We`re seeing an abundance of new gamesbeing released, and many of them blur the boundaries between video games and different kinds of activities.
Everybody is trying to convince us to get out- or stay in -or just play. Really. Peloton, Netflix, Zoom, TikTok, Amazon, Apple and Google are all either playing or expanding their efforts into video games.
What`s happening?
Globally, people spend an enormous amount of time playing video games. Established companies in the game industry as well as newcomers are seeking digitally interactive experiments that can increase their share of this money and time.
I`m very excited about this changeeven though my intense video gaming experience ended in the era of BrickBreaker on the Blackberry. It feels as if we`re in the middle reinventing what”a “video game” is, as well as what online idle time could be- more engaging and socialmaybe, and perhaps a little less passive doomscrolling. (Or I`m thinking too much about this. Yeah, it might just be about money.)
Whatever the reasons, games may soon feel unavoidable. Zoom has added new featureslike the ability to play trivia, mystery, or poker. Peloton, the maker of exercise bikes that cost $2,500will soon release a game that lets riders use their pedal power to command the virtual wheel that is rolling. Netflix this week announced that it was planning to add video games to itsonline entertainment service. Facebook, TikTok and Amazon as well as Google are all promoting games on video to us or selling subscriptions to games. (The New York Times is going bigger into puzzles and digital games, too.)
Video games have become an industry of immense size and have grown in popularity with the coronavirus epidemic. It`s not a surprise that companies are increasingly looking to purchase a piece. A recent report from Accenture found that the global gaming sales are higher than the combined revenue from music and movies. These figures include conventional video games for consoles as well as smartphones, as well as advertisements in games. Video games also have cultural relevance, as the Olympic organizers have demonstrated this weekby featuring games music during the ceremony that opened.
Because many digital games are quite different from what we thought of as video games like the cinematic realms of Xbox or PlayStation 2. It might be needed to redefine the term “video game.
As smartphones introduced us to simple games that made use of unique features like gyroscopes and mobile internet connections, modern games blur the distinction between video games and different kinds of social events. Although Fortnite, Pokemon Go and Among Us may be video games, they can also be used to host hangouts, social media platforms as well as opportunities to organize political and pop-culture events.
Many of the more recent games are interesting as they signal a shift past a period where mobile and online media frequently mimic what they used to be when podcasts were like radio talk shows, Netflix like TV, and online news outlets like newspapers.
Although games don`t always provide positive social interactionshowever, they do provide a sense that something is happening. More of us are mingling together in order to develop new digital forms that emphasize interaction over the passive reading, watching or listening.
We`ll be seeing more advanced games that are on the technological edge as well as other games that don`t make sense for the game console to test our bodies, minds, as well as social interactions. I`m curious to see what happens to the entire spectrum.
