While children from years past could pass away the afternoon with a stick and a hoop, University of Idaho senior Cody Kinzer said the progression of video game console technology has raised amusement expectations for all ages.
Kinzer said there are many sociological factors involved with our narrow-eyed wonder.
“People having more time in their lives, or just the quality of living going up,” Kinzer said. “People have more time to think about how they entertain themselves, so it pushes tech companies to think of new ways to entertain us.”
New game consoles have appeared numerous times since the days of Atari and “Pong.” An online Time feature puts two consoles in development even before Atari’s opus, and home video game entertainment has never looked back.
Kinzer said he first played “Pong” on his uncle’s machine as a child, but usually thinks of original 8-bit Nintendo games when he recalls the beginnings of console gaming. He said console technology affords video games a lot of potential for everything from storytelling to “mindless fun,” but he isn’t sure how meaningful more advancement will be. With new development will come fresh challenges, and he said he’s optimistic about the industry.
“I think we’re just looking at games in a whole new way right now,” he said. “I think it’s a very exciting time for the industry. I think there’re going to be some rough spots ahead because it’s new technology — for every good (X-Box) Kinect game there’re 20 bad ones.”
Trever, a Video Game Headquarters employee in the Palouse Mall, said game console technology will continue to progress, though the next five to seven years won’t see much difference from current systems except in graphics and physics engines.
“The only limit is the people designing it, and I don’t really foresee them running out of ideas any time soon — that’s the greatest thing about it,” he said.
Trever said he’s worked in video game sales for eight years and owns more than 10 game consoles from various generations of development. While he said there appears to be a console for everyone, console gaming was something of a niche culture a few decades ago. Only fairly tech-savvy folks and those who spent time in arcades played and understood home consoles.
“Now everybody does it and everybody has fun with it, and because of that there’s a lot more room for expansion and room to experiment because everybody has different tastes,” he said. “Whereas before it was a very narrow audience that you dealt with, in the future I think that’s … going to expand further as it becomes more and more prevalent.”
All of the primary consoles come with Internet capability, and many people play online games with next-door and international neighbors. Trever said there was a time when “LAN parties” — gatherings with consoles locally networked to multiple TVs or one console connected to a split-screen display — ruled the multiplayer realm. Such parties needed to be planned in advance, he said, and friends feasted on “76 pizzas and a half rack of Mountain Dew” in the same building or room.
“Now multiplayer isn’t about you getting together with your friends,” he said. “It’s about you texting your friend on your phone, putting on your headset and attacking somebody from across the world. You still get to visit with your friend, you just don’t have to lug your stuff over to his house in order to do it anymore.”
University of Idaho sophomore Jacob Ackerman said the appeal of the “LAN party” was in the camaraderie of people sharing an experience in a room together.
“(We’re) all going through the same thing, all commenting on it,” he said. “We’re all on the final boss … giving it (everything), and we end the whole thing with this massive power attack (and) we’re all just screaming, we don’t stop until the boss’s death animation is completely finished.”
Ackerman said trends toward smaller, more portable and powerful technology will eventually end the age of the home console. People would sooner purchase a phone with the same capabilities than a console that’s stuck in the living room, he said.
Trever said there will always be those who want different machines to keep their work and video game pursuits separate, and high-end technology will continue as a mainstay for the passionate gamer. Old gaming systems retain their appeal amid the progression of technology due to good storytelling, he said, and people are willing to set aside the dated graphics for the pleasing experience.
While he looks forward to good things to come from major developers such as Nintendo and Microsoft, Kinzer said technological advancement isn’t the most important factor in a good gaming experience.
“I think it’s the human creativity that makes the game special. It’s the memories we have,” he said. “Even if we were somehow stuck in the 8-bit era or even the Atari era for years, I think that there would still be great video game designers who would come up with something special.”
Matt Maw can be reached at [email protected]