Glen Atwell
Shaun InguanzoGaming's Renaissance Era?
July 24th 2008 06:52
Console:
All Consoles
Article:
Other
Score (out of 10):
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Author:
Shaun Inguanzo
Online Multiplayer:
Not Applicable
Have we entered a digital renaissance?
GAME developers are becoming more creative and daring than ever in a bid to capture new markets.
Not by adding more moves to the right analogue stick, either. But by actually rethinking genres and reinventing gameplay - changes which in turn refresh the video gaming landscape.
The Internet, HDTV, convergence of technology and money invested in game development are all factors that have led to this golden period of gaming.
Here's a few examples:
Echochrome
PS3, PSP
Feature: art as game
MANIPULATE the game environment, not the character, by changing the perspective of a Jenga-style multi-level platform.
Like Lemmings, you have no control over where the Echo moves, but say there is a gap between two platforms you can shift perspective so that, behind a pillar, it looks like one continuous platform.
What you see is what you get - a new take on the puzzle genre.
Driving force: digital downloads
Battlefield: Bad Company
PS3, Xbox 360
Feature: fully destructible environments
NO MORE hiding or camping behind a wall to take cover from tank shells - they can break through it and kill you now.
Some people may not associate EA with innovation, but with the company's Frostbite engine offering destructible environments, and bad Company making use of it, we've been treated to something that should be included in every FPS game from now on.
Driving force: powerful hardware
Wii Sports
Nintendo Wii
Feature: motion sensitive controls
WII SPORTS remains the game that you show friends who play the Wii for the first time. Ten pin bowling is played just as it is at the alley, tennis requires you to swing a virtual racquet, and golf requires you to swing.
Now that the Wii is set to be given enhanced motion sensitivity, we can expect to see more precise uses for the Wiimote, such as swordplay.
Driving force: Hardcore market leaving casual gamers behind
Xbox Live
Xbox 360
Feature: Voice chat
LOVE IT or hate it, voice chat is becoming the way to play online games. No more tap, tap, tapping away at the keyboard, and being ganked or fragged as you try to communicate. Simply chat to your team as if you were in the thick of battle. Sounds better and is cheaper than the phone, too.
Driving force: no keyboards on consoles
Spore
PC
Feature: sandbox universe
SIM CITY built the foundations (pardon the pun) for sandbox games, The Sims capitalised on it, but Spore will be the first to truly grasp it.
Whereas the first two had goals, Spore does not. SImply create, thrive and survive, all the while your creatures are being uploaded to a universal server to populate the universes of other players' Spore games.
Creativity is the key to Spore, and like a real-life sandbox, you can create almost anything you like - and watch it be knocked down.
Driving force: The need for fresh ideas
MAG: Massive Action Game
PS3
Feature: 256 player battles
GET READY for the next generation of online shooters, MAG.
Battlefield 2 had 64 player servers, but you'd have to multiply that by four to have the same number of combatants in one game, as MAG will have.
Shrouded in mystery as to how it will work and play, MAG is being developed by the people who brought us SOCOM, so there's the potential for this to be a winner.
Driving force: Gamers' seemingly-vampirical thirst for blood
Singstar and Guitar Hero
PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, DS
Feature: Be a musician without having the talent
SINGSTAR is the only game you can play at a party and enjoy when people are drunk.
I've tried the Wii, tried Halo 3, but nothing comes close to the appeal of Singstar. Now, you can download new songs direct to your harddrive thanks to the Sing Store, and with rumoured wireless microphones in development, it won't be long before we see more than two players singing at once, I'm sure.
Likewise, Guitar Hero is the hardcore gamer's Singstar. Requiring lightning fast reflexes, it empowers games to believe that they are truly guitar freaks who can play the best guitar riffs the worls has to offer. Add online play, downloadable tracks and freakishly difficult end-songs, and it's little wonder why the series has inspired spin-offs involving bass guitar and drums, such as Rock Band.
Driving force: The need for something better, and less embarrassing, than Dance Dance Revolution and Samba De Amigo.
There you have it, a few examples of why I believe we gamers are better off now than we were 10 or 15 years ago. Although I recall playing the Commodore 64, and owning every console since then, there's no way I'd want to fire up Dig Dug when I've got a copy of BioShock or Metal Gear Solid 4. Memories-had are great, but those that are to be had are what I'm pining for.
GAME developers are becoming more creative and daring than ever in a bid to capture new markets.
Not by adding more moves to the right analogue stick, either. But by actually rethinking genres and reinventing gameplay - changes which in turn refresh the video gaming landscape.
The Internet, HDTV, convergence of technology and money invested in game development are all factors that have led to this golden period of gaming.
Here's a few examples:
Echochrome
PS3, PSP
Feature: art as game
MANIPULATE the game environment, not the character, by changing the perspective of a Jenga-style multi-level platform.
Like Lemmings, you have no control over where the Echo moves, but say there is a gap between two platforms you can shift perspective so that, behind a pillar, it looks like one continuous platform.
What you see is what you get - a new take on the puzzle genre.
Driving force: digital downloads
Battlefield: Bad Company
PS3, Xbox 360
Feature: fully destructible environments
NO MORE hiding or camping behind a wall to take cover from tank shells - they can break through it and kill you now.
Some people may not associate EA with innovation, but with the company's Frostbite engine offering destructible environments, and bad Company making use of it, we've been treated to something that should be included in every FPS game from now on.
Driving force: powerful hardware
Wii Sports
Nintendo Wii
Feature: motion sensitive controls
WII SPORTS remains the game that you show friends who play the Wii for the first time. Ten pin bowling is played just as it is at the alley, tennis requires you to swing a virtual racquet, and golf requires you to swing.
Now that the Wii is set to be given enhanced motion sensitivity, we can expect to see more precise uses for the Wiimote, such as swordplay.
Driving force: Hardcore market leaving casual gamers behind
Xbox Live
Xbox 360
Feature: Voice chat
LOVE IT or hate it, voice chat is becoming the way to play online games. No more tap, tap, tapping away at the keyboard, and being ganked or fragged as you try to communicate. Simply chat to your team as if you were in the thick of battle. Sounds better and is cheaper than the phone, too.
Driving force: no keyboards on consoles
Spore
PC
Feature: sandbox universe
SIM CITY built the foundations (pardon the pun) for sandbox games, The Sims capitalised on it, but Spore will be the first to truly grasp it.
Whereas the first two had goals, Spore does not. SImply create, thrive and survive, all the while your creatures are being uploaded to a universal server to populate the universes of other players' Spore games.
Creativity is the key to Spore, and like a real-life sandbox, you can create almost anything you like - and watch it be knocked down.
Driving force: The need for fresh ideas
MAG: Massive Action Game
PS3
Could this be what happens when your squad gets mortared?
Feature: 256 player battles
GET READY for the next generation of online shooters, MAG.
Battlefield 2 had 64 player servers, but you'd have to multiply that by four to have the same number of combatants in one game, as MAG will have.
Shrouded in mystery as to how it will work and play, MAG is being developed by the people who brought us SOCOM, so there's the potential for this to be a winner.
Driving force: Gamers' seemingly-vampirical thirst for blood
Singstar and Guitar Hero
PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, DS
Feature: Be a musician without having the talent
SINGSTAR is the only game you can play at a party and enjoy when people are drunk.
I've tried the Wii, tried Halo 3, but nothing comes close to the appeal of Singstar. Now, you can download new songs direct to your harddrive thanks to the Sing Store, and with rumoured wireless microphones in development, it won't be long before we see more than two players singing at once, I'm sure.
Likewise, Guitar Hero is the hardcore gamer's Singstar. Requiring lightning fast reflexes, it empowers games to believe that they are truly guitar freaks who can play the best guitar riffs the worls has to offer. Add online play, downloadable tracks and freakishly difficult end-songs, and it's little wonder why the series has inspired spin-offs involving bass guitar and drums, such as Rock Band.
Driving force: The need for something better, and less embarrassing, than Dance Dance Revolution and Samba De Amigo.
There you have it, a few examples of why I believe we gamers are better off now than we were 10 or 15 years ago. Although I recall playing the Commodore 64, and owning every console since then, there's no way I'd want to fire up Dig Dug when I've got a copy of BioShock or Metal Gear Solid 4. Memories-had are great, but those that are to be had are what I'm pining for.
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