[General Discussion] 2009 was the year of...?

2009 is drawing to a close now with the last few note-worthy titles squeezing onto shelves this week and so it is that various discussions are starting to take place around the web and gaming media in general about the year as a whole. Saving GOTY discussions until next month (keep an eye out for details of that at some point in the near-ish future) I got to thinking about what the big thing in gaming was this year.

I know at one point, probably at the point I was playing my fifth racing game in as many weeks (or possibly fewer) I found myself saying to people that it's been a really good year for racers. But then there's also been a lot of other stuff being pushed this year: motion control (again, and as part as a peripheral push in general), pre-order and limited edition shenanigans, digital distribution, DLC (and DL games), PS3 taking off, Wii sales slowing down, about seven new DS models (or so it seemed), co-operative play, and more besides.

So my question is: as far as gaming is concerned, 2009 was the year of what?

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Crash Landon

Single player isn't dead, it's just not the main focus anymore.

Sorry Crash, but on this one you're just wrong. Co-op play and multiplayer may be appearing in more games than before, and for some titles multiplayer is a focus (Left 4 Dead, for example) but single-player is very much still the main focus in the majority of cases. Even Modern Warfare 2, which is arguably the biggest thing in multiplayer gaming right now, had its focus on the single-player experience. Sure it has a massive online component that will likely receive more play hours (nature of the beast and all that though), but you fire up that game and the single-player mode is front and centre. They could have done a lazy job and crowbar-ed in 4-player co-op on their story game but they didn't, it's a pure single-player experience.

Looking back over all the games I've played this year, whilst some of them feature tacked on multiplayer stuff to try and get people to not trade in games right away, nearly all of them were focussed on the single-player game.

And I don't see that trend changing; just look at some of the bigger titles for next year that we know about: Bayonetta, Mass Effect 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Darksiders, Bioshock 2, Final Fantasy XIII, God of War III, Heavy Rain, Dante's Inferno, Dark Void, The Last Guardian, Red Dead Redemption, Gran Turismo 5. That's just off the top of my head, and whilst some of them may include a multiplayer component they're all very much focussed on the single-player game.

Multiplayer and co-op may be more prevalent these days, but that doesn't mean single-player isn't the focus for most cases.

There's nowhere I can't reach.