Are You A Social Gamer Too?

Hi, I’m Tim, and I’m a social gamer. I’m a nerd, a husband, and a father. Now, those last two titles mean the most to me, but the first two help explain my personality and my sensibilities. Social gaming is very important to me. Since I was a kid, video games have been the way that I relax and de-stress. Before the advent of Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network, I would put on a CD of one of my favorite grunge-era bands and play games like Syphon Filter, Final Fantasy Seven, Madden Football, or NCAA football, and well, you know, just chill out. 

But since Xbox introduced the ability to play games like Halo over local area networks or LAN connections, the game was forever changed. Yes. Pun intended. Look, I’m a dad and dad. Jokes and puns are just part of the deal. Trust me, you’ll get used to it. But however, getting 4 to 6 of my buddies in a room playing Halo or Mechassault was peak gaming, eating Doritos and pizza, drinking Mountain Dew, and hurling insults. So awful. Only your closest friends would be accepting of it and willing to fire something well, equally awful back at you. Those are great memories, and honestly, I miss those days. 

But Xbox and PlayStation have their own networks now, which allow you to form gaming parties with your friends over the internet and live play the games together. But since I am an Xbox player, I’m only going to speak about Xbox Live and its party chat system and the games that can be played on them now with my buddies and some new friends that I have made along the way; I have moved from my original Xbox to an Xbox 360 to an Xbox One, and now to my new series console. Over those time periods, we have played games together like Destiny One and Destiny Two, PUBG, Red Dead Redemption Two, The Division, and most recently, a free game called The First Descendant. Sure, there are other games available, and if you’re an Xbox Game Pass member, there is always an influx of new games to play, either by yourself or with your buddies as a squad. Now, I have found a lot of old 360 games getting dropped in there, and that’s great for me. It’s a great trip down memory lane, and I have found some new favorites along the way, like the aforementioned First Descendants. 

But what I love most about video games now is the social aspect of gaming during the pandemic. You know, the year that wasn’t, it was podcasting and gaming that helped me hold on to what little sanity I had left. Being able to talk with old friends and new ones over Zoom and Xbox party chat kept me from getting crazier than I already am. And look, let’s be honest, it’s a short drive to insanity over here. If you’ve listened to any of our other episodes, you already know that. 

So it kind of bugs me that there are so many cool games that are coming out, but only coming out as a single player mode. For instance, I love the new Star Wars game. Now you know Star Wars Outlaws. It’s beautiful. It’s fun to play, but it’s single-player. By the time of the night, I’m able to sit down and play Xbox. As a social gamer, I want to play with my friends. Now, sure, I could hop into a party chat with them, but I’m always afraid that I’m going to lose out on some important story details in games like Star Wars Outlaws or Star Wars Jedi Survivor because I’m in that party chat and I don’t want to miss out on things when I play those games. I want to know the story. I want to know the lore. Because if there’s a chance that those become canon in any way I want, and I need those to be part of my Star Wars story as well. 

And while I’m on the topic, would it kill Lucasfilm to help push out a good two-player or party-style game for Star Wars? Yes, I know that Battlefront Two does exist, and I know that it has a team deathmatch mode and there’s some other team-based activities, but if we’re being honest, it got really hard for me to play that. After Electronic Arts went full EA and pushed the microtransactions so hard that pretty much killed the game for me. I know it’s made a bit of a resurgence, particularly because it’s been a free-to-play game through Game Pass and all, but EA killed that franchise, in my opinion. But in order to be a social gamer and to continue to be a social gamer, I need more games that allow me to be. Well, social. 

Games like Palworld have been fun both as a solo player and with friends, but it’s not one that keeps my attention over the long haul. It’s a good time killer. But again, if I’m being honest, it’s a little too much like Pokemon for someone who was never a Pokemon fan. Now look, I’m not judging Pokemon or its fans. It just wasn’t for me. You do you. But I just want to see more games that allow for multiple players in the story mode or a multiple-player online mode. 

If you have suggestions for games that I have overlooked other than Call of Duty, then I would love to hear about them. Put them in the comments below and I promise I’ll check them out. And if it’s a cool game, I’ll report back on it and you’ll hear about it. Until then, I’ll be reminiscing about LAN parties with pizza, mountain dew, and friendly insults from some of my best friends. 

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