How Online Gaming Ruined Gaming

Online gaming, in theory, is a great idea. I like that people from all over the world can compete and see who will reign supreme. I like the idea of a ladder system for those that are serious about the game. I also love the idea of being able to play with my friends that are sometimes hundreds of miles away. Umberto MacJay and I used to play games for hours in college, but now that our adult lives have pulled us apart (what a cruel, cruel world), we need online gaming to continue to be nerds together. Overall, I think online gaming isn't inherently a bad thing, so the title of this post is, perhaps, a bit melodramatic.

It would be an understatement to say that online gaming has changed the gaming landscape. Much like improved visuals in a game have changed the general gaming audience since we got much more realistic visuals in the late 90's, online gaming has brought in a wide variety of gamers from different backgrounds, some of whom might not have been interested in gaming back in the 80's or early 90's. Several gamers I have spoken to aren't crazy about the classic Mario games, which are exactly the games that sucked me into gaming, never to let me escape again (although really, saying Super Mario World, the first game that really sucked me in, is "classic Mario" is probably heresy to some gamers). There is something about this ability to play against real people that draws gamers in, the chance to up the challenge as long as there is another experienced player out there with whom to compete. I don't blame people for wanting that opportunity - I have known plenty of gamers for whom the computer players in a video game are much too easy to defeat. Some people need that extra challenge, that extra kick.

But not everyone, which brings me to my beef with online gaming.

I am a gamer, but don't exactly have tons of time at my disposal that I can devote to gaming. As a result, I end up playing a single game maybe 5 or 6 hours out of a month, an amount of time that does not lend itself to becoming particularly skilled at that game. Take Starcraft 2, for example, the game that Umberto and I play together online when we get the chance (which is maybe once a week). I am serviceable against the computer players in the campaign mode ... on normal difficulty. I can beat the computer in a custom game if they are at hard difficulty, but not reliably. Because of this, I would probably get destroyed playing online - at least, when the original Starcraft came out, that's what happened. Even playing with someone that the game determines is right on level with me (because yes, in an effort to rope in people like me, most games have at least made an attempt to make sure people of similar skill level get matched up to play each other) is not often reliable - I do not have the time to devote to a game in order to gain the type of skill needed to adapt to the behaviors of human players.

So B. T. (you might say), why do you care about playing online? Why not just play offline and not worry about anything else? I can do that, as I do regularly, but the truth is that the gaming market is no longer made for people like me. It isn't designed to serve people that are simply looking for a fun game, a fun challenge, to play in my spare time. Most popular games, as I see it lately, are geared towards one of two audiences: the online audience (League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2, etc.) and those that are looking for realistic visuals and/or a story (the Uncharted series, the more recent Final Fantasy installments, The Last of Us). Sure, those two things overlap sometimes (such as in Halo games, Destiny), but overall, that is what gets people going. Me? Give me a game that gives me a fun experience, whether that experience is alone or with my friends.

When I mention gaming with my friends, mind you, I mean gaming with my friends in the same room. You know, so that I can actually see them and hear them and interact with them. The fact that I am in an increasingly shrinking minority on how I enjoy games with my friends continues to amaze and appall me. So many of my greatest memories of gaming with friends centers around all of us hanging out in my living room (or in my friend's basement, way back in the day) playing games together. Whether we were all experienced gamers or not, we had a blast, which, as far as I am concerned, is what gaming is all about. That doesn't mean I am not interested in games with good stories, or the occasional realistic-looking game, or even those games that have some significant online portions (I am pretty good at Mario Kart 8 when playing online, perhaps the only game ever where that has occurred). There are so many games that are more than just fun that I consider excellent games (most Legend of Zelda games come to mind, as well as the Metroid Prime series), but overall, when I think of what makes a game memorable, it is the fun-factor, and my ability to play it with the people I love.

And this, more than anything, brings me to why I think the popularity of online gaming has ruined much of what makes gaming so enjoyable. I could probably write a post (and still might, at some point) about why this need for ultra-realistic graphics has ruined gaming so much, but it hasn't done nearly the damage the need for online gaming has done. Now that online gaming is so popular, unless a game has a significant amount of online content, too few people want it, and we get fewer and fewer games that don't rely on some sort of online aspect. I think that's the primary reason that Nintendo is not doing as well as it once was - it caters to people like me that enjoy unique, interactive gaming experiences. I love Nintendo games, and I cannot think of a truly bad title that they have made in recent memory without thinking really hard about it. All I get are wonderful memories of Super Smash Bros., Mario Golf, Mario Party, Wii Party, Mario Kart and Perfect Dark, all played with my friends for hours and hours on end. I feel like gaming was once a party-thing, even as recently as a few years ago when the last Rock Band came out. Now, however, that people who sit and play games alone in a room are the core of the gaming market, fewer and fewer companies are making the types of games that were once the reason people would get together and hang out.

Now I sound like I am whining, and I probably am. You can rest assured, however, that I am not about to go on about the "good-old days" and talk about how everything was better in the past - most things were not better in the past. Civil rights in our country has come a long way, as has medical technology and procedures and a number of other important things, so never will I talk about how much better it was to live back when I was young. I will, however, talk about how gaming was once something more than what it is slowly turning into. As games become more artful, they are becoming less imaginative. As games are embracing the technology of this century, they are becoming less and less a way of bringing people together, in the same place, to enjoy each other's company. I am happy that Nintendo doesn't place much importance on online gaming - they are concerned, first and foremost, with the quality and fun-factor of the game. I like that - it makes me feel like someone, somewhere, actually cares about my busy lifestyle and the type of gaming that I get to enjoy in my limited time.

As I have pointed out in previous posts, I know I am in the minority here. I know that my voice alone is not going to change the trend here, that Nintendo is probably, within the next few decades, going to stop making video game consoles (although they will probably dominate the handheld market for years to come). I know that the market has spoken and online gaming is far more popular than what I find entertaining. I will, despite all of this, continue to complain in the vain hope that someone out there will agree, at least partially, with what this need for online gaming has done to the gaming market. I just hope that someone (probably Nintendo) will keep making games that I can enjoy casually on my own and with my friends, so I can continue to get from a game what you should always get from a game: pure enjoyment.