Next Generation

[celerystalker]

Most of the people on this site are pretty into the classic games of their younger days. How do you think that young kids now, as in preteens and younger, will be regarding todays games? Do you see them looking back at, oh, I dunno... Minecraft and the like the way many of us look back on Mario, Pac-Man, and Castlevania? Do they latch on to older games, or do they just move on? I guess what I'm asking is, is what kind of player or collector do you think will come out of the wealth of mainstream players in the next generation, and what do you think will be what hooks them?

[WCP]

Most of the people on this site are pretty into the classic games of their younger days. How do you think that young kids now, as in preteens and younger, will be regarding todays games? Do you see them looking back at, oh, I dunno... Minecraft and the like the way many of us look back on Mario, Pac-Man, and Castlevania? Do they latch on to older games, or do they just move on? I guess what I'm asking is, is what kind of player or collector do you think will come out of the wealth of mainstream players in the next generation, and what do you think will be what hooks them?



I have a 12 year old and a 14 year old. My 14 year old will have fond memories of the Halo series, and Mario Kart (Gamecube). Minecraft will be a big part of it as well...


My 12 year old is really into Minecraft, and also likes Call of Duty.


That's the stuff they will really remember 20 years from now.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I think that most modern games will be lost to time due to how quickly dated 3D games tend to become over only just a short period of time.

That being said, there are games I think that will be fondly remembered in say, another 20 years. Mario Galaxy, Heavy Rain, Last of Us, Broken Age, Danganronpa.

These are the sorts of games I think retro gamers of the future will regard as being special classics. FPS games of today like Halo and Call of Duty will just be so woefully outdated by then that I don't think anyone will much pay attention, much like the various Doom clones like Hexen don't get much attention now.

Of course I'm only projecting my own thoughts as someone who is both a retro and modern gamer now. I'm the old guard when it comes to appriciating 2D sprite based games of my youth and 3D games of today. For the next generation of kids, retro gaming might be totally lost on them like how black and white films are totally lost of most of our generation. We know about them sure, but when was the last time you actively sought out to watch a black and white film?

It might be the same for games.

[sfchakan]

It's going to be a weird jumble for my kids.

They've grown up in a house with modern and classic games. I've never forced anything on them. They either picked a game out to play from the shelf or saw me playing something and wanted to try it themselves.

They're just as likely to recall Saturn Bomberman, Dragon Quest, or Super Punchout as they are Assassin's Creed.

[Nebagram]

It'll be the casual games they remember most, Angry Birds, Candy Crush, that sort of thing. For better or worse, that's the sort-of thing that'll leave the biggest impact, the stuff their parents load up on their phones/tablets to keep them quiet on long trips. Minecraft will probably get a look in, stuff like Skylanders/Disney Infinity MIGHT get a look in. The military shooter bubble is long overdue a popping, the JRPG bubble popped a long time ago, Sonic now basically a nostalgia act, Mario & the other mascots are swiftly heading that way.

[Rickstilwell1]

It also really depends on what social groups these kids fall into. Nerds and geeks all the same have more of an appreciation for a subject as a whole, liking to discover everything there is to know about it. While the casual crowd moves on easily and usually prefers the latest thing. Most of us coming to this site are probably the geeks. There will be more people who eventually come to this forum I'm sure. And if not this one, Nintendoage or whatever else.

[Az]

Gaming today is disposable. A good game is timeless, but most of the reasons that make me pull out rose-tinted glasses and wax nostalgic about a lot of games that are either mediocre or extremely flawed just don't exist today.

A lot of us have fond memories of a game that we put hours and hours into simply because it was play that or play nothing. If you pick up a game today that sucks, whether it was a $60 retail or free download, you have no reason to force yourself to play it. You can instantly move on due to there being ten thousand other (free) games or demos to occupy your time with.

Most popular games today have dozens of sequels that with only slight incremental updates. If game A has 4 sequels, all of which are the same gameplay only with better presentation, why play the ugly version? The majority of popular games today also rely solely on a multiplayer component. Kill the online on them 5 years from now and all you're left with is a dull single player mode that most people didn't even touch in the first place.

[celerystalker]

What really got me thinking about this subject were two factors. First, the fact that such a large portion of current games are marketed toward teenagers and adults as opposed to kids, focusing on realism, violence, and cinematic presentation that borders more on interactive experience than something I would call a "game," as it's an entirely different approach to the way interactive media is used. Older games had a larger focus on engaging a player with accessible fun and then turning up the challenge in an imaginitive setting, whereas newer games focus on complex narratives, realism, and online multiplayer competition. Secondly, it's the sameness in aesthetic in many modern games. The majority of mainstream retail titles are going for photorealism and simulation, and as such, you can look at the back of ten cases on a shelf, and 7 will look like they could be from the same game, two will have an exaggerated comic book aesthetic, and one will have an anime look. To me, uniqueness is something that creates that nostalgic latch with an engaged imagination.

I don't mean that as a slight against modern developers, as many work hard to realize their realistic presentation, but it is such a different landscape that I don't see as many opportunities to engage a child-like imagination that carries into adulthood. I think the post about how disposable FPS games are encapsulated it well. I could also see what Nebagram said regarding mobile games and Minecraft. I'm watching my nieces and nephews go through their teens now, and they just don't seem to carry much in the way of hobbies with them, and that is curious to me.

[Gamevet]

I think that most modern games will be lost to time due to how quickly dated 3D games tend to become over only just a short period of time.



Good gameplay and storyline trumps graphics. I don't play Mine Craft, but the game has a huge following despite its primitive 3D graphics.

[Aussie2B]

Yes, of course. There isn't anything inherently special or different about our generation. Every generation has people nostalgic for the things they loved in their youth, whether we're talking us, our parents who were kids before video games existed, or today's kids. And even though all of us around here are into retro games, we can see some generational divides even among us. There are some members who are big on 70s/early 80s gaming, and others who don't really touch anything before NES, because that's what they grew up with. I think the only difference between us and the gamers/collectors of the future, who are young kids now, is that those kids have a wider spectrum of what they could be exposed to growing up. Between ports, remakes, PSN, Virtual Console, emulation, or even just old systems hanging around the house, more older games could get mixed in among games that are developed now. For those of us who started gaming in the 70s and the 80s, that obviously wasn't nearly as much of an option because not a lot of older games existed period, let along the myriad of ways in which they're accessible now.

[retroman]

It's going to be a weird jumble for my kids.

They've grown up in a house with modern and classic games. I've never forced anything on them. They either picked a game out to play from the shelf or saw me playing something and wanted to try it themselves.

They're just as likely to recall Saturn Bomberman, Dragon Quest, or Super Punchout as they are Assassin's Creed.

Same here. My kids are into the Halo games and Minecraft, Teraria, Super Smash and Skylanders as well as retro games that I play. They love games from the Atari 2600 up to todays stuff. So much so that last Christmas they even asked for their own NES. They are 10 and 12 years of age.