Discuss what gaming might look like ten years down the line, based on how gaming has changed in the last ten years (ie. consoles, genres, pc, gameplay, etc.).
Ten years is... uhh, wow. That's a lengthy period of time. It's easy to overlook the Wii's contribution to games due to hindsight, but if you remember, motion controls were huge and innovative. Even before that, even if we laugh at it now, the switch to polygon-based graphics was deemed "artistic" and "high-quality". Word to the wise: games can remain pretty stagnant (2009-2014) and then have a huge burst of change (motion controls, media integration). An article that gives me a slow and steady timeline, I will personally have deleted. Okay, not really, but you get the point. It wouldn't be realistic to think of changes that way. – Austin9 years ago
Austin, you are a very intense person! I agree with you, whoever writes this would do well to stay away from a timeline, as it is very difficult to predict exactly how things will pan out. Instead of trying to make a fixed timeline, it might be nice to paint a theoretical picture of how we might refine some of the already existing prototypes. I'm thinking of things like the oculus rift. It is important to consider how many technologies converge to make new products. – dannyjs9 years ago
Looking at the future of virtual reality seems like the most obvious direction. Look at the possible ramifications of this. – Joseph Manduke IV9 years ago
I honestly don't see this as a viable topic. "Video Games" in general is a huge arc, with numerous updates and changes pending and, as Austin already stated, moving in bursts more than steady changes. Perhaps this would be more manageable if broken down to, say, a specific genre, or a look at Nintendo's new system, or something of that sort. This is just a little broad to really be helpful as-is, though. – Christopher Vance9 years ago
Describe common aesthetic or thematical trends in indie gaming and analyze what, if any, differences exist between them and studio titles, and why.
The most major trend I've noticed in indie gaming nowadays (based on what I've seen for handhelds or on the Steam store) is a desire to return to NES-style graphics and gameplay. Storyline and character development are often taking a backseat to this, while major studio games seem to be taking the opposite direction and focusing a lot more on character and evolving realistic graphics. I'm not sure what the reason for the return to the NES style is but I can guess it stems from nostalgia which indie designers are capitalizing on greatly. – Grace9 years ago
I have observed (from an albeit small sample of games) that indie gaming titles allow the creators to be more flexible and have more control over their game. Titles like "Ori and the Blind Forest" are able to explore unique art styles, and games like "Magicka" allow a familiar dungeon-crawler experience with a hilarious humour twist. I think there are certain expectations that gamers have developed for the major studios but not for indie developers. – yuany49 years ago
ESPN showcases MOBA competitions, and twitch is by far a leader in internet traffic. Will this level of popularity be sustained, grow to incredible new heights, or fall from grace?
Does hardware influence software, or is it the opposite? Think about Oculus, the Psychomantis battle, and 3rd party peripherals.
although the indies are making a big push today I think the AAA titles are still the biggest and first party games are what drives sales. That being said the hardware and first party support (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) is essential in the game industry. Right now we see a real life example with Project Cars on the Wii U. The system can't support more that 720p with 26 fps which is drastically lower than promised, so they have said it is going to be released on Nintendo's next system (which we can all assume will be the NX). This proves that hardware and more importantly hardware capability is the driving force in the industry. – jakepavao9 years ago
One of the main reasons Oculus keeps getting delayed is that, at this point, there's not much you can do with it. They're bribing people to create Oculus-compatible games because you can put out the hardware, but if there's no software to go with it, it's just a paperweight. – Andie9 years ago
So, according to Andie's post, software does have a hand in driving the industry. Can anyone think of any specific games that were delayed to next-gen systems, whose hardware was designed - in whole or in part - to support those games? – Kristian Wilson9 years ago
As a PC gamer, it's difficult for me to see how software could possibly be driving the industry when games are constantly dumbed down or held back because of console limitations. My computer isn't exactly top-end, but even though I bought it over five years ago, until very recently I could run pretty much any multi-platform game at a significantly higher FPS count, with much better graphical quality, than either of the two big consoles (the Wii was an innovator, yeah, but after a time it became a bit of a joke as well due to its _lack of hardware_--something the Wii U also suffers from). But when the next generation of consoles came out, there was a sudden boom in the quality of games being released--still nothing top-end PCs couldn't outpace with ease, if given the chance, but enough to give us all a taste of what would happen if we didn't have to wait until Microsoft and Sony got their latest box out. – Snowskeeper9 years ago
It occurs to me that Minecraft's encouraging of creativity indicates a movement towards game design which replicates neoliberal fallacies of independent agency and self-importance. Any thoughts regarding the risks of introducing this logic to children? What ramifications does this logic have for play?
No Man's Sky is seeking to do something similar, and gamers are losing their minds about it. You create your own story, your own purpose.
I think this focus stems from very real life desires to craft your own path and decide what kind of person you want to be. – G Anderson Lake9 years ago
Much has been written regarding whether children's problem-solving abilities are hindered by scripted play activities, such as video games and other forms of entertainment that require adult supervision. When children are left to make their own games - whether they are playing dress-up or interacting with world-building programs like Minecraft - in a collaborative setting, their empathic responses are heightened, because the children must work amongst themselves to create fair rules and solve conflicts. Seen in this light, Minecraft actually has a whole lot of benefits for the children who play it. – Kristian Wilson9 years ago
The entire Five Nights at Freddy's trilogy came out in six months. Compare this to series like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed, whose quality went down when they switched to a game-a-year model. Also compare series that have spread games out: Mass Effect, Bioshock, Dead Space, etc. For good measure, throw in highly-anticipated flop sequels, like the newest Duke Nukem installment.
The guy behind Five Nights at Freddy's, as well as the teams behind Call of Duty, have a strong sense of audience. Both know exactly what their audiences want, and know how to sell their product. I think people assume that Call of Duty's lack of artistic merit means that they have diminished the quality of their product, however, I honestly believe they have been doing incredibly well, the games are seldom broken, and usually offer something new enough for their audience's to want to buy them annually. I don't play them myself, but I appreciate the dedication to mediocre-excellence that they've mastered.
Assassin's Creed on the other hand, does not meet this standard. Ubisoft has been incredibly inconsistent in their quality control when it comes to their games. They do not have a strong sense of audience, but instead have big ideas with porr execution. I can buy Call of Duty every year and know exactly what I'm getting, and know that it won't be a broken game. Assassin's Creed would not give me such confidence. I can buy the game one year and be amazed, the next be disgusted.
What the other series have is artistic merit. These companies don't lend themselves to annual releases, so they are allowed to release their games when they believe they are done.
What Duke Nukem suffered is exactly what I fear Last Guardian will suffer: a disconnect. Duke Nukem was so far removed from its audience in regards to time that it completely lost its appeal. – G Anderson Lake9 years ago
Telltale Games use an episodic formula to their games releasing each individual episode around 5-8 weeks apart from each other. They've obviously had success in the past but should they perhaps look to how Netflix release their television series' (all at once) and therefore potentially release more seasons every year (many fans are eagerly anticipating the next Walking Dead and Wolf Among Us season). Could they improve, change, evolve in the wy they do things or are they doing it right making people wait and building their excitement (and possible frustrations, too). Games that could be mentioned: The Walking Dead (and its 400 Days accompaniment), The Wolf Among Us, Game of Thrones, Tales from the Borderlands.
I love all of the TellTale games, yes, some more than others, and I've found the most frustrating thing to be their release schedule. They have so many properties now, including the promising Minecraft: Story Mode. I believe that with so many different series going on at once that they should attempt to release one episode for one property a week. For example:
1/1- Game of Thrones s.1 ep.1
1/8-Tales from the Borderlands s.1 ep. 1
1/15-Wolf Among Us s.1 ep.1
and so on.
This schedule (or a bi-weekly) would still give each department time to release a new title, while still giving players a healthy schedule to follow. – G Anderson Lake9 years ago
I agree with G Anderson Lake's point, the release schedule is horrible. I loved The Wolf Among Us but its release schedule almost made me not want to play the game. Telltale seems to get larger with each new franchise they take on and it seems to be effecting how often they can release new episodes for each of their series. – Nathan9 years ago
While I agree with you that the 5-8 week release date gap is very long, I disagree with your idea that they should be released all at once. These games are meant to be more like television episodes than traditional video games. Especially Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. There is a benefit to the overall experience from the suspense in waiting between releases. Just as one would experience from watching a new television show. Half the fun of Game of Thrones is anticipating the next episode, and having that time set aside in your life for something you enjoy each week. As a society we have been conditioned to want more, bigger, longer. For me, the Telltale games are something fresher than that. I think quality over quantity is a highly undervalued ideal which Telltale games embraces gloriously. – Visenya9 years ago
Recently, there has been strong Lovecraftian themes emerging in video games. Games like Bloodborne, and the new Iga-Vania Bloodstained, have shown interest in the topics and more supernatural aspects of Lovecraft's works. Why are these themes seeing a reemergence in games? Why do games lend themselves to these themes? Why are these themes relevant today?
