So, I haven't been able to keep a consistent writing schedule as I would like.I've been on vacation for the past few days. During that time, my laptop had died. However, my uncle had provided me with a computer to tide me over until something else comes along. I'm expecting some money from the state to come in and give me a bit of a boost. I plan on using that money, after I acquire a steady job of course, to build myself a proper gaming PC, complete with a capture card, so that I can start on my way to making some really cool video reviews, machinimas and let's play videos. I'm looking forward to that day, however, beggars can't be choosers.
Anyway, on with what I was going to talk about.
Recently, I've gotten back into Online gaming, of the console variety. It seems that more and more, online gaming seems to be the primary focus of game developers. Developers seem to put an online multiplayer mode in games where it doesn't belong. What seems to bother me more, is that they completely seem to scrap the idea of split screen. It wasn't a problem for us ten years ago, why would it be a problem now?
Halo was the epitome of the split screen gaming get together. If you had enough TVs, you could LAN up to four xboxs together and have yourselves a grand old time with up to sixteen total players. This was fun. It brought about a sense of community, and fellowship, and the ability to directly yell at the person who killed you.
Mario Kart 64 brought about so many memories of playing with other people in the same room, and the same screen. The stand offs of Block fort and filling the trenches with green shells, the sense of dread as the whine of a blue shell approached you from last place, and the thrill of victory after a grueling race on the Rainbow Road.
It just occurred to me that maybe not everyone would sit up atop Block Fort and shoot green shells down to the bottom level. Though, I think that was one of the best parts of playing with other people in the same room. You could make up your own games with the other people. Sure it may have been out of boredom, but some of the best things come from being bored! I can't get two words in with the people that I end up playing with online. They either don't want to listen, or don't have a mic.
However, I don't think that making up your own game would work in an online scenario. Players are too focused on the objective at hand to really mess around. If they do mess around, it's only one or two players that do, and they muck up everything for the other players by team killing or just screwing around. But, this is the way of things in the online universe.
Online gaming is great. It's easy to get sixteen people together to play a game that you all share, and have a passion for. It's easy to play multiple games without having to worry about if the other people are still having fun. Online gaming makes it easy to play with other people. Even though, to me, it doesn't feel like it.
Online gaming has become the way of the future, and a major selling point for most games. For some, it's all the game is. It's not all bad, though. Every once in a while, you'll meet someone new, and find yourself having a gaming buddy. Online gaming is what's happening right now, and it will endure. But to me, it just won't be the same as playing split screen.
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