Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports • Hacker News Board

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#61

Post by Retric » Sat, Aug 22, 2020, 12:52 AM UTC

reificator wrote: post #59

codingdave wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still do play solitaire. I taught a few variations to my kids early on when the pandemic locked us at home. I don't judge either style of game as better or worse than the other... just different. Video games are clearly richer games, but the conversations I had with my family growing up were often while sitting around a table playing card games.

> Video games are clearly richer games I don't know, if you include Magic the Gathering in the card games pile it's definitely competitive on the "richness"[0] spectrum against most video games. Though in the current apocalypse, there's been an uptick in video game forms of Magic, and even a sharp rise in people playing over the internet by pointing a webcam at their table. [0]: Pun not intended, but it's undeniably…

Several versions of traditional solitaire are extremely deep games when you try and maximize your odds of winning. Video games can be mindless or mind bending puzzles.

Which is why I think lumping all video games into a single category is meaningless. Beat Saber and Minecraft have little in common.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#62

Post by reificator » Sat, Aug 22, 2020, 12:56 AM UTC

fuzxi wrote: post #34

rsynnott wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is such a weird attitude. If someone was to say (figures made up) "over two billion people worldwide now drink beer" then "if you count Budweiser then sure", would be a bizarre response. Candy Crush is clearly a game; this isn't really ambiguous. It's a mass market game that game connoisseurs sneer at, sure, but it's a game.

I get your point, but I think it's more accurately framed like so: "Over three billion people are now drinkers" "If you count having a glass of wine once a week then sure" The perceived snobbery is less about whether these people are playing games and more about whether they can be accurately described as "gamers", a term which has meaning beyond simply "players of any game(s)" due to its many (largely negative) conn…

> The perceived snobbery is less about whether these people are playing games and more about whether they can be accurately described as "gamers", a term which has meaning beyond simply "players of any game(s)" due to its many (largely negative) connotations.

Video games have been a large part of my life since I could hold a controller. The sooner I can mention the game I played last night in casual conversation without people assuming I'm a controller-throwing, gamerword-spewing child with no impulse control or social intuition, the better.

The last time I mentioned I played Dark Souls the conversation turned to how horrible the community is, with the implication that I spend my time telling people to "git gud" and invading new players to make them miserable. Never mind that I helped probably 10-12 people beat Capra Demon that night with no ingame reward past "humanity" which I already have more than I need.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#63

Post by solidasparagus » Sat, Aug 22, 2020, 12:57 AM UTC

rsynnott wrote: post #6

jpxw wrote: post #2

If you count Candy Crush then sure

This is such a weird attitude. If someone was to say (figures made up) "over two billion people worldwide now drink beer" then "if you count Budweiser then sure", would be a bizarre response. Candy Crush is clearly a game; this isn't really ambiguous. It's a mass market game that game connoisseurs sneer at, sure, but it's a game.

To me the problem is that some free-to-play mobile games are the equivalent of twiddling your thumbs. If you're curious about trends in gaming and esports, this data just isn't very useful because it's combining segments that really don't have much in common.

Also mobile games have deservedly earned a reputation as blatant dopamine pumps and many don't deserve to be considered 'real video games' any more than Facebook or Instagram.

It's like measuring how many people know how to cook and then including people who do microwave dinners. It's technically not incorrect and there's nothing wrong with the people who microwave, it's just not a very useful piece of data.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#64

Post by nostrademons » Sat, Aug 22, 2020, 12:58 AM UTC

rsynnott wrote: post #6

jpxw wrote: post #2

If you count Candy Crush then sure

This is such a weird attitude. If someone was to say (figures made up) "over two billion people worldwide now drink beer" then "if you count Budweiser then sure", would be a bizarre response. Candy Crush is clearly a game; this isn't really ambiguous. It's a mass market game that game connoisseurs sneer at, sure, but it's a game.

> If someone was to say (figures made up) "over two billion people worldwide now drink beer" then "if you count Budweiser then sure", would be a bizarre response.

I know several people that would say exactly that. There are a lot of beer snobs in this world. If it's not Belgian/German/homebrew/etc. it's not beer.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#65

Post by reificator » Sat, Aug 22, 2020, 1:00 AM UTC

Retric wrote: post #61

reificator wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Video games are clearly richer games I don't know, if you include Magic the Gathering in the card games pile it's definitely competitive on the "richness"[0] spectrum against most video games. Though in the current apocalypse, there's been an uptick in video game forms of Magic, and even a sharp rise in people playing over the internet by pointing a webcam at their table. [0]: Pun not intended, but it's undeniably…

Several versions of traditional solitaire are extremely deep games when you try and maximize your odds of winning. Video games can be mindless or mind bending puzzles. Which is why I think lumping all video games into a single category is meaningless. Beat Saber and Minecraft have little in common.

> Beat Saber and Minecraft have little in common.

They're both high profile VR games.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#66

Post by axaxs » Sat, Aug 22, 2020, 1:01 AM UTC

HenryKissinger wrote: post #46

bitxbit wrote: post #36

This is a trend that will continue to accelerate. And I think we grossly underestimated how much time and money people are willing to spend on video games. Although, I think production has somewhat plateau’d in the past five years. There’s VR, but I believe there will be a new category introduced within the next five years that will change the gaming landscape.

I'm more skeptical. VR will remain a niche, and future games will feature improved graphics. The new haptic feedback on the PS5 controller will add a minor feature. Other than that, games will remain the same on the fundamentals. Couch co-op may make a comeback.

Nvidia Shield, 2 Xbox controllers, Retrox. Everything you need to bring back the coop days!

That said, I also wish newer games embraced it more, but at least I found some outlet.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#67

Post by axaxs » Sat, Aug 22, 2020, 1:03 AM UTC

brundolf wrote: post #39

glouwbug wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's right, Proton is amazing. I've been playing classics like Rome Total War on my Linux setup

Beyond that, most game devs today use established engines like Unity or Unreal, which typically have one-click build buttons for all major platforms. The level of abstraction has been raised, which affects not only game logic but even things like graphics APIs (DirectX vs Vulkan vs Metal) and packaging (installer, icons, etc). The bar has never been lower to throw in Linux support, even if you don't expect a huge mar…

It's sad that the CEO behind Unreal, Sweeney, bought Rocket League, which uses Unreal, and promptly removed Linux support.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#68

Post by hoorayimhelping » Sat, Aug 22, 2020, 1:06 AM UTC

I remember being a college freshman in 2001 and playing PC games, namely Rogue Spear and Counter-Strike online with friends in my dorm room. I talked with them on a headset with a microphone using Roger Wilco and Battlecom. A lot of the guys I lived with in the dorm thought it was really weird that I talked to people online playing video games. Some would make fun of me.

Then Halo came out in November, and in the spring semester, when everyone returned to school after the holidays, and a lot of people had new XBoxes with Halo, nobody thought it was weird anymore. Almost overnight, online video games became normalized, at least to college age dudes.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#69

Post by Godel_unicode » Sat, Aug 22, 2020, 1:07 AM UTC

beering wrote: post #50

brundolf wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Beyond that, most game devs today use established engines like Unity or Unreal, which typically have one-click build buttons for all major platforms. The level of abstraction has been raised, which affects not only game logic but even things like graphics APIs (DirectX vs Vulkan vs Metal) and packaging (installer, icons, etc). The bar has never been lower to throw in Linux support, even if you don't expect a huge mar…

I've seen it argued that releasing a Linux version (even using Unity/Unreal) is worse than releasing a Windows version that runs on Proton, because the Windows API is stabler and the Linux version will inevitably bitrot without continual updates.

There's a serious rumor that this is what actually killed rocket league on Linux. Why maintain a fork if proton is better anyway?

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#70

Post by klyrs » Sat, Aug 22, 2020, 1:09 AM UTC

WoahNoun wrote: post #56

klyrs wrote: post #52

My great grandmother used to play solitaire. The same way that many of us while away the night staring at a screen, she'd sit in her apartment wearing the spots off a pack of cards. Some oldsters will react to this news with dismay, but as I see it, our lives are richer for the innovation.

What's amazing is that solitaire isn't a single game with a set rules. It's an entire category of card games. The "game developers" of the past were just people agreeing on a set of rules.

True, but my great grandma played the garbage one that was implemented in win3.1