LFG on Live: MMOs and the Xbox 360

With the recent announcement of
another MMO planned for the 360,
it's time to step back a little and look at the console's promised massively multiplayer lineup. Despite the number of MMOs jostling for players on the PC, consoles have had it rough with only a couple of titles launching: Phantasy Star Online and Final Fantasy XI managed it, but without
overwhelming success.

The Xbox 360 may change this. With Silver Live membership free to everyone, and "online community" the buzzword of the day, perhaps the time has finally come to go massively multiplayer on a console. A quick roundup of the planned titles:

• Final Fantasy XI will be making the
  transition from PC/PS2 to 360 largely unchanged, and soon

• A MMO featuring Marvel characters (no, not
  City of Heroes) is expected, but perhaps not
  until 2008

• Cars-and-shootouts MMO
  APB
  will also make its way to the 360 by 2008

• Massively-multiplayer FPS Huxley is touted
  for 2006

Given the success of MMOs on the PC, and the number of players with Xbox Live, console MMOs seem to be sure-fire hits. However, there are problems for developers to address, from the obvious control and interface issues to game balancing and cross-platform compatibility. Everyone is waiting for the next World of Warcraft on Xbox, and it might even be, in fact, World of Warcraft.
However, with some publishers shying away from the 360—for now—it remains to be seen whether MMOs on the 360 go the same way as they have on previous consoles: dismally.