The Future of Console Gaming

I had hoped to get this post out the same week as the one for PC gaming, but some things got in the way of that. One of those things was the Oculus Rift. Check it out its Kickstarter page, it looks to be virtual reality that the average gamer should be able to afford and there are a number of developers who are backing it. The other thing is the Ouya. A hackable (they encourage it) home console designed to be approachable by indie companies and hobbyists. I'll be doing a write up on Kickstarter programs in the near future as a result of these two products, not to mention the slew of games that have been funded because of it. But this article is about console gaming in general and the potential it has and the changes I foresee in my magic crystal ball (which may or may not be a Magic 8 Ball).

The Future of PC Gaming

With Windows 8 announced to release on October 26th, PC gaming is about to get a bit of a shake up. I won't say that the changes coming in Windows 8 are going to be terrible for PC gaming, but the idea of Valve reaching out to Linux is giving me hope for the growth of PC 'platforms'. Heck, even Apple is looking at letting other companies connect video game controllers to iOS devices. With these developments and changes I thought it might be the right time to talk about where I see PC gaming going and where I hope it might go. Sadly, these things don't always match up.

Deep Thoughts: Ideal Beta

A continuation of my post from last time, I give you my ideal beta test. Much like communism, this will look great on paper but not come close to working properly in reality. Just for sake of argument, we'll assume the game that is being tested is an MMO as those tend to be the games which provide beta tests the most often and with a full scope of the game, while most other games are beta tests of multiplayer material. To start, you have to have the right balance of players, ranging from casual players to hardcore 'raiders' and ranging from PvP fiends to PvE carebears, but that's only the start.

Deep Thoughts: I Got a Beta Key!

Getting a beta key used to be one of the coolest things a gamer could get. You were not supposed to tell your friends that you were in the beta, show them all the cool stuff, and definitely not post screenshots and videos online. How much you broke the rules was up to you and how terrified of the NDA you were. (As a note, seriously, they can sue you for breaking the NDA, watch it.) But over the past couple years, beta keys have become more common, being given out in contests, as preorder bonuses, or for just sending a tweet to the company's twitter account. I'll be honest, I go back and forth on whether this change has been for the better or not.

Deep Thoughts: Game Development by Gamers

Perhaps I've been unaware of unique phenomena among the gaming community or perhaps it's just something that's started to show up in the past half decade: Games being developed alongside the people who are going to play them. You can take DayZ for an example. Though it is currently just a mod in alpha testing, Dean 'rocket' Hall, the game's developer, has said that he's interested in turning it into a stand-alone game, not directly tied to ARMA or anything other game as it is currently (source). A game that is not being tested behind closed doors but  is open and available to the public, with an active community testing, commenting, blogging, and making videos about it. Other indie games have done similar, with Minecraft being a very well known example. The most interesting fact of this, at least in my opinion, is  that even already released titles like World of Warcraft are getting  into the idea.

Deep Thoughts: Going Completely Digital

Welcome to the 21st century where every bit of media has gone digital. Newspapers are dying off unless they go online, nobody buys the newest CD when you can buy the couple songs that you really like, and digitally distributed video games are becoming more and more common. PC gamers have been aware of this for a long time and it's worked out really well on most occasions, but DRM restrictions on their software have been a thorn in their side. That's not to say there's no upside to it, Steam has led the charge for video game downloads for nearly a decade. This is due, at least in part, to their awesome sales. Many a wallet has been hammered by the Steam Summer Sale, and for good reason. With no physical copies to house and ship, Steam has a much smaller fixed cost on each sale, so even selling products at anywhere from 25% to  75% off can still net them a profit. But with streaming systems, like OnLive and Gaikai, that have no physical media whatsoever and EA, one of the industry's biggest publishers, talking about going 100% digital, this could pose a problem.

Deep Thoughts: Peaks and Valleys

Thursday is the night scheduled for Amanda's D&D sessions and she even lets me play. It's a night I look forward to every week because not only is it fun to play with my friends but I get to see the creative geek side of my wife. Far from romantic, as the Dungeon Master (should it be Mistress?), Amanda's goal is to almost-kill the party of heroes made up by our friends and myself. It's this 'almost-kill' that always seems to be the high point of our adventures and, in my humble opinion, the high point of any video game or movie.