14 DAY TRIAL // Dudes like to predict and analyze stuff (when they're not playing video games, of course). There are people who look into their crystal ball and see when the PlayStation 3 finally beats the Xbox 360, others know exactly when the next-nex-gen consoles are released, when Microsoft introduces Blu-ray support and when PC games are completely dead (even though nobody seems to know when DNF will be released). We all love to predict stuff like that and, since it's just a prediction, nobody can slap us with a poke cane if we're completely wrong. That's why I will join the "dudes like to predict" thingie and take you to a quick trip to the future, trying to see the gaming world in... 2070, let's say. Would you like to join me? Hop in for the ride together with Softpedia!
So, here we are, a random Game Center in the distant future - wires and blinking leds everywhere, huge screens with Matrix lookalike data being processed and a huge shelf filled with HD-ray game discs. First, we'll see the regular titles: EA's FIFA 2070, NBA 2070 and The Sims 25; Activision only has Guitar Hero God VII (the 47th title in the franchise) and Call of Duty 29 (the cover reads: "There was one more battle in the WWII you didn't know about!"). As we look closer, we can also see other familiar faces: Final Fantasy 82, Mario and Sons Football (it appears that they play against Sonic's Sons team) and Mortal Kombat vs. Barbie Universe. Well... things are not that different in the future, it seems...
However, the Game Center looks empty. The Matrix-like screens are working, though and I can smell games. I can also hear "Lolz" from different cabins, hear others screaming stuff like "You g** as*****! F***!" and I can tell for sure that it smells like pizza and coke - the gamer's meal. Yup! Things are not at all different.
Of course this "all the same" thing can't be 100% true. There are lots of different things. First of all, there are no controllers, no consoles, apparently no physical hardware - only chips implanted in one's brain, only 3D glasses (real 3D, not like the stuff we have now) which actually put YOU in the game world. Games are no longer virtual reality - they are an alternate one. A guy that looks like Jack Thompson blames games for turning everybody intro a pacifist. "They are all playing in the alternate realities, murdering one another, shooting, killing, and doing all sorts of crazy stuff there! No murder was reported for 16 whole years now! Something must be done! Ban violent games! Ban the industry!" But nobody seems to listen to him. Yup... I can see the similarities.
If we check a newspaper in 2070, we'll see the following headline: "Microsoft releases sales figures: Xbox Blazzz80 outsels Sony's PlayGenie 4!" and somewhere in the lower left corner: "PlayGenie 4 will win the console war by 2080, CEO claims". I see nothing about a Nintendo Wii. Probably people got bored of casual games, after all. Or Wii Fit 5 upset the whole planet by saying that everybody is fat. Oh well...
Still... the most interesting thing is the huge "Abandonware" bin. You know, the games so old and crappy that nobody wants to play anymore. And it makes me laugh when I see the abandonware titles: Crysis, GTA IV, Halo 3, Too Human, Duke Nukem Forever, Diablo 3, Gran Turismo - to name just a few. Would people really consider there titles old and crappy like... anytime? Yup, it seems they will. As we did back in the early 2000s with the revolutionary Dune 2, Doom 1 and so on... Strange but true. So, it's not THAT different.
Still, I like it here more than back in 2008 - all the games are so real that people start complaining real life is too boring and unreal. Also, the concept of Artificial Intelligence doesn't exist anymore - only human players populate the game worlds (it's true... some of them still get stuck in front of a wall or keep staying in front of you when you want to shoot, but nobody's perfect) and there is not a single human being that doesn't play games anymore. Actually, dogs are so unhappy because nobody takes them out for a walk that they have started to meet in underground labs and plan to take over the world and un-plug the power cable for good. What's even funnier? People found out about that and their only response was: "Cool game! Bring it on!"
In the end (as a post-conclusion thing I like to do, here at Softpedia): I know that writing about something like "the future of gaming" would need hundreds of pages and a lifetime of industry studies and I have none. Also, I am too damn lazy to write everything that crosses my mind and I am absolutely sure that even if I had tried to do so, I would've still missed a lot. That's why I have intentionally "punched" a few of the most important things (in my opinion) in the gaming world today. So, instead of complaining about the lack of depth of this article (oh, yes, I'm sure you can hardly wait to do that!), use the form below and fill in the gaps! Just imagine how awesome it will be for all of us to build together a clear picture of the "future of gaming". Maybe somebody will read and do something about it.