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MMORPG.COM News: Online Gaming In Australia

AdminAdmin Administrator RarePosts: 5,623
in News & Features Discussion

OnGameNet - a leading online gaming provider based in Australia recently announced that their service will be going live very soon:


Australia Online Gaming Takes a Step Higher

Australia’s first MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) company OnGameNet released Ragnarok Online in early September 2004. Ragnarok Online is the first ever MMORPG game to be hosted in Australia and, following its success, OnGameNet is preparing to release two other online games into Australia in late June 2005; Shot Online and Cartoon Racer.

Previously all MMORPG games have been hosted overseas in countries such as the US, China, Korea and Taiwan (just to name a few). This has never been an ideal situation for Australians with users having issues with lag and disconnections because of the amount of data needed to be transferred between the host and the client at a stable speed. With OnGameNet growing steadily we will see a bright future for online games here in Australia. This means having online games hosted locally and easier payment facilities for Australian gamers without a credit card. Players using a modem, ADSL or cable connection can play without lag and disconnections commonly experienced playing on overseas servers.

Shot Online is a 3D MMORPG golf game where you can enjoy playing with your friends at anytime. Shot Online is not just an ordinary golf game. The innovative systems have captured the swings and motions of professional golfers and applied directly into the game itself. Shot Online also offers real ball movements that are greatly influenced by all kinds of natural factors and environments (e.g., wind, weather, and temperature). These features, combined with a simple and easy to use interface, make the game great for golf enthusiasts, and easy to learn for those new to the game!

Cartoon Racer is a casual online cart-style racing game with 70+ unique decorative racing cars. Up to 8 players can play and race together in real time. Cartoon Racer has three different modes of play, Racing, Soccer and Battle Bumper, each with different and unique features to make the game more exciting and entertaining. The main objective of the game is to win races (or battles) and gain points which you can use the points decorate and upgrade your car to your liking or even buy a new car or two!

OnGameNet (www.ongamenet.com.au) online games portal website is be due to be released in late June 2005, with information about its upcoming online games being released and the current ones. Cartoon Racer and Shot Online Closed Beta services are set to have their closed beta testing stages in late June as well with an opening beta test following in early July.

- MMORPG.COM Staff -

The dead know only one thing: it is better to be alive.

Comments

  • RazorbackRazorback Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 5,253

    As an Australian I can only say...

    Wake me when something exciting happens image

    Meanwhile Ill keep playing my games on US and UK servers like I have since M59 Beta

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    "MMOs, for people that like think chatting is like a skill or something, rotflol"
    http://purepwnage.com
    image
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    "Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees. To hear the softly spoken magic spell" Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon

  • ParaTrooperParaTrooper Member Posts: 1,961
    I'm an Aussie as well, but my view on this seems to differ greatly. I actually do play Shot Online and being on a local server is always a bonus. It's one step closer for a major Australian developed and based MMORPG.

    *Notice: The views expressed in this post are solely those of the author... got sick of holding backspace.
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    ParaTrooper, That guy that used to mod the MMORPG.com forums.

  • RazorbackRazorback Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 5,253

    Wasnt "Big World" supposed to be that ?

    Imho we are missing 2 major elements...

    Firstly the development expertise and interest. As you would know PC/console games and gamers are still seen a some sort of weirdo niche in Oz, thats gotta change before anyone would take the idea of investing millions of dollars in an MMO seriously.

    Secondly the size of the market. If every Australian (serious) MMO player signed up it probably still wouldnt be enough to justify the investment. It would have to be "Asian" to succed and thats already happening.

    Its much more likely that we will be playing a Korean MMO than Koreans will be playing an Ozzy MMO. Please dont think me a wet blanket... just a realist...

    +-+-+-+-+-+
    "MMOs, for people that like think chatting is like a skill or something, rotflol"
    http://purepwnage.com
    image
    -+-+-+-+-+-+
    "Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees. To hear the softly spoken magic spell" Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon

  • ParaTrooperParaTrooper Member Posts: 1,961

    I think the problem at the moment is that there just aren't enough MMORPG players in Australia. One game which seems to have had a significant impact on the numbers is World of Warcraft, it has brought over a huge amount of RTS players into the MMORPG genre. Hopefully they stick around and keep playing MMO's.

    I agree that most people here play console and non-mmorpg PC games, but I think it's really because there isn't any exposure to the genre. It is getting there though, the other day someone mentioned seeing a advert on Foxtel about WoW(It may have actually been SWG, not too sure) and that is the first public advertisement for a MMORPG i've heard of in Australia.

    Either way there needs to be some more growth in the amount of Australian game developers (Not just for MMO's), one look at the GDAA(Game Developers Association of Australia) will show you how few developers there really are.

    IMO MMORPG's are far superior to any other genre and It's just going to take time.

    *Notice: The views expressed in this post are solely those of the author... got sick of holding backspace.
    -----------------------------------------
    ParaTrooper, That guy that used to mod the MMORPG.com forums.

  • RazorbackRazorback Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 5,253

    I agree with all that 100%

    When friends ask me "whats the attraction?" I reply "like a movie but better coz your taking part", some get it.... sadly most dont image

    +-+-+-+-+-+
    "MMOs, for people that like think chatting is like a skill or something, rotflol"
    http://purepwnage.com
    image
    -+-+-+-+-+-+
    "Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees. To hear the softly spoken magic spell" Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon

  • RipperjackAURipperjackAU Member Posts: 124

    Ragnarok??!!

    Isn't that game like, OLD!!

    Oh great, we get the games hosted here that nobody wants. Just another example of how Australia is the @rse end of the world. image

  • jlemon428jlemon428 Member Posts: 2

    Probably won't happen for a while, but I think that using the Outback as a game setting would be great. I think it would make an interesting and colorful backdrop.

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