Evolving platforms and family-friendly gameplay
By Jerrison Oracion, Senior Columnist
It is the holiday season, and one of the gifts that many people may receive will be a video game system. Most video game systems are cheaper now, with the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 being reduced to $299. Many people are likely going to get either the Xbox One or the PS4, instead of the Wii U, as video game systems today are not the same as the video game systems in the 1990s. With the passing of Satoru Iwata and the Wii U not selling as well as the Wii, Nintendo is not as great as during its heyday.
When you think of Nintendo, you may say “Nintendo is no good now.” Many of the games that Nintendo releases nowadays are not as great as their signature games. Also, the games that they release are usually family games, so everyone can play them. Most of the games that are released by other systems appeal to the people that are around my age. Most of them are either rated Teen or Mature, and they are violent.
There are not a lot of family games that are easy to play compared to most of the games released today. It’s tricky, as not everyone can play some of the more difficult games. During the E3 Expo this year, I was excited when they announced FIFA 17, Forza Horizon 3, Just Dance 2017, and Steep. I was not as excited when they announced Battlefield 1, Gears of War 4, the next Resident Evil game and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Back when the Wii was more popular, some games had equipment that made the game very interesting to play, like Wii Fit, which has the innovative Wii Balance Board that is very innovative and allowed you to do exercises and check your statistics. In the past decade, there were a lot of fun games like Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Music, Wii Party, Animal Crossing, Pokémon Channel and Kinect Disneyland Adventures that included interactive additions.
A lot of things have changed in this generation with interactivity. The next version of the Xbox One does not include the Kinect system, which has a camera. In the most recent entry in the Just Dance series, you now have to use a cellphone instead of a camera to play the game. A lot of people are playing mobile games on mobile devices including Pokémon Go to catch Pokémon and soon, Super Mario Bros will be coming to Apple devices. Virtual Reality is also causing games to be more realistic, such as PlayStation VR and HTC Vive. That means that in games like Final Fantasy XV, you can do a virtual reality experience that immerses you into the world of the game.
Nintendo might make a big comeback with their next system, the Nintendo Switch, which is a system that allows you to not only play games on your TV, but also on the go. It has very interesting sounds and it could change the way that we play video games.
