DICE 2009: Dave Perry predicts rise of free, online games, death of single-player titles
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Feb 19th 2009 at 9:50PM }
As totally awesome as a world where all video games are sans-price sounds, Perry cautioned that this scenario means that "the days of single-player games are numbered." Equally alarming is the fact that this new business model would make it extremely difficult for traditional developers to compete against their uncostly competitors. Worst of all, think of the impact the rise of Flash games will have on poor ol' GameStop! That part alone is going to prevent us from getting any sleep tonight.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rob Accomando @ Feb 19th 2009 9:59PM
yeah, sure. I just just see Bioshock 5 being FREE but you can buy new clothes and flair for Big Daddy.
Stop predicting stupidity ad go make another Earthworm Jim. (Maybe a free version? :P)
Shagittarius @ Feb 20th 2009 9:58AM
This is bad news...for Nintendo!
Sythis @ Feb 19th 2009 9:59PM
David Perry talks a lot of shit for a guy who hasn't made a good game in 10 years.
Erik Stroud @ Feb 19th 2009 10:20PM
Well said. I don't even see how he would think this. But, it's probably all to just get attention.
dark_inchworm (on Steam!) dark inchworm (on XBL!) @ Feb 19th 2009 11:12PM
He's been sliding downhill rapidly, as evidenced by the disappearance of his ability to produce a decent game and his outlandish comments that single-player is dead.
Thanks, but no thanks...
sinai @ Feb 20th 2009 2:50AM
i was just gonna say the same thing. i hope he's hard at work on his next project called "relevance"
Ihavepants @ Feb 19th 2009 10:00PM
Well... if everything was online for free with nothing focussing properly on a good single player experience I would happily still pay for a good single player game. I don't see the argument, it's not like demand will decrease.
slycooper_rocker @ Feb 19th 2009 10:20PM
microsoft execs probably started crying uncontrollably when they heard this.
Ihavepants @ Feb 19th 2009 10:29PM
Software that does the same thing only better/for free is pretty different to this situation.
Ihavepants @ Feb 19th 2009 10:36PM
In regards to single player/multiplayer and the current quality of free games.
slycooper_rocker @ Feb 19th 2009 11:35PM
sorry i must have hit the reply button... i didn't mean to reply to this, it was supposed to be a separate comment.
The Dark Wayne @ Feb 19th 2009 10:01PM
that sounds fucking awful.
J.Goodwin @ Feb 19th 2009 10:01PM
Didn't he predict that last year. Hell, didn't he predict that two years ago and three years ago?
There are some good free online games out there, but none of them are anywhere near as good as Street Fighter IV.
Reinard @ Feb 19th 2009 10:04PM
Seriously, what is the current obsession with shoving multiplayer aspects into EVERYTHING?
Maybe I LIKE my singleplayer games. Maybe I don't WANT to deal with other people all the damn time. D:
Kevin949 @ Feb 19th 2009 10:06PM
Agreed. It would nice if developers would continue to focus just as much on single player as they do on multiplayer in some games.
The Dark Wayne @ Feb 19th 2009 10:22PM
I agree, every second rate shooter game seems to have multiplayer, but in most cases like Timeshift, FEAR, Blacksite or Quantam of Solace, no one really plays them, so it seems like it would be more effective to spend the time they did on useless and unexciting multiplayer for making a better single player experience
Deaf RaGe @ Feb 19th 2009 10:43PM
Agreed, plus I can't play MP games since I keep being booted off just because I can't use a mic and can't hear my teammates since I'm deaf. SP all the way for me. Long there is subtitles of course :)
Brit @ Feb 20th 2009 1:44AM
I assumed his thinking was: "piracy will render single-player games less-profitable/unprofitable compared to multiplayer games where we can monitor user accounts". But, yeah, I agree - I like single-player games, and usually don't want to play multiplayer.
aggrazel @ Feb 20th 2009 10:06AM
Absolutely, 100% agree. I don't like having to depend on other people for my entertainment. Sure, sometimes online play is fun, other times its frustrating as hell. I don't know why people making dumb statements get press like this.
nutman @ Feb 19th 2009 10:04PM
Who gives a crap about what he has to say? What was the last game that Dave Perry did anyway?
He can keep running his mouth, but you have to ask him, "Who the fuck are you talking to? No one likes you. Go away,". Then he will cry.
The End.
DieselGuy79 @ Feb 19th 2009 11:13PM
This guys is out of his mind...he was relevant in 16bit Gen/SNES era...that THREE Generations ago...he like to make comments to keep his name in the news but he has not made a good game since EWJ 1, all other games/ideas he has had are total crap...it would be like talking to John Romero.
bknight @ Feb 19th 2009 10:07PM
Death of death of single-player titles would be the death of gaming.
Fallout 3 as Co-op would not work
bknight @ Feb 19th 2009 10:24PM
My best gaming experiences of the last couple of month has been single player
- Fallout 3
- Prince of Persia
- Fable 2 (no one played co-op)
- FEAR 2
slycooper_rocker @ Feb 19th 2009 11:40PM
interesting. all my best gaming experiences have been multiplayer focused. cod4, LBP, cod:waw, resistance 2, and rock band 2. i have had amazing single player experiences too as in MGS4 and valkyria chronicles. i guess its preference really.
Dummy00001 @ Feb 20th 2009 7:47AM
@slycooper_rocker
It all depends on tastes, habits, amount of free time for games, etc.
E.g. I have probably at best 3 hours of free time per day: one hour in the morning + another one in the evening when commuting; one hour at home after finishing chores.
No way I can play online games. Only single player games. And even then with one finger hovering constantly "Quick Save" button.
Even if I wanted to spend more money on on-line games, there are literally no games (with notable exception of on-line MTG) for adult audience.
Rob Accomando @ Feb 19th 2009 10:09PM
If his prediction did come true, then people without an internet connection would be screwed? Then they would have to resort to playing board games or something? Yeah, I totally see that happening.
ThornedVenom (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Feb 19th 2009 10:18PM
What he's saying actually conforms to taste transition from generation X to generation Y (from solo hotshots like Lara Croft or Gordon Freeman, to team-oriented gameplay with the growth of multiplayer and co-op). Obviously the boundary is blurred because we grow up with whatever our parents have taught us, but this is actual market research.
The Dark Wayne @ Feb 19th 2009 10:32PM
my parents didnt teach me anything about games. They were gunned down in Crime Alley before they ever had a chance
ThornedVenom (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Feb 19th 2009 10:38PM
Your avatar meeting my avatar looks like what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.
HitNRun @ Feb 19th 2009 11:02PM
I'm sure it is actual market research, but the question is asked with regards to games that exist now. Everyone has always wanted co-op; the tech just wasn't there.
Furthermore, a "trend" is one thing. The complete extinction of single player titles is quite another. Porno-mustaches, bell-bottoms, and pogs were "the trend" at one point as well.
The Dark Wayne @ Feb 19th 2009 11:33PM
POOOOOOOOOGGGGGSSSS
slycooper_rocker @ Feb 19th 2009 11:42PM
what's with the (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) thing? both you and sheppy have it...
ThornedVenom (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Feb 20th 2009 12:25AM
@HitNRun: Porno-mustaches were a trend at one point? I don't wanna shave mine off...
@slycooper_rocker: I cannot betray the clan's secrets.
Brit @ Feb 20th 2009 1:53AM
Seems unlikely that "Generation X" and "Generation Y" can be stereotyped and categorized that way. (In fact, it actually sounds like something that some bad author would say in order to sell books. You know the formula: men are [fill in the blank], but women are [fill in the blank]. Generation X is [fill in the blank], but Generation Y is [fill in the blank]. Virgos are [fill in the blank], but Taurus is [fill in the blank]. Insert some trite and exaggerated stereotype into any blank.)
Mike @ Feb 20th 2009 12:04PM
Maybe you hadn't noticed, but the gaming industry stopped acknowledging people without an internet connection ages ago.
jaredgood1 @ Feb 19th 2009 10:31PM
You know, I dislike playing with others enough that I actually did the 4-player mission in Little Big Planet all by myself (well, some electrical tape helped). And hell, if I could play World of Warcraft on my own private server, all by myself, I'd be quite happy.
Shagittarius @ Feb 20th 2009 11:41AM
I was alone,I was all by myself
No one was looking, I was thinking of you
Oh yeah, did I mention I was all by myself
All by myself...
All by myself...
All by myself...
I went to your house,but no one was there
I went in your room
I was all by myself
You and me had
Such wonderful times
When I'm all by myself,
All by myself
jaredgood1 @ Feb 20th 2009 1:38PM
What can I say, I like failing and succeeding on my terms.
AwesomeTown @ Feb 19th 2009 10:35PM
Unless there are some leaps and bounds in multilayer online storytelling, right now, the best way to tell a story and to immerse the player into the story is single player. This guy is just trying to get his name out there again.
Robbytron @ Feb 19th 2009 10:48PM
Once again the mighty Dave opens his mouth and shows us how out of touch he really is. You really have to love the new "big-mouth" breed of developers that are all talk and no software.
HitNRun @ Feb 19th 2009 10:37PM
What the hell is wrong with these people? Why are we forced to take them seriously?
This is like 50s futurism, guessing that current trends in tech will equal later results. Not one major prediction from even 30 years ago from professional analysts has come to pass with the possible exception of the vague guesses at the importance of computers, which at least hit the wall on which the target was nailed.
Donald @ Feb 19th 2009 10:38PM
Mr. Perry, your MDK/Earthworm Jim grace period ran out seven years ago. Please step aside and let the sane people discuss things.
russtophiles @ Feb 19th 2009 10:38PM
David Perry has a knack for emerging from obscurity every few months to deliver asinine statements and 'predictions' that seem to be little more than self serving promotion for his personal ventures.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Feb 19th 2009 10:55PM
As someone who thinks a single player campaign is much more important than Multiplayer, if this happens and games start being multiplayer only, I will just stop buying games.
Baby J Penn (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Feb 19th 2009 11:48PM
You'll always have Mario.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Feb 20th 2009 1:52PM
Yes...yes I will.
kentuckyfried @ Feb 19th 2009 11:11PM
Bring back Jim!!
Poisoned Al @ Feb 19th 2009 11:16PM
He would if he still had the rights to it.
Johnny @ Feb 19th 2009 11:39PM
Free online gaming will be appealing to some but the death of single player games is pretty stupid. I play games for fun, online can be way to competitive and just too exhausting all the time. Oblivion and Fallout3 being perfect examples of casual gaming, as intense as "i" want it to be. i still love an occasional 60 player game of Resistance2 the best online experience Evah! But only in short bursts, like the entrè before the main meal.
DieselGuy79 @ Feb 19th 2009 11:22PM
Dave Perry = ONE hit wonder...you know like in music....only EarthWorm Jim 1 was a "good" game(it wasn't GREAT)
Funny how he always likes to take pics with a EWJ figure next to him cause nobody would know who he is if it wasn't for EWJ
He has NO clue on what a good 3D game is
Time to retire Dave nobody wants your opion on a Generation have not contributed to.
EWJ 1 = 1994 THATS Fifteen YEARS ago...he has not had ANY good ideas since...GO AWAY Dave Perry!!!