Game Design : Week 10 - Social play

Games and what they are to people has been up for question for many years, but they have undoubtedly existed as one of two things, individual and social experiences, kind of obvious since they are the only two possibilities on that scale. But you would be mistaken for assuming that the social side of gaming is only a recent development along side modern multiplayer and large consumer focused conventions, and assume that aside from the odd Mario Kart and MMO that before 2001 games were purely a solo event.








Games have been primarily a social affair for majority of their lifetime. The first experimental computer games were nerds killing time and showing off what they can do with the ridiculously costly university computers. In arcades you'd be crowded around friends giving you advice, because if they were good they'd be playing. Controller swapping in Super Mario Bros. Split screen in Mario Kart. Online multiplayer in early RTS's and early shooters. The creation of the MMO with Ultima. Console LAN parties in Halo. There is a visible progression of social play, and all of it is dearly important to the overall experience of the player.
Strategies of playing against a human instead of a computer change, players are on an even field, same advantages and disadvantages as you, they are unpredictable, every action wilder and crazier than the last, or cunning waiting for you to make a mistake before striking. The nothing resembling the gameplay of punchout where they follow an exact pattern, no matter how well you know the opponent. There is real ever changing challenge to the game.
But there is more to it, that wasn't as heavily mentioned in the reading material, bonding. To sit down with a bunch of mates, an esky of drinks, a plate of nachos and the smallest tv you can think of cut into four even smaller segments. Those are some of the best memories I have playing games, and aside from a few instances I can barely recalled what we played, because it doesn't matter. The design of the games, aesthetically and mechanically, didn't matter, it was irrelevant, who cares if the maps/tracks/levels were designed for that amount of players, or if the balancing was right. All that mattered was that between myself and those friends that I have had for a decade we had fun, and that's all that matters.