Again the US market gets the Shaft as the Japanese Get the Goods... (1 Viewer)

[Romier S]

Was PSO really that good?

Yep
Its not an MMORPG. Its more along the lines of playing Diablo or Diablo2 online. You and 3 other friends get together, run through the environments (AKA Levels, the original PSO had 4 levels: Forest, Cave, Mines and the Ship if I remember right), level your characters and find those super special items that will make your character even more of a bad ass.
Nothing too deep of MMORPG like. No persistent world or anything like that. Though some how, some way it was ridiculously fun. Several members here used to setup get togethers at particular times and play our hearts out into the wee hours of the night. We named ourselves "The OAR Avengers". I am persoally looking forward to resurrecting Axis (My character) once again on the X-box live network.
Two other members that I can remember playing with off the top of my head were Jeff Kleist and Joel Mack. I know there were a few more but for the life of me I can't remember (sorry guys:frowning. I think its time for an OAR avengers roll call!

 

[James Zos]

"I'm actually shocked that Halo online won't be their pack in game."

If you are talking about Japan, Japanese gamers are said not to like FPS and they supposedly don't sell well over there. That's why Micro$oft didn't launch with Halo in Japan.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I think a 'pick up and play' game is the right game for a freebie pack-in for online. I think it will have broader appeal to get people to at least try it out. An MMORPG takes a lot more work and dedication, and people who don't care for that kind of game might lose their enthusiasm for online.

A game that you can pick up and play in 1 minute is what you want.

 

[Kelley_B]

Yes, but they could have picked someting better than a 2-3 year old Mediocre at best PC/PSOne game.

If they really wanted to sell this Xbox Live thing they would have made the pack-in game either NFL Fever 2003 or Halo Online....imagine how huge the sales would be if the pack in was Halo Online.

 

[BrianB]

Kelley, they want you to buy the Live! pack AND Halo Online AND NFL Fever Online.

 

[Iain Lambert]

I agree that Halo Online would make a good unit-shifter in the US, but I will say that (provided you can get your head round the questionable handling) Re-Volt actually makes for a rather fun multiplayer game, thanks to its tag mode.

Still, Dreamcast remakes do seem rather pointless.

 

[James Zos]

I still say Re-Volt was fun on the PC. Never tried it on a console though.

 

[Kelley_B]

BrianB,

yeah i know they want my cash on those titles...actually they won't be getting my money for NFL Fever 2003(I pledge allegiance to the world of Sega's NFL2k series)...but my thinking behind it is, release it with something huge let people get that taste in their mouth and then come back and release even more and people will come back and will gladly pay for it to get their fix.

 

[Dean DeMass]

I am hoping SEGAs NFL2K3 isn't going to be a disappointment this year. The reason being? I believe a Chicago Bear is on the cover, and as a Packer fan, I am in the "if it has a Bear endorsing it, it must be shit" camp.
-Dean-

 

[Jason Seaver]

I know the feeling. Several times, I've been in a store looking at WSB and an X-Box, but I see that they've replaced Pedro with a MFY on the box...

 

[James D S]

Okay James, whatever. Drop it.

I believe a Chicago Bear is on the cover, and as a Packer fan, I am in the "if it has a Bear endorsing it, it must be shit" camp.

LOL. Oddly, being from Houston, a sports game (I don't even want to speak its name ) has Jeff Bagwell on the cover - So, by logical deduction I know the game must blow. It will probably start out well enough, but by the 7th inning its batting average will drop into the cellar. If men are in scoring position, the game will not be able to bring them home - unless the lead is at least 5 runs. With 2 outs and a man on third, the game will swing madly for the fences and instead drop a weak infield grounder to the second baseman. All this I know just by who is on the cover.
Now if Pedro were on the cover, the game would rock all nine innings and leave all other games wishing for a rain delay. Your game is the better game Jason.
OAN, I read in the recent issue of the OXM that Japanese gamers are not accustomed to online play. What are they smoking? They've been online regularly since the 80s!

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Phone calls in Japan are very expensive, so until ISDN lines came around, many Japanese had never touched the net. It's true that most have never, ever gamed online as most surf the web on their cell phones

PC gaming is not big there, because the games are ludicrously expensive, and since 95% of online games are PC based, that's the stat MS is reporting

They will pick it up VERY quickly, no doubt about that

 

[Andy Sheets]

LOL. Oddly, being from Houston, a sports game (I don't even want to speak its name)

Damn, now my curiousity is aroused, if only to stay away from it. OTOH, I hate EA for putting Steve Francis on the NBA Live cover this year. I like Steve but not that game series, so I get mixed signals whenever I see this year's edition

 

[James D S]

Jeff,

I thought in Japan they used the Famicom for banking and shopping and I know SEGA has had a onlione presence since the Genesis (the Genesis 2400 modem) and used it to download game demos since the late 80s. (Not to mention the countless specialty devices for chatting and whatnot) Or is my reverance for Japanese technology and their progressivness just exaggerating my memory? I thought they've had it together for a while now...

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The Genesis modem was a total bomb, and the Nintendo one wasn't very big at all

Unlike the US, most of the rest of the world does not have unlimited phone plans

To even get your phone turned on, it's around $6-800 in Japan, and I believe local calls are 10-12 cents a minute for your local neighborhood, expanding rates out from there. That's why online access didn't really take off elsewhere until ISDN came available, and to a much larger degree DSL/Cable

 

[Derrik Draven]

So, why the hell is phone time so damn expensive there? Maybe I'm not seeing the "big picture" but, Japan's relatively small, lots of high tech, so what's up?

 

[BrianB]

So, why the hell is phone time so damn expensive there?

Welcome to the rest of the world, Derrick. Most of the rest of the world doesn't pay flat rate for phonetime. Hell, it's only been in the past couple of years that the UK has gotten a system offering 'flat rate' local calls.

 

[Dave F]

PSO was (is?) pretty big in Japan, with people dedicating 1000's of hours on their characters. It's hard to imagine that starting over at level 1 would be a big incentive for people.

-Dave

 

[Jeff Kleist]

OAR Avengers Roll Call!
Runty here!
Man, we need to all get together and play again
It should also be noted that in Japan people bought access cards which let them access an 800number to play the game for PSO, just in case people are wondering

 

[Joel Mack]

Toolio here!

I'm definitely in, at least after I get moved into my apartment next week...