Hardcore Expectations – How We Got Here
Hardcore Expectations – How We Got Here
Oct 02Let’s think back to Pong for a moment shall we? Pong was the black and white game that pretty much amounts to animated table tennis. Some of us actually owned it. For some of us, such as myself, our parents owned it. Pong had it’s degree of addictiveness, and a relative few did get pretty hardcore in their devotion to mastering it.
But for the most part, Pong was something that people bought to try because they saw it on the news, or their friends had it. (Sound familiar?) Most people played it a few times then put it away. But were glad to own it on occasion so that if a friend who hadn’t played it were to visit, or better yet the friends they’d played last Thanksgiving wanted a rematch, it was there.
The cartridge based Atari console was the first to make the act of buying and owning several, or many games popular and mainstream. No longer did you have to go to the arcade to play Pac Man, or Centipede. You could play in the comfort of your own home.
Even so, for most people, it was an item that was just as enjoyable to know that you owned as it was to play. It was there for whenever. Whenever most often amounting to not very often. As a small child, I wasn’t allowed to set up the Atari on my own, and my parents only felt like doing it a few times a year. Gaming was for rare occasions.
By the time the 8 bit NES and Sega Master system consoles hit the market, many kids of the time, such as myself, were old enough to be allowed to handle the hardware without help or restriction. The skyrocketing popularity of Mario during this time due to Super Mario Bros, began making gaming mainstream, and common. Heavy television marketing, cartoons starring our favorite video game characters, and toys played no small part in this.
Whereas in the past, it seemed everyone had an eccentric uncle, or acquaintance who kicked butt at Pac Man, (Who knows? Maybe you were one of those trail blazers) it was this era of games that brought about a configuration of challenge and fun that hooked nearly everyone who played. People played some of the toughest games ever created, over and over in order to master them. And once they’d mastered them, they played over and over again just because it was still fun to do so.
Some people played over and over even though they never could beat their games over the full course of ownership. (For example, I only beat Little Nemo: Dream Master about 5 years ago after going back and being determined to do so, and I’ve still never beaten Super Ghouls and Ghosts though I give it a try every so often).
Today, you’d never see such a thing regarding new games, the game would be labeled as crap and gamers would move on. From the purist sense, this may have been THE golden age of gaming. Everyone wanted an NES console, and if you didn’t have one, you played at your friend’s house, or your cousins.
With the 16 bit era began the marketing of the idea of better graphics makes for a better game over all, and the seed that was planted in our minds took root. Certain 8 bit classics were remade such as the Super Mario Bros games in 16 bit. Gamers argued back and forth over whether Mario’s or Sonic’s games had the more beautiful look.
Then came the first attempts to push consoles to see how much could be milked from them graphically, along with more advanced techniques. Sega promoted and used add-ons such as the 32X, Sega CD, and eventually their in-between system, the Saturn. Meanwhile, Rare developed Donkey Kong Country, for the SNES, which for its time was groundbreaking for consoles in the graphics department. Arcade games went to even further extremes, with their console adaptations compelled to do their best to recreate the look on weaker hardware.
Consoles such as 3DO were released, that introduced the CD medium for gaming, as well as the Mega-extravagant price. The Atari Jaguar, continued the graphics push with their 64 bit console, which failed so badly it brought the company down. Capitalizing on the CD medium, Sony brought forth the Playstation in 32 bit. Games not only looked good, but they could be larger. Gone were the simple days of Pong and 8 bit, expectations continued to grow.
With Super Mario 64 soon after that, the 3D age was upon us. Over night, just about anyone who wasn’t a graphics whore became one. Nintendo’s 64 console also brought about the analog stick for directional control, which made more fine tuned controls possible. Suddenly, more expensive 3D games that had elaborate control systems were becoming the norm. PC gaming went even further to the extreme in some cases.
Final fantasy VII was the first major 3D rpg, and along with the deep and detailed 2D rpg’s that immediately preceded it such as Chrono Trigger, more gamers began to equate replay value with elaborate controls, menus, fighting systems, and hours of unfolding story or unseen content, rather than simple, catchy, repetitive, games with adequate graphics that allow one to understand what everything represents.
Games such as The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time created future demand for targeting/lock on, button assignments, and vast detailed worlds. While Final Fantasy X created future demand for Voice acting in games. Slowly but surely, creating a game that gamers would go for became very expensive.
The Playstation 2 brought about the mainstream use of the DVD medium, as well as the death of Sega as a console maker, and the further decline of Nintendo. Microsoft decided to dabble in console video gaming as well with the Xbox soon after. Researching and developing consoles and creating games became a business where operating at a heavy loss for years at a time was acceptable.
It was Halo 2 that solidified online play in the mainstream, as well as downloadable content. Also during this time the pursuit of life-like and cinema quality graphics began. Things such as heavy graphics texturing, dual analog sticks, buttons galore, millions of colors, etc. became not only commonplace, but expected by gamers, and it all cost a lot of money.
Now that the PS3 and Xbox 360 are mainstream, it is normal to have a gaming console that is as powerful as, or more powerful than your PC. Games just don’t cost less than 10 million dollars to develop anymore, and if they do cost that little, they likely won’t sell well.
With each passing month we hear of developers going down, or in danger of going down. We hear of layoffs. We hear of their future hinging on the success of a particular game.
Meanwhile Nintendo has created a console that exceeds those of the previous generation in capability, but is closer to them than the HD consoles. And that console, the Wii, is kicking major butt.
Yes, it is the Wii remote that people like. Yes, it is the ongoing hype. But it also the balance act of taking a step forward, while learning from the successes and failures of the past. It is the return to simpler concepts that can be fun over and over, even though it is often relatively the same experience.
The truth is, that Nintendo is doing a good thing for gaming, and the right thing for them at this point. Our ever increasing demands as Hardcore gamers is a good thing, but those expectations have pushed a little too far, too soon, and it looks as if many companies will have to take a half step back in order to survive.
The problem is that in 3 years or so, even the most amazing looking games by today’s standards will be much cheaper to develop than they are today, but our expectations will be too high for companies not to try and meet them. They will have to spend. All we can do as gamers is make it a point to buy lots of games in support of these efforts, and sadly we can”t always do that. Especially during times such as these.
A console such as the PS3 has a lot more juice left to explore, and so the time frame would possibly be good in the end for it. However, if the Xbox 360 is retired within 2 years or so for some spectacular, magnificently advanced and expensive system, Sony will have to unveil their next weapon sooner rather than later as well.
But then again, in 3 or 4 years, many of today’s new gamers brought about by Nintendo’s current approach will be ready for something more advanced, something less simple. Their expectations will likely have grown, and grown greatly due to the new learning curve.
It appears as if we may have seen what a full historical cycle in gaming entails. If history has ever proven anything though, it is that it repeats itself. Nintendo has begun the cycle anew this generation from their end, while Sony and Microsoft continue to push the first cycle further from theirs. Perhaps there is another phase?
If we’re fortunate, it will all work out. Hopefully too many good developers don’t fall along the way.
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