Jaz Rignall, GamePro's new VP, Content talks about why he believes we're in one of the most historically significant eras in gaming.
Over the years, there have been many "most exciting times to be a gamer," but as someone who's been involved in the video-game industry for most of its history, I feel pretty well qualified to say that I truly believe we're at the beginning of an era that really is one of the most exciting times to be a gamer. I'm sure there will be future times when new innovations will spur gaming's evolution in ways and directions we can only dream of today. But if you look at what's happening right now, gaming as an entertainment form is splintering, evolving and breaking new ground on more fronts than I can ever remember it doing. And I think that makes the present day a period we'll eventually look back on as being historically significant for the video-game business. So let's have a quick tour of what's going on:
PCs and consoles are bringing increasingly sophisticated audio and visuals to ever-increasingly sophisticated games. No real surprise there -- this is absolutely what we should expect. But what's really exciting is how these games are connecting people, helping us play together and work together as true teams, overcoming extremely complex challenges in supremely complex environments. And I feel we're at the tip of the iceberg in that sense. I can definitely see a future where gaming becomes a hugely popular spectator sport. The signs are already here: Just go to You Tube and you can see the millions of man-hours that people spend watching top players competing against one another -- or solo players showcasing their skills. How long will it be before the TV networks finally realize that broadcasting gaming contests makes financial sense? Especially when we look at the latest generation of games and how good they are to watch.
Mobile gaming is another huge growth area that is driving some serious innovation in the way that we play and consume games. We have our traditional mobile gaming machines, but they are beginning to look somewhat anachronistic. Smartphones such as the Androids and iPhones of this world, and emerging iPad-style tablets, are what I think are the real mobile gaming platforms of the future. Who wants something that only plays games when you can get a TV/movie/music player/web browser/book/phone/everything-else-you-can-think-of and great gaming system in a single, elegant package that can fit in your pocket?
Whereas consoles and PCs are the ideal platform for the complex, media-rich multimillion-dollar gaming franchises -- the real big-name games -- mobile gaming is opening up a platform for gaming where anything goes. Mobile gaming is already grossing far more user time than what we'd normally consider the "real" gamer's games. Playing on the train, waiting at the sandwich store...even gaming from a stall -- smartphones and tablets let you access gaming whenever you have a spare minute. Whether you want a quick fix of addictive puzzling action, are casually playing with friends on an ongoing classic board game, want to compete with thousands of others in a social game, or even crave a hit of a "real" gamer's game, you can do it all on your smartphone -- and usually at a very low cost. Sure, many of these games are available on console and PC, but isn't it better that they're in your pocket, ready for play whenever you want?
Another area where we will see big improvements and innovations is 3D gaming, which is currently being precipitated on a variety of fronts. Nintendo's 3DS shows us how 3D can work without special glasses; PC tech is showing us how it works with them. And we have new types of TVs in development that very soon will bring an even more visceral 3D experience to our living rooms. To be frank, I've been one of the doubters of 3D technology for a long time, but I was blown away by the 3DS. I'm still skeptical of glasses-based tech, simply because I've yet to play games for any period of time without getting a weird kind of headache, but I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before all its inherent problems are ironed out and we can enjoy 3D gaming in the same way that we could sit through Avatar and be blown away by its incredible 3D immersiveness.
And speaking of Avatar -- the incredible semitransparent tablets the military used as personal computers in that movie are not really that far off thanks to the emergence of cloud technology. This tech removes the need for processors from your PC -- instead, all you need is a high-speed Wi-Fi connection and display technology and you can connect to a remote system that does all the number-crunching/file saving for you. And that same tech is going to revolutionize gaming. Thanks to the ever-increasing speed of connectivity, we are already in an age where you can enjoy lag-free gaming connected to a machine halfway around the world. I firmly believe that perhaps even in a generation, your new console won't exist. Instead, you'll play games with a joypad connected to a cloud console that has more power than you can possibly imagine.
We're also seeing huge developments in social gaming, those sometimes-annoying, highly ubiquitous, are-they-really-games games that everyone from Grandma to hardcore gamers play. They're a different kind of game, sure, and there are good ones and bad ones. But they are helping push gaming forward on a variety of levels -- most significantly, the general acceptance of gaming -- and as the genre evolves, the games will get bigger and generate more money, more interest, and more appeal.
Then, of course, we've recently seen the evolution of control systems. Love it or hate it, Kinect is providing a new platform for new kinds of games...or what I'd call "activity games," which combine gaming with motions such as faux-sports, dancing, and fitness. I think that as these new control platforms become more mature and are inevitably incorporated into the next generation of consoles, we will see this genre of activity-game. We can certainly imagine a future where some gaming will be a couch-based activity and where some games will leave you absolutely exhausted.
And while they are certainly not new, even the music genre is showing an interesting way forward for gaming, with new music controllers working with cutting-edge music games to not only let gamers have fun but to also actually teach them how to play a real instrument, which I think is pretty amazing.
We're in the midst of a hugely important time for the games industry, one that will eventually be seen as having major historical significance. And that's why I'm so happy to have recently joined GamePro: Being able to cover this latest revolution in gaming as it happens is something I'm incredibly excited about.
Here's to a very bright gaming future!
Source: Daily News from GamePro.com
Saturday, November 6, 2010