Commentary: Death of co-op in video games is discouraging - Spartan Daily

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Commentary: Death of co-op in video games is discouraging - Spartan Daily Mar 12th 2012, 07:01 by David Wong Mar 5, 2012 9:39 pm Tags: army of two, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Co-optimus, Entertainment Software Association, Gauntlet, kane & lynch, madden nfl '12, PS3, VGChartz, VGChartz Network, video games, Xbox 360, xbox 360 PS3 Wii A team of French GIGN soldiers battle Russian Spetsnaz Special Forces in the Seatown map in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, a multiplatform video game that uses both online and offline multiplayer co-op modes. Image courtesy of callofduty.com/mw3 How often has this happened to you? You scan the racks of your local video game shop (or GameStop) and find out that of your top 10 most-wanted games, only half of them have any form of multiplayer — and only one 1 of the 10 has cooperative and offline multiplayer support. The advancements in the current generation of video game consoles such as motion-sensing technology, online content distribution and integrated communications have changed the face of the industry in the past decade. One troubling trend of the slew of video games coming out right now is that many of them do not support offline cooperative game play, or any form of offline multiplayer modes, like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Asura's Wrath, two of the top 10 selling games for the end of February, according to the VGChartz Network. The VGChartz Network is an aggregator of five specialized video game websites — the namesake VGCharz tracks the sales figures of video games for a given week in the American, European, Japanese and global markets, according to its website. I know there is an outdated stereotype in the public consciousness that gamers are all asocial, maladjusted sociopaths. It is now obvious to anyone who has been paying attention to the demographic shift in consumers, that most gamers are, in fact, thirty-somethings, both men and women, who spend a sizable portion of their time on video games, according to the Entertainment Software Association's "2011 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry" report.  If logic follows, then these gamers would have friends that want to play cooperatively. In the past there have been efforts to introduce games with a heavy emphasis on cooperative play, like the third-person shooters Army of Two and Kane and Lynch: Dead Men, but those are just the tip of the iceberg in regards to what cooperative play has to offer. The industry should look to the past when coming up with new mechanics and concepts for cooperative games. Even though the days of arcade-style games like Streets of Rage and Gauntlet series of games are over, bringing back the option of having up to three players join you in completing an objective or quest makes the gaming experience all the more satisfying. Compared to online games, the offline atmosphere is more constructive and less inflammatory. When was the last time your ethnicity, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, political views and physical appearance were denigrated when playing cooperatively — disregarding the customary trash-talking ubiquitous to sports games like "Madden 12" and first-person shooters like "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3?" When you are playing with friends, you'll often reach a point where each individual is able to contribute to the group effort in some manner, which is magnified by the completion of a game and the feeling of accomplishment that you don't get online with people that you only know impersonally and who have no pressing obligation to finish anything with you. There are qualities of cooperative play that you do not get by playing online, such as people that you will actually enjoy playing with in your living room and better communication. The production of more games that encourage cooperative play could help to establish and cement friendships, and if it is a terrible game, then you can both laugh at it while critiquing its failings. Not all is doom and gloom, however, as there is a spate of offline co-op games due for release later this year, such as Resident Evil 6, Borderlands 2, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and Starhawk, according to Co-optimus.com. The advancements in the current generation of video game consoles such as motion-sensing technology, online content distribution and integrated communications have changed the face of the industry in the past decade. The advancements in the current generation of video game consoles have changed the way people play games online. The advancements in the current generation of video game consoles have changed the way people play games online. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

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