Thursday, May 8, 2008

web games the future, eh?

So there's starting to be more talk that the web is the game platform of the future, or more specifically that Flash gaming is where the audience (and money) is going to be.

Why, then, are there so many game companies who think their biggest selling feature is level of detail in their game? Why do all the game rags gush about how realistic graphics are if Flash (or even worse, Silverlight) level graphics are going to be the foundation for next generation games? We're talking about a platform where the best you can hope for is "campy cartoony" because rendering 3d primitives or anything resembling raytracing isn't gonna be happening.

I suspect that they're right, in as much as the web as a gaming platform will (already has?) open up the casual gaming market. I'd also guess that major studios will start hiring ActionScript and Silverlight monkies to pursue online exploitations of game franchises. We might even see a couple more iD-like rags-to-riches stories as indie game houses give up on trying to wallpaper over 3 year old engines and opt for lower-cost-of-development web games.

But I don't think the console (or even PC gaming) is going anywhere any time soon.

In the meantime... are there any current web games you're playing now that fun/addictive?

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