Into the 2000: From Here to Eternity
Fellow gamers welcome back to ‘Rule of Thu’um’ and thank you
for visiting.
Just to recap, we spoke about the Birth and progression of
the computer during the roaring 20’s-50’s. we have also discussed the birth of
the gaming industry throughout the 70’s-90’s. As gaming enters the 2000’s our
train journey through video game history must come to an end with this blog.
Ladies and gentlemen I present to you, ‘Into the 2000 millennium; Welcome to
tomorrow/ the future.
Yes, this is the 2000’s the new millennium, a world of
wonder and new possibilities lie ahead of us, but just how far has the world
progressed over the past decade. In order to the era began with a bang as a
meteorite hit the Tagish Lake, Canada. Sadly, only a year had past when the
world stood still in shock as it watched the centre of our global economy, the
world trade centre, disappear during the 9/11 terrorist attack. Immediately
after the invasion of the Middle East by the west began, which author Rahul Mahajan
dubbed in his book as ‘The new crusade’. Ultimately, the cold war had
ended but the new war had begun and is still prolonged- the war on terror.
Contrary to this sombre topic, the global economy has been
improving significantly. Firm Daily Reckoning has stated the global economic
growth doubles in 10 years, stating “it’s almost twice the size of a decade
ago”. Likewise in 2000 global GDP was $32 trillion the British Mega Bank forecasted,
“next year….it could rise to $46 trillion, “. Furthermore the bank went onto
discuss “There was a significant contraction as a result of the global crisis
and global economic recession (downturn of the global economy). However, today
our world is back to its pre-recession peak”. What I found interesting is the rise of 3rd world countries
despite the recession. I’m focussing mainly on the BRICs: Brazil, Russia, India
and China. China especially, who are most renowned for their impressive
economic growth figures over the past decade.
Therefore, as skinny tummies filled up- Jeans and trouser-wear
did the opposite. Skinny Jeans or rather ‘skinnies’ and leggings have become
the latest craze in dress fashion. At the same time the 90’s long messy hair
has become straighter and shorter and so have women’s dress attire (no perversions
intended). At the same time, music began
to get less ‘funky’ and more electronic. The rap world was growing, and saw its
first millionaires- ‘Puff Daddy’/ ‘Jay-Z’/ ‘Snoop Dogg’/ ‘Dr. Dre’ etc. on a
social level, Ethnic minorities, women and LGBT groups were and are still
gaining better opportunities in their lives, with the increase of social equity
and cultural understanding but more
importantly and increase in ethnic diversion across borders.
Media culture is flourishing over the past decade and this
is also to the rapid elevation of innovation in the technological industry.
Apple revolutionised the music industry with its first ‘Ipod’, released in 2001.
It was very significant, due to its size, weight and user friendly interface. I
think iTunes is very impactful because this digital store format may have potentially
have led to, Steam’ or ‘Origin’’.
What is more, as the media industry grew, it expanded in all
matter of ways. News stations were able to cover every event on the planet,
live coverage became more prevalent. Moreover, as technology advanced, so too
does out understanding of this universe and each other, scientist are
discovering new stars planets and even extra-terrestrial beings! (Although,
microscopic). Yet, true scientific breakthrough, lies within the mars ‘Curiosity’
rover discovery. “Surface soil on the red planet contains about 2% water by
weight, meaning ‘astronaut pioneers could extract roughly 2 pints (1 litre) of
water out of bio-cubic foot of Martian dirt they dig up”, according to Laurie
Leshin from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. 
This is brilliant; just imagine life
on mars, how fascinating this prospect could potentially be. Developers ‘Violition
inc’, explored this theory with their first person shooter- Red Faction.
(However, it didn’t bode well for humans)
As discussed in a previous blog the gaming industry
progressed greatly. Gaming giant Nintendo had already dominated the gaming
market at the start of the millennium with its 1995 console ‘Nintendo 64’. The console was of the first of its kind
introducing a 3-dimensional gameplay experience as opposed to its 2D ancestors.
It may be speculated that, the n64 set the bar for modern gaming. From my
perspective its creation is fundamental because it brought virtual reality a
step closer to realism- which is practically portrayed in contemporary video
games. I found ‘Super Mario 64’ an all-time favourite, (especially squishing
mushrooms in 3d- I hate mushrooms).
In spite profits driving technological advance in gaming,
the industry remains volatile. Like the 1980’s crash, 3rd party-video
game developers release ‘one-hit’ games like THQ and Naughty Dog, who
subsequently, compete the profits away. Ultimately, the knock-on effects will be
flattening of revenue streams.
On the other side it was commentated
that , despite these economics “ many casual gamers and in gamers have been
developed and many have become popular and successful, such as ‘Braid’, ‘Pez’ ‘Limbo’
and ‘Minecraft’: games are also made for mobile phones and social network sites
e.g. Facebook game developers Zynga raised in excess of 300 million”. I believe
this comment forecasts hope for the gaming industry, but may not for the
conventional games that we would expect.
In response to higher development costs, game companies
outsource to worldwide locations to reduce cost and increase profits. ‘Virtuos
games’ is an example of this occurrence. The company’s projects include
‘NBA2K12’ and ‘Ghost Recon: Predator’ as well as impressive conceptual art has
been developed by a multinational team of artists based in Russia and China.
However, outsourcing has Juxtaposing effects
on the industry however. A likely benefit is lower costs to firms, which would
help to keep firms in the market and also provide jobs to people like me. On
the other side, outsourcing could have disadvantages such as language barriers between
employees, which could hinder production. It may also bring a gaming market out
of a country, taking away jobs and a miss use of talented gaming employee’s.
Several months later, Sony reduced Nintendo’s reign over the
market with eh PlayStation one. This
happened, due to its utilization of the optical disc and
release of legendary titles e.g. Metal gear soli, Final Fantasy, Crash Bandicoot,
Resident evil, twisted metal,
Sony’s release … unleashing of the ps2 in 2003, dominated
the gaming market. To date, it has the highest sale record in the gaming world
(according to statistics), a sale of 155 million units; this even outnumbered
the Xbox 360. One gamer stated from, the release of iconic games such as burnout,
ICO, Shadow of Colossus “the previous generation of blurry n64 games and clunky
ps1 polygons were obliterated in an instant”. Furthermore, Sony turned the
optical disc into a useable DVD in the ps2- created a greater feel of
entertainment. However with Sony seeing success “Microsoft stepped up to the
plate, for their slice of the rapidly expanding gaming Industry Pie”. Despite,
bad reviews from the east and commentary that the Xbox appearance of
“compressed computer and the controller a “jacked potato”, the console was
still able to make a significant impact in gaming history- due to the
introduction of in built live online gaming. Moreover, titles like ‘Jade Empire’,
‘Beyond Good and Evil’, ‘odyssey’, ‘star wars Knights of the old republic’ and ‘Halo
combat evolved’ matched the PS2 games punch for punch.
As a response to the ripple in gaming,
Nintendo released the ‘Gamecube’ in 2001- adding a more casual feel to gameplay
and entertainment- contrary of its hardcode competitors. It was sure to impress
with ‘Super Mario world’, ‘Star wars rebellion squadron’ and others.
All 3 made a subsequent impact in the gaming industry but I
believe it was the competition that h these major companies held between
themselves which sparked the urgent need desire to improve games in order to be
a success. The gaming industry truly adopted Charles Darwin’s theory of
‘survival of the fittest’
As games progressed, so too did they expand to handhelds and
across borders. For the gamers on the go, gaming firms shrank their consoles to
fit inside the pocket. Although, the
Atari Lynx (1989)
was the first handheld console, its predecessors-
the ‘Gameboy’, Nintendo Ds, PSP and Nokia Ngage were all developed in the
2000’s to give home gaming some fresh air. Personally, I believe it’s a step
forward for the gaming industry, but I think the handheld console will
eventually be dominated by the mobile phone gaming market. This is because this
particular industry has been flourishing over the past years especially with
the surge of smartphones, IOS + Android software. Popular games like ‘Hill
climb racing, ‘Cartoon wars, ‘Doodle Jump’, ‘Fruit ninja’ and ‘Angry Birds’ are
very addictive, easy of course to play games which provide entertainment for
all ages.
I found one comment that a teacher made during a lecture
pretty amusing: ‘A.birds’ is shooting shit, at shit’.
In terms of expansion, Ps2, Xbox
original, Xbox 360 (2005), ps3 and even Nintendo Wii (2006) (as well as the Pc)
explored the capabilities of modern gaming on a global scale with online
multiplayer and MMORPGs. The concept of large scale games was sure to bring the
gaming community ever closer. The moment I play online, I am zoned in with many
associates, like-minded, unlike my flatmates.
Second generation commenced with the
spread of multiplayer. New games such as ‘world of Warcraft’ and ‘Runescape’ , my
childhood favourites showed the gaming world how immersive virtual
entertainment can be, however, my only quarrel with games like these (and ‘Dota’)
is they are very addictive, leading to gamers spending hours upon hours playing
at a time. There was one case of a person starving to death as they forgot to
feed themselves. At the same time, there seems to be a diminishing return in
terms of effort put into these s games, I was playing ‘Planestside’ 2 for 15
hours (not straight) and all I could afford was a puny muzzle extension for a
weapon. MMO games, struggle to create a greater reward for gameplay.
Furthermore, those that you have to pay for feel are leeches on your wallet.
For these reasons unless they were to go free-to play like Guild Wars or give
the player higher rewards (I’m looking at you Sony online entertainment) the
future of MMO’s looks bleak and insecure to me.
In lewt of the technological advances
within the industry, the gaming industry was in a particularly awkward state,
the demand for top notch games to match next gen, consoles increased and the
development costs past onto developers for the production of their video games.
An example of this would be the enhancement of gaming graphics. Just look at
games like ‘Killzone’, ‘Skyrim’, red dead ‘Dues ex’, batman ‘Arkham city’, ‘God
of War 3’ and ‘GTA V’ etc. these games have made me come close to tears because
of how utterly beautiful they are,. Yet as said before graphics do not make a
game.
‘The Sims’ released in 2000 was the
first of its kind to introduce a relatively similar/ terribly different
simulator of life. The game was a very popular game because of its ability to
stimulate life-like decision making and events, whilst allowing players to
design a personal character close to them or establish a character contrary to
you. The possibilities where of a wide variety (however, dated technology
proved that outcomes weren’t unlimited). The game conveyed perpetuating conundrums
of real life such as marriage, love, hate, death, jealousy and blinking child social services.
Development costs will continue to
rise in order for games to appear more real, but at the same time gameplay will
progress as well. Take the game ‘Black & white 2’ (2005). Developers ‘Lionhead
studios’, make you a God, who must rule over an instable kingdom, however
wither you rule with compassion or with an iron fist is up to you, like Sims
the possibilities and decision making is up to you. However unlike Sims, there
is a karma system, where all of your decisions have a consequence. This
includes your creature’s attitudes to life or even manipulating your city’s
birth rate. My only issue with Karma is, the outcome of doing good deeds outweigh
evil deeds, almost giving the impression that they want you to do good deeds
(evil is good for me). From my perspective, the decision making is key in gameplay
and its significance is expressed in many modern day games. This concept allows
the player to feel as if they are taking up a greater role when playing the
game, contrary to the early games of the 80’s and 90’s which would pull you by
hand to an unvarying end.
2006 Nintendo released the Nintendo Wii; I believe this was
a very successful device mainly because it was different. Next to the Xbox and PlayStation
it approached the market in a different light. First off it went for a UK selling
value of £100 upon release. The console was a small light rectangle and the
controller required more bodily movement to function, (compared to the Xbox and
PlayStation controllers) which may lead to more fun and healthier players.
Furthermore, Nintendo were clearly thinking of family as a target as a variety
of their games were less sever, more casual and easier to play. This would go
especially well for families with small children. I tip my hat to them, Nintendo;
hit the hammer on the nail with the Wii. My best experience with the Wii is definitely
playing ‘Warioware Smooth Moves’, to which I recommend that you buy.
The influx of the big 3 and pc’s has led
to a competitive platform war, subsequently stimulating ‘the battle for video
game supremacy’. On a social level, games adapt concepts from out contemporary
society. ‘Modern warfare 1 +2’, ‘Counter-strike’, ‘Operation Flashpoint’, ‘Arma’
and ‘Battlefield’ address ‘The war on terror’. Moreover, the ‘Fallout’ series
investigates the after effects of nuclear warfare. On a social level, ‘Black
and White’, ‘Dishonoured’ and ‘Amnesia: Justine’ explore humanitarianism.
Lately, ‘Gears of war 3’ and ‘Call of duty: Ghosts’ has incorporated women to
their games and ‘Grand Theft Auto’ has included homosexuality within their
games e.g. ‘The Ballard of Gay Tony’.
Only this Month has the XBOX One and
the PlayStation 4 have been released. Gameplay footage is stunning. That is all I will say about this, for now.
There are so many questions to ask about the unpredictable
future of the gaming industry. It’s a scary thought but it’s also exciting too.
Thus, I shall conclude by saying, now is truly the best time to be alive!
‘Welcome to the future!’
References:
Folks this is just my opinion not fact, all contrary
arguments are welcome.
(Written by Denzil Forde)
Like, comment, reblog
Game on!
