Handheld Gaming And The Future Of The Video Game World
Image Source: CultureSlate
There was a time in the video gaming world when handhelds were king. Despite being underpowered compared to the home consoles of the time, plenty of people enjoyed the experiences these portable gaming machines could offer. Nintendo was the king of the handheld gaming market. The Game Boy and Game Boy Color sold exceptionally well, with over 100 million units sold. The Game Boy Advance, DS, and 3DS all sold better than their home console counterparts.
Then comes the Nintendo Switch, which is both a home console and a handheld. This hybrid machine has reached DS numbers of units sold, having taken the world by storm in its early years. Valve saw this success, creating the Steam Deck. Released five years after the Switch, and in limited numbers, it might not have come anywhere close to the Switch sales numbers, but it did prove something. The drive to bring PC gaming to portable devices was there.
RELATED:
After all, the Steam store has years upon years of games available to buy. Most people with a Steam account have a game library in the thousands, notably due to bundles from Humble offering many collections of games for cheap. The ability to bring those on the go is a draw for many people. And so started computer hardware manufacturers such as ASUS, MSI, and Lenovo, making their own handheld gaming PCs. Devices are not restricted to the Steam OS, allowing for storefronts from Epic, EA, and Ubisoft to also be used.
Image Source: CultureSlate
This has also got both Sony and Microsoft considering handheld gaming devices. Sony already has experience with this, with the PlayStation Portable competing quite admirably with the Nintendo DS. While it did mismanage its successor, to the point the PS Vita sold less than the GameCube’s 20 million, Sony has been edging back into the portable space in recent times. The PlayStation Portal might just be a streaming handheld device, but it still allows for access to the entire PlayStation 5 library away from the TV.
Now, rumours point to them making a dedicated handheld. On par with the PS5, allowing those games to run natively on the handheld. As for Microsoft, they are constructing their own handheld gaming device. However, unlike Sony, they seem to be licensing to other manufacturers to build their own Xbox handhelds. Rather interestingly, they won’t be restricted to just the Xbox store, with it said that the machine will run Windows and allow for other storefronts such as Steam to be active.
Image Source: The Verge
Microsoft these days is all-in on playing their games anywhere. Firstly, with getting cloud streaming available anywhere they could, such as with TVs and phones. Microsoft sees streaming as a major player in the video game world. The ability to play a game as long as you can connect to the internet. This, combined with Game Pass, means there are plenty of games already to choose from. And secondly, making sure their games appear natively on other platforms for those who can’t stream games perfectly. As such, this latest development seems to be step three.
There will always be those who care about pushing the capabilities of powerful technology. Those who want to push graphical fidelity beyond what is already possible. Even if the increases in that fidelity are getting smaller each generation. Streaming will never be a good substitute for natively running a game for those people. That is why consoles won’t be going anywhere, even if it is only Sony who are catering to those people.
Handheld gaming could easily dominate the market as it once did. Handhelds, and in particular hybrid systems, are easily able to fit within the lifestyle of anyone. Whether that be half an hour during a break or a lengthy multi-hour session. The industry at present has accepted this and is moving in that direction. Advances in handheld gaming technology should soon bring it closer to console quality experiences than ever before. Of course, there’s one other handheld-like device that could do with the boost.
Image Source: YouTube
Virtual reality (VR) headsets have been around for years. However, a high cost of entry in those early days stopped major adoption, and thus growth, of VR experiences. In the last five years, that adoption has massively grown, in part due to the Meta Quest range of headsets. The Quest range, from the Quest 2 onwards, came with its own operating system. It meant the headsets could be standalone devices rather than needing to be tethered to a computer to operate.
Though this seems great, the trade off is lower quality graphics. Some VR game developers have used that to their advantage, creating an art style catered to models with low polygon counts. Others have created games with more realistic graphics, with tradeoffs in other areas. As the technology in Quest headsets improves, so too should the games that can be released on them. As VR headsets become adopted by more people, the experiences found on them will continue to grow.
Even away from Quest headsets, with greater VR adoption comes developers wanting to integrate it into their games. Racing and driving games will be especially notable for this. From personal experience, the first-person viewpoint when using VR is so much better than without. Simply being able to look over to a wing mirror and back is so much quicker and efficient than using a stick of a controller. And even beyond being behind a wheel, the head tracking aspect of VR gaming will make any game feel more immersive.
Image Source: Xbox
For console and PC gaming, live service games have been pushed heavily by certain companies. When games such as GTA Online and Fortnite make up a large percentage of playtime across a year, despite how old they are, companies are sure to want to replicate that success. But efforts from the likes of Sony and Warner Bros. have failed to attract much attention. Even forcing those games to be shuttered and similar projects cancelled.
It does seem studios are now waking up to the fact that they will never compete with the mega hits of the live service space. From a survey by the Game Developer Collective last year, developers find there is no room to compete against them, while also certain that player interest will drop with newer games, leaving just a core group of players. Whether developer concerns are enough to sway the publishers making the decisions is another matter. Some will likely keep chasing the dream of being a mega hit.
But for others, they will see it as an impossible dream, returning to the models that have been successful in the past. Paid expansions offering new, feature-complete content. Or relying on the draw of gaining exclusive content (or instant access to it) and early access to games. This model has been rising in popularity, with varying editions of games offering both. Some in addition to the live service model. Smaller publishers have been especially quick to capitalise on deluxe editions, offering up a few exclusive characters or cosmetics for an extra $10.
Away from the monetisation of game releases to the content of them, there’s always going to be shifts in the genres that are popular. With the ever-increasing power of new consoles, open worlds have dominated. A huge world surely demonstrates the technology within it. GTA VI is likely to prove that in a way only Rockstar can. However tightly constructed, smaller worlds can prove that just as effectively through other means. Such as more dynamic NPC interactions.
READ NEXT:
Latest News
Featured
