So when I first started playing video games on a home
console it was on the Nintendo System . . . at my sister’s house. It was my brother-in-law’s and I would play
it while I was there babysitting my niece.
The first console I got to call my own was the Super Nintendo. I had asked for a NES for Christmas but my
mom said the salesperson said the SNES was the latest and greatest. I wasn’t happy at first but I grew to love
it. Mostly because I could get all the
games I liked on the NES (a trend Nintendo has a repeating their games when a
new console is released) but also because it was the only system I had for a
long time.
I remember when I got my first Playstation. It was a hand me down from my brother because
he had recently got a PS2 and it was backwards compatible so he didn’t need the
PS any more. At first I was skeptical but
at that time I had a lot more expendable income, I was able to branch out even
more and get a wide variety of games. I
also found that Playstation had more game I wanted to play then Nintendo did at
that time. I eventually bought my own
PS2 and I fell in love with that system more than anything else.
When the Xbox system came out I wasn’t really interested in
it at all. That was until I saw that it
had Star Wars Battlefront and I watched my brother play it. I wasn’t interested in shooters (didn’t have
a good experience with the ones that I bought (and traded in immediately) for
the Playstation). And I wasn’t
interested in playing online. I couldn’t
resist and I almost bought it on Playstation but since my brother had it on
Xbox I decided to go buy that system and play it on that console.
Why am I telling you all of this (since I’ve probably told
you something like this before)? Well I
started to notice a trend on my game buying habits between Playstation and
Xbox. It started with the PS2 and
original Xbox and has continued ever since.
But now things are changing once again.
The games that I bought for Playstation were single player
games. Occasionally there would be a
multiplayer game but only local co-op and no online play. For Xbox games I would get the multiple player
online games. If it was something I
wanted to play with friends, it was something I got for the Xbox. I really wasn’t buying single player games
for the Xbox. I viewed my PS2 as single
player and my Xbox as multiplayer. That’s
how it’s always been. But something has
changed.
While I make a lot more money now than I did back when this
all started, I also have a mortgage and a lot more expenses now that I didn’t have
then. Once again I find myself in a
position that I have to be a little selective in the games that I buy. I can’t afford them all . . . at least if I want
to have food to eat and a roof over my head.
I’ve had to make some tough choices of what games I have to have now . .
. and what games can wait until later.
After a lot of soul searching I’ve figured out a compromise
with myself. And it all comes down to
the type of game and how I want to play it.
If it’s a single player game only I’m not going to buy it right
away. I’ll wait until I have more money
or when it goes on sale. That usually
means that I don’t play those game right away.
Sometimes it’s several months, or maybe a year or more, before I get
around to purchasing it and playing it.
That makes it hard on me as my friends usually get it right away and
really want to talk about it but they don’t want to spoil it for me. There have been times when I play with
friends but I have to exit the party for a while so they can talk about it
without spoiling anything for me. When
they are done discussing it they invite me back to the party and we continue
playing as normal. They only problem I
have is that they think 6 months is long enough to be careful about
spoilers. After that they don’t think
they have to be cautious talking about a game around me. Unfortunately, I might not have bought it
within that 6 months, let alone starting playing it.
Now, if the game is mostly multiplayer based (like Star Wars
Battlefront or a Call of Duty, etc,) I’ll get those games right at launch, or
as close as I can afford. Why? Because it’s no fun to pick up a multiplayer
games 6 months or a year after launch and you find yourself playing against
people who have mastered the game already or . . . well, everyone has left and
moved on to the next best game out there.
If there’s a possibility that either one of those scenarios is going to
happen I’m going to make every effort to buy that game and get in on the action
while it’s still new and hot.
That being said, it has to be a game that I really want to
play online with friends . . . and maybe strangers. If I’m not going to enjoy playing online
after a couple of weeks, it’s a game I probably won’t get. I’m getting very picky in my old age.
So picky in fact, that I’m starting to notice that the number
of multiplayer games that I buy each year is getting fewer and fewer. I’m finding that, even playing with friends,
I’m really not enjoying the online experience as much as I use to. Now I’m more in to single player games and
things I can consume on my own. They don’t
have to be linear games. They could be
open world as long as they are single player.
I find that really interesting at this time because EA just announced
that they are closing Visceral Studios and reworking the single player linear
story game they were working on for the Star Wars universe and they are
scraping that and going to build something more fitting today’s appetite of
what they think gamers want. Apparently
that’s multiplayer games with lots of microtransactions and loot boxes. For some reason I’m just not in to the that
at this point in my life.
The games that I like to watch on YouTube and Twitch and the
games I like to play now are all single player, story driven games. Give me a game that lets me experience
something for myself. Not be reminded
that there’s always someone faster, smarter and with better eyes than me who’s
going to kick my ass in an online match.
To me, that’s just not fun anymore.
So why mention the games consoles earlier? Because I’m finding it very weird to only be
gravitating to single player games on my Xbox One. It feels strange to be on that system and NOT
be playing with my friends. I love
playing the games (I wouldn’t be playing them if I didn’t) but I miss having
things to play with my friends.
I’m sure
that will all change in November when Star Wars Battlefront comes out. I’m sure almost everyone on my friends list
will be getting it. That’s where I first
met most of them in the original Star Wars Battlefront game. Maybe that will rekindle my love of multiplayer
games and take me back to the glory games.
Until then, I guess both my Playstation and Xbox consoles are single
player only.
