Are home consoles ready to support a successful MMO? EA Mythic creative director Paul Barnett thinks so, but reckons that the hegemony enjoyed by World of Warcraft could be an obstacle. As Barnett puts it in his interview with CVG: "It's very hard [...] when almost everyone has only ever played one of these games and it dominates their thinking."We'd probably agree with that analysis, though we're not so sure about this bit: "I think probably the best chance of someone doing [the first successful console MMO] is Nintendo."
Backing Nintendo to break new ground is usually a safe bet, but let us not forget how Satoru Iwata wasn't thrilled by the idea of a Nintendo MMO back in February; we can't imagine his position on the matter will have deviated much since then. As much as we all crave an Animal Crossing MMO, we're just not sure if soccer moms and Leroy Jenkins are ready to be united.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-19-2008 @ 7:15PM
TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) said...
OK, Let's go!
LEEEERRRROOOOYYYY JENKINS!
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5-19-2008 @ 7:24PM
Wraith_242 said...
Holy crap i just now watched leroy jenkins! FREAKING HILARIOUS!! But anyway i couldnt agree more nintendo needs a good MMO.
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5-19-2008 @ 7:29PM
Mr Khan said...
Nintendo could be the one to do it. The Secret to WoW's success, aside from a few other factors, is the fact that it is a technically undemanding game, and is incredibly addictive
Nintendo has both of those in the Wii. Plus Pointer capabilities that could rival any PC MMO
However, on the opposite side, it's Nintendo. They haven't even given us Friended free chat on Wii yet (though often enough on DS), a full-on MMO could just be too contrary to whatever twisted online strategy they're trying to stick to
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5-19-2008 @ 8:09PM
TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) said...
That's what I don't get.
Nintendo gave MP:H voice chat and AC:WW text chat(minor censors though) and it is great.
Heck, I probably wouldn't be called TheOverlord#2 if it wasn't for full text chat in AC:WW.
I'll be mad if AC:Wii doesn't have text chat or voice chat.(Not meaning "Hey!" or "Look at my flowers!")
That and the apocalypse didn't come early like Nintendo speculates!
5-19-2008 @ 7:43PM
Gun Barrier (=Gamer Tag) SSBB: 3952-6696-7009 said...
if Nintendo were to ever make an mmo, it would either be a new IP or pokemon. Theres no way animal crossing would ever work, or be interesting.
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5-19-2008 @ 8:35PM
Haohmaru said...
Age of Zelda: Hyrulian Adventures
City of Plumbers (With spinoff, City of Koopas)
World of Fire Emblem
>.> Maybe not the first two.
5-20-2008 @ 4:19PM
Mr Khan said...
The latter one would be hard, too, considering the great discontinuity between pairs of Fire Emblems (1,3,11-2-4,5-6,7-8-9,10)
Although if you had your own character from one of the basic sets of units, then could team up with other units to a sort of RTS-style battle, choosing which of the listed continuities you could go to to fight evil, or a PvP thing
That actually sounds like a good idea
5-19-2008 @ 7:55PM
Phil said...
Am I the only one who found the image in this article a real riot?
-no monthly fee!
-hi res graphics!
-INCREDIBLE NPC AI!
Outside sounds like a smash hit.
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5-19-2008 @ 9:18PM
Donald said...
As someone who's been playing Outside for what seems like almost 24 years, I can tell you that the grinding is HELL.
Maybe I should re-roll for more charisma and not choose the "Fat guy" body type.
5-19-2008 @ 10:19PM
Phil said...
Yeah, all guys seem to forget charisma's EXTREMELY essential for the 'relationship' quest chain. You need a minimum of at least 25 charisma if you want access.
But on the opposite end of the spectrum, you could just sacrifice intelligence and jack up agility for a good shot at the professional athlete class. Makes getting through levels 14-30 a freaking breeze.
5-19-2008 @ 8:39PM
THe Shit said...
For nintendo to do a proper MMO they need too
#1. Scrap friend Codes
#2. Learn how to run a dedicated server
#3. Implement communication
#4. Grow some balls.
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5-20-2008 @ 1:04AM
hvnlysoldr said...
Pokemon MMO. It would rule the world.
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5-20-2008 @ 7:00AM
Consolcwby said...
I don't know... When it comes to the idea of MMOs, Nintendo is a real dark horse for sure. But that would also be it's strength - it would take other gamers by surprise. I think an MMO based off of Kingdom Hearts could do really well - and being Square-Enix, they already have experience with MMOs. It could be the thing to look for.
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5-20-2008 @ 11:50AM
dark.shun said...
Geez!
I'm discussing about that in a brazillian forum!
Look at the email i sent to nintendo (like its going to work though.)
"My name is David, and I'm from Brazil.
I miss so much a better interaction with other wii's owners, like a chat room to exchange wii codes, or direct contact through Check mii out channel.
I was wandering, since there is a fever in that kind of game, in you make a massive online world for people to use their Mii's as themselves. To chat, to organize events, just like World of Warcraft, but with no fighting. A simple world. If you evolve the idea, you can make people's houses , hidden wii points in the world, etc.
I know of the techical problem of Wii doesnt have enough space inside it. And probably that idea of mine would occupy a lot of blocks, each modification in the world, or stuff like that. I don't know techincal issues.
Anyway, i really miss a good interaction center in wii's online service. Really do. And what better way to do that than with the miis?
Thanks for your attenttion."
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5-20-2008 @ 12:06PM
Deivid said...
Geez!
I'm discussing about that in a brazillian forum!
Look at the email i sent to nintendo (like its going to work though.)
"My name is David, and I'm from Brazil.
I miss so much a better interaction with other wii's owners, like a chat room to exchange wii codes, or direct contact through Check mii out channel.
I was wandering, since there is a fever in that kind of game, in you make a massive online world for people to use their Mii's as themselves. To chat, to organize events, just like World of Warcraft, but with no fighting. A simple world. If you evolve the idea, you can make people's houses , hidden wii points in the world, etc.
I know of the techical problem of Wii doesnt have enough space inside it. And probably that idea of mine would occupy a lot of blocks, each modification in the world, or stuff like that. I don't know techincal issues.
Anyway, i really miss a good interaction center in wii's online service. Really do. And what better way to do that than with the miis?
Thanks for your attenttion."
Reply
5-20-2008 @ 2:48PM
Matthew said...
I would like to see a MMO come to the WiiWare line up. I would be a great addition. You may be thinking 512MB????? But it stream from the Nintendo Wifi Server and have a 300 blocks out of the memory for caching purposes so it doesn't lag (as much) because its loading two things. I hope that someone does this idea. If nintendo would let them the server they would be using for streaming could be paid by the ads that they put in the game. I think it would be a great idea but first they will probably bring a disk based MMO to the wii first!
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5-20-2008 @ 4:23PM
Mr Khan said...
The on-board memory would just limit it to being console-side-saved, like the old PSO games were, where your character data, item data, etc, were all stored right on your Memory Card or what have you
Of course, this lent itself to all kinds of abuses, which made the GC PSO famously hackable. My character that could transform into Knuckles the Echidna (I kid you not) by entering a quest is testament to that
5-20-2008 @ 4:35PM
Patrick said...
You're all over looking things: Nintendo SUCKS with servers, seen as in BRAWL.
Nintendo would NEVER want people to play against people they don't know, I mean they DO, but not in any way use communication, which is essential for a MMO. So, it would be like playing an online game, with no communication
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5-19-2008 @ 9:14PM
Chris Greenhough said...
Ooh, don't know about Nintendo "sucking with servers," Patrick -- Mario Kart runs beautifully.
Must agree with you about the communication point, though. An MMO seems to go against most of Nintendo's current approach to online gaming.
5-20-2008 @ 4:39PM
Patrick said...
Really now, well I know that Brawl's suck. But most DS game's don't, and I guess Mario Kart doesn't now. Strikers was a little ok. Maybe Brawl just can't take it.
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