Ok this blog has been getting a little neglected, not only am i behind on a few due to the reading week confusion, the posts i have done weren't given my full attention. I shall endeavour to put more love into later posts. So let's crack on...
In the present day, video games are massive. The industry has grown exponentially. Development costs are in the millions, more and more talent is demanded of those working in the industry as technology rapidly improves and thus talent must match that increase. An example would be that of a game artist, as graphics improve, the pressure to present increasingly realistic concept art arises. For programmers consoles are getting more complicated and the scope for what can be done in a game is ever increasing. From the early days of the PS2 which saw the release of GTA3 the last 8 or 9 years of games have been truly something special. The PS2 itself was a massive success propelling Sony into dominance and by the end of that generation developers were making some fantastic games on the system as they were able to fully utlise its potential. Many cite God of War as the last truly great game to come from the PS2.
We also saw the introduction of the Xbox from Microsoft which was an interesting move, because despite a clunky controller and coming quite late to the game, it did suprisingly well. It also brought us Halo which became a gaming phenomenon in it's own right. Say what you will about the game, it is however massive. Nintendo's offering of the Gamecube seemed to fair worst of all that generation for which it's not hard to see why they did what they did next.
The current generation saw the Xbox 360 have an early release which payed off perfectly. Although it had a slow start, the important thing to remember is that by the time the PS3 came out developers were beginning to optimise development for the 360 and that's were all the best games started to be. The PS3 is renound for being difficult to develop for - highlighted by multiplatform games usually being far glitchier on the PS3 than their 360 versions. Having said that, the PS3 is undoutably more powerfull and i think in the future it will come into it's own.
Nintendo of course have released the Wii. A stroke of genius on their part. Personally i think that if they hadn't have been floundering so badly with the Gamecube they wouldn't have gone off on this tangent. All this talk off innovation and emphasis on the way we play games, it's just good business. Had the gamecube done amazingly well we'd still be playing the Wii with a controller and it'd probably have better graphics too. I guess you can say this for Nintendo - they've got a good eye for opportunity. Good business really. The Wii has broken many boundaries between gamers and non gamers bring casual gaming to the masses. It has become a cultural phenomenon.
Right now we are on the verge of the next big leap in gaming. Either that or it will stall. Nintendo are running with their different methods of playing and now Microsoft has jumped on the bandwagon with Natal. If Natal works anywhere near as good as the demo made it look it will be immense. It could however be rubbish.
Gaming has to grow and develop otherwise it will stagnate. Some modern games are truly awesome such as Bioshock but not all are and there is the question of what next. The pressure is on the shoulders of Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony to raise the bar yet again. But in reality how much more can they do? Of course being a potential employee of this industry, the pressure now lands on me. Great. As a game artist, no sorry, just as an artist in general, it's going to be a challenge to bring something more to this already tried and tested medium.
As a gamer, my single favorite game of this generation has been Assassins Creed. Now the story was awesome, the graphics were awesome, the gameplay was fun albeit repetetive but most of all the art was outstanding. It was so inspiring to me that i produced my final piece for my AS level art exam based around it. However personally i feel like good games have begun to die out and i hate to say it but these days i probably play guitar hero and rockband mostly. With an absence of games that draw me in, i turn to the rythm based games for a challenge and that's what keeps me coming back. I miss great games, but maybe i'm not looking hard enough, but they don't seem to be around anymore. Any game i play now i feel as if i have played it before. I long for the days when i used to rush out to the shop to buy a new game and run home and sit for hours becoming immersed in the story and truly having some sort of experience. Games used to influence my art and i miss that too.
Right now i'm looking forward to Assassins Creed 2. Just the thought that i might be as engaged in a game again as when i played the first one excites me. Other than that i don't really have much in the way of dreams for the future. Maybe i'm getting old, maybe i've just gotten out of the loop, or maybe it's something else. I don't know. All i know is, that in 5-6 years time gaming will be unrecognisable.
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