Consensus

[Pious the chosen]

Nintendo and Sony. Both, following E3 demo's, have given a form to their view of the future of gaming. 3D, naturally. Now with serious thought to the medium, two of the big giants of the industry seemingly both agree on how we will be seeing games of tomorrow Microsoft seems bent on forcing us to Play said future games how they want us to. I'm refering to Live/Online gaming. Now obviously the MMO has become a big money making genre, of which World of Warcraft is owed its due, but no one other than Microsoft has been so adamant to force Online gaming aspects into every game it has a hand in regardless of genre. From DLC to Multiplayer expansions, games are simply not good enough to be just games anymore. Fair enough some genres have adapted to this in kind, more tracks/cars in a racer, more songs in a music game ETC can't be a bad thing but the effect is deeper than that which worryingly seems to be converting every genre into a kind of MMO hybrid, potentially ending some less easily generalised genres in the process. This state of affairs would be far more apparent if Nintendo had chosen to adopt an online equivalent to 360 & PS3, for the time being at least this remains the case.

Now whether this is indeed the next step of gaming or an enforced fad that has been pushed into mainstream gaming regardless remains to be proven or seen.

[DifferentClass]

Is this just random thoughts with no direction?

Microsoft have always pushed towards online gaming, but it's always optional. To this day and future they are still solely single player experiences, Vanguish to name just one. And even a number of popular multiplayer games have a single player section to enjoy, believe it or not but some devs want to tell a personal story that can't be done through multiplayer.

As for 3D? As far as I'm concerned it'll probably end up being like HD, it'll be soon be taken for granted.

Popular games will move with the general consensus, it's where the money is, but there will always be characters within the industry that will do what they want, and will have the means to make these games a reality. Just because you are not within the general consensus anymore, it doesn't mean that you have nothing to play.

Or, you could try giving online gaming a go and enjoy what is on offer... We're not game ruining bell-ends around here you know.

[Pious the chosen]

Is this just random thoughts with no direction?

Happens sometimes...didn't proof read enough I guess . When it comes to 3D, I am quite in favour of it, both Sony and Nintendo have given enough credence to the medium that you can easily accept that that is where we're headed, in as much as it was an easier sell than Wii's initial concept. On the Online gaming front, i'm not against wholly online games: MMO's ETC its that idea that every game has to have an online something even if it is there is no reason for its inclusion, just because. Uncharted for example. Its not a Multiplayer game but they felt the need to force the concept into it. Admittedly it was separate from the main game but if Naughty dog seriously wanted to make a multiplayer with Uncharted's engine they should have just looked at IO's Hitman engined multiplayer title - Freedom Fighters(and its lesser offspring Kane & Lynch) a legitimate game in its own right.

[maf-me-quick]

i thought uncharted 2's multiplayer was pretty awesome. then again i don't play online...hardly ever, so maybe i was just easily impressed.