While there are many superb shows to watch across all platforms to fill one’s time, particularly if you like the crime investigation genre, viewing is being overtaken by gaming across all ages. Gaming has gone mainstream, with consoles no-longer being exclusive for young people. Anyone with a mobile, computer or console in the house is bound to be able to find a title that they can get to grips with and enjoy.
More and more people are discovering this evolved platform of entertainment, turning from enjoying passive forms like television and movies to the more active medium. That said, a remarkable new trend within the trend is also emerging, which is much more passive but no less a part of modern gaming. So, if you want something new, exciting, and hands-on to fill your time, here’s what you should know about the present trend of gaming.
The current big-hitters
So many people have been taking up gaming due to the quality of the new games on offer. The biggest game right now, as you may have seen across social media, is Animal Crossing: New Horizons. In the game, you get your very own island, on which you construct buildings, welcome new anthropomorphized animals to take up residence, go fishing, catch bugs, dig up fossils, and, most importantly, earn money for Tom Nook.
The gameplay is fun and simple, with the controls being easy to grasp and the objectives present but not forced upon the player – you can go about island life as you please. Much of the game’s popularity comes alongside the console that hosts the game, the Nintendo Switch. The console can be played on a TV screen or as a handheld tablet, making playing its games even more accessible and comforting.
Another new title that has taken the gaming crowd by storm is Final Fantasy VII Remake. The remake of the 1997 classic has new players discovering the incredible game as well as inviting back original PlayStationers who perhaps haven’t been playing video games since. It also shouldn’t come as a surprise that all of the newcomers to gaming have influenced the charts, ushering in a surge of sales for releases of recent years that have proven to be top-class.
Modern classics like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, The Last of Us: Remastered, and Horizon Zero Dawn have climbed back up the chart, but perhaps the most notable is that of Forza Horizon 4. An exclusive to the Xbox One consoles, the game has been praised for its near-identical setting of Northern England and Scotland, with players being able to freely drive around and race on the idyllic roads and fields in whatever cars they choose.
You don’t have to pay up to be a gamer
In the modern space, free-to-play games have increasingly gained huge audiences, with some now being a core feature of the billion-dollar competitive gaming scene of eSports. The most popular genre of these free games is that of battle royale: several players start the game, but only one champion is crowned. This features in free, multiplatform games like Fortnite and PUBG, console titles like Call of Duty: Warzone, and innovative recreations of classics, like Tetris 99.
On PC, free gaming has been a pillar of the experience for decades – which has allowed eSports to come to the fore. Ever-popular games like DOTA 2, Smite, Heroes of the Storm, and League of Legends are still free to play and offer hours upon hours of advancement, progress, and fun.
Gaming filling a void of spectatorship
Sports like hockey, soccer, basketball, baseball, and football receive yearly games from Electronic Arts, Konami, and 2K which barely change year-to-year, but still offer a good hands-on experience of the sport. One sport in which fans the world over have been crying out for a new game is boxing. With boxing hitting new heights of popularity, the enigmatic creator of the World Boxing Super Series, Kalle Sauerland, has brought boxing to the people.
Using the last major boxing game to be released, Fight Night Champion (2011), Sauerland has been experimenting with the eWBSS, pitting legends of the sport against each other in a virtual boxing tournament. It has proven to be very popular, with boxing and gaming fans tuning in and following the event. It has even fanned the flames for the demand of a new boxing game to be created.
As it offers a hands-on way of having fun, with aspects like self-achieved success and progress, gaming offers a heightened form of entertainment to anyone who wants to play. The accessibility of gaming and the many forms that it now takes has allowed more people to find a title that they’ll enjoy, ranging from top-tier new releases to all of the free online games.
