Multiplayer Gaming

Game Deep

Are co-op or competitive multiplayer games better? Are multiplayer games even fun??? The friends discuss the history of multiplayer gaming, how and why multiplayer even exists, our memories of multiplayer growing up and more! Bryan, Xan and Zac take a deep dive into what’s what in playing games with other people!

• 0:00 - Earliest multiplayer games: Tennis for Two, OXO, Pong.
• 08:56 - Pre-online types of multiplayer: offline networked games, trade-off multiplayer, real-time "couch" multiplayer, scoreboards, LAN parties.
• 16:38 - Why some of the first games were multiplayer: socializing, inspiration from board games and tabletop RPGs, ease compared to programming AI.
• 20:40 - Console multiplayer: incentivizing the development of multiplayer games with packed-in controllers, types of games and genres from our childhood. Super Mario Kart. Micro Machines. River City Ransom.
• 35:49 - Competitive versus co-op. What did we prefer as kids, and has that changed?
• 40:17 - Early 00s: Xbox compared to PlayStation and the culture of competitive games. Halo.
• 43:52 - What draws (or repels) us to competitive games? Counter-Strike and other Half-Life mods. Rainbow Six Siege. Dead by Daylight.
• 58:00 - PS3/Xbox 360-era - Multiplayer modes of single-player games: appealing to the competitive crowd, discouraging used game sales, extending the life cycle of the game. Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, The Last of Us, Splinter Cell.
• 1:10:00 - Killer Queen and in-person arcade games.
• 1:13:00 - Journey and limiting multiplayer functionality.
• 1:15:22 - FromSoftware's Souls games, Death Stranding, and feeling less alone in a game's world.
• 1:24:30 - User-generated content: LittleBigPlanet, The Sims 4, Timesplitters, Skate, Warcraft.

Bryan - @analogdarling on Twitch, Twitter, and Instagram

Xander - @xanwithaplan on Twitch and Twitter

Zac - @zacaroniandcheez on Twitch, @GaijinWota on Twitter and Instagram

Contact and Episode Suggestions - GameDeep.fun

Theme Song by Robotprins