Hmm. Mass-market penetration? Cultural acceptance? Ubiquitous online connectivity? Subscription-based pricing models? Mobile gaming? The Sega Dreamcast?
IGN AU polled some of the brightest minds in game development around the world on the topic of the last ten years of gaming. They asked: What have been the most important changes in videogames, videogame technology and in the wider videogame industry, over the last ten years?
The consensus was the wider cultural acceptance of video games as a mainstream form of entertainment.
Forza developer Dan Greenawalt said, “As the videogames industry continues to grow and attract new audiences, interactive entertainment has become deeply engrained into modern life as an expression of how we spend our free time.”
Bayonetta developer Hideki Kamiya agreed, “Gaming has come to be broadly considered as one of many entertainments, not a subculture in a closed world. It is an interesting evolution that some consoles are now accepted by families.”
Others, such as Krome’s Steve Stamatiadis, Gearbox’s Randy Pitchford and Rocksteady’s Paul Denning argued the case for the way the internet has changed the way we play and interact with games.
“Today, we can play with anyone, anywhere in the world via the internet,” Pitchford told IGN. “This connectivity allows for other opportunities to develop via specific social networks and digital distribution tools thus in turn creating a more direct relationship between the players and the game makers.”
Check out the full Q&A where the same devs also reveal their favourite gaming systems, favourite games and biggest flops of the decade.
And then come back here and tell us what you think was the most significant change in the games industry over the last decade?
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