Tuesday, November 29, 2011

A Look At The Exponential Growth Of The Video Game Industry

By Adam Russel


The video game sector has demonstrated exponential growth in the past two decades. Time and time again, we see game titles that are so innovative that they revolutionized the gaming sector to a great degree. Racing games for instance have come a very long way. The car games we have today, like Forza motorsports and Gran Turismo, are capable of simulating damage to a vehicle's aesthetics and performance in a very realistic manner. These racing games have really remarkable physics engines as well. They are so designed so impeccably that even those who race professionally claim that these virtual car games mirror actual racing to a great extent. Music video game titles like Dance, Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero have also changed the gaming industry dramatically because they helped bring video gaming to a broader audience. The introduction of these games has transformed adults and women who were once leery of playing video games into enthusiasts. RPGs, like the Final Fantasy franchise, have elevated video games into the status of art.

More importantly, video games provide a different kind of social experience especially with the introduction of massively multiplayer online games. With most of the missions in these online games too difficult to tackle alone, they encourage cooperative play to an extent unbeknown before. Playing games online encourage communication in and out of the game, eventually giving rise to subcultures.

Game consoles have also evolved in order to support new and cutting-edge video games. Reviewing the development strategies pursued by the three major game consoles, it's quite obvious that Sony and Microsoft are focusing their efforts to provide gaming systems which are both powerful and have top quality graphics. While Nintendo, on the other hand, concentrates its energies in making their consoles more interactive. Nintendo's Wii covers a wider demographic than the other two, primarily because of their intuitive gameplay and low cost of ownership.

One of the major advantages of Xbox is that their users can access an extensive library of demo games online. PlayStation, aside from being an eye-candy, has impressive proprietary non-gaming features. With these platforms essentially turning into specialized computers with several connectivity options, playing online has become more and more popular. Microsoft and Sony both have online multiplayer and digital media delivery services, namely Xbox Live and PSN.

The growth of the video gaming industry is so far reaching that it has brought forth several job disciplines and employs hundreds of people worldwide. Gamers can start as beta game testers, and move up to become test leads, programmers, and eventually producers. These careers entail long working hours, but then again, you're paid to play, and that makes all the effort worthwhile.




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