The Big Idea: A Brief Look Inside the Mind of the Monogamous Gamer--And a Plea to Developers to Cater to His or Her Needs

re: The Big Idea: A Brief Look Inside the Mind of the Monogamous Gamer--And a Plea to Developers to Cater to His or Her Needs

stephentotilo — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:23:07 GMT

I believe the industry will someday make a single game that is constantly updated and tailored to people who play it and only it. The game that will be created and handled this way will be called something like "The World Of The Warcraft." Console makers, hearing this, will create their own game that plays very differently but, oddly, has a similar name and also gets regularly updated for one-game obsessives. The console makers will call their game "Warhawk."

So, yeah, it does exist. And it would be cool to see more publishers do it. You just have to wonder if there's widespread financial interest. For example, creatively, Nintendo could have scuttled separate "Mario Party" games and run a "Mario Party" channel on the Wii, one regularly populated with new mini-games. But could they ever make more money doing that than by selling a new "MP" every year? I'm not so sure.

re: The Big Idea: A Brief Look Inside the Mind of the Monogamous Gamer--And a Plea to Developers to Cater to His or Her Needs

supergg2k — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:33:33 GMT

I am with Stephen. I believe that games like Halo or Call of Duty with strong multiplayer followings could be successful with distributing new maps say quarterly. Valve has had some success with the Half Life 2 episodes as well. And let's not forget Oblivion.

re: The Big Idea: A Brief Look Inside the Mind of the Monogamous Gamer--And a Plea to Developers to Cater to His or Her Needs

SuperEffective — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:52:09 GMT

TF2 certainly has a kind of gobstopper quality to it, and I think the best developers are starting to realize that updating and expanding player options (like the new weapons, maps, and achievements Valve is releasing) is a way of maintaining the value of a game.

In other words, TF2 wouldn't see new players (or buyers) a year down the road if the content essentially stopped after an initial patch. And thus, the real world value of the software decreases as there are fewer and fewer people around to play with. So the way to keep it worth something is to let the game evolve, using the assets you already have. That way, people might still be interested in plunking down 29.99 in 2010, 3 years after launch -- a scenario that never, ever happens with most games.

re: The Big Idea: A Brief Look Inside the Mind of the Monogamous Gamer--And a Plea to Developers to Cater to His or Her Needs

GamasutraPodcast — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:04:18 GMT

What puzzles me is why games that have natural yearly franchise extensions (e.g. sports games) don't follow a similar model, especially in the age of online connectivity. I understand that the publishers want an incentive for people to go out and purchase a physical boxed copy of the game, and that year after year they update their titles with new features and modes that could preclude the availability of downloadable content. But that, in a way, could be an added incentive to purchase this year's model. What would the harm be in updating player rosters to keep them in line with the stats of real-life athletes, and charging for those updates in a reasonable fashion?

re: The Big Idea: A Brief Look Inside the Mind of the Monogamous Gamer--And a Plea to Developers to Cater to His or Her Needs

Weefz — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:07:08 GMT

I alternate between monogamy and polygamy. I'll play any old crap in casual bursts but when a really good game comes out (usually, but not exclusively an RPG in my case), I'll play it obsessively for weeks to completion.

Add my vote to what GamasutraPodcast asked about sports franchise extensions. I've been wondering that for years, though I suspect it's a case of charge-what-the-market-will-bear.

re: The Big Idea: A Brief Look Inside the Mind of the Monogamous Gamer--And a Plea to Developers to Cater to His or Her Needs

HeartbreakRidge — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:36:27 GMT

Well, I guess I'm in a bit of a quandry describing myself. In most respects, I am a serial monogamist, as generally I only have one game at a time where I am playing through the 'main story.' If I were to bounce between the main story of two (or more!) games, I think I'd be detracting from both experiences by taking away from my own immersion. I like to savor in detail the experience that each game has to offer, whether the rich atmosphere of Bioshock or the intensity and frustration-tinged challenge of COD4 (on Veteran!).

I have to be honest, though, because there are two other factors that flavor my inclination to monogamy. One, multiplying the games I'm playing at any given time multiplies the control schemes I need to know, and one sad fact is that my nearly 40 year old brain can't remember all that. Two, I am an admitted achievement junkie, and if I bounce between games, I'm more likely to either take waaaaay too long to get some achievements, or to miss out on them entirely.

I'm a little less monogamous on MP games, but even there I tend to limit the MP games I'm active in as well (two or three, generally). Aside from the reasons noted above, MP games often have an intimidation factor such that if you don't start out at or near launch and stick with it, you'll just get *owned* and it's tough to catch up.

So, needless to say, when GTAIV comes out I'm going to be living there for quite a long time (except for some outings for my adult gaming group's Shadowrun night). I'm also intensely curious about the 360 DLC, because it has the potential for continuing my monogamy (yes, I can be bought!) like Shivering Isles did for me on Oblivion.

re: The Big Idea: A Brief Look Inside the Mind of the Monogamous Gamer--And a Plea to Developers to Cater to His or Her Needs

Evan Narcisse — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:38:19 GMT

@N'Gai: If you factor in SCOOP-onomics, then the math changes a little ;). Seriously, I touched my on my game fidelity in a past Thought/Process column (http://tinyurl.com/5xfvgt) and I'm still playing EEE close to 18 months after its release. That's rare for a handheld game with limited multiplayer. More to the point, games that can keep players engaged for weeks, months, years at a time can work as a strong fulcrum to change the way the critical language around them is built. You have to take something seriously if it keeps you enthralled over a long period of time, right?

Criterion seems to get this with the ongoing Burnout Paradise content additions and Epic strongly hinted a similar strategy during Gears of War 2 panel at the New York Comic-Con this past weekend. Not so much a "long tail" as it is an ever-expanding bubble?

re: The Big Idea: A Brief Look Inside the Mind of the Monogamous Gamer--And a Plea to Developers to Cater to His or Her Needs

N'Gai Croal — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:25:22 GMT

@stephentotilo: With nearly 7 billion people on the planet, World of Warcraft has a long way to go before it satisfies everyone's needs. I think your Mario Party thought is more in line with what Chris Dahlen was getting at. But I don't see why Nintendo would need to scuttle Mario Party on disc in order to have a Mario Party channel. Next time you're standing next to Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopoulos in the executive washroom at 1515 Broadway, you should ask him whether discs and downloads can co-exist nicely--and profitably.

You're right that more developers should consider the longevity of their games, but hits released on disc are so popularly accepted that most publishers view downloadable content as incremental revenue between sequels. We're already seeing the beginnings of a sea change on the PC. Consoles will be slower to adapt.

@supergg2k: Valve has had a lot of success, but their episodic model has been a failure in that they are episodes in name only. Any TV show that appeared on the schedule of Half-Life 2 would have lost all its viewers by now. I expect that we'll see more regularly scheduled content from Bungie, because they generally take three years between games. What I'm curious to see is whether Infinity Ward continues to refresh Call of Duty 4 after Call of Duty 5 ships. From what I've heard, the settings of each game are different enough that they could easily co-exist while delivering fairly different experiences. We'll have to wait and see.

@SuperEffective: Maintaining the value of a game is very important to certain developers and publishers in the face of GameStop's used game business, which can and does siphon of sales. I know of at least one prominent developer that views the regular release of DLC as a means to combat that phenomenon.

@GamasutraPodcast: Electronic Arts is far too dependent on the annuity that is the disc-based sale of EA Sports titles to risk tampering with the formula. I'm sure they'd like to do some interesting things around rosters--and happily charge us for them--but I expect them to proceed very, very cautiously when it comes to what you're suggesting. It's far more likely that we'll see them offer a World of Madden or a World of Live or a Wide World of EA Sports where, for a monthly subscription fee, you get access to their sports titles--roster updates included.

@Weefz: My guess is that a lot of what we typically call "hardcore" gamers have similar habits as you. I suspect that "casual" game players tend to be monogamous. I suppose there's something ironic about that.

@HeartbreakRidge: Sounds like serial monogamy to me, with a hint of bigamy (or is that adultery) when games like GTA IV and Oblivion are monopolizing your time. I can dig that. And I know what you mean about keeping multiple control schemes in your head at once. It can be a pain.

@Evan Narcisse: Is it "an ever-expanding bubble" or is it "ever-multiplying bubbles"? Because when the Burnout Paradise expansions start rolling out, I bet the audience will fragment, just as it does when new multiplayer maps come out for an online FPS. Some people will stick with the tried-and-true, others will find new areas that they like more and wear them out. Everyone will find happiness in a bubble that suits their favored styles of play.

re: The Big Idea: A Brief Look Inside the Mind of the Monogamous Gamer--And a Plea to Developers to Cater to His or Her Needs

SBouren — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:27:43 GMT

Comparing Condemned 2 to Vampire Rain is a bad way to start out any article or comment one wants to be taken seriously. As a working professional, 8-10 games are perfect for me. Yeah, I do want a longer game sometimes (Mass Effect, Oblivion) but I also like games like Dark Sector or Uncharted that I actually have a chance in hell of finishing given all of the other demands on my time. If a game packs 30+ hours of gameplay it better be one of the best of its kind ever made or I'll never stick through that amount of content.

re: The Big Idea: A Brief Look Inside the Mind of the Monogamous Gamer--And a Plea to Developers to Cater to His or Her Needs

solomonrex — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:35:08 GMT

1. I think this was way too short of a post. What about Flight Simulator junkies? Unreal mod junkies? Or games like Civilization, Final Fantasy and Gran Turismo that take so much time and attention that they make you monogamous? What about sticking to a genre so narrow that it might as well be the same game - like fighting games or turn-based wargames? What about kids and Pokemon? The mind reels at the expanse of territory left uncovered here.

2. For the next boxes, I see the major players making moves to downloads, abandoning retail, and that would signal a new paradigm for gaming. The no-disc set-top console with download store built-in. PC games and Sony are pushing the envelope here. It will probably end up with the broadband services selling you on XBL or PSN for $10/mo with a limited game catalog and then subscriptions on top of that for Halo or Madden or GT. After all, $5/mo is a $60 game. And the broadband companies want to be paid more based on more downloads.

And BUY OUR UNLIMITED GAME REVIEWER's BUNDLE FOR $100 a month!

re: The Big Idea: A Brief Look Inside the Mind of the Monogamous Gamer--And a Plea to Developers to Cater to His or Her Needs

BradF — Fri, 02 May 2008 02:38:11 GMT

Honestly, I'm basically monogamy, and I'm a little embarrassed to admit it. I haven't always been like this - just since the original Diablo. Blizzard and me mix very well. Too well perhaps. And when World of Warcraft shockingly didn't hook me, Bungie was there to take my hand.

I want to break away from online gaming, but I just seem so damn picky. Sure, GTAIV is blowing my mind blissfully, but I couldn't honestly call myself a gamer if it didn't. Oblivion sucked me in, but it's the same deal. I picked up Condemned last year and got bored two hours in. Same thing with the Darkness, and a ton more of those great but not exceptional games.

But GTAIV does seem to be reminding me of the atmospheric, cinematic, and sometimes foolish fun to be had offline by myself. Maybe that momentum will push me back into single-player gaming.