Am I the Last Gamer in the World...

I'm of the same opinion...didn't even go online much with PC! I've always viewed online multiplayer as an occasional diversion from single player experiences. I don't get to play games much these days, so I can never get good enough at some kind of competitive shooter to not get constantly killed, MMO's are totally not anything I'm interested in, and that's about it.
 
Umm, I thought most gamers preferred 2D? At least, that's the impression I get.

As for online, it's a mixed bag. It's on the one hand, more fun than single player, in a way. Take Gears, as fun as single player is, it still cant really compare to online. Online has given the game far longer legs with me than single player ever could. Because AI is just that, AI. It's a computer that does the same things in the same position over and over. It can never replicate multi-player.

One problem I have with online is that it's so damn competitive. People who play online tend to do it 24/7. And if you dont, then they crush you. It's a common problem with no real solution.

So basically, it's a mixed bag. Onlie is definitly a nice option to have, but I do prefer intricate single player experiences.
 
A strong singleplayer experience is a must in any game I'd buy. Online play appeals not one iota to me. I think it's because I'm a snob. :)
 
That does not give a rats ass about online multiplayer?

In fact the only game that get enjoyment from generally by playing online is football... other than that I'd much rather a deep single player experience with story. Maybe thats why I'm looking forward to Mass Effect so much.

or maybe I'm just not as advanced as you younger net-enabled whipper snappers...

Am I the last gamer to enjoy side scrolling shoot em ups and beat em ups?
I have found that even though I enjoy the foray into 3D theres something more magical and honestly downright more controllable about side scrollers... except for Virtua Fighter... Is that why I cant wait for LBP? Is that why I love Blast factor, Everyday Shooter and Super Stardust HD, Assault Heroes, Heavy Weapons, and Prince of Persia Classic? Am I the only one who enjoys those games MORE than the big budget blockuster, massively multiplayer, online with map editor games that fill every messageboard and magazine? Am I? I hope not.

Signed,

The Last Old School Gamer in the World.

So have you tried Ratchet and Clank Future ToD, pure single player game, thank god and god bless Insomniac Games and any other game dev that is still making single player games (Bethesda, Irrational Games, Nintendo, etc).

I personally like online MP, offline MP and Single player, however I have a huge problem with game developers that feel they have to stick multiplayer or worse yet, online multiplayer on a game title just because its popular, great or because a bunch of ignorant game reviewers told them to lest they score their game lower.

The reason I say this is because all games that are fun as single player degenerate into a killing each other death match or even team death match, its like instead of giving us something more constructive like working together to complete objectives, goals or combat a huge super powered AI opponent.

Worst of all not all online MP implementations actually work with the actual gaming public, thats why alot of gamers end up only playing a certain couple of favorite online MP games while the rest of the legion is left with one or two players or just empty or deserted lobbies.

I also feel that a game loses its focus (or is that the game dev) when they make a single player game and implement online MP leaving the SP experience somewhat stale sometimes.
 
Couldn't care less about MP,still prefer a good 2D game over the best 3D. You're not alone.

Are they making any 2D games in this generation, other than little arcade games you download?

Few people buy next-gen consoles looking for retro experiences. Or else this site's name might be different.:LOL:

As for online versus SP, they don't have to be mutually exclusive. I get the argument that developers may concentrate on a better SP game if they don't have to be diverted to making MP modes.

But did that save Lair?

And wouldn't HS and R&C offer more replayability if they had online modes, which anyone can choose not to play?
 
Are they making any 2D games in this generation, other than little arcade games you download?

Few people buy next-gen consoles looking for retro experiences. Or else this site's name might be different.:LOL:

As for online versus SP, they don't have to be mutually exclusive. I get the argument that developers may concentrate on a better SP game if they don't have to be diverted to making MP modes.

But did that save Lair?

And wouldn't HS and R&C offer more replayability if they had online modes, which anyone can choose not to play?

The retro experiences is a funny topic, many who buy next gen may not look for them but sometimes those retro games end up (if conditions are right) becoming the biggest franchises.

Lair is more a matter of opinion, sure there are technical issues that can be pointed out in that game, as in any other game, still its a first gen console game reguardless, what people were split on was the control scheme, some gamers were amazingly angry at it while other gamers had no problems with the SIXAXIS and welcomed it, once again it becomes someone's cup of tea or not.

Heavenly Sword, in my opinion is not the type of game I would want an online variant for, I would prefer that the developer focus on either a new IP or a sequel continuing the interesting story.

R&CFToD, although I am aware that in PS2 there was a Ratchet and Clank sequel with online play once again in my humble opinion I feel that the current and final product in Ratchet and Clank Future ToD is best as a single player game, it already has plenty of replay value that like all games will depend on if you liked the game or not.

While I am at it I may give you another opinion on lets say a major fps game launched this year, basically I feel that Halo 3 would have been much better had the dev focused on making a SP only disc and a MP only disc separate, that way issues like disc space are not a problem given the nature of the format and the popularity of that game as most players will not use the SP mode unless there was a massive ISP outage.
 
I prefer single player. Mostly because I'm feeling lazy or too busy. Online requires your full attention constantly, single player is a little more casual as you can pause or just play like shit because you're not feeling up to the hardcore experience at that time. I do prefer hardcore games to casual ones, I just like being able to play them casually from time to time and you can't do that in multiplayer.
 
Single player all the way here.

My personal opinion is that developers should focus on multiplayer or single player only. If they want to do both, they can sell it separatly at reduced prices. This way we should get games faster to the market and with higher quality.
 
Are they making any 2D games in this generation, other than little arcade games you download?
Thinking... thinking..not that I'm aware of, why?


Few people buy next-gen consoles looking for retro experiences. Or else this site's name might be different.:LOL:
Uhm ok :?:As for what other people buy their consoles for or what this site is called,I'm not sure how that's relevant to the original question or my response?


As for online versus SP, they don't have to be mutually exclusive. I get the argument that developers may concentrate on a better SP game if they don't have to be diverted to making MP modes.

But did that save Lair?
I never played Lair.

And wouldn't HS and R&C offer more replayability if they had online modes, which anyone can choose not to play?

Ya I guess.
 
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And wouldn't HS and R&C offer more replayability if they had online modes, which anyone can choose not to play?
The question is would enough people care for them to make them worth the investment by the developers? Ideally every game would have perfect implementations of every feature and game-type, but you have to draw the line somewhere or you'd never ship a project. Thus the differentiation between online and offline titles. Including online components doesn't make sense for absolutely every title. This thread shows that it shouldn't always be a priority to get online too. There is still a market (percentage wise we don't know how big) that doesn't care for online. There might actually be a bigger market for coop and single-machine multiplayer which would do the developers more favours than including nline Death Match and Capture the Flag et al. If given a choice between one game with online coop and another with offline, one machine multiplayer, I'd pick the latter even if on the whole it's an inferior game, because playing with friends offers the more fun experience.
 
To add... I DO like multiplayer co-op a la streets of rage, double dragon, final fight etc... ehhhh those are all old school games hunh? ;-) So i guess online co-op would be nice for me. Considering its rare that my friends would be sitting in my basement playing video games. Drinking? Cards? Football? Yeah. Games... not so much.:p
 
I think it all boils down to preference. Usually single-player (together with coop) offers a more epic gameplay: You have a story, character background, and a more narrative gameplay. Multiplayer (VS or MMOs) is all about competitive gameplay: Smart enemies, often fast-paced action, etc.

Personally, I can enjoys games from both worlds. However, online games require a certain level of training and memorization (maps, strategies, locations) that usually goes beyond the free time I am allocating for gaming. So in most cases I'll stick to single-player and or coop with together with friends ( for in your face taunting :p).
 
Uh, the only reason there wasn online games back in the day, is because there was no online.

Your self proclaimed title, is arrogant, and wrong. Sorry. :eek:
 
I like both. But there is still plenty of single player joy to be had, so I doubt you're the only one. Take Bioshock and Ratchett & Clank, some of the best games out there, and are single player only.
 
I think it all boils down to preference. Usually single-player (together with coop) offers a more epic gameplay: You have a story, character background, and a more narrative gameplay. Multiplayer (VS or MMOs) is all about competitive gameplay: Smart enemies, often fast-paced action, etc.

Personally, I can enjoys games from both worlds. However, online games require a certain level of training and memorization (maps, strategies, locations) that usually goes beyond the free time I am allocating for gaming. So in most cases I'll stick to single-player and or coop with together with friends ( for in your face taunting :p).

And there lies the biggest flaw or complaint about online MP competitive games.

Once you have certain players that can exploit the flaws in the game by memorizing maps and weapon locations and spawn points skill goes out the window and the game becomes one about if I am winning I care, if I am not winning I will quit and join another game so I can win.

At some point the fun starts to spoil and become rancid as a result of this gaming practice and it will take some way to fix those issues to make the games fun again.

I mean I am sure that playing over and over again you do memorize things as normal but those gameplayers that engage in those practices are doing it not for fun but to win just as some would bring a gun to fist fight.

I did want to mention though again about the question with SP games like Heavenly Sword getting MP, its not just because I own the game and highly reccomend it but HS is a very story and character driven game, the only thing I would think of to enhance the replay value would be to include extra quests for different characters good or evil.

For example a fun little quest controlling Roach would be fun as he is a memorable character.
 
I mean I am sure that playing over and over again you do memorize things as normal but those gameplayers that engage in those practices are doing it not for fun but to win just as some would bring a gun to fist fight.
That could be solved with a random level generator. Not sure how you'd go about implementing one that can produce something with the art assets of the human designed levels, but some games have had excellent random level implementations and show that if scaled up suitably, they would solve all such level based exploits.

Perhaps a problem with online is its stuck in a rut? It has always appealed to a niche demographic, and that niche is content with current solutions. From what i hear of online games, there's not variety to the online experience. I'm sure the whole concept could be expanded on to appeal to new users, much like Wii and DS et al have demonstrated reaching new gamers through alternatives to the accepted standards of gaming. However, it'd take a brave developer/publisher to try something new like that. IIRC from an interview, Harmonix had several 'misfires' with the music game genre before the market managed to break through into mainstream acceptance. If they had stopped after the first lacklustre efforts, they wouldn't be where they are now. Perhaps in the (not too distant) future we'll have some challengers to the samey online experience to feel out what potential might be there?
 
Uh, the only reason there wasn online games back in the day, is because there was no online.

Your self proclaimed title, is arrogant, and wrong. Sorry. :eek:

Sheesh! Your post is almost totally off topic btw...

Even if there were much more penetration of online console gaming back then...I still wouldnt really care (and neither did most people) so it doesnt matter WHEN online games came about (which isnt the point of the thread anyway).

The title was designed to see who else felt that way. If it bothered you so much way did you bother to read/post in it?:rolleyes:
 
I'm old school as well. I've just never been interested in playing competitively online with a bunch of strangers who spit out a million expletives every minute. I prefer story driven games.

A lot of online modes in games are worthless after its been out for a year unless its really popular. I tried out Burnout Revenge online quite some time after it was released. There were maybe a total of three people playing, and they were experts, having every little nuance of the tracks memorized. It wasn't fun at all, worthless. I'm not saying it shouldn't have an online mode. I know it probably doesn't take as much work to put a racing or a sports game online, it's not like they have to make new maps. This is just one example of an online mode becoming worthless.

I think about how much better the single player could be if they didn't spend time on the multiplayer. It's tough to pay $60 for a game when I know I'll be spending little to no time with multiplayer. I bought Halo 3 for the single player. I'll probably play some lan games with my friends maybe once or twice. I can't imagine playing any game online for a long period of time.

Very few developers can make a game with excellent single and multiplayer modes. A lot of the time multiplayer is just tacked on. Did The Darkness need a multiplayer mode? What a waste of time that was considering there are a lot of things that could be improved in single player. I wish they would focus more.

We're a dying breed that's for sure. Mass Effect can't come soon enough :D
 
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