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 Features
The Theory of Parallel Game Universes: A Paradigm Shift in Multiplayer Gaming and Game Accessibility
 Towards a paradigm shift in multiplayer gaming and game accessibility
The potential impact of the PGUs theory is five-fold, since it:
- a. opens up and enhances an entertaining social experience that would otherwise be unavailable to a significant percentage of people;
- b. allows for social interaction among people who may never have (or even could have) interacted with each other;
- c. provides a novel approach for developing massively cross-platform multiplayer games;
- d. considerably expands the life-cycle of games, as well as the size and composition of their potential market;
- e. creates a new model for producing games on different platforms, as well as accessible games, since a company may sell the rights to, or subcontract, a specialized group for developing PGUs for specific platforms or user groups.
The concept of PGUs and the way it is applied can only be limited by the imagination of the game’s designer. It can provide unlimited, unconstrained fun if appropriately used, but it can also be quite disturbing for some game creators. One can easily imagine a small bunch of puzzled game designers asking themselves: “but, if I have to design a game that anybody can take and transform into something completely different (over which I have no control), then what am I supposed to design anyway?”
A possible answer to that question is simply “just exciting game experiences, which is what you should be designing in the first place anyway” :-)
Epilogue
Parallel Game Universes have the potential to allow people with extremely different characteristics and abilities to play together, or even against each other, on an equal basis. Of course, someone may claim that those people will not actually be playing the very same game. It may be so, but does it really matter if one player fights against one slow, naive alien while another struggles against a horde of merciless galactic villains? Or, in case they play against each other, if one of them needs the support of the computer’s AI in order to adequately compete?
The answer to those questions may be highly subjective, but in my opinion, what ultimately matters is that these people are given a chance to share the maximum fun and challenge that they can get from the game, without having to compromise or sacrifice their personal gaming experience due to their individual differences.
Thus, in a broader scope, the theory of Parallel Game Universes is not just about games. It is actually a policy statement. PGUs support and promote two fundamental human rights: individuality and equality. And on top of that, they allow people to experience the (game) world from alternative, novel viewpoints, broadening their perspectives and opening up opportunities for new, fascinating, experiences.
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