One more E3 has passed and has set a course for another big year in the gaming industry. The previous year was all about the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Virtual reality was also in the main perspective. This time we are going to focus on 5 trends that will simply change the face of the gaming industry. So, get ready for the hottest trends in game design that have been introduced at E3 2015.
Open wide spaces
The open world design had been around since the 80s when Elite introduced it, but this time it is locked in as the new normal. People will be able to enjoy the usual suspects in games such as Fallout 4, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Just Cause 3. The open World took already established franchises and made them more massive than ever before. However, more interesting were franchises which were formerly more linear. Let’s just recall the Metal Gear Solid or Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon. They were always mission-based, but with Metal Gear Solid V, and Ghost Recon Wildlands both franchises at this point are providing players exactly the same tools, only decontextualizing them into the open world format.
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Reality is overrated
This year the virtual reality is present all the time in full. There are actual games for players to enjoy and not just promises or technology demos as before. Oculus and Microsoft entered a partnership, and they will ship Xbox One as a Rift accessory, but this time the accessory will be a standard one. Another great thing is that companies such as Samsung, Morpheus, and other smaller firms have entered the race and shown off their coolest and finest headsets. Games such as Adrift and Valkyrie were the longest at the convention. Gamers were very eager to test them. Finally, they got the chance to taste some of the finest games of sci-fi future.
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Wonder women
Women in gaming have not had much fun in the previous years, but luckily the gaming industry is listening to their fans, and loyal players and have determined to change that. Games such as ReCore or Horizon have main female characters and looks like they are very popular. The progress has been made, but there is a long way ahead until real parity is met.
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Man’s best friend
Pets of all kinds have been companion characters for a while now in the gaming world, but for some unknown reason this year developers did not want for the main character to go alone into the battle. Fans momentarily latched on to the dog that is a character in a Fallout games. The Snake also gets a dog companion in Metal Gear V. but to be a completely true badass it’s a wolf and has an eye patch. Perhaps major advances in AI have made the designers more open towards the lifelike companions. Or maybe they felt like the main characters were lonely at some point and decided to give them someone who they can rely on, and with who they can become friends.
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Power to player designer
The world of gaming is on a constant rise and its penchant for content created by users is now spreading to some other platforms. Bethesda has been encouraging the PC modeling community for a while now. Also, the community is a part of what has kept Skyrim important all this time. Still nobody expected its announcement at the conference held by Microsoft that mods have created for the PC Fallout 4 which could be used for free on Xbox. Nintendo has also decided to give the tools to its loyal fans and players with their Super Mario Maker. That breaks down some very well-known elements from thirty years of 2D Mario platforming and allows gamers to combine them in totally new and different way. It is awesome to see developers finding out that the untapped creative riches can be found in their gamers.
See also: Top anticipated games of E3 2015
We can say with certainty that games are going to be bigger and bigger by each year that passes. Game developers are creating much bigger worlds, and they are filling them with unbelievable characters and stories. There are also many new gamers by each day and, they all expect more and more. Well, finally gamers are in luck, and developers are listening carefully. We are all enthusiastic and can’t wait to see what’s next and to share it with the rest of the world.
References:
1) http://www.techsling.com/2015/05/can-wearable-technology-overtake-smartphones/
2) http://www.wearabletechdigest.com/oculus-reportedly-building-its-own-games-for-rift.html
Stevan McGrath likes to revolve around the world through traveling and thrilling getaways that adventure lovers may dream of exploring. His writing domain revolves around topics like health and fitness, wearable technologies, product reviews, skincare science etc. He is a contributing writer to various other websites since 2011. His articles are well-researched and published on several websites. You can follow him on Twitter and Google+ for daily inspiration.
