State of Gaming 2013

[Mez]

I think it's necessary to do this once a year. To really keep tabs on where the hell gaming is going/has been/has developed. *This is my 2c

First off I believe there are generally 3 kinds of gamers 4 if you count magical unicorn girl gamers (jk ladies)

Young Gamer - I gave these guys a category because there are gamers who don't have control of what they can/can't consume. Kids who've got to rely on momndad to purchase console/pc/games etc. A massive part of the Gaming market.

Casual Gamer - These gamers spend a couple hours a day max playing games on any platform: Mobile, PC, Console. My definition of a Casual gamer is someone that for them, gaming is not their main form of entertainment.

Hardcore Gamer - A Gamer for whom gaming is their main form of entertainment, couple hours a day minimum.


Graphics - We've reached a stage where cutting edge graphics are so damn good, even 'major' improvements come across as small achievements. e.g. noticing the difference between 100,000 and 200,000 polygons. Our eye can only really tell so much of a difference. So much so that we've seen a return to more cartoonish styles of graphics.

Franchises - I think, much like hollywood, we are being subjected to relatively the same types of games as we are movies. Remakes of old games, a refresh of a series (fifa/cod/etc). With a burgeoning but still very small group of indie game houses that are producing some fresh, innovative content I can't help but think that the very thing that makes them awesome, is what they will lose by becoming too successful.

e.g. when it's 4 guys in a garage coding out a fun interactive game and they hit 500million downloads.. now all of a sudden they are a big business with bills to pay and to me, the bigger a corporation, the less innovation we see in their franchises.
e.g. EA etc.


Storyline - As Gaming is becoming more and more social/online I've been seeing less and less games with compelling storylines. Those that do have some storyline are often hailed as fantastic games. TBH how many of you knew battlefield 3 had a singleplayer? For years before I ever played it I thought it was only a multiplayer game.
Storyline is one of those things that can make a good indie game, a firetrucking brilliant cult classic

Gameplay - seeing as Graphics are so close to the bleeding edge, and when it comes down to it, an FPS is an FPS.
I see the real kicker being the innovation of extra dynamics, e.g. shell shock in FPS, Explodable buildings (as we've seen before) they are making things more and more realistic with each iteration.
MMO's are the future, not MMORPGS but MMO in general, people want to interact on a grand scale.

Everything is Online, EVERYTHING. With it Comes DRM to help safeguard profits and provide a great distribution system.

I think in all, Gaming is undergoing a revolution. there is a serious move towards indie developers being a viable source for new gaming concepts and innovation (Oculus rift, handful of kickstarter gaming projects). Whereas we see the Big Studios who still create the mainstream appeal but their offerings become slimmer and slimmer each year. The Gaming industry is growing, with the rise of mobile gamers who use games to fill a void (taking a poop, waiting in line, on the bus/train.) The new micropayments system which help ensure a games longevity. E.g. Dota, 'basically' free to play yet I'm sure they rake in millions each month with the small cosmetic items available in the store.


*DISCLAIMER*
I urge you guys not to get into that discussion here. This is meant to be a state of the industry. not a debate about whether it's good or not.

[MessiaaH]

Where i see gaming going in the immediate future is a move to more advance more intelligent games.
I think there is alot of room to grow in graphics. Graphics is more than just polygons. And it can conitnue to look better and better and i easily notice the difference.

Examples are, The Division, Battlefield 4, Titanfall

Those games visually are a significant cut above the rest visually. And its plain and easy to see, and as good as they look now, i see them getting much better in the near future.

But what i see is happening is a move towards utilization of the power of the hardware that's available.
More physx for instance, more intelligent AI, crazy particle effects. Prettier and More destructible objects ingame, better level design. Etc etc etc, all of those are areas that contribute to how a game look and not just polygons.

Thats the advancements i see happening now,and d games are looking incredible.

I agree that there are lot of franchises out there, but at e3 we did see enough new IPs to make me happy as a gamer.
With this new generation of consoles, i think things are going to get much better in terms of new IPs and Games.

The thing is, the gaming industry as a whole is growing rapidly and massively, in all aspects, in casual and hardcore, in mobile and console, in cartoony graphics and realistic. It's all getting better, its a great time to be a gamer.

[TriniXaeno]

I totally agree and endorse what Messiaah said (wtf....is this the twilight zone???)

[W1nTry]

You forgot to add use of cloud processing, this could also be a huge game changer... we'll see how XB1 uses these services.

[TriniXaeno]

I don't have particularly high hopes for cloud processing. I think it will be a buzz word to sell games / consoles but it's impact in reality won't be that much.

Particularly for us third worlders who will see any speed benefits from the processing negated by atrocious ping times and high latency.

Sure, if you're sitting in the US at sub 50ms ping to the Microsoft servers, bring it on!

Not so much if you're all the way down at a tip of South America clocking 100+

[W1nTry]

You forgetting the persistent MMORPG worlds they are building with games like detiny Wyatt, the cloud will drive all the events and content in those worlds... how is this not a big step for consoles? WOW, Eve Online and the like have this tried and tested and it's a 'WORLD' of difference...

[TriniXaeno]

I don't play MMOs so that point doesn't resonate with me at all.

For the games I play, my computer / PS3 / xbox can handle the content just fine without some server 100+ms away getting involved.

No internet connection required.( Except for online multiplayer matches obviously)

[Mez]

He has a point though Wyatt. MMO's are a valuable part of the Gamer community. I see basically the same people who play MMO's playing them over and over.
However. I believe MMO's to be the CRACK COCAINE variant of gaming. Seen MMO"s Destroy lives. And often, there are people who once they've gotten off of an MMO (Like me) don't go back onto it because of the tremendous timesuck it is.

But for games like MMO's which require internet access. Putting the data on the cloud makes sense..

I mean, i would shit bricks if I had to go onto the internet to play the newest zelda or tekken or otherwise unneccessary thing i.e. SimCity

[TriniXaeno]

Precisely and that is what they were trying to do with the cloud processing.

Using it as an excuse to make "always online" mandatory for many titles outside the obvious ones like MMOs.

Hoping that the value proposition of offloading cpu cycles to the cloud to enable a bigger / better gaming experience would blind gamers from the down side of being permanently tethered to the internet.

This was the perfect answer to piracy had they succeeded. Every game would be "cloud enabled" whether it was a requirement or not. For that simple fact.

I can't blame them for trying...and I am not an advocate for piracy but I am definitely not seeing the value of it from a technical standpoint for the games I play. Not at all.

They also tried to catch me by saying cloud processing would prevent lag due to "noob host" in CoD / Halo.

Nice try, the real solution to that problem is the age old dedicated server. The pre-cursor to cloud.

Still...marketing is essential in this industry, so while I can see through the veil there is nothing fundamentally wrong in trumping up new features to sell consoles and games.

[TriniXaeno]

This is what Microsoft was thinking with that "always online" / cloud processing scheme.

[MessiaaH]

Not all connected experiences is offloading cpu cycles though. Take destiny for instance. The fact that you can be playing the game alone and happen to bounce up a "Public Event" that you can choose to participate in or not, is only possible by being always online. And quite frankly what destiny doing  I think is the future of gaming.

Bluring that line between sp, coop, and mp. Games like Destiny, Division and Titanfall all attempting to do that in their own unique way, and I would not mind being always online for that vision.

Next Gen game design ftw. Not just about graphics anymore, and not just about solid gameplay mechanics, but about creating new ways to experience a game. That's what I looking forward to in this next gen business. and the cloud is essential to that.

As ah man mention Zelda, picture u running through a Zelda world, and you fairy says, "Hey, Listen, Public event over that hill" You run across, and see bout 5 other links fighting ah giant ass boss in d middle of hyrule. And u can choose to jump in and participate, and share in the golden chest that awaits when you defeat it, or just forget bout it and continue on bout your merry business completing whatever quest u in d middle of.

The possibilities are endless...............

[Q]

This is what Microsoft was thinking with that "always online" / cloud processing scheme.

This is a CLASSIC, lol.

[TriniXaeno]

lol, ent boy Q!

@ messiaah....I dunno about you but seeing 5 other Links running around in Legend of Zelda would be jarring for my gameplay experience and would disrupt the immersion in the story.

Not hip to merging my single player and multiplayer experiences. Quite happy to keep them separate (looking at you Mass Effect 3!)


*note: For the uninitiated, they made it that playing online multiplayer matches had implications in the single player storyline of Mass Effect 3. I still didn't take the bait and haven't played a minute of multiplayer in my purchased ME3, lol

[MessiaaH]

No wyatt you don't understand. In Destiny u can choose to participate or not. Same with Zelda, if u don't want nobody cramping your experience, no problem, just don't take part. Nobody from the Public Event space can cross over into you own personal world. So if u want to play Zelda by yUh dam self, no problem, go head. but d option is there, on the fly, if u want to jump in and interact publically.

No match making, no searching for no free room, etc etc etc. It's all done in the background, seemless, and completely optional.

And that is what I think is the future of gaming.

[TriniXaeno]

I fully understand and I am making it explicitly clear that I do not appreciate any in game "public events" with other players in my single player games. In any format.

Dont mind that in my multiplayer games which are already online anyway. Like street fighter.  Halo. Etc..

[MessiaaH]

So u don't like borderlands?

And titan fall is a MP game but they making it seem like a SP.

What about Dead Space 3?

[TriniXaeno]

I love borderlands but I played it through by myself. True story

Did same for 95% of borderlands 2

Same for Torch light 2

I like my rpgs solo.

Titan fall on the otherhand. Bring on the multiplayer!

[MessiaaH]

Nah boy, borderlands by yuhself? u miss d whole point of that game lol.

But you hadda be you I guess. lol.

Me on the other hand, I say bring on the multiplayer revolution!

[TriniXaeno]

Lol. Exactly. Different strokes for different folks.

I am sure some people loved the mass effect 3 multiplayer inclusion.

Not me.

Multiplayer revolution came way back with quake 3. Loved every minute of it.

This new era of co mingling multi player with single player? Not so much.

I can tell you it is squarely an attempt to stave off piracy which continues to be a bane of single player games.

I can respect that.

[MessiaaH]

I love coop games, I spend more time in coop games than MP games these days.

D only truly MP game that does see me is SC2.

D rest is Sp or Coop.

Mustbe ole age lol, not as competitive as I used to be in games.
But it have some classics I just cant forgo. i.e. SC2, Killer Instincts, etc.
If ID ever release a proper multi only quake 5, do it just like sc2, remake d original with better graphics and tweaked but same gameplay, then d circle will be well complete for old school gamers.