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The Great Illusion of Social Gaming on Next-Gen Consoles

Gamereactor Italy's new Editor-in-Chief Fabrizia Malgieri poses the question: are we indeed faced with a turning point in the history of video games?

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One of the leitmotifs that characterised E3 2013 was undoubtedly the theme of sociality. Social, social, and even more social. This word was echoed endlessly in the immense Los Angeles Convention Center, with the same ease with which you could uncork bottles of champagne, the same ones that the gaming industry giants probably opened at the event to celebrate - some more , some less - their successes at this year's fair.

So many upcoming titles are focused on this new concept of gaming: as told by our correspondents in L.A., who tested titles such as The Crew and Driveclub, what distinguishes this new generation of games on the next-gen consoles is this persistent insistence on the social component. We're always connected in a network made up of friends, acquaintances, or complete strangers: the mantra is sharing, socialising, cooperating.

The Great Illusion of Social Gaming on Next-Gen Consoles

Playing alone? How old-fashioned! Today, in order to keep up with the times, you have to share everything: from photos of your gaming sessions - as with the newest update for the 3DS, which allows you to post all your screenshots on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr - to our drawings (such as Miiverse on Nintendo Wii U). We can also share our scores with the other members of our network, to challenge other teams in the game's world (as seen in Driveclub), or ask for help from the community (which is supposed to be, of course, always connected and hyper-present). If we get stuck in a point we just can't overcome, someone on the net can help us (the beloved concept of asymmetric gameplay ... we'll get to that, sooner or later). They will always be there, there will always be someone who will respond instantly to our questions on this network, someone who will send us a challenge during the hot summer days, someone who will send us compliments on our progress in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and much more.

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The Great Illusion of Social Gaming on Next-Gen Consoles

In the face of such magnificence, we can't help but roll our eyes and drop our jaws. Lovely? No doubt about it. Innovative? Well, maybe a little less. As our favourite companies have enchanted us with new opportunities and new features available on the next-generation consoles that concern the social world, they seem to have resold an aspect that is far from unusual in the world of video games medium, that in fact has always been one of its features: the social and aggregative component. As from its very beginnings, the world of video games has been accused of social crimes: the words "isolate" and "blacklist" have been labelled on people, locking them in a sort of autism with the rest of the world. The same detractors, however, forgot where the first gaming cabinets were: bars. As happened with pinball tables at the end of the 40's, the first video games - packed in huge colorful closets - had made their entry in those primitive "social networks", becoming the centre of attraction for many kids fascinated by this new form of entertainment. At the time, the concept of the Internet, as we know it today, was not even invented. The creators of Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr weren't even born.

I remember those summers spent by the sea as a little girl, when - sheltered from the hot sun of 2pm, in a little bar on the beach - I stared at the older kids spending their afternoon in front of those huge colourful machines, trying to beat each other's scores. Then I grew up, and my classmates started to receive their first NES on Christmas or for their birthday: I still remember the squadron of kids we gathered to finish (together!) Super Mario Bros. for the birthday party of a friend of mine. I could go on with a slavish chronological order discussing memories attached to all the following consoles (and games) that could further emphasise my point, but I'll spare you.

The Great Illusion of Social Gaming on Next-Gen Consoles
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Hence my reflection: are we indeed faced with a turning point in the history of video games? Is it the much ballyhooed "sociality" of the next-gen consoles the new frontier that will characterise the paradigm of video games from now on? According to this analysis, the answer could be only negative, but for a simple reason: video games were already born social.

I can imagine objections - in Phoenix Wright's style - to my position. I'll be waiting for them. Let's talk together, let's share, let's cooperate. Not surprisingly, another aspect that has been overlooked is the fact that we are social. We're social animals, as Aristotle said. We've always been like this.

The Great Illusion of Social Gaming on Next-Gen Consoles


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