Every once in a while, a game comes along that challenges our expectations. Games like LittleBigPlanet and Minecraft are obvious examples with the same basic premise of user-created content. Even classics like Pac-Man are being re-thought in Pac-Man Championship Edition: DX. The PC indie scene is booming, spawning its own variety of unique games. The vast majority of games use familiar game designs with attached bells and whistles and polish to various degrees, but as we move forward, new ideas continuously emerge.
The industry is changing. Increased focus on the mobile market has forced developers to find creative ways to bring their designs to touch screen only devices and utilize features like gyroscopes and the ability to be constantly connected to the internet.
With 3D getting bigger each week (whether we believe it can work or not), designs that include the technology in a more integral way are bound to emerge. Nintendo's 3DS will release in America in a few months, and Nintendo is counting on developers to make 3D a necessary element to games rather than just another gimmick.
There will always be a place for more "traditional" game designs, but with the mobile market, the indie scene, platforms like XBLA, PSN and WiiWare, and technology like 3D TVs and systems, it seems that developers are being challenged to take risks to advance the limits of design. Who knows what the landscape will look like in ten years?
With 3D getting bigger each week (whether we believe it can work or not), designs that include the technology in a more integral way are bound to emerge. Nintendo's 3DS will release in America in a few months, and Nintendo is counting on developers to make 3D a necessary element to games rather than just another gimmick.
There will always be a place for more "traditional" game designs, but with the mobile market, the indie scene, platforms like XBLA, PSN and WiiWare, and technology like 3D TVs and systems, it seems that developers are being challenged to take risks to advance the limits of design. Who knows what the landscape will look like in ten years?
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