Sonic Team Chief Admits that Phantasy Star for GameCube Will be Offline
While Nintendo 'umm' and 'aaah' regarding online functionality, Naka mentions Xbox and PSO. The gaming world holds its breath.
Sega hero Yuji Naka has admitted that as a result of Nintendo failing to commit to any kind of online GameCube strategy, Phantasy Star for the machine will be an offline affair.
"I'm hoping that the GameCube version will [release] at the same time in all countries, although it really depends on when Nintendo is going to launch its online services," said Naka. "There are other technical problems as well, but that's what I'm aiming for. PSO is designed to be an online game, although there is a chance the game will come out before online is ready. You can play with four players as split-screen, so there is a possibility for the game to come out first and people will still be able to play multi-player without the online service. I'm trying very hard to talk to Nintendo so that the modem will come out the same time as the game."
Naka then went on to discuss the possibility of an Xbox version of PSO, or any other Sonic Team online game for that matter. “Microsoft has not been very clear about when it wants to do the online service for Xbox, or what will be involved in it, so it's very hard to tell what new elements will be in the game," said Naka. "It really depends on what sort of timing Microsoft is talking about. The longer we have, as we had with GameCube, the more extra things we can put in it. It depends what Microsoft wants to do."
Curse you Nintendo, and your lack of decision-making!
Stay tuned for updates.
"I'm hoping that the GameCube version will [release] at the same time in all countries, although it really depends on when Nintendo is going to launch its online services," said Naka. "There are other technical problems as well, but that's what I'm aiming for. PSO is designed to be an online game, although there is a chance the game will come out before online is ready. You can play with four players as split-screen, so there is a possibility for the game to come out first and people will still be able to play multi-player without the online service. I'm trying very hard to talk to Nintendo so that the modem will come out the same time as the game."
Naka then went on to discuss the possibility of an Xbox version of PSO, or any other Sonic Team online game for that matter. “Microsoft has not been very clear about when it wants to do the online service for Xbox, or what will be involved in it, so it's very hard to tell what new elements will be in the game," said Naka. "It really depends on what sort of timing Microsoft is talking about. The longer we have, as we had with GameCube, the more extra things we can put in it. It depends what Microsoft wants to do."
Curse you Nintendo, and your lack of decision-making!
Stay tuned for updates.
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