There is a saying in video games that I completely agree with. That saying is every game is better with friends. Even the crappiest of games will have a group of friends pasting the controller around laughing, smiling and having a good time, but all of that might one day change. Thanks to online gaming.
Online gaming isn't new. There have been online gaming even before the days of first person shooters on the PC. With how easy it is to get broadband these days, gamers are online at younger ages then ever before, but is that a good thing?
It's crazy to believe that online gaming has to regulated because of idiots online who what to spread their hate speech, and who don't care who they hurt. The real thing I'm afraid of with the rise of online gaming is the death of solo and couch co-op gaming. I've started to notice that people are more willing to buy a game that has a big multiplayer mode then a 20 hour solo campaign. I personally sank more then 200 hours into Gears 1 multiplayer. Way more then I played the solo campaign, but then again I put 75 hours and counting into Fallout 3. In fact I've been playing online less and less because of the people online.
So where am I getting at; I want to say online gaming is here to say, but don't get scared solo games are here to stay. Co-op however may be on it's last legs.
The old days of four player Halo 1 matches with me and friends are over. Now the only time we get together to play couch co-op is Smash Bros. Developers have stop putting money and resources into creating split-screen games. Just think for a moment, how many games you loved playing this generation didn't have split-screen. One game that comes to mind is Call of Duty 4. That was a great game, but I just miss the days of getting a new game and playing though it with a friend.
Hopefully developers won't forget about the co-op players.
Back when I was a Sega kid mostly everyone agreed video games were for kids. If you were over the age of 13 and still played games you were a hopeless nerd who lived in your parents basement. Now in 2008 gaming has gone more mainstream even if most "hardcore" gamers don't want it to.
If you read the title of my blog you might think I one those people, and I am sort of. I do want to live in a world were gaming is apart of everyday life. I want fathers to come home from work and play a quick game of COD4. I want moms in between taking the kids to soccer practice and shoe shopping to ownnoobs in Halo, but will that ever really happen?
Casual has become a new word in the gaming vocabulary. Seeing as how the Nintendo 64 and the Gamecube where failures with the hardcore, Nintendo has decided to tap the casual gaming audience, and it's working. The Wii is the top selling console; the PS3, and Xbox 360 are struggling to keep up. In this lays the problem people are starting to believe that Nintendo has forgotten the hardcore. Now that Sony and Microsoft are trying to stay toe to toe with Nintendo people are also jumping to the conclusion that Sony and Microsoft are also distancing themselves from the hardcore in order to tap into the causal goldmines.
Now where does this all lead, break away controllers, Micro-Miis, Ninjabread Man 2? Dear god no, it just leads to a better gaming. Just remember next time you want to buy the next gen consoles, your mother is more likely to buy a console that can play Bejeweled 3 then Murder Simulation X.
I'm a lucky guy, I've been lucky enough to own any video game console I've wanted. Even when my parents complained about my video game habits they still surprised me on birthdays and Christmas with a new video game entertainment console. Even though I've own most consoles to come out in the past 15 years, I've always have been with a Sega guy so you can guess how I felt that day Peter Moore spoke those words that will shape my whole gaming career.
The Internet has change life in a big way, no only the way we gather information, but the way we gamers argue with one another. If you ever visit a gaming forum (I suggest you don't if you never have) then you will see the the gaming culture at it's lowest point. At anytime a Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo forum war can start from the simplest post. Check out these samples for an example.
"With Resistance 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 coming out this year, it's going to be a great time to be a Playstation 3 owner."
"HA, you call that a great year!!! Microsoft will wipe the floor with Sony this year. Gears 2, Banjo, Halo Wars. You Sony fanboys don't stand a chance!!!"
"I'll let you guys fight as the Wii rules the charts for most consoles sold. Nintendo FTW!!!!"
For the young guys and gals this is normal, but for the last of the 80's babies this is something completely new. Our console wars were at the lunchroom tables. The only thing we where equip with were our favorite video game magazine. Our arguments got heated, but at the end of the day we were still friends, the Nintendo fanboys still came over to play some Genesis, and I still came over to play some SNES.
So in the end maybe this has changed for the better. Maybe having the fanboys fighting one another makes games better for everyone else. As long as the fanboys feud with each other the console makers will try to make the best console and get the hottest games for those consoles.