Predict what gaming will look like in 2035

[zorg1000]

curl-6 said:

zorg1000 said:

Calling Switch the successor to Wii U while leaving out their handheld line is pretty disingenuous. Yeah, 150+ million would have seemed like a long shot but like I said, Nintendo was already talking about unifying their handheld & consoles into a unified ecosystem as far back as 2014 so the successor to 3DS+Wii U (~90 million) being a big hit shouldn’t have been a surprise.

Yeah, Sony & Microsoft have started to release games on other platforms which is surprising but I don’t think those are massive shifts that make 2025 unrecognizable to someone in 2015. Console/mobile/PC hardware & software is a pretty straightforward evolution of the last decade.

I’m not really sure what to say about AI, has it done something that drastically changed gaming?

The thought that "NX" as it was known then would sell over 150 million would be considered utterly laughable in 2015; even the 3DS barely made it to 75m.

Similarly, if you'd told people in 2015 that you'd be playing Forza/Gears on Playstation or TLOU2/Spiderman/God of War on PC (officially, not via emulation) that would be considered far fetched.

The stuff AI is doing now was science fiction a decade ago, and its application in gaming is (unfortunately, it can be argued) considerable and growing rapidly in everything from content generation to DLSS to lifelike NPC interactions. (See the AI Darth Vader in Fortnite recently which quickly started being racist)

I mean, those first two things don’t really dispute what I said.

I already acknowledged that 150m would have been shocking. I remember those NX discussions from 2015 and back then I was predicting 100 million, here’s my post from May 2015.

zorg1000 on 06 May 2015

If they go with a unified family of devices than I think something like

NX Console, 20-30 million
NX Handheld, 70-80 million
Total, about 100 million

I got the form factor wrong, I thought two separate devices with a shared library rather than a single hybrid device, but I got the general premise correct and thought it would be a massive success.

Sony & Microsoft releasing their games on different platforms would have been a surprise to many but doesn’t really fundamentally change what gaming is like. Playing on a PS5/Series in 2025 is ultimately pretty similar to what playing on a PS4/XBO was like in 2015. Playing Forza on PS or God of War on PC is cool and unexpected but it’s not some mind blowing development that makes gaming unrecognizable.

Every generation sees new advancements in technology & development methods. AI is no different, as of now it hasn’t changed gaming in any way that was unimaginable a decade ago. The games of 2025 are bigger, better looking updates of what 2015 offered.