With the imminent launches of Sony’s PS4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One, the gaming industry is getting ready for an explosion of new titles with crisp and clear next-generation graphics. And—as always—“graphics” is one of the biggest buzzwords, attracting the attention of gamers, reviewers and developers.
For instance, there were rumours earlier this year that the PS4 had better graphics hardware than the Xbox One, allowing for it to display games with a higher resolution. This resulted in a huge debate on what constituted good graphics and if the merits of the two machines could be boiled down to the pixel count per inch. Regardless, these rumours do seem to be at least somewhat true: the popular title Call of Duty: Ghosts will run at 720p on the Xbox but 1080p on the PS4. Meanwhile, Xbox Strategy boss Albert Penello tellingly argued that while the Xbox was built to “balance a system for graphics performance… each company has their strengths.”
And while the long, bitter battle for the title of best console producer rages, filling internet forums and gaming websites, another breed of game has been developing. It’s a genre that doesn’t rely on photorealistic, high-resolution renderings. In fact, some of its most iconic examples, such as MineCraft, are famous for their poor graphics. It it the indie game genre.
Indie games, which are games produced by small start up companies or even individuals, have been gaining ground in the last few years. Part of the reason is the increasing popularity of mobile games, which have a lower financial and technological barrier to entry than PC or console game development. However the relative ease of producing mobile games is a double-edged sword. Both the Apple and Google app stores have over 700 000 apps apiece, and good indie games can be buried under games from larger companies with advertising budgets.
Indie games are also growing thanks to the increasing popularity of crowdfunding, which allows for many interested consumers to invest small amounts in daring and original ventures. Crowdfunding provides indie developers an opportunity to raise funds for games that wouldn’t otherwise attract investment from conventional sources. An example of a crowdfunded game is Papers Please, a surprisingly addictive game in which you work as a border guard, assessing paperwork and trying to get enough money to feed your family. Crowdfunding also provides a game with plenty of hype—exactly what is lacking for a game with no advertisement.
So as the titans of the gaming industry battle for dominance, the indie game continues to march forward, focusing on story, gameplay, and originality. They are a huge departure from the tradition of higher resolution textures and more photorealistic skyboxes. Some, such as FTL: Faster Than Light, have regressed to 2D environments, even on the very 3D capable PC platform. This back-to-basics approach is a trend that will not be going away anytime soon, and their focus on innovative gameplay may pose stiff competition to the established members of the gaming industry.
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