‘Tis the Season To Be Online?
by: dkpatriarch
So it’s the Christmas season; that time of year visiting family and friends get together and sit around the game console and play some multiplayer marathons together, all in good cheer. Oh no wait; that was the past. Not so much now, since game developers in their wisdom (with the rare exception of those that made COD 4, Halo 3, Perfect Dark 0, and GRAW), think that multiplayer should only be played and enjoyed on Xbox Live.
I make no bones about it; I’m not an Xbox Live convert. I did have it for a year, and I did have some great times with some games like Carcassonne and NHL. Gears of War and the ‘team gameplay’ commando co-operation ethic drove me (and my team-mates) mad; and I was sick of all the swearing, drunk slurred singing, and, yes, dying that happened when I played other shooters like COD 2. I didn’t want to listen to that, or let my kids play PD0 or Halo and listen to it, but when I turned off my mic, I got negative feedback and messages for not ‘co-ordinating’ with the team! Fun became serious and it all turned me right off.,
denied embeding due to language, watch at own risk.
Back to the opening description. Several years ago this was my house and my Christmas season. All my brothers-in-law and nephews, some of whom did not own a console, would all have a go at taking turns playing split-screen N64 or Xbox and it was as fun watching each other as it was to play. We kept tallys and made joke accusations of “double jointed thumb advantage” etc. It was great because we played together and not with strangers we could care less about. We knew each other and how good or bad we were did not matter. It was merry, it was a great Christmas.
So that’s dead and buried because of the ‘future of gaming’: online. Developers seem to think so; even the recently released Orange Box by Valve with the perfect for family and friends multi game with the cartoon look, Team Fortress, is only at best system link, with no split screen. But does it have to be that way? Is there really no demand for split-screen?
According to the NPD group in its most recent report entitled ‘Expanding the Games Market’ it concludes that despite playing more single-player or online games, hardcore gamers are just as likely as casual ones to enjoy local multiplayer games. It reports: “”While heavier gamers are much more inclined than lighter gaming groups to prefer playing games alone, both groups are equally inclined to enjoy playing games as a family, group or as a party activity.” The survey was taken online by more than 5,000 respondents and the results say 63 percent of the U.S. population plays video games, with the 18-34 male demographic predictably being the most avid players. What is perhaps most surprising though, and what developers should take note of, is that the findings show that all gamers, casual and hardcore, “value gaming as a way to bring their families closer together… and as a way to alleviate stress and to help them unwind”. So no, it’s not just ‘good to play together’ online, but also with people who you already have established relationships with. Even those I personally know who play Live, generally play with established friends and not with strangers.
Then there is the online Live problem of finding a multiplayer game to play if the gaming public has moved on to newer more exciting options. You might love Prey’s multiplayer, for example, but if nobody is playing it anymore it is as good as a waste of the developer’s time and resources. They would have been better off spending those resources on the single player mode. And you, who may still enjoy the multi, cannot play it anymore because there is no local split-screen.
While more games cater to system-link than they do to split-screen, this limits those that do not own several consoles or do not have several consoles in the greater friendship or family circle to only a handful of games that they can play together sitting in one room. This is where the Wii, which is apparently practically sold out this season in Australia, is making in-roads; it caters to casual gamers who like to play together with its simple accessibility, short mini-games, and local multiplayer games. That is a shame because the 360 has great games that have great mulitplayer, but if these games were also split-screen, maybe even with bots (remember them?), some of these households would be warming up the 360 instead of dusting off the rarely used Wii.
Source for report information: Gamepro e-newsletter
Filed under: 3rd Party Games, Console gaming, Microsoft Games, Parental Gaming Tagged: | behaving badly, gamers behaving badly, trash talk, trash talk onlive, UNO, xbox live, Xbox360 Trash Talk, XboxLive, xbxlivenews
I still think it would at least help minimise the negative exposure if there were Live ‘categories’ like in our gamertags: Mine is Recreation, some have Family. Perhaps Hardcore would then only be where you’d find that sort of behavour??? Wishful thinking? But yes, the bigger social issue is what sorts of things are being permitted on Live…
Websites like Youtube have to monitor their sites for nudity and criminal or anti-social behavour (and doesn’t always succeed as the medium is so difficult to control). Microsoft can see the advantage of gamers communicating as a social tool, and as a gaming tool like in ‘team-based’ games; personally I’d be more interested in Live if there was NO voice communication during the game and only in the lobby to organise things.
If I want to be social, I’ll talk to real people I have more in common with than a game. Besides the ‘team based’ games exclude those who have not been in training at gamer commando camp long enough to do the ‘right things’ by the team. The amount of abuse I got when I didn’t do the right thing in Gears was ridiculous; it’s meant to just be fun!!! Split-Screen for me until there are massive changes on Live.
Any responsible parent wouldn’t expose their unsuppervised kids to Live and that sort of crap either imo. Which kind of defeats Microsoft’s purpose….
@ doveman . . . welcome aboard mate, nice to see you visiting and more comments the happier we all are.
I agree, I’m certain that Major Nelson knows of all these breaches, especially with regards to the personal exposure stuff in games such as Uno, which is supposed to be a “family game” . . . I’ve known several forum members who have kids that don’t play the game on live anymore simply due to the fact they never know when some guy – or girl is gong to drop their draws or flash some breasts . . and many do btw . . .
There’s even been times (and vids made of this which is even worse, where some guys pushed their room mate into stripping on the game over live (Uno) . . .you could see she didn’t want to do it, butthe guys were “persistent” about it, and it was definitely a case of abuse . . .
Yet nothing is done about it. Is it the fear of loosing subscribers . . or what, it would be nice to know MS was even considering doing something about it, or are the simply contentt o sit back and allow the millions to join up to Live, and do nothing about moderating the content of its subscribers.
A good friend got banned from the forums simply because he placed a link in his signature that he shouldn’t have, no warning, just banned him for a period, yet these clowns abuse people, and behave like little brats and worse, and nothing is done about it . . .
It really makes my blood boil, if you can’t tell . . . .
If you do a google for Xbox live vids, there’ sseveral around showing just HOW bad many young American ‘kids’ do get, and it’s down-right-scary . . Thing is, Xbox Live has given these people the ability to go well beyond what society would ‘normally’ accept.
I would imagine that even on other Net services on say PC gaming ?? that this sort of thing isn’t as prevalent . .? someone correct me if I’m wrong please . . .?
Their behaviour is way out of control and almost giving them a sense of “immortality’ or indestructibility as such. Thinking they can say and do as they please, with NO consequences for their actions.
Whereas, if you put the same kid/gamer in a real life situation, they’d be a totally different person, hopefully. I can see some of the reasons many right-wingers have about “kids and gaming” on such thing as Xbox Live etc. As even judging by many of those in that video, they seem oblivious of their action, with little regard to what it might be doing, or the effect it has on some. A shrug of the shoulders and yeah, whatever . . is quite common.
I read an interesting article about it the other day actually, shame I didn’t bookmark it . . bugger . . .
On the issue, agree, agree, agree.
Now onto that youtube video, When stuff like that is exposed, surely M$ must think that ” The feedback system isn’t working!” and it doesn’t, its broken as heck, you can report or give as much -ve feedback as you won’t yet that won’t stop them or warn them of their abussive ways. I mean M$ could have easily stopped the ability of the peson kidnapping those 2 boys surely given the feedback rating of that person, but they didn’t. Stronger penalty’s need to be impose, whether we like it or not. Get off your ass M$ and do something about it.
Scary isn’t it, which is one reason I choose notto go on Live. Not the only reason mind you, but a solid one nevertheless.
Btw mate, you have a forum PM . . . as do you Sutton . . can you check them and get back to me please.
Amazing Youtube video isn’t it….I haven’t heard that sort of thing from Aussies, but gee that gets bad….That and the horrible drunk singing. Unless you have a great friends list (and they are available when you are…) or mute altogether, then you can cop that.
Very True…… Im actually rethinking the value of the Gold Membership after encountering many inappropriate comments over live. I would much rather play with “friends” over Live or better yet, as stated above, some “old school” split screen play.