Phantasy Star Online (and ver 2) go offline for the DC.

[Charlie]

Sad, sad news. On September 30th, the serves for PSO ver 1 and ver 2 will be shut down, marking the end of the first system to truly go 'online', the Dreamcast. Sad sad sad.

Is there no hope that one day, you will be able to go online with the Dreamcast and play with people on different servers?

[davidbrit2]

Oh, wow. I thought those were shut off long ago. Maybe I'll have to go online so I can be disconnected as the servers are turned off. Heh.

[Nature Boy]

I've been wondering this for awhile. Not about PSO specifically, but about online gaming.

At some point, even the servers for today's consoles will be shut down.

Is it possible/likely that somebody will create/setup their own to keep the games alive?

And what's going to happen to collecting these online only games? Is anybody going to bother playing PSO once you can't play online anymore? Would a "Rare" online game lose all it's value because nobody would want to bother buying a game they could never play?

[chadtower]

Look for a rash of tradeins of that game at places like Gamestop.

[Bratwurst]

Are there 'offline' missions for that game? Rare items you can only get through online quests?

[Jorpho]

I've been wondering this for awhile. Not about PSO specifically, but about online gaming.

At some point, even the servers for today's consoles will be shut down.

Is it possible/likely that somebody will create/setup their own to keep the games alive?

And what's going to happen to collecting these online only games? Is anybody going to bother playing PSO once you can't play online anymore? Would a "Rare" online game lose all it's value because nobody would want to bother buying a game they could never play?

These were the first questions to come to mind when I heard that FFXI was going to be online-only. Unless it's really good, it's not going to endure forever.

(Would you believe I saw several copies of Majestic priced at $54 CDN in the back of a Toys 'R' Us yesterday?)
________
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[YoshiM]

I *think* games like Quake III and StarLancer for DC can be played through Gamespy Arcade. Not sure how exactly, but there are members on the IGNDC message boards that play StarLancer on a somewhat frequent basis.

[davidbrit2]

It would probably be a fairly trivial matter to rip the games, patch them to point to a different server, and reburn them. The hard part would be getting the server software. Good luck. Heh.

[Nature Boy]

The hard part would be getting the server software. Good luck. Heh.

That's what I'm more curious about. Do you think somebody will tackle writing their *own* software at some point? It's just another type of homebrewing it seems to me. Maybe the next big step.

[Pantechnicon]

It would probably be a fairly trivial matter to rip the games, patch them to point to a different server, and reburn them. The hard part would be getting the server software. Good luck. Heh.

I was going to start a thread on this myself, but the line of dialogue here is going along well enough.

I just got a DreamCast through trade, and it pains me to know that the modem on this thing will probably never be activated. :(

Here's what I think would be a cool idea. Sega could make a tidy little bundle of side money by selling whatever software is needed for individuals to set up their own local dial-up Dreamcast host servers. Back in the days of Doom and Quake I, there were lots of local BBS's who made a decent profit by serving as hosts for dial-up deathmatches, etc. Assuming one has enough phone lines and whatever hardware is needed to accommodate the server end of things, I'll bet it could be done. So you charge people something like $5 to $10 a month to dial up a local number to keep playing this online discontinued stuff. For many people, this would be more preferable than the hassles of switching to broadband.

I elaborated in a different thread about how I think onloine gaming as a whole is going to be a flash in the pan. However, I still think offering a local life for these games after the corporate masters pronounce them dead is quite a viable possibility. What do y'all think?

[Queen Of The Felines]

Dunno about consoles or any other PC games, but Ultima Online has a few non-OSI "fan" servers already up and running. I have absolutely no idea how it all works though.

Kristine

[Tritoch]

(Would you believe I saw several copies of Majestic priced at $54 CDN in the back of a Toys 'R' Us yesterday?)

Am I the only one that misses Majestic? The first time I got a phone call from that game was truly a moment that transcended any "regular" gaming experience. I wish someone would try that kind of game out again and actually get it right this time (new chapters hitting all the time, more methods of communication explored [snail mail would be freaky], less built-in "down time", etc.).

[tynstar]

(Would you believe I saw several copies of Majestic priced at $54 CDN in the back of a Toys 'R' Us yesterday?)

Am I the only one that misses Majestic? The first time I got a phone call from that game was truly a moment that transcended any "regular" gaming experience. I wish someone would try that kind of game out again and actually get it right this time (new chapters hitting all the time, more methods of communication explored [snail mail would be freaky], less built-in "down time", etc.).


What happened to that game?

[Jorpho]

The concept just didn't quite catch on, and service was discontinued several months ago. (This makes me wonder where the staff of that TRU has been.)
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