What Does It Mean? This is unequivocally a good thing. People who like single-player gaming -- yes, there are still a few -- often prefer linear games because they get to experience a story, and if MMRPGs can wrap players up in an involving plot beyond the rigors of killing rats and keeping up with the Joneses, everyone may end up playing.

Consoles, Consoles, Consoles
The biggest change on the horizon for the massively multiplayer scene will be their debut on the consoles, bringing a new, huge audience -- and a different kind of audience -- into the fray. All of the major consoles have at least one MMRPG in development, with some big names in the mix.

We've yet to see anything concrete about Nintendo's next-generation Dolphin/Star Cube, but people are already developing software, including the big man himself, Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto-san is hard at work on a typically top-secret game for the Dolphin's launch, but the rumor is that it's a massively multiplayer RPG.

Sega already has irons in the fire, with a deal with Asheron's Call's Turbine Entertainment in place that should presumably be bearing fruit soon. And Sony won't be left behind, oh no; while Final Fantasy IX will be a PlayStation game, and Final Fantasy X on the PS2 will have only a weak online component, Square has announced that Final Fantasy XI, expected to land some time near summer 2001, will be massively multiplayer. Details are few and far between, but their forthcoming PlayOnline system promises that up to 3,000 people can play on each server. Something else of note is that Sony now owns Verant outright, making future incarnations of EverQuest (not to mention the Star Wars MMRPG) likely to end up on PS2.

What Does It Mean? This is a tough one. Broadening the audience is good, sure -- but these are people who think Zelda is an RPG. Don't get me wrong, Zelda's a good game in its own right, but it's a far cry from the intense character development and party building of PC RPGs. Will console MMRPGs be "dumbed down," the way much of the audience seems to like it? Let's hope not.