forging relationships in console gaming

Lost Garden brought attention to a very thought provoking aspect of console gaming and online play. Does online console gaming cultivate the same type of relationships as PC gaming?

Technically speaking, multiplayer originated on the console with two player games like the venerable Pong. Some of the best memories I have of the NES involved going over to my friend's house around the corner and playing Contra after school. Years later Mortal Kombat and Super Mario Kart on the SNES further strengthened this notion: multiplayer gaming was to be enjoyed with people you know. They were right there to mock, strangle and laugh with as the situation applied.

During this time, the PC was playing host to a little multiplayer of its own - and not of the hot-seat turn-based variety, but through the phone line. With the advent of the Internet, this model would be adopted by PCs and consoles alike.

We are now at a point where a successful, PC-like multiplayer model has established itself in the console marketplace: Xbox Live. It has a ton of useful features, including "Friends lists" to manage friends that are universally implemented across all games. Even games that don't support online play can still be monitored through your profile, allowing friends to see exactly what you're playing. It allows easy coordination between players outside of the game, as it is clearly modelled after Microsoft's own Instant Messenger. Live also supports random encounters: if none of your friends are online you can just as easily join any game that supports online play. Voice chat further deepens this contact between players. However having this ability at hand does not guarantee meaningful communication.

Sony's strategy is a little more directionless, and is applied on a game-by-game basis. Final Fantasy XI and SOCOM, for example, are games that allow anonymous interaction, but only FFXI has managed to assist in maintaining these relationships as this is intrinsic to the game's design. I've never played SOCOM, but I would like to think that there is some kind of Favorites list on the server browser so as to provide an indication of who you're playing with. Though where this information is stored is another situation entirely.

Similarly, Nintendo's WiFi service launched last year on the Nintendo DS, which now has a few titles that are supported that are dependent on "Friend Codes". Speaking from my experience with Mario Kart DS, it's extremely difficult to set up matches with Nintendo's WiFi network. The reliance on Friend Codes that must be reciprocated to even be useful followed with the coordination of a play session through other means (e.g. phone, email, IM) implies you should already know the person you're trying to play with. There are of course options to play random opponents through Rivals, Regional and Worldwide groups, but there's no way to keep track of these people. These random battles are passively obtained by the user - you can't set criteria, and it's not like you can add their friend code after a race, because everything is hidden except the user's nickname, wins and losses. They become single serving opponents, if you will, because the probability is extremely low you will ever face them again once you quit the race. There is no interaction in or out of the game; they might as well be AI-controlled bots.

However, a service like Nintendo's Wi-Fi network significantly broadens the accessibility of multiplayer gaming to the casual gamer. There's no need to purchase additional hardware (such as an ethernet adapter for the Gamecube or PS2) or sign up for an account (such as with Live). All you need is a wireless access point to the internet, which most internet-using households are equipped with these days. Continuing with the Mario Kart example, the the game itself is extremely basic so as not to be intimidating to the newcomer, which makes the overall experience a little more palatable. This is something that Tetris DS will be taking advantage of as well.

Animal Crossing: Wild World allows in-game chat, and the upcoming Metroid Prime: Hunters will apparently include voice chat. As new features like these get added to the online experience on the DS, I'm wondering if it will be as viable as a relationship-strengthening platform. My guess is it is simply acting as a testing ground for features to be implemented with the Revolution. Most importantly, though, I'm still left wondering where Sony's strategy is at. There hasn't been much talk about unified online play service, and while I hardly think they need it to survive (unfortunately a stranglehold on market mindshare and better hardware is still enough to sell the platform to their target audience), I think they owe it to themselves to show they are willing to advance with the rest of the industry. Though I still think it's important to ask: do console gamers even want online play? Or are they satisfied with the companionship that an additional controller or two will provide?

Further to this discussion, Raph Koster declared the single-player experience abnormal - unnatural, even. This is clearly a sensationalist statement - similar to Greg Costikyan's rant last year about the state of the games industry - but they both end up making some good points that are worth discussing. Obviously Raph is interested in online-only gameplay, being a part of MMORPG development himself. I'll submit that online-only play has its place in certain genres, but should in no way be the norm. Speaking for myself, I hate having to depend on others just so I can enjoy a game. That's why the solo experience in MMORPGs should still be rewarding; there's nothing like feeling forced to be "friends" with people just to complete a quest or experience the game the way it was "meant" to be played. It's frustrating in the way it limits the control of the player, and is dependent on so many other factors: connectivity, bandwidth limitations, etc.

I always thought that online play was for the gamer elite; traditionally only the hardcore would be able to set it up in the first place, not to mention submit themselves to the twitch gameplay offered by FPS or RTS and the strange satisfaction in playing with complete strangers. And while MMORPGs changed the face of the online gamer, their increase in accessibility expands the user base to the point where the casual gamer may not want to play with strangers, and the idea of guilds and other such social networks are more appealing. Whether we want to admit it or not, this is how the future of the industry is being directed: those that typically pushed the technology forward are disregarded in place of making this frontier more comfortable for new recruits. Gaming has no need to make new headway with existing players; this market has been captured for some time.