6 ms·

One of the best aspects of GoldenEye multiplayer was social, real social, not in the “stream on twitch” kind of way. You had to all be in the same room, and you

by orev 8y ago

One of the best aspects of GoldenEye multiplayer was social, real social, not in the “stream on twitch” kind of way. You had to all be in the same room, and you could yell and scream at each other, hear people’s reactions, other people could watch, share a few pizzas, and it just brought everyone together. These days everyone can be in their own room in different locations, and even with voice chat it’s just not the same. It really was the social aspect that made it amazing.

distantsounds 8y ago
you're describing literally ever multi-player game before the dawn of the internet. it wasn't limited to just Goldeneye.
- orev 8y ago
  Yes, I could say the same about Mario Kart 64, Tribes, Unreal, Quake, or any number of other games, but: 1) This post is about GoldenEye, so that’s what we’re talking about. 2) It doesn’t matter who is first or if other things are similar; it’s undeniable that some games just happen to hit on a certain combination of elements that makes them a hit, and others just don’t, even if they have the same feature list. 3) At the time, most FPS games were single-player with some kind of storyline, with multiplayer being mainly an afterthought. GoldenEye has a pretty good storyline for single-player, so people would buy it for that, and then just happen to have it for the multiplayer. This no doubt contributed to its popularity, as most people just had it around and it turned out to be a great thing to do with friends too.
- giobox 8y ago
  Not sure I’d agree, especially for first person shooters. Sure, you’d been able to play Doom et al over a LAN and so on before Goldeneye, but the intimacy of the experience when you and three close friends are gathered around a single tiny CRT TV was something no Doom LAN deathmatch ever matched for me. Being able to watch your fellow players in real time on the other three quarters of the display also added a dynamic that LAN based shooters rarely had, when every player was hidden behind their own boxy CRT. What’s more this made the experience great even for observers who weren’t playing - at a glance you could watch the state of the entire game and all the players from your seat. The many fun game modes (Golden gun, Slappers only etc) all contributed to a party style experience that very few other multiplayer games, typically with their much more straight laced approach to gameplay, had. Four player gameplay seems quaint now, but it was a very rare feature in console games prior to the n64, and of course almost always required additional hardware to add the extra ports. I suspect a majority of Playstation owners never even saw a MultiTap adapter, let alone owned one, given how few games could take advantage of it. Let’s not forget the cost angle here either - while many of us may have been lucky enough to have participated in Doom LAN games, it was a pretty expensive (and technical) undertaking beyond the reach of many people, especially kids, in the mid 90s. Goldeneye was much more affordable and is all the better for it.
- Volt 8y ago
  The Internet had definitely dawned before GoldenEye was released.
- PhasmaFelis 8y ago
  Local multiplayer had been a thing for ages, of course, but the N64 was something special because it was the first significant console that supported four full controllers (not just paddles) from day 1 without an aftermarket multitap. There was unprecedented four-player support, and simultaneous four-player play is a different experience than passing around two controllers. It wasn't just Goldeneye, true, but Goldeneye was one of the console's best sellers, it was out within the first year, and it was arguably the first really top-shelf FPS for any console, so it left a big impression.
ashleyn 8y ago
The rise of cheap internet is what ushered this away. Even the original GE devs saw it coming. Perfect Dark, the followup using the same team and engine, was originally slated to ship with a modem and RJ-11 jack in the cartridge.
- psergeant 8y ago
  I’m struggling to find more info about this anywhere, do you have a link?
- giobox 8y ago
  I’ve never heard this story either, and given the love for Rare products of this era and Perfect Dark itself I can’t imagine a juicy fact like this being hard to find online, I couldn’t find any references either. Prototypes of this would be fetching a fortune as well should they exist. I’d love a source too, if anyone has one...
  - ashleyn 8y ago
    https://www.unseen64.net/2010/03/22/perfect-dark-beta-multiplayer/ https://www.unseen64.net/2010/03/22/perfect-dark-beta-multip...
Kagerjay 8y ago
Let's not forget all the cheating too, the predated "stream sniping", or all the cardboard solutions used to divide up the screen.
- lobotryas 8y ago
  True. Alternatively the group could decide that "screen-watching" is part of the game because anyone can do it. You just had to be good enough (knowing the levels and what people usually do in them) to take full advantage of it. I never had an N64 to practice so I'd just run around with a Laser or grenade launcher and try to spam2win (or at least take someone down with me).
Klathmon 8y ago
That feeling is still there if you want it to be. A few of my friends and I still get together every now and then, have pizza, sometimes drink, and play videogames together, only now it's from across the US using video and voice chat. Whether it's super smash bros, overwatch, or any number of silly/stupid steam games that someone picked up for a few dollars one day, that "social" aspect is still right there waiting for you just the same as it was, but now you have MANY more options of games to play, and ways to play them.
- lobotryas 8y ago
  Not OP, but I'll agree to disagree. VOIP and webcams are fantastic, but if it can be arranged, nothing beats a LAN party. The required logistics, planning and actually being in the same room with my friends just take things to a new level (for me anyway).
  - jstarfish 8y ago
    It's like watching a concert on YouTube versus actually being there. There's a certain energy to LAN parties that cannot be replicated online.
- PhasmaFelis 8y ago
  You can have a damn good time that way, but it doesn't quite measure up to having all your friends in the same room, IMO. I have a collection of single-screen 4-player games on Steam, and I like to pack along my laptop, A/V cables, and four gamepads when I visit friends. :) Most successful so far are Broforce, Monaco, and Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime.
ledriveby 8y ago
All of the different MP modes kept it fresh too. When you got bored, you would flick on a few switches to make things unbalanced and silly.
- GW150914 8y ago
  Perfect Dark was great for that too, with the tranq darts, and the laptop gun. I remember having so much fun with friends as we figured out the most rage-inducing ways tomabuse the laptop gun emplacements. Duke Nukem 3D was fantastic as well, with the pipe bombs and laser tripwires. God I miss weird, fun weapons in the days before every shooter played the same, and had to be balanced to sub-micron specifications.
Fire-Dragon-DoL 8y ago
You are looking at it from the wrong side though. I always have a lan party every new year's eve with my friends, and whenever I'm in my country of origin. However, I'm happy to have internet parties to compensate and keep friendship going when I'm back to the country where I live in. That couldn't be done with goldeneye, so I thank modern internet

by orev 8y ago

distantsounds 8y ago

you're describing literally ever multi-player game before the dawn of the internet. it wasn't limited to just Goldeneye.

orev 8y ago
Yes, I could say the same about Mario Kart 64, Tribes, Unreal, Quake, or any number of other games, but: 1) This post is about GoldenEye, so that’s what we’re talking about. 2) It doesn’t matter who is first or if other things are similar; it’s undeniable that some games just happen to hit on a certain combination of elements that makes them a hit, and others just don’t, even if they have the same feature list. 3) At the time, most FPS games were single-player with some kind of storyline, with multiplayer being mainly an afterthought. GoldenEye has a pretty good storyline for single-player, so people would buy it for that, and then just happen to have it for the multiplayer. This no doubt contributed to its popularity, as most people just had it around and it turned out to be a great thing to do with friends too.
giobox 8y ago
Not sure I’d agree, especially for first person shooters. Sure, you’d been able to play Doom et al over a LAN and so on before Goldeneye, but the intimacy of the experience when you and three close friends are gathered around a single tiny CRT TV was something no Doom LAN deathmatch ever matched for me. Being able to watch your fellow players in real time on the other three quarters of the display also added a dynamic that LAN based shooters rarely had, when every player was hidden behind their own boxy CRT. What’s more this made the experience great even for observers who weren’t playing - at a glance you could watch the state of the entire game and all the players from your seat. The many fun game modes (Golden gun, Slappers only etc) all contributed to a party style experience that very few other multiplayer games, typically with their much more straight laced approach to gameplay, had. Four player gameplay seems quaint now, but it was a very rare feature in console games prior to the n64, and of course almost always required additional hardware to add the extra ports. I suspect a majority of Playstation owners never even saw a MultiTap adapter, let alone owned one, given how few games could take advantage of it. Let’s not forget the cost angle here either - while many of us may have been lucky enough to have participated in Doom LAN games, it was a pretty expensive (and technical) undertaking beyond the reach of many people, especially kids, in the mid 90s. Goldeneye was much more affordable and is all the better for it.
Volt 8y ago
The Internet had definitely dawned before GoldenEye was released.
PhasmaFelis 8y ago
Local multiplayer had been a thing for ages, of course, but the N64 was something special because it was the first significant console that supported four full controllers (not just paddles) from day 1 without an aftermarket multitap. There was unprecedented four-player support, and simultaneous four-player play is a different experience than passing around two controllers. It wasn't just Goldeneye, true, but Goldeneye was one of the console's best sellers, it was out within the first year, and it was arguably the first really top-shelf FPS for any console, so it left a big impression.

ashleyn 8y ago

The rise of cheap internet is what ushered this away. Even the original GE devs saw it coming. Perfect Dark, the followup using the same team and engine, was originally slated to ship with a modem and RJ-11 jack in the cartridge.

psergeant 8y ago
I’m struggling to find more info about this anywhere, do you have a link?
giobox 8y ago
I’ve never heard this story either, and given the love for Rare products of this era and Perfect Dark itself I can’t imagine a juicy fact like this being hard to find online, I couldn’t find any references either. Prototypes of this would be fetching a fortune as well should they exist. I’d love a source too, if anyone has one...
- ashleyn 8y ago
  https://www.unseen64.net/2010/03/22/perfect-dark-beta-multiplayer/ https://www.unseen64.net/2010/03/22/perfect-dark-beta-multip...

Kagerjay 8y ago

Let's not forget all the cheating too, the predated "stream sniping", or all the cardboard solutions used to divide up the screen.

lobotryas 8y ago
True. Alternatively the group could decide that "screen-watching" is part of the game because anyone can do it. You just had to be good enough (knowing the levels and what people usually do in them) to take full advantage of it. I never had an N64 to practice so I'd just run around with a Laser or grenade launcher and try to spam2win (or at least take someone down with me).

Klathmon 8y ago

That feeling is still there if you want it to be. A few of my friends and I still get together every now and then, have pizza, sometimes drink, and play videogames together, only now it's from across the US using video and voice chat. Whether it's super smash bros, overwatch, or any number of silly/stupid steam games that someone picked up for a few dollars one day, that "social" aspect is still right there waiting for you just the same as it was, but now you have MANY more options of games to play, and ways to play them.

lobotryas 8y ago
Not OP, but I'll agree to disagree. VOIP and webcams are fantastic, but if it can be arranged, nothing beats a LAN party. The required logistics, planning and actually being in the same room with my friends just take things to a new level (for me anyway).
- jstarfish 8y ago
  It's like watching a concert on YouTube versus actually being there. There's a certain energy to LAN parties that cannot be replicated online.
PhasmaFelis 8y ago
You can have a damn good time that way, but it doesn't quite measure up to having all your friends in the same room, IMO. I have a collection of single-screen 4-player games on Steam, and I like to pack along my laptop, A/V cables, and four gamepads when I visit friends. :) Most successful so far are Broforce, Monaco, and Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime.

ledriveby 8y ago

All of the different MP modes kept it fresh too. When you got bored, you would flick on a few switches to make things unbalanced and silly.

GW150914 8y ago
Perfect Dark was great for that too, with the tranq darts, and the laptop gun. I remember having so much fun with friends as we figured out the most rage-inducing ways tomabuse the laptop gun emplacements. Duke Nukem 3D was fantastic as well, with the pipe bombs and laser tripwires. God I miss weird, fun weapons in the days before every shooter played the same, and had to be balanced to sub-micron specifications.

Fire-Dragon-DoL 8y ago

You are looking at it from the wrong side though. I always have a lan party every new year's eve with my friends, and whenever I'm in my country of origin. However, I'm happy to have internet parties to compensate and keep friendship going when I'm back to the country where I live in. That couldn't be done with goldeneye, so I thank modern internet