In this essay, I wanted to just discuss a couple of topics. One of them, is the misunderstanding by sociologists of generations, and the other is how the gaming industry has changed the way they make video games completely because of this generational divide. It is said, by sociologists, that those born from the beginning of the 1980's through the millenium, are part of the millenial generation. The interesting thing is that the distinction between the first half of this group and the second, is extremely clear using their own criteria. The focal point of this discussion is something that video game developers across the industry need to take heed of, because with some of the most pivotal franchises, you are seeing these very traits that define this generation.
The first thing to discuss, is what formulates a generation. A layman may first refer to years or age, but a sociologist will correct you and say that several components far more important are considered, such as economic phases, political structure, industrial developments, and social climate. All of these are true. And what really is mindblowing to me, is to look at the changes that took place in society and globally over the course of my formative years into adulthood, juxtaposed to the experience that people today have had, when born after 1995. I was born in 1985. In my childhood, I experienced a world, where technology and life had a different balance. Sure there were innovations, as there have been since civilizations dawn, but it wasn't as pronounced as it is today. I love to watch old boxing broadcasts from the 70's and 80's, and see the commercials from back then. It's amazing how much more straight forward and simple life was, the further you go back.
When I was 11 years old or so in 96 or maybe as early as 95, the public libraries in New York, first got the internet on their computers available for the public. It may have been netscape navigator or something. We were excited, yet at the same time, it didn't necessarily explode out of proportion. We still had the simple games like Carmen SanDiego, Oregon Trail, etc. Now, we had early search engines, where we looked up pictures of anime like Dragon Ball Z and stuff. There was an early game site called Secrets of the Sages, and later GameSages. I believe that today's Gamefaqs, is closely related, which I still use. Because, the social climate was still much healthier than it is now, there was still social interaction. Only 3 years after that, I entered high school in late 99. The internet, when you think about it, was still not the dynamo that it is today. When I think back, libraries were a hangout spot all the way until I was a senior. When you had a project, the go-to source was still encyclopedias and research books. I graduated in 2003, and then went on to college which I finished in 2005. Social media, network sites, file sharing, smartphones, tablets, etc still, at that point were not yet in existence. Just think about it, all of those things did not exist until years after I finished school. You had smartphones take off in 2007, and social media sites hit their stride in 2006. All through my school days, when you wanted to interact, you defaulted to meeting up in physical social groups. Internet dating and chat boards were almost taboo outlets for those who were ostracized.
Politically, and socially, you still had a moral structure, where there were things considered improper to do. People on professional platforms such as news media, knew that they had to carry themselves in a certain way, distinct from the casual public. The makeup and dress was in a manner that deflected from attention and depicted professionalism, completely different from today's female new casters who will wear pounds of makeup and sex dresses that not only form fit, but are mini-skirt in length. Speaking grammatically correct and professionally was more strived for. Language was watched. Whereas today, profanity is no longer isolated at all. You're seen as having a vocabulary issue, if you fail to curse several times each sentence. When you engaged in lewd acts, you used to be villified. Now, over the past several years, a culture of sensitivity has developed, where even telling children that they failed a test in school is now outlawed.
Now take a kid who was born in the late 90's, or early 2000's. When you use the same criteria, socially, technologically, and politically, their teenage years and school days bleed into the dawn of these revolutions, which we can't deny, have reshaped humanity in major ways forever. They will never know what it is like to not need the internet, and to interact normally. There was even a report on the news a couple of days ago, where a researcher shows concern over psychological disorders developing in children today, including depression, due to the mass-use of technology and social media. These kids never have a childhood, where the only option is to go outside, or talk to a person. We have created outlets that will never allow humanity to be what it was ever again. There is no way to fail to see the complete rift between my era and the one that younger ones live in now.
Often you've heard me complain about this age of updates, and the fact that in technology, new is more important that functional. It's true. And when it comes to the gaming industry, this generational movement has effected it too. Back in the previous decades, as gamers, we brought games because we loved the idea of being able to control our favorite characters and plots from the comfort of our home consoles. In fact, there was a time that we all looked to consoles to port over arcade gems that we had to burn quarters on, just so we could enjoy at home at our leisure when not in the arcades. When these ports came to consoles, they included expanded modes of play, that let us fully enjoy the content. While we had sleep-over weekends, and parties galore, we all wanted our own personal consoles and games, to enjoy privately, just like the concept behind the PC, which stands for personal computer. People have always, in the past desired private, intrinsic time, to build on hobbies and interests, before bringing them to the fore. That is another thing that has changed tremendously with this generation.
We live in an age, where due to social media and the psychological issues it brings, people crave exchanging attention with other people in digital social groups, more than anything else in the world. Each day, the internet controlled world, arises in the morning, to check on the approval of each selfish photo they post across the globe. And they make it a point to insert their approval or disapproval of any and every post that they can find. If you listened to my last podcast about the grand scheme, this essay ties into it very well. I remember when Myspace first launched back in 2006, and people were just warming up to sharing content. Everyone would try to post the most extravagant and professional pictures they could online. I was the only one out of the hundreds of people I know being laughed at, taking head shots of myself in different settings. Everyone told me that I look desperate, taking pictures by myself and holding the camera. I swear to you, no one was doing that back when I started. Guess what happened there.
So in gaming, while we used to enjoy playing single player campaign content, and socializing together in physical groups later to share our experiences, now people just want the social aspect to be the game. Online gaming isn't a brand new thing, nor is playing socially and competitively. In fact, the franchise that I'm going to discuss in this essay- Super Smash Brothers, follows this timeline perfectly. I played World of Warcraft and some other PC games online in the late 90's. I'm not new to the party by any means. I also never said I don't condone multiplayer online or offline, as I have amassed huge amounts of achievements and stats in online games from Soul Calibur, to Smash Brothers, to Madden, to Street Fighter. I just notice the change in balance.
Like I said, back in the day, companies made games, especially Nintendo, with the intention of people playing together. But that was done in addition to single player content, that would allow you to build on your interest, and sustain interest in the game. From Street Fighter 2 on home consoles, to Goldeneye on N64, we played together as friends and at parties, yet had just as much fun at home playing alone. In recent times, trophy systems have been instituted in games to show everyone over an online social platform, every little thing that you accomplished in each game. This concept took off like a rocket, which had me scratching my head back in the mid 2000's. I wondered why that satiated people so much. Sometimes, games would be under-developed, and released early and flawed, and patching a trophy system into the game would quell all of the uproar. When Street Fighter 5 came out on the Playstation 4 in 2016, it was the game I purchased the system for. At launch, the game was horrible for single player. It only had short character storylines and online play. No arcade mode, no survival, no expansive story. There was an appropriate outcry, and the game, being the flagship that it is, was fixed. All of those modes were added, and the game continues to grow. When you make a game, you have to visualize a time when online servers are no longer viable.
Developers have become so concerned with serving everyone's suck-buddy needs, that they now make games with multiplayer as the sole focus. Single player content is added close to the end of development, as an afterthought. Super Smash Brothers Ultimate is the latest casualty. What is sad, is that this is possibly the greatest franchise of all time. If any game has stood the test of time, and never settled in delivering everylastingly satisfying content to its fans, it is Smash Brothers. However, with this game, it's like the month of March. Out of the gate, it seems loaded with content. However, when you analyze what it offers the solo gamer, it is infuriatingly disgusting. Most games today, if you look at the main menu, you will see a mural of multiplayer and online modes. In the corner, as a small icon, you will see content that can be played offline in single player. This is a stark contrast to the era I mentioned earlier, and it is a problem. They attempted to make an adventure mode in Smash Brothers Ultimate, which has some value. However, they have removed all of the special vs modes, such as lightning melee, giant melee etc. And they have discarded, mindlessly, all of the leisure modes of the past, such as Target Mode, Homerun mode, Smash Run, and the traditional adventure mode. There are 104 stages in this fighting game, which fans and developers alike, have aptly stated, is difficult for the gamer to digest. That's all the more reason that slower paced modes should have been left in the game. Now essentially, either you play a versus mode that goes from fight to fight, quickly, or go online and do the same thing. There is no means of enjoying the scenery and content offline as a solo gamer.
Sakurai is the genius behind this game, and while I have showered him with praise over his hard work and effort, I also see him as somewhat of a shortsighted fool, for missing this many crucial opportunities to keep the timeless quality in a game that was born perfect. He spent so much time agonizing over multiplayer and online, and also apparently, stripping essential modes, when if he paid attention, he would have noticed that the game already thrives in the multiplayer setting due to its addictive system. I would like to inquire from him, what exactly possessed him to make him decide to remove modes that have always been an identifying mark of the franchise. The reason we don't hear an outcry of any kind, is because gamers and people today are such social psychos, the only mode they run to is online. I've heard a few complaints about the single player, but it almost seems to come to people subconsciously at this point. Right now, without a patch of some kind, a nearly perfect franchise has been completely destroyed because of a growing, plague-like, millenial movement.
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