Time was, consoles were how gamers passed the time. From the time Atari made its first console, to the early 1990s when Nintendo created the SNES and Sega crafted its Genesis, and even on to when the Playstation 2, Xbox, and Gamecube warred for market dominance in the early 2000s, consoles have all but ruled gaming life.

But now, that is increasingly no longer the way of things.

With the advent of gaming on the Internet, consoles are not often needed to play games anymore. People are now able to use computers as TVs, media creators, Internet browsers, and now even gaming consoles. It’s possible to play monthly-fee online MMOs like World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and City of Heroes (OMG LINK) as well as single-player online Flash games for free. Indeed, gamers of today can get their gaming fix without ever buying a console or its games (especially due to the pirated game downloads and emulators).

I am one of the gamers who has all but ditched console gaming in favor of online gaming. Though I buy and use my games legitimately, turning on a separate machine besides my computer just to game seems almost alien to me now, even though I literally grew up playing video games on systems like the SNES, Playstation 1, and N64. I haven’t touched my Playstation 2 in weeks, and my Wii sat so long unused that it doesn’t even turn on anymore. And, from what I can tell, I am not alone; many old-school gamers have turned to computers as well.

Why Might Consoles Go the Way of the Dodo?

• A computer keyboard can be easier to manipulate than controllers (especially for kinetic controllers like the Wii–I still can’t completely figure ’em out)
• Games online are free or small-fee to play, and can be played anywhere you can set a laptop; console games require special equipment, a set place to play, etc.
• We increasingly require more and more online components from our consoles, so they end up being small computers in and of themselves
• We are living downsized lives economically, and people can better rationalize paying for a new computer rather than for a new gaming console

But Wait a Moment: The Social Gaming Perspective

As much fun as online gaming is, there is a vital component of gaming that it’s still missing: true social gaming.

Much of online gaming is single-player, unless you get into MMOs (Massive Multiplayer Online games). And even with MMOs, everyone is hooked up to different computer screens and communicating via typed or voice chat. It’s just not the same as playing with three or four of your buddies in front of a single TV screen, with controllers hooked up and a ton of laughs (or muttered curses) going on.

There’s something about playing a game with others in the same room and on the same screen that engenders more honest, real communication and socializing, much more than playing online with others does. Even playing an online game with someone while they’re sitting in the same room with you is different; you’re still looking at different computer screens, still disconnected from them somehow. Social gaming–the kind only seen in console gaming, 4 players at a time–is in danger of dying out.

I found an XKCD-style, long comic panel about a year ago that really explains this all visually, but I’m darned if I can find it again. (Hating dialup a whole bunch right now for not letting me search faster!) Basically, it showed how computers make many facets of modern gaming easier (buying, stealing, playing multiplayer), but the social gaming aspect, the “playing on my couch with a bunch of my friends” concept, is woefully lacking. Poor little stick man just cries alone in his room, with only fond, poignant memories of gaming with friends.

Next Week: What’s So Special About Social Gaming?

As wonderful as social console gaming is, it deserves its own blog post. Tune in next week to hear the rest of this story, full of personal anecdotes and nostalgia. 🙂