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Massive Action Game 'only possible' on PlayStation 3 photo

It is my sincere hope that if I run enough of these "Game X is only possible on PS3" stories, gamers will get so annoyed that they will eventually rise up and murder those who keep saying "Game X is only possible on PS3." Until that time, someone has claimed that Massive Action Game is only possible on PS3!

"MAG is a 256 online-player game which is spectacular," states Sony's ever-ambitious John Koller. "If you look at that competitively, it’s something that’s only possible on PS3. The processor speed, the ability of PS3 to showcase 256 players at any given time, and their actions.

"It’s basically like an iteration of SOCOM, where you’re maybe commanding the SEALs, and someone else has the Rangers, and the Green Berets, and so on."

Massive Action Game has barely been seen or heard from since it was announced at E3 last year. The game is slated for a 2009 release but the only traces of its existence seem to be the E3 trailer and comments from PS3 fans claiming that this game they've never seen is going to rock. 

It may very well be a good game, but I won't buy that until I see more than promises. 256 players could be a total mess, especially on a home console. Let's see if it works before we hype that number to the moon. Oh, and I will always call it Massive Action Game. That name is too silly to be shortened to MAG.


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53 comments | showing # 1 to 50

Half left's Avatar
Half left at 04/03/2009 09:05
Massive erection.
JustLikeBuck's Avatar
JustLikeBuck at 04/03/2009 09:12
I remember one of the Delta Force spin-offs having up to 128 players online, but it was unworkable. Just a massive deathmatch.

Though if they handle it like Resistance 2s 64 player matches, it should certainly be interesting.
The Defiant Biscuit's Avatar
The Defiant Biscuit at 04/03/2009 09:19
Have there ever been 256 PS3 players online at any one time? Do they even exist?

Suppose it does work, with that many players screaming and abusing each other they may as well call it Multiple Annoying Gits.
Guncannon's Avatar
Guncannon at 04/03/2009 09:29
I'm assuming it will be totally drop-in play, and hopefully server-based.

Otherwise, I can imagine a lot of epic games being ruined by "Host has left game", or "Let's all go to the lobby, and have ourselves a treat! (and wait several minutes)"
BlackFreefall's Avatar
BlackFreefall at 04/03/2009 09:30
Shut up and just work on it. And it better not fail.
JustLikeBuck's Avatar
JustLikeBuck at 04/03/2009 09:31
@ The Defiant Biscuit
"Multiple Annoying Gits"? Didn't you hear? It's not out on 360...
ChaosTeaCup's Avatar
ChaosTeaCup at 04/03/2009 09:35
Oh well, there will be some pride in finishing in a respectable 159th place. But damn, you is gonna feel shit if you finish 256th.

Sounds like it could be a horrible mess, if I'm honest.
ChaosTeaCup's Avatar
ChaosTeaCup at 04/03/2009 09:37
And, Christ... Imagine the text-chatter.
The Defiant Biscuit's Avatar
The Defiant Biscuit at 04/03/2009 09:37
@ JustLikeBuck
Wouldn't the 360 version be Many Asshole's Gamerscore?
Joe Burling's Avatar
Joe Burling at 04/03/2009 09:42
This could NEVER be done on anything but the PS3. No computer has EVER EVER EVER been able to do 256 players simultaneously before... oh wait... except for computers... which have the same architecture as the 360...

nevermind
Sexualchocolate's Avatar
Sexualchocolate at 04/03/2009 09:43
Was going to say, PS3 users tend (not 100% - specially late at night when all the gobby yanks arrive, thank god for the option to choose EU only servers!) to be a lot more grown up. We talk game, we talk personal life, but we don't shout and scream bullshit. Occasionally we'll get angry, but it's never the raging torrent of profanity found on Errorbox games.

I even have a buddy who plays quality 80's tunes through his headset for us between SOCOM rounds.

Think there are just less welfare parent, badly brough up kids on PSN, far more young professionals. The bonus of higher price, that and the better, more reliable, future proof hardware.

I think if MAG is anything like SOCOM it's going to be an intstant win in my book. I'm hoping for a highly objective based game, multiple objectives for each squad, with an overall battle plan.

Fingers crossed this will be as awesome as i hope it will.
MrSlippery's Avatar
MrSlippery at 04/03/2009 09:46
bah, 256 players? way too much in my opinion.

mind you, I never got to try Resistance 2's 64 player teams, that sounded well implemented, and It could certainly keep the game exciting to run into a group of 40 players and it's just you and three or four friends.
whormongr's Avatar
whormongr at 04/03/2009 09:46
my big fear of this game is that it will require massive amounts of bandwidth, as it is I never have lag problems, but I don't have a hard wired connection anywhere near my ps3 so I am going over wi-fi. If it works over wi-fi it will be cool tho-
gamadaya's Avatar
gamadaya at 04/03/2009 09:58
While Sony execs are consistently full of shit, they might actually be right this time. This would be quite a feet even on a high end PC. So yeah... I guess this is the one time the Cell processor has actually proved to be any more useful than a more conventional processor.

@Sexualchocolate: Stop sucking Sony's dick in public. Nobody wants to see that. Keep that kind of thing private.
ChaosTeaCup's Avatar
ChaosTeaCup at 04/03/2009 10:02
"Think there are just less welfare parent, badly brough up kids on PSN, far more young professionals. The bonus of higher price, that and the better, more reliable, future proof hardware."

Predijuced, much?

And after seeing the Hoo-hah over the slightly less than perfect scores for Killzone 2, I find that comment laughable, lamentable, and downright daft.
foxhound421's Avatar
foxhound421 at 04/03/2009 10:02
"It is my sincere hope that if I run enough of these "Game X is only possible on PS3" stories, gamers will get so annoyed that they will eventually rise up and murder those who keep saying "Game X is only possible on PS3.""

OR, maybe game bloggers will finally come to the realization that the PS3 is capable of doing things that the 360 simply isn't. you people rail on the PS3's market performance every chance you get, yet you expect them NOT to hype PS3 games? now, MAG isn't really on my radar at the moment and i have no idea whether or not this "only possible on PS3" claim is true. But unless you're privy to some information that the rest of the world isn't, neither do you Jim. but hey, it's another chance to poke fun at the PS3 and damned if you 'journalists' aren't going to take advantage of it.

hey, i just thought of something my PS3 can do that my 360 can't: not brick itself.

and MGS4.
dgschrei's Avatar
dgschrei at 04/03/2009 10:07
I would like to remind these people that there is such a thing called a PC and it is currently capable to support 256 player matches without even breaking a sweat. The reason that there is no game that uses this power is, because havin that many players in one game is a stupid idea. The only way this could work without being a confusing and stressful experience would be if different teams fought in different instances for 1 goal. But if you do it that way it's not really an achievement and definately not something that only the PS3 with it's more than laughable PSN can achieve.
mix's Avatar
mix at 04/03/2009 10:09
I don't know it might be telling somewhat of the truth.

My girlfriends sister just moved back and she went to video game design school in Toronto. She was talking about Red Faction 3 and how they had to "tone it down" so it was stable on the 360 as there was too many things to calculate/going on with the building..etc which worked fine on the PS3 but NOT the 360.

I see this being true when it comes down to the massive amount of number crunching needed (folding @ home is an example)
eternalplayer2345's Avatar
eternalplayer2345 at 04/03/2009 10:19
we need to name more stuff like this; intense movie thrillride, soothing rhythm music, enjoyable epic book!
foxhound421's Avatar
foxhound421 at 04/03/2009 10:23
also, Koller said, "If you look at that competitively…". i would imagine that he's referring directly to the PS3's primary competition, the 360. i'm sure the PC is capable of handling 256 players but i see consoles and PC as almost being 2 separate markets. i don't think Sony is trying to compete with the PC market. just my take of it.
ChaosTeaCup's Avatar
ChaosTeaCup at 04/03/2009 10:25
Superior complexity community
elsteveo's Avatar
elsteveo at 04/03/2009 10:39
@Sexualchocolate

I find you are the biggest sony cock sucker on this site. How many times have you whacked off on your controller? Seriously the statements you make are just plain idiotic. To classify people as being better for owning a PS3 just cause it cost more is stupid.
njsykora's Avatar
njsykora at 04/03/2009 10:48
A quick recap of this comment thread for anyone dropping in late.

Sony fanboys are masturbating and being dicks.

Microsoft fanboys are trolling and being dicks.

PC elitists are saying their machine has been doing this for years and slowly rubbing themselves whilst being dicks.
brainderailment's Avatar
brainderailment at 04/03/2009 10:53
This game needs art direction and a >>STORY<< We all know that 256 players is possible on the 360 and obviously PC, just give it up already.
venomous's Avatar
venomous at 04/03/2009 11:12
Gamestop has a release date up for November 24. This reminds me of Splinter Cell: conviction which is due out in a few months but, has had no buzz or announcements for it. I wouldn't be surprised to see MAG slip to 2010.
Hati Fox's Avatar
Hati Fox at 04/03/2009 11:26
ps3 version of fallout 3 was the worst of the three verions
Midgetsnowman's Avatar
Midgetsnowman at 04/03/2009 11:31
Yeah..I'm perfectly sure the ps3 is capable of 256 people in a single match..

But why on gods green earth would you want to listen to 100+ teammates screaming in your ear over VoIP while in a match , alongside barking orders and racist drivel at each other?
hitnrun's Avatar
hitnrun at 04/03/2009 11:33
Considering that I can run an online game with 256 players in the same area on my 1995 Pentium 2 166 MHz (it's called "Everquest"), I think the appropriate characterization for this press release is "full of shit, like you were yesterday when you said the PS2 was going to take sales from the Wii".

At this rate, Microsoft will throw a 256 player shooter together for the 360 and release it before MAG just for the sake of doing it.
Midgetsnowman's Avatar
Midgetsnowman at 04/03/2009 11:39
Oh right. i forgot about that. Come to think of it I remember back in ff11 when there'd be upwards of 400 people in aht urgan for city raids or 200+ at an auction house
Timmeh's Avatar
Timmeh at 04/03/2009 11:39
Yeah... Okay. So is this baseless hype or blatant fanboy bait? Maybe they think if they talk enough garbage about how the PS3 is just so marvellous they'll get high sales from all the devout fanboys.
Midgetsnowman's Avatar
Midgetsnowman at 04/03/2009 11:45
Its baseless hype, really. hundreds of players in single areas has been done by mmos for forever and a day, and those games generally require a shitload more server-side processing than any shooter I know of.
Zippyduda's Avatar
Zippyduda at 04/03/2009 11:49
Can I just say? Does anybody do research into gaming news? :P just kidding :) this game is going to be run on Sony servers (which begs the question on why it wouldn't on Xbox....hmmm). Anyway yeah the game works so all 256 players are split up into 8 man squads. So highly doubtable that all 256 players will be visible at the same time. As I found out about this game a long time I found out that each side small squads will contribute to a larger battle, like a real war, in units.

Also about the Xbox players comment, I am in a games design course and 10 out of 15 have Xboxs, 5 including me have PS3's, and all I hear is them arguing about gamerscore and boosting, whereas all PS3 people I know don't complain. Btw I just signed up FINALLY after a month of reading the news on the site.
John Johnson's Avatar
John Johnson at 04/03/2009 11:52
Does anyone know if this game is first or third person? I know the market has been inundated with FPS's lately, but I still hope this is first person, third person shooters are fine for games with stories, but when it comes to all out carnage, I want to be sitting in the driver's seat, not in the air ten yards behind the bumper and five yards over the roof.
Midgetsnowman's Avatar
Midgetsnowman at 04/03/2009 11:59
@zippyduda:

and? all of the ps3 owners who I'm friends with do nothing but bash the xbox constantly and praise how amazing sony is, while all my xbox owning friends honestly don't care about the console war or their gamerscore. Just because your experience and my experience are totally opposite doenst mean any of us has the right to make broad statements about the people who own a system.
Chronic Logic's Avatar
Chronic Logic at 04/03/2009 12:07
This is bunch of bullshit Sony is pulling out of their ass. It can only be done on the PS3? 256 players in a single server fighting? How hard can that be? A couple of years ago, I played Joint Operations: International Conflict, it was a mod for Joint Operations for the PC. Each IC server can have up to a maximum population of 250 players. That's 125 vs 125 players. It actually ran smoothly. Not to mention it was a fun game. Now somebody says that MAG can be ONLY played on the PS3 just because is has 6 extra players more? GOOD FUCKING GOD.
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Zippyduda's Avatar
Zippyduda at 04/03/2009 12:08
@ Midgetsnowman (nice name btw :) )

Yeah fair enough, just saying that all the xbox owners I know do what I said. I know a few PSN users who bash xbox yes :) Personally I've met a lot mroe PS3 bashers than vice versa.

@ John Johnson

I was looking into that and I heard it was both, switchable like Halo. I think the default is 3rd person though, and you can change to 1st, maybe though, not 100% on that fact.
Tarvu's Avatar
Tarvu at 04/03/2009 12:08
Can 'Detox' have her account deleted? See above.

The way this game seems to be progressing, it's going to be smaller battles that seem to interact with each other. Anybody who says it will be great already is rather silly. Large multiplayer games can suck gigantic balls easy.

Oh and @Zippyduda, I have mostly PS3 gamer friends, and they mostly talk about trophies and boosting them.
bluerahjah's Avatar
bluerahjah at 04/03/2009 12:10
@Hati Fox
Hell yes it was, I played it for maybe 3 hours, and then went to hell with this shit, and returned it. For one, anything ported to the PS3 sucks. It just does, plain and simple. Second, the PS3 is not the end all be all of consoles, as Sony fanboys seem to think. Yes, it's a decent console, with some great tech, but it's not the best ever. Oh, and to the people who said that MGS4 could never be done on the 360, you're wrong. While I have played the hell out of MGS4, the game itself, *not the 9 hours of cutscenes* would most likely do better on the 360, and look better.
Chronic Logic's Avatar
Chronic Logic at 04/03/2009 12:10
Whoops, here is the pic,
joemoemino's Avatar
joemoemino at 04/03/2009 12:10
I wonder how many people will be supported for the console version of Arma 2. I know Operation Flashpoint and Arma 1 can both support more than a hundred people depending on the server.
Zippyduda's Avatar
Zippyduda at 04/03/2009 12:14
@ Tarvu, ok I get it everyone, people know different gamer types :)

@ Chronic Logic
Yeah I kind of agree as it's Sony Server, not on your PS3. But I'm glad we get another exclusive :)I've been meaning to get Joint Operations for a long time, is it worth it, PM me.
Zippyduda's Avatar
Zippyduda at 04/03/2009 12:18
@bluerahjah, Seriously, this isn't a flaming topic on Xbox and PS3's, but I read somehwere that MGS4 on the Xbox would take 6 discs, and Hideo Kojima said he was disappointed with MGS4 as he couldn't fit all the data on the Blu-Ray Disc :O never mind a HD-DVD, so there might have been more content. Anyway back on topic, I'm looking forward to MAG, and getting Operation Flashpoint 2.
Primo's Avatar
Primo at 04/03/2009 12:19
I won't be interested in this game until it has 256 player co-op against Chimera or something.
Steel Squirrel's Avatar
Steel Squirrel at 04/03/2009 12:42
Lol @ 256 players...

You can't even get 3 random people to work together most of the time in other online games. Good luck getting multiple 8 man squads to communicate and cooperate.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out, that's for sure.
At least they already released Socom: 256 Player Server Test to make sure they can work out the server issues.
Zippyduda's Avatar
Zippyduda at 04/03/2009 12:45
I see your point Squirrel, but that's why teams/clans (whatever you want to call them) were invented. Yeah at first it'll eb random but there are people who work together online.
hitnrun's Avatar
hitnrun at 04/03/2009 12:52
Only possible on the Playstation 3.

Blackhat's Avatar
Blackhat at 04/03/2009 13:02
"I see this being true when it comes down to the massive amount of number crunching needed (folding @ home is an example)"

I've worked on the 360, wii, xbox, ps2, PSP, PC. I'll tell you right now, the PS3 excels at nothing over 360's or PS3's. In fact, it basically takes an entire core (of the three available) to even run the PS3's OS (the 'XMB.')

However, as has been mentioned over and over, the PC has been doing this stuff for years and years, so I'm not sure where the "PS3 is the only thing that can do this!" came from. Maybe they mean over other consoles (which is still wrong.)

Hell, Tribes had 128 players what, twelve years ago? And what exactly does the PS3 have in it that somehow makes it more capable of massive multiplayer gaming? The awful sony servers?
PixelJunky's Avatar
PixelJunky at 04/03/2009 14:24
They are talking consoles, clearly the PC has had this capability for quite some time.

Fanboys get their panties in a bunch pretty quick still.
pascuz46's Avatar
pascuz46 at 04/03/2009 14:32
Weather this game can only be done on the PS3 or not, I dont really care. What I do care about is seeing more of this game, since its E3 announcement it has sparked my interest so I hope some time soon Sony will be giving out some info. I am really looking forward to this game.
hitnrun's Avatar
hitnrun at 04/03/2009 14:39
There's no technical difference between a console and a computer except licensing and optimization.

In fact, the PS2 ran Final Fantasy XI in...2002?
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