EGM On the Future of Games

A few issues back, EGM ran a cover story theorizing on what gaming would be like in the future. Attempting to sidestep the easy answers of neural interfaces and crazy inventions, the editors at the magazine spoke with game makers of all stripes to get a feeling for the pulse of gaming in the next twenty years. They discuss everything from control to display, to the business of gaming itself. "How long until Bleszinski's dream comes true? Answering that question is just one of the goals of this months-in-the-making cover story. We've asked experts across the industry to track the next 20 years of everything from game-design trends to the evolution of your living room. A two-decade forecast, we figure, is near-term enough to be tangible (we're staying away from silly sci-fi stuff) but far enough out to fire up your imagination. And maybe give you some kick-ass dreams, too. Your trip to 2027 begins now...."

Comments

Wow... I'm scared...

[7Prime]

This assessment couldn't possibly be farther than what I want to get out of gaming.

One theme tends to ring clear: INTERACTIVITY, INTERACTIVITY, INTERACTIVITY! And to that, I'm yelling back, STOP, STOP, STOP! It's difficult to up interactivity without in some ways destroying immersion. The more control the audience has over the environment, the less they're able to freely immerse themselves in it. I have no interest in creating an environment or a persona, I'd like to see what a great artist can come up with, and experience that... the same way I love listening to a great piece of music.

I love how their definition of RPG seems to be limited to the much smaller subset of American PC-style RPGs. That definition may be a realistic one, but it's pretty much moot for a good 75% of games that are considered "RPGs". So what if half the genre needs a new name, that's what they're called.

Also, I found the definition for "platform game" to be completely wrong, and over-complicated: A platform game is simply an adventure game in which the character's movements are key to progressing through the environment. A staple has been to have a plethora of floating and moving platforms... hence the genre name, "platform game". Some have unrealistic graphics... some don't. Many traditional adventure games have unrealistic and stylized graphics too... but I'm noone's going to call the latest Monkey Island a platform game. Action Adventure and Platformers are merging to the point of indistinguishability. Every action/adventure these days has platform elements, and platformers are fastly becoming epic and intriquite like their action/adventure counterparts. But it's not graphical style that dictates the traditional boundary.