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lordnikon
rank 59
Posted:
Fri Jul 07, 2006 10:37 am
quote : #1
profile : pm
Posts: 2839
Type: NTSC-U/C
I was working on some site related features when I came across a post at the Namco forums questioning Arc the Lad’s online functionality. A user by the name of BZrainZ reported he was having trouble signing online, and was getting a “connection to server failed” message. He emailed Namco and received an email stating that Arc the Lad’s online services had been terminated. The user did not post a copy of the email, so I went digging to find more evidence. I quickly checked Japan’s Playstation 2 Online news page, and found a notice stating that Arc the Lad Generations(the NTSC-J release of End of Darkness) had been taken offline last summer. Then I went over to the GameFaqs message board for Arc the Lad End of Darkness and found a post titled “Servers to shut down June 15”, where one user says the termination notice was displayed upon signing online with the game. Further reading proved the game’s grim fate. The servers had indeed been taken down.

As of June 15th, 2006 the Namco published RPG, Arc the Lad: End of Darkness, was taken offline. This game was a role playing game developed by Cattle Call and was released in both Japan and North America. The Japanese version went offline last summer and was only online for 8 months. The North American version was online for exactly 1 year.

The sad part about online games going offline is that some people do not have the time to experience them. I play many video games both online and offline. There is no way I would have been able to play Arc the Lad online in the past year. I did not have the income to buy the title at launch or the time to play it. I would need it to be online for at least 2 years in order to get enough playtime in. Which raises the point: If publishers are going to keep games online for such a short time span, they might as well save the development costs and not include online at all.

There aren’t many online titles with recorded online video footage. I consider it lucky that IGN took the time to record videos of online game-play. Especially since they tend to not test the online component for many of their reviews. You can find a plethora of online game-play videos over at IGN. Not only this but a user by the name of NatsumeRyu took video footage of the Last Online session for this game. I started to have flashbacks when I watched the video. It reminded me of my final hours spent on Dreamcast games such as Ooga Booga, Outtrigger, and Phantasy Star Online (US Servers) before they also when offline.

Last Online session for End of Darkness (by NatsumeRyu):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQY994EfUE

Offline and Online gameplay videos at IGN:
http://ps2.ign.com/objects/690/690399.html


Last edited by lordnikon on Mon Jul 31, 2006 6:42 pm; edited 2 times in total
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keiblerfan69
rank 3
Posted:
Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:10 pm
quote : #2
profile : pm
Posts: 12
Sucks to see a game with a community die.
 
Hooligan 77
rank 9
Posted:
Wed Jul 19, 2006 5:09 pm
quote : #3
profile : pm
Posts: 103
I almost bought this game at launch, I am happy I waited.
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My user name is myspace/hooligan_77 on Star Wars Battlefront.
Star Wars Battlefront and PSU are the only games I play online currently for my PS2.
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