EA: Single-Player A Thing of the Past

[xsamitt]

Maybe EA is toying with us to see our reaction.
Governments do the same thing in order to gauge if this is a possible direction for them.
I too as an adult gamer don't much have time for online,nor do I want to.It's 99% SP for me.
Truly an Epic fail for EA.

 

[Ryric]

More proof that the gaming industry is soo out of touch.

SP is key to developing a storyline, immersion in the game's particular universe, basic skill introduction so you can enjoy multiplayer without dying.

I buy games for SP, with MP as a bonus that increases a games worth and longtime replayability.

Example to the T is Crysis, I don't play multiplayer I prefer many othergames, but its singleplayer is great.

EA is backing itself into a corner, the typical gamer probably plays maybe 2 multiplayer games at any one time (not including a MMORPG ontop of that). This is do to the investment of time really becoming very good at a MP game requires, learning the maps, the skills/weapons avaliable, lvling up if that is a feature etc... People are not going to split their online time much more then that.

Being able to have 3 or 4 sp campaigns in various games going you can pop in and out of is of immense value, and much more common. I currently have Assassins Creed, Mass Effect, Crysis Warhead, World in Conflcit all in SP campaigns at various stages depending on what I am in the mood for (thats a RPG, RTS, Strategic FPS/RPG and a FPS).

 

[Ryric]

[citation][nom]I'd love an SP version of EVE but I think I'm just SOL.[/citation]

X3 Reunion...although the galaxy feels kinda empty with only you...

 

[jgiron]

SP and Co-OP are the wave of the future. Especially, if you can bring your achievements in from the SP game to the CO-OP.

There is only so much you can do with death match ('HA! I killed you for the 9999th time with my uber-cannon'!)

 

[tenor77]

Logic fail.

Single player isn't on the way out. Co-Op is on the way in, and becoming a standard with shooters. I love getting online and playing some co-op with my friends. Right now we've got Splosion Man, Rainbow Six 1 and 2, Marvel Alliance, ODST, Play RE 5 hardcore all on Co-op and it's a blast to do so.

But I've also got games like Dragon Age that I enjoy being brought into the story and wouldn't give them up.

 

[antilycus]

The HALO franchise was successful (and continues to be) specifically because of its SINGLE PLAYER CAMPAIGN. Saying that the future of video gamese is multiplayer is dumb. That would be like saying you can only read books with other people.

Everyone, but people that are COMPLETELY unaware of the market(EA) knows that its always SINGLE PLAYER FIRST, MULTI-PLAYER second. I think there have even been polls asking people what they prefer and SINGLE PLAYER was the winner. I know that people DO NOT LIKE MULTIPLAYER ACHIEVEMENTS

 

[Guest]

It's good to see so many people here who like single player gaming. Single player is not going away ANYTIME soon. I, too, prefer single player gaming. When I was younger and had all the time in the world, I preferred multi-player. Now married with a daughter, my free time is severely limited. I don't want to spend my 1/2 hour or so of gaming getting slaughtered by teenagers who can spend hours practicing and figuring out all the cheesy glitches in games.

 

[bfstev]

Even taking into account a game like halo. without the single player the settings make no sense.

 

[jwl3]

EA = a thing of the past

 

[Guest]

What's the difference between a game DEVELOPER and a game PUBLISHER? One word: greed.

I play both SP and MP games, both have their place, and noone is going to tell me what I play, when I play it, or how I do so. Especially not fucking EA.

 

[steiner666]

What a surprise, that EA says that ppl want shallow multiplayer games and not good singleplayer ones. How do they explain the success of Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Dead Space, etc, etc? But nooooo, everyone wants another milked franchise with annual releases and minimal improvements with no artistic substance or story.

 

[wayneepalmer]

" I'd love an SP version of EVE but I think I'm just SOL".

Picking your ship or battle group and play against the pc at your leisure is what I'm saying.

That was the fun thing about ST-KA. Convoy assault or defense, hitting a listening post guarded by a couple heavy cruisers and frigates with a dreadnaught, or just an blast-fest with 8 verses 8 groups of battlewagons, or even trying to take down a battlecruiser with a couple of frigates or scouts.

When you could still get the Star Trek planet-killer model on line - it was an special challenge and a blast to win.

It's only vulnerable point was right down the throat - close up - and you could only damage it with the double assault-phasers of a Federation Yamato-class battleship (while it blasted you with its anti-proton gun and came straight at you).

You only won if you could nail it with 4 or 5 double hits while not letting it run into you more than once or twice (its most dangerous weapon was ramming as shields don't protect you from that).

I really miss it - crappy movement and all.

 

[flugelhorn]

EA never ceases to amaze. Yet another statement to show how out of touch they are with the wide range of gamers in the cosmos. Warhammer proves they have no idea what anyone wants.

 

[scotis_man]

This would be why the COD/Modern Warefare line is doing SOOOO much worse that the Battlefield line. No one wants single player, just multiplayer.

Oh, wait was that sarcasm?

I literally have two bookshelves full of game boxes, and the only multiplayer-only games I have ever spent my money on were Team Fortress 2 and Battlefield: 2142 (and the only one of those that I still play is TF2).

 

[Guest]

I don't think single player will ever go away, but as a parent I don't have time for it anymore. If I play, it's with my kids. What I'd really like to have is LAN games I can play with my kids. Not insanely fast paced games, but adventure/RPG multiplayer games that are fun for the family. My kids like Starcraft and such, but I'd really like a cool adventure game that was multiplayer and multi-role.

Oak

 

[Bluescreendeath]

Fallout 3, Bioshock, Oblivion, Dead Space, Dragon Age, upcoming Diablo III, upcoming Bioshock 2, Fallout series, Morrowind/Elder Scrolls series, Half Life 2 episodes, Mass Effect, KOTOR, Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto IV, Crysis, FarCry 1, FarCry2, Stalker, Cryostasis, etc

Yeh...the vast majority of the most popular games are single player oriented, or is heavily emphasized on single player. EA is blowing smoke out of their ass like they always do.

 

[AtuBrian]

SP is how u understand the game period

 

[DT12]

EA drinks too much of their own Kool-Aid...

 

[Guest]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

 

[azxcvbnm321]

The problem with multiplayer are the other players . Seriously, there are times where you want to have control over your environment, to do stuff without having to worry about some idiot getting in the way, or being a good teammate. The key is good AI, frankly, GTA would be worse in multiplayer, just a bunch of idiots killing everyone in sight.

Games that depend on MP will be hard to keep on playing. Only the very best will still have enough people in a community to keep the game going. Most people will move on to the next big thing and games that are MP only will die out no matter if the SP still loves the game and wants to play. Can't find enough people, too bad, might as well say your copy is broken and they don't sell that program anymore. Gee, I guess that's like Final Fantasy 7 for PC, can't find it anywhere and that was a great game, SP only.

What the future of gaming will involve is great AI, not MP. If the AI can respond in a way that is at least challenging to a human without having to resort to too many "cheats" like having a thousand units to your one, then you will have a good game as long as the concept is decent. If the concept is good, then with good AI, you have a great game.

MP just substitutes AI for real people which pretty much equals the "optimal" AI. An opponent that can adjust and change tactics on the fly depending on what you do. Being able to play with friends is a bonus, but no big deal if it goes away, the real draw of MP is facing a worthy opponent that is roughly your equal. So if programmers could somehow improve AI to the point where it behaves like another human, then there would be very little need for MP. I suppose some people will want to test their skills against others, but if there's not that much difference from playing people or the computer, then most will simply just play SP against the computer. That eliminates poor sports who quit midway, annoying talkers, anal folks who must be the leader and want to be obeyed at all times, etc.