The Future Begins Now…

Nice insight, Benny. You’re right–gaming itself may be becoming the biggest revolution around. Seeing all of this advancement actually makes me realize how much I miss the 8-bit days.

I don’t miss the 8-bit days. I relive them almost everyday. Its hard not to go back and play the classics, especially the arcade standards. Just tonight, came home from work and played Mario Bros, the arcade version with my wife. Played a few credits of Robotron and finished it up with Q*bert. So easy to pick up and play and enjoy them for what they are, instant gratification.

From an idustry standpoint, I don’t think this is where the “Revolution” begins. Rather, the opposite is starting to take place. With the exception of a few companies including Ninny, innovation and creativity has dropped, and publishers are making repeat games. (how many shooters can we handle) This is when the video game industry begins to turn into a less crappy but still crappy version of Hollywood. That’s ironic coming from an industry that was born out of so much creativity.

http://www.infendo.com – Nintendo Bloggin’ 24×7

Right on, Tony. I’d do the same, but I’m half a world away from my NES.. which is broken..

I guess my original post was lost….

Anyways, after more consideration. I think this little editorial is really really off. Its nice to have grandious visions of the games industry, but these points have been regurgitated for about 10 years now. Most of the changes you see forthcoming are already here, they’ve happened, not suddenly, but gradually.

Sure, it seems that most developers are just rehashing old ideas, but those titles won’t be the ones remembered in gaming’s history anyhow – ’so now we have a shooter where you kill aliens? AND they travel through time?! Wow! That’ll be recorded forever in the annals of gaming!’ No. Yet, then again, no matter if it’s the same exact gift, publishers will continue to put prettier and prettier wrapping paper on it and dupe the public. I think we can definitely agree with Benny when he says at least we were around when it all started – when gaming stopped being a hobby or pasttime, and became a lifestyle for some. I don’t think the creativity or possibility has left gaming at all – perhaps some publishers are just lazy, but I can see a great future for videogames. Not all creative ideas have been tapped, not all genres have been discovered yet (in my opinion), not all methods of play have been thought of, etc. I’m just glad that good ole Nintendo is the brave pioneer into the world of the imagination; such creative things as a touchscreen on a portable system not to mention dual screens, games like ElectroPlankton, the Rumble Pack from 64 days… all creative firsts from Nintendo. I salute them for taking that step into unknown territory, with great financial risk sometimes. If there are still many more innovations in gaming to come, it’s no doubt in my mind that they will be spearheaded by Nintendo with everyone else following in their dust.

Sure. I was around when it started, back in ‘84, then again in ‘91, then again in ‘96, and again in ‘00 – and i’ll be around when it starts again in ‘05/06.

Seems to me, people see a great future in video games every so many years.

Just because Nintendo is flaunting their interest in creating new experiences doesn’t mean nobody else is doing it.

I’m not sure you guy understand WHY I’m saying now is the time. I know the argument has been regurgitated over and over again… and I know every few years this kind of editorial goes up… but its all about the scholastic discussion and research of gaming thats going to make gaming “legit”. I make no claims that Nintendo’s “innovation” is a the main, or even a vital part of this “Revolution”… only that it promises to contribute an interesting something to the transformation of gaming from a hobby that is grown out of to a valid for of art and entertainment in the eyes of the masses.

I don’t you understand WHY i’m saying this is old news. The scholastic & research side of gaming has been going on for almost 10 years now, more colleges are focusing on game design (not necessarily programming) as part of their study programs. Having experienced this first hand, i can promise you, the validation of games via research isn’t a revolution, its simply a reapplication of old UI and Interaction studies.

These studies don’t validate games in any major way. 99% of gamers don’t care. Academic validation doesn’t = public acceptance. And surely not overnight.

Also, if you’re really interested in more academic approach to games, check out Rules of Play : Game Design Fundamentals. Great book.

[My post got lost too]
Aside from game design, in the last 5 years or so there have also been many academic papers and even books focusing solely on games from a new media perspective, so games being a subject of study from a humanistical perspective isn’t new either, nor has it taken off in a revolutionary manner. It’s evolving, but slowly, as academics have yet to define what they really are, mostly due to different approaches being taken to decode and understand them.

I also think that most people are being overly polemical on the subject of games getting not enough attention or not being takes seriously enough — they are getting the exact amount attention they deserve. The huge popularity of games with near-instant gratification and little depth doesn’t really help either (I’m not knocking on any games specifically here, but recent trends in FPS games and JRPGs have been a bit off-putting) in making them look serious and helps a lot in making them an easy scapegoat. Will Nintendo change this with their novel perspective of interactive entertainment as a whole? I hope so, but sadly I have little faith even in them.

Maybe I’m misinformed of naive… but in my opinion gaming is just beginning to be looked at as a valid and seperate medium… like film. There aren’t to many Game Studies PhD’s running around… and there aren’t many game studies programs being offered at our universities… this is changing… it’s becoming a lot more… visible I mean.

Also, stepping away from the scholastic side… I’m starting to see that people are starting to see gaming as something that we aren’t going to “grow out of”… something that isn’t only for kids.

These two things (as I see them), along with the coming of a new generation of technology (which always helps the adaptation and popularity of a medium… see film) I think make this the beginnings of gaming as a valid medium.

I’m actually enjoying this discourse… its nice to be talking about these type of things and not having it go into baseless idiocy. Please, lets continue.

I really think you’re out of the loop. Try looking up the number of conferences, books, workshops, universities who actually offer courses (not necessarily degrees) in game design. Its there, and its been growing steadily since the late 90s. Games have been around forever (ever heard of board and card games – trival persuit, solitare?).

Again, the introduction of new consoles and new technology doesn’t mean we’re looking at some strange new acceptance of games. The population that grew up with games is now at an age where the media is catering to their interests, games being one of them. If you think your grandma is suddenly going to understand/accept games when she sees hi def graphics… well…. don’t count on it.

Electronic games have been around for 30+ years now (games in general for 100+ years – ever heard of card games, board games?), the ps2 alone just surpassed 90 million units sold, the business of games is very very different from hollywood, but just as profitable (at times – and has been since about 1996), and you think that only lately have games been coming of age?

There have been very mature games for the PC as early as the 80s (the Infocom text-only adventures, for example), which were played almost exclusively by adults and very elaborate simulations are still being produced for people who enjoy complex games, but these games (and the people playing them) are few and far between.

To be quite honest, I find that videogames are mostly being seen as childish thanks to Nintendo, Sega and their early business practices. Sony approached a different crowd, but due to socioeconomical changes this crowd is slowly blending in with the younger crowd, since kids like to emulate whatever older people do, especially if it looks fun. And thus we have the current order of things where visual maturity hides (and yet also displays) the inherent juvenile essensce of current games.

If (and this is a big IF) Nintendo truly succeeds in making game development cheaper for every party involved, then certain changes might really take place, the whole industry would “settle down” and as a result open up ways for bigger diversity in games.

Now that I think of it, also making games for everyone might really change things. By getting people on board with a generally appealing interactive idea and soon after start offering genuinely innovative games which cater a certain type of person rather than gamers in general, they could really revolutionize the industry. But they need a heap of 3rd party support for this which is why the Rev might be off to a really slow start. We’ll see.

IF Nintendo was able to somehow drop the cost in game development, it’d be huge. I’d agree on that one.

I AM out of the loop… and thats the point. Now I’m beginning to realize that this stuff exists (in relation to videogames), and since I am out of the loop and I’m beginning to realize that this is going on and I think it’s about to enter the American psyche. I think this realization is going to go a long way to making gaming a more legit medium.

Just because your out of the loop, doesn’t mean everyone else is, or that suddenly their about to come into the loop as you have.

Just because the realization happened (or didn’t really since it wasn’t an overnight thing) and you missed it doesn’t mean everyone else did.

I’m not that self-centered… not at all. I’m just saying that I’m seeing more people, more press, and more of our culture accept gaming… thats all I can provide… my point of view.

Where did anyone call you self-centered?

Id have to agree with Benny, and Im defintely in the loop. Gaming, while a huge industry, is still very much viewed as something for kids and nerds. Something that people will grow out of.

As the market gets bigger and companies like Nintendo broaden the user base, gaming will become more acceptable. Whereas something like comics will probably never become mainstream in the US (unless its a movie or game tie-in) games will become a huge industry and more and more an accepted part of mainstream entertainment.

To add to that… I’d like to point out that we are truly the first generation to not GIVE UP gaming as we got older. We are continuing to play… and we may very well be the first generation to play videogames with our kids avidly on a large scale. As we “grow up” our generation’s consumption of videogames will NO DOUBT change a lot of things. Look at the recent 8-bit art exhibition… gaming is NOW beginning to inject itself into American culture in ways that it hasn’t before. This is my point.

Man. You guys still miss it.

People who grew up with the Atari 2600s and 8-bit Nintendos of the 90s are now in the 25-35 age range. These people grew up with, and still play games, and are a core demographic for advertisers, magazines, music, television. The inadvertant media clusterbomb and pop-culture gaming infusion is just a reaction to this grown-up audience.

I don’t know which generation ‘gave up’ gaming, cause its been around for a long time. My grandmother plays cards all the time. Of course she can’t play my NES cause it doesn’t make much sense to her, but her ‘games’ are much different from mine.

I still argue, that gaming ‘has’ been accepted. To believe that now is the time when the whole world is going to go game-crazy seems a little out of touch for my likes. The only people i’ve met who seem to think games are for kids and nerds were on the playground when i was about 5.

edit – Atari 2600s and 8-bit Nintendos of the -80s-