Blue is Me

Tag: multiplayer

  • Why are online services on gaming consoles paid as opposed to free online on PC?

    PC online gaming at one point, used to be paid.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Entertainment_Network

    The early days of online gaming was indeed monetized through subscription service ^ like TEN for example. This is because they can provide less latency than the common dialup connections of the time.

    http://ten.net/199706/html/games_on_ten.html

    FYI Ten’s very 1990s website is STILL up and able to be visited ^

    But then what happened was…

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle.net

    That’s right, Blizzard released Diablo and bundled http://Battle.Net for FREE. Blizzard found that if you bundle free online gaming with PC games, then they tend to sell more of the game. Other PC companies quickly followed suit with their own free online gaming services. TEN died a quick death after that, and nobody has been able to monetize online PC gaming (well not totally – there’s still services like

    https://www.wtfast.com/en/

    which promises lower latency much like TEN did all the way back then) – but for the most part, companies wouldn’t dare charge for online gaming because PC gamers would revolt, they’ve been used to free online gaming for so long.

    For console users however

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcast_online_functionality

    SegaNet was probably one of the first console online gaming services and it was a paid subscription service from the get go, promising again lower latency.

    Then of course, we got Xbox Live

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_network

    Which was the first truly successful console online gaming service. Xbox Live was monetized from the beginning as well.

    Now PS3 actually came with free online gaming and was a major reason to get a PS3 over an Xbox 360, but Sony quickly realized that they were missing out on potential profits and Playstation Plus too, became a paid subscription service once the PS4 generation came out.

    Nintendo of course, jumped in with paid subscription service as well with Nintendo Switch Online.

    So basically what happened is that for PCs, free online gaming became the norm once Battle Net came online, but for consoles, free online gaming (except for PS3) never really existed and thus console users always had to pay for online gaming because that is just what the norm became. Monetizing PC online play would result in huge backlash from gamers, and not monetizing console online play would lose the companies too much money, so this is basically the status quo now.

  • What horrible video game trend just won’t go away?

    Online multiplayer

    this is the worst video game trend. Here’s what you needed to play a game with 3 friends back in 1997:

    -An N64

    -A TV

    -A copy of Goldeneye 007

    -4 controllers

    That’s it! And you had split screen multiplayer and a LAN party was born. Super Smash Bros? Sure. Halo 2? Good times. Call of Duty 2? Oh yeah thats the stuff.

    Now in 2018 here’s what you need to play a game of Battlefield / COD / Destiny / etc with 3 friends:

    -4 PS4s/Xboxes/PCs

    -4 TVs/Monitors

    -4 copies of Battlefield/COD/Destiny/etc

    -4 controllers/keyboard sets

    -4 subscriptions to Xbox Live / PS Plus for consoles

    Yikes.

    See how much more expensive that is?

    And its not only that. We can’t play in the same room anymore. Well unless they lug over their system + TV. Why is playing split screen in the same room important when you can do online chat? Well, how about not dealing with latency issues? How about sharing the same physical space as each other so you can see each other’s reactions in real time? How about grabbing a bite to eat while gaming? How about sleepovers and LAN parties? How about not being forced to pay for microtransactions and DLCs just to play the same game as each other at the same level?

    Yup, all that is gone now (save for a few Nintendo games, thank god)… online multiplayer killed off all of that and forced us to pay more money in addition to that.

    That’s why me and my friends mostly stick to pre-2005 games whenever they come over to my place. All my post 2005 games (except Nintendo games) I don’t bother with the multiplayer at all.

    Note: I’m talking about removing local multiplayer in favor of online multiplayer, not saying all online multiplayer should go away