Online Gaming: Where Are We Going?

[baylaust 2,531]

*warning: this is going to be a long thread. If you don't have the patience to read one of my reviews, you won't make it through this*

 

So as I'm sure most PS3 users are aware of at this point, PSN has been hacked and taken down for 6 days now, and Sony is rebuilding it from the ground up to prevent this from happening again. Now as the mature, self-respecting gamer that I am, I immediately went:

 

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufsf_-a_H9Q&feature=related

 

But when I realized that I live in a world with various sources of entertainment, such as sports and hanging out with friends, I went:

 

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY6uFfWM-lQ

 

I found out that it's not just me having this problem: everyone is. People are blaming hacker group Anonymous (who has been attacking Sony lately), and they claim they're not responsible, saying that Sony is merely using them as scapegoats (even though Sony never actually blamed them). What caught my eye, though, was how many people were treating this like the end of the world, saying that their faith in Sony has forever been shaken, that they now can't enjoy their favourite games, that they should have gotten the 360.

 

That got me to thinking: do we rely too heavily on the online features of a game to truly enjoy the experience anymore? What happened to the 'old days' of gaming, and where are we headed. But of course, to find out our future, we must first look at the past.

 

Take yourself to 1981. The NES has brought back gaming to its former glory, Mario was a new, original concept, and being able to save your game was a revolutionary feature. If you wanted to play a game with friends, you had to bring them over, pray you had enough controllers, sit together, and play. This continued for quite some time. Eventually consoles' hardware began to evolve, and games began to grow more and more complex, but multiplayer had remained the same through these years.

 

Along came the Dreamcast, one of the best, and unfourtunately short lived, consoles of all time, with a new feature that no one was expecting: the ability to play online. In addition, it had several games that were compatable with this feature, and a lot of them were actually pretty good. However, it never really took off, and gaming remained relatively unchanged.

 

However, in the new millenium, one console came by storm, and one game it had changed everything:

 

The Xbox, and Halo 2.

 

The first Halo revolutionized first-person shooters, and brought with it an insanely fun multiplayer.... but the Xbox hadn't brought online features into the spotlight yet. When Halo 2 came out, it was compatable with Xbox Live, Microsoft's online gaming network. Unlike the Dreamcast, Live took the gaming industry by storm, becoming a HUGE success. Sony brought their own online service into action with Playstation Online for the PS2, a highly underrated service in my opinion.

 

Now along comes the next generation of consoles, all of which promised online gameplay. Xbox brought back what has worked so well for them in Xbox Live, while Sony brought the Playstation Network to the table, a service with a slow start, but has now become a major part of Playstation gaming. The Wii has online gaming as well but.... they butchered it, to say the least.

 

Which brings us to today, where many people base their entire decisions on which console to get, completely on how good the online is for a system. Now with PSN down, everyone is acting like it's the end of the world, people are bashing Sony HARD, and the Xbox fanboys are taking this opportunity to slam the PSN and compare it to Live.

 

Hey, anyone remember that time Xbox Live went down for 11 days? No, just me?

 

Anyway, where am I heading with this? Well, everyone is so focused on how they can't connect with their friends, or play Mortal Kombat with people around the world, they seem to have forgotten how to enjoy a console without relying on online gameplay. Back on the NES days, no one could have imagined playing a game online. But these days, it seems that people can't imagine playing something that doesn't involve people around the world cursing and screaming in your ear.

 

I think it's about time that everyone remembered what the Wii, the Playstation, and Xbox were designed for: playing video games. Online is meant to be a feature, not something that decides the life or death of a console. And sadly, that's the point we have gotten to. Now don't get me wrong; I like me some online. But if I can't get online for a few days, I don't let it get me down. I have a lot of games, and a lot of consoles, and most of said games don't even feature online. I can get by. But many gamers can't anymore. And I believe that needs to change, and soon.

 

So, do you agree or disagree with me? Did I leave out any important points? Did anyone actually read this entire thing? Let me know.

 

baylaust out.

[Lu Xun 2,069]

I've read most of it, but I don't really care. I NEVER played on and I don't plan to do it any soon. D: I'm still in the "old days".

[Sora'sMum 352]

I agree that people are taking it over the top and complain that they can't play online for a few days. They should get over it and move back into the real world. I was frustrated at first because I couldn't play online but after the first day, it gave me the opportunity to continue FF7, and to play Crysis2's campaign. So overall, I'm not to fussed.

[Rob 5,571]

Well, this is kinda unrelated, but my PS3 stopped working in the 1st week of February. It's about to be 3 months since I haven't played games. At first, I was pissed, since I had to wait for an update to fix my PS3(they do fix it), but after the recent one(3.60) didn't fix it, I just lived my life until I see a new update come out(even though I was doing that before 3.60). Yes, I could just get a new refurbed PS3, but I'm giving the next update 1 last chance before I send it in. My point is, if I can live 3 months without playing games, I think what's happening now with PSn, I think people can live without games or at least play something else and live life as I have. There are other things to do.

 

Also, from what Baylaust said. I think because times have changed, that's the reason why people can't live without online. Like texting, and such. Who calls someone these days when they can text them(of course people still call but it's less if you are young). Same with online, why call a friend over to play games when you can play them online? It's just that times have changed and people are in the now iinstead of doing things they would do back in the day. Just pointing some stuff out, which from my experience, and from what I've seen. Yes, surprisingly, I did read the whole thing. lol

[Khrulesbbs 574]

i have been playing KH2FM on ps2 no online and im fineXD

[MasterXemnas 2,285]

fool. I'm fine without the online for a while. It's giving me some extra time to platinum some of my less played games.

[ObsidianEagle 103]

i agree, people have been sitting in their houses depressed due to no online play, when they don't realise that most games are based on single player.

 

it was very unfortunate timing for the PSN to go down, with 3 online-content-heavy games that came out. but i can wait.

[RoxSox 3,593]

I couldn't agree more completely, Baylaust.

Pick up a controller, put down the headset, and press that "story mode" icon on your screen, dammit!

[KingOFHearts 19]

I agree with your post, and now xbox are having a free xbox live weekend D:

[Deadshot 666]

i have always been bigger single player gamer than Muliplayer and i agree on most of things you said baylaust

[Space Cowboy 1,392]

I do agree with this thread. I was upset at Sony because of this whole fiasco, but I realized that in most cases, multiplayer doesn't make a game. Story mode is what makes one. So all of the games that I have in which I normally would be playing online, I've been trying to beat them during PSN's hiatus.

[Amon 4,279]

This is why PC gaming is superior. All the games don't rely on one service to power their online connection. With PC gaming one server going down will not cause a chain reaction of all the servers going down. If one game gets hacked all the other games can operate independently.

 

Leave it to Sony to blame Anonymous http://kh13.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif (who haven't done anything major since their war on Scientology started to calm down).

 

Though I agree with you. To be honest I sometimes prefer to play by myself than deal with the stupid 11 year olds and no lifers that plague the online gaming community.

[Rob 5,571]

Leave it to Sony to blame Anonymous http://kh13.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif (who haven't done anything major since their war on Scientology started to calm down).

 

.

But it was hackers who shut down PSN. They now have personal info on PSN, such as address, birthday, all the personal info you can think of, but Sony isn't sure that credit card info has been taken

[DragonMaster 1,166]

While I mostly agree, I believe that the many people who are freaking out is because they play games that are meant solely for Multiplayer. Think about, how many people can honestly say that they play Call of Duty for it's single player campaign?

 

Anyway, I really do agree. Many people play games only for multiplayer, and it has become so common that many games are now made with online multiplayer specifically in mind. Players and Developers need to take a step back for a second, and look at what made gaming what it is.

 

And yes, I did indeed read your entire post, and all the other posts too.

[baylaust 2,531]

Leave it to Sony to blame Anonymous http://kh13.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif (who haven't done anything major since their war on Scientology started to calm down).

 

Except Sony hasn't blamed Anon. All Sony has said is that they've been hacked, and Anon is telling everyone that Sony is using them as scapegoats.

[FlipMode 141]

I like you reviews and stuff, are you doing journalism or something? ^^

 

Anyway on to the subject at hand...

Of course people rely on their Console for online Gaming but you are forgetting that on the PS3, if you can't sign into PSN that does in fact take away a good chunk of the console's features. Gone also is VidZone, the Video / movie store, Qriocity, the ability to compare trophies, chat with friends / relatives, Blu Ray live enabled Blu Ray films and other things.

 

Not only that but (and I know this might sound like an odd analogy) but think about smokers, if they have a smoke everyday and then suddenly it is taken away, they start freaking out right? Gamers who like to game online and now can't are going to miss it.

 

I can live without online play, heck I could live fine without videogames as a whole. Getting way more stuff done without it. But the problem here is the circumstances of it, if it were off because Sony were updating something, no one would care but it's off because it was hacked and our details are wide open...

 

Finally, it is also because 80% of the people whining are only mad that they can't play COD.

[DarkmoonTenshi 22]

I've tried online gaming. Its okay for a bit, but after about a month, I get bored...

 

With games like Kingdom Hearts, however, everything is a lot more fun! You can fight enemies without having to worry about someone else taking out that super-rare-one-time-only monster that appears on holidays. Not to mention that games that are not online are able to level up more easily.

 

In one game I tried, my friend told me about this pumpkin thing that wouldn't attack, but was level 80. And of course, in my own level 5 state, I decide to go fight it... It took three hours for me to deplete its health to the halfway point, so I just left to go play Kingdom Hearts while my character was still attacking without my help. Guess what I got? A cursed candy that apparently decided to turn my character into a guy, and a bunch of girls started hitting on me!!

 

I just sat there think "Is this really worth it?" Now my friend is upset since I don't play the game anymore, but I don't want to be swarmed by girls when I'm completely straight!

[Hige Unari 5]

I've tried online gaming. Its okay for a bit, but after about a month, I get bored...

 

With games like Kingdom Hearts, however, everything is a lot more fun! You can fight enemies without having to worry about someone else taking out that super-rare-one-time-only monster that appears on holidays. Not to mention that games that are not online are able to level up more easily.

 

In one game I tried, my friend told me about this pumpkin thing that wouldn't attack, but was level 80. And of course, in my own level 5 state, I decide to go fight it... It took three hours for me to deplete its health to the halfway point, so I just left to go play Kingdom Hearts while my character was still attacking without my help. Guess what I got? A cursed candy that apparently decided to turn my character into a guy, and a bunch of girls started hitting on me!!

 

I just sat there think "Is this really worth it?" Now my friend is upset since I don't play the game anymore, but I don't want to be swarmed by girls when I'm completely straight!

 

What game was that? But I don't play online...yet at least but I think people have lost some of the old ways. I completley agree with you baylaust!

[baylaust 2,531]

I like you reviews and stuff, are you doing journalism or something? ^^

 

Nah. Usually, I'm just bored.