With augmented reality and virtual reality making their entry on to the mainstream gaming scene, we are poised to see plenty of changes in 2017. It’s also a great time to reminisce on the old times and discuss how the games industry has changed over the few last years. Many industries evolved really fast, but the changes in the gaming industry seemed to happen at a much faster rate. In this article, we’re going to look at some of the most drastic changes the gaming industry underwent in the last decade.
Bye-Bye Split Screen
Remember the good old days of fighting on the couch with your best friends sharing a tiny little piece of the screen playing Golden Eye? Well these days are no more thanks to the advent of online gaming. Most people play through LANs or online nowadays, and we really can’t complain as it’s certainly much more convenient. However, some of the social aspects of playing with your friends have now gone, and a whole new generation of players will grow up playing online alone.
Digital Storefronts
We also grew up having to physically go to the video store to buy or rent video games. That was still part of the gaming experience not too long ago. Now, thanks to digital storefronts, and vastly increased internet speeds, people simply download their version of any game through the internet. While physical consoles were still trailing behind in this area not too long ago, you can now buy most console games online. This has completely changed the way people buy games and how they’re marketed.
The Advent of Mobile
Mobile technology has completely transformed the world of gaming. In this day and age, everybody has a smartphone, and you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t play games on theirs. This opens the gaming industry to a whole new market. It has also opened brand new opportunities for some gaming sites to make even more profits. For instance, sites like Nugget Bingo now offer the chance to win while playing on multiple platforms.
Nintendo, which did not garner the success it wanted with its last console, announced that their next console will be fully portable, which will completely transform the gaming landscape.
Users will now be able to take their games with them wherever they go and plug their console in once they get home. The new Nintendo console, named Switch, will be a tablet/console hybrid that will be fully connectable to a home deck, which will also act as a charger. Players will be able to play either with controllers, or split the controllers to attach them to the sides of the tablet. This will allow players to play their favorite games wherever they are, without affecting graphics or performance.
There is actually no telling where the gaming business will go, but we can expect more interconnectivity between consoles, mobile and VR devices, and more games using augmented reality as part of the gameplay. This should open up brand new possibilities and completely change the way people play video games in the future.
Yeah mobile has definitely changed the way we play games now, with a phone you can play games anywhere even if you’re not at home. Although the quality doesn’t reach that of a PC or console, I believe one day it will get there.
There is certainly some progress being made but there is still a lot to go!
Honestly getting addicted to mobile games more lately because they’re convenient to play even when I’m out
OWow… what a nice artice… i love reading it … <3
Hopefully you got something out of it too.
Nintendo Switch is a big one and very good thing to happen, there are so many games playable on it and more are coming!
Yeah ! I was planning to buy this platform too but I still don’t have budget for it
I have the same situation with consoles. Would love to get them but I’m not sure if I’d be able to give it justice since I don’t really get time for my other games too lately.
I remember starting on my little gameboy advance. The transition is really amazing!
The Nintendo Switch was definitely revolutionary, but not so much for being “mobile”. Don’t get me wrong, you can still enjoy playing games wherever you want since it is technically portable, but so were Nintendo’s console predecessors (3DS, DS, GBA, GB). I think what made the Switch so successful was that it combined portable gaming with home gaming, creating essentially hybrid gaming, and they did it in such a clever way.
First off, they eliminated having two different markets by having one unified console, so you don’t have one demographic playing 3DS games while another demographic is playing Wii U games.
Secondly, there’s more focus on the gaming experience itself, rather than “power”, which differentiates the Switch from competitors. For instance, you have motion control, detachable controllers, and ways to display the screen (tabletop mode, handheld mode, TV mode), making the Switch quite versatile.
Thirdly, you just have more games. In the past, sometimes games were exclusive to the Wii U and games were exclusive to the 3DS, but the Switch unifies the library of games. And not just that, but the Switch has third-party AAA titles and indie games strengthening the console even more.