All Over The World

I currently live in a house with three other dudes. They're all very cool, and even let me be openly gamer about my lifestyle. In that: they will let me play video games in the living room. Which is a lot better than my last living situation where I restricted myself to my room and became a cave troll of sorts. My roommates also like to play video games themselves. It's a really good feeling to be among friends and people who accept me for who I am. This past week, though, I've been trying to get one of them to play video games. I wasn't trying to conduct some kind of experiment or test with them, it was just an urge to play some good old fashioned splitscreen with them. However, every time that I asked I got turned down. Which is fine, life happens. So, I went to my room where I had my Xbox hooked up to the internet to play some online multiplayer.

 I've noticed that I've been doing this a lot, lately. For as sacred as I hold same room multiplayer, I really enjoy the online realm. I'm the only person in my circle of friends that plays video games on a regular basis. As a result, I've become quite good at them, and therefore can pretty much beat the pants off of all of my friends. Online, however, is a different story. In the online universe, I have met my match on more than a few occasions. In fact I have absolutely decimated. When I play online multiplayer, I do it because it's a good way to fill time. Players are unpredictable and provide a challenge that AI cannot. I like playing against other people. Truth be told, there isn't much of a socialable about the games that I play. It isn't very likely that I'll be able to hold a conversation with someone after I have just shot them in the face. Though people have gotten married through competitive multiplayer games. I myself have never held a friendship online for longer than a few matches in Halo, but that's just me. I think that I might have to give MMORPGs a go.

I've tried out a trial of World of Warcraft and met some very nice people there. However, the trial ended in two weeks, and I was restricted to level 20. The MMO is a foreign thing that I could never get into because of the fact that a majority of the game is just grinding levels to get stronger to get better loot. That is only the game end of it, however. Forming friendships and meeting people is more likely the core of these experiences. As it is with WoW, the gameplay is pretty simple stuff. There are complexities, to be sure, but this is all standard fair for the MMO. Strong friendships have been formed over MMO games, and again, even the marriage thing has happened. Yet, there is still something about playing with someone in the same room that is special.

I grew up playing the Nintendo 64. My family game nights were sometimes just playing the N64 with my family. I've made many good memories playing games with friends playing on the same console, and have had a lot of fun doing so. People may say that games like Mario Kart is a friendship destroyer, but I've never had a moment where I wasn't talking to someone because they managed to snipe me with a blue shell right before the finish line and take first place. It is upsetting, however, to see that splitscreen multiplayer is going away. Very few games these days have it as a feature.

Borderlands and Halo maintain the ability to play on the same console. The same with Diablo III for the PS3. Mulitplayer has its time and place, but were it not for a shot in the dark made by the team behind 007 Goldeneye, we would not be here. There truly is something special about playing games with people in the same room. It forms stronger relationships with those that are around you. But, people can't always be around to play with you.

That's why there is online multiplayer, for those times when you want to play against someone and tell them that they have no life because they are much better than you at the game.

Seriously though, online multiplayer is a great innovation of the modern gaming era. It has provided us with very innovative titles and allowed us to connect with people that we may never meet in person. Games bring us together, even though we might get sniped by a blue shell right before the finish line.