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Single-player video game

A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usually a game mode designed to be played by a single player, though the game also contains multi-player modes.[1]

Most modern console games and arcade games are designed so that they can be played by a single player; although many of these games have modes that allow two or more players to play (not necessarily simultaneously), very few actually require more than one player for the game to be played. The Unreal Tournament series is one example of such.[2]

History

The earliest video games, such as Tennis for Two (1958), Spacewar! (1962), and Pong (1972), were symmetrical games designed to be played by two players. Single-player games gained popularity only after this, with early titles such as Speed Race (1974)[3] and Space Invaders (1978).

The reason for this, according to Raph Koster, is down to a combination of several factors: increasingly sophisticated computers and interfaces that enabled asymmetric gameplay, cooperative gameplay and story delivery within a gaming framework, coupled with the fact that the majority of early games players had introverted personality types (according to the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator).[4]

Although most modern games incorporate a single-player element either as the core or as one of several game modes, single-player gaming is currently viewed by the video game industry as peripheral to the future of gaming, with Electronic Arts vice president Frank Gibeau stating in 2012 that he had not approved one game to be developed as a single-player experience.[5]

The question of the financial viability of single-player AAA games was raised following the closure of Visceral Games by Electronic Arts (EA) in October 2017. Visceral had been a studio that established itself on a strong narrative single-player focus with Dead Space, and had been working on a single-player, linear narrative Star Wars game at the time of the closure; EA announced following this that they would be taking the game in a different direction, specifically "a broader experience that allows for more variety and player agency".[6] Many commentators felt that EA made the change as they did not have confidence that a studio with an AAA-scale budget could produce a viable single-player game based on the popular Star Wars franchise. Alongside this, as well as relatively poor sales of games in the year prior that were principally AAA single-player games (Resident Evil 7, Prey, Dishonored 2, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided) against financially successful multiplayer games and those offer a games-as-a-service model (Overwatch, Destiny 2, and Star Wars Battlefront 2), were indicators to many that the single-player model for AAA was waning.[7][8][9][10] Manveer Heir, who had left EA after finishing his gameplay design work for Mass Effect Andromeda, acknowledged that the culture within EA was against the development of single-player games, and with Visceral's closure, "that the linear single-player triple-A game at EA is dead for the time being".[11] Bethesda on December 7, 2017, decided to collaborate with Lynda Carter to launch a Public Safety Announcement to save single-player gaming.[12]

A few years later in 2021, EA was reported to have revived interest in single-player games, following the successful launch of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in 2020. The company still planned on releasing live service games with multiplayer components, but began evaluating its IP catalog for more single-player titles to revive, such as a remake of the Dead Space franchise.[13] Around the same time, head of Xbox Game Studios Phil Spencer said that they still see a place for narrative-driven single-player games even though the financial drivers of the market tended to be live service games. Spencer said that developing such games with AAA-scale budgets can be risky, but with availability of services like cloud gaming and subscription services, they can gauge audience reaction to these games early on and reduce the risk involved before releases.[14]

Game elements

As the narrative and conflict in single-player gameplay is created by a computer rather than a human opponent, single-player games are able to deliver certain gaming experiences that are typically absent—or de-emphasised—in multiplayer games.[15]

Story

Single-player games rely more heavily on compelling stories to draw the player into the experience and to create a sense of investment. Humans are unpredictable, so human players - allies or enemies - cannot be relied upon to carry a narrative in a particular direction, and so multiplayer games tend not to focus heavily on a linear narrative. By contrast, many single-player games are built around a compelling story.[16]

Characters

While a multi-player game relies upon human-human interaction for its conflict, and often for its sense of camaraderie, a single-player game must build these things artificially. As such, single-player games require deeper characterisation of their non-player characters in order to create connections between the player and the sympathetic characters and to develop deeper antipathy towards the game's antagonists. This is typically true of role-playing games (RPGs), such as Dragon Quest and the Final Fantasy, which are primarily character-driven.

Exceptions

These game elements are not firm, fixed rules; single-player puzzle games such as Tetris or racing games focus squarely on gameplay.

See also

References

  1. ^ Oosterhu; Feireiss, Lukas (March 2006). The Architecture Co-laboratory: Game Set and Match II : on Computer Games, Advanced Geometries, and Digital Technologies. Delft: Delft University of Technology. p. 180. ISBN 9789059730366.
  2. ^ "Unreal Tournament 3 Single-player Campaign Preview." Unreal Tournament 3 Single-player Campaign Pr. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.
  3. ^ "Speed Race." (Game). N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.
  4. ^ Koster, Raph (10 Feb 2006). . Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-25.
  5. ^ "Is single-player gaming under-threat?". Computer and Video Games. Future plc. 28 Oct 2012. Retrieved 2013-02-25.
  6. ^ Wales, Matt (October 17, 2017). "EA has shut down Visceral Games". Eurogamer. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  7. ^ Sarkar, Samit (October 18, 2017). "EA's Star Wars 'pivot' is a vote of no confidence in single-player games". Polygon. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  8. ^ Staff (October 19, 2017). "Does Visceral's closure prove AAA single-player games are dying?". Gamasutra. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  9. ^ Klepek, Patrick (October 17, 2017). "Today's Star Wars News Makes the Future of Single-Player Look Very Messy". Vice. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  10. ^ McCarthy, Caty (October 19, 2017). "The Rise and Fall of Visceral Games". US Gamer. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  11. ^ Purchase, Robert (October 23, 2017). "I've seen people literally spend $15,000 on Mass Effect multiplayer cards". Eurogamer. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  12. ^ Chalk, Andy (December 7, 2017). "Bethesda kicks off a 'Save Player 1' sale for its single-player games". PC Gamer. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  13. ^ Grubb, Jeff (July 1, 2021). "Dead Space remake is in the works at Motive". Venture Beat. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  14. ^ Stuart, Keith (July 13, 2021). "Phil Spencer on the future of Xbox: we still want to take risks with games". The Guardian. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  15. ^ "ThomasDaPsycho." : Video Game Story Elements. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.
  16. ^ "Tales of the Rampant Coyote: What Makes a Great RPG - Mechanics." Tales of the Rampant Coyote. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.

Bibliography

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A single player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session A single player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person while single player mode is usually a game mode designed to be played by a single player though the game also contains multi player modes 1 Most modern console games and arcade games are designed so that they can be played by a single player although many of these games have modes that allow two or more players to play not necessarily simultaneously very few actually require more than one player for the game to be played The Unreal Tournament series is one example of such 2 Contents 1 History 2 Game elements 2 1 Story 2 2 Characters 2 3 Exceptions 3 See also 4 References 5 BibliographyHistory EditThe earliest video games such as Tennis for Two 1958 Spacewar 1962 and Pong 1972 were symmetrical games designed to be played by two players Single player games gained popularity only after this with early titles such as Speed Race 1974 3 and Space Invaders 1978 The reason for this according to Raph Koster is down to a combination of several factors increasingly sophisticated computers and interfaces that enabled asymmetric gameplay cooperative gameplay and story delivery within a gaming framework coupled with the fact that the majority of early games players had introverted personality types according to the Myers Briggs personality type indicator 4 Although most modern games incorporate a single player element either as the core or as one of several game modes single player gaming is currently viewed by the video game industry as peripheral to the future of gaming with Electronic Arts vice president Frank Gibeau stating in 2012 that he had not approved one game to be developed as a single player experience 5 The question of the financial viability of single player AAA games was raised following the closure of Visceral Games by Electronic Arts EA in October 2017 Visceral had been a studio that established itself on a strong narrative single player focus with Dead Space and had been working on a single player linear narrative Star Wars game at the time of the closure EA announced following this that they would be taking the game in a different direction specifically a broader experience that allows for more variety and player agency 6 Many commentators felt that EA made the change as they did not have confidence that a studio with an AAA scale budget could produce a viable single player game based on the popular Star Wars franchise Alongside this as well as relatively poor sales of games in the year prior that were principally AAA single player games Resident Evil 7 Prey Dishonored 2 and Deus Ex Mankind Divided against financially successful multiplayer games and those offer a games as a service model Overwatch Destiny 2 and Star Wars Battlefront 2 were indicators to many that the single player model for AAA was waning 7 8 9 10 Manveer Heir who had left EA after finishing his gameplay design work for Mass Effect Andromeda acknowledged that the culture within EA was against the development of single player games and with Visceral s closure that the linear single player triple A game at EA is dead for the time being 11 Bethesda on December 7 2017 decided to collaborate with Lynda Carter to launch a Public Safety Announcement to save single player gaming 12 A few years later in 2021 EA was reported to have revived interest in single player games following the successful launch of Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order in 2020 The company still planned on releasing live service games with multiplayer components but began evaluating its IP catalog for more single player titles to revive such as a remake of the Dead Space franchise 13 Around the same time head of Xbox Game Studios Phil Spencer said that they still see a place for narrative driven single player games even though the financial drivers of the market tended to be live service games Spencer said that developing such games with AAA scale budgets can be risky but with availability of services like cloud gaming and subscription services they can gauge audience reaction to these games early on and reduce the risk involved before releases 14 Game elements EditAs the narrative and conflict in single player gameplay is created by a computer rather than a human opponent single player games are able to deliver certain gaming experiences that are typically absent or de emphasised in multiplayer games 15 Story Edit See also Narrative of video games Single player games rely more heavily on compelling stories to draw the player into the experience and to create a sense of investment Humans are unpredictable so human players allies or enemies cannot be relied upon to carry a narrative in a particular direction and so multiplayer games tend not to focus heavily on a linear narrative By contrast many single player games are built around a compelling story 16 Characters Edit While a multi player game relies upon human human interaction for its conflict and often for its sense of camaraderie a single player game must build these things artificially As such single player games require deeper characterisation of their non player characters in order to create connections between the player and the sympathetic characters and to develop deeper antipathy towards the game s antagonists This is typically true of role playing games RPGs such as Dragon Quest and the Final Fantasy which are primarily character driven Exceptions Edit These game elements are not firm fixed rules single player puzzle games such as Tetris or racing games focus squarely on gameplay See also EditMassively multiplayer online gameReferences Edit Oosterhu Feireiss Lukas March 2006 The Architecture Co laboratory Game Set and Match II on Computer Games Advanced Geometries and Digital Technologies Delft Delft University of Technology p 180 ISBN 9789059730366 Unreal Tournament 3 Single player Campaign Preview Unreal Tournament 3 Single player Campaign Pr N p n d Web 18 Apr 2013 Speed Race Game N p n d Web 18 Apr 2013 Koster Raph 10 Feb 2006 Are single player games doomed Archived from the original on 8 February 2013 Retrieved 2013 02 25 Is single player gaming under threat Computer and Video Games Future plc 28 Oct 2012 Retrieved 2013 02 25 Wales Matt October 17 2017 EA has shut down Visceral Games Eurogamer Retrieved October 17 2017 Sarkar Samit October 18 2017 EA s Star Wars pivot is a vote of no confidence in single player games Polygon Retrieved October 20 2017 Staff October 19 2017 Does Visceral s closure prove AAA single player games are dying Gamasutra Retrieved October 20 2017 Klepek Patrick October 17 2017 Today s Star Wars News Makes the Future of Single Player Look Very Messy Vice Retrieved October 20 2017 McCarthy Caty October 19 2017 The Rise and Fall of Visceral Games US Gamer Retrieved October 20 2017 Purchase Robert October 23 2017 I ve seen people literally spend 15 000 on Mass Effect multiplayer cards Eurogamer Retrieved October 23 2017 Chalk Andy December 7 2017 Bethesda kicks off a Save Player 1 sale for its single player games PC Gamer Retrieved December 14 2017 Grubb Jeff July 1 2021 Dead Space remake is in the works at Motive Venture Beat Retrieved July 1 2021 Stuart Keith July 13 2021 Phil Spencer on the future of Xbox we still want to take risks with games The Guardian Retrieved July 13 2021 ThomasDaPsycho Video Game Story Elements N p n d Web 18 Apr 2013 Tales of the Rampant Coyote What Makes a Great RPG Mechanics Tales of the Rampant Coyote N p n d Web 18 Apr 2013 Bibliography EditFullerton Tracy 2014 Game Design Workshop A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games 3 ed CRC Press ISBN 978 1498785877 Retrieved 30 January 2018 Mitra Ananda 2010 Digital Games Computers at Play Infobase Publishing pp 24 39 ISBN 978 0816067862 Retrieved 30 January 2018 Perron Bernard Wolf Mark J P 2014 The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies Routledge pp 253 256 ISBN 978 1136290503 Retrieved 30 January 2018 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Single player video game amp oldid 1135068271, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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