Dual-system destiny or Multiplayer Tribalism?

Human nature, in essence, is bad. Otherwise, we wouldn't have wars, boxing matches, or endless repeats of Wheel of Fortune and the Noel Edmonds show. We seem to like to kill, maim and torture each other (seemingly through battles or really bad European dance music). And when you look at computer games, you will see that the multiplayer arena, which gives us world-wide gamers a chance to indulge all their fantasies (well, maybe not all of them) is where game companies want to be. But as a broader picture, above the question of "what game is best?", we need to look at "what is the best method of achieving multiplayer excellence" - namely coming right back to the console vs. PC debate. It is more complex than this, however, as there are now multiple consoles keen to offer connectivity. Take the new Sega Dreamcast, for example. It was a make-or-break console from an ailing company - and multiplayer games were seen as so important that just about all of the advertising for it was geared to multiplayer audiences. "Play online with XXXXXXX million players" - people are obviously keen to smack each other down. The next Sony Playstation (PS2), the Nintendo "Dolphin" Project and it if it exists the Microsoft "X-Box" concept all feature integrated modem / web browsing / multiplayer gaming capabilities. But is multiplayer all that big a selling point? There are still very few people who play online - and those who do cite significant problems with lag, too bad/too good players competing, software glitches as barriers to truly satisfactory gaming. In my native Britain, ludicrously expensive phone call charges, slow ping rates (effectively representing the rate of data transfer) from continental and American players, and a lack of British servers due to an anti-multiplayer culture all mar online events. And a number of high profile failures among "gaming only" websites and companies related to multiplayer has not helped matters either. Very few games, including Quake, Ultima Online and Everquest have truly attracted a large audience. So it seems a bit premature for major companies to advertise solely on the strength of multiplayer. Though the Dreamcast seems to have sold well enough anyway (though latest figures show only a very small percentage of European users playing via the included modem). But as the saying goes, "things can only get better". As the number of specialist multiplayer games increases, the numbers must surely go up and multiplayer gaming become huge.

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