2013 is now officially behind us along with its numerous news twists in the gaming world, be it with the war between the next-gen consoles, or independent developers in all genres. The new consoles are out in most countries (let’s have a moment of silence for Japan), we can now all relax and enjoy our new acquisitions, while waiting for the hostilities to resume in a few weeks. But while we wait, lets go over the five events that marked the gaming world in 2013.
The Five Events That Marked The Gaming World In 2013
The Downfall of the Ouya
After the great success of its crowdfunding, the Ouya gained the anticipation of gamers, all looking forward to try out a new and independent console that would have allowed developers to work freely. Unfortunately, the release was accompanied with an utter confusion for the fans and supporters.
Delays in the shipping, unforeseen customs fees that blocked the machines at borders, and a low availability, to cite a few. In short, it took months for the Ouya to reach the hands of those who pre-ordered it. The reception was no better. Indeed, despite having a rather high budget, the console had a poorly designed interface, and a scrawny game catalog.
To make matters worse, the founder of the Ouya company dug its own grave herself by launching a second round of crowdfunding meant to assist developers. While it was a noble cause, it gave rise to obscure operations that resulted in a handful of mini- scandals, causing the discontent of some developers who decided to walk away from the machine. Proposing an alternative to the existing gaming platforms is no easy task after all.
The Hype of the Oculus Rift
After the announcement and the success of its fundraising campaign on Kickstarter, the Oculus Rift, a virtual reality helmet, has gradually spread throughout the world in inconclusive forms, and many individuals were able to accommodate one in their home or at least try one at events.
The least we can say is that the machine seduced many, when he does literally makes us dream of an entirely new way to dive into the video game world. Despite all the excitement around the device in 2013, it is only in 2014 that the Oculus Rift will be available and accessible to everyone.
The Release of Valve’s Steam Machines
If the Ouya failed at providing a viable alternative to existence gaming platform, the same cannot be said about Valve and its steam machines, and for cause since it is mean to be an extension to PC gaming. Add to that the fact that Valve is already one of the biggest players in the video game market, gaining a vital sympathy among players with its innovative and service-orientated features (after a few setbacks in the early days of Steam).
With such a concept, Valve aims to grab some of the video game market from the Big Three’s, promoting an economic model of the PC (where developers have a complete freedom), while providing a simplified environment and free from Microsoft’s Windows.
It may take some time before the Steam Machines prove themselves and manage to convince a wider audience, but the announcement of such a project is certainly of of the five events that marked the gaming world in 2013.
The Sales Record of GTA V
As always, when an episode of Grand Theft Auto is released in stores, everyone remains in hiding and waits patiently until the storm passes. And each time, the game series released by Rockstar breaks records and eclipses any competition, the latter preferring to stay in the shadows while waiting for the hype to die to release their own games.
GTA V was no exception to this rule with more than 11 million games sold within 24 hours after its release and garnering the first billion dollars in revenue in 3 days. Six weeks after the release, Rockstar announced that it has sold 29 million copies of GTA V, both in digital and physical copies, breaking the record set by GTA IV throughout its whole marketing period.
The Coaster Marketing of Microsoft
Deserving the first place among the five events that marked the gaming world in 2013 is Mircosoft and how they handled the announcement and marketing of their XBOX One. Willing to offer a whole bunch of online options, Microsoft announced during the E3 2013 that the Xbox One would require a permanent connection to the Internet. Worse, some options for sharing and accessing game from other machines involved the implementation of a DRM system which undermines the resale or simple sharing of discs games. Unwelcome (and awkwardly explained), these Microsoft policies would trigger a wave of anger among players, a waveon which Sony was only too happy to surf on.
Realizing that these decisions might trigger the death of their console, Microsoft did something that is rather in such a heavy industry : a 180 degrees turn in their policies only one week after the E3. Indeed, the manufacturer backtracked entirely to regain the favor of the players. Admission of failure or of their inability to listen to customers, we’ll let you judge, but such a change in such a short time certainly marked minds.
The Five Events That Marked The Gaming World In 2013
The Downfall of the Ouya
After the great success of its crowdfunding, the Ouya gained the anticipation of gamers, all looking forward to try out a new and independent console that would have allowed developers to work freely. Unfortunately, the release was accompanied with an utter confusion for the fans and supporters.
Delays in the shipping, unforeseen customs fees that blocked the machines at borders, and a low availability, to cite a few. In short, it took months for the Ouya to reach the hands of those who pre-ordered it. The reception was no better. Indeed, despite having a rather high budget, the console had a poorly designed interface, and a scrawny game catalog.
To make matters worse, the founder of the Ouya company dug its own grave herself by launching a second round of crowdfunding meant to assist developers. While it was a noble cause, it gave rise to obscure operations that resulted in a handful of mini- scandals, causing the discontent of some developers who decided to walk away from the machine. Proposing an alternative to the existing gaming platforms is no easy task after all.
The Hype of the Oculus Rift
After the announcement and the success of its fundraising campaign on Kickstarter, the Oculus Rift, a virtual reality helmet, has gradually spread throughout the world in inconclusive forms, and many individuals were able to accommodate one in their home or at least try one at events.
The least we can say is that the machine seduced many, when he does literally makes us dream of an entirely new way to dive into the video game world. Despite all the excitement around the device in 2013, it is only in 2014 that the Oculus Rift will be available and accessible to everyone.
The Release of Valve’s Steam Machines
If the Ouya failed at providing a viable alternative to existence gaming platform, the same cannot be said about Valve and its steam machines, and for cause since it is mean to be an extension to PC gaming. Add to that the fact that Valve is already one of the biggest players in the video game market, gaining a vital sympathy among players with its innovative and service-orientated features (after a few setbacks in the early days of Steam).
With such a concept, Valve aims to grab some of the video game market from the Big Three’s, promoting an economic model of the PC (where developers have a complete freedom), while providing a simplified environment and free from Microsoft’s Windows.
It may take some time before the Steam Machines prove themselves and manage to convince a wider audience, but the announcement of such a project is certainly of of the five events that marked the gaming world in 2013.
The Sales Record of GTA V
As always, when an episode of Grand Theft Auto is released in stores, everyone remains in hiding and waits patiently until the storm passes. And each time, the game series released by Rockstar breaks records and eclipses any competition, the latter preferring to stay in the shadows while waiting for the hype to die to release their own games.
GTA V was no exception to this rule with more than 11 million games sold within 24 hours after its release and garnering the first billion dollars in revenue in 3 days. Six weeks after the release, Rockstar announced that it has sold 29 million copies of GTA V, both in digital and physical copies, breaking the record set by GTA IV throughout its whole marketing period.
The Coaster Marketing of Microsoft
Deserving the first place among the five events that marked the gaming world in 2013 is Mircosoft and how they handled the announcement and marketing of their XBOX One. Willing to offer a whole bunch of online options, Microsoft announced during the E3 2013 that the Xbox One would require a permanent connection to the Internet. Worse, some options for sharing and accessing game from other machines involved the implementation of a DRM system which undermines the resale or simple sharing of discs games. Unwelcome (and awkwardly explained), these Microsoft policies would trigger a wave of anger among players, a waveon which Sony was only too happy to surf on.
Realizing that these decisions might trigger the death of their console, Microsoft did something that is rather in such a heavy industry : a 180 degrees turn in their policies only one week after the E3. Indeed, the manufacturer backtracked entirely to regain the favor of the players. Admission of failure or of their inability to listen to customers, we’ll let you judge, but such a change in such a short time certainly marked minds.
