GOG.com was selling Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas and Oblivion at a discount price of $9.99 each. Although GOG.com has released other "high-resolution" games before, I think computer gaming is going into another phase.
GOG.com would sell very old games (DOS compatible!) at a very low price. Now GOG.com is selling games that I would consider "new." I know that Fallout 3 came out in 2008 but to me its graphics feel like a "current" game. Yes, there are games out that have better graphics but to me the graphics in Fallout 3 are good enough for a game released even today. I really think that computer gaming has reached a point where better graphics are not a main selling point anymore.
In the past game play, content and special effects like graphics were all equally important selling points. I think game play has settled into some now very established categories and there really isn't that much innovation to be done. Special effects and video graphics I think are maxed out in practical terms which leaves content/writing the deciding factor for me. Yes, there is virtual reality but I wonder if it is going to end up like 3D movies that never seem to replace the regular 2D movie format.
Because content will be the key deciding factor in game sales in the future, I think computer gaming is going into a new more mature phase. Ironically I think it will be "pen and paper" writers that will be very valuable in the game industry in the near future. I think gaming, and computers in general, will now need the talent and skill of non-technical people to move forward to improve the quality of products.
In a way you have always seen it in the computer gaming industry. Intellectual properties like the Star Wars universe and the Lord of the Rings world sell themselves up to a point. There is such a rich "back catalog" of stories and images created by these large intellectual properties that it doesn't take much to flesh out a game around them and make big sales. But I also feel that original writing/creating from non-technical people will be the future of improving the media that technology has provided. When movies were first made a simple recording of a train moving for a few minutes would impress a movie audience. Now a scene of a train or any moving vehicle is just part of telling a bigger more important story in today's movies. Computer games have reached a point now that movies reached a long time ago. No longer will detailed graphical depiction of images in computer programs be a main selling point. Those graphics will just be a way of telling the story and not the star attraction. Programmers will still be important but the writers will be more important as time goes on. The interesting thing will be if "acting" will then overshadow writing as the "star performer" in the computer game. Will we have "computer stars" like we have movie stars? Voice acting is important too but since the image is "animated" it may be that actors will not break out into a truly starring role. Maybe it will be programmers and writers that will have to fight for "top billing?" I think in the end it will be the writer or a team of writers who will be the "stars." Possibly the top role will be for the "game director/producer?" Time will tell...
