Online Gaming Fails to Perform
According to an article report made by media giants Reuters, online gaming is currently a struggling business venture for many large video game publishers.
At this years Tokyo Game Show in Japan, Microsoft and Sony among other companies exhibited a strengthened interest in delivering online gaming content.
Japan's broadband network market increased 300 percent to 6 billion yen in 2002 and is expected to rise to 23 billion yen this year. Despite this rapid growth, statistics are showing that it is having very little impact on the financial bottom lines of many companies banking on the venture. Attributed to this is the fact that many customers have to purchase hard drives, network adapters and belong to a broadband service provider to participate in online gaming.
"Square Enix and Sony are struggling in the online business," said Deutsche Securities Senior Analyst Takashi Oya.
According to the report, Square Enix could have made 10 billion yen more if it had released Final Fantasy XI as a packaged title - the same being said for Sony's online golf game.
Square Enix launched the latest online version in their Final Fantasy series last May, yet only managed to gather 400,000 sales. This is far below its previous version, Final Fantasy X, which launched in 2001 as a packaged offline game and sold 2.7 million in Japan alone. Sony's online version of its popular Minna no Golf series has only garnered sales of 65,000 units since its launch in June, compared to 1.35 million sales of its previous version in an offline package.
The article then details Nintendo's reluctance to enter the online gaming market, stating that President Satoru Iwata said the current online games would not replace packaged games because users have to pay for monthly fees and purchasing equipment such as hard-drives and network adapters.
"We've had a lot of discussions about how to extend the networking capabilities for games such as 'Pokemon', to enhance head-to-head battles, exchange of information and communication with others," Iwata told reporters. The Kyoto-based company are researching alternatives to the current online business model. Nintendo said it will offer a device early next year that allows customers to play games together without the need for cables or monthly fees.
