Bring Back Two Player Games by Geek Woman

Throughout my informal study of women and video games as a journalist, I have come across a few commonalities among female gamers. There aren’t many generalizations that can be made about us because we are all interested in different things. In fact for every sort of game there is, there are women that are playing it and having fun.

In spite of all our diversity, developers can learn a few things from women that actually do play. One suggestion that has come up time after time from the ladies, is that there just are not enough two player cooperative games to play. In fact two player games for the consoles seem to be a top request not only on the old generation of consoles, but especially for the next gen consoles.

In the millions of households that contain a game console, as well as men and boys, the women have a hard time getting a turn to play. We need two player console games in all those households. There would be so many less arguments that way. Developers are still mainly making games to entertain men, so not only are the women of the house not given many interesting games in the first place, but the game experience that she will frequently see going on in her living room is unappealing as well. In male oriented games many times there are no female avatars, to play as. Or women are bored by the simplistic activity of kill, and kill and kill. Many women aren’t interested in football and sports games on the consoles either.

Somehow, somewhere along the food chain between game designer and consumer the flavor gets lost. Statistics, forums, and blogs, show that there are many women playing war games, and sports games. But did they get started playing that game just because it is there in a guy friend’s living room? That isn’t much of a recommendation. A game that a girl plays by default is much different than one that makes her become excited, love it and run out to buy a copy.

Young women and teen girls enjoy getting involved with the interests that the guys in their life have. “Go where the guys are.” If there is an opportunity to play together, then a girlfriend or spouse will most likely join in. It isn’t always stellar game-play that makes a great game. Sometimes it is the intangibles. It is those intangibles that the developers or publishers just don’t “get”. Those subtleties are what women find intriguing.

I get nostalgic for old 16 bit games like Streets of Rage on the Sega Genesis, or Diablo on the PS One and Baldurs Gate on the PS2. Streets of Rage only had the one-button combos for fighting. There was breaking the barrels, telephone booths, or wooden crates. Those yielded weapons such as bottles, knives, iron pipes, or baseball bats, it wasn’t anything very original. Playing with friend opened the door for multiple endings, and more fun. There’s still a simple charm to it.

What is the intangible factor in an undistinguished fighter like Streets of Rage? It is the co-op play. You got into the game with a partner and you fought together against the enemies. There must be something primal about that drive that we all seem to have. There is an ineffable quality about sitting on the couch together, pitting yourselves against the odds. It is a uniting experience.

Then there was Blizzard’s Diablo, which I played originally on a Mac, it won many PC Game awards as far back as 1996. Then it eventually made it onto the PlayStation. It had randomized dungeons, all sorts of magical weapons, and great (if useless) loot. Diablo got more than its’ share of mileage out of a simple, third - person top - down view, hack and slash game. Diablo has fans from every corner of gaming, but what I enjoyed most about it was the seamless co- operative play. Even more compelling than the experience in Streets of Rage, in Diablo two players could get into the dungeon together and double up on the mayhem.

Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance is another example of a game that had a brilliant multiplayer option. Along with too many other games to name, it has been compared with Diablo. Who knew back then that such an excellent two-player offline cooperative game would eventually become part of some of the biggest franchises ever?

The thrill of getting past all those mobs together was something that I have never forgotten. Graphics stutters and lost frames were much easier to overlook on games that were played in tandem. They didn’t have to glitter or be glamourous. There was no yellow line down the middle of the TV screen to divide the players. You entered these worlds together. Two people could become immersed in the same experience and go on an adventure. You felt as if you were traveling into these other worlds because having another person right there made it seem as if your world and the game had merged. Late at night, when playing an RPG, your universe doesn’t extend much beyond your couch…

What those old games had was a social aspect. You could say “Come on over” and play. Now instead, you and your friend or significant other would both need an Xbox, your own copies of the game, and two Xbox Live accounts. While that strategy might be fine for Microsoft, and the majority of enthusiasts, there are other ways to sell more games. I don’t think that the game industry would loose money by offering cooperative modes for more games. Xbox Live is thriving with millions of Xbox subscribers. Offline co-op games don’t seem to be being made anymore. Even online cooperative games would be an improvement.

In the X360 titles Perfect Dark Zero and Call of Duty 2, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Gears of War, LEGO Star Wars II: the Original Trilogy, or Rainbow Six: Vegas, there is co-op support. Crackdown supports “jump-in-jump-out” online co-op gaming. But offline co - op gaming isn’t happening much these days. Like the lack of offline co-op modes in Splinter Cell: Double Agent, there is a missing offline co-op mode in Crackdown too.

I think that the technology and the industry could support both. Coop two person gaming offline, and coop two person gaming online also. Why not? We have been hearing plenty of bragging about how powerful these machines are, so show us something.

There seems to be more development of co-op online, but not offline. So many stuffy studies have been done to prove that playing video games isolates people. It’s been said over and over that the internet makes some people feel even more lonely. Yet, we aren’t able to get together, in person, to play our video games.

Imagine two people being able to play as both of the sisters in Fatal Frame. What if Lara Croft was able to bring along one of her geeks instead of just chatting with them on her headset? Grand Theft Auto be twice as amazing if two people could get in there and play it. How about having another sword slinger to watch your back in Oblivion?

According to IGN, Microsoft claims to support co-op gaming online and offline. And, Microsoft representatives, reported to them that there is no written mandate that specifically necessitates online gaming over offline play. It’s up to the developers themselves. If they want to solve two problems at the same time they can. Developers have been seeking ways to make more women interested in games. Hardcore gamers have missed being able to play games together. If more co -operative games are made, gamers will be happier. Every summer when everyone is out and there usually is a slowdown in gaming. Why not bring video games back as a dating and party pass time?

Someone did - Nintendo. Someone at Nintendo grew appendages that no other developers have. Ears. They also are aware of a very ancient and arcane magical technique. It is called listening. Look for some of those old school games from Capcom and SEGA turning up on the Wii Virtual Console. The new Wii Play pack contains a second wiimote for a friend.

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Bring Back Two Player Games by Geek Woman

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