Video Game Trends In 2008

Gamasutra is running a feature looking at some of the most important trends that have cropped up or become popular over last year in the gaming industry. Gamers' outrage over the DRM controversy built up a great deal of steam over the past year, and will likely remain strong in 2009. This year also saw downloadable content being used for new and varied purposes, and many developers are banking more heavily on user-generated content, as in LittleBigPlanet. They point out the increase in retro and neo-retro gaming after the success of Mega Man 9 and anticipation for the new Bionic Commando. What trends do you expect to see more of in the next year?

Comments

Eh

[mewshi_nya]

The video game industry lost me a while ago... all I play now is old SNES games (emulated, of course), Guitar Hero, and a few open-source strategy games.

Lower prices on the consoles does a lot for me. 400 bucks is hard to justify for an entertainment, when that's a semester's worth of books... :\

50 bucks is a lot easier to justify.

Re:Eh

[module0000]

If you are still concerned with a semester of books, then "a while ago" was when you were 15. So young to be jaded.

Re:Eh

[mewshi_nya]

No, for me, a while is as far back as I can remember >.

Which, unfortunately, isn't that damn long :( Usually 1-2 years tops anymore :(

Re:Eh

[philspear]

The video game industry lost me a while ago...

Ah yes. The day the videogame industry lost Mewshi_nya's buisness was a dark day indeed. They still call it "The saddest monday ever." Miyamoto wrote on twitter that day "Today I let down Mewshi, had to up the prozac dosage :-(".

I personally wept for hours upon hearing the news.

Re:Eh

[VinylRecords]

My PS2 was $250 new when I bought it 7 years ago and I still use it often to this day. Factor in the thousands of hours on the PS2 I have playing across those 7 years and you have an extremely cheap dollar per hour cost ratio for entertainment.

Do you go to restaurants? Do you go out to the movies? Do you buy music CDs?

Two $30 meals might satisfy you for four hours at most, but a $40-60 video game, might take up anywhere from 30 to 1000 hours of your time. Which is actually cheaper if you weigh the cost and the time together? I just purchased Street Fighter II HD Remix for $15 (it's a downloadable console game) and I anticipate well over 1000 hours across the life of my console playing this game.

The movies? You spend $10 on that ticket for a three hour film? Those music CDs? You'd have to listen to them an awful lot to get the same hourly value out of a CD than you would get out of a video game.

Video games (and PC games) are still one of the best bangs for your buck in terms of entertainment. People will complain about the price of consoles until they die and come back as zombies but it's a one time purchase and it's more like an investment.

That $400 you spend on one semesters of books could be spent on eight or nine years worth of entertainment from a gaming console. You say you emulate games? Why not just download the e-books of your textbooks and get a console instead? Why not buy used books? Or a used console?

It sounds like you have lost the enthusiasm for video gaming and you're blaming your wallet instead.

Re:Eh

[Anonymous Coward]

Are we to presume that you spent $0 on games for your $250 PS2 in those seven years? If not, why aren't you including the many hundreds of dollars you'll have spent on the games in your calculations and comparisons? And are you really, seriously recommending putting gaming before education when planning one's finances?

Re:Eh

[ConanG]

Not everyone goes to college right after high school. My sister just finished her BS with the highest GPA in her graduating class at the age of 40.

Re:Eh

[EmperorKagato]

Two $30 meals might satisfy you for four hours at most, but a $40-60 video game, might take up anywhere from 30 to 1000 hours of your time

The movies? You spend $10 on that ticket for a three hour film? Those music CDs? You'd have to listen to them an awful lot to get the same hourly value out of a CD than you would get out of a video game.

Yet, the purchase of cinema tickets, going out to eat and a music CD could be the most memorable experience you have for a lifetime.

Video games (and PC games) are still one of the best bangs for your buck in terms of entertainment. People will complain about the price of consoles until they die and come back as zombies but it's a one time purchase and it's more like an investment.

The best bang for your buck when it comes to entertainment will always depend on the consumer. The price of some consoles are too high just like the price consumer grade petroleum. Most people would rather wait until the demand for the product drops thus lowering the price of the product than purchasing the product at the manufacturer's suggested retail price.

Re:Eh

[hansamurai]

I'm going to examine your post completely based just on your username and user id.

Your id is really high, I can't accurately estimate when you joined, but it must have been recently, so thus you consciously chose your username recently.

Now about your username, it's a combination of three words: mew, shi, and nya. I'm guessing here, but mew is probably Mew, the 151st Pokemon, shi is probably the last syllable of Yoshi, and nya is how cats "mew" in Japanese, and also Meowth's (another Pokemon) basic sound on the TV show Pokemon.

So you say the video game industry lost you a while ago, but your username may very well be a combination of three popular Nintendo characters. Now I can understand if you've had this username a while, but a quick Google search ("mewshi_nya" -slashdot) reveals that it is used only on Slashdot.

That is the end of my examination, I conclude that though the video game industry lost you, you still love your Pokemon.

Re:Eh

[mewshi_nya]

Nope, actually, I'm known as mewshi on IRC because of a weird thing we were doing in a channel one day, where we were adding -shi to words. I said "mew" because it was a channel for, of all things, catgirls, so it came out "mewshi". the "nya" bit is just because I think I registered an account as "mewshi" once... so I couldn't re-register.

I had an old account, but got tired of always having "excellent" karma ^-^'

netcraft confirms it:

[gandhi_2]

2008 was the year of games OFF the desktop.

Microsoft was wise to do a console. PC gaming was the largest source of MS apologists, next to business users (but more militant).

But PC gaming is dieing because of factors like DRM schemes, insane requirements and costs, laptop popularity, and Vista.

2008 was the year that built the coffin, 2009 will probably nail it shut. Linux for the PC, games for the console, mac for the spoiled Emo kids.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Mumpsman]

I agree with everything you said except - Re: laptop popularity - I have no problem playing 2 or 3 year old games on my laptop. Mind you, these are games that I buy at a discount, but they are still A+ titles (just old). I probably just made your point for you but, I've been drinking... "Linux for the PC" - Yep...2009...the year of Linux on the desktop. Indeedy.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[RichPowers]

Yeah, those 11 million WoW players don't count. In THE YEAR 2009!!!1 they'll all use WINE to play WoW in Ubuntu :rollseyes:

The Orange Box sold very well on the PC, according to Valve's Doug Lombardi, surpassing 360 sales. I'm sure Valve wishes they never wasted money on that whole Steam thing; it's clearly going nowhere...

And I'm sure StarCraft II and Diablo 3 will flop. Blizzard may as well throw in the towel.

Someone better tell Stardock that making PC games is a bad idea.

I also heard that Dawn of War II and Empire Total War are being canceled and removed from Steam in anticipation of the great Linux migration of '09.

FYI: PC games would cease being made if they were unprofitable.

But I agree: idiotic DRM needs to go and publishers need to stop blaming piracy for their inability to make good games. I own a 360, Wii, and gaming PC (that dual-boots Ubuntu) and have plenty of great games for each platform. You're missing out if you write-off PC gaming.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[opposabledumbs]

Games seem to be running towards short-and-crappy on consoles. Desktops do seem to be struggling all round, off the top of my head I can only think of 2 major releases to exclusively use this hardware: Spore, which sucked, and the WoW expansion, which isn't really a new game.

But then I prefer older games on my PC, which have stood the test of time and have been shown to be winners. I like to battle the game itself, and not some foul-mouthed 12 year old who kicks my butt by default 'cos his mom uses the Xbox as a babysitter and he can run through every level backwards due to the amount of free time he has to sit in them.

Not bitter about it, though.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[bigstrat2003]

But PC gaming is dieing because of factors like DRM schemes

Yeah, that sucks. That's why I support games like Sins of a Solar Empire, which don't do that BS. Insane requirements and costs: maybe if you want.

insane requirements and costs

Uh, if you have a compulsive need to run games at maximum settings, maybe. I get by just fine on hardware that isn't bleeding-edge, you can too.

laptop popularity

Huh? What exactly does this have to do with gaming, especially considering desktops still far outnumber laptops?

and Vista.

Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and throw down the BS flag here. Your intentions may be good, but you are at the least woefully misinformed. I game on Vista, and it's fine. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying or has been lied to.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Anonymous Coward]

Spore, which sucked,

I've been playing spore fore about ten hours now (which is more than I've spent in a video game since Quake 3 Arena) and I've had a good time. I don't understand why people say Spore sucks when I've watched my friends playing WoW, and I think WoW is lame. (I've played 9Dragons so I'm not totally ignorant to the whole level your guy up to get a new special attack, skill, spell, item or whatever scenario.)

Spore might not be as good as Mario64, or Portal, but I don't think it sucks.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[elysiuan]

If you've played it for 10 hours you've seen the whole game, it literally has nothing else to offer you.

This is contrary to what was communicated (and subsequently overhyped) where spore would feature far deeper gameplay. In earlier version there weren't stats per se for your creature but rather function followed form. The actual shape and layout of your creature determined it's attributes. This got gut to a fairly superficial equipment-esque system.

I think it's going a bit far to say Spore sucked but it certainly wasn't the revolutionary experience that could have been.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Anonymous Coward]

mod parent up

I'm playing DRM cracked Spore (pirated) on a computer with on-board graphics on Vista Ultimate 64 bit (pirated).

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Anonymous Coward]

>Microsoft was wise to do a console.

It was lucky your car burst into flames so we could see it, otherwise you would have burnt to death!

Microsoft is not wise to do a console because PC gaming is in trouble

PC gaming is in trouble because Microsoft is doing a console.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Anonymous Coward]

Yarr!

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Manic Panic]

About all I know for my part is, as long as I am working on a PC, use a PC and have a PC in my house, I will want a game to play on it.

Plus, consoles such as the Xbox 360 continues to lack a straightforward way to upgrade its graphics card, processor, memory, and run two screens with a browser on one side, and a game on the other. (I like to read while I respawn, what can I say?)

And once you can do all those things, why not just call it a computer that hooks up to your TV and uses a controller instead of mouse and keyboard as its standard input device...?
Because really, I'm seeing less and less difference between a PC and a Console with every new generation that comes out.

Even the Wii with its unique controller isn't so strange, which is really more a wireless mouse with an accelerometer and a few more buttons than usual.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Parafilmus]

PC gaming is dieing because of factors like DRM schemes

You have this point exactly backwards. Game developers are moving to consoles precisely because those consoles offer stronger DRM.

Consoles are designed to prohibit the user from running any code not signed by Sony or MS. That's more onerous DRM than anything which exists in PC-space. Publishers perceive this as a strength, because it makes console games more complicated to "pirate."

If anything, gamers and publishers are running toward DRM schemes, not away from them.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[cgenman]

insane requirements and costs

Uh, if you have a compulsive need to run games at maximum settings, maybe. I get by just fine on hardware that isn't bleeding-edge, you can too.

My laptop was 2k dollars 3 years ago. It barely runs Team Fortress 2 at all.

laptop popularity

Huh? What exactly does this have to do with gaming, especially considering desktops still far outnumber laptops?

Laptops outsell desktops, and are generally incapable of proper gaming. See my exmple above. The gaming companies seem to be targeting future theoretical desktops with amazing graphics cards, but lots of people are buying laptops which simply can't run most games at a descent framerate, and upgrading the video card is not an option.

and Vista.

Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and throw down the BS flag here. Your intentions may be good, but you are at the least woefully misinformed. I game on Vista, and it's fine. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying or has been lied to.

I game on Vista too. The problem isn't that games run 25% slower on Vista, the problem is the perception that games run slower on Vista. Why would you create an optimized gaming rig on anything other than XP? That perception just isn't good for pushing the future of gaming.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget about Left 4 Dead, which had 95% more preorders ( http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55618 ) than the Orange Box. Granted, it is not a PC exclusive. There were also quite a few good indie games this year, I think they may be gaining popularity: World of Goo, Audiosurf, Multiwinia and Braid are good examples of this within 2008.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[yotto]

...consoles such as the Xbox 360 continues to lack a straightforward way to upgrade its graphics card, processor, memory...

One of the great things about consoles (and one of the reasons I game almost exclusively on my Xbox360 now, when 5 years ago I refused to even consider a console) is that everybody has the same hardware. Except the TV of course.

and run two screens with a browser on one side, and a game on the other.

I always have my laptop on my table next to my couch while I'm gaming.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[yotto]

The difference with console DRM is that it's transparent. I'm not saying that makes it more right, of course, but it makes it far more bearable.

I don't even think about DRM on my console but I'm afraid to put MUSIC CDs in a Windows computer. That says something.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[arotenbe]

The Orange Box sold very well on the PC, according to Valve's Doug Lombardi, surpassing 360 sales.

Wow! 360 sales! That's particularly amazing, since there's only a world market for five computers.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Manic Panic]

Well, one of the issues with the same hardware argument is that, if there is buggy hardware, and everyone gets it, you get for example, what we had with the red ring of death plague a few years back.

With PCs and Laptops you have something that at least helps mitigate possibly crippling quality issues. Where as with an Xbox360, generally, it was made under one brand. If that console has some technical or quality issue, well, everyone was getting it. With say, a pre-built laptop or desktop, you could mitigate the chances of widespread hardware failures because if you got it from Dell, HP, Toshiba or what ever brand you prefer, chances are they aren't getting their parts from the same sources.

A PC you build at home gives you an even better chance of avoiding this issue since you can look for a good quality component based on past experience. Unfortunately [because I'm gonna hit the Xbox again since its so easy] if something was buggy in the Xbox 360, you either simply did not get the Xbox 360, risked the red ring of death, or waited until they released a fixed version. [Which apparently has been truly addressed in the Arcade version, getting a new motherboard among other things]

If we could say, purchase a particular kind of console from a wider variety of brands, then this would not be an issue, but its unfortunately still controlled by a single source of production.

As far as keeping a laptop on hand, if we're going to count them then I should say I have three screens, as I keep my laptop next to my desktop when I'm at home. Granted, I don't get to sit in a couch, but that's mostly because of how small my room is unfortunately. (if an Xbox 360 came with a bigger room I would definitely be all over that however :) .)

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Anonymous Coward]

Funny this is that im using wine and ubuntu to play wow.... and it graphicaly lags less than same hardware with a normal XP.... maybe i should try tinyXP...

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Manic Panic]

Another problem with a shift to the console that's been getting a lot of press lately is the issue of used game sales.

While the problem of intrusive and or disruptive DRMs leaves players when they shift to the console, developers are being forced to take greater notice of the fact that consoles see a LOT of used game sales, which sees no profit what so ever going to them. Its never been uncommon for people to just wait for a game to go onto the used rack and get it rather than get it new. [it just requires some patience and they get it cheaper, and don't miss any content either way]

Another facet of the console is that you can rent games quite cheaply. Granted, I think this isn't as big a loss to developers as a license of sorts must be purchased to rent the games out, costing a good deal more than the game normally would). This does however, have the impact of letting people try before they buy, giving more than any demo could hope to.

With the tendency of games now to provide short play times while continuing to cost quite alot, these games see a higher turn around, going back onto the used games racks quicker and quicker after release, sold by gamers in order to recoup some of the cost of that game (perhaps to buy a game that hopefully lasts longer than a day or so). Whereas, on the PC, finding used games is rare and generally done between gamers rather than a game store (and non-existent if you consider buying online from sources such as Steam, while seeing an increase in profits when you cut shipping and packaging costs for the distributor)

The idea of having a one use download for the original purchaser, such as the map pack for gears of war, is just one way developers are trying to fight off the growing used games business. A better sounding solution though, is if someone plans to make a game, they work on ensuring the game can be played for more than a day or two. This would naturally see a longer time before games start hitting that used rack. Whether this is through replay-ability, length of story, online content, unending/sandbox content, or episodic content. Perhaps even a mix of the above.

Using quick solutions like a secuROM or forcing people to buy new by restricting the extended content to a one shot code will just upset people. Unless you go out and make sure everyone knows that if they don't buy your game new (it ought to be fun trying to spin something like that into something positive), they won't get all the content, people are going to buy your game used and get pretty upset when they find their missing their final boss or other half of the story. Their intent to buy used anyways may have been a loss to your profits overall, but the next time you put out a game, they won't want it used or new based on the last experience with your companies product.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, because if you haven't had any problems with Vista, then clearly NO ONE has.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Anonymous Coward]

"Linux for the PC" - Yep...2009...the year of Linux on the desktop. Indeedy.

In other words, the same as was predicted for 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, ...? ;)

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[MikeBabcock]

I don't believe the GP was complaining about how DRM doesn't work on the PC but rather that it is invasive and alienates users in a way that console DRM does not.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[redscare2k4]

Why would you create an optimized gaming rig on anything other than XP? That perception just isn't good for pushing the future of gaming.

Yeah! Who needs more than 3.25GB of RAM? Or latest DirectX?

Games in Vista (provided you have a relatively new rig and at the very least 2GB of RAM) run VERY smooth. In fact, Vista with DirectX10 outperforms XP with DirectX9 in many NEW games (fps wise).

Of course, if the question is "could Vista have been much better that it is?" the answer is "hell, yes!". But for new games, which already require a powerful rig, Vista is fine.

I also think that making DirectX 10 Vista only (yes, I know there are unofficial ones for XP, but don't work as well) was a dirty trick (yet another one fo M$). But thats another matter.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Culture20]

With say, a pre-built laptop or desktop, you could mitigate the chances of widespread hardware failures because if you got it from Dell, HP, Toshiba or what ever brand you prefer, chances are they aren't getting their parts from the same sources.

Bad Capacitors

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[cgenman]

When you have articles like this one floating around, vista takes a perception hit. The kinds of hardcore PC gamers who form the financial base of this hobby (and spend an extra 200 dollars for a few extra FPS) would look at the 20% speed penalty and freak out. We're talking about the kind of people who would plunk down an extra 100 dollars for a mouse with 2,000 DPI in order to gain a slight edge. Any performance numbers that put XP above Vista makes it the gaming rig of choice.

DX 10 as Vista only is basically useless, as most games are designed with DX 9 in mind (Thanks, nameless marketing droid!). If I'm not mistake, I believe that Vista 32-bit's support for more than 3 GB of RAM is a trick of reporting, in that it is showing what's installed and not what's accessible.

The question isn't "Is Vista good enough for games?" It's fine. The question is "Is Vista better for games than XP?" Perhaps this is changing, but the answer for a long time has been a simple "no." That no kills a lot of enthusiasm for PC gaming, which is reflected in sales.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Anonymous Coward]

That article you linked to was 1.5 years old. A lot has changed in 1.5 years; in particular, the graphics drivers for Vista are much better than they were.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[BlackSnake112]

Actually there seems to be a trend with the 64 bit vista ultimate being better then the 32 bit vista ultimate. Even with 3GB of RAM in both.

I know a few people with 32 bit vista ultimate laptops who had disk I/O issues. They switched to 64 bit vista ultimate on the exact same hardware and no issues.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Anonymous Coward]

The difference with console DRM is that it's transparent. I'm not saying that makes it more right, of course, but it makes it far more bearable.

I don't even think about DRM on my console but I'm afraid to put MUSIC CDs in a Windows computer. That says something.

DRM on consoles, as far as I'm concerned, is neither right nor wrong. It just is. The main reason for that is that I'm not looking to run anything other than games on a console, so there's nothing essential to screw up. Micro-transactions and Internet-enabled systems are a different story: of course I will be very cautious of a console if there's a chance some company could arbitrarily yoink away my ability to play a game that I paid for. I've yet to see it on a console game (well, on anything that matters to me at least), and I hope I never will. Heck, I still have my old NES hooked up to a TV and games from 20 years ago that I still play. If I could be playing a Wii or a XBox360 game that I enjoy 20 years from now that would be great.

My PC, on the other hand, has essential files on it. I pride myself in keeping it squeaky clean and under my control. Anything that could potentially remove control from me will not even get 5 feet from the casing, let alone installed on my computer. DRM is one of those things; who knows what kind of security hole it could be opening up? Going by articles on SecuROM, I don't see how DRM developers have learned their lesson from Sony's rootkit fiasco. I suppose I could build a separate system for gaming, but what's that? You guessed it, an overpriced console.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Golddess]

Yeah, those 11 million WoW players don't count. In THE YEAR 2009!!!1 they'll all use WINE to play WoW in Ubuntu :rollseyes:

You do know that WoW is available for OSX, right? Obviously, there are not 11 million WoW players that play on a Mac, but your claim that there are 11 million WoW players that play on a Windows OS is flawed.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[snuf23]

While 9 Dragons is superficially a similar game to WoW it has all the bad things about MMOs and none of the good things. Comparing the two is like comparing Doom with Extreme Painbrawl.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Spellvexit]

Perhaps the original poster didn't explicitly mention Macs, but the point was that WoW isn't on consoles, unless you count the Molten Core for the Atari 2600!

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[hansamurai]

I would say that compared to Spore's hype, it definitely sucked. Viewed just as a standalone game, it is incredibly mediocre. I have a review on my site if anyone is interested.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[hansamurai]

I play TF2 on a desktop I built almost seven years ago. Besides adding another stick of RAM (1GB now!) and plopping in a used Radeon 9800 Pro, it hasn't changed.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[PaganRitual]

But I agree: idiotic DRM needs to go and publishers need to stop blaming piracy for their inability to make good games. I own a 360, Wii, and gaming PC (that dual-boots Ubuntu) and have plenty of great games for each platform. You're missing out if you write-off PC gaming.

Idiotic pirates and whiny crybabies need to stop blaming publishers for introducing DRM as though it wasn't in retaliation to a frustratingly high level of piracy of their games. And before the inevitably obvious response, the fact that the DRM doesn't work isn't the point. It never has been.

Having said that, writing off PC gaming is definitely missing out. There are a lot of awesome indie games, complicated strategy games and huge RPGs that are worth playing that simply wouldn't work outside of the PC. Racing games and platform/action titles will still always be the domain of the console, but the true gaming nerd will always need both for the full experience.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Sj0]

The modern games industry came about because of the breakaway success of games like Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, and other massive shareware hits.

None of those games had DRM or copy protection of any kind, yet managed to sell millions of copies in a much smaller market than today.

What's different now from then?

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[Anonymous Coward]

There was a huge schism during the development of Spore- Half the team wanted to make a realistic, complex game while the other half wanted to make a cure simple game for the casual players. The cute side mostly won, but there's still some remnants of the complex side, and it is my opinion that this fued is what ruined the game. If the whole team were focusing on a single goal, Spore might have actually been rather revolutionary. It's a pity that was lost.

Will Wright was on the complex side, by the way.

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[CapnStank]

I have to support the Vista thing here however. I downloaded TF2 last weekend on my regular 'gaming' PC from '06. Played it for about 2 hours without a single issue. For the record it is a 2Ghz PC, running XP professional (Fedora on dual boot but that's not important) Conveniently that PC is in a different residence of mine that I only stay at on weekends so I decided to download it to my weekly PC. 2Ghz Dual core. 1GB RAM, exact same video card as previous said computer, but runs Vista. Couldn't play for 15 minutes before it locked up; not enough system memory. Don't lie, Vista is a hog for unnecessary reasons. I'm upgrading the RAM on the PC as we speak so hopefully that problem goes away. It sucks when you see that your PC needs 1GB extra RAM on the sole fact that you run Vista over a different OS. It is not a big problem to many people who frequent this site but it IS a problem to more casual players!

Re:netcraft confirms it:

[bigstrat2003]

Don't lie, Vista is a hog for unnecessary reasons. I'm upgrading the RAM on the PC as we speak so hopefully that problem goes away. It sucks when you see that your PC needs 1GB extra RAM on the sole fact that you run Vista over a different OS. It is not a big problem to many people who frequent this site but it IS a problem to more casual players!

First of all, I'm not lying. I do game on Vista, and have no issues with it whatsoever.

Besides, anyone gaming on their PC is probably willing to spend the $30 or $40 for a memory upgrade, so I don't think it's fair to call that a barrier of any significance.

Adventure games

[tsa]

2008 was a great year for adventure gamers, with lots of new titles coming out. This will continue in the next year. We will see the return of Chris Jones and Aaron Conners to the adventure genre with their new game Three Cards to Midnight. Also Jane Jensen will finally return to the scene with her new game Gray Matter. We will also see more episodal series emerging.

DNF

[MrEricSir]

The trend of Duke Nukem Forever not coming out hit the decade mark in 2008.

Hmm... 2008

[Dutch Gun]

A few observations:

* All three major consoles are competitive. This is good news, as a massively dominant player tends to get complacent (see Sony/PS2)
* Markets continue to open up. Now, smaller, casual, quirky, and retro games are available on all platforms, not just the PC.
* Despite predictions of doom, the PC remains strong in the online gaming (MMO and FPS) and casual markets.
* Hardcore PC games no longer hold the dominant market position, but it's hyperbole to say it's dead. Fewer PC games from big publishers leaves more room for smaller developers.
* Linux still isn't a popular gaming platform, but still enjoys support (directly or indirectly) from some developers.
* Most games are still DirectX9/10 switchable (and will be for years to come), thanks to a bone-headed move by MS to limit DX10 to Vista.
* Co-operative gaming seems to be having something of a resurgence. I really missed co-op gaming from my Doom II days. Gears of War II reminded me of the fun that can be had in a co-op game with a friend.

Predictions for 2009?

* Sony@Home will flop, but Playstation 3 sales will still likely eat away at Microsoft's lead.
* Playstation 2 sales and games will finally start to fall off more seriously near the end of the year.
* The Xbox will still dominate among console games with an online component of any sort.
* The Wii will remain strong, but sales will probably sag just a bit relative to the other two consoles.
* More developers will finally start figuring out how to make games that take good advantage of the Wii's controllers.
* Online gaming and interactivity will be the topic of discussion in the press, as a slew of new MMOs are released or are close to release by 2010.
* More PC games than ever will be reliant on some online component (some MMOs, some with an integrated online component), in order to combat the effects illegal copying.
* Details will be leaked about Microsoft's next console, codenamed "NoMoreScrewupsDamnit"

Re:Hmm... 2008

[Anonymous Coward]

Predictions for 2009?

* Sony@Home will flop, but Playstation 3 sales will still likely eat away at Microsoft's lead.

Agree with the first statement but considering the economy is getting worse and Sony refuse to price cut the console I don't see (unless the price is cut) how the PS3 sales will improve, if anything they will get worse.

* Playstation 2 sales and games will finally start to fall off more seriously near the end of the year.

Probably about right, though there will still be people with not much money going for this option.

* The Xbox will still dominate among console games with an online component of any sort.

Yep, think this is pretty obvious.

* The Wii will remain strong, but sales will probably sag just a bit relative to the other two consoles.

Probably right, considering the price cuts of the 360. But i would still expect the Wii to have strong sales.

* More developers will finally start figuring out how to make games that take good advantage of the Wii's controllers.

Yes, this is always the case for any console, as developers learn more about the hardware and gain experience, they can use it in better ways.

* Online gaming and interactivity will be the topic of discussion in the press, as a slew of new MMOs are released or are close to release by 2010.

All this states is that as games get released people talk about them, well....duh.....

* More PC games than ever will be reliant on some online component (some MMOs, some with an integrated online component), in order to combat the effects illegal copying.

Flood of MMO's with almost all failing miserably, with the odd 1 or 2 doing reasonably well.

* Details will be leaked about Microsoft's next console, codenamed "NoMoreScrewupsDamnit"

Possibly, and possibly a cheaper version of the PS3 to try and boost sales.

Re:Hmm... 2008

[RogueyWon]

Interesting predictions, which are mostly plausible. As making predictions is always a fun game to play here are a few of my own, broken down by platform...

First, the PC:

* The relatively long lead time on game development will see one or two big PC releases in the back half of the year whose system spec requirements wipe away the upper limit set by Crysis. These games will turn out to be expensive flops (nobody will be buying top-end PCs) and potentially fatal for the companies responsible.

* Pretty much every PC game released will have some kind of DRM. The argument will shift from being "should games be DRMed?" to "what restrictions should the DRM impose?". Limits on the number of activation attempts will become the real split within the industry.

* Console-style controllers will gradually replace the classic mouse and keyboard combination as the preferred method for playing PC action games (oh yeah, this one's going to get me flamed, but just look at the likes of Dead Space).

* As brick-and-mortar stores give less and less shelf-space over to PC games, online distribution will become the norm. Services such as steam and direct2drive will shift their main focus from competing against traditional stores towards competing against each other. This will get ugly before the year is out (but possibly in a beneficial way for the consumer).

* As an outside chance (probably more likely for 2010), one of the major online-distribution retailers will try to impose a console-style mandatory feature set for games sold over the service, standardising control systems and adding features such as achivements.

* World of Warcraft will continue to dominate the MMO scene. Blizzard will announce a new expansion for mid-2010.

* New competitors such as the Old Republic MMO will achieve moderate success, with subscriber numbers in the hundreds of thousands, but will fail to replicate WoW's cultural impact.

* Age of Conan will close its doors in the back half of 2009.

The PS2:

* Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 will turn out to be the last real outing for the PS2. Releases for the PS2 will have almost completely dried up by Easter.

* However, PS2 hardware sales will continue at an unremarkable but steady rate throughout the year, due to families looking for very low budget gaming options during the economic crises and hardcore gamers replacing old PS2s that malfunction, due to the lack of back-compatible PS3s on the market.

The PS3:

* The PS3 will be the overall "winner" in 2009, in terms of improving its sales performance.

* The PS3's hardware advantage over its competitors will finally start to yield some rewards, with PS3 games starting to look noticable better than their 360 equivalents, as developers learn to use the hardware better.

* More PS3 previously exclusive franchises will go cross-platform. Gran Turismo is, I suspect, one to keep an eye on.

* On a related note, Square-Enix will fail to make it to market with Final Fantasy 13 on any platform, with the game's release date slipping to "somewhere in the middle of 2010". The company will face an increasing chorus of questions regarding whether it has completely lost its way.

* Playstation Home will indeed fail. However, Sony will continue to press on with selling more and more full-price titles via digital distribution. This will lead to an ugly spat with third party publishers towards the back end of 2009.

The 360:

* Microsoft will become increasingly desperate to get users to switch to models with larger hard disks, as the most common 20-gig model proves inadequate as a platform for their online strategy. The 20 gig model will be removed from sale, with the "elite" moving to its old price point.

* Microsoft's current habit of buying up as many Japanese RPG makers as they can will start to produce results. As Mistwalker establish themselves as the "new Square-Enix", Japanese gamers will reluctantly get the "adopt or miss out message" and the platform's Japane

Re:Hmm... 2008

[andy9701]

* As an outside chance (probably more likely for 2010), one of the major online-distribution retailers will try to impose a console-style mandatory feature set for games sold over the service, standardising control systems and adding features such as achivements.

Steam is actually close to doing this already. If you ignore the games that are repackaged for Steam (games like Bioshock, Fallout 3) but focus only on the made-for-Steam games, they all have achievements (well, those released after Achievements were added to steam around the release of The Orange Box), and you can press Shift+Tab to bring up the Community UI (Friends list, your profile, etc.). At least I've come to expect these features on a Steam game, and miss them when they aren't there.

Re:Hmm... 2008

[Anonymous Coward]

A couple of notes.

PC games will continue as strong as ever due to the low costs in development.

Gran Turismo will never go cross platform since it's made by Sony.

Re:Hmm... 2008

[RogueyWon]

Technically right on the second point, although I understand that Polyphony is now clenched rather less tightly to the Sony bosom than it has been at the time.

Not necessarily right at all on the first point. The cost of development depends more upon the game in question than on the platform. Developing something like Crysis on the PC, where the engine is built specifically for the game and where the technology is at the absolute bleeding edge will cost more than developing a PS3 or 360 game which uses estaboished technology assets. A large chunk of the development budget for modern games goes on the "art" side and hence is unchanged whatever your platform.

PC games also require a more demanding testing and QA process, due to the number of possible hardware setups. Plus they still tend to end up needing much more in the way of post-release support, which may bring in no further income.

Trends 2009

[contra_mundi]

What trends do you expect to see more of in the next year?

More DRM, more publishers strong arming the used games market.
More angry comsumers switching to consoles as a result.
Online registrations for console games because they are sold used more than PC games.
More buggy releases for consoles, justified with downloadable content (patches) once you have registered online (see above sentence).

Once consoles really catch on, they will experience the same hardships as PC gaming.

Re:Trends 2009

[philspear]

More DRM, more publishers strong arming the used games market.
More angry comsumers switching to consoles as a result.

I've been wondering for a while what portion of gamers actually care about DRM even in the most draconian forms. The consensus on /. seems to be that any DRM is a boycottable offense. The consensus on gamefaqs on the other hand seems to be "n00b! LOL!"

I get the sense that most of the migration to consoles is driven by not knowing how to use a computer/laziness and fewer games being released on the PC, not anything so high minded as getting fed up with DRM.

Online registrations for console games because they are sold used more than PC games.
More buggy releases for consoles, justified with downloadable content (patches) once you have registered online (see above sentence).

Once consoles really catch on, they will experience the same hardships as PC gaming.

Sure, and I think once cars really catch on, they'll start experiencing some of the problems horse and buggies have!

(Yes, I do realize that to be a perfect metaphor, a horse and buggy would have to be much, much faster than a car)

Re:Trends 2009

[mr_gorkajuice]

I've been wondering for a while what portion of gamers actually care about DRM even in the most draconian forms. The consensus on /. seems to be that any DRM is a boycottable offense. The consensus on gamefaqs on the other hand seems to be "n00b! LOL!"

That part made me wanna mod you up. I truly believe that anyone on /. who believes DRM will be the downfall of the industry are failing to realize just how many gamers don't give a rats ass about those couple of CPU cycles consumed by Starforce.

Sure, and I think once cars really catch on, they'll start experiencing some of the problems horse and buggies have!

That part made me wanna mod you down. WTF.
A horse is an animal = living being, requiring care, subject to illness, in possesion of some degree of personality, at it's core functioning because nature made it, and some scientists would sorta like to be able to replicate this.
A car is a machine = cold, dead piece of technology, needs an oil chance once in a while, at it's core functioning because we designed it and we know EXACTLY how it works.
Console = electronic device, performing loads of computations, primarily for the purpose of entertaining you.
PC = electronic device, performing loads of computations, primarily for the purposes of making your life easier.
Point being - horses and cars have nothing in common (except one particular use). Consoles and PC's have everything in common. Your metaphor is not merely imperfect, but useless.
In fact, consoles are already experiencing some same hardships. My Wii occasionally informs me that an update is available, and will warn me that updating a system with unauthorized modifactions, may cause it to break. I also believe I've had a Wii game require me to do an update before it would play.
So, on a PC I need to install some hidden application that will take up a slight bit of my systems resources in order to play the game.
On my console, I need to perform a system update to be allowed to play some game, and if I ever did anything I wasn't supposed to, I might be breaking it in doing so.

Same hardships indeed.
Maybe there's nothing similar on PS3/360, really don't know... but yeah, it appears to be coming.

Re:Trends 2009

[CRiyl]

I've been wondering for a while what portion of gamers actually care about DRM even in the most draconian forms.

Probably a minority but it doesn't make the concerns invalid. Some of more notorious forms of DRM goes beyond merely checking a disc in the drive. It shouldn't be paranoia if one is moved to consider the full extent to what the DRM system does on one's computer. Issues about DRM extend to consumer rights; this encumbrance shouldn't brushed off.

I get the sense that most of the migration to consoles is driven by not knowing how to use a computer/laziness and fewer games being released on the PC, not anything so high minded as getting fed up with DRM.

It is not a lack of ability or "laziness" when people prefer a specialized machine to provide interactive entertainment. People who want to use separate devices for play and whatever else are not performing some morally repugnant act.

Re:Trends 2009

[iainl]

I'm one of the people who moved to console partly due to DRM. Not due to any high-minded ideological reason, but simply because the locked-down nature of consoles mean that the DRM system is standardized and designed for. There's no super-duper untested new version that might have incompatibilities with something else, and even if it did the only job of my 360 is to play games.

On Windows, there's no guarantee that the latest Starforce variant isn't going to have a fight with the latest SecuROM variant over who gets to steal access to my DVD drive away from the functions I actually run a PC for.

Re:Trends 2009

[philspear]

That part made me wanna mod you down. WTF...Point being - horses and cars have nothing in common (except one particular use).

You must be new here, it's essential that you use a car metaphor.

My point was that consoles are already dominant over computers when it comes to videogames, just as cars are already dominant over horses when it comes to infrastructure.

I say it's arguable whether or not consoles are already starting to experience the same problems, but what is not arguable is that "Once consoles really catch on, they will experience the same hardships as PC gaming" is at least 5 years too late.

Re:Trends 2009

[philspear]

I didn't say they were. I myself play games on consoles because I don't want to mess around with computer settings to relax. A lot of idiots on /. would call that laziness though.

Re:Trends 2009

[morari]

It is not a lack of ability or "laziness" when people prefer a specialized machine to provide interactive entertainment.

Yeah, actually it usually is.

Re:Trends 2009

[7Prime]

While I completely agree that DRM is essentially a non-issue in the world of "OMG VDO GAMEZ", I think that there are some extremely ligitimate and obvious reasons that many are switching to consoles:

- Price (of upgrades, upkeep, innitial increase of getting a "gaming PC")
- Compatibility
- Offline multiplayer / party gaming
- Higher attition to single-player gaming on consoles
- Power of Consoles (being much closer to PCs than they were a few years ago)
- Online console games / servies

The reality is, most of the "advantages" that PCs have over consoles are also their disadvantages. Piece-meal hardware makes for better customization, but it makes for compatability and horsepower problems, not to mention, huge price increases. Keyboard/mouse are great for text inputting and FPS control (though I'd argue that the Wii has shown about equal capability that area), however, they're not as ergonomic and convenient for "laying back" (a big consideration for those of us who work all day). Online connection (now practically moot) makes for better multiplayer, however, it makes for buggier first releases, because of patching... it also commonly diminishes single-player development, which is a big no-no to many of us.

The reality is, there are hosts of reasons for either one. Currently, there isn't a whole lot of difference in content, since the mainstream game industry has practically merged the two. Unfortunately, this means a bit of a loss in industry development of single-player games, which is my biggest concern, but asside from that, I think that generally, this generation has been pretty good for console development.

Will 2009 be the turning point?

[Thanshin]

A game can be purchased much before it's released. Based on videos made without a single in-game image, previews and interviews with the designers, people are ready to spend money on a still non existing game.

Will 2009 see the turning point between "Pay to be sure to have your copy as soon as it's out and get some little extra" and "Pay so the game is made"?

I would advance money on many games like Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, Anything that ends in (Total War), etc.

Maybe not everyone can do it at first, just as not every mmorpg can ask for monthly money and expect to finish the game with the massive revenue. But some could start and set the rules of the new trade.

Re:Will 2009 be the turning point?

[Stereoface]

Well in reality, downloadable content is coming at us really fast. And I think there will be a large shift as games start to really feel the affects of piracy on a scale the music industry has. Maybe a refined DRM system, maybe pay-membership downloadable content will completely replace free content. I don't see things getting any cheaper- that's for sure...

Great deal of Steam

[Anonymous Coward]

Gamers' outrage over the DRM controversy built up a great deal of steam over the past year

I see what you did there.

Disagree on the user generated content

[Xest]

"and many developers are banking more heavily on user-generated content, as in LittleBigPlanet."

I understand LittleBigPlanet is very good but I do not see how one game defines it as a trend. Quake series, Half-Life series even Farcry series on consoles have had strong support for user generated content so it really doesn't seem to be something new, nor does one or two games make it a specific trend when one or two games per year realistically seems to be the norm for this type of thing.

I'm not even convinced the retro or neo-retro gaming trend is new or growing this year either, it seems pretty constant since the release of Virtual Console at the Wii's release, Xbox live arcade since the 360 release and the downloadable classics from Sony's Playstation store too.

These are all good things, but are they trends specific to or growing in 2008? I don't really think so.

Re:Disagree on the user generated content

[Justin Hopewell]

Are you saying that the console versions of Quake and Half-Life included map editors? I heard something about Far Cry 2 possibly having a map editor bundled, but I never looked into it. Console gaming has traditionally shyed away from editors, unlike the PC, so games like LBP are actually a pretty big deal and will probably spearhead a new push in console gaming for user-generated content going forward.

Re:Disagree on the user generated content

[Xest]

No, the Quake games didn't on the consoles, I was talking generally.

The original Farcry, Farcry 2 and one or two other games have on the consoles. Games like Halo offer machinima content and such too although that's not gameplay content of course!

Even with consoles only the rate of games released with support for user generated content hasn't grown in 2008 over any other year, this is even more prominent when you factor in other platforms. That's why I'm not sure it can reasonably be called a trend for 2008 specifically.

Thinking about it further though, in terms of user generated content one thing does stand out- XNA community games on Live Arcade for the 360 but again I'm not sure that just because this is a feature released in 2008 it necessarily makes a trend any more than the various indie content tools that have come out in other years make it a trend in those years.

Retrogaming

[FornaxChemica]

I'm hopeful retrogaming's popularity will continue to increase. There's something more in retrogaming than just nostalgia, something that could be also linked to the tremendous success of the Nintendo DS. It's the simplicity, the attractiveness and efficiency of straightforward 2D gameplay with clear 2D graphics. The 360 and the PS3 haven't been unanimously adopted so far; it's because technological achievement isn't everything, people don't buy new games like they buy new computers, based on the performance, systematically discarding the previous machine and never looking back.

Diversity is one of gaming's strength and what comes with the term "retrogaming" is so very different from the modern offering that it possesses a unique appeal and significant assets. Retrogaming is one aspect or category of something broader, that could be defined (and let me coin the word because I plan to reuse it!) as "lightgaming", which has its own rules too, one of which being that the prevalent technology is not a driving force anymore.

Re:Retrogaming

[Sabz5150]

Retrogaming has reemerged simply due to the fact that those games weren't sold solely on mind blowing graphics and sound... the games had STAND ON THEIR OWN. Gameplay, challenge and replay value were paramount. When you had less than a megabyte (sometimes as low as 4 kilobytes) to wedge your game into, visuals and sound often took a back seat. Hell, one of my favorite games is Star Trek for the 2600 where the Enterprise is nothing more than the letters O and I next to each other, but the game is challenging and I'm always dropping that cartridge in my VCS (screw emulation, coke from a glass bottle simply tastes better).

Developers got caught up in what's popular (read: first person shooters) and forgot why people played games in the first place... to have fun.

Elite 4

[Anonymous Coward]

Same for Elite IV which was also announced in 1998...

Bungie Sets Examples

[ObiWanStevobi]

One thing I think is missing from the discussion is what Bungie is doing to console gaming. There are a couple features in Halo 3 that used to be reserved for PC gamers. The ability to edit maps, take screeen captures, and save and review gameplay films is pretty huge in my opinion. Plus their integration with their website for these features is great. Early next year, they will launch their own version of "YouTube" where in game video is automatically uploaded to the user's channel and converted to usable video format.

Now that Bungie has done these features, and done them well, I know it raises the bar in terms of what I want out of a console shooter. I would hope that the ability to edit and share maps, screenshots, and flms becomes a trend in more games. It's great to be able to save and relive fun moments with friends without always running your games through the capture card.

It's hard to see how they wouldn't set trends seeing how Halo 3 still regularly rules the XBL unique user list, even with tons of other big name games on the market, and continue to rule the top of the original Xbox user charts with Halo 2.

You people get off cheap

[Anonymous Coward]

Night out:

cover charge at the door to place: $5-$10
beer (sometimes they have $1 draft night):$1-$5 per beer
'good' condoms (good ones are ones you trust and that she likes): $10-$20
hotel room for the night: $50-$150

Memory of night: priceless

HardOCP

[ConanG]

HardOCP has recommended DX10 on Vista over DX9 on Vista or XP for only one game - FarCry 2. And that was on December 8, 2008.

I think his point stands.

steam?

[Turiko]

Gamers' outrage over the DRM controversy built up a great deal of steam over the past year - Is it just me or was that put in for a purpouse?

DRM blows

[Anonymous Coward]

Here is my whole take on the DRM controversy. I still occasionally play DOS games. I even kept a DOS system around to do so.

I would love to play Mass Effect or Portal or some of the other new games coming out. BUT I am not going to buy any game that requires internet registration. I am not going to buy a game for $50+ that the publisher can simply "turn off" with the flip of a switch simply because "no one plays this anymore lets pull the plug on the server" sort of like what like Microsoft did recently with their music sales scheme.