By Joel Smart (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: June 20, 2012
The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) just finished and already people are counting the days until next year’s show. It’s that big of a deal in the gaming world. It’s when consoles are announced and hordes of new games are revealed. But this year, the event was not received with the same glowing optimism and excitement that it has garnered in the past. That’s not to say it’s the first time this has happened. There have been worse years for the show, but somehow this year felt different.
Perhaps it’s the new and innovative games coming out on the PSN and XBLA marketplace that made it so evident, but the mainstream gaming industry has lost some of its zest. Somewhere in the mess of market research and multi-million-dollar budgets, the ability to truly innovate is lost. Oh, there are more shooters and sequels and slight evolutions of various genres, but I get the sense that the gaming community is ready for something more. They want the next step.
Things really weren’t all that bad. In fact, they were quite good. There was a new God of War – with multiplayer no less. An enormous massively-multiplayer war was unveiled in Battlefield 2. But perhaps the most interesting game to come out of E3 was Beyond: Two Souls, the next interactive drama from Heavy Rain developer Quantic Dream. It appears to evolve the genre significantly, both in terms of interactivity and storytelling. Plus, the game’s protagonist is being played by none other than cult-favourite actress Ellen Page. There were other interesting games too, including Nintendo games that toyed with multiplayer minigames featuring their tablet-like WiiU controller. Although a number of the show’s games were exciting, they weren’t unexpected. They weren’t revolutionary.
E3 also brought promises of the future. Unreal Engine 4—a sequel to what many developers have used to create their video games—was shown off publically for the first time. It showcases what many games will look like on as-of-yet unrevealed next-generation consoles. Stunning graphics and easier programming were enough to get everyone salivating. However, the shift to the next generation from this current generation is much smaller than from the last generation to this one (and last generation from the one before). As much as the graphics will improve, as much as the lighting will get more realistic and the particle effects more impressive, they won’t redefine gaming. They won’t push the boundaries of what it means to play a game.
Perhaps it is expecting too much from the video game industry. It is a very new medium, after all. But perhaps the truth is that the industry is being held back by the current economic structure that it has become reliant upon. Perhaps this year’s E3 is a result of growing pressures to appease the stockholders, to grow the brand, to establish a franchise, to be what is expected.
No, gaming is not in trouble. It’s doing very well for itself, and it’s growing more and more respected by the mainstream public by the day. Though, if this year’s E3 is any indication, we are not yet close to the time when people play games because they’re meaningful, insightful and artistic masterpieces. Those games are increasingly being made, being attempted, but this is not the focus of the industry. Yet, a growing need for an evolution of the medium is palpable. The question is, will the community demand it?
