Hi, I''m doing a report and some research into the future of computer games. I am currently a student studying computer games at degree level and would like to ask a few questions to get the general view on the future of games. What do you consider the future of games will be? What do you in general want to see in the future? Does anyone know of any places where I can collate research? What genres are expected to become big and what genres are expected to be scrapped, are genres merging? You get the idea, If you could help me in anyway it would be much appreciated. Thank you Mark Battista

The games industry is split into some primary genres, it seems: First person shooters, role-playing, strategy, and massively multiplayer online.

I don't know how those genres will change, but I expect those genres will experiment with incorporating some of the others until a new style of playing catches on.

I'd like to see games that encourage teamwork and a positive attitude among players. It can get pretty hostile sometimes, especially in the first person shooters. Sometimes it's just a matter of regular psychology among players, and you have to know how to mix in.

I'd also like to see originality and a fresher kind of game that doesn't try to imitate an existing formula. An original and fresh story-telling and interaction idea with a game built around that.

A game that inspires self-explored imagination and doesn't just say "keep playing me!!!" would be a nice change of pace, too.

That's about all I know at this point.

[edited by - Waverider on March 26, 2003 6:36:52 PM]

I agree with the previous poster on the teamwork point. With the advent and sudden success of the Clancy series, it seems squad-based games are securing their niche in the game world. I think, and hope, that games are going to take a turn in that direction, and that would bring about a more positive attitude among gamers.

Second, I am hoping that games flesh out characters a bit more in the future. This doesn''t necessarily hold water in a lot of genres, such as FPS and such games, but I want to see more realism and raw emotion in characters. I can''t explain it very well, but perhaps a simple counter-example can help me describe it.

I was recently playing Skies of Arcadia, and I got to the point in the story where a main character is leaving his mother and father to embark on a life-changing voyage, blah blah blah. Anyway, when it comes time for him to leave, and the scene consists of his father and mother saying goodbye and waving to him, I was just really wont for some realism there. I mean, it would be extremely simple, but personally I would''ve liked some hugs, perhaps some more emotion shown in this scene, as there (hopefully) would be in a real situation like this.

quote: Original post by mark_battista

What do you consider the future of games will be?

The future of games is not with the machines that run them but with the users themselves. At least this seems to be a more interesting route for games than jusr playing a better version of solitare.

quote:
What do you in general want to see in the future?

More innovation. Less stagnation and a breaking down of genre.

quote:
Does anyone know of any places where I can collate research?

The best places to find research for games would be on professional sites like www.gamemasutra.com and other sites aimed at taking games as serious buisness.

quote:
What genres are expected to become big and what genres are expected to be scrapped, are genres merging?

You do not even know about the present, why they do you question the future? Maybe a smaller project would include finding out where game genres stand today, what is in development for tommarow and then gues towards the future.

Hope I help.

According to Sony and EA it will be a black box that provides all of the worlds entertainment and destroys the video game retail altogether...but who''s to say?

-Sage13

Liquid Moon Team

X2: Official Site

The future of games? I remember reading a while back abour a game that I think EA were making, in that it becomes part of your everyday life. When you sign up for the game, you get a phonecall with a woman rambling some crap and then she hangs up. this goes on with clues to the game being called, faxed, emailed, sms''d, clues requiring you to do research on the net etc. The game becomes part of your life. It is spaces out over a few months, with twists and turns all the way.

Very interesting concept that got rave reviews.

I''m thinking that one day we will have a VR system that incorperates a reletively inexpencive chair with controls on the arm rests.

quote: Original post by mark_battista
[...]What do you consider the future of games will be?

I think that in about 50 or so years, graphics hardware will stop growing so rapidly that game makers won''t be able to sell a game on graphics alone.

quote: What do you in general want to see in the future?

Hopefully, around the same time as the above happens (or before), those that buy games will stop falling for 100% BS hype. That will force game companies to add actual features instead of the pseudofeatures now (putting "ADVANCED AI" on a box should not cause the game to sell more when the AI isn''t actually advanced compared to current and old games. If its actually impressive and it adds to the gameplay, thats all good, but I''m tired of companies thinking they are doing advanced stuff in various fields when its been done in 500 games before theirs)

quote: Does anyone know of any places where I can collate research?

Not I, sorry.

quote: What genres are expected to become big and what genres are expected to be scrapped, are genres merging?[...]

I think MMOs are going to get big eventually (many say that already are, but I think they could be a lot bigger), but not until hardware can handle a lot more than it does now. I think tactical games of all kinds are going to be around for a while as well. Unfortunately, simple deathmatch will be around for a while too and it will hold back for a while.

Genres are merging slowly, and there are already several games-in-progress that promise to be the best of all worlds. I don''t remeber the name of it, but I''ve read about a game that will supposedly be an MMOFPS but there will also be an RTS mode.

quote: Very interesting concept that got rave reviews.

And failed miserably. It''s a great concept, but incredibly hard to pull off well in reality.

quote: What do you consider the future of games will be?

This is a little too general for me to answer fully. How far into the future? I see consoles continuing to gain support, games in general remaining pretty much the same (unless a dramatic rethinking happens), MMO games becoming the norm (hopefully with better design).

quote: What do you in general want to see in the future?

More immersion. Better storytelling. Better AI. Changeable environments/terrain. Non-linear games. Multiple paths to solve problems. Just the usual stuff.

quote: What genres are expected to become big and what genres are expected to be scrapped, are genres merging?

I don''t really see any genre becoming bigger than they are now, but hopefully MMO games will be better designed and draw in more people. I don''t see any of the major genres going away. There has been some merging of genres - RTS/FPS, RTS/RPG, etc. Hopefully that''ll get better and happen more often.

I see games infiltrating other areas of life a lot more. For instance, training and education will merge more and more with interactive entertainment.

Similarly, I see games getting a lot more physical. Virtual Reality has been a buzz phrase in the industry for more than a decade but while its largely ignored these days and considered completley unattainable by the average consumer, I suspect that it will become more mainstream in the future. Virtual Reality, at least ideally, takes into account all aspects of the human experience, from stereoscopic imagery to atmospheric sound and smell, and especially movement. Imagine a configuration in the home that tracks the position of your head, body, and feet and conveys all of this information back to you visually and aurally -- imagine literally running around in a game like Unreal 2, ducking and dodging and jumping. Naturally, because its a game your actions would be amplified and/or intepreted.. I run about a 9 minute mile and can barely get myself off the ground when playing basketball, but that doesn''t mean I would have to be athletically inept inside a VR game.

In the more immediate future (i.e. the next 5 years) I see games getting more ambitious in terms of world exploration, interactivity, artificial intelligence, character and story evolution, and originality in general; and to me these are all very welcome.

Visually, within 5 years I also believe that live action cinema will be nearly (if not completely) impossible to distinguish from many 3D games; furthermore I think that we''ll see more visually artistic exploration in games -- that is to say, more stylism (3D anime and cel shading are only the beginning).

****************************************

Brian Lacy
ForeverDream Studios

Comments? Questions? Curious?
brian@foreverdreamstudios.com

"I create. Therefore I am."