Gaming with strangers

Years ago when online gaming was “the future” I poo-pooed it as an excuse for developers to give up on AI. If multiplayer games could be filled with real people there would be no need to create more human-like bots. After all when playing with strangers is there really much of a difference between that and shooting at computer controlled players?

Yes, I was wrong. There is most certainly a difference. Even without voice chat there is still something psychological about knowing there is a person on the end of your gunfire. Taking someone out is far more satisfying in Burnout knowing that someone out there is yelling at their TV. In fact Burnout Paradise actively encourages the multiplayer rivalry. 

Once voice chat is thrown into the mix gaming with strangers can be a very mixed bag. I have “met” some really nice people playing online who are happy to chat away and even give good advice on how to play… Then there are “those” people. I don’t think I have to give examples everyone has heard racist, homophobic, foul-mouthed rants from users hiding behind a gamer name. Anonymity seems to turn some people into really unlike able characters. 

I remember feeling out right cheated by bots in Perfect Dark as there ridiculous accuracy and perfect knowledge of your situation left you ripped to shreds. When someone out foxes you on Call of Duty you know it was probably pure skill or dumb luck that was your demise. Some games think “good” AI is being hard for hards sake, the cheating Pro Evolution Soccer computer springs to mind. 

If you look at playing with strangers through my old cynical eyes the idea can be stretched further. Instead of just replacing bots perhaps actual enemies in a single player campaign could become human controlled. It is something that Left 4 Dead is going to attempt by allowing players to attack the 4 survivors as the zombies. Convincing gamers to play as enemies in a non death-match capacity could be tricky and is maybe more of a gimmick than it is the future. Again this could all be seen as a laziness with regards to AI development.

As I said there are “those” people out there who you would rather not play against, but when you do find someone fun to play with it makes it all worth while. If you are playing a game online with strangers you know immediately you at least have that game and probable gaming in common. It allows you to meet people you would otherwise never speak to, be they from another part of the world or completely different peer group. 

Anything that allows me to make new friends and talk to new people can’t be a bad thing. Now how to make sure everyone plays nice and get rid of the low-lives. Once we can properly punish people end discourage bad behaviour gaming with strangers could really go mainstream. 

Online and Offline

Online multiplayer is the be all. At least that seems to be the view of some games makers out there. Don’t get me wrong, online play is a great feature to have, I just don’t want it to be at the detriment of the local multiplayer.

The two biggest recent examples of games following this trend are GTA4 and Burnout Paradise. Fantastic games and fantastic multiplayer modes, it’s just a shame I can’t play them with my friends at my house. Crash mode in Burnout was a staple party game in my house hold. My housemates don’t really follow gaming but they play what I put in front of them if it’s any good. So to have one of them enthusiastically come to me after seeing a Paradise advert only to have his smile ripped away was saddening. “Sorry Ben….we can’t play multiplayer on our one PS3!” I didn’t have the heart to tell him there was no Crash Party Mode anymore. 2 player San Andreas was also a favourite that has now been taken away from us. Now I know (insert name of criterion) says that if I want that experience back those games are still there. They aren’t though. The Xbox we used to play Burnout 3 on is dead and my PS3 won’t play PS2 games! More than that though why can’t I have the new Paradise experience at home with the people I want to play with? Don’t force me to not see my friends just so we can play GTA together!

There are plenty of us gaming online, but not all my friends are going to be owning a “next gen” system any time soon. Does that mean they should be left out of the experience?

And what about the local online play? Anyone who played Goldeneye religiously can probably put up with playing an FPS in split screens. So why cant I take my friends online to show them what a 16 player death match is like in COD4. It may even convince them to get their own machine to play without being confined to a tiny corner.

Local multiplayer obviously isn’t a forgotten concept; the entire Wii experience is built around it. Sometimes I wonder though if PS360 games makers put it in as an after thought to their online experience. The entire reason I didn’t buy Motostorm was because there was no way I could play it with anyone I knew (good to see this issue has been addressed with MS2). The ‘core are the ones championing the online experience but selling to the ‘core will only get you so far.

My main problem with online gaming with friends is the way it changes how you play. Playing online with friends is all about the game, playing offline with friends is more about hanging out. Some of my fondest conversations have come while playing a game of PES. Something just becomes lost when you try to talk over a headset.

Online multiplayer has its advantages and sometimes is logistically your best option (I know plenty of people using WoW to keep in contact with friends all over the country), but in my opinion it should only be a substitute for the all-on-one-couch experience. It almost turns into another argument of “casual” vs “hardcore” with the casual fighting for offline play and the ‘core waving the banner of online. The fight for multiplayer wages but I want both camps to be perfectly happy. There are many games out there straddling the line, Buzz TV features some of the best offline fun with your friends out there but is also offering some of the benefits of the online experience.

I’m not insinuating that the industry views offline as out dated or dead, far from it. I just hate it when online is my only option.

For me sitting on my own in my room with a headset will never be as fun as having a load of mates round and getting the beers in.

Games for couples

Since writing about Mario and gaming with my girlfriend it got me thinking. Is there a market in couples?

The Nintendo adverts really stick out to me as showing their target market. Most of these consist of friends and family gaming together. The old couple playing brain age together in bed or a family playing Mario and Sonic at the Olympics are good examples of this.

And while some of these games have been loosely marketed to couples there is no game I can think of that has actually been designed with that in mind. Females are gaming more than ever, practically every girl I know likes the odd game of Wii Sports or owns a DS. But while this casual market is open to all genders the “hardcore” market still remains male dominated. Now I know there are couples out there playing Gears of War co-op but they are largely in the minority.

Mario Galaxy is the first game I have really been able to find that has a really fulfilling couples’ experience. Can this magic be transferred elsewhere? What about allowing my girlfriend to control Clank? She could join in the shooting and running about but could jump onto Ratchets back to avoid difficult platforming. The Lego games are also a great place to go for a casual co op experience. While these are enjoyable experiences though, they don’t really fulfil my “hardcore” needs.

I think trying to come up with a couple’s game could require more than simply tacking an optional simplified game for player 2. Perhaps there is a whole genre that could be made from this? How about a 2 player RPG, one male and one female character. Each character can interact differently with the environment. There are plenty of different things you could do with this, here are a couple I thought of:

The male and female characters each have their own unique abilities that must be used together to succeed. So while the male can fight, only the female can heal (I hope that isn’t too stereotypical)

In battle the right hand side of the screen is a sudoku or picross puzzle that must be solved by the female character. While the male fights on the left hand side of the screen. Successful blows by him add hints to the right side and correct puzzle entries result in damage to the enemy.

I would even suggest a way for the two players to play apart, a mobile/web app half of the game. Every sudoku puzzle my girlfriend completes away from me on her phone levels up her character and gives her prizes for when we come back to play together. My character can raid dungeons on a web app to level up and also find treasures. The twist is that the treasures are useless to whoever earns them, the female games earn weapons and armour while the male character earns new puzzles and modes for the female. Or perhaps her own game is more akin to Animal Crossing while mine is Oblivion but when we play together we get a merged experience.

I’m sure there are plenty of smarter designers and developers out there that could come up with better ideas than me. Some of you may even baulk at the idea of your other half interrupting your gaming time. But maybe, just maybe, there is an untapped market in this.

PS. I don’t like the terms Hardcore and Casual but they are the quickest way to get my message across.

Why cant all games have co-star?

When you love to game you look to incorporate everyone you can into your hobby. Whether it’s getting your extended family to play Wii Sports or playing FIFA with your house mates. There is a game for everyone and I feel it is my duty to find it.

As I’m sure many of you do I spend an awful lot of time with my girlfriend, so it only makes sense to play games with her from time to time. Now my girlfriend plays more games than your average. Ok she’s not going to step near Bioshock any time soon but she’s completed Zelda on her DS and owns a Megadrive. So Emma is closer than most.

So the obvious thing to do is fire up the Wii. Plenty of games she can play, and play with me. I wish I could say the bruises on my arm were from over-exaggerated tennis strokes but I can’t. She does not take losing well. I’m not here to boast about my ability to beat my girlfriend at Mario Kart, I’d much rather be talking about how even our races are. I’m sure this is a dilemma many people have faced when trying to find a game to play with their more “casual” friends. Competitive games involve you beating them senseless or “going easy on them” neither of which is really a satisfying solution.

Maybe the better route to explore is playing with and not against. It makes perfect sense why frustrate her with my green shell guard technique when we can swing around Pixel Junk Eden together! Unfortunately for me there are no over-excited-wiimote actions in Eden to explain away the bruises on my arm this time. No the frustration is now coming from the fact this game also requires both players to be at a similar skill level. Here in lies the problem of most multiplayer games. In order for them to be fun all players must be of a similar ability.

Which is why it is great to see a game like Mario Galaxy come along. A game that allows for both of our skill levels to work in harmony. While I’m dealing with accurate timing and precision jumps my girlfriend can collect star pieces, point out things and stop bad guys getting me. At first I thought the “co-star” would just be another star pointer on screen like my own, but she has abilities that I do not, which gives her a meaningful and fulfilling purpose. It was refreshing to find an experience where two people with entirely different skills could play together and enjoy.

I have in fact found the shoe to be on the other foot, especially when it comes to Guitar Hero. I am not good at Guitar Hero. However I can compete against people who are, by playing on a different difficulty level.

As the games industry expands into everyone’s lives, games need to find more ways to incorporate everyone and not just by gimping the experience. I hope that Mario’s Co-star and EA’s All play are a sign of things to come. I want to be able to play a game of PES with my girlfriend and my PES fanatic friend with both of them being a meaningful and enjoyable experience. Until that point though I will have to search out the few games I can play with my girlfriend without getting bruised.

PS. My girlfriend is lovely and kind. The only time she gets really angry and aggressive with me is when we game. Maybe there is some truth in games inciting violence after all.