The annual North East Gaming Festival is yet another sign that the gaming industry is not only alive and well in the North East, but in the UK at large. With families from across the region and beyond flocking to Northumbria University Students’ Union to enjoy all things Minecraft, any thoughts of games becoming a thing of the past have been blown out of the water.
In fact, the festival known as Nethermined was set up by Michelle Poller because her daughter was too young to attend the official Minecraft events. Now, three years on, it’s become an all-out entertainment event complete with games, special guests from YouTube and even lessons for parents on cyber safety.
For all intents and purposes, Nethermined has become a huge success, but if there’s one thing that 2017’s festival taught us, it’s that the next generation expect something more from gaming. Even for a small event, Nethermined pulled out all the stops by bringing in popular figures from the gaming community and it’s this sort of effort that inflames the minds of youngsters and inspires them to play more.
When this is the case, gaming companies, manufacturers and developers all need to work harder to ensure they meet these expectations and satisfy the needs of the younger generation. Fortunately, the industry is always quick to respond and in 2017 we’re likely to see the advent of more innovations. From existing ideas played out on a larger scale to completely new concepts, 2017 looks set to be another big year for the industry.
The Three S’s of 2017:
With this in mind, we’ve picked out three of the biggest gaming trends you can expect to see this year:
Synergy
“Nintendo Switch características, precio” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by iphonedigital
Nintendo might not be first to the party anymore when it comes to game innovations, but maybe that’s because it’s been too focused on creating the ultimate all-in-one console: Switch. Teased for much of 2016, the hybrid console has a release date of March 3, 2017, and, by all accounts, it’s a great idea. Although the testers at CNET wished it had more games available, they saw many positives in both the concept and the execution.
In short, Switch is a tablet, handheld console and a traditional console all in one. By adding and removing certain elements, you can basically play a game in three different settings. While some say it’s a gimmick, it’s actually a gaming synergy like never before. Instead of keeping our gaming options separate, Switch allows us to enjoy everything in one.
Specificity
“iphones” (CC BY 2.0) by wolfsavard
Today, the avid gamer wants a platform that’s perfectly in tune with their device. For example, when a mobile casino player makes a deposit, they want to do so with the least amount of fuss possible. Why? Because time is of the essence. Let’s say a player at mFortune wants to play online slots no deposit games with their free £5 sign-up bonus.
Once they’ve used this credit, they’ll have a set amount of time to make a deposit and play through any winnings. To make the deposit process as slick as possible, mFortune allows players to credit their account through their phone bill. Using the “pay by phone” option means they don’t have to put in any details and the cash is in their account instantly. This is an example of games and devices working in perfect harmony and something we’ll likely see more of in 2017.
Streaming
“DAC Grand Final in the U-Bahn” (CC BY 2.0) by illustir
The final area of growth we’ll see this year is streaming. According to the stats, June 2016 was one of the busiest months on record for Twitch. At the start of the month there were 2.1 million broadcasters registered on the site and by November 11, 2016, 241 billion minutes of gaming content had been streamed to more than 100 million monthly users.
One of the most significant stats of 2016 was the number of mobile streamers. Even at the start of 2016, 35% of the site’s audience were watching gaming content via their mobiles. The significance of this is that we’ll not only see that figure increase in 2017, but we’ll see more gamers catering to this audience. Bite-size shows and even mobile game-focused streams will likely be all the rage this year.
In fact, as you can see, mobile is where many of the trends are going to stem from in the coming months. If it’s not devices that cross boundaries or games that sync perfectly with a mobile’s functionality, it will be gamers and developers tailoring the content to our portable platforms. Although we’re far from seeing the death of consoles, there’s no doubt mobiles will play a prominent role in the gaming industry in 2017.