Ashwin Hary
Edward 1
Lag, Glitchers and Cheaters in Online Gaming: Part 2
October 6th 2006 09:23
Yesterday I discussed the major issues facing online gaming. The problem is that as we move further into the age of technology, more and more people are going to be learning how coding and networking works, and the instances of issues like these will skyrocket.
One of the main things console game developers and publishers can do is host games on their own servers. This makes this a lot more difficult for cheaters, as they are not handling everyone's else's data as hosts. This has already been done with games like Battlefield: Modern Combat and Fifa 06. It is no coincidence that both of these games are made by EA. If your going to be hosting people from all over the world, you're going to need infrastructure, and EA has more dollars than any other publisher, by a fair stretch too.
As the industry grows, and it is set to continue to boom over the next five to ten years, its going to be worth a lot more money, and this will (hopefully) allow more companies to speed money on hosting space, setting up their own servers for their games.
Another way to decrease cheating in the online space is to work harder on writing network code that cannot be so easily manipulated. After Bungie's disgraceful efforts in dealing with bridgers and standbyers on Halo 2, it is easy to see why a company like Rare has such a proven track record of turning games into franchises. Their recent release, Perfect Dark Zero, had simply awesome net code. It allowed thirty players from all over the world to play together, with only the smallest amount of lag necessary.
After the game had been out many months, cheaters started glitching, and that ruined the game for many, but their effort in ensuring the multiplayer experience was as enjoyable as possible in terms of latency is a shining beacon many developers would do well to pay heed to.
If they don't, we may see a reversal in gaming, as console players return to games' single player options, free from the idiocy of those who try to get more than they've paid for.
One of the main things console game developers and publishers can do is host games on their own servers. This makes this a lot more difficult for cheaters, as they are not handling everyone's else's data as hosts. This has already been done with games like Battlefield: Modern Combat and Fifa 06. It is no coincidence that both of these games are made by EA. If your going to be hosting people from all over the world, you're going to need infrastructure, and EA has more dollars than any other publisher, by a fair stretch too.
As the industry grows, and it is set to continue to boom over the next five to ten years, its going to be worth a lot more money, and this will (hopefully) allow more companies to speed money on hosting space, setting up their own servers for their games.
Another way to decrease cheating in the online space is to work harder on writing network code that cannot be so easily manipulated. After Bungie's disgraceful efforts in dealing with bridgers and standbyers on Halo 2, it is easy to see why a company like Rare has such a proven track record of turning games into franchises. Their recent release, Perfect Dark Zero, had simply awesome net code. It allowed thirty players from all over the world to play together, with only the smallest amount of lag necessary.
After the game had been out many months, cheaters started glitching, and that ruined the game for many, but their effort in ensuring the multiplayer experience was as enjoyable as possible in terms of latency is a shining beacon many developers would do well to pay heed to.
If they don't, we may see a reversal in gaming, as console players return to games' single player options, free from the idiocy of those who try to get more than they've paid for.
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Comment by Anonymous
1st category: portability
PS3- Not quite portable, and pretty ugly too. (-1)
Xbox 360- Cool looking, but sort of clunky ( 0)
Wii- small ,sleek, and the controller comes in 5 colours ( 1)
2nd category: controller
PS3- not quite innnovative, no rumble, its getting old...
(-1)
Xbox 360- apparently quite comfortable. It looks neat too. ( 1)
Wii- Quite innovative, has lots of features. Lots of colours. Apparently easy to use. ( 1)
3rd category: games
PS3- Lots of good games including MGS4 to name one. No launch titles confirmed ( 1)
Xbox 360- many of the titles that PS3 has, plus the great HALO3 ( 1)
Wii- comes with wii sports in the bundle plus 24 fairly priced launch titles, including the great TWILIGHT PRINCESS ( 1)
ADVANCED CATEGORIES
4: Cost
PS3: its only 600$ US (-1)
Xbox360: meh its around 400$ not bad not good ( 0)
Wii- astonishly cheap, only 250$ ( 1)
5: Performance
PS3- It has about x10 more horsepower than the wii ( 1)
Xbox360- it has about x6 more horsepower than the wii ( 1)
Wii- About x2-3 times stronger than gamecube (-1)
6: HD Compatable
PS3- blueray built in, but bluray doesnt seem to be dominating HD ( 0)
Xbox360- Yes ( 1)
Wii- No (-1)
7: Online Capabilities
PS3- Yes ( 1)
Xbox 360- Yes ( 1)
Wii- Yes ( 1)
8: Backwards Compatable
PS3- Yes ( 1)
Xbox 360- Yes ( 1)
Wii- Yes ( 1)
9: Extra features
PS3- Internet connection, bluray dvd drive, music... ( 1)
Xbox 360- HD dvd drive, internet (i think)... ( 1)
wii- some channels, internet connection ( 1)
10- Other notes
PS3- Gained many fanboys with other PS's ( 1)
-Was not impressive in E3 (-1)
-Delay in Europe (-1)
Xbox 360- Sales started 1 year before other consels ( 1)
-Lots of bugs (-1)
- was not bad but not good in E3 ( 0)
Wii- Innovative, new, cool looking. ( 1)
- Drew in amazing crowds at E3 ( 1)
- Many games are considered to be for children (-1)
- 3rd partys are joining nintendo ( 1)
So this sais the scores of all the consels
PS3= 1
Xbox 360= 7
Wii- 7
So Wii and Xbox 360 tie, and PS3 is in misruble 3rd. But buy whatever you want cause I dont care.