Exhuminator wrote:
Yeah there were multiple console MMORPG concepts in development back then. But PSO beat them all to the punch, and cemented itself as the true originator. PSO released in 2000, two years later FFXI debuted in 2002, and Everquest Online Adventures followed in 2003. While FFXI and EOA were popular, and played in a different vein than PSO, PSO had served as the icebreaker for console MMORPG in general. Thus I consider it a hallmark sixth gen JRPG. (As an aside; EOA never released in Japan unfortunately.)
Right, but to say that others "wouldn't have existed" despite being in development prior to PSO launching seems a little...extreme? That's more what I disagree on.
Sixth gen had a push for online play across the board, even if it didn't entirely catch on until seventh gen. Every console either integrated network hardware or had it as an accessory. With online PC games already being quite successful, models or properties from that were being looked at for adaptation.
So, to me, it's a matter of parallel development. Sega picked a model (Diablo's) that worked for their technical requirements, and got it to market first. Which they do deserve credit for - not just for PSO, but the Dreamcast in general. They pushed hard for people to connect their consoles to the internet. PSO stands out not just for console RPGs, but online console games, since I think it was one of the few actually built for that
first rather than ported/adapted like Quake III or the like.
At the same time, Sega wasn't exactly going to make PSO for the PS2.
FFXI was a
far more ambitious project, bringing a full-fledged Everquest style MMO to a console, albeit reliant on the PS2 HDD accessory to do it. It's not just one of (if not the) first actual MMOs for a console, but the one with continued success - it was the last supported PS2 game until earlier this year, when SE discontinued console support for the game.
It also did a number of other things somewhat uniquely - few other MMOs have combined their playerbase to the same level (all players on the same servers, regardless of region or platform), and skewed things more towards JRPG-ness with more of a focus on PVE and story than other MMOs of the time.
To a fair point, it'd be a worthy mention as well.
