GD said:
I guess if I want to get my MGO fix I'll have to wrestle with the PSP controls.
Any thoughts on this?
Yes, the PSP version is key. It has most of the mechanics and the visual style of Metal Gear Online in-tact since it is based on the MGS3 engine. If the PSP version did not exist I would be far more distressed about the PS2 servers going down. Fortunatly, the PSP version has adhoc for local wireless play, which means it can be tunneled online making it 'online forever'.
If you love MGO, get a PSP and get Portable Ops. You will have MGO preserved for as long as you want to play it.
Also the PSP controls are pretty good, and you can adjust the controls. It works almost exactly like the PS2 version once you mess with it a bit.
ViceMikey said:
WTF is this shit, are they going to offer any way to host your own servers??
I don't know how the PS2 network shit works, but this is unsettling considering it's the Metal Gear franchise they're cutting off.
The Playstation 2's online setup runs exactly like that of the PC. Third party companies have control over the games and how they are hosted. The termination of Metal Gear Online is indicative of what Japanese companies do to online titles. They take them offline rather quickly. Steel Lancer Arena International(published by Konami) and Arc the Lad End of Darkness(published by Namco), both Japanese developed titles were terminated exactly 1 year after their original release.
GD said:
Apparently the game had very few active players or they wouldn't be canning it. It does suck though, it shouldn't cost that much to run a few servers to accomodate the 1000 or so active players. There should be an option to run your own dedicated games or to system link though, to add longevity to a game that might only be hosted by Konami for a few years.
The US version had about 800-1000 players online on average. The Japanese version had 3-4 times as many players online, and it was terminated exactly 1 year after its retail release in Japan this past Christmas. I was online with the Japanese version the night the game was terminated.
Online Player population has nothing to do with why Konami is taking the servers down. It is a cold, calculating decision made by suits in a board room. SLAI (also published by Konami) went offline precisely 1 year after its release, and now the same happens for MGS3.
kernow said:
This really fucks me off
I only played amano jacu online as its region locked, but fuck it was fun. real fun
if there was a system link / LAN option, I would never play any other game.
much
see how long it took the DC PSO people to reverse engineer the server protocol etc.
I don't think we have much chance.
fucking konami, great, yet bastards.
The Playstation 2 has a ton of LAN titles: 37 confirmed in North America, and 33 in PAL territories. Unfortunatly MGS3 Subsistence does not feature a LAN option. In-fact most Japanese developed network titles do not feature LAN capabilities. The only Japanese developed titles with LAN are the 3 latest Armored Core games, Outrun 2006, and Gran Turismo 4. The Armored Core titles and GT4 wern't even online games originally, and Outrun 2006 ended up with LAN because it was ported by an outside, non-japanese, development house.
Reverse engineering a PS2 online game released later than 2003 has a bunch of hurdles to overcome. Not only would one have to code the server and all services related to it, but also Sony's DNAS authentication system which is required to get online.
DC PSO is a unique case and is only one of 2 or 3 console games to ever have network functions reverse engineered for them. Dreamcast and GameCube PSO are the first 2, and then Starlancer for Dreamcast which I contributed to the development process for. (even though Starlancer is still playable online via its official methods, steps were taken to preserve the game for the future)
Someone would have to have been working non-stop on reverse engineering a MGS3 server since the game was released.
Metal Gear Solid 3's online mode will be terminated in North America indefinatly at the end of the month.
I suggest anyone wishing to experience Metal Gear in a network environment to run out and pick up Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops on the PSP. The game is ONLINE FOREVER because it has independent networking capabilities via adhoc.
