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MapleStory DS, Making The Mobile MMO

Posted by: Matt Vella on February 02

nexonWell, not exactly. The announcement last September that the massively popular casual MMO MapleStory by Korean games-maker Nexon Corp. was bound for Nintendo’s (NTDOY) DS handheld system stirred a lot of excitement. And with good reason, a true blue mobile MMO would present a lot of interesting possibilities. But not too soon after, word came that the ubiquitous, traveling MMO’s time has yet to come and that the title would largely be focused on single player play. Now, in a detail-rich interview with Gamasutra, Nexon’s manager of international business development Stephen Lee sheds some more light on the specifics:

You mean MapleStory DS? It’s not an MMORPG kind of game. It’s a typical kind of action role-playing game. It will have fairly different gameplay compared to the original version. It will be specifically adapted to the platform itself…We have some features that support multiplayer, but the main feature will focus on single player.

Results of previous attempts to adapt MMO play in an offline context — Sega’s Phantasy Star series for instance — have for the most part been mixed. We’ll have to wait until later this year to see how exactly the adaptation shakes out.

Until then, for the definitive back-story on MapleStory — and some priceless real-world anecdotes — check out Reena Jana’s clever piece from last year. The game also made BusinessWeek’s annual 101 Best Web Freebies list for 2007.

[Source: Gamasutra.]

Reader Comments

dcsadsa

March 7, 2008 12:30 PM

hope we get it in the united states that would be tight

MaTtEhOfUk

March 7, 2008 07:09 PM

Omg I Just cnt w8 for maple story ds tht will be so much better


lvl 120 dk on global

smeh

March 16, 2008 12:48 PM

not an MMO? whats the point..

Hayley

May 13, 2008 11:09 AM

OMG it would still be awesome.
My computers stupid and it won't let me download it! I'm suffering from withdrawls haha...so not funny.

wow

May 13, 2008 12:05 PM

wow

Cloud

May 30, 2008 01:22 PM

Eh, got it imported... not worth it. This game is horrible compared to the computer maplestory. Absolutely horrible.

wryu

May 30, 2008 02:58 PM

erfeufewufgufgufgduf

dude

June 11, 2008 06:22 PM

Flamers...

Brendan

June 21, 2008 01:36 PM

Holy crap! I played this game for months once! But like the online version. I wonder if it will have the same class system, items, monsters, etc.

Brian

July 18, 2008 08:49 PM

Everyone is lieing, lol, its not even out yet, EVEN in korea...

Hansel

October 4, 2008 01:40 PM

Wow. I know everyone is lieing :p. It hasnt even come on.

pete

October 10, 2008 11:57 PM

I want to download maple story DS help me please

pete

October 10, 2008 11:58 PM

I want to download maple story DS help me please

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About

No longer child's play, the booming global games market is worth billions of dollars. In Games, Inc., BusinessWeek Innovation writer Matt Vella and Tokyo correspondent Kenji Hall analyze emerging business trends in video games and interactive entertainment. They’ll examine everything from button-mashing, chart-topping, console games to serious games commissioned by big corporations to train staff. They’ll also map the evolution of expansive virtual worlds and go behind the strategies at companies that are turning play into big business.

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