These days there aren’t many game experiences that you can’t get on either a console or a PC. The only thing that hasn’t managed to cross system lines up until now is the MMO genre. It’s been attempted once or twice, most notably with Final Fantasy 11, but it has never caught-fire and become hugely successful – as it is on the PC side of things. There is millions of dollars in the MMO genre and developers everywhere are scrambling to figure out a way to create the first big-time MMO for the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. To be honest, I can’t see it ever working in the console space as things stand now, and here are the top 5 reasons why.
5. Control Schemes: Video game controllers have changed an incredible amount from their origins. In the beginning there were just a d-pad or joystick and a button or two. Eventually the systems could handle more and more commands and inputs, so the controllers had to be more complex. The modern, seemingly ergonomic controller is studded with buttons and has multiple analog sticks that would confuse and bewilder someone transplanted from the early 80s. Yet to encapsulate the vast array of controls in the average MMO, you’d likely need at least six or seven different functions for each button. Menu based controls can work in single player games, because you have the option of pausing the gameplay. In an MMO that’s not possible. To truly play an MMO on a console, you’d need a keyboard peripheral and gamers have never been terribly fond of purchasing a separate control device that only works with one game.
4. Cultural Appeal: Let’s face it, even amongst gamers there’s something of a hierarchy. Who is at the top likely depends on perspective, but in the general public, gaming is still stigmatized by many. If you enjoy the occasional game of Bejeweled on your lunch break or some Wii Bowling on a rainy day most everyone would nod and say that there’s nothing too unusual about that. As you progress further down the rabbit hole, people begin to scratch their heads more and more, struggling and failing to understand your interest in such an ephemeral hobby. In the view of more casual gamers and non-gamers alike, there’s no subculture quite so bizarre as the MMO player. You spend an incredible amount of time playing a game where you pretend to be someone else, with no ultimate goal in mind beyond playing the game. It’s defined as a social experience by many, but it’s hard to explain how you’re being social with people on the other end of a computer.
3. Other Console Gamers: Some adult PC gamers deride consoles as ‘toys for kids’. To a certain extent that’s true; it’s far easier for a kid to convince his parents to pay a few hundred dollars to get a console, rather than the greater expenditure making a quality gaming PC is. Whether you agree or disagree, there’s no doubt that the most annoying facet of online play is the screeching profanity that assaults your eardrums. Often of a much higher pitch, it’s hard to understand why these youths find so much enjoyment in slinging epithets and slurs of various kinds. That’s not all of course as cheating and general harassment are common enough in online gaming. No matter how many controls you put in place to limit the amount of annoyance, there’ll be some way for the online hooligans to rouse your ire. It’s the reason many people don’t bother with forum sites and comment threads; no matter what you’re there for someone will eventually become belligerent, whether out of actual indignation or a simple desire to bother people.
This feature editorial list continues on the next page, please click below to reveal the next couple choices for reasons console MMOs will always fail.
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