January 28th 2011. My playstation microphone sits morosely. A thin layer of dust has accumulated along its plastic lining. For a brief moment its glaring eye is illuminated by a stroke of sunshine that permeates the window, but all too quickly this fades, and the eye reassumes its sullen, black stare. A stare of vacancy. A stare which yearns for the distant joviality of forgotten laughs and memories. A shudder. Brief and subtle, it ripples through my body. A shudder exclusive to those that have fully realised the fulfilment of an all too devastating prophecy in the eye's sad reflection. The death of online banter.



It is with a heavy heart (but mostly an apologetic grin for making you wade through all the pretentious bulls*** at the start of this post) that I proclaim the 'Death Of My Online Banter'. Indeed, it is only by pondering on the year in retrospect that I have been able to fully comprehend the magnitude of my loss. It seems to me, whilst earlier memories of joyous online gaming still occupy my mind, that there has been precious little to add to my reams of experiences in the year gone by. Although this may seem unimportant to others, gaming, to me, is about sharing experiences with friends, and a vast amount of my enjoyment is often derived from the conversations and 'gaming moments' that only ever happen online. Recently however, in the last 8 months or so, my friends (who I might add, are hardcore gamers) have slowly withdrawn from the gaming world, leaving me in the midst of an inexorable loneliness.



After discussing the matter with some of them, it would seem that they were mostly disinterested in the games that had been released throughout 2010, and this, alongside school work and exams, has engineered their long absence from the online gaming sessions we used to have. This got me thinking. Not since Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare had any of us actually played together properly. Of course, I still go online with others, it just seems to be at much more random intervals that lacked the real excitement of the old days. After considering their point, I would to some extent, have to agree. Matter of opinion is, of course, one thing, but after the online revolution instigated by the COD series, it seems to me that the sheer lack of 'gripping' online experiences has attributed to my regression into the lonely and 'banter-less' experiences of single player campaigns.That's not to say that it hasn't been entertaining. The Uncharted series in particular is one of my most loved adventure games, but this in itself cannot outshine the utterly 'raw' fun of online gaming. At this point, for me, it would be fair to say that no game with an online component has topped the Codding days, baring in mind that I solely game on the PS3.



Perhaps its not these things I have suggested at all. Perhaps it is also the sheer lack of good online banter that exists lately amongst people in general. In the past I thoroughly enjoyed a good tactical chat or just the casual friendliness of people online, however, more recently I feel this has been dominated by mindless screaming or the spamming of lobbies with loud music. However, I must accept that this is possibly due to the wider audiences and so nothing can really be done.

And so finally, it is with a huff and a sigh that I declare that 2010 sucked due to its slow and relentless tirade against online banter. One by one my friends have been squeezed off the online radar and succumbed to 'doing better things with their time'. All that's left for me to do now is dust off my mic in anticipation for the games of 2011, and pray that I can head into that electronic portal one more time with a group of buddies at my hypothetical side. A good year to you all.

P.S. Out of interest, are there any games you particularly enjoy playing with a group of friends? Or maybe a promising upcoming title that you could recommend?

Happy gaming.