Wait, Was That *Supposed* To Happen?

You know, it’s interesting how thirty years ago the very notion that video gaming was a passing, failed fad seems laughable today. But to be honest, if it hadn’t been for the timely arrival of Nintendo way back in 1985, it just might’ve been. Since then many different trends have happened along the way, both good and bad. Some of which we couldn’t imagine gaming without. Some bolstered by hype and nothing else. Some we wish never existed at all. And some we thought would never happen but did.

While a few have become industry norms, others were (sometimes rightly enough) forgotten as passing, failed fads as the video game industry slowly diversified from its embryonic rebirth into that which it has currently matured into by today’s standards. Whether it be from having a game made of 600 polygons into 60,000, or from the confining spaces of the old cartridge units towards the more flexible Compact Discs, let’s take a look at some of these trends, and some of these fads, to see if they’re still hangin’ around.  

Polygons

The Hype: As time goes on and the processing power of computers and home consoles becomes stronger, it allows creative developers the freedom to offer players more detailed, nuanced character models. With the use of polygon morphing, texture meshing, and real time imagery scanning, players will experience characters and worlds almost too real to believe!

The Reality: It became an industry norm. When you compare the 8-bit character models from the early Nintendo years to what it eventually morphed into by today’s standards, they look downright simplistic, even archaic. The Mario you’ve seen in the old Super Mario Bros. looks completely different from the character it later became in games like Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 3D World. Every PC and console generation attempts to push this limitation even further, with some developers claiming that, through the use of this newer hardware, they’re able to create and craft secondary items so detailed that it would’ve just barely fit on the CD and hardware a mere console generation back. But exactly how far we’re able to push those limitations remains to be seen.

The Verdict: Current Trend

Force Feedback AKA The “Rumble” Effect

The Hype: Now feel even more immersed in a game when you feel the rumble in your hands respond to the recoil from a weapon, the ground shake from a nearby explosion, or the approach of that gigantic monster intent on gobbling up your stalwart hero. With force-feedback, you’ll never game the same way again!

Reality: Eh. Yes. I mean at times the rumble feature, which started off as this bulky add on device for the original Nintendo 64 controllers, actually worked fairly well at immersing players more into the game than not. Probably its most important contribution to gaming is that it’s become a pretty standard built-in feature in all console control devices since its introduction. In fact, the current generation of PlayStation and Xbox still uses this feature in their controllers.

The Verdict: Current Trend

Voice Acting

The Hype: My fellow champions longing to be heard; for too long we have stood stoic and silent, protecting and preserving worlds and universes over a multitude of consoles and personal computers. But we shall be silent no longer. Now we rise up with professional voice-acting talents that could rival any Hollywood blockbuster film star, and these worlds and universes we once protected shall take heart in hearing our voices for the first time ever. And lo, our enemies shall cower in the dark when they hear the roaring battle cry of…

The Reality: “That Wizard came from the moon…”

“… then I took an arrow to the knee.”

“You were almost a Jill-sandwich.”

… … Okay so maybe we still have a few… er, kinks in the writing department to work out. But it’s still nice to hear your character speaking and emoting and, depending on the voice actor, really taking command of a narrative scene when the time calls for it. In fact quite a few voice actors have become celebrities in their own right. Troy Baker, Nolan North, Jennifer Hale, and Tara Strong just to name a few. And honestly, who doesn’t want to hear their favorite character voiced by legendary or prominent film stars from time to time like Patrick Stewart or Kiefer Sutherland?

The Verdict: Current Trend

3D Gaming

The Hype: The future of gaming is 3D! Don’t just experience the games you play, watch as the action literally bursts forth from your T.V. screens into your living rooms!

The Reality: For a while game companies swore that the future of gaming was in 3D. But prohibitive prices on 3DTV systems and clunky visual headsets didn’t really help push that idea forward for long. In fact many developers have either forgotten it existed, or are busy trying to distance themselves from it altogether.

The Verdict: Forgotten Fad

Downloadable Content

The Hype: Sad to see your gaming experience come to an end and wish you could keep fighting the good fight? Now you can! With optional DLC packs you can experience the story once again from new and different perspectives. Put some new life in that old game and relive the worlds you loved with new chapters, characters, and experiences! What are you waiting for?

The Reality: Well, it’s a mixed bag. At times we can get little extra tidbits that extend the life of your games (and actually helps keep gamers vested in the series in between full on releases) and are actually worth the purchase. Like the Burial At Sea DLC, Dawnguard DLC, The Tyranny of King Washington DLC, and so on. Of course, then there’s the turd-in-the-punchbowl items like Day 1 DLC, the useless “Bling” DLC (Horse Armor anyone?), On-Disc DLC that locks certain characters and chapters from players, and microtransaction-infused “item pack” DLCs that suck the joy out of gaming in the first place. Because it can come across, depending on developer or publisher, as an exceptionally greedy attempt to shake every last dime, nickle and penny out of your wallet.

The Verdict: Current Trend. You know, speaking of DLC…

Microtransaction-Fed Free To Play Games

The Hype: We here at “X” Developer are so creative that we can create games free for everyone to play! It’s totally optional if you want to spend any kind of money to bolster your playthrough of our free-to-play game. It’s a Triple-A experience without having to pay a dime! It’s a dream come true for everyone!

The Reality: Huh. More like a nightmare. Between pay-to-win schemes, “expiring” item sets, and extended time limit deals, roughly 95% of the “free” to play games out there can cost players even more than a full on retail-priced game. In fact it’s not unheard of to hear about “micro” transactions that cost a hundred dollars or more. In fact, the 100 dollar “Ultimate Package” microtransaction was one of the core controversies surrounding the release of Angry Birds Go! a few months back. I mean, in theory, you could never touch any of the in-game stores and never pay a dime for the game itself. But the sneaky, underhanded nature of the game means you’ll be forever grinding that first free level for hours, days, or even months before you’re able to make any sort of positive progression.

And that’s what developers play off: youthful impatience. Don’t want to spend ten hours breaking bricks in EA’s new Dungeon Keeper? No problem, with only a Real Dollar purchase of (item X) you can cut down the cost of breaking that brick to just 1 hour. What? Still not fast enough? Well, we have just the thing for you… And that’s how they get you.

The Verdict: Greedy, Unwanted Industry-led Trend

Compact Discs Vs. Cartridges

The Hype: With more powerful consoles capable of handling bigger and better game engines, the need for voice acting, and the sheer size of some gaming worlds, the limited space in standard game cartridges just isn’t enough anymore. Now, with the advent of the compact disc, players will be able to experience massive sprawling worlds, cinematic musical scores, and Hollywood-level video game cinematics.

The Reality: Well, yes. It was inevitable. True, with old game carts you didn’t have to worry about long loading times, and they were more durable than the more easily damaged/scratched game discs. But you also have a very limited amount of color pallets, available storage space, scaled-down musical scores, and limited, almost non-existent draw distances on game cartridges. In fact, carts were notorious for this “distance fog” because their processing power was not enough to render far-viewed distances properly. Also, compact discs are cheaper to manufacture than cartridges. So it was a no-brainer, really, for software manufacturers to trade out the faster load times of cartridges for the greater storage capacity and lower cost of compact discs.

The Verdict: CD’s win. Current Trend

However…

Digital Vs. Physical Games

The Hype: With so much memory and storage space packed into today’s computers and gaming consoles, it’s so much better to simply download the games you want directly to your chosen rig. And hey, with the extra space you’ll have after getting rid of your old physical games, now’s the time to get that eighty inch HD TV you’ve always wanted but never had the room for it.

The Reality: You know the old saying, “Old Habits Die Hard?” Well, I’m one of those people who enjoy actually holding a physical copy of a game and knowing that, when I get through experiencing it as much as I’m able, I can trade it in for a newer game. That’s not to say Digital Downloads are the bane of my existence. In fact, I think it’s a vital lifeline for many indie game developers out there. Without having to front the cost of making physical copies, these indie devs can save both cost and time in making their various titles. And I’m actually looking forward to downloading and supporting some upcoming titles from these same developers in the near future. Personally, I’d say that Digital Downloads are in their infancy, and on a personal level I can see it as an option, rather than the standard. That may change over time. But for now, I can see both physical copies and digital codes co-existing peacefully enough.

The Verdict: To Be Determined

Game Rating Boards

The Hype: Now that gamers are older and more mature, they want better and more mature content. With the implementation of committees like the Entertainment Software Association and the Entertainment Software Rating Board, now we can regulate the growing concerns of these more mature gamers by monitoring each and every game and designating appropriate viewing, playing, and buying restrictions so as not to upset consumers who think that violent, bloody games like Mortal Kombat shouldn’t be in the hands of the ten year old li’l Timmies out there.

The Reality: Early on, some gamers thought that the ESRB was going to be the death knell of gaming as a whole. But surprisingly enough, it helped bring order to a very chaotic landscape. Before the ESRB, most big time publishers and developers were left to rate games on their own, and Nintendo’s draconian, almost iron-handed restrictions were what helped its chief rival Sega gain the upper hand in the gaming software department for a good long while. You can almost say that the ESRB allowed games like Mass Effect, The Witcher, and Heavy Rain to exist in the first place.

And honestly, would you rather put up with the restrictions that the ESRB enforces, or have it overseen by a government-backed department that our own U.S. government is still fighting to have implemented even now?

The Verdict: Thankfully, Current Trend

Virtual Reality

The Hype: Gamers are meant to experience and immerse themselves in a game, not just play it. Now, with cutting edge technology at hand, gamers can finally step into their favorite virtual worlds and live in them. Don’t just watch your wasteland hero stride across the post-apocalyptic landscape on your TV, but EXPERIENCE it as you were meant to!

The Reality: So far, a lot of talk and past disappointments. I mean, the last real attempt at Virtual Reality gaming happened with Nintendo’s Virtual Boy; a heavy, clunky, headache-inducing failure. And while the promise of the Oculus Rift wowed some fans (and even some noted industry gurus) over to the idea of a finally-promised virtual world, the reality is we just don’t know if it’s worth it or not. I mean, we don’t even know how much something like this is going to cost the average consumer. Or even if all the hype that it’s generating will eventually fizzle when the reality finally hits us that it just might be a buggy, expensive, migraine-inducing reminder of why it failed before. We just don’t know yet.

The Verdict: To Be Determined. But Fad (for now)

Too Old To Be A Gamer

The Hype: Hey gran’pa, I heard 1977 called, they want their Pong back. Get out of here you old geezer, you’re too old to be playing Halo multiplayer. Here’s an idea, how ’bout you go on the porch and play Knitting Simulator? I hear it’s all the rage with people your age.

The Reality: No one should ever be judged by how old they are as a gamer. No one. Just like no one should be judged by the color of their skin, or be treated differently because of their sexual orientation, their religious beliefs, or gender. Rather, a gamer should be judged by how they treat their fellow man. And anyone who thinks a person is too old, too brown skinned or too female to be a “true hardcore” gamer, please feel free to do humanity a huge, huge favor: find the nearest, highest ledge that you can find and jump off it.

The Verdict: Fad

Now get out there and get your game on grandma.