Multiplayer games come in all shapes and sizes and suit a number of locations. Here, Helen Fletcher assesses why the element of competition is so critical to a multiplayer's success

As the economic climate continues to have a negative effect on the amount of disposable income people have to spend on leisure, the amusement and gaming industry is having to compete more and more with home entertainment as well as the online gaming industry. In order to do this successfully the amusement industry must offer something that the player cannot experience at home but something that they can easily identify with and will, of course, enjoy.

Multiplayer games are the ideal type of game to attract as wide an audience as possible for amusement operators as they are already well established in the home market, meaning the player will easily identify with them, as well as creating a reason to return to a location on a regular basis.

According to Gary Colabuono of US-based manufacturer Incredible Technologies, playing with others in real-time is a must if pubs want to attract players. "Multiplayers have a larger frame of reference for players to gauge their proficiency at the game," he said. "Being the best in the bar is good but being best in the city or best in the country is even better.

"Bars and pubs are perfect for multiplayer games as they lend themselves to social competitiveness. In my experience men especially love to socialise, drink and compete."

Incredible Technologies is the manufacturer of the most popular and most successful multiplayer video game worldwide - Golden Tee Golf, which has just surpassed one million online contests, an achievement that no other video game is yet to achieve.

The game itself allows up to four people to play on one machine but also provides players the option of competing in a 20-person online contest or a 50-person online contest for prize money.

Alan Freimuth of LAI Games shares Colabuono’s view of why it is vital to have a multiplayer game in the mix and told InterGame: "Generally speaking any location where people congregate for some time are best suited to multiplayers, it doesn’t matter if they come alone or as a group, the location should be some kind of destination visit for the player - like an FEC, restaurant o bar.

"Multiplayer games have the ability to bring complete strangers together to test their skill or their game play knowledge against each other, it also fosters repeat play as losers generally challenge the winner again."
Christina Fischer of NordicCC adds to this, saying: "A multiplayer attracts people and makes them head for a certain location if they like the game a lot and if they are in the location for another reason there is the possibility of them playing spontaneously."

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Commenting on the type of player that would normally be attracted to multiplayer games, Freimuth added: "All games have an inclination to attract certain player groups. The multiplayer concept breeds friendly competition and interaction. Often teenagers and adults are attracted to these games because of the recognition in their skill powers and companionship they enjoy, where as games designed for the younger ones are simpler, with a higher dosage of fun and educational elements rather than competitiveness."

Player type is definitely something that was taken into consideration when LAI designed its latest multiplayer Textminator. This new game has been developed based on statistical studies on SMS trends, frequency and the largest texting demographic and gender group. "From our analysis the 15 to 45-year-old player, our target age group for Textminator, like games with a combination of skill challenges and interaction with other players," said Freimuth. "When we observed the players for Stacker or Lighthouse, which is in a single player mode, we often spotted a group of young people getting as excited as the player by cheering them on during the game, so this immediately gave us an idea to incorporate something contemporary and challenging yet giving the players the flexibility to select single or multiple play."

Textminator is the first and only coin-op texting game in the market targeting the text savvy 13 to 50-year-old demographic, which text an average of 600 times per month. "It allows the player to choose from a one-player game, a buddy system two-player mode or a rally up to eight players. Mimicking a mobile (cell) phone, with a state-of-the-art cabinet, Textminator features surround sound effects and comes with long lasting stainless steel phone style text pads, a large LCD monitor and an optional extra deluxe seat for viewing enjoyment and player comfort.

Available in two play modes Race the Clock and Championship, it has thousands of text phrases that are customised for most languages. Players race against the clock with fast thumb work by texting random single phrases. Beat the clock by completing a sentence and a more challenging sentence quickly appears. The more sentences completed the higher the score.

The appeal of multiplayers to the general public is apparent - they get to play against their peers or work with them to achieve something and this is, believe it or not, also the appeal to the operator. According to Josef öhlinger of Funworld Austria, multiplayer games provide a unique playing experience that helps operators to bind their customers.

"They raise the player’s interest and encourage them to return to play over and over again," he said. "Especially the PhotoPlay Multiplayer Cup and ranking integration makes it possible to maximise the player loyalty as public rankings bring players closely in touch with the complete community, meaning players spend more time in bars or pubs, they consume more and they also play longer."

Funworld’s multiplayer games can be played on its PhotoPlay terminals, which can be operated in pubs and hotel lounges for example. There are 13 different multiplayer games to choose from such as Crack, Find It, Solitare AM, Fun Towers and Backgammon to name a few.

"Up to four players can challenge each other on a multiplayer game at the same time and set credits," said öhlinger. "They can play after one another or in real time in what we call ‘DuellMode’ and even in special tournaments called Multiplayer Cup, which is a combination of the PhotoPlay Masters tournament system and the real-time multiplayer environment with a particular ranking list and rewarding system. A message feature and live video complete the community and allow to get direct in touch with the competing players during the game."

One area of the coin-op amusement industry that has a long history in developing multiplayer games is the video arcade game sector.
"The majority of the products we produce are multiplayer games and there are a number of benefits to all parties for this," said James Anderson of Konami. "The operator gets double the income from the machine and it is good for the player to have competition or work with each other.

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"Even in the local SWP developments for the UK market, we are looking at ways in which we can make the game playable by more than one player at a time. We are limited by the technology used such as single screen cabinets, however, there are certain aspects we can build into the design of the games that makes it possible for a group of players to play at one time."

Konami is continuing to build on the success of its multiplayer games with its new driving game, which is currently under development in Japan. GTi Club Supermini Fiesta contains a number of mini games including Bomb Tag mode. "These games are designed for multiplayer fun and it is sure to be a huge global hit when it is launched," continued Anderson. "In Japan the machine will have e-Amusement (Konami’s online system) therefore it is possible to extend the multiplayer environment outside of the site and play head to head in real time with other people in other locations."

For Justin Burke of Sega the success of multiplayer games is partly related to the country they are operated in. "Multiplayers traditionally work well in Asian countries such as Japan and European countries such as Italy have been a great market for WCCF as the Italians are very sociable and love football," he said. "The US does not have as big a market which is possibly down to culture and budgeting issues for operators. The Middle East and Russia are huge markets for multiplayer games as they have both the space and the budget to accommodate them."

Sega has had continued success with its multiplayer driver and shooting games over the years as well as success in Japan with fantasy games and 2009 will be no different with the introduction of its Hummer themed driving game, which will be shown for the first time at an international level in London next month.

One problem that can occur for manufacturers of multiplayers is actually convincing the operator that they are sound investments as Burke explains: "Sometimes operators can be fearful of investing in multiplayers because of budgets and then there is the space issue. Multiplayers are attraction pieces and naturally attract repeat visitors and once and operator realises this they are able to reap the benefits."

Holly Meidl of US manufacturer Bay Tek Games reinforces this point and says: "Multiplayer games are going to tend to be larger footprint pieces and they will generally work better in larger game rooms.
"If you only have space for a handful of games in a small location then multiplayer games may not be the best suited from a size and variety standpoint, but this is really, the only deterrent."

Bay Tek Games’ two shooting games Horse Play and Sky Masters, along with its four-player racing game, Stock Car Challenge offer players great head-to-head competition in the game room as these games of skill lend themselves very well to the multiplayer format versus a single player mode.

Referring back to the point made at the start of this feature, there is no doubt that as the industry continues to battle against the home entertainment market for a slice of the general public’s disposable income, multiplayers will form an integral part of the future coin-op industry thanks to their ability to entertain several players at the same time and form loyal player communities that raise the operator’s income effectively. Evidence of this loyalty is, after all, already present as Burke points out: "WCCF has encouraged players to meet on a regular basis to compete against one an other. We have put on our own tournaments in the past but players will always arrange between themselves to meet up for mini tournaments."

"An operator cannot put all their eggs in one basket," added Freimuth. "A smart operator knows how to retain their regular crowd and attract new players by having a variety of machines and games in their locations. It is also vital to keep abreast of the upcoming trends in the industry to sustain competitiveness against other venues that offer leisure activities. We foresee that multiplayer games are getting more popular and will be a major force in the coin-op industry soon."

Multiplayer games also bring with them more opportunities for both operators and players as they can be linked in a location and also linked so that players can play against players in other locations on the same game platform through internet connections, which will further cement their place within the industry, as Anderson explains: "The future of multiplayer is definitely online. Konami’s e-Amusement service is very popular in Japan and Asia and it has allowed us to make various games aimed at various market segments and give the players more inspiring game play.

"Not only can they participate in real time head to head games but they can also enter tournaments and have a true global leader board."