09-24-2003, 09:22 PM
I saw the future, but they recalled it.
When Toontown Online was still being developed by Disney Imagineering, they had big ideas for the direction that they wanted to go with a persistent, interactive world. Can you say Disneyland Online? How about ALL of the Disney parks online, as well as historical versions of the parks (i.e. Disneyland when it first opened, DisneyWorld in 50 years, DisneyMoon in 2999 A.D.)
In other words, a direction that goes beyond the strictures of a gaming environment, and moves to pure entertainment. Many of the games today are much like that anyway, as the gaming elements become less important than the sparkle and flash or cut-scenes, storylines, and interaction with other players within the world.
Unfortunately, the Bossbots at Disney took Toontown Online away from the Imagineers, and a bunch of them quit over it. Disney got very conservative with the project, and turned it over to DIG (the game development folks). They have shown no intention of being innovative anymore, developing the game in pretty much the same direction as the other mainstream games out there. Replace the characters with medieval types, or soldiers, or aliens; and replace the Gags with weapons and it would be almost indistinguishable from the rest of the mob.
An interesting omission of the GameSpy article was the online service Games People Play (GPP), from 1984-86. GPP was the first totally graphic-based online service, where you moved your avatar to different areas in the online city. There was a library for research, post office for email, and of course a games room. In fact, Toontown Online looks very much like an abbreviated version of GPP, but with better graphics.
I guess that my point is that these folks who are limiting themselves to online games are missing the point. Games are only one type of entertainment, and if someone could manage to put out a really comprehensive online environment that builds on the strengths of the medium, instead of spending much of their development resources to work around the shortcomings, they could define the direction that online entertainment will take over the next decades.
-rcv-
When Toontown Online was still being developed by Disney Imagineering, they had big ideas for the direction that they wanted to go with a persistent, interactive world. Can you say Disneyland Online? How about ALL of the Disney parks online, as well as historical versions of the parks (i.e. Disneyland when it first opened, DisneyWorld in 50 years, DisneyMoon in 2999 A.D.)
In other words, a direction that goes beyond the strictures of a gaming environment, and moves to pure entertainment. Many of the games today are much like that anyway, as the gaming elements become less important than the sparkle and flash or cut-scenes, storylines, and interaction with other players within the world.
Unfortunately, the Bossbots at Disney took Toontown Online away from the Imagineers, and a bunch of them quit over it. Disney got very conservative with the project, and turned it over to DIG (the game development folks). They have shown no intention of being innovative anymore, developing the game in pretty much the same direction as the other mainstream games out there. Replace the characters with medieval types, or soldiers, or aliens; and replace the Gags with weapons and it would be almost indistinguishable from the rest of the mob.
An interesting omission of the GameSpy article was the online service Games People Play (GPP), from 1984-86. GPP was the first totally graphic-based online service, where you moved your avatar to different areas in the online city. There was a library for research, post office for email, and of course a games room. In fact, Toontown Online looks very much like an abbreviated version of GPP, but with better graphics.
I guess that my point is that these folks who are limiting themselves to online games are missing the point. Games are only one type of entertainment, and if someone could manage to put out a really comprehensive online environment that builds on the strengths of the medium, instead of spending much of their development resources to work around the shortcomings, they could define the direction that online entertainment will take over the next decades.
-rcv-