"Titan Fall" and the gamer schism

On March 11, video game publishing mogul Electronic Arts will release its newest attempt to combat the runaway success of Activision-Blizzard’s Call of Duty franchise. Called “Titanfall,” it is a first person competitive online multi-player shooter science fiction game.  

Currently, hype levels for this game are at a fever pitch, and with glowing first impressions toward what material the press and enthusiastic gamers have gotten their hands on, many are calling it a system-seller for Microsoft’s new Xbox One.
But all this excitement for the supposed next big thing has also exposed a culture clash between the ranks of “hardcore” and “casual” gamers.

While the battle between video game consoles has existed since the inception of the medium, the lines seem to have shifted to the very soul of what gaming
should be.

Microsoft appears to have pegged its hopes with the “casual” crowd. At its reveal conference last year, the Xbox One appeared to be focused nearly exclusively on media services such as cable television, fantasy football and Internet
browsing.

This is in contrast to the reveal of Sony Computer Entertainment’s PlayStation 4, which emphasized features pertinent to video games.

Because of its wide target audience, the new Xbox has come under fire from hardcore gamers for seeming to pander to the “dudebros,” or a person usually imagined as the stereotypical frat boy only willing to play shooters and sports games.

Naturally, this has caused cries of elitism from supporters of the Xbox.
Regular potshots from both sides make up the morass dubbed the “console war.”
“Titanfall” steps into this madness by promising to be the killer application for the Xbox One. Discounting its release on the Xbox 360 and PC, it appears to be an engaging and competitive game that EA is billing as the next big franchise.

The criticism of this game is mainly directed at how the setup is eerily familiar to Call of Duty. In fact, “Call of Duty with robots” is the primary derisive nickname directed toward the game.

The outcry is not necessarily with the game but the mounting fear, as discussed above, that the game appeals primarily to those who may not necessarily be gaming all of the time.

Apart from the mechs and a new parkour mechanic, not a lot has been changed from the standard first-person shooter formula.

It is this perceived lack of innovation that infuriates those who are more
artistically inclined.

This extends to other franchises such as Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed,” the aforementioned “Call of Duty,” and Microsoft’s “Gears of War.”  

All of this being said, many are excited to see a new intellectual property hit the scene at a time when console gaming seems to be locked in a rehashed cycle of shooters and more shooters.

It’s not clear whether “Titanfall” will be the major hit Microsoft hopes it will be or if it’ll turn out to be a stale reworking of tired tropes.

I’m certainly looking forward to finding out on March 11.

 mjsu@indiana.edu