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Video game makers expand online games
Tokyo, Sept 29: Video game publishers and console makers are expanding and stepping up promotion of their online games in a move to secure future growth opportunities.
Tokyo, Sept 29: Video game publishers and console makers are expanding and stepping up promotion of their online games in a move to secure future growth opportunities.
Major Japanese game maker Square Enix Co Ltd. led the way on Friday by announcing a plan to launch a Windows version of its "Final Fantasy (FF) XI" online game in the United States next month.
It will provide the same title for Sony Corp's PlayStation 2 in March, aiming to push the title globally.
At Japan's largest industry show for video games, Console makers Microsoft Corp and Sony also made a fresh push to encourage users to connect their game machines to a network in the war to control space in the living room of the future.
Microsoft, which is betting big on its Xbox Live online service, said on Friday it would offer a two-month free trial for users of Xbox Live to attract more network gamers and boost flagging sales of its Xbox machine. The machine lags behind Sony's PlayStation2 and Nintendo's GameCube in Japan.
"Xbox live is critical to our success in Japan," Peter Moore, Microsoft's corporate vice president, told a news conference. He said 19 of 27 new titles are compatible with Xbox live.
Sony, which declared its full-fledged entry to the online game market in June, also displayed 27 online games at the show.
At stake is an early foothold in what many believe to be the future of gaming -- the ability to sell, deliver and update games online without using game disks and with no need to visit a shop to buy a product.
Game makers' efforts in the network business also reflect weakening demand for conventional games. The size of the Japanese video game market fell to 501 billion yen ($4.47 billion) in 2002 from 613 billion yen the previous year, according to Computer Entertainment Software Association (CESA).
The online game market, on the back of the recent rapid expansion of broadband networks, grew more than 300 percent to six billion yen in 2002, and it is expected to rise to 23 billion yen this year, the Digital Content Association of Japan said.
Bureau Report
Major Japanese game maker Square Enix Co Ltd. led the way on Friday by announcing a plan to launch a Windows version of its "Final Fantasy (FF) XI" online game in the United States next month.
It will provide the same title for Sony Corp's PlayStation 2 in March, aiming to push the title globally.
At Japan's largest industry show for video games, Console makers Microsoft Corp and Sony also made a fresh push to encourage users to connect their game machines to a network in the war to control space in the living room of the future.
Microsoft, which is betting big on its Xbox Live online service, said on Friday it would offer a two-month free trial for users of Xbox Live to attract more network gamers and boost flagging sales of its Xbox machine. The machine lags behind Sony's PlayStation2 and Nintendo's GameCube in Japan.
"Xbox live is critical to our success in Japan," Peter Moore, Microsoft's corporate vice president, told a news conference. He said 19 of 27 new titles are compatible with Xbox live.
Sony, which declared its full-fledged entry to the online game market in June, also displayed 27 online games at the show.
At stake is an early foothold in what many believe to be the future of gaming -- the ability to sell, deliver and update games online without using game disks and with no need to visit a shop to buy a product.
Game makers' efforts in the network business also reflect weakening demand for conventional games. The size of the Japanese video game market fell to 501 billion yen ($4.47 billion) in 2002 from 613 billion yen the previous year, according to Computer Entertainment Software Association (CESA).
The online game market, on the back of the recent rapid expansion of broadband networks, grew more than 300 percent to six billion yen in 2002, and it is expected to rise to 23 billion yen this year, the Digital Content Association of Japan said.
Bureau Report