
Blizzard may be monopolizing today's headlines on account of the juggernaut that is Cataclysm, but the MMORPG giant is also making news on a smaller scale (and on a different platform). In an interview with CVG, Blizzard's Greg Street and David Kosak drop a few hints regarding the company's stance towards console MMOs as well as the challenges inherent in developing for the platform. "I think the control scheme is a part of it, the traditional MMO has always had a lot of typing and is dependent on the mouse and keyboard paradigm," Street says. He goes on to mention that conventional wisdom used to dictate that FPS titles couldn't work on consoles either, and Halo summarily proved a lot of folks wrong in that regard. Along the same lines, Kosak addresses the differences in design from a PC monitor to a television. "On PC you're sitting right in front of a screen, you can have a lot of dense information displayed and very complex control schemes. If you're playing on a couch from a distance with a controller, it requires very different design," he says. Check out more of Blizzard's console questions at CVG.
Final Fantasy XIV not due for the Xbox 360 according to Hiromichi Tanaka
Final Fantasy XI isn't just one of the only console MMOs in existence, it's also the most successful of the lot, due in part to the wide spread of available platforms. Since the game has long been playable on the Xbox, there were several Final Fantasy XIV fans (or Xbox 360 owners) hoping it would eventually come out on that console as well. But it's not happening, and according to a recently translated interview from 4players.de, the reason rests squarely with Microsoft. When asked in an interview why Final Fantasy XIV wasn't appearing on Microsoft's console, Hiromichi Tanaka explained that Microsoft was unwilling to work with Square-Enix to deal with the Xbox Live setup. As he put it, it seemed the company made a one-time exception with Final Fantasy XI to get the console in people's minds as an online platform, but now that it's established the gates are closed. There are currently no plans to adapt the game for the console, but it will still be coming out for the PC in late September, with a Playstation 3 release due at some point after that. Check the interview here (if you can read German), and the translated highlights can be found here.
MMO tops Japan's sales charts on the Xbox 360
In the world of console gaming, Japan tends to strongly support their hometown champions -- although whether or not the sprawling multinational corporate behemoths of Nintendo and Sony actually need that suppport is debatable. Microsoft's Xbox 360 has generally faced slow sales in the nation and a lack of popular games on the platform. But it's gotten a boost from the strong sales of Monster Hunter Frontier Online, an MMO exclusive to the platform that's made it to the top of the Japanese sale charts. Not out of all Xbox games -- out of the entire country. The newest installment of the long-running series is a port of a 2007 PC version, beating out several other strong contenders for the countrywide sales figures. Although the Monster Hunter series has been popular in Japan, there's no word on the MMO being released outside of the country. Still, it seems a good sign that you can sell good numbers for a ported game on an unpopular console -- something Square-Enix may well want to consider for the future.
Blizzard: "How would we bring WoW to the console?"
Sadly, the ultimate answer appears to be "very reluctantly" but it's an interesting read anyway. J. Allen Brack talks to G4 about WoW, consoles, and the barriers to entry for an MMO. The usual suspects apply, of course. WoW was designed for keyboards, consoles tend to have a short lifespan compared to the development time of a MMO, and WoW currently takes up about 15gb worth of memory while consoles like an XBox 360 have at most 20gb worth of hard drive space without buying any additions. This is no surprise, of course... they've said all this before. What I really found interesting was that this is supposedly something they think about a lot. "In the case of WoW, we talk about it all the time." I'm the curious sort, so I find myself wondering why, given all the reasons Brack himself lists. Personally, I'd love to see a single player Warcraft property of some sort for consoles, perhaps a God of War style action game or even a Dragon Age/Mass Effect hybrid RPG. And who knows, perhaps Blizzard will come up with a way to do it despite their laundry list of reasons why they won't, they've surprised me before.
Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard discusses future of free-to-play on consoles
The free-to-play MMO business model as it presently stands in North America and Europe is still strides behind what exists in Asia, but F2P is clearly making inroads in the West. What's less clear is how the free-to-play business model will evolve in the coming years. We've come across an interview with Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard conducted by Rob Crossley for Develop, which points to a few directions that free-to-play may take. It's safe to say Gerhard knows a fair amount about the state of free-to-play games; RuneScape boasts millions of players and is a major success story with this business model. Gerhard specifically highlights his views on bringing free-to-play MMOs to consoles. Technological hurdles aside, Gerhard focuses on the business model applied to consoles and the industry's resistance to the concept of truly free-to-play titles appearing on Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3. You can read up about F2P meeting console MMOs in the Develop interview with Jagex's Mark Gerhard.
