Every big franchise turns MMO...

[edyzmedieval]

http://world.needforspeed.com/

http://fifa-online.easports.com/web/...5A46A7.tomcat4

Need I say more about the direction of PC Gaming?

[A Nerd]

Devistating news. Boring, repetitive and a monthly fee. There is always older SP games that no longer work with windows upgrades!!!

[Monk]

Need I say more about the direction of PC Gaming?

Yes you should.

MMOs are the current "new thing", about a year ago I was alarmed to discover that World of Warcraft is actually socially acceptable. I imagine that when publishers realized this as well they cracked their collective whips and demanded to know why their developers were not making MMOs. It surprises me that even with the market as saturated as it is, there are still new ones breaking onto the scene. It seems to be the current evolution. Franchise does well, spawns a side-project MMO.

Your implication that franchises doing this is bad for PC gaming, however, is not one I can agree with. PC gaming has much more to worry about from developers who decide to not release games for the platform in favor of console exclusivity. Red Dead Redemption and Super Street Fighter 4 are the latest casualties of this, two games i was highly looking forward to. But to be truthful I doubt the direction of PC gaming is as dire as you would suggest.

Firstly, because console exclusivity - while rampant - is not a belief that is universal amongst developers. While there are a lot of big name games that see this treatment (god of war, Halo 3, ect) there are countless more that see release for PC. If exclusivity was a bit more wide-spread then perhaps, but as I see it there's no need to panic or nuke my box from orbit.

Second because, well, come now. You wouldn't look at Guitar hero 6, laugh and say "Need I say more about Console gaming?" would you? They are obvious cash-grabs that happen to be in MMO form, let's treat it as it is.

[edyzmedieval]

Your points are valid, but why turn everything into a cash cow? Need for Speed World, 20 $ for a starter pack and then pay for the extra cars and booster credits and what not... Why do I have to feel I'm renting a game rather than owning it?

[Monk]

Your points are valid, but why turn everything into a cash cow? Need for Speed World, 20 $ for a starter pack and then pay for the extra cars and booster credits and what not... Why do I have to feel I'm renting a game rather than owning it?

MMOs have always been like that in the sense you don't own anything. You pay to have access to the game world in which you build your character and do various things. The good MMOs offer a world interesting and fun enough to make you want to do that, the bad just seem silly.

As to why everything is a cash-cow? FIFA online and NFS:World are both EA products. While EA is not the 'teh devil' as they used to be, they are still far closer to Activision than many want to admit. Just the presence of their name makes me a little skeptical, and if ME2 wasn't so good I would have had serious concerns about that franchise.

[Krusader]

MMOs have always been like that in the sense you don't own anything. You pay to have access to the game world in which you build your character and do various things. The good MMOs offer a world interesting and fun enough to make you want to do that, the bad just seem silly.

As to why everything is a cash-cow? FIFA online and NFS:World are both EA products. While EA is not the 'teh devil' as they used to be, they are still far closer to Activision than many want to admit. Just the presence of their name makes me a little skeptical, and if ME2 wasn't so good I would have had serious concerns about that franchise.

Mass Effect would have been MMOified already hadn't it been for Bioware also making the Star Wars MMO. Why create competition for yourself?
And I do think the MMO market will slow down a bit, as latest titles haven't been the blockbuster success they thought they would be (Age of Conan & Warhammer, Aion to an extent). I myself fear how Facebook might ruin PC gaming, as publishers might look at it and think us "real PC gamers" will automatically play anything on Facebook too, thinking that every person playing a PC game has the same tastes.