Did Online Gaming Kill the Couch Stars?

By Sam Watermeier

 

This week on the Media Matters radio show, we're discussing social interaction through gaming. The only gaming experience I have dates back to the late '90s, early 2000s, playing mostly Nintendo 64's "Goldeneye" and "Podracer" with my brother. (He was such a sneaky little jerk, always boosting in front of me at the last second in "Podracer" and winning by a nose.) I'm not sure it was the friendliest form of social interaction, but it was certainly...cathartic. A healthy way of venting anger and energy.

 
Since N64, games seem to have become more intimate and immersive. More cinematic. They seem to be more evocative for individuals, but like I said, I don't do much gaming. So, for thoughts on gaming and social interaction, I turned to friend and gaming connoisseur Brent Smith.

Brent, given the focus on more individual, immersive gaming experiences, I wonder if games still inspire camaraderie between players. How have they changed or confirmed the way you interact with people? 

Brent: Well, sadly, I think gaming camaraderie has taken a bit of a dive. The term for what it was like in the N64 days was "couch co-op", which is the idea that you are merely a couch cushion apart from the person you're playing with. Online gaming was still largely PC exclusive at the time because it wouldn't be until a year or so later with the Dreamcast that a console even had the ability to get online, and it was still expensive and unwieldy to do so. Online play became not only prevalent but almost necessary for the newer systems (Even Nintendo, which has been known to block online interactions because their player base is generally in a lower age bracket, is turning toward an online experience). You throw in the idea of online anonymity and that really wrecks that kind of interactive, "couch co-op" bonding experience unless you are playing with your friends over the network. That said, this is still a generalized answer because you have to look at a community by community basis. The community for "Call of Duty" is largely different than the community for, say, "Defense of the Ancients 2." Valve, the company that created Half-Life, Portal, and so forth, is always working to create a mature community, and in the case of "DOTA 2," it's been working for them to create a better experience for new players. Compared to its contemporary, League of Legends, which is still plagued by a community of angry people who belittle players for being inexperienced.

I'm afraid I'm one of those inexperienced players. Perhaps I should dust off my N64 or try one of these new games. Brent later said something that made them particularly appealing to me as a film fanatic. "Games are like any art form — there are cult hits, major blockbuster productions, and indie darlings," Brent said. 

If you think about it, games offer the best of both worlds for a visual art-lover like me — not only do they immerse us intimately in a world but they allow us to actively interact with it as well. Take the game, "Asylum," an atmospheric indie horror film of a game that allows players to explore a vast mental institute based on blueprints of real asylums. 

This is definitely a game you shouldn't play alone. How about we all cuddle up on the couch and play it?!

Until then, check out WCRD, 91.3, this Saturday from 11 to noon to hear more of Media Matters' thoughts on gaming and social interaction.