Evolution -> Gaming 3.0
How do you think the gaming industry will change in the next (20 || x) years? I know there has been a lot of talk about developing for handhelds / mobile and smaller platforms like XBLA. Is this a bad thing?
What will happen to the HalfLifes and BioShocks?
Will we see more collaboration between developers?
Will the end user become the true content developer?
What will happen to single player games?
Will it be possible for content to be driven dynamically from web databases put together by user communities?
Are there differences in the way you think things should and could change?
(Wow that's a lot of questions. Or is it?)
ps. I posted this in another topic but I figured it should break off, because it was somewhat unrelated.
Your friendly neighbourhood hair splitting singularity.
In 20 years games will be free, but will require $500 worth of DLC to be any fun.
Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto
No, no, no... You got it backwards. DLC will be free but ULC (uploadable content) will cost. Plus community features will cost too.
Of - power - insessantly
Plagued - by - malefisense
Doomed - to - insidious -
Death - is - he - who - breaks
this - monument - i - prophesy
I've been doing a LOT of research into this sort of stuff for my company's new project. Here are some of my trends & theories coming in the next few years...
Gaming and social networks are going to collide in a big way. Guaranteed that some college students in a pizza box filled dorm room are working on the next killer, multiple social network API enhanced, unified gaming sensation as I type this.
Browser based gaming will become more than just for casual gaming. Websites like InstantAction.com are already proving that multiplayer 3D games can be ran in a browser using a C++ based ActiveX Control within a web browser. So, yeah, ActiveX, Micro$oft & Internet Explorer sucks, blah blah blah... It won't matter by 2009 thanks to Adobe Flash. I brought this up in your previous post but Flash is poised to make several huge advances. The next version of Flash, "Pacifica", is adding VoIP capability (this is why there's no Flash support on the iPhone) and the version after that, "Astro", is adding true 3D capability. There's ways of doing 3D in Flash now using Papervision3D but Adobe will have content creation tools for Astro that supports skeletal bones, texturing & modeling. Another advantage to Flash, more & more mobile devices are supporting it over Flash Lite, which is being relegated to embedded devices.
I don't think the Half-Lifes & Bioshocks are going anywhere, but I do think developers will set more realistic system spec goals. You won't see another game with the ambition of Crysis again. There's a reason why WoW, Source powered games like TF2 & HL2 and casual games are so popular now; you don't need a $2000 PC to run them and many laptops are capable of running them well. And cheaper specs means cheaper development.
I think the idea of user generated content will bloom significantly with the independant / casual developer scene. Games like Little Big Planet are inevitably going to be copycatted on the PC and probably become pretty successful. Taking this a step further, I think websites like Kongregate.com might become the fabled "YouTube of gaming" with their open admission policy, friend oriented achievement system and user suggestions.
Casual gaming, casual gaming, casual gaming. Most people think of Peggle when they think of casual gaming. I kind of throw Portal into the casual gaming arena. I also think that Battlefield Heroes and Quake Live show that the bigger publishers are looking at short/contained experiences rather than full blown products. I think the success of Battlefield Heroes especially will be the hinge point on wether we see more of the big franchises look into browser based experiences. I imagine a Madden Online will become the next title announced. And lets not forget the micro-transactions.
Online enablement & logins (like in Steam) will also become standard. Stardock can say whatever they want but piracy is absolutely killing the more mainstream gaming genres.
No one will dethrone WoW.
Gamertag: RiverRatMatt
Witchlight Cycle: Sithis of the Thelis'Thale Clan, Dragonborn Paladin of Moradin
Fixed.
If I didn't drink, Crom would laugh and cast me out of Valhalla when I die. Peer pressure I can handle, but not when it comes from Crom. -Lobo
I think the biggest changes will come in control methodology. I think we're only at the beginning of the potential of things like the Microsoft Surface, motion-sensing and motion-tracking, audio, etc. All of this stuff could potentially change the way we control our games and thus give birth to entirely new gaming experiences.
Think of the potential of the Microsoft Surface in the context of something like a board game. You could roll your dice, and based on the numbers it sees on the bottom of the dice, it would know what's showing on the top, and calculate your move for you. If it's on a game like, for example, Sorry (first thing that came to mind) it could show you your movement options based on what rules set you have selected. You could even program your own rules in. You could also use a set of generic game pieces for many different board games. It would be similar to the reduction that happened when people went from CDs to MP3 players, although board games are obviously not as universally used as music.
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Potatoes. Every game will have something to do with potatoes...
!
http://www.hpfun.com/flash-games/v/peelpotato.html
Gamertag: RiverRatMatt
Witchlight Cycle: Sithis of the Thelis'Thale Clan, Dragonborn Paladin of Moradin
It won't matter because I'm pretty sure I'll have my own personal jetpack by then. And no, I don't care if you'll be jet girll.
I'm an Uncle!!! -8/20/07
I buy even though I have 2 of them. I likey the Snakey. - Scrub, I'll leave it to you to guess what this is about
ICO: General Fancypants l Steam: Grenn[GWJ] l WoW: Goquelyrslf, Grendwar