Well, To be honest, I dont care much fro apple, so hearing Steve Jobs was stepping down didn't effect me either way.  That said, I do hate the guy and wish I could choke him with his own turtle neck.  I dont know what it is about him.  Maybe it's the fact that he acts so smug, maybe its the fact that under his turtle neck hides the scar where his soul escaped, I just want him to die. 

that said, lets get down to the wringer for this week. 

Well, any game franchise's Nintendo has made come as games that will go down in history as being memorable.  Halo is another series, the elder Scrolls games, and Final Fantasy as long as Square Enix gets there act in gear and make a spectacular FF15.  After the Failures I keep hearing are 13 and 14, Square would need to do something amazing to keep there fans 20 years down the line.

Dynasty Warriors I think will go down in infamy as the most un changed Series due to the fact that all the games are the same freaking game. 

sonic is another series I fear wil go down in infamy.  coem on Sega, your good at making games.  You can do better than Mario and sonic at the olympics.  well heres hoping Sonic Generations will finally break there streak fo bad sonic games *Holds up wine glass full of sprite*.  That said I know Sega can amke Sonic work well in 3D.  they did it with the Adventure series, and Sonic Heroes (which I think is the best personally)  and so we know it can work.  Another thing They could do is more focus on the story and less on making a new character every freaking game.  I feell ike Im atchign an episode of Bleach when I play a new sonic game.  (For those of you who dont know, the wroter fro Bleach has a horrible tendancy to make new characters for each arc and forget about the ones from the previous arc sans the Main characters). 

Resident Evil, Street fighter, and thats about all from Capcom unless someone else wants to add in 9I honestly cane remember much of there games ATM)

the Knights of the Old Republic games I think will be remembered.

I think we all know that the elder scrolls are going to be remembered for years to come.  That said, I also think D&D will be remembered and even still played 20 years down the line.  but thats not a videogame so I digress.

Im hoping Fallout and The Batman Arkham games are remembered.  Same with the Ace Atorney games.

This is a hard one this week. If we aren't talking about games like Mario, or Zelda, that of course people will remember and still be playing years down the line, and are instead talking abbout more recent games or franchises, I'm not sure if there even will be any. Obviously, the most popular franchises right now are FPS franchises like Call of Duty, but I don't feel like those are the kinds of games that will be remembered 20 to 25 years down the road.

Really I feel like the only franchises that will be remembered are going to be those that got their start back when console and home gaming was just getting started, the ones that already are remembered 20 years down the line, like Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Megaman, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Sonic.

Mighty tough question.  It's easy to say that the franchises that have already lasted that long, namely Nintendo IPs like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, would continue to last another 25 years.  The current trend in gamming now is the military shooter is king (Call of Duty, Battlefield, etc.).  Or even more general, the FPS is king.  Will that trend continue for another 25 years?  I doubt it.  There will be another game that for one reason or another captures the public and shifts gamming trends toward it.  If Call of Duty was a JRPG, you'd see lots of big budget JRPGs flooding the market.  It's hard to say what that would be years for now.  I guess is depends on the games.

That being said, maybe in 25 years, the current perception of "what is a video game" might change.  It's a safe assumption that video game technology will be drastically different 25 years from now, and perhaps the genres we have today (racing, sports, shooters, etc.) would no longer apply based on these new perceptions on what games really are.  How we intereact with technology is completely different now that is was 25 years ago, and I'm sure will be completely different 25 years from now, and this will affect how we interact with games.  It's easy to say "we'll be playing Mario games forever," but maybe Mario won't make sense to produce with future technology, because it's no longer applicable with gamming trends.

Of course, if I had to pick an IP that I wanted to keep playing 25 years from now, I'd say Zelda.  It's a francise that has always captivated me time and time again.  I have fond memories going on adventures, sitting on my parent's living room floor, completely mezmorized.  I guess the nostalgia is too great to pass up.

Mighty tough question.  It's easy to say that the franchises that have already lasted that long, namely Nintendo IPs like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, would continue to last another 25 years.  The current trend in gamming now is the military shooter is king (Call of Duty, Battlefield, etc.).  Or even more general, the FPS is king.  Will that trend continue for another 25 years?  I doubt it.  There will be another game that for one reason or another captures the public and shifts gamming trends toward it.  If Call of Duty was a JRPG, you'd see lots of big budget JRPGs flooding the market.  It's hard to say what that would be years for now.  I guess is depends on the games.

That being said, maybe in 25 years, the current perception of "what is a video game" might change.  It's a safe assumption that video game technology will be drastically different 25 years from now, and perhaps the genres we have today (racing, sports, shooters, etc.) would no longer apply based on these new perceptions on what games really are.  How we intereact with technology is completely different now that is was 25 years ago, and I'm sure will be completely different 25 years from now, and this will affect how we interact with games.  It's easy to say "we'll be playing Mario games forever," but maybe Mario won't make sense to produce with future technology, because it's no longer applicable with gamming trends.

Of course, if I had to pick an IP that I wanted to keep playing 25 years from now, I'd say Zelda.  It's a francise that has always captivated me time and time again.  I have fond memories going on adventures, sitting on my parent's living room floor, completely mezmorized.  I guess the nostalgia is too great to pass up.

Personally, I'm not sure why anyone would want many of the present game franchises to live on in 25 years.

Though it probably will be this way, I can't see the desire to play a Call of Duty iteration that's pushing as many sequels as the Mario franchise. Reddit is already calling out developers for making the same damned game.

As much as I like current titles like Katamari Damacy, I can't see playing some 15th sequel of it. Same thing for Metal Gear Solid. The closer we get to Kojima's vision of the future, the less relevant his future becomes.

Also, Sunday the 11th is my 28th birthday. Any chance for a shout out in next week's Wringer?

"Bite that Apple" I was bitting into a peach when I unblocked the video and read that.

I enjoyed the long weekend by finishing installing the last of various programs that I need/want for Windows 7 and doing some video editing.

People will probably say the main/popular franchises but the thing is are they still going to be around? Consoles are changing, different types of people are playing that the way games have held up may not work in keeping established franchises going.

I'd say probably Madden or the NFL 2K series.  With a new one every year, these games just never die!  I don't like sports games.  I prefer playing real sports.  What I can really imagine though is a 50th Anniversary of either Mario or Zelda.  I can see Roo still talking about Earth Bound in 25 years!  Maybe they will finally release another one by then.  Maybe.  I can see it now... Final Fantasy XXXII: Dirge of Giygas.

While I'm definitely not a fan of Apple or Steve Jobs, I sure wouldn't say I want him to die!

I honestly don't think many, if any current game franchises will be around in 25 years, or if they are, they will have been on a long hiatus before returning.  That is to say, they won't have been around constantly for the 25 years from now to then.

The games that will most likely still be around are those with firmer roots I believe.  The Marios, the Zeldas, the Metroids.  Game franchises these days pitter out to fast.  The developers make one game and get an instant hit, so they fast-track a sequel.  It does moderately well, so a third game is announced that wraps up "The epic trilogy" of the series that was never concieved as a trilogy to begin with.  Really, it's just a tag line saying "We really don't know what to do next, sorry guys!  We're out of ideas!" 

Because of these too-fast releases, and not much innovation between titles the way, for example, Mario had over the years, I don't believe current franchises will be a constant for over two decades.  Of course, I'm not saying these titles now aren't good, and I'm not saying that they won't be remembered, but most of them I can't see having a game every 2 to 3 years for another 25 years. 

I also think the titles that have fonder childhood memories to gamers in their 20's through 30's now will have more of a legacy.  I've already introduced Mario to my niece, but I doubt I'd ever show her Uncharted or Assassin's Creed, even when she is of an age to play those titles.  I believe nostalgia is a big factor for Mario and Zelda still being around today, and their friendly, all-ages style will keep them getting passed down to younger audiences.  Call of Duty isn't really something I wound look back fondly at as an old man, but maybe that's just my style of gaming.

I didn't participate in last week's discussion, because I never really used any apple products before. So I thank the community for last week's weekly wringer, I think I understand now better the impact Steve Jobs had on the industry.

To this week's topic:

So far people only mentioned franchises that have a new sequel almost every year, like Mario or Call of Duty, but there are other popular franchises out there that I think we will still be playing in 25 years as well. Lets take Deus Ex for example. There have been only 3 Deus Ex games in 11 years and yet it is a widely known game series. I think that even if there wont be a new Deus Ex game for another few years, this franchise will live on - Maybe not under the same name, but there will be definitely a spiritual successor to it.

The reason why Mario and Zelda can have so many sequels and yet we never get bored of them, is because of their "silent" heroes and ever changing game worlds. If Mario and Link would have continuous background stories, it would be very difficult to come up with a new quest for each new game. Instead the Mario games focus on new, yet familiar, gameplay (the quest is always to save the princess) and the Zelda games have always the same silent protagonist, but in another, yet familiar world with a new story. I think Nintendo can continue their franchises this way indefinitely. The same is true for Final Fantasy, each new game in the series is another RPG with no connections to its previous ones. "Final Fantasy" became more of a seal of quality for a good JRPG.

Its true that most propably the way we play games will be very different in 25 years, but I think that game genres that have proven successfull, will still exist in the future. There will still be a place for Mario jump n runs as there will be for Lego bricks and matchbox cars (even if they will be able to fly).

Best to start of thinking what makes NES games fun to play now. Simply put, they are arguably shorter then what we have today. There are exceptions of course, but can we really say those type of games like the first few Final Fantasy games are still "played" today (ignoring remakes/rereleases). True fans or curious onlookers of the series will play them, but thats pretty much it. Most will not randomly pick up Final Fantasy 1 and play it like they will pick up and play Super Mario Brothers for example. With that said, I can't see myself playing Super Mario Galaxy 10 years from now, let alone 25, it just doesn't have the appeal like the NES era.

Online is another big problem today. Will Halo 1,2,3 multiplayer servers still be there 25 years for now (not a fan of the series now, just using as an example)? Steam and MMO games won't survive 25 years. For example, you will be able to play Age of Empires II in 25 years, but you won't be able to play Civ5.

How we play games is also abit of an issue, it is becoming difficult to find television sets with coax connections, making it difficult to play Atari and Intellevision. In 25 years, I can't see component let alone RCA still being around, I would wager even HDMI won't last that long. With the way things are going currently in the world of computers, I doubt we will even have "that which cannot be mentioned" (emulators) anymore.  

With all that said, we will be restricted to what the world allows us to play. Franchises like Tetris and Bejeweled will always be around. Zelda, Final Fantasy, and other franchises that really haven't changed since the SNES days are on their last leg now and really don't see much interest in their current gen release in 25 years. Sports games are in the same bucket, I can still play Tecmo Bowl today, but I can't even play the recent Madden for any long period of time today, let alone in 25 years.

If I was a betting individual, then my money will be on the successful indy games and small companies today. Example being Donkey Kong Country Returns, MineCraft (LAN and single player only) will still be around.

You know, while I'm not surprised everyone is saying pretty much the same thing, Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, etc..  it really does seem like the safe bet. These are the ones where we can pretty much say "thanks for the last 25 years and here's hoping for 25 more." 

They are a fairly safe bet and, yes have a good chance of making it. I do have to ask though. You really think they can make it to 50?

Now as I think about this answer I decided I'm going to shamelessly plug an older wringer, and my own comment in particular. it had to do with the discussion of video game sequels.

From this next 25 years I have to say you need to look to what I call the 'Evolution Sequel' All these CoD's, Halo's and the like are coming out  so fast they're going to burn themselves out.

Personally my money is on big Blizz. 

Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo.

Diablo 3 is just coming out. and it's been 15 years . when you have a 5 year dev cycle. It's not hard to picture being able to bring something to the table only 5 times.  Hell forgetting the franchise of Warcraft and looking at WoW alone, it's gone 7. they come out with as WoW2 that alone will probably be good for another 10.

FPS are the big thing right now, but it's so saturated that I don't see any of the current titles making such a long run. When talking about FPS's I think you need to look to the same deal. Games like Half-Life (6 years from 1 -2), Possibly quake, but only because they're talking about doing a reboot of the series, and only if they stick to a slow dev / release cycle.

The reason I say we need to look to these longer cycle, slower releasing games, is that it not only gives people enough to enjoy the game, but also leaves them with a desire for wanting more. Think of how people reacted when Blizzard announced StarCraft 2, or Diablo 3.  It was like a travelling junkie finding a dealer in a strange town. People get excited, anxious and the desire and need floods into them. 

http://h8.abload.de/img/1307997722050a3n71.jpg

There it is, folks. The current state of video games.
Once again, I turn to the pseudo-expertise of Cracked:

http://www.cracked.com/article_18608_the-day-gaming-industry-died-impres...

This year-old article, and its follow-up, linked at the end.

Basically, the reason the Wii is considered to have won the console war (and it did) was because it offered something different. Not just different games, but a different way to play them. And nowadays, everyone is moving away from sitting on the couch with a controller in your hand, to your body being the controller. Everyone that isn't is just making first person shooters.

So I don't know what the next game changer will be. Bad choice of words, there. I don't know what the next paradigm shift will be. What comes after the Wii, and the Kinect, and Move?

Let's look at sales thus far.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games

Big list. Okay. Wii Sports, 76 million.
Mario Brothers, 40 million.
On down from there.
Call of Duty: Black Ops had 12 million.

Oh wait. Angry Birds, 250 million downloads. Well, fignuts.

That's the future, right there.
As the Cracked article says at the end, why carry two electronic devices when you can carry one that does both things? As more people move to tablet and smart phone devices, as addressed in last weeks Wringer, that's where game companies will move the battlefield.

Some people may not give up on consoles, just as they haven't given up on their old SNES, but consoles are not the future.

Wii and Kinect are not the future.

Apps. From now on, it's all smartphone and touch tablet games.

Until they meet their match, and join the ranks of the has-beens.

As for games that might get people to stick with them? What will people still be playing in 25 years? Well, the games that get the most people addicted:

http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-tryin...

And they're trying.

If I had to name a franchise, I think I agree with Aestolia. People buy Zelda or Mario games more out of a sense of duty these days than because they look forward to the new content.

But when you're already hooked on a game like World of Warcraft, and new content gets added to it, that you can incorporate into the game you've already devoted years of your life to, it's like you're choosing not to cure yourself of cancer.

You gotta buy that new expansion. Your life's work depends on it.
And 25 years from now, the money will still be there, so I think (and fear) the WoW juggernaut will still be marching.

Well, for the franchises part of the question, from the looks of things they could probably rehash anything enough times for it to still be around 25 years ago.  But I don't think I'd really want them to.  The main things that come to mind would be the big franchises like Final Fantasy or Call of Duty (well probably not Final Fantasy, but more on that later), franchises making so much money that the developers will probably be able to feed the mouths of not only their children, but every one of thier decendents for the next century. They would be full blown insane to end franchises like that, no matter how many times they say that this will be the last one (see God of War).  I would severely hope that they would make some attempt at innovation (see Final Fantasy...ish).  Well actually, you would kind of have to to survive that long.  That, or start releasing entries into the series very far apart to keep it from getting old (like the release of MegaMan9 after not releasing a game in any mega man series for awhile, althoug that seems like a special case).  Although I see most big franchises going for longevity would probably go the way of Final Fantasy (last comment involving FF, I swear): with a simple loss of inspiration or resistance to change to the modern era (or a want to change to quickly, leading to fan-betrayal) that could make a franchise loose all fan suport and credibility over the course of a few short years.  My money would go with the Nintendo franchises, since they seem the least likely to go any of those routes, although im not saying it isn't possible.

As for individual games, I don't know.

I was going to say Minecraft, but one of the main problems with that is that it's web based, so I don't think I'll even be able to play it in 20 years, atleast not in its current form.  Although (this is something too big to put into brackets), with stuff like what the Commodore was talking about two weeks ago with the fall of dedicated gaming handhelds, and the stuff he was talking about this week with a post-PC age, I've got a feeling that most games are going to become entirely web based in the near future, especially in a future where the idea of a "gaming console" becomes obsolete in an age of ever present web devices and omni-tools inspired by today's smart-phones.  What effect this will have on the longevity of video games or video game franchises is uncertain, but I think 25 years from now, this whole conversation will seem laughably dated.  I would really like some of you to elaborate on this concept.

I was also going to say something something like Portal or its sequel, but those games have very little replay value.  You already know all of the answers, and by 2036 everybody probably will.  The only reason I see myself coming back to  those games would be nestalgia.  Although, the same could be said for most puzzel games or point-and-click adventures, and many people go back and play Myst or Monkey Island.  Now that I think of it, nestalgia is probably the driving force behind playing 25 year old games, isn't it (you can't spell nestalgia without NES)?  There are many games coming out now on Xbox 360 and PS3 that I don't see lasting in popularity after 15 years, but nestalgia has a funny way of sneakin' up on ya.

I would probably play games like Amnesia: the Dark Descent 20 years from now so I could compare them to whatever we're going to be calling survival horror games in the future.

The games I see us most likely playing in the future are the ones in the long running series like Zelda: Skyward Sword or Super Mario Galaxy, mainly because we'll be comparing them to the entries coming before and after those games and their inpact on their respective series as a whole.  It's like what Commodore said about no one playing Crono Cross if it wasn't a sequel to Crono Trigger.  What will fanboys say was the best Final Fantasy 25 years from now? (damn, I did it again)

I never actually read anyone else's posts before making my own on the Wringer, so as I was reading DRASTIC's post, I think he was able to say some of  the stuff I was trying to say better.

~cough~ actually you can spell it without NES... Nostalgia. Technically you can't spell it with NES, unless you're talking about MORPG NEStalgia.

It's like what Commodore said about no one playing Crono Cross if it wasn't a sequel to Crono Trigger.

Even if the title of Chrono Cross were different and the game had absolutely ZILCH to do with Chrono Trigger, it would still be a gem of the PS era, as it is now.

It is a damned fine game and a solid RPG.

I was going to say Minecraft, but one of the main problems with that is that it's web based, so I don't think I'll even be able to play it in 20 years, atleast not in its current form.

http://www.minecraft.net/about.jsp  (The very last paragraph.)

Once sales start dying and a minimum time has passed, I will release the game source code as some kind of open source. I'm not very happy with the draconian nature of (L)GPL, nor do I believe the other licenses have much merit other than to boost the egos of the original authors, so I might just possibly release it all as public domain.

Zelda is the kind of franchise that I can see them rebooting in the next 25 years for a new generation.  It has had such a large fan base with existing players.  We won't let it die so they will more likely make more.  The thing is in 25 years, I will be 59.  I definitely won't be the target audience!  More than likely, by that time they will start over from scratch to ease new players into the Zelda franchise. 

With Mario, it is fairly non violent and still fun.  There will always be parents that will recognize the brand name and know there won't be zombie blood and guts in the game.  I'm more likely to a Mario game without researching it than any other game for my kids.  Without a complex story in each game, every one is kind of a reboot.  I think there will always be ports of the first several Mario games to future generation consoles like with the GBA ports.  If not, then Nintendo would be foolish to close down their virtual console store.

One thing I can definitely see happening in the next 25 years is introducing the grandkids to the games I played as a child.

A question where I can't decide which of my multiple answers to post? Guess it's Scinetific d6 time...

1) Super Mario Brothers (Franchise) - Do I need to give a reason? It's mario

2) Legend of Zelda (Franchise) - As above, replace mario with zelda

3) Final Fantasy (Franchise) - With the endless streams of remakes, and people who will buy it non-stop, this franchise will endure, and, if they get just one of the MMO's right and 1 cpnsole game right, this franchise will make it to 2030 at least by milking those games for all they're worth

4) Fire Emblem (Franchise) - If you were to ask me what Franchise I would like to see survive more than any other, it would be this one. And I think that if any strategy game will survive, this is the best candidate.

5) Tetris (Game) - Tetris will never die.

6) Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (Franchise) - I could just put the SMT series in general, but I think the persona games seem to be some of the most popular from them. Also, Persona 4 finally perfected the formula - as long as they just keep it up to date, I see no reason why SMT:P couldn't become the next few decades Final Fantasy w/o the rapid decline after the half-way point.

(Although, since the question doesn't technically specify video games, I do posit that for non video games, the 6 options are:

1) Monopoly

2) Snakes and Ladders

3) Chess

4) Draughts

5) Solitaire

6) Poker

Although, since the question doesn't technically specify video games, I do posit that for non video games, the 6 options are:"

No Clue / Cluedo???  Clue is AWESOME!  What other board game can you use deductive logic (guesses) and just begs for adult humor?  What WAS Ms. Scarlett doing with the lead pipe in the Ball Room?  Performing the "Nut Cracker" Suit, of course!

Sorry, what I ment to say was not Most people would have Remembered it without the Chrono in the title but you still get my point.

Personally, I never really liked it.

And with the Minecraft thing, you can tell I really don't do much research for these things.

 I wasn't really interpreting the question as 'what current game franchises will still be around 25 years from now?' so much as 'what current games will people 25 years from now still enjoy and want to pick up and play?'. Just like how some movies made decades ago are still appealing to modern viewers even though that story/universe/whatever hasn't been revisited since. 

Either way, it's a really tough question. I can at least offer some hypotheses for what qualities of a game will affect how long it continues to be popular.

1) Things that rely heavily on cutting edge graphics won't fare well. Today's gorgeous game is tomorrow's laughably primitive one, and unless the game's looks are based on aesthetics rather than graphics (Extra Credits had a great video about this difference) being good looking won't be enough to be remembered. I think a lot of FPS games will suffer from this. Okami and Katamari Damacy, however, will probably still be enjoyed even as they become graphically outdated because their uniquevisuals aren't  just based on graphics.

2) Reliance on online multiplayer may reduce a game's longevity. What happens if there is no Xbox live 20 years from now, or no support for online play for older games? A lot of shooters will lose much of their appeal. (By the way I don't think all FPS games will go the way of the Dodo; I could see Bioshock or the Mass Effect series living on due to the focus on a compelling  story). I suppose if everything ends up in The Cloud instead of on specific platforms this could be averted, though.

3) Simplicity and/or player freedom are good. It seems like the older games that people enjoy today are either based on a simple but enjoyable concept (Tetris, most platforming games) or give a big open world for players to mess around in and discover various things on their own (See Yahtzee's latest article on Deus Ex and the golden age of PC gaming). So I think minecraft, GTA, and Angry Birds stand a good chance of being remembered.

Things might not be so bad for Sonic fans in the future (or any franchise that has taken a downhill turn or has a lower good/crap ratio). Time has a certain way of filtering how we look at media and sifting out a lot of the bad or mediocre ones. Look at music; there were a lot of truly awful songs in the Top 40 lists of the classic rock era, but nobody listens to those or bothers to play them on the radio anymore. The snapshot we get of that era is sampled in such a way as to emphasize things that a modern listener considers good. So maybe a few decades from now the bad Sonic games will have mercifully fallen by the wayside while the classics remain.

Longevity of video games? or longevity of video game franchises? I noticed this topic has been split into two different directions, will we be playing the newest Final Fantasy game in 2035, or will we be playing Final Fantasy # in 2035?

If we are talking about franchises I believe that the FPS rush will die out in a way that Platformers have. Platformers were very very popular due to their simple design, pick up and play style, and being good fun back in the NES, SNES, and Genesis era. Come the Playstation and N64 (And Saturn, but I can't think of many Saturn platformers off the top of my head, I also don't know much about Saturn) most platformers were trying to be 3D, some suceeded and some failed. I have never had a Playstation so I can't name many platformers other than Spyro and Crash Bandicoot, and the N64 did have Mario 64, and Rare's many games. However with many franchises failing to exist in 3D many died off. Platformers did take a huge hit because 3D platformers are much harder to create and harder to pick up and have fun with because of the perspective. Also the gaming community seemed to be getting sick of the many platformers so many did not return to their 2D roots.

What about rhythm games? I came late into the rhythm games only playing a little DDR and Guitar Hero III, but from what I understand when they came about plenty of people loved them in the arcades, especially DDR. Then they brought the band games to home consoles and began pumping out more sequels, spin-offs, and a DJ version! Eventually the community got sick of it and they died off. This death was much more so due to the community becoming sick of them than platformers but you can trace both of their deaths somewhat to this reason.

So FPS games? I expect the same thing, I expect us to get sick of the FPS games. At this point I do know plenty of people who play CoD, most of them are kids who don't understand why it isn't a good game and just like shooting and killing stuff, or just want to play with their friends. Also people like my sister's boyfriend (26 I think?) play CoD and I don't think he seems like much of a serious gamer so he dosen't have many routes to go for his gaming needs. Eventually the only people to buy CoD will be the non serious gamers. Hopefully the non serious gamers will change their gaming choices and CoD will die off. With CoD dead I expect 2 years of a height of games like Halo and Battlefield being pumped out saying "Don't worry, we'll replace them!" when we don't want them replaced and they too will die off. Most likely the direction all of the non serious gamers go will be the new big genra that everyone will play. I have no idea what it will be, but I expect online multiplayer and fast paced gameplay to be a must. There will still be FPS games, but I expect only the big players will stay as the big players (Nintendo, Sega, Capcom, etc.) of platformers stayed. By big players I mean developers who have specialized in this, the only one to come to my head is Valve though. There will probably also be many indie developers who will flock to it as the indie developers are making platformers today. Indie dev makes a platformer "It is just like the good times back when I played Super Mario World on SNES!" Indie dev makes an FPS in 20 years "It is just like the good times back when I played Halo on my Xbox!"

As for what modern franchises will stay, the obvious has been said Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc. Most modern games are going for a more story driven approach and a huge franchise based off of Uncharted, Mass Effect, Gears of War, Halo, and Resistance won't be able to survive if they are trying to make Gears of War 17: Return of Hell will last a while. Although I do expect some of the very popular story based modern games will continue based on how spaced content is. In 20 years I hope to be playing Half-Life 4 (More like Half-Life 2 episode 3 :P), Starcraft 4, World of Warcraft 2 (If such a thing could exist, I expect it), Diablo 7, Whatever they call a new Elder Scrolls, and Fallout 8. Well those last two I don't really know how long it has been between their last 2 games, and I am not counting their original series because I see those are long gone and not related to the new series very much if at all. They just seem like big fun open world RPGs that will be well enjoyed if they release a new game every 5-7 years. Although in a fast moving world that is video games I could see some of these series reinventing itself to suit the new player love, but I'd prefer them to stay as is and I'm sure many others will too.

As for the next part about my post about individual games, I'm going to post that in a little bit. I'm very hungry right now and am going to post this and eat then come back just incase something happens to my browser with this huge post just sitting in here.

I'm fed and happy and shit for all! *Hugs!*

So now for single games and not franchises. I feel there are many indie games that will be played for years due to their inovation like Minecraft, although eventually Minecraft will die out and the only players will be the ones who try to make amazing things or people just experiecing it, and less people will care to try it out if it dosen't have the following it does today. Then we have many wonderful games that people will want to play for years to come like the newer Zelda games, unfortunatly less of these games that stand by themselves come to mind.

I think for looking at the best games remembered by themselves we can look at older generations of NES SNES and Genesis era. Currently I divide the game generations into three main sections myself, Retro, Middleaged, and Modern. Modern games are Gamecube, PS2, Xbox, and up for me. Retro is everything before Playstation, N64, and Saturn. Then the Middleage is mostly N64, Playstation, Dreamcast, and Saturn.

Yes I do realize that we do not divide generations like this and blah blah blah, I'm looking at how we play the games. Modern games we play like we normally play games, just playing whatever is new and fun. This could be Call of Duty, Starcraft 2, Pikmin, etc. When people talk about going back and playing retro they normally look at the NES, SNES, and Genesis. While the playstation and Nintendo 64 are still retro to many, and me as well (Probably because N64 was my first, so it is the oldest system I currently own. I used to have a Gameboy Color but when I was young I got rid of it for a Gameboy Advance) they don't seem to get as much retro attention as the older things do. I feel the two parts of gaming that will be remembered are what it was like at first and what it is like today. People often skip the middle portion of seeing how many things have changed. Currently the Middleaged games I mentioned are the ones skipped over, but as time passes they will move into the Retro zone, and they are breaching it now, and eventually Gamecube, Xbox, and PS2 will be in the middleages. Unfortunatly with the way games are changing them having much better graphics as time goes on they will begin to blend together much easier and it will be hard to distinguish a Playstation 3 game from a Playstation 5 game unless they go the way of real actors that you can perfectly control, or holograms, or 3D or something. So these generations will blend together and the middleaged section will become more squished together and it'll become harder to find the good in those generations and will be the ones skipped over. In 20 years we are going to have fond memories of all gaming systems until Gamecube and everything before it. We will remember the Xbox 360 but newer players coming back to expirience everything they've missed will find it difficult to find what they enjoy. Making it harder for a game to be fondly remembered and played in 25 years, if you can even learn what games you want to play it'll be even harder to actually get your hands on it unless we begin to use virtual console like services in future generations or use emulators.

Of course I still have hope that in 25 years my children will play Portal for the first time without me having to push them into it by discovering it themselves and using an emulator for it. As I have for games like Earthbound and Ghost 'n Goblins, without being pushed into it by a close friend and getting to expirience these games as people would have when they played it for the first time so many years ago.

It is often said we need to know our history to make corrections to our modern life, but what about when our history is exactly the same as our modern life? I am truly scared for future generations not getting to enjoy things as I have, and as time goes on it will be hard to expirience everything video games have to offer, but I do have hope us as gamers will not let any games simply die off and will do what we can to keep these games alive and well. With emulators, and digital downloads. I expect developers to move onto whatever is happening in the future and to drag our beloved franchises and abusing them to death to fit in with what is modern. This is when newer generations will be afraid to try to explore into the older games when they were good. I am proof of this. I was afraid to play any Sonic games because the modern ones looked so dumb to me. Once I played the Genesis ones I wish I could share this with people but they would all shrug it off as some Stupid Sonic game. It is up to us gamers who are growing up in the generation where the future is in danger to help newer generations play the great old games and to push them away from the bad. This will most likely come from review videos. What is today a modern video game will eventually be reviewed as an old game for future generations to try out for themselves. If we can keep the memory of all of our gaming generations alive we can remember what makes gaming what it is and do our best to push the newest games in the right direction.

Heyo, sorry I didn't chime in this last week, but as an Apple Outsider I really didn't feel qualified to say anything. I will say that I know they've always been on the leading edge of art and entertainment related hardware and software.

The PC is also typically under IBM- International Business Machine. In a curious twist they've generally been the preferred platform for PC gaming. Huh... I'd heard once that it was Disney and other animation studios that had been saving MAC. Big budget productions and computer animation all pioneered with MACs, not IBMs.

So I do respect Mac. I do have an iPod (which is funny because I'm deaf in one ear and nobody seems to make mono ear pieces for some reason...) and it's a nice cute piece of technology. I use it on long trips. I don't like or want an ipad. I like my home computer, I like being able to see things on a large display. I am completely OCD about cleaning touch screens or anything my fingers/ear comes in contact with - my phone screen and DS primarily. So I just reject the technology for my own personal use. Not to say I don't see the use of it, the convenience etc.

Like the gamer I am, I like my old NES/SNES/N64 carts. I even like the CDs of my PS1/2/GC/Saturn/DC/Wii games. They're physical manifestations of the data contained within. It's funny to think that my DS cart could house most of my gaming library and still have room for more. I also have STEAM, and I like that too - being able to download and uninstall games on a whim and have the library still there. I know that's going to be more common in the future. There are so many things to weigh out, advantages and disadvantages to everything, so I know I'm just being petty.

If you'd asked me about 15 years ago where I thought Apple would be I would have told you - Gone. They've overcome the monoliythic Microsoft Empire so I say more power to em. Now... Steve Jobs stepping down as CEO makes me think of my experience at another maga corporation that has Mart in its name. I say it because of this... In 2009 we got a new CEO. He came in with new rules, new heiarchy, new everything. The chain of command and how we did business completely turned on its head and it stinks. It took us months to figure out where we stood again and by that time, many people had been fired and so on. The change in command brought much bitching, confusion and chaos. It's not the same company it was when I was hired in 07, and it's heading in the completely wrong direction. This isn't just me whining because I don't like the changes - our store went from being the most profitable in the area to being #17 in sales after the change over. My concerns for Apple as a company lay in who it is that gets Steve's Job.

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So onto this week's question.

I have absolutely no doubt that Mario will be a manditory video gaming experience for anyone around. I can see  Mega Man and Sonic fading into obscurity. Mario constantly reinvents himself while holding to certain fundamentals. Mega Man has stayed too close to the formula, and Sonic doesn't know what his formula is supposed to be which creates a stale or unstable experience respectively.

What series' will still be around in 25 years? I don't know, I really don't know. I'm going to go out on a limb and say Disgaea. NIS (Nippon Ichi Software) is not a big global dominator like Nintendo or other companies, but its' Disgaea series has something that I think will transcend time and genre- Comedy. They are fun games filled with quirky and memorable characters. While I doubt they will ever reach the level of fame and infamy as many other game and companies do, I think they will have enough of a cult following to help them float through whatever comes our way. As Nintendo never competed on graphics in the last round of consoles, NIS doesn't either. NIS has produced the Mana Khemia, Atelier Iris and Disgaea series' along with Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure. They don't wow us with graphics, they draw us in by making the games that others' don't. Disgaea you play as a demon king of the Netherworld, Atelier Iris/Mana Khemia largely focus on item creation and many of them feature SCHOOL as a part of the game, and well... Rhapsody is a musical adventure... an rpg musical where the heroine fights with dolls. And that's not including the spin-off series like Prinny: I want to be the Hero!

On a more mainstream note, I think Halo is here to stay. Why? Red vs. Blue. Cultural relevance has a place in a series' longevity and who can argu that halo has become a bigger construct than ever thanks to fan based 'machinema' like this? It's about as viral as a Nyan cat, and like sites such as Askaninja and this one, has built up a fanbase who still regularly goes and checks for new content.

For my personal choice as a series I would like to see stick around in 25 years I'd like to put forward two propositions. Legend of Zelda - it's one of the last sword and sorcery games to really stay true to its roots in every incarnation and there are far too few of them out there these days imo.

The other one is Seiken Densetsu. Secret of Mana was actually Seiken Densetsu 2, with the first one being released on Game Boy as Final Fantasy Adventure. SD 3 never made it here to America, but a side adventure - Legend of Mana was. Not too long ago, Square went about doing a World of Mana series of releases which included Sword of Mana (GBA remake of the first game), Dawn of Mana (SD 4), Children of Mana etc. Although they don't release at the same rapid pace as other games, I think that they'll perennially bloom with new games and familiar faces and themes. Like the NIS games, I expect these won't get the same recognition, but as long as Squeenix survives, I think these will keep cropping up too.