Gaming in the Future

Gaming is something I hold very dearly. I will defend my love with tooth and nail. Furthermore I like the status quo. I like the way I buy, play and interact with games, and in fact I could say that I am actually missing the past a bit. However I can see that gaming is changing, and maybe not always for the best. So here I list the 4 main things that will influence gaming in the foreseeable future:

DLC

There are the good type of DLCs and the bad type of DLCs. I shall focus on the bad type: the one that forces you to pay if you want to have a complete game. The picture below says it all. Back in the day, when I bought my first Rome total war (yes again with that game), I remember that the expansion packs actually added entirely new content. No with the second Rome, the DLC just unlock factions that are already available in the game. This trend of needing to monetize a game by forcing users to pay at several different instances, just to extend the lifetime of a game, is infuriating. I mean, I am not going to buy a car and then need to pay an extra £100 to be able to use the radio. This type of business model is found nowhere else in the world, and justifiably so. However with the profit margins of Game makers shrinking and shrinking, they will persist with this model. So expect more and more DLC heavy/episodic type games.

Mobiles

No, this is not about mobile gaming. That is a topic that deserves gaming article all for its own. Here we are going to look at the implications of what it means for hard-core gaming if you have the addition of a second screen. The case study I will present the case of Battlefield 4 (Yes, that game again as well). The addition of a tablet in the game process as a general type character is very interesting and adds an entire dimension to the gameplay. However very few other games have implemented such a feature. Why not? It is quite enjoyable to be able to just play with your mates without having to actually to always interact directly. This method of introducing different ways of playing the same game not only extends the lifetime of the game itself as well as encouraging new players to try it out. Furthermore as mobile computing becomes more and more powerful, it seems that the logical conclusion will be major games will migrate to solely occupy this medium. However is it really? The way we interact with games e.g. with keyboard/mouse or controller. Even though you are distinct from the game, the level of immersion is still limited. Is this possible if you are going to be touching the screen all the time? Every time you bring that finger between yourself and the game, you are reminded that you aren’t in the game. For now, and the foreseeable future I think that laptops/desktops and consoles will dominate the hard-core gaming market.

In-game purchases

This is the one item on this list that makes me feel quite a bit trepidation about what the future of gaming may become. I hate hate hate in game purchases. They just seem a cheap gimmick for me where the game creator is trying to rip us off, especially if I paid a significant amount of money for said game. I mean, I understand the concept: some people have time but no money and some people have money and time. Both are currencies that can be traded for in items. However when the items you need to progress are only available through monetary means this is when I get annoyed. Sadly this method of making money seems to be working, and won’t disappear. I really just hope that game makers still keep in mind who really plays their games, cues to get copies and raves to others about it.

Virtual Reality

This has been the dream of every gamer since birth. How epic would it be to actually run through a game, see what your character sees through their eyes, and just be so immersed in your game that you could swear it was reality. The imminent release of the Oculus Rift has turned those dreams into something of a hope that viable virtual reality will happen in our generation. This Kickstarter funded device, which is pretty much a ‘mask’ over your face, which projects two slightly different images for each eye. This creates the illusion that you are actually viewing the world from the perspective of the game. So the visual aspect is now sorted. What is with movement and touch? Well Kickstarter comes to the rescue again! The Virtuix Omni, which is pretty much a glorified treadmill. However it is also so much more than that. It records your movement, so when you step in reality, your in-game character will copy that. These two things combined seem to signal the advent of virtual reality. More than anything, this is what gamers are demanding from the future. Also, then exercising will be made so much interesting and exciting. I mean taking a run around Skyrim, exploring the caves and mountains of this fantasy world beat London, surrounded by cars and grey rain, every single day of the year. The two big hurdles are, firstly how much will the big gaming companies invest in this untested and potentially very expensive technology. Without the support of the game studios, no one will ever want any virtual reality gadget if they can’t play anything on it. Secondly, how much will these devices cost the average gamer? If they are priced out of ever owning one, then they will be doomed to fail.