First person shooters, abbreviated as FPS, is a genre that has taken over gaming. The biggest franchises are all presented through the eyes of the protagonist. Whether it’s fighting a future war, or waging and old one, this genre represents billions of dollars for the industry each and every year. That being said, it’s clear that gamers are starting to get fatigued. The latest Call of Duty trailer has the most dislikes of any trailer ever, while the Battlefield 1 trailer has the most. What does this mean? What’s the future of FPS games? Time to find out! The State of the Union These days, if you walk into a video game store, you’re going to find more varieties of first person shooters then flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Several of them have annual releases, and others spend several years incubating before they are released. Among all of these shooters, competitive online multiplayer represents one of the biggest motivations for gamers to pick up a copy. Personally I play for story, not for keeps, but to each their own. I can’t deny the popularity of multiplayer in today’s FPS games. Take Blizzard’s new IP Overwatch. This game is a team-based competitive shooter. No campaign, no storyline (except for one told through videos outside the game). All of this, and people eat it up like it’s made of gold. There’s no denying the popularity of it. Some games have taken this to the next level. Destiny, for example, is a hybrid MMO-shooter that is always online and always getting new updates, events, and expansions. The publisher, Activision, wants the game to last ten years and plans to keep it updated all the while. While not first person, Ubisoft’s The Division is another game that has blurred the line between a massively multiplayer game and a shooter. While these are in the minority now, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that more shooters will take this hybrid approach and keep people online with their friends throughout the experience. The FPS genre is in a state of experimentation right now. It’s unsure of where to go next, so it’s dipping toes into all kinds of new ventures. Some work better than others, but it’s clear that innovation is in order. I could be something as simple as a setting change (looking at you Battlefield 1, WWI certainly is a change of pace). Or, it could be a move towards more integrated, massively multiplayer experiences. Throw in the rise of virtual reality, and you have the recipe for change. New mechanics and cool settings aside, where is all of this going? It’s time to look at the paths that the first person shooter genre could take. Where Do We Go From Here? 3 Ways FPS Games Could Change Forever I’m no time traveler, but I see a few ways this can all go down. When it comes time for the PS5, what will the average FPS look like? How will it … Read More
10 Gaming Trends Today that are Influencing the Future
The PS5 is coming, but what form it will take continues to be an object of discussion. To truly predict the future, we would need a time machine, but I think we can all agree that trends can easily lead to standards. Looking at what the industry is doing as a whole gives us a unique and exciting opportunity to see where everyone’s heads are at. This kind of knowledge translates to predictions that we can use. So, without further delay, let’s take a look at ten big trends in the gaming industry right now, and what they mean for the next generation of consoles. Using 10 Trends to Predict the PS5 Keep in mind that these trends can suggest a number of things about the PS5. In some cases, it could affect how we’ll play games on the PS5, or it could affect the types of games we’ll see on the new console. In each case, these trends cause ripples in the gaming industry that lead to other effects. We can’t rule any of them out. Let’s take a look, shall we? 1. Virtual/Augmented Reality Much like how Microsoft and Sony fought the Blu-ray and HD-DVD wars of old, the two are at it again. Sony has PlayStation VR (previous known as Project Morpheus), and Microsoft has the HoloLens. Both are devices you wear on your head that change the game entirely. In the case of PlayStation VR we’re looking at total immersion in another world. You see the game all around you, and you can look in any direction you like as if you were standing there. With the HoloLens, the world in front of you changes or molds to the game’s needs. What does this say for the future? Well, it shows that controllers may not be the gold standard for how we play games in the future. It shows that we may be using other devices (like a headset) to control our games. Whether or not that headset transports us to another world, or augments our own, remains to be seen. 2. Games Come to Life With the rise of things like Skylanders, Disney Infinity, and now Lego Dimensions, it’s clear that games are extending beyond just a disc. We’re seeing toys that interact with the games more so than ever. It’s a 3 billion dollar industry now and still counting. Something that makes this much money isn’t going anywhere. On top of this, we’re also seeing cross-media experiments. Take the Defiance game for example. While the show has since been canceled, the online game ran parallel to the show while it was running. Projects like these that bridge the gap between television and games are starting to emerge as well. From a business standpoint, this increases brand exposure. From a gaming standpoint, it brings the games out into our daily lives and incorporates them into our world. Don’t be surprised if you start interacting with your movies or television in shows on the PS5, or … Read More