Where will gaming be in 5 years? 10 years?

[TornadoCreator]

I'm just curious to find out what you guys think will happen to the medium in the next 5-10 years. What's fad, what's here to stay? What prototype ideas will become mainstream? What can you imagine happening?

Of course the future is a big unknown, but I thought it would be fun to get people's ideas on where it could all head. Bonus points for creative thinking and avoidance of cynicism.

Interesting...

I think we're moving towards a reunification of home entertainment.

I think the next 10 years will see a surge in tablet computer use and the creation of a portable tablet, sort of half-way between the iPhone and iPad. I can see this being the next step in computers. With a combination device, the PC, Television, DVD Player and Games Consoles will soon become all one device...

You'll buy a "computer", with a large 40" plus monitor. This will be your PC, but it will also be your TV too, able to switch between TV channels and the computer desktop at the press of a button. This computer will be controlled by two main methods. The Keyboard & Mouse will be available, but a new method will be motion sensitive controls built into the TV remote, which will have a pointer system much like the Wii-Mote. When in "TV Mode" it will switch channels etc. but can be switched to "PC mode" at which point it acts as an alternative to a mouse pointer, and in "Game mode" it can be used to play motion games. This new device will play all games like a console does, you switch to "game mode" and they simply load, something similar to Steam could be used as a method of loading the games, at which point wireless controllers will be used as normal. It's at this point the tablet computer comes into play. Just as with the WiiU, the tablet computer can be synced up to the main entertainment system and be used to control some of the games. This would also allow for games with touch screen controls to be played on the main TV. The tablet however unlike the WiiU would be able to be used independently, it could be used to play games, watch TV or use the PC, by syncing up with the main entertainment system, even if the main system is doing something else. It could also use it's own internal system to play games, access the internet, watch TV as standard tablets do now.... oh and it'd replace your phone too.

This can be seen already with the way the WiiU is being used, the way the PS Vita interacts with the PS3 and the raise in popularity of tablet computers like the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Apple iPad. It won't be long I think, before Microsoft gives up on consoles entirely and makes Xbox a program that runs though Windows. It would give them sudden access to the Japanese market as they don't buy Xbox, but if Xbox 360 games worked in a PC (and PS3 games don't), then people may be willing to switch to the Xbox 360 and use their PC as a games console. If Microsoft do this, effectively blurring the line between PC and games console, while Apple and Samsung are perfecting the tablet and Nintendo and Sony are trying to combine portable and home gaming... it won't be long before all three combine.

A combination between PC and Console, Portable and Home, and Tablet Computing... this is where the future is. Everything with be interactive, everything will be inter-compatible, and where possible, everything will be online and portable.

That's how I see the future.

[TheyCallMeTheSwede]

Skynet.

[elmagicochrisg]

Skynet.

Skynet is an invention of the Matrix...

[Croooow!]

In five to ten years the videogame industry will cater to the third world countries over us in the first world. We all have a firm grasp over what a videogame should be, but for people who barely know what a game is they have the most potential.

With the advent of the 35 dollar tablet now in india, and soon to be other countries download games will be an interesting market over there! How will word of mouth spread over in a country of over a billion people? The downloadable content will be very important. Even if the cost of something to be downloaded were to be a couple of cents, multiply that by a billion! Game companies will make lots of cash!

Not just games but other things in that vein. Controlling all that will be a massive task in itself! Leaderboards, accomplishments and prizes will truely be special.

Gaming companies will have to manage transactions and keep cheaters at bay!

Top games can still be viable for years to come. And even the most banal game will still be downloaded a million times!

I do think the impact of emerging markets on videogames should not be overlooked by producers. I don't see console gaming as it stands being able to catch on in any of those markets due to the current high cost of games and consoles. The real potential profit will come from releasing older consoles in the new markets (eg. PS2 in Brazil) or relying on cheap, downloadable titles (as you mentioned above). The only problem here would be the escalation of piracy and DRM since it is ever apparent in China cares next to nothing for copyrights on physical media, much less digital media. If videogame companies hope to earn a profit in emerging markets it will require a novel way of producing and distributing videogames, and that could have a very serious impact on the industry as a whole.

[Erik_Twice]

5 YEARS

I think that in 5 years we will cross the age of BLAND.

1) Facebook games

Facebook games will hit their peak and then crash when the market shrinks and oversaturation kills it (The crash may happen later but it's root will be in 5 years). People will move to better games,with better production values.

The peak will be very ugly with lots of mistakes by otherwise stable companies that will lead to brand dillution. The winners here will be the single company that can get ahead on sheer popularity and companies that get the good parts of social gaming without the bad ones like Valve.

I think the entire model of the Skinner Box, Achivements and pandering to populism are inherantly inestable. Companies that only do bland will soon find themselves unable to make any kind of profit, being forgotten sooner or later. It already happened in all other industries.

2) Graphics lose against Art direction

While REALISITIC is not going anywhere, many products will find that good graphics don't make the cut anymore and slapping the same bland cute designs found in your average flash game is a sure way to lose against more unique works by other companies.

This will be tied to 1). Art Direction will get better as the market oversatures.

3) Valve enters a Golden Age and gains recognition

Let's be frank, as important as they are I don't really think many developers take Valve as seriously as they should. It's not just that Steam prints money or that their games are incredible but their production process is unequaled in the industry. Many will try to copy their system, with mixed results.

This reminds me of Disney and animation history.

4) Competitive gaming will grow and suffer at the same time

It has already crossed the pioneer stage. Now it will grow better, prizes are already appearing, tournaments can be held on a consistent basis. But there's a double-edged sword and that's corporative involvement.

Most tournaments out there would greatly benefit from the cash and publicity influx the company that designed the game can give but it will also turn them away from it's community roots and become more shallow. The game itself will also suffer thanks to bad rulesets and attemps to make it more flashy.

This is already happening. Nintendo's Pokemon tournaments are notable for awful rulesets that allow all the gamebreakers, killing variety while many modern fighting games see flashy specials and bad throws that hinder gameplay.

Too many companies see tournaments as an excuse to hype their new game, without caring about the communit at all. Of course, this leads to shitty tournaments and resentment when the companies try to take over.

If you are into tournaments you will notice this is already happening. We can all be happy that Nintendo doesn't give a fuck about competitive gaming, it's not hard to see how much they could fuck up Smash Bros.

[Korpi]

Pretty dark predictions you guys have, but I can't say I disagree. Only thing I know is that I personally play less and less new games, and just pick the few good ones, not depending at what point in time the game was developed and released. We are considered specialists now, so we have to look for the specialist stuff, just like you won't find specialist items from nearby super market.

I feel thought that there's room and profit opportunities in the specialist area for smaller companies. It just feels much more inviting to try go for that next iPhone mini-game hit. The big companies have sucked in the smaller ones in the past and now they are making boring, calculated games, no room for creative minds there.

My fantasy is a crash of the whole industry, new beginning for non-profit, hobbyist developers to refreshen gaming. Note the word 'fantasy'.

[J T]

My fantasy is a crash of the whole industry, new beginning for non-profit, hobbyist developers to refreshen gaming. Note the word 'fantasy'.

Non-profit hobbyist developers are refreshing gaming right now. See links in my signature for details.

[saturnfan]

Honestly, in 5-10 years I see the industry changing very little. Video games will largely still be released in a physical format, a new Madden will faithfully be released every year and gimmicky type gaming will continue in earnest.

Standard increases in technology will of course bring obvious consequences. There will be more 3d compatible games, more download games, more DLC, etc.

I do think at some point the industry will crash though, do to soaring development costs because game makers are always trying to push beyond the limits of affordable performance. Eventually development costs will be so much that only the largest companies will be able to make games and the lack of competition will create a wave of average products (in a way, it is already like that). It will be like a complete opposite to the last time the industry crashed (cheap development, flood of crap).

Although I think that will be in more than 10 years from now.

[FerretGamer]

There will be another 5 more CoDs in 5 years.
There will be another 10 more CoDs in 10 years.
I fully expect there to be spin-offs of said Call of Duty games. Call of Duty Zombies will become its own series. Call of Duty Puzzle Attack will follow.

[BoringSupreez]

There will be another 5 more CoDs in 5 years.
There will be another 10 more CoDs in 10 years.
I fully expect there to be spin-offs of said Call of Duty games. Call of Duty Zombies will become its own series. Call of Duty Puzzle Attack will follow.

No no no. The FPS market will be over-saturated before 5 to 10 years, just like what happened to Tony Hawk games and music games,