It's easy to forget that video games aren't really that old. If we take Pong as our first contact, this would make the outlet 61 years old (as of this year). Compared to other industries, it's still chicken spring, but the pace at which the game has developed both technologically and artistically has been astronomical in recent years. Since 2010, we've had a series of huge developments, with the arrival of new genres and wearable technologies, as well as very important stories that have changed the way we think about our favorite hobby. So join us as we look back at ten of the greatest gaming moments that we think have defined the last decade.
The rebirth of no man's sky
(Image credit: Hello Games) On launch, No Man's Sky was a disaster. A victim of his own hype machine, when he left the procedurally generated sky in 2016, he gave players the Molyneux blues. Many promises were not kept and he seemed half cooked. Unfortunately, since then, players who made their initial purchase have gone from aggravated to loyal, as developer Hello Games has provided countless updates and restored faith in the game, making it a true throwback kid. With a VR version in tow and an excellent central loop that reflects the original vision, No Man & # 39; s Sky has shown, more than any other game, that no title is ``dead to death''; arrival & # 39; & # 39 ;, a trend that we have seen in games like Destiny 1 and 2, Rainbow Six: Siege, PUBG and many more that have become some of the most important games in the last decade, despite a rocky start.
Konami vs. Kojima
(Image credit: Konami) In one of the most controversial fights in the game, video game author Hideo Kojima became "Punished Hideo." when his relationship with Konami collapsed late in the development of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. But the boss of Kojima's Metal Gear Solid series unfortunately remained unfinished, leaving an entire last chapter on the cutting room floor. Meanwhile, Kojima's Silent Hill reboot featuring Junji Ito and Guillermo Del Toro has been removed and removed from the PS Store. Despite all this, The Phantom Pain was a critical success and Kojima bounced back strongly, creating his own production company with the backing of the great Sony, leading to one of the most unique AAA games of the decade. in Death Stranding.
Nintendo returns
(Image credit: Nintendo) At the start of the decade, Nintendo was building on the success of the Nintendo Wii and DS. Soon after, they were going to release the 3DS in 2011 and the Wii U in 2012, a generation of consoles that didn't perform as well as their predecessors. In particular, the Wii U was considered a flop, despite some locked exclusives only available to those who purchased from the ecosystem. At its nadir, Nintendo made the most vicious comeback to form with the Nintendo Switch, a more consistent iteration of Wii U technology and one of the most successful video game consoles ever completed, a portable powerhouse with a bubbling library of critically acclaimed and commercially successful giants like Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild, which is now considered one of the greatest games of all time. Don't call it a return, they've been there for years!
The Battle Royale boom
(Image credit: Epic Games) Brendan Greene launched First Sin by bringing the battle royale genre to life in the main stream through PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, a delightfully fun shooter rotation that had teams of four trying to survive. to a 100 player gauntlet on a Giant Landmass. He did not know that he would represent the giant Fortnite, a word that now transcends the limits of the medium. In addition to creating an exciting and deeply fun new genre, video game culture entered the real world through Fortnite dances, cultural crossovers with sports entities, and many world events stemming from a central idea tie-in. : Be the last one standing.
Dark souls
(Image credit: FromSoftware Games) A cult action game that has become a global phenomenon, Soul Series launched to fanfare in 2011, before dominating the design in most of the games that followed. The decade has been very kind to Miyazaki and his team, as FromSoftware has delivered a number of instant classics. Most importantly, they have never been established to offer the same experience, from the frenetic action of Bloodborne to the shinobi world inspired by Sekiro. Since 2019 we've had a Star Wars soul and the Assassin's Creed series has almost become one. Its influence is undeniable, and unlike other genres, its popularity has yet to wane. Over the next decade, we'll call for more and more, and with two massive console releases and Elden Ring just around the corner, the Dark Souls legacy will continue long after its original release.
The independent revolution
(Image credit: Eric Barone) How do you talk about the past decade without thinking about the impact of its indie games? An industry for small and tall games has sprung up with teams of passionate developers creating games on their own terms and influencing the huge AAA studios they are looking for. Characters from Shovel Knight and Undertale have arrived in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Toby Fox composed for a Pokémon game... There's a list of influential indie games too long to appear here, but video games in general wouldn't be where they are now without the creative and daring stories told by indie developers this decade, which have pushed the industry to include women and POC, to solve their own problems and talk about mental health, race, gender and sexuality instead of just delving into the depths of the game with macho shooters led by boring leading men.
The advent of transmission
(Image credit: Twitch) The concept of streaming has impacted the dual-capacity industry this decade, both technologically and in the way we consume video games. Technologically, we've seen services like Onlive, PlayStation Now and Google Stadia pop up, with Remote Play and Project xCloud removing the need for consoles in our living rooms, allowing for accessible gameplay as long as you have a stable internet connection. However, we've also seen Twitch and Mixer turn gamers into celebrities with the advent of game streaming, where giants like Ninja, Shroud and Pokimane have delighted audiences in recent years and become responsible for millions of hits. 39 hours of consumption worldwide. . The natural evolution of recorded video and YouTube, streaming has become part of the most modern games and has become the primary means of discovering new ones, whether through live events or watching someone else to play.
Minecraft
(Image credit: Microsoft) When the Mojang team added monsters and survival to Minecraft, we remember digging into the side of a mountain and surviving the first night. We could never have imagined the influence the humble game would have on the industry almost ten years later. Since then, it has been acquired by Microsoft and distributed on every platform known to man. Minecraft and entire communities have carried on their careers, and its open source style has allowed countless creatives to embark on modding and development. It's getting harder and harder to name a game without now because of it, but since Minecraft has become the best-selling game of all time, you can see why.
Virtual reality is getting closer to the mainstream
(Image credit: SIE Japan Studio) Owning a VR headset still hovers around 1% on Steam, but that doesn't mean the industry hasn't made any bold strides toward the industry. VR integration with the introduction of saved Oculus Rift, Vive and Windows mixed reality setups. by popular games like VR Chat and Beat Saber, who has since become the Guitar Hero of this generation. With the Oculus Quest offering wireless VR and Valve returning to the software market, to deliver its first AAA VR experience in Half-Life: Alyx, VR is in a very strong position as we enter the next decade.
Introducing microtransactions
(Image credit: Ubisoft) Whether it's FIFA Ultimate Team or Shark Cards, the introduction of microtransactions to mobile devices, and later, AAA games, has been a difficult adaptation for the video game industry over the past decade. It's such a controversial topic that it's become a topic of discussion among politicians, who seek to regulate predatory loot and drive out gaming. As we head into 2020, the conversation has gotten so manly that it's now a selling point if a game doesn't have microtransactions. With the speech now reversed, a closer look will now be given at how service games will approach monetization in the near future.
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