Why Online Multiplayer Isn't That Important

cyrus_zuo writes "GameTunnel has published an article on why they believe online multiplayer is over-rated. Specifically, author Russell Carrol feels that multi-player is only at its best when you have an emotional connection to the people you're playing against. In his words: 'Multiplayer gaming is awesome, don't get me wrong, but I don't think that online multiplayer modes are all that great. Unless I'm playing in the same room as the person I'm playing against, I lose the emotional and physical connection that makes multiplayer games fun. .. It's like going to a party where you drink and dance by yourself in your living room, and connect to everyone else through headsets, video cameras and HD TVs. No matter how you look at it, the end result is a lame party.'"

Re:Call me when AI approaches human levels

[Osty]

Another example of piss-poor game journalism. I can care less about emotional attachment. When it comes to gaming, artificial intelligence is grossly inferior to human intelligence.

Your jibe would make sense if the article was about single-player vs. multiplayer. It wasn't. His main focus was on Mario Kart 64 (recently released on Wii's Virtual Console). The core gameplay in MK64 was local multiplayer, and the author explicitly said that he'd rather play local multiplayer with friends than online multiplayer with random people (or even friends, for that matter).

That said, you don't always need awesome AI to have a fun experience. For example, there's the obvious example of puzzle games. Do you enjoy Tetris less when playing single player? However, there are also less obvious examples. For instance, look at racing games. In particular, let's compare the Gran Turismo series (GT4) and Forza Motorsport. GT4 has no online multiplayer and has horribly bad AI (bumper car, stick-to-the-line-at-all-costs AI). Forza has much better AI (they'll brake and adjust lines to avoid hitting you or other AI cars), but it also has online multiplayer. Guess what? Real people play Forza online just like GT's inferior AI plays -- first-turn pile-ups, bumping and crashing, using other drivers as turning aids, etc. Forza's AI plays more like an ideal driver, even though it's nowhere near perfect. Is GT's terrible AI better than Forza's because it (accidentally) plays more like a real person? Unless I'm racing with a group of people I know, I'd much rather prefer to play against Forza's AI instead, warts and all.

Re:Online Uncompelling

[fyrewulff]

Or think about it this way: 6-8 million subscribers under the population of both China and the US: 1 billion and 260 million. Here's some other numbers: Copies of Halo 2 sold: 7 million+ People that ever took it online: 1.2 million Active userbase of Halo 2 per day at any time: 30,000- 100,000 You can see the daily stats of the game here: http://www.bungie.net/Stats/ [bungie.net] I think what the guy was really trying to say though, (and I agree with him as a game developer) is that the new "every game must have online!" is stupid. It takes away from the focus on the actual -game-, and if a game doesn't have an online mode, it's really hard to miss something you never had. It also sucks when a game DOES have an online mode, but executes it poorly (see: most EA online games like Burnout 3 and NFS). Thank god they finally just decided not to include it at all in Carbon for Xbox. Sure, online modes have their place (First Person Shooters, MMO's, etc) but they shouldn't be crammed in to every single game just to have online.