Old vs. New
Greatest way to waste away a summer, really.
Anyways, what I'm getting at is that I think that with the gaming community demanding more than just single player games, the developers feel as if they are being forced to come up with online features even if it wasn't in the beginning plan. In that case, new generation of video games have lost that spark the old consoles had and formed a new one. (Yeah it's less frustrating playing split screen on a TV when it's a 2D side scroller over a 3D first person shooter.) This year alone has come out with more great solid games than I've ever seen. All these powerful engines & very talented people shooting out games like Red Dead Redemption with its beautiful world, Super Mario Galaxy 2 with extremely fun game play, and Bioshock 2 with its intriguing narrative... How many of this year’s games were released without some type of multiplayer mode or co-op team system added? In my opinion, Nintendo is somewhat secretly hanging onto that and people are still enjoying their games without having to stress about wanting to fulfill that crave to play online.
Don't get me wrong. We all need our single player game fix once in a while, but once you've beaten it why not have the option to keep playing it outside the campaign? It is ironic how we love multiplayer but seldom scoop up multiplayer only games (like MAG or Shadowrun)?
Nowadays playing online with friends or strangers is more important than ever for the hardcore gamer. If games during these times were shipped without the achievement or trophy type goals, co-op, or online modes they will be less likely to sell (look at the numbers.) Games are not cheap and if a game is repayable there's a higher chance that consumers won't sell, trade in, or rent them. Developers want to keep you hanging onto their games as long as possible if not forever by promising us more downloadable content more frequently.
(Might I add that it is working on me.)
I started off gaming on the NES with Mario at age 5. That generation of gamers hardly ever bought their own games on those old school consoles thanks to parents, friends, and family because we were just a kid! Back then I never thought to myself "I don't want this game because I'll only play it once". Now I've grown up into an adult and have to pay for my own games which have altered my view on that subject. I think "is this game worth the 60 bucks for one play through? If so, I might as well borrow it."
I'm all for multiplayer. I crave for all new games to allow me to interact with friends and random people all over the world. Sad thing is, even if I buy a game that says it has online with it of some sort I may never even tried it out. (WHY?) The new console generation has seared into my brain that having online will satisfy me with my purchase, regardless of use.
Da best co-op duo!