Dave Perry, founder of Shiny Entertainment (Earthworm Jim, Messiah), has been speaking at DICE 09 in Las Vegas, where he talked about used games, growing technology and the short future of the single-player experience.
Perry spoke about how technology is moving more and more towards the digital, stating that he is currently looking into the possibility of remotely storing games, then delivering finished frames to the player via flash video, effectively eliminating the need for a consumer to own powerful hardware in order to play a game. High concept stuff, but something Perry likes for the obvious reason — the elimination of used games.
However, while such technology is interesting, it seems that the Shiny founder has a less promising outlook for the future: “I personally think the days of single-player games are numbered. Without question, our focus is entirely on multiplayer.”
Perry uses the example of China and Korea, stating that if they ever find their Miyamoto or Kojima, existing business models could be in trouble, faced with high quality, free-to-play multiplayer games. It’s an interesting theory, but personally, I have to wonder how long I will be able to care about an industry that completely ignores single-player games. Sometimes you need a linear, one-player game in order to tell a story, and if this industry decided story no longer matters, I’ll probably hang up the controller for good.
I can’t see single-player games going away anytime soon, but let’s not help that to happen. As videogames reach the technological heights needed to craft stories that can rival movies, it’ll be a crime to throw that all away.
