Most onlookers, when trying to explain the difference between consumer acceptance on either side of the Atlantic, have pointed to the lack of broadband around Europe.

"We're pretty happy with the numbers. We always expected it to be a fairly modest take up," claims Nick Sharples, a spokesman for Sony. "The take up of online gaming is dependent on the take up of broadband." With that in mind, Sony and Microsoft have been talking to the broadband ISPs and cable firms to help them market their services.

Chris Jones, head of partnerships at BT Openworld says "We work very closely with both Sony and Microsoft. We're pushing the concept of online console gaming".

Meanwhile Richard Ayres, editor of Tiscali.co.uk, says his firm has been talking to both console makers. "We're looking at bringing in dedicated broadband gaming services," he comments. "It could be any time in the next few months." The cable operators are also throwing their hats into the ring. Last week, Telewest launched a gaming package for its Blueyonder users which will allow them to share their high-speed connection between a PC and a PS2 or Xbox more easily.

Such initiatives could well provide the hoped-for boost. But equally the industry could find that, at best, broadband only partly explains the problem.

There might only be an estimated 20m broadband households around Europe by the end of the year, but Microsoft and Sony say that about a third of the people who own their consoles are part of that 20m. So there's certainly a decent number of people to chase after. And the kit itself seems to be reliable.

"The experience is everything it should be. There isn't a product problem. There's nothing wrong with the consoles delivering it," says Sean Dromgoole, research director of Game Vision.

What else could be wrong then? The quality and range of the games on offer could be where the real problem lies.

"Broadband games have mainly been made in the US and Japan. They haven't been made by Europeans for Europeans," says Andy McLennan, business development director for Scottish games developer DC-Studios.

Titles are the vital element in persuading people to sign up. The games industry has traditionally been hits-driven, where a few key titles can be the difference between a console really taking off or having to make do with modest sales.

Commentators expect this pattern to continue into online console gaming and the titles people are pointing to as being most important going forward are the first person shooter Halo 2 on Xbox and the latest football release, Electronic Art's Fifa 2004, for the PS2.

"There have been some very good games but they've been very few," says McLennan. "Online games have tended to be clones of PC games - shooters and racing - and that's not what console gaming is about." Moves are afoot to improve the range and number of games available, although it can be a slow process, as it takes an extra three to four months for a games developer to add in the functionality needed for an online version. BT is talking to games publishers and retailers to help drive this process in the UK.

"The biggest need has been content. It's all about: what can I do and what games can I play?" says Jones.

Both consoles are aiming to have a similar number of titles available by this Christmas, around 50. However, PS2 has the advantage of having Electronic Arts (EA) on its side. The games publisher, one of the largest in the world, has refused to supply Xbox Live games, saying it doesn't like the Microsoft business model, which is effectively a closed garden compared to Sony's open architecture.

Within four or five years, online gaming will be as everyday as text messaging," says Paul Munford, director of communications at Babel Media, a games services company.

No-one is panicking at the moment, but at least the more titles there are the easier it will be to persuade people to buy into the online gaming services.

Sony isn't saying whether it has any marketing plans, but Xbox has signalled its serious intentions by promising to give away 2m vouchers around Europe for a two month free trial of its Live service.

This time of year is important for retailing in general, and the next few months will be vital for this generation of online consoles in Europe. "The next three to four months will be crucial," says Dromgoole.

The broadband issue is the one that has focused people's minds until now. But with the ISPs and cable companies stepping up their marketing in and around games it will soon be time for them to look to other areas of weakness, principally content. For now, most people just haven't found content to interest them enough that they're prepared to pay for the extra online services.

This article was originally published in the 16 October 2003 issue of NewMedia Age.


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