Looking Back At Past Failures In Videogames
The early years of gaming were filled with many pitfalls that had threatened to end the entire technological revolution before it had a chance to grow. This isn’t to say that there weren’t also a great number of successes at the time. The successes are why gaming survived to become as big as it has now. The failures, however, almost nullified every success that had been achieved. The majority of these problems could be summed up with one word: unoriginality.
Pong was the first game to become a massive hit for the videogame industry. The game was one that was easily understood by absolutely anyone. To be able to play, one only had to understand the easiest rule: don’t miss. Video ping-pong opened the door for videogames to become a staple of entertainment for almost everyone. The popularity of the game also almost ended it all before it began.
Since the beginning of true invention, there have always been copycats. Someone trying to make a fast buck has always mimicked another person’s good invention. Videogames proved to be no exception to this rule. Pong was making money hand-over-fist. The popularity and financial opportunity of the game brought out many different “inventors” with their own version of Pong. It wasn’t long before everyone had his or her own version of the same game. This oversaturation of the market led to the public quickly becoming tired of playing the same game over and over.
Programmers and designers eventually came up with new games. Many times these games were rehashes of previously released games or copies of a game someone else had released. Atari was the one company that refused to re-use ideas from their previous titles. They worked hard to stay ahead of the curve and produce new, original games.
Today’s games have both learned from, and occasionally repeat, the mistakes of the past. Sequels are always going to bring the familiar characters and stories to the gaming public. The designers of today work to make each game feel unique, while still maintaining the feel of the previous title. Even as this is the case, the copycats and mimics are still around. Any revolutionary idea will eventually be cannibalized by the competition; those eager to make a dollar off of an idea they didn’t come up with.
In the end, I feel that this struggle will be around as long as the gaming industry exists. The designers will always be striving to come up with the next groundbreaking idea. The companies that compete with them will always try to come up with their own version of the technology while the public is still enamored with it. In this way, the copycats are a necessary evil. Without them, no one would push themselves to create the next big thing.
