MGS3 servers stay up in Europe News

Woohoo?

tight bastards.

how few copies must this have sold in the US?!

Keeping the servers live for only a year is a bit tight. I think the decision will be associated with the MGS series rather than Konami itself - with this in mind I think MGS4 will be too bigger a game for the this subsistence servers incident to inform peoples decision whether to buy or not.

Still, not bad for free though.

See, this is a benefit of Live's yearly subscription. You don't really have to be worried about servers being taken down.

Get what you pay for I guess.

Therein lies the problem with Sony's online strategy. And this is from one of the (if not the most) key developers exclusive to their platform!

People can still set up their own servers right? Or is MGS online in the USA just gone for good?

Nope, it`s gone for good.

Maybe it isn't possible, but they could just release a windows or linux version of the server and let people set up private ones.
In fact, maybe they should do that for their next PSN games.
Doesn't Live work a little like this? Each person hosts his game on his own console?

Call of duty is the boy. Still going for online play.

They shut down servers?? Holy Hell, online gaming must suck!!

"See, this is a benefit of Live's yearly subscription. You don't really have to be worried about servers being taken down. "

That's what worries me about any "free" service, how long is it going to be around?

If something's free, that means it has fewer resources but is likely to have far more players, which is a recipe for trouble.

Doesn't Live work a little like this? Each person hosts his game on his own console?

That's what I thought, and if Sony Online is free you'd imagine they'd do it the same way. As long as someone out there has the game, surely they can just create a new server?

how few copies must this have sold in the US?!

Well they only seem to have made 8 copies for the whole of the UK, so my guess is they only did a 20-strong print run for the world.

Oh, one of them is here in Italy...So that's 21 worldwide?

NEED THIS!

so how do the other sony games work, especially the ps3 games. are these hosted by me and you on our consoles? UBI even put in the option to allow your xbox to be a dedicated host. Is this another area where M$ cane $ony?

A year online is rubbish, free or not.

They should atleast make it possible for fans to host servers.

That's why i'll never buy a MMORPG with fees! What if it shuts? then you have the game and you've paid it for a year or what then you can throw it away. worthless.

Actually Capcom23, by paying towards the upkeep of the server you pretty much ensure they can keep it going. The shutting down of the MGS3 server (And the Outbreak File#2 servers are being closed too, as if you cared) isn't a surprise, you can keep them going for a while but as the hype dies away, people move onto other games and generally fewer people keep playing, they realise they are throwing money away on servers that don't get a lot of usage. So they cut loose and run - saves them money.

As said though, there are many games that set up the base originator of the game as the "host". Removing lobbies etc. takes something away though, that much is certain, but they still have to look at it from a usage point of view - if it isn't getting a huge amount of usage, do they need it? You get what you pay for? Heck yes. If you're not paying anything for it, if they close it down you can't really claim the right to moan over it.

Is MGS3 any fun to play online multiplayer anyway? I can't imagine it. C&C type games or FPS will surely keep people coming back for more, but MGS is best known as a one player experience.

"That's why i'll never buy a MMORPG with fees! What if it shuts?"

It's a problem whether it's free or not, it's still worthless when the online servers are shut down.

Doesn't Live work a little like this? Each person hosts his game on his own console?

That's what I thought, and if Sony Online is free you'd imagine they'd do it the same way. As long as someone out there has the game, surely they can just create a new server?

It still needs to interact with master servers. Live isn't simply a p2p network, there is a lot more going on than simply that. There are some nice articles on the general workings on msdn iirc.

How much does it cost to run the matchmaking servers?
Aren't the master Quake III servers still running for instance?

With something like Quake 3, id software doesn't really have to do anything anymore. Any PC can fully host a dedicated game of Q3. MGS3 still goes through lobbies and shit that are on Konami's servers, and I guess they're taking all that stuff down.

I hope they keep it going in Europe a while longer, because MGS3 works bizarrely well online. Takes a lot of getting used to though- the wall-press flips you 180 when you least expect it, the lean-out-and-fire mechanic looks cool but is bloody useless and there's a nasty tendency to throw yourself flat in the middle of a knife fight. But the maps are great, the weapons/tools are many and I never tire of diving through them windows.

Because it's quite a rubbish game online, really.