The changing face of the game

Flynn Daunt
Science and Technology Editor
It’s still evolving.
Still changing, being built upon, growing, still being deconstructed and reconstructed. The game industry, the developers, the gamers and even those outside of the video games medium.
It’s a common theme you’ll see in any opinion or issue revolving around gaming. Over 30 years ago, we were bouncing a square dot back and forth; now we’re balancing a character’s love life, trying to rule the world with negotiations and military tactics, and shooting our friends in the face.
Even the concept of a “game” has gone from a pudgy socially inept creature of the dark to a grandmother playing with her grandchildren.
The concept of art as something you hang on a wall or as a performance you watch might just turn into interacting with someone fighting their inner demons.
Video games are still in their infancy and the direction they’ll go in is up to us. It’s up to who will get involved in the industry, what demographics will be absorbed, what people will expect from their games and what they won’t expect.
The fact so many people take different views on this relatively new form of media shows just how much of an impact it is already having. People are still trying to grasp just what it is. Is it a murder-simulator? Is it art? Is it an interactive movie? Is it robbing us of our imagination? Is it homophobic? Is it a money-maker?
Even those who once believed they knew what it is are now finding themselves alienated, as a push for a new audience emerges with Microsoft’s Kinect, Sony’s Move and Nintendo Wii.
The fact is, like any good piece of technology, we still don’t know what it is or what it will become.
The direction this industry can take can go nearly anywhere, from the status quo – where it’s a household pass time – to a reality simulator, to an interactive story telling device. It could even replace other mediums as the preferred entertainment device.
It’s changing fast, and to predict the future of such a changing industry and medium would be foolish.
Whether we, who grew up with this unique form of media, will be active in changing the shape of things to come; or passive, watching others shape it for us is difficult to say. In an industry so huge, we might be left out.
We’re witnessing the metastasizing of a creature yet to emerge.