The basics

The editorial

Talked about this game a bit today at work. Thoughts on the viability of it? What kind of implications does such a melding mean?

Wow, that's really unique, but I don't think I would play such a game. Sure, some people would love to just ante up some cash to play this game. Can money be taken out of the account though? I doubt it, but my curiosity gets the better of me.

Have you ever sat down to play a FPS for the first time, gone online, and then got fragged about three seconds after you log in? And then just gotten constantly raped by the people who have already been playing the game for months previous and know the location of every item and good hiding spot? Because I know I have, and there's no way I'd play a game that required me to ante up to play against those people.

The game has free practice/training areas. They aren't idiots, these marketeers.

Edit: I suppose I should clarify - for those who don't know, I play FPS 40hr/week for my job (I moderate/QA PSN games). So, yeah, I know a teensy bit about shooters.

And now think of all those people who dedicate hours and hours and hours and weeks and months to getting that good--I am totally sure they would love to be able to frag people for cash. The idea really is brilliant. I mean, people pay a monthy fee to pay Halo 3 over Live, don't they? Only difference here is, if you're good, it's free.

Frankly, sounds retarded.

I can play Halo 3 for $15 a month- and several other shooters in that same package. I can have just as much fun without the risk of losing my money. Buying virtual -ammo- with real cash? Really? :S I thought credits were bad but that just sounds like a funny concept.

My guess is that it works somewhat like Second Life or an online casino, wherein you are essentially gambling, and the money you win you could withdraw from the game and back into the real world.

The concept isn't so much paying for the ammo, I believe, but being paid RL money for getting the kills.

With that said, I'm curious how the psychology works - do you guys who play FPS play to win in terms of accolade, or would winning in terms of finance (even if you took a hit in gaming quality or renown) balance that out?

Personally, I would be very tempted to play the heck out of a strategy/tactics game where I could win money per unit killed or game won, even if I had to buy units/entry with cash. But, then again, I play poker for real money.

I play a game in general for fun. Lots of things factor into that- how the game looks, how well I perform in it, etc.

Of course, I have an absolute blast when I kick everyone's arse in an online Halo game. Or I get that very last flag run that wins our team the game. Is it something I'd pay money for, as far as one game is concerned? Probably not.

It'll vary from person to person. You'll definitely find some hardcore gamers that have gambled at some point in there life and would love a game like this. I'm clearly not one of them, it's just not casual enough for me.

That's exactly the system they modelled it on - the addiction of internet poker.

Are you a FPS type though? If you are, perhaps you are their target market (feel the crosshairs zeroing in?) - people who enjoy both the thrill of the hunt and the thrill of the risk.

Me? Nah. I suck at em. That's why I mentioned the strategy/tactics game, because that's more my genre of choice. I'd play a game like Pox Nora or something if it had a gambling element...well, so long as my fiance let me.

This is...an interesting idea.

Now, if they had two sets of servers, one for casual play, one for money play, that would be better.

However, the problem with this game seems that you pay through the teeth for being a novice of First Person Shooters. When I see a headcrab, I unload whatever weapon I have into it, then switch to the crowbar. In Resident Evil Four, my cousin once remarked that he'd hate to be the fellow who has to pick up after me, with all those shells.

And yet, it seems much, much nicer. But it could be done better. Let's give the players some land, get a map, mark territory. Give them the basic weapons and pay for their ammo and new guns with real money. Give them the ability to make forts or capture small villages or cities. Allow them to upgrade their forts. make it a mercenary type MMOFPS with Roleplay elements.

Heh. FPS is one thing, but Magic the Gathering has used a similar business model for quite a while now (with no free training and a mind-boggingly terrible online client).

But...wasn't there already an FPS like this a couple years back? Didn't it crash really badly?

EDIT: Actually, maybe this is even the game I'm thinking of, since it says January 2008. The fact of how terrible it was judged to be says a lot about how much people want to play a game like that when they have counterstrike and so on for what I think is free. I'm not sure people really consider Xbox Live a maintenance cost for the game so much as something like an extension on their internet connection - I wouldn't mind paying for Xbox Live if I had a 360 (PSN is kind of sad) but I won't pay for WoW on similar principles.

Sadhyra you have an awesome job

Actually, PSN is quite awesome in terms of downloadable content. The only thing it's lacking is a bit of the community features of XBL. But content-wise, I think it's top-notch.

PSN's downloadable content varies from area to area. In Europe it's crap. I was actually gonna buy Xenogears on PSN after seeing it on a list somewhere but it turns out that since I live in England I have to just get a torrent. All I have instead is buyable weapons for Dead Space and ugly Littlebig Planet skins.

I have yet to see if the experience of playing something like street fighter 4 online is similar to XBOX live (my suspicions tell me no, particularly since I have wireless, ha) but I suppose that can be confirmed at the end of the month.

What the happened to games like the original doom where all you did was move one stick and press maybe three buttons and still destroyed hoards of monsters?

I tried to play Resistance 2 the other day and after 1 level I had had enough. I used to be able to play Doom from start to finish if I had enough time (and maybe a friend ).

/rant

Create a U.S. PSN account and import a U.S. PSN card and you can download from the U.S. store just fine.

Huh. Ok. Well, even if I went to that effort, I don't think PS1 games are region-free on PS3s even though the usual software is (which is going to cause me to have to buy a new HD monitor, bah.)

I have the original Doom on my 360 and Duke Nukem' 3D too. It's alot of fun.