The Story
I moved into a new apartment on Saturday September 20th, 2008 with some furniture, a bed, my computer but NO INTERNET.
To some, that detail about the internet isn't a big issue but for the gamer and computer guy inside of me, it was hard to wait for my Comcast router to arrive and be installed. That glorious day was scheduled for Thursday September 25, 2008. So, I had to wait until then.
I found myself hard at work placing items in the correct spots in the new apartment on Sunday, Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. I got a lot done in a short time after coming back from work. After that, I would have popped in a game and just zoned out for a bit but every time I did, I felt alone, lost and confused since I had no one else to share my gaming experience with. Instead, I would start watching a movie to pass the time.
After a movie each night (4 different movies total) and trying to find some satisfaction with playing Geometry Wars 2 without an online connection, Thursday finally came around and the Comcast technicians provided the equipment needed to get me all set up with cable and internet. This small change in my life improved my gaming attitude enough that I bought the Game Pass from Blockbuster for $21.99.
The Revolation
This brings me to a conclusion that I might not be totally insane about how important it is to include online features in games today. It took 5 days without internet for me to observe that feature's importance.
We even see in some reviewed games if the online game play is good, bad or just not there and how the score can go down without an online focus . Why develop a game that will not touch the online market?
One of the easiest things people do is an online leaderboard and even something like that can be a good feature for game developers to embrace. Knowing who you can beat ahead of you and feeling the gratification of doing so can mean a lot for a gamer. How can developers do that for simple games like RPG's and Action games that don't use the online concept much?
The Conclusion
Developers need to think about the online part of their game along side other areas like story line, gamplay, etc... This does add a bit more to the weight of a gaming producer or manager but that's what happens with this industry we call video games. The dynamic nature of hardware being updated, gaming discs holding more and more information and also internet accessibility will be a part of gaming that will always be improved and is necessary for consoles and handhelds a like.
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