Ben Jones, designer at Zipper Interactive currently working on MAG, must not be receiving enough hate mail in his Inbox. This situation will be changing rapidly, as Mr. Jones claims that compared to Playstation Network players, Xbox Live players are immature.
“I actually consider Xbox Live the more immature of the two,” Jones said. “As we saw in the beta we’ve got an audience that’s willing to communicate and willing to organize and structure, and help other people how to play the game. That’s the most remarkable thing that I saw in the beta – random people helping other players along two try and familiarize themselves with this really cool experience.”
There are a lot of problems with Ben Jones’ statement. Let’s take a look:
First of all, MAG isn’t coming to the Xbox 360 so he has no idea if players would organize and help others. If he is basing his judgment off a few rounds of Modern Warfare 2, perhaps he has a point, but having played Modern Warfare 2 on both consoles, I can say there is no difference in maturity.
Secondly, a small percentage of players on the PS3 actually have headsets because the PS3 does not ship with one. As such, far fewer players communicate on the PS3 than the Xbox 360.
As an owner of both consoles, I have seen little difference in the maturity levels of players. Plenty of idiots to go around for everyone.
Ben Jones should be more concerned about his game, as having spent the past week with the beta has left me bored and bemused about its imminent failure. MAG has no future and no selling point beyond its 256 player count. Everything else is lackluster, derivative and clunky…like every other game Zipper has made.
Back when Modern Warfare 2 was released for the PC, all hell broke loose because Infinity Ward had abandoned a long-standing tradition of dedicated server support for PC-based games. In short, PC games of old allowed anyone to setup and host a multiplayer server, a great convenience that allowed for custom maps and mods.
Infinity Ward suffered a PR nightmare from which they refused to budge. In turn, sales of Modern Warfare 2 were not in line with expectations. Seeing an opening, DICE, developers of Battlefield and the forthcoming Bad Company 2, issued forth press-releases in the hopes of taking advantage of the ill-will.
An example:
A lot of buzz has been floating around the internet lately about dedicated servers and we wanted to make sure our all our players have the best understanding of how Battlefield will be played on the PC. Since Battlefield 1942 DICE has used dedicated servers for all platforms. This formula has worked well, and still works well, for us and for the gaming community. We have stayed true to this practice and will continue this tradition into the upcoming title Battlefield Bad Company 2.
Electronic Arts is raising eyebrows amongst its loyal customers by announcing the imminent closure of numerous servers dedicated to multiplayer matches. While it is typical for servers to come down after several years, EA is bucking the trend and shortening the leash, perhaps too much so. One of the servers that will be coming down on February 2nd is none other Madden 09, which I imaging still has a sizable number of players.
Your $60 investment a little over a year ago is now essentially worthless.
Why would EA do this?
Well, the cynic in me says this is a way to force any stragglers to upgrade their game to the latest version. It also tells gamers that in the future, you had better stay current or else you risk being obsolete in record time. This is an F-U to gamers from a company infamous for a protruding middle-finger.
Personally, I find this troubling and a bad sign. I hope gamers complain and EA reverses course, at least extending life a little longer. Paying $60 for a game is already ridiculous, but paying $60 for a game that will quickly become redundant in the eyes of its publishers is bad news for everyone.
Additionally, this spells trouble for the Used Games market. If you happen to venture into Gamestop and pick up an old copy of Madden, well, you’re screwed if you expect to play online, or a ton of other games that EA is bringing down.
Here’s the official line:
Online Service Updates
The following is an important update regarding online service for some older EA titles.
Servers for the games listed below will be shut down on the indicated dates. You may continue to play the games online up until these dates, but certain community programs may begin to close down prior to the shutdown dates.
All of us at EA would like to thank you for your valued participation in our online gaming community and hope that your enthusiasm for these games extends to our current lineup and beyond.
If you have further questions about your account or the shut down of these services, please visit http://support.ea.com.
Thank you,
Electronic Arts
February 9, 2010 Online Service Shutdown FIFA 07 for PC
Madden 07 for PC and Xbox 360
Madden 08 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii and Xbox 360
Madden 09 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PC, Wii and Xbox 360
NHL® 08 for PC
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 07 for PC
UEFA Champions League™ 07 for PC
February 2, 2010 Online Service Shutdown
Facebreaker for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
Fantasy Football 09 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
FIFA 07 for PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2 and PC
Fight Night Round 3 for PlayStation 2
March Madness 07 for Xbox 360
NBA LIVE 07 for PlayStation Portable and Xbox 360
NBA LIVE 08 for PS2, PlayStation Portable and Wii
NBA LIVE 09 for Wii – Europe only
NBA Street (2007) for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NCAA® Football for 08 PlayStation 2
NCAA® Football for 09 PlayStation 2
NASCAR® 08 for PlayStation 2
NASCAR® 09 for PlayStation 2
NASCAR® 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 – Europe Only
NFL Tour for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NHL® 07 for PlayStation Portable and Xbox 360
UEFA Champions League 07 for Xbox 360
The Coca-Cola Company is apologizing for their website’s behavior, specifically the randomized security key (CAPTCHA) that all users must enter in order to registered for prizes.
Apparently, Coke’s CAPTCHA has quite the mouth on it, as the code it required was: U FUCKER
Red-faced Coca-Cola bosses have promised immediate action to prevent embarrassing codes popping up in future.
A spokesman said: “We apologise for any offence caused to the individual and thank them for bringing this to our attention.
“Unfortunately this has occurred due to an automated selection of random letters but we are taking immediate action to ensure this will not happen again.”
Remember when the Playstation 3 launched and Sony execs tripped all over themselves to say things like consumers were confused over all the SKUs of Xbox 360s, only to introduce a fleet of new PS3 SKUs? Remember when Sony execs criticized Microsoft for having two different models for Xbox Live in Silver and Gold? Funny how things change.
Kaz Hirai of Sony has officially confirmed that 2010 will bring a paid subscription to the Playstation 3.
During the presentation, which emphasized Sony’s plans to make its game business profitable in the next fiscal year, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai confirmed the plans. “We will be building upon our current free [PSN] service offering with premium content and services to start the subscription model,” he told attendees.
Perhaps to assuage PS3 owners’ fears that they would soon have to pay to play online, Hirai issued a subsequent statement indicating the present level of service would remain gratis.
“SCE will further increase sales by offering users new entertainment through the combination of hardware, software, peripheral, and PlayStation Network,” Hirai said in a statement given to British outlets, such as CVG. “Especially in the online area, we are studying the possibility of introducing a subscription model, offering premium content and services, in addition to the current free services.” (Emphasis added.)
As of press time, US Sony reps had not offered Hirai’s statement or further clarification about its subscription plans for the PlayStation Network. Luckily, though, the “current free services” currently offered on PSN include online play, Facebook integration, and Netflix video streaming. On Xbox Live, both of those features are only accessible at the Gold membership level, which costs at least $50 per year.
Dead Space was a fine single-player action game that at least tried to do a few things different. It proved itself successful at retail and a sequel is in the works. However, according to a job posting, it appears Dead Space 2 will be branching out into multiplayer. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen. Hopefully, the designers won’t shoe-horn multiplayer just so they can say they have the feature.
Job Description
Seeking a highly motivated Senior Online Level Designer for the Dead Space franchise on Xbox360 and PS3. This is a major opportunity to contribute creatively to an exciting new franchise.
Responsibilities:
• Conceptualize, script, direct, and build online levels for the game.
• Own the level design for the online game, be able to work collaboratively with Creative Director and Online Producer to create extremely fun, satisfying and polished multiplayer levels.
• Drive online design by taking the initiative to bring all parties together to execute on the overall vision for the levels.
• Be a collaborative member of the design team, and contribute to reviews, feedback, and playtest sessions.
• Hands on contributor
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(Ratings Average: 4.00 out of 5)
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