It seems that more and more people are becoming gamers. Whether they’re picking it up hard core title on the big 2 systems or are casual gamers who like to play on their phones or iPods. Which ever way you slice it, you’ll find that practically everyone is playing some sort of game. There are even millions playing a game, that’s a game and not a game at the same time. I’m talking about Draw Something, but I’m not going to dwell on that. But what I wanted to dwell on are the plethora of video games from our past that are becoming more and more accessible, and the possible dark future of video games.
First, I want to touch on a game that seems to stand out for me the most for it being on every platform known to man, and it is Final Fantasy. I don’t know if it’s because people are screaming for the four warriors of light and their quest for the crystal or if it’s just easy for companie to bring out a game so simple yet so compex and still, after all these decades, so fun. I think I’ve played the original 1986 Final Fantasy over 20 times, which either means I have no life, or it’s a fantastic game, and for fear of coming off a loser, I’d like to think it’s the latter. But that’s not the only game making the rounds after all these years. There’s Chrono Trigger, considered the best roleplaying game of all time, and popular knock offs of such games as Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. I’m guessing the reason why Mario and Link aren’t getting the official game treatment is because Nintendo’s being greedy and wanting to keep it on “Nintendo” brand consoles. Damn you Nintendo…but I still love your games.
But is this increase of nostalgia just a sign that we can’t let go of the classics of the past or that we lack new and original game ideas? I mean, if you look at Ninentdo, they rely on a few key franchises, like Zelda, Mario, and Pokemon to sell their wares. Sony and Xbox need the sequels to their popular series to sell their platforms, and iOS and Android need, well, Zynga I guess. It seems the only place where you see some fresh faces on games are on your phone and your iPod. Even MMOs on the PC are all kind of the same with UI, format, and way of socializing.. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but maybe gaming just moved faster than any other industry and now…we just naturally ran out of ideas. Maybe we’ve done everything we could, to get every last bit of innovation out of our video games.
The next question I have, and I wonder if you readers out have the inside scoop, but is the gaming industry is going to plateau? You can’t keep coming out with another Assassin’s Creed or God of War every year, it’s going to get old (even though I think they’re already there). Are people going to get tired of the same old thing? Well the console war end in a stalemate where no one cares about graphics, and just pray for some good content? Even all the motion stuff isn’t work out that well with even the much anticipated Star Wars Kinect becoming a big flop and the PS Move not getting any traction. Even the Wii’s own motion control is being considered old hat. Maybe the gaming world is coming to some kind of nexus where it will be one unified system of gaming. Isn’t that was OnLive is trying to do? Hell, the only thing I’ve seen that’s original are games in the arcades. One that really caught my eye are the touch games for music. It’s much like Guitar Hero, but you press on dots on the screen to the rhythm of music. Apparently it’s a hit with arcade gamers. Hell, Dance Dance Revolution is still popular. People bring towels and water and are ready to spend hours getting their dancing work out.
As someone who’s been gaming since the Atari 7600, I’m curious to see if games are just going to evolve from amazingly gameplay to cinematic story telling like the Mass Effect and Uncharted series. Maybe we’ll be playing games that play out like movies and then spending the replay value on the ever addictive multiplayer. Maybe the future of gaming is only about multiplayer. People are still playing Call of Duty and buying it every year despite the fact that it’s the same game every single year.
Technology and the gaming industry are coming to some kind of impasse, and I fear that the future of games won’t be for the hardcore anymore, but for the casual gamer. That’s just how I see it. I could be wrong. What are your thoughts? Where do you think gaming is going? Are there any video games you’re looking forward to?
