The rise of FPS's and the fall of multiplayer...!

[Erik_Twice]

^Space fight simulators?

[fast]

Good call. We havent had a bang up space dogfight in almost a decade.

[Octopod]

As for the next dominant genre - Im pulling for hack and slash dungeon crawls. Bring back Gauntlet!

Im hoping with you but what Id really like to come back are RPGs. I do dig the RPG FPS hybrids but I want some more games in the Black Isle and late 90s Bioware style.

[MrEco]

As for the next dominant genre - Im pulling for hack and slash dungeon crawls. Bring back Gauntlet!

Yes, I hope so.

[trdbglr]

I know this is prtymch a console only site, but I'd like to talk a little about FPS's in the context of the PC/console relation. Like, the FPS originated on the PC, and the original model for multiplayer was the LAN and soon thereafter the Internet. And unless we're talking about Coop, which can be really awesome (Halo), the FPS does not play well in split screen. On the other hand, in fighting games the gameplay is predicated on the fact that both players can see each other at all times, so it works well on one screen. So, hardware limitations aside, I view the FPS's progression in consoles to non-split-screen gameplay as the natural evolution of the genre.

As to the proliferation of the FPS on modern consoles, I would say that is due to the fact that the FPS can be played (though poorly) with a console controller, while other multiplayer genres do not play sufficiently well, RTS for example.

As to the flight sim, yes, that would be awesome, but I kind of view the flight sim as an FPS without gravity, though if there is one multiplayer genre to which the console controller is best suited I would say it is the flight sim.

[fast]

We are primarily a console site, but there are a few of us who dabble in both worlds quite heavily. I for one started console, but got heavy into pc gaming in the mid 90s and that only continues today. I fully believe a lanparty is the best way to play multiplayer games, but I will say this about consoles fps vs pc fps:

PC games (on the whole) use one standard form of input – mouse and keyboard. Console games use a controller. While that is elementary, very few operating systems allow for more than one mouse at any time. So PC FPS titles were destined to be single screen affairs – there are exceptions like Serious Sam. Consoles on the other hand handle four controllers natively. And since online has hit heavily with last generation, the number of games using those four controllers has dwindled significantly. So while it may be true that the logical progression for console fps titles to go is single screen multiplayer, like pc titles, it makes a lot of us wonder why we should play consoles at all. And while I am not trying to turn this into a PC vs Console debate I think we all need to think about why the developers still offer four controllers if very few games use them. But that gets off wildly, so to get back on topic.

I have always viewed console FPS titles as a different bird than pc ones. With console titles you need different skills, especially in fourplayer on one screen. Though considered cheating, screen watching is a valid tactic that requires a skill not present in pc gaming. You say it does not play well, I say it plays differently. The reason a lot of us get upset with this is that now to play multiplayer we need multiple consoles, which gets very costly very quickly. Personally I see no good reason a company cannot add four player multiplayer to console FPS titles. If you have a good reason for it, I would be delighted to hear it. Maybe I am just an old coot, but I still think the best competition is held in the same room.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I like FPS's but 3rd person shooters are the best. I'm not a huge fan of shooters w/ stories but the few exceptions are Half Life, System Shock, and Bioshock. I'm more of a fan of the Battlefield massive open multiplayer thing where theres 32 or more people on a giant map. Thus why Warhawk is so awesome

[JordanPlayer]

I do dig the RPG FPS hybrids

If this interests you then you might want to look at Huxley for PC & XBox 360 (release date is still up in the air, had some delays). It is an MMO FPS which seems pretty interesting.

My bread and butter for gaming now is FPS games on PC. Back in the day I loved Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Timesplitters, etc but now I can't stand playing FPS games on a console. Maybe it's just my distaste for the huge hype machines behind Halo and Gears of War. I always got a good kick whenever those XBox mega-titles came over to the PC and got lower scores with weak sales... if you bring an FPS to the PC it better be damn good because of all the competition (see Gears of War 2, piracy my ass).

So while I play FPS a lot nowadays, I reaaaalllly miss the sidescrolling and 3D platforming genre. I grew up with SMB, Sonic, Mega Man, and numerous other examples of great gaming. Not having anything new (praise god for Mega Man 9) in years has left a big empty spot. The same thing goes for the likes of Super Mario 64, the Banjo series (which Rare semi-transformed into a kart game), and many others. The genre is still around, I can't wait for Super Mario Galaxy 2 b/c the difficulty is supposed to be raised, but I miss the good ol times.

[SpaceBooger]

The more I read this topic, the more I feel the original complaints are "cause and effect."

Cause: FPS were originally multiplayered on PCs, meaning multiple PC (lan party or internet.)

Effect: Consoles have online capability and are trying to "push," and figure out at the same time, online gaming. The result = FPS. It is already popular on the PC and it's online style works, therefore it was ported.

Solution: This part is not so simple. Until the game companies can come up with a way, or a better way, to play 2 player games online the FPS will dominate. Think of how much fun playing an old school Capcom co-op beat-em up, or TMNT Arcade style of game online - awesome huh.
I think it boils down to the death of 2 player co-op games. The genre may be coming back with the New Super Mario Brother's Wii, but the 4 player co-op is console only not online.

[FreshChurros]

Dude, I totally agree. If I want to have some real, 4-player splitscreen action with my cousins, we find ourselves playing Conker's Bad Fur Day rather than Call of Duty 5 or Left 4 Dead.