I have loved video games all my life. So much that it has pushed me towards my college major in 3D Animation. I’ve always wanted to work on and make video games, but as of late, I just don’t know if it will be the world I want to be a part of anymore. The video game industry is getting pretty crazy right now what with all its newfangled motion controls and lack of controllers at all. It makes me wonder what the hell is going to happen with the future of games in general. One would think that predicting the future of games even now would be clear and concise, but for me, it isn’t. I just don’t know what the crap to think anymore about where video games are going and if they’ll even be an improvement.

Anyone who has played games when they were young has memories of playing them with others. For instance, when I was a kid, my friends would come over to my garage and we would hook up the PS2 and play some Dynasty Warriors 3 or NBA Street Vol. 2, or maybe even bust out the old NES and play some Double Dragon. Those were some good times… Now fast-forward to last week. I go over to a friend’s house and after mentioning that a new Castlevania game with co-op has just hit the Xbox Live Arcade, we downloaded it.

We then spent the next 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get some offline co-op going before we finally came to the conclusion that the game was, in fact, online-only multiplayer. Why is it that so many multiplayer-focused games for the 360 come out with a lack of offline support? Why the hell do games like Perfect Dark come out and tout “offline split-screen action” like it’s a crowning achievement?

I am getting fed up with the crap these developers keep pulling when it comes to downloadable content. It seems like almost every other day I’m hearing about some ridiculous DLC for a game that can either drastically change the way that a game is played, or should have been included when the game was released. Hell, developers now tout around a big banner and proudly announce that their games will have DLC available on day one of the game’s release (Mass Effect 2 for example). It seems to me that over the last five years, game developers have been slowly, but surely becoming greedier and lazier when it comes to the content in their games.

Is the future of gaming too automated?

What the hell is happening to my damn vidya games? Back in my day, you could choose which direction you could wall-run/jump in, tell your entire RPG party what specific attacks to do, and shoot people when you wanted to. Now? All these damn games are letting you do is manage your party’s health and look at people. Where’s my interactivity? Why can’t I, the player, play anymore? It’s like the developers are our big brothers, sitting next to us, watching us suck at games, and then deciding to yank the controller away from us. Developers are collectively saying to us, “Look, idiot, this is how it’s done.”

So I finally got my hands on Pokemon Heart Gold this past week. The game (or games) is freaking fantastic. It exerts nostalgia, and I’m genuinely having a fun time playing it. Therfore, I would take the game with me to my classes and play with other people that also have the games. Then some jerk comes up to me.

I’ve had some history with Pokemon. I still remember being 10-years old reading the preview for Red and Blue in Nintendo Power. Then it came out and I had a blast collecting all 150 Pokemon, fighting Team Rocket, getting through the Elite Four, and using the Missingno trick to get my Pokemon team to level 100 for tournaments. Then Gold/Silver popped up and the enjoyment continued. Soon Ruby/Sapphire came out offering off-putting new Pokemon designs and the same tasks as the previous games. Despite the repition, however, I still had a good time with it. Then there was Diamond/Pearl. Once again with the same tasks as all the others along with even more off-putting Pokemon designs (a Pokemon that looks like a cherry? Really?). I couldn’t even be bothered to finish Victory Road and fight the Elite Four.

And now Nintendo has announced Pokemon Black/White whilst also saying that the games will be getting a bit of an overhaul. How much of an overhaul is still uncertain, but based on the screenshots, it still seems like we’ll be getting more of the same. A bold assumption, sure, but really, it’s become rather predictable by this point. However, I have a solution. After spending so much time with Pokemon over the years, I know how Nintendo can make it fresh and new again.

Step 1: Add more plot.

First and foremost, Nintendo needs to change the focus and goals of the games. Yes, yes, the gimmick of the games is obviously “Gotta’ Catch ‘Em All,” and I’m not saying they need to abandon that. However, this, along with the concept of gathering badges and becoming a Pokemon Master need to become secondary. I’m sure you’re wondering “Secondary to what?” Well, secondary to plot, of course.

Despite being an RPG, the main Pokemon games have always been rather minimal on plot. Sure, there’s some evil organization with plans to take over the world that you always manage to foil, but that’s really about it. Sure, there are little stories here and there as your journey continues, but can anyone really say that they’re genuinely interested in what’s going on? What if the main character’s motivation for becoming a trainer was something more? For instance, let’s say that the main character’s dad has been missing for years, presumably dead and one day you receive a note along with a Pokeball, telling you that your father is still alive and the only way to reach him is with the Pokemon received with the note.

Now right there you’re curious about what’s going on and willing to become invested in this story. You still have to catch other Pokemon to build up your team, but your goal isn’t actually to catch them all. Rather, it would be available as a “side quest” of sorts along with the gym battles and Elite Four (though I’m sure through better writing these things could easily be integrated into the plot). Granted, we’ve already gotten a taste of this in Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon: XD, but I’m talking about something more than what those side games offered.

Step 2: Add FEWER Pokemon

Just with an interesting story that drives the player, the Pokemon games will improve and even expand the audience. I’m not going to stop there, though. Another big addition that would improve the game would be—believe it or not—fewer new Pokemon. The creative team from Game Freak has really been losing it over the years. Very few of the new Pokemon beyond Gold/Silver have been very interesting or creative. Ruby/Sapphire was alright, but Diamond/Pearl was just atrocious. If the games shift their focus more towards story, then there isn’t as much of a need to push the “catch ‘em all” aspect. If they only needed to come up with, perhaps, 50 new Pokemon for a game, they would be able to probably get at least a few more creative juices flowing and put more thought into what is added. And really, who the hell would want to catch over 600 Pokemon? Even with little kids, who the hell would want to do that?

Step 3: Make the games longer

Finally, the other big addition for Pokemon should be greater length. Gold/Silver was great at this just because it had a new area and an old area for players to explore. There’s also the fact that many people already spend over 70 hours wandering around in Pokemon looking for and training their Pokemon, but could you imagine if before those 70 hours they spent around 30 going through an interesting and expansive story?. Why not give players an epic story that spans across several different regions? This way, they would have a reason for travelling to all these different areas and could mix in elements/characters from the older games into the plot and give players more to see and explore.

I understand Pokemon is generally geared towards children, but it’s very clear that those kids aren’t the only demographic playing Pokemon. Besides, back in the day, kids were playing games like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, giving them long and entertaining stories along with deep RPG action. I think it’s about time Pokemon fulfilled its RPG duty and included these things too.

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Ever since Sonic the Hedgehog 4 was announced, I have been wondering what it will mean for the Sonic franchise’s future. As I pondered, Mega64 released a new video discussing Sonic, and gave me my answer. With Sonic 4, Sonic will continue to be the same old shit, constantly trying to recreate the original 2D games. What will happen when Sonic finally DOES recapture that magic? It’ll still be the same “run around and grab rings” thrillride crap that we’ve been playing for the entire lifecycle of the franchise; and because Sega isn’t the kind of company that strives for innovation in their games, there is only one hope left for Sonic.

Sega needs to give Sonic to Nintendo.

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When I say that, I do nor mean a collaborative effort. I mean Sega should give Nintendo completely free reign over the franchise and let them do whatever they want with it. Despite their more recent screw ups, Nintendo is a company that knows how platforming is done. They regulate the usage of their big-name franchises and each time a new game comes out it introduces something radically new that makes the game feel new and entertaining.

Of course, Sega has tried this with Sonic, too. The Sonic Adventure games introduced things like fishing, treasure-hunting, and mech shooting, but none of those things were actually fun. Well, maybe the mech shooting was rather fun, but none of them did anything that felt fresh or intuitive.

Then there was Sonic Heroes which switched back to just running through levels, but now with three characters that must be put in different positions in order to progress. While the game wasn’t that great, the concept was pretty damn clever.

And then there was Shadow the Hedgehog. Yes, I think it should count. They decided to give a Sonic “clone” guns and vehicles. Once again, it was a huge mess that came off as a desperate attempt at another demographic rather than a creative idea.

Next, we have Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic and the Black Knight. Secret Rings was just an average run-of-the-mill affair that simply put Sonic on rails in an attempt contain problems. Then Black Knight came out and gave the player a little more control over Sonic, but still kept it in the same vein as the previous game while adding a useless sword attachment to take the place of Sonic’s homing attack.

Finally there’s Sonic Unleashed. They decided to make Sonic part-“zomg speed”/part-platforming beat-em-up, which once again fell flat, but could have been better if more effort was put into design. There’s no point in discussing Sonic ’06 since, as we all know, that game doesn’t exist. If it did hypothetically exist, it would have just been a really shitty Sonic Adventure 3.

All these games did was try to bring the same old 2D stuff into the 3D realm whilst adding the illusion of something new. In reality, it’s the same game every single time with poorly-constructed levels. Nintendo was really the first when it came to translating a 2D game into the 3D realm and doing it right, so surely they could do what Sega never could.

I’m not saying Sonic games all suck, or Sega isn’t competent enought to create an enjoyable Sonic game. I thoroughly enjoyed the Adventure series and at least 1/3 of Unleashed was really fun. However, Sega lacks any creative drive in their games. Every single game sounds like they sat around at a board meeting, threw their hands in the air and said something like “Okay, how about he turns into a Werehog now?” or “How about Shadow uses guns and vehicles even though he doesn’t need them?”

Of course, Nintendo could be accused of the same things. “Every Mario game is just running around grabbing coins and collecting specific items.” or  “Super Mario Sunshine is just Mario 64 with a water jetpack.” But those things worked. It’s not just a matter of coming up with creative ideas, it’s also a matter of creating interesting and fun levels that excite and entertain the player. Sure, Sonic games can excite and entertain players too, but nothing beyond the “Wheeeee!” sensation of a rollercoaster ride. This is the reason why just about everybody gets excited when a new Nintendo game gets announced and only furries and hardcore Sonic fans get remotely excited for a new Sonic game announcement. Most gamers want more than a quick thrill.

This is where I think the problem lies with Sonic games. There’s too much focus on speed. Yes, it’s Sonic’s defining characteristic, but I think the speed is what prevents Sega from being creative with Sonic. Look at Sonic Unleashed. Their best idea for incorporating clever level design was to slow Sonic down by turning him into a hulking beast.

The old Sonic games were about using momentum as a bonus for a clever or veteran player’s platforming skills, so why not focus on that again and create level designs around that? Sure, Sonic 4 might end up fitting the bill there, but that’s because it’s only going back to the original Sonic games, basically copying those and not doing something new.

Thanks to Sega and Nintendo’s budding bromance, the possibility of this all happening is actually a lot more likely than one would think. Sure, Nintendo might not own the series (for now, at least), but I guarantee that if Sega were to give Nintendo the chance to make their own Sonic game, it would be the best Sonic game to be released in a long, long time.