2077 A.D. has no doubt been an interesting year for video games so far. We've seen developers like Media Molecule and Quantic Dream continue to improve upon hologram gaming experiences with titles such as Parts of One and Crimson Skies, and have had the pleasure of enjoying any video game title lost throughout the annals of time via Google's Interactube digital gaming streaming service. The second half of the year appears just as promising with lots of exciting games to be released (who isn't ready for Light Knights V?). As I was contemplating on how speedily the landscape of the video game industry has changed in the last few months, that suddenly turned into contemplating on how much the landscape of the industry has changed in the last sixty-plus years. Say you looked back at the condition of video games in the year 2014 compared to now - the differences are verily vast. This thought then flipped into the query: what are the greatest events or shifts in the video game industry's past that has sculpted it into where it is today?
Sifting through the medium's history from the last sixty years or so, I came up with fascinating findings.
2015 A.D. - Mobile/Social Gaming Draws the Masses
Possibly the most notable shift in the video game industry can be traced all the way back to sixty-two years ago in the year of 2015 A.D. At this time, various phone companies (not only Apple and Microsoft) distributed a great deal of what was known as "smartphones", the predecessor to today's solar-powered SAT-phones. Mobile as well as social gaming on websites like Facebook had been catching fire for the past few years, leaving some gamers to speculate if this sect of video games would somehow eventually threaten mainstream console and, more understandably, handheld gaming. The summer of 2015 proved these concerned gamers right.
As I mentioned above, mobile and social gaming was becoming a substantial part of general - not just gaming - culture around this time. Folks who had thought they were too old to play video games anymore or who had never purchased one video game for themselves their entire life were now all of a sudden realizing why video games were always on their children's birthday and Christmas lists. Kids all around the world were also experiencing the satisfaction of what it meant to complete a quest or "level up" faster and younger than ever before. Almost every person on the globe owned one of these"smartphones" and had internet service, thus ease of access was not a problem. Apparently more convenient acquiring a portable device that acts as a phone, web browser, camera, music player, and game machine than spending hundreds of dollars on a gaming console with games costing $60 a piece (games used to be that cheap believe it or not) was the thought of the day as 2015 came upon the horizon. Classic mobile/social games in their infancy such as Angry Birds, Farmville, Candy Crush, and many others were selling faster than light; a couple quickly hitting the million dollar mark without shame to give you an idea on the potential impact this new style of gaming could have on the norm.
Everything appeared going as planned as both Sony's Playstation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One turned one-year old late in November of 2014 with Nintendo's systems keeping up, but in the summer of 2015 is when the immovable started to give ground to the mobile/social gaming dark horse. Social media learned to flawlessly co-exist with mobile platforms, inviting and enticing gamers and non-gamers alike to take advantage of this socially interactive cohesive experience. Social "apps" inter-connected with gaming apps to offer players gratifying playtime on-the-go whenever. Well-known video game developers, including Bethesda, Criterion, and Telltale Games, even dipped their feet in this market, finding considerable success through surprising endeavors. This led to loss in revenues for Sony and Microsoft, hitting Nintendo the hardest. Nintendo's DS handheld sales were persistently faltering, while the Playstation Vita sales remained somewhat steady (due to the cross-play feature between Sony's consoles). Assumptions were made thinking Nintendo would license their first-party games to mobiles and tablets, though those assumptions were in vain. Nintendo would never go down without a fight as the industry forefather tried to sway consumers back to their unique DS system, producing what are considered to be some of the best handheld titles ever created, but by the end of 2016, it was too late. The mobile/social gaming obsession had inadvertently snuffed out the 3DS and 2DS, discontinuing Nintendo's adored handhelds. And despite the horrific abuse of micro-transactions on the part of developers, the mobile/social gaming space gained momentum.
Of course, we know things changed when Nintendo unveiled the Wii Phone shortly thereafter.
2018 A.D. - Virtual Reality Isn't a Gimmick
Unlike now, virtual headsets in the home were a rarity. The beginning years of the 21st century were years of rapid experimental technological innovations. Advancements to existing technologies were witnessed each year; 3D, touch, motion, and voice controls becoming accepted more and more as fine commodities. In 2018, virtual reality gaming was added to that list.
It's an observable fact that businesses which venture to push risky video game peripherals do not automatically receive generous support for that venture. The "Kinect" motion sensor engineered by Microsoft for the Xbox brand was mutually labeled to be a waste of time and effort before finally accurately understanding and detecting gestures by gamers in its renaissance year of 2050, and Sony's Playstation Move motion gaming peripheral, as it was called, lost steam before ever given a chance. Movies and games in 3D were truly seen as publicity stunts as well. No conglomerate could quite master the skeptical technologies as efficiently as Nintendo it would seem. Many critics and stock analysts assumed virtual reality gaming would fade, resembling previous efforts, but the employees at Oculus had an unwavering vision for their Oculus Rift VR headset.
When the Oculus Rift fell into the lap of the average gamer in 2016, it was welcomed with hesitation. Would this be another short-lived fad like many before it? Was the world ready for virtual reality? While the Oculus Rift VR headsets were received cautiously, their astounding immersive potency overthrew doubts. Gamers (not to mention sci-fi day-dreamers) possessed a much desired marvel now. Digital worlds felt as real as walking down your local downtown street - escapism at its epitome. Sony's Playstation Visor VR headset (dubbed Project Morpheus when announced in 2014) debuted the same year, with Valve releasing its VR headset, the Retina Helm, the following month. There were worries that virtual reality would induce a type of "motion sickness", although these problems were caught in tests conducted by VR entrepreneurs who consulted health experts. Additionally, parents/guardians were frightened of virtual reality's possible harmful effect on children and teenagers since violence and other questionable topics were starting to be implemented in a few VR-capable video games as virtual gaming branched out further. Games with VR gaming in mind, EVE: Valkyrie for example, is what ultimately made virtual reality gaming to be taken seriously by 2018. This became a highly-competitive part of games as you might imagine. Thanks to virtual reality, the next hurdle that was hologram gaming may have been all but left as a futile impossibility.
2020 A.D. - The Indie Revolution
During the Playstation 3's and Xbox 360's life-cycle there was a period of revelation. A new form of game development, called "indie" (short for independent), was edging its creative gravitas into the limelight. The indie gaming phenomenon Minecraft cut loose in this era, as well as games like Limbo, No Man's Sky, Journey,Super Meat Boy, and a number of quality indie titles. Small development teams, or in some cases a one-man developer, would, by whatever means, attempt to craft a video game unbound by the restrictive confines of expected triple-A smash hits issued out by big-name publishers. It was a place in the industry where the imagination flood waters rose against the usual money-making hallmarks, and 2020 saw the dam walls collapse.
The turning point came from the gamers. A lot were tired, worn out of recycled formulas present in many games. Every "big" game was using guns as tools and weapons, showing petty innovations, and felt all too familiar. Sequels to famous franchises weren't stopping to increase these parallel relatable stumbles. The indie game scene offered a more flavorful taste to sate gamers' appetites. Indie developers concurred, and saw this reoccurring state of mind from gamers to be a positive catalyst to take advantage of. Tons of creative energy was poured into games that you wouldn't find publishers and developers earning top-dollar take a risk on. More indie titles were releasing in a year than thought probable. These indie games tethered to unconditional gameplay, thought provoking stories - tackling empathetic and philosophical ideas - and diverse art styles and atmosphere (partly due to indie developers' brilliant use of VR tech). This isn't to imply all non-indie publishers or developers refused to build games exploring deeper themes and more complex game templates (developer Naughty Dog's games being a prime testament to this), however; a lot just didn't feel compelled to try different things. Executive heads and employees actually abandoned strict publishers to indie game development to return to why they wanted to make games in the first place. One of the recognizable names of the day, Ken Levine (best known as the creator/writer of the Bioshock series), was one of these creators that chose to go this route and was quoted in 2020 stating, "Video games have lost their path. They are falling short of what they are supposed to achieve because of greedy businessmen choking the creative minds of creators who want to leave their mark on this art form. Indie gaming's rise obviously shows the tolerance for this behavior is unacceptable."
Companies took gamers' actions to heart, performing their best to listen to what fans wanted. To this day the indie movement's enlightenment towards the video game industry in 2020 can still be felt. It had successfully, in effect, made publishers and developers dwell more on "What can we do?" rather than "What can't we do?"
2024 A.D. - The Year of No Call of Duty
It definitely would've been hard to find anyone who didn't play the first-person shooter Call of Duty from 2007-2023. This behemoth redefined online multiplayer back in the day, and games that include multiplayer even now owe plenty to the excellent video game series. The series' owner, Activision, made the absolute most out ofCall of Duty's grip on the infatuated gamer and christened it as a yearly franchise to be shared between three developers each consecutive year. Call of Duty had never been as popular, never been so much of a household name. That's why when it suffered its first interval in over fifteen years, it was a year to remember. 2024 is officially known by gamers everywhere as "The Year of No Call of Duty".
Signs of stagnation became apparent after Infinity Ward concluded their storyline in 2019 with Call of Duty: Atomic Armageddon that began in Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013). Sledgehammer Games' Advanced Warfare III (2020) was met with modest reviews but the gamer population was burnt out on the yearly franchise by this time. It was considered that the real last good Call of Duty game was Treyarch's one last tribute to World War II with Call of Duty: The Soldier's War released in 2015. In contrast to EA and DICE's super-successful military shooter series and Call of Duty stark rival, Battlefield, the once proud blockbuster was succumbing to grave franchise fatigue.
Call of Duty's fight for relevance was inescapably hindered when Respawn Entertainment (developer of the acclaimed Titanfall games), whose own general manager, Vince Zampella, who had helped bring the impeccable Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) to life and who also had ties with the Medal of Honor franchise, carried EA's dormant reboot of the Medal of Honor games to new heights in 2022 (Medal of Honor: The End of War). EA's two military shooters were garnering much attention (as was Guerilla Games' successful Killzone games) and flourishing while Activision's boy-scout was stumbling behind because of the lack of originality, stain of predictability, and overall lack of appeal (some blamed Activision and the uprising of indie game development for this). In 2023 Activision reluctantly reported to put all Call of Duty projects on hiatus for the time being, an incredible blow to earnings for the publisher. The result of this announcement meant there would be no Call of Duty installment hitting retailers in 2024 or the foreseeable future until Activision saw fit. The publisher made clear that when the first-person shooter series would return, it would no longer be releasing a Call of Duty game every year (Treyarch would be the only developer on the brand effective immediately while Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games would suffer job layoffs and move on to other undetermined assignments). Though it wouldn't be too long of a wait until gamers could play the shooter again (2027's Call of Duty: Nation of Guns), many agreed without "The Year of No Call of Duty", the franchise most certainly would've bled out indefinitely.
2030 A.D. - The Star Wars vs. Marvel vs. DC Fighting Game
In 2030, the unthinkable happened. Comic book fans all over were still coming off their superhero-high from Netherrealm's Marvel vs. DC fighting game three years earlier, and the reveal at 2028's San Diego Comic-Con that an entire new fighting game featuring characters from the top two comic book companies as well as from, to speechless amazement, the galaxy far, far away resulted in attendees literally passing out at the convention (I'll admit, I was one of them). A brief time-sensitive partnership between Warner Bros. (owner of DC Comics)and Disney (owner of both Star Wars and Marvel) allowed for the record-breaking, best-selling video game that was Marvel vs. DC so when the Star Wars license got thrown into the mix, money wasn't the only thing going to be made - history was.
These three cherished universes had never officially collided together before in any other entertainment model and the idea that such a thing could be ever possible only came from enthusiastic day-dreamers and the like. Star Wars vs. Marvel vs. DC featured over 75 playable characters (including characters from Star Wars: Episode's VII-IX), over 20 iconic stage locales, changeable costumes, and really everything it needed for it to work. The game's story, while a bit generic "clash of the universes" premise, revolved around a sophisticated, exceptional plot line involving the Force, the six Infinity Gems (which form the Infinity Gauntlet in Marvel comics lore), and the emotional spectrum relating to the Green Lantern Corps and the other surrounding corps'. The game reeled in over $400 million at launch (over 5 million units sold) and has yet to be surpassed as the top-selling video game of all-time. Many believe it never will be.
2036 A.D. - Mature Video Games, the Government, and the Verdict
The relationship between video games and the government has not always been a smooth one. Several battles involving banning or censoring mature video games in some states in the U.S. have been recorded over the years but almost none of them concluded in disfavor towards the video game industry. However, as video game technology evolved into virtual reality and further into the opening stages of hologram gaming, these debatable issues weren't as black and white as they used to be. In the year 2036 a bill was ratified in the state of California that desired to publicly censor, and if need be, ban overly-violent and sexual video games. The pin had dropped and was heard throughout the entire video game community in the United States of America.
Without becoming too technical, bogging down the verdict of this case, Porter v. Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA/Entertainment Software Association in conjunction) went through various courts, appeals, and so forth, turning into a rigorous four year mess. Since developers were continuing to harness the capabilities virtual reality gaming possessed, proponents of stern laws on M-rated video games came together and wrote up a bill which pleaded for the California state government to enact. This bill would censor or ban video games in California that didn't meet their moral criteria. There was apparently some evidence provided by psychologists that suggested mature video games, specifically mature video games compatible with virtual reality headsets, might lead to violence or other immoral acts. In spite of the EMA and ESA's arguments representing the ESRB's role (who rate video games by content), the first amendment, rights of the parent or guardian to decide what their kids can or cannot play, and promise to do whatever is necessary to provide costumers about violent or sexual content in video games, pressure from actual parents, plus the argument that video games were distinct from movies or music since it is an interactive medium, convinced state legislature to pass the bill as law (what was ironic about this whole dilemma was the fact that a previous bill similar to this same one was brought forth in California about 20 years earlier but with the opposite outcome).
Soon other states across America were passing bills identical to that of California's; they were also afraid of the effects mature video games might have on kids under the age of seventeen. Because of this, all virtual reality and hologram games from then on didn't depict questionable material. Military shooters weren't quite considered out-of-line as long as they weren't virtual reality-capable, but titles like Rockstar's famous Grand Theft Auto franchise, Saint's Row, or any game that was thought consisting of unnecessary levels of violence, sexual content, drugs, or language were censored and yes, even banned, in some states. A ban in more than a couple states led to the eventual demise of the praised Grand Theft Auto franchise as well as others which then led to riots and loads of heated discussions on video game websites. The video game industry learned to adapt to these censorings, but not without some bruises along the way.
2064 A.D. - Microtendo
Eleven years ago, the video game industry completely changed forever. Two of the most massive - in appearance and influence - video game companies, who had been rivals since before I can remember, merged into one. The consequences, the benefits, what this meant to the entire entertainment and video game scene were staggering. It was an impossible surprise. No one saw what was coming and rumors hinting even an iota of information were non-existent. Nintendo and Microsoft were now one and from then on would be known as Microtendo.
In the 2050's and early 2060's, Nintendo wasn't doing so hot financially or in the eye of the public after one-too-many experimental endeavors in the realm of hardware and software releases. They were unfortunately sluggish to keep up with the movements of the industry which hurt their image. The grievous loss of Nintendo visionary Shigeru Miyamoto and absence of long-standing top executives affected the company heavily, although paving the way for the next generation of young minds to guide the legendary publisher. This, however, didn't do much to move Nintendo forward in any meaningful fashion. Microsoft, on the other hand, was booming; its Kinect peripheral adopted by fitness establishments to spawn work-out inspired video games into thriving fitness centers and business chains all over the U.S.
Realizing they couldn't survive on their own, Nintendo resorted to one last available option other than dreaded bankruptcy - to sell the company. Talks were tightly held under wraps so when the news hit the ears of everyone on August 1st, at 10:00 A.M. CT in 2063, the mindset of gamers everywhere was challenged. Faithful Nintendo and Microsoft fans boycotted their adored gaming companies out of protest, some finding Sony and the Playstation as a suitable replacement. When asked about the decision process behind partnering up with Microsoft, Nintendo President and CEO Tekadai Leewu answered, "[We initially, of course, didn't want to sell Nintendo to anyone - we thought it might be a better choice to choose different routes, if any, but there were none. We saw Microsoft's worldwide appeal and authority in the gaming community and thought 'Nintendo, after all of its history, it cannot wear out, it cannot be forgotten, and Microsoft was and is in the position to maintain Nintendo for possibly forever.' Microsoft responded well to our proposal and the deal closed through a natural process.]"
This momentous merging earned tons of press for months and went down as the largest shake-up in the video game industry.
Older gamers (including me) would remember more of the earlier entries, but most familiar with video games in general couldn't forget the events listed here. You can tell the industry isn't currently where it's at nowadays by accident. Much has happened since the good ol' days of HDTV's and used video game stores, to say the least. It makes you wonder how experienced gamers sixty or seventy years earlier would react to these set-in-stone occurrences if they knew about them in hindsight. Would they believe them? Would they embrace them? Try their best to make sure they never see the light of day? Being one of those gamers myself, also bearing witness first-hand to these occurrences in the video game industry over the past several decades, my opinion on these matters couldn't be contained in what mere words could appropriately express.
WS-N, 63 years later and still a gamer for the gamers
P.S. By the way, wasn't Half-Life3 awesome!? Totally worth the wait.
I came into this blog desiring to execute two things. First, I desired to examine possible roads current staples in the video game industry might walk on in the future. Second, I wanted to, if I may, write a story to justify these possibilities with plausible, rich back-stories and atmosphere. I'm not predicting in the next fifty years that all this will happen; that wasn't my goal or intention. I absolutely could see all of the aforementioned events take place in the next fifty years, but I simply wanted to create an alternate reality where they did happen, how they happened, when they happened, and why. The "What if?" was just too irresistible.
What do you think? Is Mobile/Social gaming going to make Nintendo's handheld obsolete anytime soon? Will there ever be a year with no Call of Duty installment? Is it feasible the government will censor mature video games if virtual reality gaming takes off? Share any and all comments you might have about my blog in the comments section below! I would love to hear what you have to say.
Thanks for reading, as always.
