Open Communities

Another thing to consider is making sure the online community is not limited just to the people on a players friends list but everyone who owns the console. The biggest limitation of online features is when you can’t use them to connect to new people. Sadly most gamers simply play games anonymously with people over the web who all too often turn out as elitist or just immature.

Game / General Discussions

Every game has its fan’s and critics and it’s important to give these people a voice. I’m not advocating a system that will prevent developers from taking risks lest trolls and critics directly prevent sales, but instead trying to emphasis the importance of community discord.

When people can debate the content and quality of the games they buy it allows people to buy games from an informed position and not risk being punished for giving developers the benefit of the doubt.

For example because of the fan’s I gave WarZ (Infestation Survivor Stories) and Dead Pool a shot,while not both games are good I was only willing to pay because the fan’s convinced me to try them. Such is the kind of risk I would not have taken in the same way if the community hadn’t been there to put my mind at ease.

It’s Not About Facebook It’s about the console

Another thing I’d like to see end is this endless desire to include social media before simplifying the way we find, add, and play games with friends.

I understand the want to advertise your products via everyone’s Facebook walls but it doesn’t actually do the player any good.

Instead where we draw our further enjoyment of our consoles is from the people on our friends-lists. They offer a safer more entertaining environment to play games both online and offline as we can share game recommendations, talk about changes made to the games we play, and just enjoy the titles better because we easily found a way to further communicate.