Predict the gaming industry in 20 years

20 years ago the SNES was still killin' it and the original Playstation came out. Technology has changed so much. Arcades are gone. Smartphones and tablets are in. The PC scene has also expanded dramatically.

My predictions:

Phone and tablet gaming will continue but will stabilize much like console gaming did. NES started out as a shovelware machine, for example. Gaming-oriented phones and/or affordable portable emulating devices will be a popular thing.

Gaming-dedicated consoles will be (mostly) dead. There will probably be an all-in-one living room entertainment box that encompasses everything and even includes full-sized games. Similar to how cell phones today outmatch a 3DS in specs.

Nintendo will still keep their niche market and make hardware. Sony and Microsoft will move to more profitable ways to sell games. Such as selling a software service to PC's enabling people to experience their first parties. Or making custom PC's of their own with custom exclusives.

thing's like the 3ds will be dead since phones will take that over.

Dead

how exactly would the controls work because touch screens are ass

Watch Dogs, Assassin Creed Unity and Devil May Cry. These above games are my next 3 games I choose to play next

I wont be alive.

Two words, Virtual Reality

I predict cloud gaming will become the norm and graphics would stabilize to a universal standard.

Also just wanted to post this :-

I predict most every company will just have a streaming service for their own games, and you won't have to buy an Xbox, or Playstation to play them. They'll just be "apps" you download on phones, computers, media boxes, etc, and then just pick up a universal controller.

Nintendo......I just hope that 20 years in the future they are not still stuck 20 years in the past. I'm okay if they do their own thing, but at least acknowledge the wants and needs of the gaming community.

Time machines that physically transport you to the era your game is in.

OK maybe not.

But everything will be streamed. Their won't be another round of consoles.

Here are my predictions.

All PC's will become somewhat more standardized and either be about the size of the original apple computer or integrated into a monitor, only better than they are now. They will have hard drives well over 500 Terabytes in capacity and the cheapest budget computers will have at minimum of 12-24 GB of ram.

Nintendo will continue to make something, although it may not be what we think as a console. Consoles will mostly be dead, unless Nintendo is still making them or there is one universal console. There also may be a kind of legacy console, which can read just about any disk and cartridges with several add-ons, one add-on per generation for the major consoles.

The Cell phones gaming industry will suffer a mini-crash in the next 5 years, leading to more restrictions on what games can make it onto the store service, and the quality that games need. They will stop making more powerful hardware when they over reach the specs and graphics capability of the PS4/XboxOne. Tablets will be refined to near perfection. Voice control will be perfected, with only one or two mistakes per year per person on average.

This is the future game experience I want. Please support me if you think the same! (1.Total immersive, 2.Intuitive, 3.Effortless)

http://igg.me/at/slider/x/8529861

I truly hope VR never becomes the primary way of playing games. I really don't like the idea. It's bad for social behavior, it's bad for your eyes, and yes, I think it's still a little goofy. I don't mind playing a VR game here and there, but again, I hope it doesn't become THE way to play.

I would hope for one unified platform. Al games would play in that platform and you would have multiple devices that can play those games. So you can have a box plugged in to the TV, suspend the game and continue it on your phone on your way to work, for example. At lunch time, you can continue your game on your work PC. Maybe the way to do that is by having browser based games. Of course, the web browsers will have to get 500x more powerful in order to do that, but it's possible.

However, what I think more realistically will happen is the AAA game will become a rare thing. We'll get to a point of diminishing returns on how technically great a game can be versus how much it costs to make. Prices will go up. The indie scene will become the actual gaming scene, but the games will be a lot better (technically) as access to better and cheaper tools will be easier. I think hardware makers (will Sony be there in 20 years??) create ecosystems of consoles/phones/portables where all games play in all devices (like Apple with itunes).

For the past 20 years, gaming has remained essentially the same. You have a console, a controller, and some form of media. The consoles have evolved to be more overall entertainment devices, the games have gotten technically better, and even with tablets and wiimotes, we still generally like our standard controllers with buttons. I don't see a fundamental change in the next 20 years. We'll still have consoles, games, and controllers.

I just saw this and must say I do not want to play like this. I think it's a cool concept. But I don't want to go through mo-cap sessions to play a game. A game like CoD that requires you to be fast will not work with this. You cannot move your feet fast enough to walk/run and turn in different directions in the span of 3 seconds to shoot multiple enemies or check your surroundings. At best, it will be like you're playing Dance Dance Revolution :) No one wants that mixed with their CoD.

And no matter what, you will end up taking steps forwards and backwards, so you will need lots of empty space to be in. This will not work in a furnished living room or bedroom. And as with all VR sets, how do you play a non first-person view game?

EDIT: I just realized this was your product. I'm sorry if I sound harsh, it's not my intention. Again, the concept is cool, and the tech is very cool. It's just not a way I want to play a game. I can see this working well for taking virtual tours, or maybe a virtual hike through the woods or climbing Mt. Everest. Actually, that would be cool!

@Grieverr: How can you not like the idea to play in VR? Check out this video >>

@ojmstr: I do think its cool in short bursts. It is something I'd like to experience. But I couldn't personally play for hours. I do not like being cut-off from the rest of the world. Again, that's just me.

Also, I'm not a huge fan of first-person games. I like them and have Bioshock, a few CoD/BF/Killzone games, and Portal. But it's not my preferred style. Although, I'm sure a driving game in cockpit view would be amazing!

@Grieverr: That`s understandable, i can see that. I tested out VR in a shopping mall back in 94 and even then i thought it was really cool and such an immersive experience, i can only imagine how good this technology is today compared to back then. Judging by the videoes i`ve seen all over the net most people gets blown away by it so i really do think VR will take off this time around and become a huge success over the next years to come. If i look 20 years into the future i believe VR will be a huge part of gaming, it will also be intergrated into social networks like facebook etc.. I also believe VR will take off in Hollywood making blockbuster VR movies in the coming years, when that is said, traditional gaming with controllers/mouse&keyboard on a flatscreen will never go away in our lifetime.

@mdk12345: You don`t need to exercise to play in VR, most people will probably just use the controllers like that guy in that video i posted above and some will probably use the motion controllers. It`s not the hardcore gamers that will get into VR to begin with and they are not the ones Sony or Oculus are relying on to sell their VR devices to, it`s the mainstream gamers and they are the majority of gamers. When we see and experience AAA games like Silent Hill and No man`s sky in VR which i predict will be launch tiltes for the Sony Morpheus VR headset by the end of next year, then a whole lot of people will get into VR. Im not saying everyone will jump on the VR bandwagon on day one but gradually over the next 5 years Virtual Reality will be a huge part of gaming.

In 20 years we'll probably be living in the shadow of the human race. We'll hunt large mutated rabbits and our firewood will burn all sorts of neat colours due to all the radiation. Sony and Microsoft will be selling Yo-Yo's because it will be the only form of entertainment we have. Oh, and Incest, rape, and murder will run rampant again.

Myself, I'm glad I'm growing out of games now. It will just be one less thing to lose when we throw it all away. Thanks for making me think about the future TC!