The videogaming industry has exploded over the last few years. With more big players in the field and bigger and bigger budgets required to develop a game, this industry has become a very serious high-stakes high-profit business.
Both the gaming press and developers now focus a lot of energy on showcasing the latest technologies, the new special effects, the star power of the voice over actors, the details of the game's script. People talking about games are starting to sound more and more like movie critics.
It's a good thing that there's so much emphasis on realism and technology. Games have never looked or sounded better. That being said, the core question that doesn't seem to get asked enough is "Are games more fun today?"
This column will focus on what makes videogames fun, how business decisions affect what we play, and where this art form will go in the future.
Next Stage: the importance of "story" in games.