Online is Ruining Great Gaming!

Ok incase many of you haven't noticed already, all people are talking about in games such as FPS and Racing is Online this, Online that and forgetting that about 10 years ago we were perfectly fine without it. I'm sure many of you have had a Nintendo 64 or GameCube, at the front of the system you can clearly see 4 controller ports only. Lets face it, Online is going to KILL multiplayer gaming as we know it.

I for one loved playing multiplayer games like GoldenEye, Mario Kart 64, Mario Party, Super Smash Bros. Melee, etc. But hey, If developers aren't going to worry about multiplayer games anymore if all we want is to play Online games.

So lets look into the crystal ball for a minute shall we? In a couple of years when Online is basically in every FPS, Racing, Party game, etc, and people are playing them non-stop, support for multiplayer will shrink down until no games have it anymore. Sure you might see the occasional VC N64 game which uses those 4 GC controls of yours, but Mario Party is sure not going to be the same. When we look back in our cupboards at our old N64s and GCs we are going to remember all that frantic fun with our friends years ago, but when we look at our Wii and Xbox 360 all we are going to think about is our ANTI-SOCIAL virtual friends that we once played with. Multiplayer will be a thing of the past and the Wii 2 and Xbox 720 might only have the possibility for 2 controls if your lucky. When you walk into EB Games you will see extra controls sitting in the discount bin with big '75% OFF!' stickers on them, I know I'll pick them up, but will anyone else?, Hey why should they bother when they can play with thier 'imaginary friends'.

Cherrish your multiplayer games while you still can.

Multiplayer gaming and online gaming are two very different things, but I do not believe either of them will completely die out anytime soon.

Yes, alot of games are going the online route, but online gaming comes with a catch: fees. Most of the online games require a fee to play, such as WoW, EQ2, and Guild Wars, just to name a few. I'm not sure about this, but the XBox 360 and Wii also require a fee as well. For every kind of price there is, there are always people who are not willing to pay it. This applies to everything, not just online gaming.

Many game developers are making online games, but many are also continuing to make those games we love, like Mario Kart. I feel that game developers will continue to stick with what they've been making for quite awhile, even if they are gradually pushing for the other type.

For example, look at Nintendo. They've sure been promoting alot of Wii WiFi, but look what else they have? They just came out with TP a few months ago, and they have other great titles like SSB Brawl, Super Mario Galaxy, and Metroid Prime 3 which they're working on. They may be pushing for the online market, but at the roots, they're still all about the average gamer.

I do see online gaming getting bigger and bigger for the next few years, but I do not feel that it will completely envelope the entire gaming market anytime within the next 5 years.

I don't see your point actually...
I mean, it's not that people who play online, won't play normal multiplayer games ever again or anything.

Even if there IS an online option in every FPS, RPG, adventure game and what not, you don't NEED to use it.
Just call a bunch of friends over and tell them to bring their controller along, so ya'll can play together. (normal multiplayer is more fun than online, and it will always be more fun.)

I'm not the one to talk, actually, since I'm making this Zelda Online and all, but still...

I think you should just stop complaining and keep enjoying those multiplayer games, Nintendo will not drop multiplayer-support just because the online-business is getting bigger. ^^

I agree. I always felt like the online part of any game that has offline play is a filthy watered down version of the offline mode. Even when I loved online games, it was not hard to notice how the game seemed to have been watered down when played online.

I'm mostly one for splitscreen play and single player modes, and I hope those two modes will always remain available. I can't stand playing online much these days...

Originally Posted by Power_Fan

Ok incase many of you haven't noticed already, all people are talking about in games such as FPS and Racing is Online this, Online that and forgetting that about 10 years ago we were perfectly fine without it. I'm sure many of you have had a Nintendo 64 or GameCube, at the front of the system you can clearly see 4 controller ports only. Lets face it, Online is going to KILL multiplayer gaming as we know it.

I for one loved playing multiplayer games like GoldenEye, Mario Kart 64, Mario Party, Super Smash Bros. Melee, etc. But hey, If developers aren't going to worry about multiplayer games anymore if all we want is to play Online games.

So lets look into the crystal ball for a minute shall we? In a couple of years when Online is basically in every FPS, Racing, Party game, etc, and people are playing them non-stop, support for multiplayer will shrink down until no games have it anymore. Sure you might see the occasional VC N64 game which uses those 4 GC controls of yours, but Mario Party is sure not going to be the same. When we look back in our cupboards at our old N64s and GCs we are going to remember all that frantic fun with our friends years ago, but when we look at our Wii and Xbox 360 all we are going to think about is our ANTI-SOCIAL virtual friends that we once played with. Multiplayer will be a thing of the past and the Wii 2 and Xbox 720 might only have the possibility for 2 controls if your lucky. When you walk into EB Games you will see extra controls sitting in the discount bin with big '75% OFF!' stickers on them, I know I'll pick them up, but will anyone else?, Hey why should they bother when they can play with thier 'imaginary friends'.

Cherrish your multiplayer games while you still can.

Well you sure have a point their but I wouldn't say that online gaming is going to kill multiplayer it's still going to be multiplayer. I would just call it an IMPROVEMENT to multiplayer.

Online games may be all the rage but c'mon their not sucking the life from the good old multiplayer games. There are heaps of games out and coming out that involve plugging a second or third controller in and gaming away with a mate.

I really don't think multiplayer will be killed off by online gaming. I have a 360 and I play Dead or Alive online, but that doesn't really compare to when I play against my friends in the same room. I'm sure game developers realize this as well.

And if you don't mind playing multiplayer with your friends online, it only makes it easier.

I hope this won't happen. multiplayer may be decreased but I doubt it will completely die out. Either way, I still play Mario Kart 64 with my friends. It's not like it ever gets old.

I don't see why multiplayer would completely be rid of. The maps are all there, and it requires multiple players to play. If they bother putting in multiplayer maps in for online play, making it offline is pretty easy.

I don't see any point here.

Oh common, online gaming just means you can ALWAYS have fun with your friends online instead of waiting until you are all available to come over and play! It also gives you the opportunity to play with some new people from all over the world, which is great.

When the nintendo 64 was out, I hardly ever played multiplayer. I did play multiplayer games on my PC and the games from that generation are still close to my heart as my favorite games, there is no reason to discredit online, although I actually prefer typing out messages instead of having voice communication like on xbox live. It makes it easier to talk to people who don't speak english well and it is faster for me. I also don't have to listen to little kids playing a game rated M and wondering where their parents are. (Little kids are really annoying)

Although I do see where typing on a console could get annoying. ( I never played a consoles online multiplayer until the other day, see the thread where I met the xbox (360) for the first time)

Originally Posted by CagedCrado

Oh common, online gaming just means you can ALWAYS have fun with your friends online instead of waiting until you are all available to come over and play! It also gives you the opportunity to play with some new people from all over the world, which is great.

Maybe it's just me, but I find playing splitscreen with a bunch of friends is a lot more fun than all of my friends going online from their homes to play with me.

Originally Posted by William Zelda4ever

Maybe it's just me, but I find playing splitscreen with a bunch of friends is a lot more fun than all of my friends going online from their homes to play with me.

They're almost the same thing. I think online is better then playing on a single system.

No screen peakin'.

I find it more fun to be able to play with millions of different people rather than just the friends that live close by. And lets face it when your playing a shooter split-screening you will always have to deal with people screen peeking which ruins the entire game, with online you never have to worry about it.

I'd hardly like Halo if I didn't play it online(to be clear, Halo PC. Halo Xbox is agonizing online). Online adds a lot to the gameplay, and I suppose I fail to see why online play definitively subtracts from offline multiplayer.

Online gaming has definitely improved multiplayer gaming. If it wasn't for online gaming, we'd still be capped at 4-player gameplay. Now, with online play, we can have epic CTF battles, deathmatches, races or whatever else with 8, 16, or even more people. All those extra people open up so many gameplay opportunities that simply isn't possible with normal split-screen gaming.


Of course, traditional multiplayer gaming will still have its uses. I doubt it will ever become completely replaced by online gaming, but serve as more of a supplement to it, because there is ALWAYS a market for split-screen gaming, such as parties and get-togethers or what not, where games like Smash Bros, Dr Mario 64 and Goldeneye/Perfect Dark are such massive hits.

It's not like your friends can come over to your house anytime that you want them to come. You are thinking things in a very linear way, Power_Fan, for online multiplayer games have both positives and negatives, same with console systems.

Besides, you say that people are becoming anti-social and multiplayer games will disappear; I say that people are meeting up with each other all over the world to form a massive gaming community, promoting social interactions via messages and voices, AND generating even more dynamic gameplay with vast worlds to explore, compared to the limitations of a console. Not to mention you can connect with others whenever, wherever you want. The income generated from these online games is massive, which allows corporations to develop even more games.

The controllers will not decrease. Obviously, rather than decreasing, they have been increasing in amount. Look at NES and SNES. Two controllers. N64 and GC. Four controllers. PS2. Six controllers with adaptor. Right now, the amount of controllers per system is hovering at 4 controllers. Anymore would be a mess of wires or controllers going everywhere. And the consoles are not powerful enough to support massive multiplayers (aside from 360 and PS3 as of now), so anymore than 4 is pointless.

I don't think 360 or PS3 could have a first person shooter with 6 controllers, the screen isn't big enough and the games would have to be low quality.