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1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF JUNE 12 | IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR (SO FAR)
What the Hell is Asymmetric Gameplay?
Cover Story: Let’s take a closer look at E3’s most overused buzzword.
I
f you happened to be paying attention to E3 last week, one phrase trickled its way into your subconscious: “Asymmetric gameplay.” Just about every major player trotted the term out this year to describe one or another of its games. It’s one of those weird instances of industry-wide groupthink, when everyone hears a new term being thrown around and suddenly has to make use of it themselves. Like “sandbox” a few years back. Or “granular.”
So just what the hell is everyone talking about? What on earth is “asymmetric gameplay,” besides being some kind of vague new hotness that everyone seems to think will zhush up their games?
