NCSoft - "a definite lack of commitment at Microsoft to online gaming with 360"

[Confidence-Man]

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/news/news_story.php?id=129212

Although the official line from NCsoft is that the company "cannot specify explicitly what their console plans are", Geoff Heath, CEO of NCsoft Europe told MCV last Friday, "I don't want to spoil the party but our feeling is there's a definite lack of commitment at Microsoft to online gaming with 360. It's forcing us to consider what we should be doing. For a start it's not got a [guaranteed] hard drive, but generally the commitment is not there. It's a real shame."

I can't understand how this is the case. If anything it seems they have the most commitment.

 

[Carl B]

Whoa! Didn't expect this one coming. Maybe the Koreans just like to do it their own way and Live isn't their style? Coupled with their recent announcement that they're working on PS3 this comment just seems all the more shocking in terms of what the status quo expectations were for dev preference. Or, it could just be another case of an allied dev saying things to undermine the 'opponent' in terms of public perception.

 

[Qroach]

He's angling for something from MS. That's why NCsoft made two public statements in the past week... he's trying to get thier attention for some reason... it could have something to do with MS wanting to make a Marvel super hero game, since Marvel is suing NCsoft over city of heroes.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Ummm...why cite a definite lack of HDD on XB360 as a reason not to develop for it, if you've gone public as committed to developing for PS3? This means one of two things...

1) This guy's babbling like a lunatic
2) Sony have decided to include an HDD as standard on PS3

 

[seismologist]

I wouldn't be surprised if Square was given some preferrential treatment to be able to bypass Xbox Live. These guys are probably wanting the same deal.

I dont think there's a general plan to allow MMORPGs to bypass Xbox Live since those are potentially the biggest money makers...

 

[Titanio]

Have they commited to PS3?

I heard they had "actively working" on next-gen console titles, but no specifics. However Eurogamer did report earlier in the week that their sources said that Xbox 360 wasn't in their plans right now. Seems their sources weren't far wrong, but this is quite a strange statement, particularly since none of the consoles will have standard hard drives (at least as far as we know - maybe PS3's broad removeable memory support placated them? Multi-GB mem sticks will be cheap in PS3's life..). Maybe they are angling for something, as suggested previously.

edit - here's the Eurogamer report, for what it is worth:

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=61648

Korea-based online gaming giant NCsoft is preparing to launch titles on next-generation consoles, according to chief executive Tack Jin Kim, who confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that development work is already underway.

...

Kim did not discuss specifics of the company's development work on next-generation consoles, nor did he reveal which platforms the firm is working on - but sources close to NCsoft's European division revealed that Xbox 360 is not part of the company's plans at the moment, suggesting that the PS3 is the target platform for NCsoft's first console titles.

These new comments are a tad more explicit though.

 

[Carl B]

Well the word is that NCSoft has commited to next-gen console development, and at the moment excluding 360. That almost by default means PS3, and maybe the Rev also. It's telling also that Sony was at the new Korean G-Star show whereas neither MS or Nintendo attended. It seems that Sony has been payng s fair bit of attention to Korea in recent years, the speed with which they have received expanded PSP apps and abilities being indicative of this. I don't think one can actually knock 360's online situation based on these comments - they just seem to disconnected - but it does give me some hope for PS3's would be service, because Korea is ground-zero for Internet gaming.

 

[scooby_dooby]

I dont think there's a general plan to allow MMORPGs to bypass Xbox Live since those are potentially the biggest money makers...

It's already been announced all MMO's will bypass live, or at least only requier Live Silver (which is free.)

That's not to say MS won't get a cut of the monthly fees though.

 

[seismologist]

Then I dont get how anyone could say MS isn't committed to online gaming. Seems like a joke. Unless we're witnessing the Sony money hats going to work.

 

[drpepper]

Ummm...why cite a definite lack of HDD on XB360 as a reason not to develop for it, if you've gone public as committed to developing for PS3? This means one of two things...

1) This guy's babbling like a lunatic
2) Sony have decided to include an HDD as standard on PS3

I think it's likely number 1 but I'm hoping for number 2.

 

[Inane_Dork]

I was afraid of this. I don't know exactly what the cause is, but I saw it coming. The whole Marvel deal and Sony paying them off are the only two things I can pin anything on, though neither seem to be sufficient. NCSoft knew a long time ago about the non-standard HDD and about Live's workings. Surely those are not the issues. NCSoft was on the list of developers back around E3 time, I believe.

It seems like there has to be something in this which we have not seen yet.

 

[Inane_Dork]

I think it's likely number 1 but I'm hoping for number 2.

Regularity problems again?

 

[Powderkeg]

MS and NCSoft have been at odds for several years now. This is really nothing more than a public statement reflecting their private spat.

It all began with the purchase of Phantagram and the cancellation of two high profile Xbox games which MS had given special assistance on their creation to that point.

 

[typoEDR]

It's the Revolution!

...

Isn't NCSoft the team behind Guild Wars?

I don't know what got their panties all twisted up, but MS has pushed online gaming quite a bit. Sony has too, but Live, overall, has been far more successful.

I have the feeling these coming months are going to be pretty spectacular in terms of news and stuff.

 

[see colon]

It's the Revolution!

...

Isn't NCSoft the team behind Guild Wars?

NCSoft are the publisher of guild wars, the developer is arenanet

 

[jvd]

beats me . I would tink that they would have alot to gain by supporting ms . Thier main dev platform is windows pcs and they have a ton of games that can be ported to the xbox 360 cheaply ( lineage 2 , guildwars , soon tabla rusa ) .


It must be something else holding it back , mabye money from sony to dev only for them or perhaps they just want cheaper royality fees ?

 

[Platon]

Accusing MS for not being commited to online just sounds to insane. Why not pick on something else more believable, I mean xbox live is MS connerstone, when it comes to their xbox strategy...

 

[scooby_dooby]

Well TBH if they were truly commited to the online experience they wouldn't have cut the HDD, or at the very least they would offer large MC's in the 512mb range so that all users would have the means to take full advantage of the online experience, which includes downloadable game trailers, demo's, game patches, and episodic content.

By phasing out the HDD (while providing a pethetic 64mb memory card) they are showing a lack of commitment to what they have claimed is their vision, which is an online community with people from all demographics.

IMO, they would've shown much more commitment by making the HDD the default storage device, by offering it at $60, and also offering at $40 a large memory card(512mb) that would be adequate for a solid online experience. By doing this you ensure that the vast majority will have the HDD, since it's only $20 more than the MC a much better deal, and even the people with MC's will still be able to download trailers and games from XBLive, as well as other downloadable content.

Of course, they preferred to try and make as much profit as possible off the peripherals, something I think is short sighted and stupid.

 

[jvd]

you don't need a hardrive to play online though you just need a memory card .

So i don't see how the no hardrive arguement holds up

 

[scooby_dooby]

But ms's vision to capture casual gamers does not revolve around gaming online. It revolves around everything else, XBLive marketplace, downloadable arcade games via XBLive, downloadable game/movie trailers etc

Some of it is maybe doable, but a 64mb card is peanuts, and offering at least a 128 or 256mb version(which is still not worth more than $40) would've shown much more commitment to the online community and less greed IMO.

It just seems like their sending out mixed messages, they say they want to capture the non-gamers by offering this great online community, however the package they offer that will most appeal to this non-gamer audience($299) can not really take advantage of this online community in any way other than play games, which is no different than xbox1's online services that did nothing for attracting non-gamers.

In other words, they way they've decided to implement things(i.e. overpriced HDD and much cheaper/smaller MC) means that not everyone that buys the console can take advantage of this online community. They could've done many things to mitigate this, such as a $60 HDD(since virtually everyone would buy the HDD at $60 vs a $40 MC), and a decent sized MC for the super-cheap bastards who wouldn't spend the extra $20 for the HDD.