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Fragaphobia

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Michael "Macstorm" Cunningham
EDITORIALS CURATOR

Frag*a*pho*bi*a - noun
1. An irrational fear of being killed by a ten year-old in an online game.
2. Square Enix's fear of making a game that supports more than local multiplayer functionality.

Honestly, what adult isn't a little bit put off at the possibility of being beat down by a pre-teen in an online game? But that first definition is not the really scary part, the second one is. It's really quite strange when you think about it. In the past year we have seen only Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales released with more than local multiplayer support. Dirge of Cerberus had it in Japan, but was stripped of it in North America. Final Fantasy III for the DS used the Nintendo WFC, but only for the exchange of messages. Fast forward to now; Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings was recently released in Japan followed by Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions with both having been announced for a 2007 release in North America as well. What are these titles missing? They are missing online options. Well, Revenant Wings has no multiplayer options at all and that's really fine, but the PSP version of Tactics does have a multiplayer option. The problem is that it's only local multiplayer. Apparently there is a fear of online gaming outside of Final Fantasy XI or a card battling game featuring an overgrown chicken. It doesn't end there though. If early reports are to be believed, Dragon Quest IX will only support local-area multiplayer and the same goes for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates for the DS. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 is reported to have no multiplayer functionality whatsoever.

I don't find multiplayer options in an RPG to be critical or even needed in most cases, but why the fear? The three games that it truly just baffles my mind about are Dragon Quest IX, FFCC: Ring of Fates, and Final Fantasy Tactics: TWofL. These games have multiplayer functionality built into them. Dragon Quest IX and Ring of Fates both offer a strong focus on multiplayer, but they will only be offering local play. Has the Nintendo WFC proven itself unworthy of online gaming? Is it too difficult to develop a working online system? Or is it just fear, or worse, unwillingness to develop for online gameplay? I understand that in Japan every other person has a DS, so local-area play is as simple as walking up to someone and playing (yes, I'm over exaggerating), but in North America, we have Wi-Fi and are ready to game online with people all across the nation. Why are we being denied? I just want to quest with my fellow RPGamers in a land of magic and dragons. Is that too much to ask?