Side Quest, Episode 11: Single Player Games Aren't Dying (Good News!)

It's great that you can explore both, though! I can't. LOL.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you so much for your support, Ken. Welcome!

Colin Moriarty

No matter how much i get into a game like Overwatch it will never match the emotion and connection I feel to the story, characters, and battle system from my favorite genre JRPGs.

strawhatninja

Great episode Colin. I just became a supporter because I have enjoyed your work since IGN and Kinda Funny. Keep up the insightful and thoughtful podcasts.

Ken St.Pierre

Nice points, and well said!

Colin Moriarty

I'd love to see that, too. I played Destiny alone, but only for five hours or less. The Division, on the other hand, I played entirely solo for 40 hours or more.

Colin Moriarty

I think that the key facet to note here is that the premier, single-player experiences of the past year (e.g Zelda, Mario, Horizon, etc) were, for the most part, console exclusives. I don't believe that single-player games are dying but rather consolidating. We are going to see the big three (well may not Nintendo so much since they have great single player games already) go after studios that are making these kinds of games in order to make sure that they are only playable on their consoles and thus drive sales of that console. Sony has some fantastic single-player experiences coming up but they are going to be console exclusives. Why hasn't Microsoft caught up to Sony the way Sony did with PS3? The games. How well does PS3 do without a Metal Gear and Last of Us bundle? Both of which are awesome single-player experiences. I believe that we will still have great single-player experiences in our future but they'll just be made by first and second party developers backed by the full of weight of their publisher - whether it be Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo.

Marvin Castro

One question I want answered about games like Destiny and Division is how many people actually do the story alone

Anthony Stewart

Thank you! I'm glad it looked good in cinema mode. I learned a new trick to focus the camera recently that I think is making the picture slightly sharper, so I hope that shows.

Colin Moriarty

I really can't wait to play it. Super stoked.

Colin Moriarty

Just sad to see such talented studios disappear 😔 Hopefully those talents show up again in other studios

Tony Colton

Great video. I was on VR when it come on youtube so ended up watching it on cinema mode. Looked damn good on a big screen. Anyway, I'm glad to see some support for single player. That's what I play mostly. There are a few multiplayer games I play with friends such as GTA 5, Overwatch and Dead by Daylight, which is as much as about messing around with friends and family as it is about the games themselves. Both modes have their place on a healthy market. The games situation reminds me of Hollywood movies chasing the next big thing by investing heavily in what has worked before, making everyone sick of a type of film a few years after they get successful. (In the main. Westerns had a huge run, superhero movies now have that run but they are exceptions). Overdoing anything poisons the well.

Peter Campbell

I think God of War is going to be rad... They're taking criticism about the story/Kratos to heart and I think they're going to knock it out of the park.

Brian Dewire

I don't know the solution, but I also don't think there's necessarily a problem, as I expressed in the video. For all of the single-player games struggling and studios dying, the same is happening on the other side of the coin. In short, I think the market is working as intended, for all players.

Colin Moriarty

You summed it up nicely, Michael. I can count on one hand the amount of games I actually cared to play since I started Side Quest, and I think that's a great thing. Not only is that focusing me on what's next that I'm truly enthused about, but it's allowed me to go back and play stuff I missed or that I want to play again. Best of both worlds, as it were.

Colin Moriarty

I loved Horizon (didn't play P5), but to be fair, you can play shooters the same way... you just need to find 'em! Metro, Wolfenstein, BioShock, etc... all can be played to your specifications!

Colin Moriarty

I've got two kids, but I keep gaming as an important part of my recreational time. Never lost the gaming bug. I'm working on Wolfenstein 2 on easy, which based upon the reviews was the only difficulty level I would have been able to deal with. I don't respect myself for doing so, but it is making the game enjoyable. I did eventually get through Horizon and it was worth every minute.

Michael Bonnano

So true I became a Dad 16mths ago and gaming time really is at a premium. New franchises take me so long to get into as I can only play in dribs and drabs so keep forgetting the controls or story and often end up restarting the game. I'm currently chipping away at Horizon which I got at launch and my back catalogue of games is just endless at this stage 😮

Tony Colton

I didn't know Runic Games had closed. HOB is at top of my list of games that I haven't gotten around to playing yet. Do you think there is an easy solution to saving these types of studios who make really great games but don't see sales match the critical acclaim?

Tony Colton

Gaming time as you get older is at a premium. This means that the number of games you play decreases (whether it be single-player or multiplayer). To me, it seems as if we're on the tail-end of the golden-age of gaming- it can't be sustained as it is with so much product. Gaming as a service is clearly where a good portion of the market is headed. Personally, I have no interest in that type of game- I'm single-player, story-driven all the way. When I think about this issue, I think about how there are so many games that I would love but don't have a chance to play and probably never will. I hate that feeling. So even if a big portion of the market continues to move in multi-player and games as services territory, the industry could lose half the games that come out in a given year, and it wouldn't be something that worried me. 10 great single-player experiences a year is more than enough to satisfy your average single-player loving gamer. I don't that we'll get below that figure any time soon (at least not this generation or the next).

Michael Bonnano

Just finished Horizon and Persona 5. Games i played at my pace and never felt left behind like i do with Shooters.

Joey Finelli

Stay strong. We aren't going anywhere! =) Thanks for watching.

Colin Moriarty

I have always been and will always be a single player gamer like yourself Colin and hearing you reaffirm that they aren't dying or going away anytime soon fills me with hope for the future of video games. Thanks and keep up the hard work

Leo Maniscalchi

Yea, truth be told until the last year or so the only multiplayer game I would play was Final Fantasy XIV, but that was again because I had a raid group that I played with a couple times a week. Other than that I was exclusively a single game player. Not to escape or anything, but because I didn't have many friends who played video games. Then last year a buddy was like "Come play PUBG with us..." and I met some new friends, and it's been a lot of fun. Single player games are for still my root experience. But it's nice when you can get online and talk with some buddies you don't see very often and kill some shit at the same time.

Owen

I find it so fascinating how people play for totally different reasons. I play to completely escape everything and everyone around me. The idea of playing a game with a person on a regular basis -- or seeking to do that primarily or exclusively -- is so foreign to me. Just as it's foreign to a CoD fiend or someone who plays PUBG everyday that I'd sign onto PSN and boot up a game just to be by myself. C'est la vie!

Colin Moriarty

If you listened to half of the people writing about games seven or eight years ago, you'd certainly think that. =D

Colin Moriarty

Ya.

Colin Moriarty

I've come to really enjoy multiplayer games with my friends. Sea of thieves was surprisingly a lot of fun. PUBG with your buddies is a great time. However I'm getting older, friends just aren't always available to play with. Which is why I'm glad single player isn't going anywhere, and people who think it is are nuts.

Owen

Wait, I thought we were headed towards mobile phone games where you just tap the screen a bunch.

Mmm, screw multiplayer.

Steven Camilo