Looking back at 2016, a lot of hits and misses happened in the Gaming Industry. Many games were released, many memorable others were forgotten. The beginning of the first quarter didn’t have too many new and exciting games except for Uncharted 4 for the PS4. E3 was a smashing success, and Twitch exploded throughout the summer and made some great changes toward the end of the year.
Starting with the games that came out this year, we’ve had many, including: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
, FIFA 17, Battlefield 1, No Man’s Sky, and Overwatch. Uncharted 4 extended the series once again, and it was a simple continuation of the same amazing railroaded action adventure of treasure hunting. A strong story as it always had been combined with new and old characters united to make a strong story that brought excitement to an old series.
FIFA 17 would have been considered another remake of the classic continued games that come out every year, but in a previous review article here, I discussed how the game had been changed with the inclusion of new features and game mode The Journey that provided an interesting interaction story aspect to the game.
Battlefield 1 changed the way the world saw The Great War, although slightly inaccurate historical wise, but none the less, it was arguably the best FPS to release in 2016. The scenery and appearance of the game is beautiful and nearly flawless. Many gamers were craving a WWI title, and EA delivered this in incredible fashion.
VR was one big mention from 2016. We will have to wait and see as to just how popular it can become. However, it was one of the highlights. Sony bringing VR to the PS4 was a huge move that cannot be found elsewhere. Great content is also beginning to become available, with much more coming in 2017. As you head becomes the controller, first-person is totally re-defined, as you explore endless worlds.
No Man’s Sky was the biggest FLOP of 2016. From the very release the community ripped it to shreds leaving nothing but heartache and trouble for the developers. Refunds were demanded by players because the game wasn’t viewed as promised. And lastly another huge hit for the year was Overwatch. Being released the same time as Battleborn, Overwatch surpassed it quickly and became one of the biggest hits of the year with amazing cosplays at conventions although recently they may have stepped a little on the controversial side with their new Christmas Comic release.
The games weren’t the only big things this year; E3 was a huge success in 2016, with Microsoft announcing their next system, Project Scorpio, and the Xbox One S. While Sony announced the PS4 Pro. But these weren’t the only systems to be announced this year, Nintendo finally announced the name of the NX as the Switch, and we shall see the release of this system by late Quarter One, 2017, at the same time they FINALLY release The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Twitch too came in the spotlight this year, with ways that they could expand and make Twitch better. The Amazon owned platform introduced Twitch Prime, and release exclusive mini free gifts to those who made the switch, granting people access to one free subscription and custom emojis. Twitch also in the past three weeks released Twitch IRL, where streamers can have one-on-one conversations, allowing them to do alternative things to gaming alone. It’s now a designated area of live vlogging – like seen with sites such as YouNow, Vaughnlive, Ustream and Justin.tv – who were the original founders of Twitch. The Amazon run site has future plans of releasing streaming from mobile phones for streamers to stream live from convention centres, or any location they want, allowing them to keep in contact with their viewers.
2016 was a great year for gamers; new games, systems, announcements, and social media all expanded the industry and the community. Each person had their ups and downs, what they liked and the things they didn’t. Now it’s time to step into 2017 and look forward to some exciting times. Happy New Year gamers!
