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Online gaming takes center stage
(by Caleb Rumley - June 25, 2008)
A few years ago, online play was only an afterthought. Pioneers like Sega began to include online play with their games as early as 1999. Games like ChuChu Rocket on the Dreamcast let you play against anybody from across the world, provided you had a phone line for the 56k connections. Sega displayed “Play Online” stickers on a handful of games until it became common for every type of game to include online play.
As competitors picked up on the new wave of multiplayer gameplay, Microsoft began with its Xbox Live service for the original Xbox. People could chat, message each other, and download games on the shiny new service, which added a new level of connectivity. One of the first huge online titles was none other than Halo 2, which allowed millions of Xbox gamers to play, sharpen their skills, and meet people online.
Fast-forward four years to the present. Online play isn’t just an afterthought any more – it’s the main focus of a lot of games. Sure, you have titles like Madden and Smash Bros. that will always live on local battles where everyone grabs a controller. But games like Call of Duty 4 (CoD4) live on for much longer than they would without online capabilities. Millions of gamers play CoD4 every day, playing online for far longer than they did in single player modes. Other games, like Valve’s Team Fortress 2, don’t even have single player modes, and instead just have online multiplayer.
Most gamers expect online gameplay with their games nowadays. But there are still some developers who just don’t get it. Most have accepted online play, but the glaring hole in the online circuit is definitely Nintendo. While I can pick up an Xbox 360, boot up Halo 3 and be chatting with gamers in minutes, on the Wii, online play is sparse and basic.
But why? Why hasn’t Nintendo accepted voice chat as a necessity? If I’m playing Smash Bros. Brawl online, I want to talk some smack. I want to be able to ask what stage the other players want next. But unless I share a 12-digit Friend Code, I can’t even send pre-set text messages.
I had this epiphany the other day when I was playing some Xbox 360. If you read my reviews, you’ll know that I don’t get to review 360 games that often. I don’t own an Xbox 360, so I stick to Wii reviews. But as I was playing GTA IV at my friend’s house, I realized something.
I was in a game in seconds, talking to eight other people. It was seamless! I realized that I had grown accustomed to waiting several minutes to join a game, playing in silence and wading through laggy matches.
Nintendo has to realize how important online gaming has become. Do you think that Halo 3 would have broken sales records if it didn’t have its vast online features? As much as I like Nintendo games, they have never won me over with their online capabilities. And it’s disappointing – Nintendo games are great, but should be enjoyed with a good online service. Maybe they won’t change this generation, but I really hope I don’t have to swap Friend Codes in five years.
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