Humans have been playing games for a long old time. Evidence of human-made games dates back as far as 7,000 years, and there’s every chance that we’ll one day discover even older evidence, too. Clearly, humans like to engage in healthy competition.
Of course, the gaming climate has developed significantly over the years. If you were to travel back in time, you probably wouldn’t even recognise those games of yesteryear as games. Researchers have found games from Roman and Greek times that no one can figure out how to play.
Not that we need to go back far into the past to see how games have evolved. Massive advancements have been made in the last few decades alone. Let’s take a closer look at just how the gaming world has gone from strength to strength in recent times.
Technological Innovation
Technological progress has been the single biggest influential factor in the gaming world. Just compare the very first widely popular game, Pong, with today’s titles. While they’re all “video games,” the similarities end there. Today’s game developers have the tools and resources — and often budget — to bring their creative vision to life, in a way that the very first industry professionals did not. While technology doesn’t always have the best reputation, its ability to take existing concepts and take them lightyears beyond is unquestionable.
From Offline to Online
The modern gaming world doesn’t just allow for the emergence of new gaming titles. It also helps to breathe new life into classic games, many of which are now available online. Historically offline games such as chess, blackjack, and roulette are all now easily accessible online, helping to bring these centuries-old games to an entirely new audience. The shift to the digital world makes it easier for newcomers to play games that require significant practice and training, such as chess, against a range of difficulty levels right from the comfort of their own homes. Roulette has also benefited from this shift; in the past, if you had no access to a roulette wheel — and even some real-world casinos didn’t — then you couldn’t play. Today, websites offer multiple variations of the game, ensuring that something which was invented way back in the 18th century has a bright future. The internet has also made historically region-specific games, such as Go, accessible all over the world.
Variety of Systems
Video games have been popular since the late 1970s. But back then the market for video games was still relatively small. To play a game, you’d have to make a commitment, either by traveling to an arcade or investing in one of the early consoles, such as the Magnavox Odyssey. And many people would not or could not make that commitment, even if they were broadly interested in the possibilities of digital gaming. Today, there’s still a barrier to entry, but it’s significantly lower. Anyone with a smartphone or laptop — that is to say, most of the population — can access advanced, modern games.
Whether a player is interested in full-scale RPGs or hyper-casual mobile games, these days there’s something for everyone. In fact, the sheer range of games available is one of the industry’s biggest strengths. If a person wants to play those historically offline games like chess and roulette, they can. If someone wants to take a dive into history by playing Assassin’s Creed, they can. Whatever you’re interested in, there will be a game for you.
Securing the Market
While it’s easy to look at the recent progress of the gaming industry and believe that it’s been one long success story, that’s not really the case. In the late 1980s, the games industry nearly collapsed altogether. It was thanks to Nintendo and SEGA, who released the NES and Mega Drive respectively, that the industry stayed alive.
From there, it really has been a fast track towards success. Today, the games industry is worth an estimated $280 billion, and that’ll climb to some $360 billion by 2027. It’s a good time to be a gamer, and given the developments made in the past thirty years, there’s no telling what the next decades may bring.
