Online Standardization: Hurting or Helping Your Gaming Expereince??

I have noticed that online features becoming standard this gen. has been very much the double edged sword. It has led to a flood of FPS with very short campaigns because they focus on multiplayer. I have seen the pull from single player games to multiplayer games.We also haveDLC being used to milk consumers of features that might have already been in the game. But on the same token I have seen a rise in the fighting genre. Online capability has revitalized my love for fighting games since I can play against a real player on a regular basis. It allows for updates to games to be implemented when there is a problem and buggy games can and do get last minute fixes. And of course it gives gamers a sense of community, they can now play and communicate with people who love the same hobby without having to loiter near a Gamestop.

I guess you can't have it all but overall I do enjoy online gaming. I just really hope single player games to crumble under the pressure, they really are my favorite kind of games.

I think that a reason why you don't see to many Platformers which is disappointing. But at the sametime I love the online features in videogames today. I play NHL 09, and I gotta say that the EASHL is the real deal when it comes to play sport games online.

I think that a reason why you don't see to many Platformers which is disappointing. But at the sametime I love the online features in videogames today. I play NHL 09, and I gotta say that the EASHL is the real deal when it comes to play sport games online.

NeoGen85

Well. You had Sly Cooper, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, and Psychonauts. I guess it's appeal then.

I never play online on consoles.SP only.

I never play online on consoles.SP only.

Lto_thaG

[QUOTE="Lto_thaG"]

I never play online on consoles.SP only.

Myzz617

Hurting it. Devs feel like they have to include online even to games that don't need it because they know reviewers will lower the score if it isn't present. Adding online to every game also takes precious resources away from having a long and deep SP game.

I definitely miss the good ol' PS2 days where I can go through all those excellent SP games with relatively good lengths for first playthroughs. Online standardization has the trend and making many potentially epic games much shorter and lower in quality for the SPs than they really could have been. But its not really a bad thing, since it forced a lot of other genres to have good online where they traditionally don't have any of them, like SF4 for example, greatly extending console owner's reach into communities and increasing their competitive level. It can't really be argued that it decreases play time though, since due the way online works people play MPs way more in total time length more than most people do with games last gen.

If they can somehow connect all the online communities (PC, 360, PS3), just imagine the possibilities....

If they can somehow connect all the online communities (PC, 360, PS3), just imagine the possibilities....

Gxgear

most fps this gen are 8-10 hours long, i dont think that is short. online is helping gaming experience. i dont think I would have spent hundreds of hours in cod4 if there was no online, same with plenty of other games.

some of the blame should go to the reviewers, like ign who will take off alot of points if the game doesn't have MP, which is enough to flop a game most of the time

Edit: Whoops, should probably read the first post eh?

Anyways I think it is hurting my experiance a bit. As much as online play is fun, when I buy a $60 game, I want a well rounded experiance. If your going to put out a multiplayer focused game, sell it for cheaper.

helping but not at the expense of split screen, Split screen is slowly being phased out, And this sucks, I wish games like KZ2 had them, It's all about milking more copies, People need to have more copies of the game simultaneously when they're playing online with each other rather than locally on one television with one copy of the game, Devs have realized this and are slowly cutting out local multiplayer, It might not completely die off but it'll be less respected or supported in the near futuretheox2g6

If your going to put out a multiplayer focused game, sell it for cheaper.Wasdie

Until recently I absolutely loved MP. It was where I spent the bulk of my gaming time went. Now? Not so much. I just cant get into multiplayers anymore. Last MP I really loved was COD4, and I stopped playing that last summer.carljohnson3456

[QUOTE="Wasdie"]If your going to put out a multiplayer focused game, sell it for cheaper.-BOX-

I'm not advocating a full-on segregation of multi-player and single player, but it really seems like win-win with games like Warhawk/SOCOM: both are offered at about 2/3 of retail price, seemingly satisfy those who are seeking a multiplayer experience, and aren't attempting to make a single player that is little more than training for the multiplayer. It seems rather good to me, as it allows those who like those games to get them quicker (since whatever time spent making single player is eliminated) and allows them to be bought for cheaper. I'm also not saying that the point you quoted is right, but citing some precedent, it does make sense. It would also be a nice warning beacon to anyone thinking a highly rated game means it has a good campaign; that may have been true for most if not all highly rated games last generation, but unfortunately it's about 50/50 this generation for a majority of games that include a multiplayer component.