This just in:Poseidon wrote:
watSo Ep 3 and HL3 will have MP? Fuck that.StephenTotilo — The makers of such acclaimed single-player video games as Portal and Half-Life 2 want all of their future games to support connected, non-solo gaming, in some way, at all levels.
That assertion first appeared in the Final Hours of Portal 2, journalist Geoff Keighley's recent behind-the-scenes chronicle about Valve's newest game. It's an assertion he told me he heard directly from Valve founder Gabe Newell and the company's project manager Erik Johnson.
"Portal 2 will probably be Valve's last game with an isolated single-player experience," Keighley wrote in Final Hours, "What this all means is something Newell is still trying to figure out."
Keighley told me that he considered the comment "curious," noting that the quality of the solo-only main campaign of Portal 2 was a fantastic piece of work. (I've checked with Valve on this, but they didn't reply by press time.) The signs that solo-only modes are on their way are there, not just from within Valve but all around the pioneering games company
Well it's a relief that they're not abandoning singleplayer but I'm still not sure about that whole thing. Singleplayer games offer a lot of the best gaming experiences.Gaben wrote:
I think what we're trying to talk about is the fact is not that we're not thinking about single-player games-Portal 2 I think is a pretty good example of what we've learned over the years in terms of how to create those [single-player] experiences.
It's more that we think that we have to work harder in the future. That entertainment is inherently increased in value by having it be social, by letting you play with your friends, by recognizing that you're connected with other people.
Single-player is great, but we also have to recognize that you have friends and wanted to have that connected as well.
It's not about giving up on single-player at all. It's saying we actually think there are a bunch of features and capabilities that we need to add into our single-player games to recognize the socially connected gamer. Every gamer has instant messaging, every gamer has a Facebook account. If you pretend that that doesn't exist, you're ignoring the problems that you're taking on.
It's single-player plus, not ‘no more single-player.'