Social components are now 'mandatory' even in single-player - Iwata

August 23rd, 2012, 22:54 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo boss man Satoru Iwata has said that social features are now 'mandatory' in games - even single-player ones.
According to Iwata, connecting players in ways that allows them to interact - even when they're not online together - is now crucial to modern gaming."We have reached an era where even a single-player game experience [can] have a social component that is very important," he toldKotaku. "And I think that social component is mandatory."
Nintendo has a plan; Miiverse on Wii U is a feature that lets players share messages and/or tips about games with their friends. The home screen will have hoards of people's Miis gathering around the game icons that they're playing, and during gameplay, messages from other players can pop up at certain moments sharing their experience of that section.
Iwata compared this to pre-online gaming, when friends spoke amongst themselves about their experiences with games.
"Early on, when I played a Mario game, it was really fun for me to sit and chat with my friends about, 'Hey I found coins over here, there's a hidden place.' [or] 'This is how far I got.' That interaction was great," he said.
"Of course the Internet does provide a lot of that interaction, but it's not built for that purpose.
He later added, "What we really want to do is create a place where folks who are playing by themselves will not feel like they are playing by themselves. They'll be able to share those experiences and have that empathy."

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...-player-iwata/

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