I went to the year 2000!

We finally travel into the 21st century and video gaming is at an all time high for popularity and as a major hobby. Its amazing that over just 50 years we have come from a tube that creates light, to black and white dots on a screen all the way up to high definition  realistic and even in some cases 3D graphics, along with huge amounts of storage for memory and it is all compressed into such small consoles and handheld devices. Games with graphics as good as the PlayStation 2 can now be played on mobile phones, they are literally one hand-sized consoles (well, practically.) However, it may be amazing knowing how far we have come but we still have much further to go, there are still many problems plaguing the industries and even the players. 

Many of us who now study games design understand how expensive video games are to create and how much time and effort it takes to get them right, yet most people of the public do not understand this and as the prices constantly rise for a single game it becomes harder to get enough profit from a game hence why many gaming companies now seem to continue creating sequels and prequels to well known series, such as Call of Duty and Assassins Creed. 

So lets start with what I know, "The Big Four" as I call them, PC, Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox. Walk into any game shop and these will be the four main areas people will be browsing. Xbox I believe rules supreme due to it's huge player base, being the most affordable console on the market with such a huge range of games it tends to be the most desirable. However it has its drawbacks, such as the subscription fees to join and remain a member of Xbox Live, when the PlayStation 3 offers the same services absolutely free! The main issue with the PlayStation Network is that it tends to get hacked much easier than other consoles. The PlayStation also offers similar game standards as the Xbox with realistic graphics, high memory and easy to use controllers - Seriously, what were they thinking with the N64 Controller? Apparently people grew a third arm and hand at some point, unless you were meant to use your feet...

The Wii was incredibly desirable when it was first released, as it offered an experience no console had before (but some individual games had) which was the built in camera with motion detection, meaning people could experience the game by literally standing up and shooting, or batting the ball.  However people quickly realized movement was not needed as people could easily laze across a chair at sofa and "bat" the controller, it worked pretty much the same. This was obviously seen as a threat by rivals Xbox and PlayStation as they then went ahead and created their own version of the Wii's motion detection, namely the Move and Kinect. I foresee that Nintendos hold on consoles is severely loosening as they seem to be unable to keep up, as the Kinect and Move offers the same motion detection gaming with no controllers at all and still much better graphics. Nintendo seem to be trying to hold on by re-releasing favourite games such as Mario and Sonic. But we will see what is in store when they later release their "Revolution.

            

 However, when it comes to handheld gaming the Nintendo DS, or their newest, the 3DS. Another revolutionary little device in the face of gaming, although majorly overlooked as technology grows within recent years. It offers the player a chance to play games in 3D without the use of 3D glasses. However for many this had many problems, such as the causing of headaches. It also meant that release for games on the DS was highly limited meaning people had to buy the new 3DS to keep up with the release of games.

I would see companies in the future still increasing the prices of games as the cost of development increases and the competition for the best graphics, memory and overall popularity continues. Smaller gaming companies may become bankrupt due to lack of funds as smaller games get less attention and advertising as the well known series, in the end leading up to the possibility of another crash similar to the one of 1983. However I cannot read the future, we will see as we grow older how gaming will advance and what will come next.