The Future of Games --- And Why We Keep Coming Back For More

I checked out the video that Mr. Bolos wanted to show in class today, Jesse Schell's talk at DICE 2010 on the future of games. He went in depth into the ideas that Bolos previewed to us. He gave many examples of this world that he thought would soon come to be, such as games on the back of your cornflakes, advertisments being beamed into your dreams, pedometers in shoes, a computer to keep track of how many Dr Peppers you drink in one week. I think this is quite an interesting point that Mr. Schell makes, in that many things are being turned into games and you can find games almost anywhere nowadays. Our world may very well be headed in this direction, and I wouldn't necesarily be surprised to see some of these things emerge in the near future.

Now, I'd like to switch gears for a minute. Bolos talked about how certain video games draw people in unique ways, such as Call of Duty: World at War's Nazi Zombie mode, where you essentially board yourselves up in a house, and unload on a literally endless tide of nazi zombies. However, there are a few distinct ways to get a game to sell and draw people in. One is innovation, trying to do something no one has ever done before, think Guitar Hero, Grand Theft Auto, Assasin's Creed, and Rock Band. Another is reputation, basically resting on your laurels, think Halo, Call of Duty, and Mario. Because face it, Bungie could put Halo on a shoebox and it would probably sell like, half a million copies before anyone figured out what was up. Yet another is pretty much copying an idea, and trying to do it better, or at the very least releasing that copy in between sequels of the copied. Think Dante's Inferno and Saint's Row, which are both pretty succesful yet are complete rip offs of God of War and Grand Theft Auto. So I guess my point is, it is pretty easy to figure out the sales tactics and selling points of a game and make an informed decision on whether or not it is worth your hard earned $50 or $60 bucks.

 I also found Sam Gotlieb's Cracked.com article. The article talks about why we are addicted to video games, and one point that stuck out to me went back to today's class about "experience points". It talked about how games dangle prizes in front of you, and make you "pull the lever" in terms of acquiring that prize. Whether it is a shiny new sword, a new cow in Farmville, or looking forward to picking up that weapon you've always wanted in Call of Duty... you will have to play more to get that prize. And to get that prize, in most cases, you will have to pay. Another particularly striking point. This is that companies are moving away from the once simple "here's 50 dollars" "ok heres your game. have fun", but with the onset of online play the game has changed. From games that charge 15 bucks a month, like World of Warcraft, to services like Xbox Live which  also charge you 15 bucks a month- the extra fees for the "complete experience" are everywhere. However, on Xbox Live you pay that 15 bucks you can play any game, from Need for Speed, to Halo, to Lego Indiana Jones online. And this is why Xbox Live is so expensive, Microsoft doesn't care if all of their millions of subscribers are playing just one game, they still get 15 bucks a player in subscription fees. So if you're like me, and only play Modern Warfare 2 online, with the occasional other game, Microsoft is milking us for all we're worth. However, there is another way to make money off of online services, and that is companie selling thier games in pieces, as downloadable content. For example, Bethesda Softwork's Fallout 3 sold very well. However, at first glance it would seem that the company didn't finish the game. This is because they released a total of 5 downloadable pieces, all priced at $10 a pop. Thats a total of $50 for those who downloaded all 5, and if most players downloaded at least 1, maybe more, maybe all 5... that's just a ton of money. So after reading all of that, which I doubt you did, you might think that video game developers and companies are evil... which they're not... mostly. They're just trying to get from paycheck to paycheck, and a genuine few are out to make a quality game that will make their dedicated fans very very happy. Every once in awhile a game will come along that is superb beyond belief... like Modern Warfare 2, and you will want to thank the brilliant minds that engineered that masterpiece.

P.S: So, if you have read this far, I would very much appreciate it if you commented either on the first part... where do you think our world is headed in terms of video games?/ Is Jesse Schell right, or is he criminally insane? Or the second part, what do you think about the experience points concept, subscription services/ downloadable content, video game addiction, or about modern games in general?
P.S.S: (Yes, I'm aware that I kind of sounded like a nerd that whole post... but whatevs)