Is Kinect the final nail in the coffin for MMO games on the 360?

Msxbox-world takes a close look at MMOs on Xbox 360 and the fact that the genre hasn't taken off.

[Hyrius]

Who would play a MMO with Kinect ?

[Cloudberry]

.
But "HOW" is my main question.

[MisterNiwa]

Well... 'HOW' is a pretty good question.

I still ask myself, how do you walk in a Kinect game?
Leaning Forward? Using one hand as Analog Stick?

Just how? All the game's we've seen so far were only games where you move on the spot.

[SillySundae]

.
.
.
WHY !?!?
.
.
.

[sikbeta]

How? better question:

is it possible to play a Real|Core Game with kinect?

I never see any REAL proof of that since E309...

[number47]

Put the game on rails.

[Substance101]

As a long time WoW player and having played some Warhammer online. I just dont see how anything can replace mouse keyboard for MMO play.

When playing an MMO, voice chat cant be soley relied on. Text chat is also very important as strong communication is required when playing an MMO. Specially when 40 people are in a raid. It would be havoc without text chat which only keyboard can offer. Essentially Texting and voice chat compliment each other.

When playing a game like WoW, there are dozen of spell which need to be instantly accessable, otherwise it would gimp gameplay. The amount of buttons avilable on the keyboard make for easy macros. The mouse helps with quick point an clicking and using of those spells.

Hence i do not currently see any controller combo which can be good alternative to the Mouse + Keyboard combo be it the Control pad, Move or or kinect (lets not even talk kinect it would end up being the worst of the bunch).

[sashimi]

You can play WoW with a console controller.My friend plays it specifically with a 360 controller all possible thanks to a program he wrote and with the help of bindings and macros.Its possible to play without a keyboard and mouse but just a pain for the average person to try.

[SuperTiger]

Kinect is probably just a beta test for Microsoft.
I think i'll wait for the real deal.

[ShadesMoolah]

True Fantasy Live Online. What happened to thee.

[scruffy_bear]

Often cited as one of the most disappointing project cancellations of recent years, True Fantasy Live Online was highly anticipated almost right from the moment it was announced in 2002, and was touted as one of the premier titles for the Xbox and its Xbox Live online service in Japan. Yet despite being "fully playable" and near completion according to Microsoft around the time of its cancellation, the title's development was littered with complications from the very beginning. One such problem was Level-5's inexperience with online network coding and their inability to properly implement voice chat compatibility into the game. It was a feature never before implemented on such a large scale in an MMORPG; however, Microsoft was very adamant on its inclusion, as it was a key feature to their Xbox Live service.

Relations between the two companies soon began to spiral out of control as Level-5 struggled to meet the demands required by Microsoft, who in turn grew frustrated at the lack of progress being made on the game. After an extremely short and rather underwhelming showing at the Tokyo Game Show in 2003, True Fantasy Live Online was quietly delayed from its initial Fall 2003 release into 2004. From then, little was seen or heard about from the title, and after a surprising absence during the year's E3 convention, it was officially cancelled by Microsoft on June 2.

In the months following, Level-5 President and CEO Akihiro Hino stated in a Japanese interview that the poor relations between his company and Microsoft, partially due to the latter's inexperience in dealing with Japanese developers, was one of the major reasons behind True Fantasy Live Online's cancellation. He also heavily implied that the two companies did not part amicably.

In an interview in 2008, the CEO Akihiro Hino stated he still has many ideas for True Fantasy Live Online, and would personally like to work on the game. Whether or not the game does come back into development has yet to be seen.

In a July 2008 interview with edge-online.com, Shane Kim, former general manager of Microsoft Game Studios spoke in regards to failed Microsoft MMORPG projects (including Marvel Universe Online, and True Fantasy Live Online). While acknowledging that the cancellations were the right thing to do at the time, Shane Kim also felt that such games could be successful on the Xbox 360 platform.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[PXSausage]

I don't see how Kinect has anything to do with MMOs on the 360...

[Kurt Russell]

I'm struggling to make any kind of connection myself. I am not expecting my cup of coffee to produce a working MMO either... But that's not what it was designed to do.

[lovestospoodge]

surely u mean, kinection

[Kurt Russell]

oh dear :D

[SCThor]

MMO is one of the most hardcore game genre out there, side by side with FPS, so if MS go full with Kinect that is 100% casual, one can only expect that they drop all hardcore future projects in favor of kinect.

That's what the title may try to explain.

[Kurt Russell]

Seems insane to drop one player base for another when you could try for both... I don't see this being the case somehow.

[sikbeta]

MS doesn't have the Studios to make games trying to appeal both sides, MS rely heavily on third party support, it's one or another, that's why they were saying "core" kinect games will arrive after 18 months or something like that...

[Kurt Russell]

Well hopefully in 18 months I will find better things to do with my time then :)

[SlickShoes]

Erm.. no chance of Realtime Worlds making APB for xbox considering they went into administration last week! If its not made and ready now i doubt it will ever see the light of day. The myworld project they showed at E3 has now been canned too.

[Baka-akaB]

Right now the only chances at a 360 mmo are monster hunter online and a tiny bit maybe FFXIV . The other ones are games that have been struggling already too much or even failed already and barely alive on pc (huxley , aoc , champions online , Star trek) . Or stuff that is too far beyond release to speculate such as the Secret World .
All of those future games again depends of their success or failure on PC , to consider a release .

There is also the next Kingdom under fire , wich doesnt truly sounds like a mmo , but more like an online mode .

[mcstorm]

I would like to see if they could make a Fable like this as I think the onlive world of Fable 3 is going to be abit like WoW in the way you can interact with other users on Xbox live but also wonder off on your own.

If they can pull this type of Game off on the 360 I think it would sell well.

[SlickShoes]

It will be interesting to see what DC universe is like on the PS3, it will be the first "mmo" i will have played on a console. I hope it works well so that maybe we can see more MMO's on consoles but its a bit of a shot in the dark especially with most console gamers shitting a brick at the thought of a monthly fee!

[PimpHandHappy]

on anything other then PC?

i know DC Universe is coming out and tell the truth im not a big fan of MMOs so i really dont know of any on PS3 or 360

[Baka-akaB]

there is a japanese one n ps3 , wich look like crap .

And well mmo on consoles have never really been a problem , with the likes of phantasy star , ffxi . YOu just need a good product , wich so far wasnt the case on ps3 and even more 360 .

[Trunkz]

Why did this Article even mention kinect? ughhH!!

[PimpHandHappy]

because the 360 xbros want hardcore games and they think Kinect "might" be able 2do MMOs

time will tell

[SlickShoes]

Surely the mention of Kinect is that the money being spent on Kinect is not being spent on bringing MMOs to consoles, with MS ploughing every bit of effort into this new tech MMOs are well and truly on the back burner for the forseeable future.

[MasterD919]

I don't think there is a demand for a Warcraft type game on a console...(except for maybe Warcraft itself). I also don't think that theres been a MMORPG thats been developed worth playing on the console.

Its a different experience playing on the console than on the computer. Theres a reason why there isn't a massive calling for a MMORPG on the 360. I think they'd need to establish a new IP worth playing first that could maintain peoples interests on the console version....

And if they charge a subscription on top of a subscription its complete and utter suicide.

A lot of console gamers aren't MMORPG-type gamers.

[gcolley]

give me a free to play MMO or go away... now