So, videogames, videogames, videogames. Nowadays, the world is all about videogames. Big industry, I hear. Lots of money to be made, I hear. Gone are the days of developers in geek-shirts. No, no, no! Now developers wear suits! Its a big business now, and theres no time for dilly dallying. We live in a world where everything is connected. Connections mean networks, networks mean lots of people, lots of people means lots of money. In the 90s we returned to our houses. Arcades were dead, its all about the solitary gamer. We seem to have gone the other way, now. Now we can't get away from people, but instead of seeing them in the real world we see them online. One of the most successful game franchises of the modern age is call of duty, and lets face it- its not for its imaginative and rivetting story. Its for the multiplayer. In this day and age we can pwn n00bs like never before. As of November 2011, the Call of Duty franchise has sold over 100 million copies. We can safely say that most of those players play online. If the average player dies 15 times a match, and the average amount of matches played in a game's lifecycle is about 200 (probably more for the fans, but I reckon there's quite a few people like me who are so shit at the game that i've played maybe 10 matches in my life). Thats 300,000,000,000 deaths. Thats one hellish fuckball of a war.
So games are big now, bigger than ever. Production costs are through the roof- so sales have to be massive in order for games to survive. But lets face it- games aren't going anywhere. We love them too much. Whilst a disdain towards the industry still exists, its dying. Gamers aren't just pizza-faced, cheeto-fingered virgins anymore. They're the everyman, and that gives them power.
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| I am your future. |
So whats actually happening in the 2000s as far as videogames are concerned? Well, theres the console wars. Theres always the console wars. When you buy a console, you're not buying an entertainment device. You're enlisting to join the video-game army! And you must fight for your console-of-choice's right to dominate. To the flame-wars, my brothers! Or you can stop being an idiot and play some games. But seriously, its competitve. It always has been, though- remember back to the sega megadrive days "SEGA does what Nintendon't!" but its definitely a driving force in the industry. Maybe a little bit like the space race, only fewer dead monkeys in spacesuits. But the real divide isn't between Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. Its between the casual gamer and the hardcore gamer. The tablets, the ipads- thats where its headed. But game companies are always trying to find new ways to expand their medium. Graphics are better than ever, of course, but what more can we do to evolve an indutry? The wii brought motion controls- which, let's face it, weren't great. But they did more than that- they got your grandma playing games! Considering granny has seen it all come and go, the megadrive, the SNES, the atari 2600- and never touched one with a barge pole, the Wii was a pretty undeniable achievement in that field. The Xbox 360 pushes with its superior online services (again, connections) and the Playstation 3 tries very hard to do everything. Games can now be downloaded, you know! No boxes, no shopping, nada. The internet is a mighty beast where gaming is concerned, and is probably the most definitive factor of the past decade of gaming.
A big question is: in a world where everything can be accessed on-the-go, where we never stop save for a 15 minute tube journey, is there place for the triple-A mega-title to be enjoyed on your couch? People want something they can whizz about with, play 5 minutes here and there, don't they? I don't know enough about this at all, but there are people who think that larger titles like Call of Duty, Elder scrolls and Uncharted are reaching their end. The future is small, sleek, touch-enabled, they say. We'll see. But don't stress! If you don't like the sound of that future, there are probably millions just like you. You'll get together and sort something out, right? Gamers are ingenious little creatures. Chin up, kiddo.
references and links:
http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/Feature/322976,why-the-future-of-gaming-is-100-pc.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Console_wars
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323551004578122881824183870.html
http://www.callofduty.com/message/205584716
http://uk.gamespot.com/features/the-future-of-gaming-tech-looks-brighter-than-ever-6383547/
Pictures:
http://www.gameplox.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/consolewars.jpg
http://www.dmfiat.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/fat_gamer_kid.jpg
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