Go Back  DVD Talk Forum > Entertainment Discussions > Video Game Talk
Reload this Page >

Sony to Launch Service for Online Sports Games

Video Game Talk The Place to talk about and trade Video & PC Games

Sony to Launch Service for Online Sports Games

Old 08-11-03, 04:54 PM
  #1  
Guest
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Glendale, next to L.A.
Posts: 18,484
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Sony to Launch Service for Online Sports Games

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...log/GetContent

Mon August 11, 2003 12:55 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sony Corp. 6758.T , which dominates the video game hardware market with PlayStation 2 but has seen its share of the sports game market dwindle in the face of heavy competition, on Monday said it would launch a service for its sports game players to compete online.

The new 989SportsOnline.com is set to launch Aug. 26 to coincide with the release of the football game NFL GameDay 2004. The online service will feature message boards, tournaments, downloadable rosters and player rankings, and will let users conduct voice chats with a PS2 headset.

It will also offer a unified login, so players can access the site with one username and password no matter which 989 Sports game they are playing.

Sony's new service is set to launch one day after rival Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O releases an upgrade to its Xbox Live online gaming platform that will let subscribers conduct voice chats without being in an actual game.

The Xbox Live service is a closed one; Microsoft collects subscription fees for it and operates all the game servers, regardless of the game or publisher. Sony's platform has traditionally been decentralized, with publishers operating online services and charging at their discretion.

Electronic Arts Inc. ERTS.O , the independent publisher that dominates sports gaming, is putting all of its sports titles online on the PS2 this year, and has set up what it calls "EA Sports Nation" to link its games through common online features.

EA has refused thus far to support Xbox Live for its sports games, citing concerns about the business model. Microsoft has its own sports lineup, which it calls XSN Sports, that is also online-enabled and offers users access to message boards and player rankings.

Chris
Old 08-11-03, 05:08 PM
  #2  
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Austin, Texas XboxLIVE Gamertag: Golucky Timezone: Central (CST)
Posts: 4,899
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
hmmmmm......No Sega's online?
Old 08-11-03, 05:21 PM
  #3  
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: The Sports and Pr0n Forum
Posts: 7,811
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
989Sports
Old 08-11-03, 05:57 PM
  #4  
DVD Talk Special Edition
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: AZ
Posts: 1,816
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Well that is odd. Gameday really is a bad game so this doesn't make sense. If they wanted to offer to keep your madden stats I could see it but come on.
Old 08-11-03, 07:16 PM
  #5  
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
 
Decker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: Vegas, Baby!
Posts: 75,191
Received 6,033 Likes on 4,118 Posts
Hope the site doesn't get overwhelmed by the dozens of people who actually buy 989 sports games.
Old 08-11-03, 08:42 PM
  #6  
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Austin, Texas XboxLIVE Gamertag: Golucky Timezone: Central (CST)
Posts: 4,899
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Originally posted by Decker
Hope the site doesn't get overwhelmed by the dozens of people who actually buy 989 sports games.
Old 08-11-03, 10:17 PM
  #7  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
~~ PAL ~~'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 6,228
Received 184 Likes on 159 Posts
Agreed that it was a poor choice of game studio to start their sports network. For their sake, Sony better have been paid well for covering ALL 989 games...
Old 08-12-03, 01:42 AM
  #8  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 797
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Man, for a second there I totally forgot 989 Sports existed. Not to mention I thought NFL Gameday was left behind in the PSX. Hope Sony knows what theyre doing.
Old 08-12-03, 05:59 AM
  #9  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Arizona, USA
Posts: 23,466
Received 7 Likes on 1 Post
So... they are launching a website with messageboards? Whoa - hold me back.
Old 08-12-03, 09:03 AM
  #10  
DVD Talk Special Edition
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: AZ
Posts: 1,816
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
do you guys think this is just a "let's do this to catch up to MS" stunt? XSN is for MS only titles so it seems they are both doing the same thing. Of course I would say that there is no way fever can be worse or sell worse than gameday. I can't wait for fever and the lead n pass or whatever its called passing.
Old 08-12-03, 09:35 AM
  #11  
Retired
 
Join Date: May 1999
Posts: 27,449
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Isn't EA doing some kind of online network on the PS2 as well?

I mean who cares about this or the XSN sports thing when the 989 and MS sports series suck donkey balls?
Old 08-12-03, 09:56 AM
  #12  
DVD Talk Special Edition
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: AZ
Posts: 1,816
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
989 we all know sucks, but the only knock I have heard on fever is that it isn't madden or nfl2k. The new passing system makes fever sound interesting, and of course the XSN is worth a try too.
Old 08-12-03, 09:59 AM
  #13  
DVD Talk Special Edition
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,187
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally posted by Josh Hinkle
Isn't EA doing some kind of online network on the PS2 as well?

I mean who cares about this or the XSN sports thing when the 989 and MS sports series suck donkey balls?
I agree. 989 sports games and the whole MS sports lineup are pretty poor (Who came up with "NFL Fever" as the name of the NFL game? Sounds like it's out of the 80's). EA's webserver better be able to handle everyone on the planet playing their games!
Old 08-12-03, 10:14 AM
  #14  
Retired
 
Join Date: May 1999
Posts: 27,449
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Well, I guess the Fever games don't totally suck, but MS's sports games are still pretty damn far behind the EA and/or Sega offerings in every sport in most peoples opinions.

Here's the EGM review scores for the football games.

Madden NFL 2004-9.5, 9.0, 9.5
ESPN NFL Football- 8.0, 7.5, 8.5
NFL Fever 2004- 6.5, 6.5, 6.0

My knock on Fever is it isn't near the sim as the other offerings and the player models suck compared to the other games.

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.