Drew, Over time, no matter how long a game has been out, something always comes out that lets new people jump on board, while still letting veteran gamers enjoy themselves. Super Mario RPG came out at a time when complicated games like Chrono Trigger, Lufia 2, and Final Fantasy VI were supreme. Yet, SMRpg was an easy game to learn for anyone, yet was fun enough for the veteran audience. Games like PokeMon are another example. Guardians Crusade was an attempt at one. They're like stepping stones. Start simple, and move into the big leagues. In ten years, if we aren't pointing to kids and yelling that we were happy when Game Boys were black and white AND heavy, then I think RPGs will still be there.

-Mike Drucker

"When the Drink button was pressed it made an instant but highly detailed examination of the subject's taste buds, a spectroscopic analysis of the subject's metabolism and then sent tiny experimental signals down the neural pathways to the taste centres of the subject's brain to see what was likely to go down well. However, no one knew quite why it did this because it invariably delivered a cupful of liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea." --The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I believe this may best describe what will happen if the next decade's video game creators attempt to mainstream video games and blur genre lines. Basically, I see these theoristic future games' elements split up like a pie chart...however large the fan following for the specific genre is, that's how much the game will feel like that kind of game. They will be games that will be almost, but not quite, entirely unlike {genre X}.

I really don't think that the industry will turn out this way, because mainly it's just stupid. (Sorry, Drew! But the idea is pretty far fetched..) People know what they like, and companies are going to give it to them. Damn, I'm thinking of so many analogies for this right now, it isn't funny.

Just look at cereal. Go ahead, look! Drive to the grocery store and head to the cereal isle. It's mainstream. It's got it's own isle. But look at all the varities! There's cereal for kids, adults, adults who act like kids, kids who act like adults...there's cereal for the sweet tooth, the health nut, the price concious, etc, etc! Those companies aren't going to get together and try and create a cereal that everyone will love! They'll lose money! Another reason is, that this cereal doesn't exist!

The point of this all is that everyone has their own tastes. People want what they want, and they don't want the next guy/gal's wants to impose on theirs if they can help it.

Personally, I see the future as what we have now, but bigger! Invariable, more people will begin to play video games, and they'll become more and more mainstream. I also see new genres rising up, not just retooling or joining of old ones. If the industry's going to continue, they'll have to! It will only take so many monster sim/RPG crossings before we begin to get bored. We've got the creative people, we've got the mind expanding drugs, so let's get out there and create some new genres! Think -outside- the box. Those early game pioneers sure did, otherwise, the only genre we'd have would be little ships flying around in space, shooting other little ships. Where has our imagination gone? Perhaps into a pokeball with our level 99 Mewtwo? Think, people, think! Otherwise, we'll be doomed to a life filled with Nutri-Matic machines that constantly feed us some cupful of liquid that are almost, but not quite entirely, unlike tea.

-Aaron Littleton

I've been through the desert on a horse with no name, and really...how cool is that?

Hey.

On the topic of what Video Games will be like ten years from now; it's an interesting question. First, consider the technological leaps. Whatever medium will be used, will games of the future take up such large amounts? Even 4 or 5 DVD's seems enormous (Except for a completely Hi-Res FMV game with *many* hours to it, but will that make for interesting games? From what I've seen of those types of games, no), so what will the genres be like then, if all of them still exist? 200-hour RPG's with hours of FMV and full voice-acting? Perhaps. But that type of game (To be *good*) would require a very large budget, and many years to complete.

What about other genres? Fighting games with 100 characters and no story, or 10 characters and a great story? Or both (which, again, would require massive amounts of time and effort to work)?

On the aspect of time and money. If this is the case to make successful games, how will upstart game companies succeed? Or will the developers with the most money thrive? Games with the graphics of Lunar:SSSC (In some genres) still have some chance for success today, but what about then? I see some people look at Lunar, and say, "The graphics suck," and don't even bother with it, and I see some people notice the great story, and enjoy it. What about ten years from now? Even with cutting edge technology at a low price, will it be possible for developers to create "good" games on a non-massive budget? It all depends on what gamers want, and what developers deliver.

So, in closing, there are many possible outcomes, but, will they be for the better? Just something to think about.

-Tyler

Dear Drew:

Well, you asked, and thus you shall receive! I predict that in the future, games will become more mainstream, and much like other mainstream industries, the gaming industry will be flooded with crap. Yes, thats right! In 10 years, when playing on your Super Duper Playstation 4, which can handle over 4 billion polygons a second (easily outclassing the inferior Dreamcast 3, which only handles 3.5 billion polys a second), you will have a sudden desire to play your old SNES.

While playing your old SNES, you will discover that other than the large number of crap games that come out in the future, games haven't changed very much. Sure, every generation spawns a new sub-genre or two (think "Survival Horror"), and produces a few truly innovative titles, (think Metal Gear Solid, and maybe FF7), but other than that, the games are pretty much the same.

With this deeply profound thought in hand, you realize that life isn't so bad after all.

Unless you're a graphics whore. Then you aren't satisfied. Ever.

-Sugoi

PS: I wasn't bashing the DC. It's cool. I think people focus on poly pushing power too much.

I'm peering in my crystal ball, bought at a deep discount on Black Rose Street in Meribia after Royce split town, and trying to see the future of gaming. Damn thing doesn't work, so I'll have to make this up as I go along.

First off, Drew, I recently eclipsed the age you'll be in 10 years, and I still love gaming. A lot of my friends do, as well, everything from Crash Bandicoot to sports sims. I particularly like RPGs, because there's a story to follow, and I think that's where the future of the industry rests.

Greater numbers of new titles have stronger story elements, even platformers and racing games. These stories allow us, as gamers, to leave behind the occasional drudgery of our lives and indulge in a bit of fantasy. This is the same thing that's sold movies for a century and novels for five centuries. That hunger for story is as essential to our well-being as dreaming. It inspires and moves us, and provides mental stimuli beyond our limited means.

I think we're going to see more and more cinematic games and more complex stories, with a few straightforward platformers and rhythm games for the younger crowd. The ultimate end will be total immersion gaming played out in a lifelike 3-D world, but that's years away. See Star Trek: TNG or Red Dwarf to get an idea of that. I just hope the technology shapes up soon.

-Pilcrow

The Future of Gaming

The future of gaming is a big question mark. Who's to say what will happen? The gaming industry is very fluid and dynamic, but at its heart, it is an industry of entertainment. So when I think of video gaming and its future, i take a look at its closest relative - the movie.

Entertainment requires more than a few years to penetrate the mainstream, so anyone who thinks that video gaming will remain childish based on the past decade is foolhardy and shortsighted. The movie industry's fledgling years were very much similar to gaming in spirit - they were designed to be grasped by an audience that didn't expect much. The technology prevented movies from being long, and at the beginning, without sound, so the first movies were silent comedies that could be understood with little dialogue. Take for example, the 8-bit action games, which were merely jumping and running. They were limited by the constraints of technology.

Because of the limited technology, movies were seen as a children's diversion - mature people would seek out concerts and plays to entertain themselves. Just as it was with video games. However, technology changes, and so does the audience. Movies became color, and with sound. Thus movies enter a whole new area. Movies such as Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane - these movies became a familiar name to all. Movies had jumped out of being a kid's genre to being wholly accepted mainstream. Video gaming, with FMV and increasingly powerful 3d technology, are also becoming more viable. I don't think that anyone can honestly say they've never heard of FF7 or Mortal Kombat.

However, video games are not truly where movies are - for they are still partially regarded as a kid's genre. Just as some people said the same when Casablanca was released. It's because a nongamer's first experience with games tends to be how they view them for life. Really, if the first time you saw video games was when your little cousin was hopping Mario across the screen, usually you will tend to associate that with video games. Imagine:

Gamer: Have you played Metal Gear Solid?
Nongamer: A video game? I dont play kid's stuff.
Gamer: It's not for kids. It has a deep and intricate story line.
Nongamer: I bet you think it does. Just like Mario hopping, huh?
Gamer: Really, it's not like that.

Now, at this point, two things can happen. The nongamer will try Metal Gear Solid, and like it. He might play more games, and might be what you call a gamer. Or he can blow off his friend and change the subject. Now how many of you have had conversations like this with your nongaming friends? (Assuming you have any :) ) As long as there are two camps, gamers and nongamers, gaming will not enter the mainstream.

Now we come to the future. As always, I see a parallel to the movies - there will be two camps. One, the large companies (Square, Sony, Capcom) will produce "Blockbuster" games with large budgets and flashy graphics -like FF7 and Metal Gear Solid. I believe in these types of games. They attract nongamers to play video games. One who plays FF7 might seek out other games of the genre, and come to love them. Then there is the second camp. Small developers will create small games that may not sport the flashiest graphics, but innovate in new ways of gameplay, creating new genres and melding them together. No matter how good blockbuster games can be, the small games will be the innovators and the genre-breakers. This is the same dynamic front that movies are drawn from. With multiplayer making gaming more social and thus more socially acceptable, and advances in sounds and graphics making gaming pleasing to nongamers, mainstream penetration does not lay far behind. I say give it two or three years, when the new systems come out. Then we'll be there.

-Legion007

Howdy Drew, my man. You and I go a long way back. Anyway,

Gaming upgrades will not stop until you can not tell the difference between a game and reality. I know that you look at the systems sitting on your desk right now and think that it won't happen on those. Well, I agree. And it won't happen on the "PlayStation2", "Dreamcast", or "Dolphin" either. Mainly because you will only see the game on a teevee screen. Do you remember back a few years ago, when a little thing called Virtual Reality came out? Sure, that graphics sucked and the VR faze didn't last very long, but your view of the game was all around you. If you raised you physical hand, the virtual hand would raise. If you looked up, the game view would tilt up. You get the idea. When the day comes of having life-like graphics (we are pretty much there already), and VR type stuff comes back, companies will work on that until the only difference between a game and life is the consequences of your actions. Can you imagine playing a future "Final Fantasy" game on a system like that? (Yes, Final Fantasy will be around forever ... it has to. *sniff*) You would be playing as the main character, holding a butt load of a sword, and swinging it at the enemies, taking off hit points. And by then, life like blood and gore too; cause let's face it, our morals as a country and as humans are plummeting down. The only thing that would tell you that your playing a game would be that, instead of being arrested and thrown in prison, you would hum with the victory tune and grab the man's gil. Or until, you mom walks in your room and hits the power switch. Then and only then, will gaming companies stop developing new hardware, and finally develop a decent game or two.

But, you asked about gaming in the next 10 years ... the crap I'm talking about is FAR off, so ... sorry. I messed up. Just wait about 20 years down the road when you ask the 10 year question again and then you can use my letter. For gaming in 10 years though ... I have on freaking clue.

-The one who speaks bad about "They" all the time.

Ten years from now, Satan will have long since claimed the earth, and God will have taken His lambs to Heaven in the Rapture. Demons will run the earth, terrorizing its people in a neverending Hell. Obese, socially inept gamers will be forced to run along precariously balanced I-beams in abandoned construction sites, dodging barrels and fireballs their laughing demonic masters hurl at them. Innocent children will be hooked up to infernal machines and made to play Super Ghouls and Ghosts for SNES, receiving electroshock every time they lose the armor, until they plead plaintively for death. And Satan himself will sit atop a giant throne of human bones, sipping from a goblet of blood and watching in amusement as John Carmack runs through an endless labyrinth for all time, desperately evading his monstrous pursuers while hoping to find the blue key for the blue door so that he can get the invisibility.

Oh, and Y2K will make the world explode.