So over the last little while I’ve been trying to get ahead on the comic strip and unfortunately that has meant letting some of my other hobbies fall to the wayside. One of the casualties of this schedule cleansing has unfortunately been my x-box time. Although I do try to make an effort to play when I can, the time that was available to it has been severely hampered. So this weekend I thought “I should play a couple of rounds of Call of Duty 4″ and was flabbergasted as to how my skills seemed to be AWOL. Now I suppose that being a gamer is like anything else, you need to practice if you want be good at it. But it’s a little unnerving as to how quickly I lost my feel for the game. But then I thought… is it really my skills that have taken a beating…. Or is it just that I’ve fallen behind? There seem to be a lot of people out there playing every day for multiple hours a day…. why is that? It’s the same game…. the same weapons.. what keeps them interested enough to jump on day in and day out and raise their skill level to such a level? Maybe it’s the fact that other people see it….

Gaming seems to have become more and more competitive over the years. There was a time, not so long ago (or at least that’s what I tell myself) when gaming was all about the fun. If someone was really good at a certain game it was easy to enjoy that WITH them. Coop play, taking turns on the same controller was the norm. Maybe it was because there were so few head to head games available to the fill that competitive space. Now-a-days it seems like most games are all about the personal achievements. More and more are focusing on the multiplayer platform. Maybe because people believe that the skill they display is more persistent when others can experience it first hand. And maybe they’re right.

Now I broke free of the shackles of World of Warcraft only a few months ago, but it was hard for me. And I think that had a lot to do with this exact issue. World of Warcraft is a great example of how gamers like to parade their skill around. High level armor sets are so desirable in that game because they show the world how much time and effort you’ve put into the game. It shows your level of dedication. I’m not sure if x-box really knew what they were tapping into when they instituted the “gamer score,” but it really is a powerful incentive. You know it’s funny, when I first got my x-box live gold up and kicking, I thought that I wouldn’t be the type to care about a silly number. But it really feels good to see that number grow as you play through different games. Now I’m still not one to go out of my way to “pad” my gamerscore…. I haven’t stooped so low as to go and rent Avatar or anything, but it still feels nice every time one of those little achievements pops up on the screen… especially when you get it for something you weren’t really trying for.

So competitive gaming seems like its here to stay. Like it or lump it, the multiplayer experience is the way of the future. If you’ve been fighting it up to now, you might as well give up and accept it. The single player game will soon be just a story you’re telling the grandkids around the fireplace….. They’ll smile and laugh at the old man describing antiquated simulated 3d environments and analogue controls… Bank on it!