World of Warcraft to PS3?

[Scott]

The latest EGM has a rumor that Sony is trying hard to lure World of Warcraft to the PS3 as an exclusive.  Any other rumors on this?  It seems, that if Sony gets this, the PS3 will dominate the market this generation, like the PS2 did.  

Microsoft would have to be crazy to let this happen.

[Destructor]

Not a chance in hell, IMHO. Blizzard is perfectly happy with the sales of WoW on the PC, and I don't see them moving to any console at all anytime soon.

[Ridah]

Not only that, but the 360 architecture is much more similar to a PC's than PS3, why would they want to release it there?

[Autistic Angel]

There have been a lot of rumors swirling around that Star Wars: Galaxies will be coming to console systems or that World of WarCraft would be released for the X-Box 360.  Failing an official announcement, I remain a skeptic.

-Autistic Angel

[Farscry]

I don't doubt Sony's trying to do that.

I also think Microsoft would definitely be crazy to let it happen.

I don't know if Blizzard is going to cave on its stance so far of not porting WoW over to a console.

So, yeah, I'd call this rumor mill stuff, but it's very intriguing. I'll be curious to see how it all turns out.

[Scott]

World of Warcraft would be an incredible exclusive title to have, potentially bigger then even a GTA game worldwide.  Why not go after it in a big way?   I can't think of any games that would be bigger then WoW now for a console.

As far as Blizzard moving it to a console?  Why not?  They will have an expansion out soon, and are stabilizing the systems pretty well.  Why not develop a console title and sell a few million more copies, plus montly fees?  Blizzard runs a business after all, and I think WoW on the console would be another huge hit and another tremendous revenue stream.  If Blizzard could also get a ton of money from either Microsoft or Sony, seems an easy decision to make.

[unbreakable]

Well either way, it would have to be a hard-drive based system, so the gimpy360 owners are out of luck.

[Ridah]

I don't see WoW being a huge score as a console exclusive, I really don't. First of all, the graphics would need a serious overhaul which I doubt will happen. If you think FFXI looks like shit on the 360, a year down the line WoW will look utterly horrible... especially on PS3.

[Pyperkub]

Well either way, it would have to be a hard-drive based system, so the gimpy360 owners are out of luck.

Why?  I could definitely see them storing everything on the servers, and linking to your account.  I do have a Premium though, so I'm unfamiliar with the full limitations of the Core...

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

Well either way, it would have to be a hard-drive based system, so the gimpy360 owners are out of luck.

Why?  I could definitely see them storing everything on the servers, and linking to your account.  I do have a Premium though, so I'm unfamiliar with the full limitations of the Core...

How else would you get patches?

[Scott]

I don't see WoW being a huge score as a console exclusive, I really don't. First of all, the graphics would need a serious overhaul which I doubt will happen. If you think FFXI looks like shit on the 360, a year down the line WoW will look utterly horrible... especially on PS3.

WoW is huge worldwide.  I'm sure there are people that can't play it because their computer isn't powerful enough.  Plus, who cares what it looks like graphically, it'd still be the best looking MMO available for consoles.  If looks mattered so much, it wouldn't sell on the PC as well.  There are tons of better looking PC games...

[Chaz]

I suspect that with as long as WoW has been out, that most people that want to play it either are, or can.  The system requirements aren't that high, so I don't know how many people are technologically unable to.  On top of that, I suspect that the same people who won't upgrade their PC to play WoW will also balk at a monthly fee.

Plus, on a console you lose the ability to run interface mods, many of which help the game immensely.  After the massive flop that was Everquest on the PS2, I don't think Blizzard is in a rush to move WoW to any console.

[Tebunker]

It seems, that if Sony gets this, the PS3 will dominate the market this generation,

I don't really care about whether it comes out on PS3 or not, but I can say that a going on 2 year old PC game port won't solidify any console's dominate place.

Now if this was Diablo 3 or something of that Magnitude I would still say that it won't solidify dominance, only grant a lot of power.


No one game made the PS2 dominant, it was a collection of great games that started hitting about 18 months into it's life cycle. DMC, MGS 2, FFX and GT 3 those are what locked PS2 in while the Xbox and Cube found their footing.

[Scott]

No one game made the PS2 dominant, it was a collection of great games that started hitting about 18 months into it's life cycle. DMC, MGS 2, FFX and GT 3 those are what locked PS2 in while the Xbox and Cube found their footing.

I think GTA and GTA: Vice City were the PS2's killer games, more so then the games you listed put together.  One game can make a difference.

As far as a two year old PC game mattering, its still the number one PC game, with a ridiculous subscriber base.  I'm sure it could do quite well in the console market, and would really set apart one system over the other.

[Darren8r]

Not only that, but the 360 architecture is much more similar to a PC's than PS3, why would they want to release it there?

Are they?

Last time I played a PS3..... Oh wait its not out yet, I guess I shouldn't speculate.

[biggercup]

Somehow, I rather play it on XBOX360 than PS3

[unbreakable]

Why?  I could definitely see them storing everything on the servers, and linking to your account.  I do have a Premium though, so I'm unfamiliar with the full limitations of the Core...

How else would you get patches?

Exactly.  Not just patches, but expansions!

Now I can envision ways to get around that, but I don't believe it would be worth it to Blizzard to completely redesign their system to accomodate a different system.  It would also throw in a ton of issues if you were intermingling console and PC players.

Do you think the PC players would be happy if there were downtime caused by a flaw from console issues?  Always know who butters your bread, and I don't think consoles would be enough butter to justify the trouble.

I'm not going to rule it out, but I don't see WoW to a console having a high probability.  But were I the HMFIC, if the numbers worked out right, I would have console players on their own server(s).

[metallicorphan]

Well either way, it would have to be a hard-drive based system, so the gimpy360 owners are out of luck.

but final fantasy 11 made the jump to 360...and you cant play that unless you have the hard drive

whether WoW goes to ps3 or not,i dont know.....but it wouldnt suprise me if star wars galaxies went there...as they are both made by sony,and that games needs something...anything to perk it up

[Pyperkub]

Bill has a nice post on what might be happening behind the scenes:

The greatest bidding war in the history of gaming is going on behind closed doors.

What's a console exclusive for World of Warcraft worth, anyway? 50 million? 100 million? More? I'm not sure there's even a method to accurately value the fanchise, but I do know that whatever it's actually worth, Sony or Microsoft will overpay significantly.

I'm still not sold on it, but I've never played WoW (I refuse to pay $15/month).

FWIW, I think expansions would be shipped on a second DVD containing the appropriate art assets, etc.  I don't think bugs would be as much of an issue given that the game has been out forever now, and the console hardware/drives are a known quantity...

[Scott]

Having played the game a lot (to much), I think that WoW is huge for the consoles.  I agree with Bill.  The winning console has a tremendous advantage.  Its a Blizzard game, which is huge, the only major Blizzard game that'll be coming to a console, and the fanbase is staggering world wide.

[stiffler]

I agree with Scott.  Microsoft needs to pay whatever it takes to land that.  It would be a huge title on the 360 and they could certainly use it.

And like metallicorphan said, MMORPG's are supposed to be exempt from the "no hard drive required" thing.  Sure it screws the core users, but MS can't ignore the MMORPG market and those games need the hard drive.  You can always add a HDD.  Too bad it's so expensive...

[EddieA]

I don't think it's that big of a deal either.  How many people have an interest in WoW, broadband internet access, money to buy a $400-$600 console, but don't have a computer that could play the game?

[olaf]

Its a huge deal.  WoW is huge and its only getting bigger.  Its still gaining subs 18 months after release and the first expansion hasnt even hit.

I dont see this ending up on the PS3 as an exclusive.  I see it being on the 360, or both of them.

olaf

[unbreakable]

$600 + Dell = a computer good enough to play WoW.

[Scott]

$600 + Dell = a computer good enough to play WoW.

There is a whole different audience that plays console games and does not want to deal with computers at all.  Does that $600 get you a system that just lets you plug it into to your tv, hook up a wireless controller, and relax?

I think the allure is to attract the console gamers, that even if they have good computers, they couldn't care enough to run games on them.  But they play their share of Madden, GTA, etc., and could get into a huge game like WoW if it was very easy to do.

[unbreakable]

$600 + Dell = a computer good enough to play WoW.

There is a whole different audience that plays console games and does not want to deal with computers at all.  Does that $600 get you a system that just lets you plug it into to your tv, hook up a wireless controller, and relax?

Mine does  

20" widescreen monitor (better than HDTV), I can record two shows at a time with no recurring costs (TiVo is a pay service)...

AND I have a remote control.

I think the allure is to attract the console gamers, that even if they have good computers, they couldn't care enough to run games on them.  But they play their share of Madden, GTA, etc., and could get into a huge game like WoW if it was very easy to do.

Having said what I did, I will admit that I view the PC as the most important piece of technology I own, or can possibly own.  It's the pulsing heart of my media experience, and just keeps getting better.

Now I don't even use my consoles on a TV, I'm just feeding them into the computer to be displayed there.  Everything I can do on a TV or stereo I can generally do better with a PC.  Even the new, huge TVs come with at least a VGA input.

However, if somebody is not as computer savy as myself... I can see why they would want simpler alternatives.  It's the usual trade-off between simplicity and flexibility.

-----
Actually, all of this is irrelevant.  If a person doesn't own a computer... I can't see why they would buy a $500 to $600 console just to play WoW.

Unless Sony wins the format war before it even begins, the PS3's value as a Blu-Ray player is going to be questionable; it risks obsolescence right out of the box, since the winner in a format war is up for grabs.  For all anyone knows, they may be getting a shiny new $600 BetaMax player for Christmas.

Which leaves it firmly, after all is said and done, as JUST a console system... with a DVD player.  Now maybe Sony can team up with TiVo or somebody to add just a bit more value to it... that would probably be a good move, but it certainly makes the $500 version worth that much less (20 gigs won't go too far if you are using it as a DVR, nevermind how much space the games take up).  And we can probably assume right off the bat WoW would take up several gigs of HD space all by itself.