Multiplayer is probably here to stay, but Russell Carroll from Gametunnel is the first I've heard to question its importance in gaming today. His writeup, "Why Online Multiplayer isn't all that Important", likens playing online to a "lame party" and brings up the "empty feeling of multiplayer" that is heard about every so often. He also touches on how the face-to-face interaction that gaming used to center around is being phased out.
Microsoft's entire strategy seems built around multiplayer -- on both the Xbox 360 and Windows Vista -- so much so that it seems odd when a title is released that does not support online play. Sony, while late in the game, has even made attempts to support this new trend, although many gamers have expressed issues with their interpretation. With both of these companies pushing the online features, it's hard to question the importance of multiplayer in their eyes, but how important is it to the gaming experience?
How important is multiplayer to you? Is the majority of your gaming time spent online, or do you prefer to roll solo? Do you long for that one-on-one feeling from days past? Hit the comments and let us know.
[Via gametunnel and gamesetwatch]
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site
Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
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Contest:
11:07 AM on 02.12.2007
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Also, Online Gears > whatever game you play
but on the other hand, experiences like Gears and the like only work multiplayer, so its almost a necessity.
like Toneman said, I really think it depends on the game. I won't do fighting games online. Mario Party would be stupid online. but RTS is made for online.
It sucks when I see a game getting good reviews and everyone saying good things about it only to find out that "oh, but the single player sucks." Excuse me, I'm buying this game for me, not people half way across the country that want to curse at me, I should be able to enjoy it without tapping into my internet connection.
Online Gaming has its place but shouldn't be a complete substitute for split screen. If you can't rub it in your friends' faces, where is the fun?
Multiplayer is important but kinda overrated.
Well said, I completley agree with you. Prime example of that is the Destructoid review of Lost Planet.
Its time to share, solo play is the past.
I agree with Grimm.
I've attempted to write a comment like 20 times and each time I just get too bitchy about how much I dislike that article. So eh I have no idea wtf I wrote below this.
Offline Multiplayer had its time and place, that was the last 90's. Playing online with complete strangers is a staple for game today. It makes getting people together to play games a lot easier. I know for me it’s a tad hard to gather my friends in one location to play games.
Plus I don't know about you guys but some of my friends get pissed off if they die way too much since they suck ass and will stop playing. (Yes my friends are 5 year old girls, that I picked up with Picochat.) So it’s just easier to play with strangers sometimes.
In addition online play with complete strangers helps to hone your skills by playing against a plethora(I r smart) of different skill levels, that you may not be exposed to otherwise.
Multiplayer is a must for some games and for others it would just be silly.
Yah I ramble on there for a bit and it’s not really coherent.
final fantasies, kingdom hearts, okami, guitar hero, ICO, shadow of the colossus, the jak and daxter series, the ratchet and clank series... plenty of amazing games that don't need online! I'm sure R&C is great fun online, but it is also offline!
sami
That said, I do miss N64-era gaming sessions, huddled around a little 19" TV playing Goldeneye or some random wrestling game.
for 1v1 2v2 games, online multiplayer not that impt. i think i only played table tennis once online, but play it all the time against people in my apt..
if the scope of the multiplayer exceeds 2v2 online play is a must. you don't always have access to 20 people ready to play at your whim, and considering XBL affords us this freedom, a little trash talk from an annoying 14 y/o is a small price to pay.
I to dislike having to devote my life to a videogame just to get pwoned and tea bagged by a 15 year old.
It much better having your friends trashtalk you from the same room.
That being said I liked the Resistance fall of man co-op mode. I was supprised how playable it was even on SD resoultion.
It really all depends on what the game is, and what the social level is for a game of it's nature.
Uno is an exception though, because all in-person Uno matches involve talking a LOT of shit, and that's strangely absent online.
I think co-op, honestly, is the best gaming feature since sliced bread, if it's integrated well. I've never played FUN until I tried GOW and Crackdown's co-op modes, but those are both a treat.
Crackdown co-op, that just screams wasted time. We've already seen evidence of this with the explosia-thons people are throwing up on YouTube. And hearing crap about wall-crawling vehicles adds to the anarchy contained within.
(well before the update where you can't find friends-
which is stupid) ...WAS the most fun since Halo 2!!
sometimes you just want to kill strangers
I can't wait til Crackdown
I played the demo and can't imagine how fun it will be in
CO-OP LAN!!
now with my Wii...there is Wario Smooth moves!
which is fun at parties and when you want to get stupid.
and i just started playing godhand PS2 yesterday and I love it !
so regardless if the gameplay is tight with either single player, co-op via online,LAN or splitscreen...i'm getting it.
Yah your right, though I like hunting those bastards down and slaughtering them over and over then I hear they're whining as screams.
Eh I'm kinda fucked up on benadryl today so I know nothing!
*sits at the kids table*
The whole reason I liked that version over the computer one was the split screen play.
Online play is the quick and easy way to get alot of people on one game. But it also cheapens the experience. Anyone who has been to a full blown Halo 1 LAN can tell you that.
But I still want to share that experience with people, I want to play with people on Dtoid that live everywhere else in the world, I want to play with high school friends, and friends I have from last year at my last college. Good multiplayer games are made better by a great online system like LIVE.
yes, the single player games are still essential and they do serve their purpose but the most gameplay will come out of multiplayer games. I love Oblivion, and Bioshock looks fucking great, but now i forgot what exactly my original point was. so i must go on with life and probably have some homework to do.
ONLINE: You totally get to own your geographically displaced friend.
OFFLINE: You. Three friends. Goldeneye 007. Golden gun and RCP900
I much prefer LAN parties, whether its with the Xbox, 360, PC, DS or even Gamecube with Double Dash. Face to face interaction is so much better than sitting alone in your room and playing a bunch of people online. And after having moved to four different places in the last 10 years, I have had no problem finding people with similar interests to gather up and game.
And now I just read the full article the guy wrote, i would say he is an idiot. He is comparing the WiiVC to the XBLA. The thing he is doing is comparing the first 2 months of the 360 sales to the first two months of the Wii sales. You can't do that. Look at the XBLA sales for December and January and compares those to the WiiVC sales for December and January. That is fair.
and he is comparing sales of titles like MarioKart to other XBLA games. He said the online play doesn't change whether or not he will buy it. but that is just it, there are enough Nintendo fanboys that will buy MarioKart 64 for $10 becuase they are fucking retarded. Nintendo doesn't have to go the extra step to implement online play, or even present the game in its full original form. Nintendo is being lazy as fuck with the VC and fanboys are taking it in.
Personally, I'm not too keen on the online multiplayer, not only because of my inability to play, but because the times I have played I have had to listen to a bunch of twelve-year-olds screaming random obscenities into my ear the whole match. On top of that, you still can't convince me that listening to someone in the next room shit a brick when you snipe them from across the map.
Would I be singing a different tune if I had a broadband connection and more time to play? Probably. But until that point, I'm going to keep playing LAN games and solo player modes. Peace out, bitches.
I'll always prefer the LAN experience over online, but that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy online either.
Party games are party games, I have my Wii for that.
I agree with the guy's point about Mario Kart 64. Many people were complaining about the lack of online play, and it's just not something I see myself giving a damn about. To be honest, Mario Kart 64 is my second least favorite game in the series, and the only thing it had going for it really was the battle mode. It's not a title I ever see myself purchasing regardless of online or not.