The destruction of multi-player - by the new fish.
Published Friday 6 Nov 2009 11:48am |
35
Tags: Kegz, multiplayer
I don't know if any of you remember this, but a long time ago multi-player gaming consisted of a bunch of people going to a single household (usually bringing controllers and games with them) and playing on a single console on a single television.
They were good times; whether it was a tekken fist fight, blasting around a road on burnout or hunting others down on James Bond there was always a sense of satisfaction in being able to look over to your left and capture the look on your friends face when he'd been sniped and he had no idea how.
I'm afraid though, my good friends, that these times ended with the new generation of consoles. Online and competitive gaming became the road of choice. Sure Burnout Paradise had a system where the PS camera could take a photo of your victim (if they could afford and for some odd reason wanted to buy a camera just so they could be humiliated) but it wasn't the same. Before you say it I know there is another option, a Wii, the party console. However almost every game in its arsenal requires the purchase of four, very different, controllers and who really has the funding for that? Besides, most of their games are aimed at a somewhat younger audience.
When the PS3 came out with its new controllers I was happy, I no longer needed to replace that worn out, old, cracked and strangely laced with the scent of socks multi-tap. It was to be a revolution; a new era of things I missed like sitting in a room shouting at each other, stealing and unplugging other people's controllers, button bashing friends who really weren't any good and even the oh-so-looked-down-upon screen watching but alas it was only an unfilled dream.
So I ask this, is it really THAT hard, THAT monumentally difficult, to create offline multi-player games? Maybe I'm just old and miss the days when gaming had some form of human interaction but I want offline back.. I want my fun back.
P.S. First blog guys.. be nice haha.
COMMENTS (35)
Nice one Youngling ;)
I used to love playing James Bond and Street Fighter with actual people in the same room.
This "sitting in a room shouting at each other, stealing and unplugging other people's controllers, button bashing friends who really weren't any good" sums it up nicely.
I used to love playing James Bond and Street Fighter with actual people in the same room.
This "sitting in a room shouting at each other, stealing and unplugging other people's controllers, button bashing friends who really weren't any good" sums it up nicely.
Hey thanks dude, you know, this having a random rant about things isn't so bad.
Yeah! I miss those days!! Haha! Great blog! The most multiplayer fun I ever had was GoldenEye and Micro Machines on the N64 which were both four palyer/split screen master pieces that always resulted in the kind of "sitting in a room shouting at each other, stealing and unplugging other people's controllers, button bashing friends who really weren't any good and even the oh-so-looked-down-upon screen watching" antics you summed up so nicely there! God we played a crap-tonne of those games and as good as the online co-op experiences of modern games can be you're not sitting on the same couch having a few beers and yelling abuse to each others faces so the experience can NEVER be the same!? :-)
I miss the good old days too, fighting games absolutely SUCK to play online, cause no matter how good your connection is, something always feels a little off (although thankfully fighting games will always come with offline vs.
I think they are learning the error of their ways now though cause offline co-op is becoming increasingly popular again.
Personally I think FPS multiplayer games were made for online play. Cause as fun as Goldeneye was (and it really was), it's more fun when more people are involved. Even though you can't see the look on the face of your opponent you can always lovingly spam the crouch button on the face of his lifeless body.
I think they are learning the error of their ways now though cause offline co-op is becoming increasingly popular again.
Personally I think FPS multiplayer games were made for online play. Cause as fun as Goldeneye was (and it really was), it's more fun when more people are involved. Even though you can't see the look on the face of your opponent you can always lovingly spam the crouch button on the face of his lifeless body.
6 November 2009, 01:11 PM
Reply to lexcalibur
I miss the good old days too, fighting games absolutely SUCK to play online, cause no matter how good your connection is, something always feels a little off (although thankfully fighting games will always come with offline vs.
I think they are learning the error of their ways now though cause offline co-op is becoming increasingly popular again.
Personally I think FPS multiplayer games were made for online play. Cause as fun as Goldeneye was (and it really was), it's more fun when more people are involved. Even though you can't see the look on the face of your opponent you can always lovingly spam the crouch button on the face of his lifeless body.
haha oh yes i always crack up when that happens.I miss the good old days too, fighting games absolutely SUCK to play online, cause no matter how good your connection is, something always feels a little off (although thankfully fighting games will always come with offline vs.
I think they are learning the error of their ways now though cause offline co-op is becoming increasingly popular again.
Personally I think FPS multiplayer games were made for online play. Cause as fun as Goldeneye was (and it really was), it's more fun when more people are involved. Even though you can't see the look on the face of your opponent you can always lovingly spam the crouch button on the face of his lifeless body.
especially in s&d on COD4 when theres only one dude on each team left aahhhh good times
6 November 2009, 01:06 PM
Reply to guido
Yeah! I miss those days!! Haha! Great blog! The most multiplayer fun I ever had was GoldenEye and Micro Machines on the N64 which were both four palyer/split screen master pieces that always resulted in the kind of "sitting in a room shouting at each other, stealing and unplugging other people's controllers, button bashing friends who really weren't any good and even the oh-so-looked-down-upon screen watching" antics you summed up so nicely there! God we played a crap-tonne of those games and as good as the online co-op experiences of modern games can be you're not sitting on the same couch having a few beers and yelling abuse to each others faces so the experience can NEVER be the same!? :-)
Ahh yes Micro Machines forgot about that one.... most excellent.
Yeah! I miss those days!! Haha! Great blog! The most multiplayer fun I ever had was GoldenEye and Micro Machines on the N64 which were both four palyer/split screen master pieces that always resulted in the kind of "sitting in a room shouting at each other, stealing and unplugging other people's controllers, button bashing friends who really weren't any good and even the oh-so-looked-down-upon screen watching" antics you summed up so nicely there! God we played a crap-tonne of those games and as good as the online co-op experiences of modern games can be you're not sitting on the same couch having a few beers and yelling abuse to each others faces so the experience can NEVER be the same!? :-)
Good topic, couldn't agree more with you.
I HATE ONLINE play! Listening to 15-year-old wannabe-tough-guy smart asses in America swearing at you and telling you how they're going to kill your family and all that sort of thing while playing Halo online, yeah, cool, sounds real fun...
Have been playing 4-player Wii Sport tennis recently with the boys = funniest sh*t of all time; playing games with faceless goons down the end of a phoneline will never compare! Yup, to you online dweebs, some of us do have actual REAL LIFE mates ay! :)
-MarioKart
-Wii Sports
-Powerstone 2
-Circuit Breakers
-Hyper Bishi Bashi
-etc etc
I HATE ONLINE play! Listening to 15-year-old wannabe-tough-guy smart asses in America swearing at you and telling you how they're going to kill your family and all that sort of thing while playing Halo online, yeah, cool, sounds real fun...
Have been playing 4-player Wii Sport tennis recently with the boys = funniest sh*t of all time; playing games with faceless goons down the end of a phoneline will never compare! Yup, to you online dweebs, some of us do have actual REAL LIFE mates ay! :)
-MarioKart
-Wii Sports
-Powerstone 2
-Circuit Breakers
-Hyper Bishi Bashi
-etc etc
I agree aye. I haven't been on NZG long but that's why I'm looking forward to meeting people. I'm sick of playing with kids that sit around swearing. What happened to just having a fun decent game?
I love playing crash commando and if someone gets me I usually just laugh and think to myself "good job, I didn't see that coming"
I love playing crash commando and if someone gets me I usually just laugh and think to myself "good job, I didn't see that coming"
the internet is good, it means my friends don't come over to my house to game, so they don't eat all my food and i don't have to look at them
pffff, socialization.
pffff, socialization.
Actually one genre that it really sucks when they don't do offline multi is Racing games.
Why would you skip that as a feature. Racing games I've always seen to be like fighting games, a direct comparison of skill. They really need to bring that back as the standard.
Why would you skip that as a feature. Racing games I've always seen to be like fighting games, a direct comparison of skill. They really need to bring that back as the standard.
Both. Everything should have both, unless specifically designed for either.
Good blog Kegz. I once took my Amiga 500 and monitor over to my friends house so we could play Knights of the Skies linked. It's much easier now but also misses out on some of the fun factor. The only games that seem to be going that way are singing, rockband or quizz games. Ah well...
good first blog bro - and a topic close to my preferred gameplay. in fact i ONLY play games split screen multiplayer. when i heard far cry 2 WASNT split screen - a small part of me died :P
Nice blog dude, done before, but still good. In fact I tackled this topic a bit in my first blog too. Don't read it though, it's far too long.
Definitely missing this feature in a lot of games. The open-world aspect of modern games has somewhat killed too, because consoles are already maxing out their rendering power to build this city before you, so they can't exactly chuck another player in there because that means rendering sh*t twice. It's balls.
Some of the best times I've had gaming this generation were sitting down with friends and playing MotorStorm Pacific Rift 4 player split screen, as well as the fun of LittleBigPlanet. FIFA was pretty wicked against my brother too.
Definitely missing this feature in a lot of games. The open-world aspect of modern games has somewhat killed too, because consoles are already maxing out their rendering power to build this city before you, so they can't exactly chuck another player in there because that means rendering sh*t twice. It's balls.
Some of the best times I've had gaming this generation were sitting down with friends and playing MotorStorm Pacific Rift 4 player split screen, as well as the fun of LittleBigPlanet. FIFA was pretty wicked against my brother too.
I used to love having the guys over for a gaming multiplayer session every now and then. But you're right, that totally doesn't exist anymore. (with a few rare exceptions), and its really sad. Ppl used to say that gaming was an antisocial hobby but I could always challenge that by bringing up our multiplayer sessions, but I can't really do that anymore. Online gaming is fun and all but I didn't think it was wise to get rid of the whole multiplayer features either. So I totally agree with you. 5 stars and great blog btw :)
I agree, online also doesn't have a long shelf life either. I mean my brother and I are still playing Tony Hawk 4 on ps2 which is great fun, however if the game was online only i doubt we would find anyone to play with as that game is old. Although I could join xbox live and play Smackdown vs Raw 2010 online i chose not to because it costs more money and less enjoyable than buying a new controller and playing with someone next to you.
Online matches are fun. I guess mp has died, alot of games don't offer mp offline modes, which sucks.
Great first blog, bud!
Not so long ago, my friend organised a little gaming party and it was insanely fun. Just a bunch of people bringing in and playing whatever we had around. I got owned in Street Fighter 2. :D
Not so long ago, my friend organised a little gaming party and it was insanely fun. Just a bunch of people bringing in and playing whatever we had around. I got owned in Street Fighter 2. :D
I played this racing game on ps1 where you were a person instead of a car and you ran around and jumped over gaps .
Can't remember the name :(
If anyone knows tell me :P
But yeah, offline multiplayer was the most fun i've had.
Star wars pod racer on n64 anyone? :P
Can't remember the name :(
If anyone knows tell me :P
But yeah, offline multiplayer was the most fun i've had.
Star wars pod racer on n64 anyone? :P
Onlne CO-OP and a mic s get and you dont have to share the TV.
But yea I miss Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II my mates would come over and we would stay up all night drinking coffee eating junk food good times good times.
But yea I miss Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II my mates would come over and we would stay up all night drinking coffee eating junk food good times good times.
8 November 2009, 09:59 PM
Reply to DeathbatDrummer
I played this racing game on ps1 where you were a person instead of a car and you ran around and jumped over gaps .
Can't remember the name :(
If anyone knows tell me :P
But yeah, offline multiplayer was the most fun i've had.
Star wars pod racer on n64 anyone? :P
Oh right I remember pod racer! It was really hard though!
I played this racing game on ps1 where you were a person instead of a car and you ran around and jumped over gaps .
Can't remember the name :(
If anyone knows tell me :P
But yeah, offline multiplayer was the most fun i've had.
Star wars pod racer on n64 anyone? :P
8 November 2009, 09:59 PM
Reply to DeathbatDrummer
I played this racing game on ps1 where you were a person instead of a car and you ran around and jumped over gaps .
Can't remember the name :(
If anyone knows tell me :P
But yeah, offline multiplayer was the most fun i've had.
Star wars pod racer on n64 anyone? :P
Are you thinking of Micro Maniacs?
I played this racing game on ps1 where you were a person instead of a car and you ran around and jumped over gaps .
Can't remember the name :(
If anyone knows tell me :P
But yeah, offline multiplayer was the most fun i've had.
Star wars pod racer on n64 anyone? :P
Great blog mate..
So true so true. I remember even the early PS2 days with my Uni mates, often caught up with my mates between lectures and play a quick tony hawk splitscreen battle! and each other getting practice in between when the other was at lectures. And playing tekken3 and tekken tag on friday night with 4-5 guys and 3-5 girls in a small room drinking 50/50 mixes and button mashing tekken battles... definitely good times.
Current times Myself and 3 other mates go to one anothers houses each friday night and play games, great fun, and even if it is single player or multiplayer there are plenty of heckles going on (esp by me at the button mashing flustered ones when ganked lol)
So true so true. I remember even the early PS2 days with my Uni mates, often caught up with my mates between lectures and play a quick tony hawk splitscreen battle! and each other getting practice in between when the other was at lectures. And playing tekken3 and tekken tag on friday night with 4-5 guys and 3-5 girls in a small room drinking 50/50 mixes and button mashing tekken battles... definitely good times.
Current times Myself and 3 other mates go to one anothers houses each friday night and play games, great fun, and even if it is single player or multiplayer there are plenty of heckles going on (esp by me at the button mashing flustered ones when ganked lol)
i once punched my mate for being too cheap at mk3. good times...
9 November 2009, 10:22 PM
Reply to stupidlikeafox
i once punched my mate for being too cheap at mk3. good times...
Oh yeah heaps of my mates use to get mad at each other for anything considered "cheap". Eddie Gordo anyone? haha
i once punched my mate for being too cheap at mk3. good times...
9 November 2009, 10:57 PM
Reply to Kegz
Oh yeah heaps of my mates use to get mad at each other for anything considered "cheap". Eddie Gordo anyone? haha
lol eddie. mashing the kick buttons while holding down is not a combo!Oh yeah heaps of my mates use to get mad at each other for anything considered "cheap". Eddie Gordo anyone? haha
...i'd just chain throw 'em with king :)
9 November 2009, 11:05 PM
Reply to stupidlikeafox
lol eddie. mashing the kick buttons while holding down is not a combo!
...i'd just chain throw 'em with king :)
Tell me about it , and when tekken 4 came out it was christie . but no worries i just juggle em with paul.
lol eddie. mashing the kick buttons while holding down is not a combo!
...i'd just chain throw 'em with king :)
I still haven't found another multi-player game as entertaining as Champions of Norrath on PS2 and that was like 6 to 7 years ago. I think it is sad that the gaming focus has changed so much that the face-to-face interaction part of gaming seemed to have gone out of developers' mind. In Sacred 2 you can't save two characters because you have to have 2 profiles on the same machine and then you can't choose the path to go because it is limited by the player 1 character and that affects the choice of player 2 character too. I mean what were they thinking?
Having said that I still had a blast with Mario Kart with my friend but then it just gets a bit worn after a while.
I hope we can have more interesting multi-player games that are more fulfilling.
Having said that I still had a blast with Mario Kart with my friend but then it just gets a bit worn after a while.
I hope we can have more interesting multi-player games that are more fulfilling.
I also miss the good ol' offline co-op/vs games..
The thing i hate the most is how people constantly bag offline/single player games, and say how they should all be online multiplayer.
That peevs me off sometimes..
The thing i hate the most is how people constantly bag offline/single player games, and say how they should all be online multiplayer.
That peevs me off sometimes..
I still play Tekken 5 regularly and even hosted a tournament recently (complete with custom trophy for the winner). Tekken 6 just came out too, and it pretty awesome from what I've played!
I dont actually play too much online multiplayer. Occasionaly i like to play a bit of halo 3 online but thats about it. I still like to get a bunch of friends over to my house, get loads of unhealthy food to eat and play the sh*t out of my 360:D The most recent time was a few weeks ago when we played ultimate alliance 2 and ODST.
If only it was 4 player local.....
I agree we need more 4 player games on one screen but because if all the graphics and models its hard for the console to process it all.
Long Live 4 Player Games!
Long Live 4 Player Games!
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