The fall of single-player games: Is it coming?
Category: Industry, Posted: 05/30/2008 at 11:51AM CDT by Demetri Kouvalis, Features Editor
Can you believe we are coming to a point where people are starting to foresee the downfall of single-player gaming? Oh yeah, the vision of the future--a multi-player, multi-user world for games, at least that's what Atari head man Phil Harrison thinks.
"A relatively linear single-player game without online connectivity is going to be a challenge to green-light going forward," Harrison said. For him, a typical single-player game needs to be packaged with multiplayer features and multi-user functionality.
"Now, that doesn't mean that those games aren't relevant going forwards, but they will be enhanced by community features being embedded in them, or downloadable content becoming an inherent part of the experience, or some kind of user-generated content will be part of the experience. All of the things we see in other games, the things that we can point to in compelling games."
So is this it? I can't enjoy my Mario or Zelda without any multiplayer features? Am I going to be bombarded by user-created content for other platformers, adventure and RPGs?
In a day and age where downloadable content and digital distribution is really taking off, it seems that multiplayer features are making their merger with the original code in the games--creating a bond that will seem only normal to us in a few months. Expect this to be the norm, at least for Atari, the next time you purchase what you thought was only going to be a single-player experience.
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Nope. The day that single player ceases to exist is the day that I abandon gaming. I love multiplayer, but I love single player (or at the most, co-op) even more.
I've never liked a multiplayer game as much as a singleplayer game. Multiplayer is a cruch for poor single player game play.
Co-op is the extent that I enjoy multiplayer. I hate playing competitive games against people who take the game way too seriously. I mostly play games for their story, so less story-driven individual experiences means less playtime for me if this is where games are really headed.
I buy a game for the SP sure the MP can be a plus specially if there is coop... (ok i might buy Endwar for MP and might have bought Guild Wars for MP but it has story too) The day they no longer do games I wont play games anyways, they would have stopped with good storys like C&C and Mass Effect long before SP and I abandon gaming at the point the story goes away... there is always pen and paper rpgs :p
I guess that kind of thinking is why Atari is circling the drain. Look at the biggest games. GTA4, Metal Gear solid, Mario Galaxy, Mass Effect, the list goes on. Sure, some of them have a tacked on multi player. But that is not why they sell. Look, you want easy money Atari, stick to casual games. Don't go around predicting doom and gloom to the hardcores. Perhaps you should think about why we game before you decide to lump us all in the multiplayer group.
I would abandon gamies too... Single player is the most important part for me... Online is nice, But I prefer Co-op sitting directly next to the other player...
Last year we had some of the biggest singleplayer advancements in gameplay in the history of gaming, from Bioshock and HL2: Episode 2 to Mass Effect and Call of Duty 4. Singleplayer isn't going anywhere.
Indeed, KindGalaxy. If anything, more and more complete immersion into single player gaming is happening, with players on the verge of actually living the virtual life of the protagonist they play as, experiencing everything they do for the time span of the story they are apart of. Like books, which offer similar value, or movies, yet not the same for either medium, this deep immersion is always going to be wanted by gamers -- or anyone that loves to fantasize about other worlds/places/adventures, etc., that they could live.
You get the point,I hope.
That's absurd. I don't care much for multiplayer functionality in games... I prefer being swept up in another world when I play my games. Though, DLC and Co-op are nice, if we start seeing more stuff like Shadowrun I'm just going to vomit... Not that I didn't like Shadowrun... It just fealt like half a game to me.
single player isnt going anywhere
...except increased quality and development. Multiplayer is nice for those who enjoy it, but as for me, I don't buy games for MP.
RIP
The day games go MMO and MP primarily is the day developers find out what a horrible mistake they made.
I could not have said it better than ninjalegend did, so I won't try. Here's a company struggling to stay relevant and solvent pretending to be soothsayers about the future of gaming. Give me a break, will you?