Topic: What trends do you see gaining ground in the gaming industry within the next 5-10 years?

Just to throw out some of my opinions.

• The return of 3D TV's to the mainstream: IE, autostereoscopy television sets. Let's face it, the real negative against 3D TV's is the impracticality of it, nobody wants to wear stupid 3D glasses. However, I think within the next 5-10 years, autostereoscopy (think the 3DS) 3D TV sets will become popular, especially in consideration of being able to change to depth of 3D on the set. I do believe that gaming will take hold of these features for sure.

• Virtual Reality headsets become a staple but not massively popular, so, I do think VR headsets will become a part of the gaming industry in time, but I do believe they will be more or less a niche option of very serious core gamers, because, A: price will still be expensive, B: wearing the head set is somewhat anti-social in nature and probably won't win over mass appeal, C: will be mostly restricted to the PC gaming market, although some console games will offer support.

• Streaming games becomes mainstream in 10 years: As somewhat broken as Playstation Now may be, it's really hard to argue against the potential of it. Think of it, buy your Nintendo or Sony Playstation thumbstick which supports the OS and services, plug it into your TV, buy a controller, and there you go, you have hundreds to thousands of game readily avalaible. The future for sure IMO, however, internet speeds will need to catch up, latency will need to be stomped out, and streaming resolution will have to be beefed up............but like I said, give it 10 years, and it will be good to go.

3D has had 50 years to catch on (in numerous forms) and proven to be nothing more than a niche gimmick that most people can do without. It's not as revolutionary as HD, which was widely accepted by people all over the globe within just a decade.

I think VR has more potential to blow up. but it too has been around in various forms for so long without catching on, though units like the Oculus Rift are finally getting the technology right.

I don't think streaming games will be viable for quite a while. Not unless Google fiber becomes the foundation of the world's Internet so that latency is negligible. I don't see that being done in ten years

Subscription services by more publishers - EA kicks off the trend. Represents good value in the short term, but in the long term it is hazardous to your wallet and choices within gaming.

I see your point, but I think built in, glasses free, autostereoscopy 3D that becomes standard in TV sets, with minimal to no "sweet spots", it will be a game changer.............3D is already pretty much standard in most decent quality HD TV's, and autostereoscopy 3D TV's are already here from a tech standpoint (though still somewhat in it's infancy), now it just needs to become standard.

I can see VR taking off as a training, education tool, and also to an extent, in the gaming industry, but I don't see it winning over mass appeal,...........just can't see your stereotypical American family sitting around the living room, all of them with their VR headsets, you know........

positives:
+3D because the tec is finally at a point where it can be produced and used easily

negatives:
-developers and publishers trying to get people's money even before finishing a game (kickstarter and co)
-even more bad DLC-politics

@sub12

I definitely agree that VR is something that will only see solitary individual usage. It will basically be confined to video games or maybe some kind of 'virtual tour' software or something unique like that. But it's almost the 'evolution' of 3D, in that 3D aims to make you feel like you are there, but VR is the ultimate form of 3D tech.

I have a new 3D Samsung Smart tv and have only tried out the 3D capabilities maybe 3 or 4 times, and haven't even touched that mode in more than 7 months. 3D, be it in video games or movies, just doesn't do much for me.

I agree with Beetlejuice. 3D will not catch on because it had plenty of chances before

Also, microtransactions, subscription services, more cut content for DLC due to more bloated game budgets.

And VR I don't think will catch on unless the developers give us a good reason to buy them. Lastly, streaming games will take longer depending on how much better the internet in general gets throughout the world

Beyond publishers' neverending attempts to be greedy ***holes...

-The single player meets multiplayer stuff, like what Ubisoft has been doing more of. Mostly what this means I presume is that more single player games will have weird unique ways to have drop in multiplayer and that multiplayer games will be more MMO-like in trying to make a single person's experience be somewhat comparable to a single player game.

-I'm not sure it's a long term thing or will be super mainsteam but VR is staying for a while

-More asynchronous multiplayer

-The rise of mid-tier devs as downloadable devs and smaller games given retail space (maybe even just as download codes to sell?)

-JRPGs that matter

-Rogue-like elements added to AAA games

-multiple pay choices for games

They will make a reboot of Gain Ground, then the entire decade will be defined by Gain Ground sequels. Yup.

Hopefully a big turn in non-linear games with a great story as that is what i hope to bring when i enter the industry officially in about 3-5 years

I and 3 other people would buy that and we would be happy-ish.

I can see many things in the future of gaming that I'll disagree with. I have never liked the thought of streaming. Why? My internet take HOURS to download a few hundred MBs, as of now you can't trade in any streamed games for other games, prices for one almost never lowers, and as of now after downloading just a few games all your space is gone, and that means you need to buy more space. I can see streaming games becoming more of a thing in the future and IDK if they'll be improving it very much. There will need to be faster internet for me, trading in games, prices for a game need to lower eventually, and more space needs to be given. For a while now companies have been focusing on the graphics in their games and not much else. Games lately just have good graphics but almost no story or original ideas with companies taking the same idea of one game and adding a couple things to it and changing the name so they don't get sued. I can see this same kind of video game developing in the future, cause it ain't gettin' any better. I just barely play a few hours of games in a week, maybe even one hour in a week, because i'm not offered much good games. So far this year, though, I have been given one very good game, it has offered a descent story and very great ideas, that game is Shovel Knight. Still, I can't see a very good future for the video game industry, and I have just discovered and started to put most of my time into some good ol' pen and paper RPGs. Anyway, sorry if i've talked too long, and thanks for listening to a 12 year old's opinion!

3D has swung in and out of vogue for decades. it just doesn't stick. The release of the 2DS is a good indicator of how consumers feel.

Trends that I do see coming within the next ten years or so....
A greater push towards digital. More DLC abuse. Game price increases. VR will be available but it won't be incredibly popular (whether it's a fad or not, we'll have to see). More single player games that have some kind of online community involvement. Optional microtransactions. A lot of open world games. We might see more game studios getting shut down because they can't break-even on their AAA game release that costed astronomical amounts of money to make. More games that are comparable to blockbuster films. More well known actors/actresses taking on video game character roles.

lmao...dude you strait read my mind and ran with it.

gain ground will gain more ground and the reboot shall be called...GAIN GROUNDIER.

I don't see many trends or even many already proposed trends hitting big in the next 10 years. I see people playing games much like they they do today for awhile until some crazy shift happens that I don't think will come in the next 10 years