Last Sunday I explored the evolution of games and society throughout the modern era. In that exploration I came to a few conclusions about the current state of games. These conclusions namely being that society's views of games have less to do with games and gamers and more to do with growing changes in society brought about by the end of an era and entrance of the information age. These changes in society are thoroughly linked to the technological developments endemic to the modern era. The rise of the computer and internet along with wireless telecommunications and globalized media have resulted in the disjointedness of a new society struggling to reconcile the traditions of a century past with the new realities of the present. The state of games is thus hinged upon the loss and need for self identity. And it is this search that will ultimately decide the fate of games as the medium wholly representative of this brave new era.
Part III:
The Great Beyond
2011 to the Future
The year is 2011, and the first decade of the twenty-first century has come and gone. This year is marked as one of the greatest and most anticipated years in gaming history, rivaling that of even the Great Golden Year of Gaming 1998. Games have finally matched market penetration on the same level as that of movies and books, with 67% of American households playing games. In the past decade alone we've seen blockbuster titles such as Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Halo, and Grand Theft Auto 4 skyrocket to the top charts of all entertainment media. Now the average gamer is not fourteen, but thirty-four and has played games for over a decade.[1]
From Facebook to the PS3, gaming has become synonymous with the new generation.
As each new generation rises, more and more are games and gaming seen less as just "games" but more as integral parts to one's identity and culture. Games have reached the point where they have begun to transcend the simple entertainment that they had been defined by for so long. Today one could show a "non-gamer" a game such as Braid and not only would they be able to pick it up easily but be moved by its art and narrative.
The barrier of entry that had for so long left so many in the dark about the nature and state of games is finally being broken. The gamers of the last three decades are now raising gamers of their own while the casual games market brings in even those of older generations into the fold, acting as a bridge into the more mainstream games from the simpler puzzlers available on nearly every electronic device.
As the initial shock of the information age and its raucous changes fades, we are already seeing society mature into this new era. The new tools and utilities of social networking and wireless telecommunications have allowed people further apart to remain closer than ever. No longer are old grade school friends left out of touch as they fly to the four winds in high school and college. The constant fiddling and typing into cellular phones and computers is no longer the sign of errant individuals seeking refuge from reality but rather the sharing of reality with others. Society is slowly altering its previous image of this new era from that of a virtually disjointed reality to one where virtual and physical media mesh into an even stronger weave of reality.
And as this image of the new age changes so too does their view of games. In the past several years we've seen some of the first emotionally driven games brought into the mainstream market, with such innovative and experimental titles as Heavy Rain and the blockbuster Mass Effect series. It is then appropriate that in this year the Smithsonian announced its intention to build an exhibit dedicated solely to the artistic merits and influences of video games. And tellingly, the moment they opened their servers to voting on which games would be shown, gamers around the world flooded their site crashing their servers with the unprecedented load just for a chance to give their long waited vote on the artistic qualities of each game.
But while these developments have worked to greatly improve the state of games for this era, the future remains in the hands of generations to come. Just as the youth of the 1980s defined the first state of games so many decades ago, the youth of tomorrow will decide the state of games for the future.
[1] http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_Essential_Facts_2010.PDF
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