Though few students will remember, video games used to be played almost exclusively in arcades. As home consoles became popular and advanced, pong turned into “Grand Theft Auto,” and some of the social aspects of video games were replaced with hooker-murdering sprees.
As this generation of consoles focuses on including the Internet and making multi-player online, too many developers are ignoring the profit made from games which can be played in a single living room.
A growing trend has been for the popular PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to sacrifice multiplayer and co-operative play for the online experience. Online multiplayer does have its advantages, allowing up to 16 players in many games and giving old friends the chance to compete against one another from multiple colleges and states. However, students wanting only beat to the hell out of the friend sitting next to them are running low on options. Several titles have even eliminated single-player, moving the entire game online and cutting off the casual gamer.
“Games like Socom, Confrontation and MAG have completely cut off single player and the audience without Internet altogether, which is unfortunate,” said Christopher Santos, an employee at GameStop in College Station who voiced his opinion on the industry. “Sometimes people just don’t have the Internet, and it is regrettable many games have hurt their replay value by going that route.”
For those unwilling or unable to devote 40 hours a week to a game, playing online can quickly turn into a succession of rapid deaths, while enduring swarms of 15-year-olds screaming “noob” into their head-seats. Playing head-to-head offers an competitive game for less experienced gamers, but the industry has been tempted by online profits.
“Basically, the financial incentive for the gaming industry is selling downloadable content. Sixteen percent of all phone users have paid at least $41 on just downloaded media,” Santos said. “You’re playing the game and getting bored with the maps, and five months later you see an ad for five more maps for $20. Game makers are actually losing money on consoles by competing with each other. Xbox 360 just dropped their price $50.”
Although online stores are the way of the future, the Nintendo Wii has shown games casual gamers can play together are just as profitable. Wii Play, a collection of nine mini-games packaged with a controller, has sold more than 10 million units in the U.S. alone.
“Even if you believe people are buying Wii Play solely for the controller, that indicates that there are now more than 10 million people who have an extra Wii remote controller in their homes,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales and marketing. “When added to the 12.7 million Wii Remote controllers that have sold separately, this reinforces the growing ‘social gaming’ trend we have been seeing where friends and family use their Wii games as a social hub – both in person and online.”
By making games anyone can play with each other, Nintendo has consistently outsold its competitors, selling nearly 20 million consoles in the U.S. Microsoft and Sony have responded with motion-based technology, the Kinect and Move, but the success of Nintendo can be contributed to increasing social interaction.
Video games may have the stigma of being for loners, but more and more people have grown up plugging in their consoles. While motion sensors are an exciting developing technology, a quality gaming experience does not rely on gimmicks. Games can and should be a social activity whenever possible, and sales will follow.