Gaming —

Console MMOs: a brief history of one man’s couch-laden adventures

Frank revisits his long history with console-based MMORPGs to see where the …

In this two-part piece, I'll take a look at the history of the console MMORPG, discussing the games that have come and gone, and then look to the future of the genre to see what's in store.

Raiding, grinding, questing, fighting: MMORPG gamers know and love these time-consuming activities. I've spent days upon days of real life time immersed in a variety of online worlds, slaying dragons and making leather bags with the best of them. However, I've found that, in retrospect, some of my favorite memories of my travels in the land of online role-playing involve various console MMORPGs where I was free to lay on my couch and enjoy my journeys from the comfort of my living room. To many, the console MMO market appears to be small, and the platform-specific sub-genre's history even smaller. Despite this modest lifespan on consoles, though, I'm hopeful that couch-based online questing will remain plausible in current and future console generations. So just where did this genre get its start, and where is it going?

EQOA_FrankThough arguments about older consoles and MUDs could be (and probably will be) made, as will arguments for the 3DO's attempt (Meridian 59), I find it fitting to start with what many consider the first online console: the Dreamcast. The first contemporary console MMORPG experience would then be Phantasy Star Online.

As Ultima Online was to PC MMOs, so was Phantasy Star Online to console MMOs. I distinctly recall picking up the classic for my 56k-powered Dreamcast many moons ago. Some claim the button-mashing, item-collecting grind-a-thon was an acquired taste, but I'd grown to salivate at the chance for such an adventure. Teams were limited to but a few players per instance, but the general game still upheld many conventions. Although it was shallow compared to even early PC-based MMOs that I'd played, it was a fun game that featured the levels and item-collecting that gets players hooked on this style of game. Not even the prevalent hackers could dampen the excitement of hardcore players.  For many, it would become the first couch-based MMO, and for some, it would become the hope for a new era of online gaming.

Sadly, the Dreamcast was quickly displaced as the PlayStation 2 became the heir to the console gaming throne. When the PS2's online platform matured, Everquest Online Adventures appeared. Though often criticized as a watered down version of the real Everquest, EQOA offered a world as expansive and involving as any other MMO of the time. The beautiful thing about EQOA was that it was made with console gaming in mind. The developers accounted for the unique qualities of the PS2 controller and remapped the controls to it; spell-casting and attacking felt natural. Of course, a keyboard was still paramount for communication, but thanks to the handy shoulder-button-controlled macros one could almost completely automate speech for the majority of circumstances. EQOA was, and remains a rarity: a game that had truly taken advantage of the console platform rather than simply compensating for it.

When I'd surmounted all odds, obtained my epic staff, and conquered the world of Tunaria, Final Fantasy XI picked up where EverQuest Online Adventures left off. Though it was one of the grandest adventures I'd ever take part in, FFXI made me realize just how well EQOA was designed. Whereas SOE's game managed to make excellent use of the controller, FFXI's macro-heavy combat and menu-driven gameplay all but eliminated the possibility of putting down the keyboard. As far as MMOs go, FFXI is a complicated game: skill-chains, XP-chaining, complex menu-driven battles that mandate excessive macros and so forth. That said, FFXI was the more developed and deep game by a long shot, but as far as console-specific gaming goes, it felt like Square had designed the game with the PC in mind and then made the console port as quickly and easily as possible. However, Final Fantasy XI remains an unrivaled game: easily the most deep and involving console MMORPG ever to be released, sporting cross-platform gameplay and nearly never-ending playability.

CheesequakeAll was well with my adventures in Windhurst until FFXI came to suffer what I've come to call the "Blizzard boom." World of Warcraft had a profound effect on the MMORPG market. Prior to the release of this titan of the genre, the general populace was much more diverse. Some people played Star Wars Galaxies, some FFXI, some EQ2, some EVE and so forth. With the release of Azeroth, all that changed. Previously fruitful lands became barren. Players migrated. Homes were left distraught, guilds dissipated, dreams destroyed. Likewise, the console MMORPG genre seemed to suffer a similar blow: post-FFXI, no noteworthy games were released and it began to seem as though the console MMORPG market had shriveled up and vanished.

It was nearly two years until we would see the next available console MMO: Phantasy Star Universe. A simplified version of the original title, PSU was a shallow game in every regard—even more so than the original. Single-button combat, a miniscule roster of spells, a poor crafting engine and a small world were but a few of the flaws of the latest game in Sega's dying franchise. Though the support for a microphone on the Xbox 360 version brought the now-MMO-mandated voice-chat into the mix, the advance wasn't enough to pull PSU out of the "simplicity" ditch. The term "MMO Lite" doesn't even begin to describe the experience. Then again, my opinion of the game may have soured simply because by the time I'd gotten around to playing PSU, my tastes had matured, and it simply wasn't enough. I was left with no choice but to look forward to the prospective-less future.

It's been almost six months since I last indulged in a console-based online adventure. As of right now, I remain in a state of console MMORPG limbo. Thankfully, the future looks bright. With the PS3 and the Xbox 360 offering some flexible and powerful online platforms, MMOs are likely to become more common, a likelihood reinforced by the continuing trend of cross-platform gaming between PCs and consoles. We can already see this in many of the big upcoming console MMOs that have been announced. Whether or not these titles will come to fruition and meet with success, though, is unknown.

Tomorrow, in the second part of this piece, we'll take a look at the current MMO landscape and see just where the console MMORPG may be going.

Channel Ars Technica