Gamer's Perspective

 Now that E3 is behind us we only have to look to the future to see where gaming is going. Is it going in a direction that is wrong or right? The opinions vary. I, for one, think the gaming industry is doing the best it can, but they also fail to address key issues within itself.

TECHNOLOGY

When it comes to technology the first thing that comes to mind is almost always graphics. Have they improved and how important are they? It can be said that the answer to both questions is obviously yes, but where do you draw the line when it comes to graphics versus gameplay?

No one can say that graphic haven’t improved because they have. Graphic have improved a great deal over the short time the industry has been around. Beginning with the old 8bit graphics to the fully in-game rendering, graphics had come along way. Look at where we started the future holds very promising results. I can predict the eventual distinction between games and the real world will vanish. Many People will assume this is a bad move, but not everything has to be grounded in reality when it comes to graphics. Once Virtual Reality becomes an actuality, graphics as a whole will have reached a new height. One will be able to explore worlds as if they where living in them.

What does this mean for gameplay? How can such immersive graphics compliment good gameplay? In order to get a true VR (Virtual Reality) effect we would need gameplay that could harness the ability to freely explore areas without actually being there. In simple terms, we would need game play to advance enough to respond to our thoughts of walking forward, shooting a gun, or turning a steering wheel. Every year the controls get better and better, not to mention that each year there are new ways of applying controls (EX: The Wiimote). With that said, how can we improve upon gameplay in the gaming world itself? I, for one, feel game play in actual games is faulty and weak. We need to improve the elements that make gameplay fun. Very few games try and push the fold from traditional gameplay and features. However, those that do, like gears of war, push the industry in a right direction.

When it comes to the end, it is a balancing act between both graphic and game play that need to be focused on. One of which I feel is really important to keep. Poor gameplay is no excuse for great graphics. The same is true the other way around. In this day and age, let alone the future, companies have the money and the resources to make both aspects great.

PLATFORMS

Platforms have come along way from the first personal computers to the Atari 2600. Today we have consoles that have decent power and PC parts that can out do anything if you have the cash. Is the competition between companies justifiable?

One can only expect systems to get better because that is what the industry of technology does. What is the perfect system and combination of hardware and functionality? The computer, I believe, still has that perfect mixture of power and functionality, but lacks in portability. However, with that said, it isn’t fair until consoles can do the same. Things will get faster and smaller as time goes on. When one looks back, it is astonishing at how fast computers/consoles have gotten and how much they have grown.

Competition is good for business in any industry. It stimulates growth, but the problem for me is that it also stimulates greed and dirty tactics. The companies I fell in love with are becoming more corporate lackeys and less the fellow gamers who respected gamers.

PRICES

Here is an issue that has gained precedent in the last couple years. Gaming was expensive from the get-go and we are now seeing the same rise in prices again. Is it bad for the developers to raise prices? I would say no. Gaming is just like every other form of entertainment, it costs more and more to create content for that line of entertainment. Developers spend billions of dollars now to develop high quality games and devote many hours of time to produce the said content. Of which I can only expect prices to rise for both the system developers and game developers.

This is to a certain point of course. It wouldn’t be right for prices to increase out of control for games. Getting my money’s worth is important to me and I’m sure it’s the same for many gamers. I want companies to make content worthy of the steeper price tag of the system and the games themselves.

INDUSTRY vs. POLITICS

It is becoming more and more obvious of the volatile situation between games and politicians. I can only see this getting worse. With parents blaming behaviors and attitudes on games it is a proving an easy bandwagon for politicians to attack and make gaming a scapegoat. The ESRB is a fine rating system acclaimed for having a better system then the movie industry, but I feel that many do not take the ratings seriously. Even console developers take the ratings seriously, maybe even to much, thusly banning games in one category all together. Censorship is nothing new to society, but should games have harsher censorship then other forms of entertainment? When is it enough? It is a hard debate with no clear answers. I firmly believe that censorship should be the responsibility of the parents or gamers and not the corporate office. Banning a whole category effectively makes that rating useless. I can only see things worsening as time goes on because of the improvements in technology. There will always be that offensive material… always.

The future is a bumpy road indeed, but one that must be traveled. However, as a gamer and follower of the gaming industry and community I feel we are headed in a good direction. I want to see games become more encompassed across the board. I would like graphics and game play that are both look great and play great on their respective platforms with as little censorship as possible because I, for one, play games for the experience. After all what is entertainment if it can’t entertain?