Game Dev Writes Off Single Player as a Mere 'Gimmick'

In a statement that may cause the weaker-minded to crumble into a pile of insane confusion, Gogogic CEO Jonas Antonsson has declared that solo gaming experiences are nothing but a gimmick and not what games are supposed to be. What? What??

[GreenRanger]

To me, single player is gaming.
Multiplayer is just an add-on for people who like to shout.

[Jinkies]

I know right, is this guy for real, this is what a so called gamer new to this gen would say.

If your multiplayer obsessed or think like this guy then your not a gamer in my eyes, single player is what makes games...games at the end of the day, they are the building blocks to the final product, multiplayer is the added gimmick.

I really would like to see what these people would of been like back with the NES/N64/Sega Mega Drive and the PS1. Funny how gaming used to be better back then before online.

[MattyG]

Wha.. I don't even... this is absurd. If anything, multiplayer is the gimmick. Does he not realize that gaming wouldn't be what it is today without single player?

[deep_fried_bum_cake]

I kinda want to slap some sense into this guy.

[Jinkies]

You can borrow my Salmon Slapper if you want

[GribbleGrunger]

Yeah, I've had a similar epiphany. It was whilst I was playing Journey. I'd just finished playing COD online and after killing, being killed, re-spawning, killing again, being killed and re-spawning, I thought: 'you know what, the single player in Journey is a gimmick.'

[pandehz]

Lame

The whole concept of whether 'games are art' or not, came from really good Single Player experiences.

Single Player is the heart of gaming

[TekoIie]

Well to be perfectly honest the SP for these two (sort of) upcoming games looks awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

When we play the MP portion of these two games we have a very good understanding of what we'll experience. But when you jump into the SP its the exact opposite :)

[smashcrashbash]

Yeah this is dangerous thinking for gaming. It is already twisted almost beyond reason but if people start thinking SP is a gimmick then the time for me to be a gamer will be over. The day people start tossing aside SP just to make MP game where I have to constantly deal with cheaters, cheap playing, idiotic behavior, unsportsman like behavior and all that crap I am out of gaming forever. Sometime I want to relax and play my games without anyone constantly annoying me or tagging along.I need my alone time to play the game at my own pace and not at everyone else's convenience. What about people who have no internet connection or any friends to play MP? Or what if my internet connection goes out for an extended period. What am I supposed to do? Sit and stare at my console until it comes back? I WANT my SP. And if anyone thinks I will pay for anything less then they are truly deluded. If anything MP is the gimmick. It's the MP that usually gets shoehorned into games as a lame attempt to prolong it. SP gives me satisfaction and a sense of achievement.MP just makes me angry because some lame @$$ won't stop cheating or playing cheap as I watch myself die and respawn endlessly.

[ChipChipperson]

This statement came from someone in charge of a company that makes unknown, casual, and most likely shitty, MMOs/iOS games... yeah, what would we do without their collection of 'Xmas GoGo Games', 'Cake Pop Party', and 'Amazing Napoleon's Great Escape from Tiny Places'?

[Picnic]

His points do have some historical support. The first electronic game is suppsoed to have been 'Tennis for two' on an oscilloscope. And sports games, even board games (which were not necessarily a major influence on the creation of videogames but very quickly influenced them)
nearly always involve 2 or more players. But whilst games can be like electronic versions of sports or board games, many videogames are not. Their purpose is to provide an immersive, familiar yet alienating experience. Just the title of 'Alone in the dark' sums up the kind of thing that I am talking about. Inspired by the likes of gothic fiction, survival horror games of this kind often allow players to select between more than 1 character. But this isn't for multiplayer purposes - it's arguably so that there is more replayability for just one player and so that the game does not feel like just like a predetermined 'unforunate series of events' but that it could have panned out in unexpected and different ways.
But other games prefer to have more of a 'ghost train' kind of feel where there are always the same predetermined set pieces. I'm using horror as an example because single player is massively scarier than playing with someone else beside you - or even playing against them online. I doubt that there are yet few online games in which real users, even controlling the same character, could truly scare you as an artificial computer controlled character does in fiendish set pieces. That is something for games designrs to think about for the future but it shows that single player is a vital part of gaming. The article handles the accusation that single player is a 'gimmick'.

It's true that, once you have finished a single player campaign, it might not necessarily hold the same fresh appeal anymore and you might spend a lot longer on the multiplayer, if there is one, in the long run. But that works better with some games than others. Unless you're talking about Quake 3, I'm always looking for the single player first and foremost. I think that it should always be regarded as the cornerstone of gaming because, otherwise, people can just reduce gaming down to being overcomplicated, pixellated, sports games. That's not the art that attracted me to videogames. If playing a videogame is like going on a theme park ride then it doesn't even need another passenger, let alone another 'player'.

[Treian]

*trying to control rage*

[GreenRanger]

I had to do a Google search to find out who Gogogic are.
I bet i'm not the only one.

[RickHiggity]

Oh come on. You've never played cake pop party? lol. Leave it to a joke of a company to make such a joke comment.

[ApolloTheBoss]

A comment on the website. I just had to post it again:

"Books aren't meant to be read by yourself, people! It's a team thing!"

- said absolutely no one, ever

[RickHiggity]

His face is a gimmick

[jghvhv]

He thinks Single player is a gimmick?

[StockpileTom]

When I look to buy a game I prefer a complete package. I am looking for a deep singleplayer and multiplayer experience with lots of replay value. I have a particular disdain for cheap thrills and games that take away complexity or player control to be more "action packed" or "movie-like."

To call single player a gimmick? What is he smoking? For years that has been the core of a game. A good multiplayer experience should help provide some variety but is no excuse for a terrible solo experience.

[madjedi]

Clearly an idiot that just got into gaming the later half of this gen, i see 6 prior generations of single player experiences that prove you wrong and even alot of games this gen that still treat the sp experience as top dog.

Sony is already offering the mp version only of some of their games for the mp only player. If sp experiences disappears from gaming, i am going with them.