Image source: computergames365

I’m going to start by saying that I’m a video game lover.  I confess I would be a soccer star or a virtuous bike rider today if that Atari 2600 wasn’t given to me in December of 1987. But it happened and since that day I ‘ve played, read about and collected as many games as I can.  Later on, I decided to focus on old games and became a Retro Gamer, but that’s a story for another time.  Today I want to talk about the present and future of video games.I want to give you a quick overview of the latest trends and latest video game releases in 2009.

So let’s start with some numbers:

Image source: vgchartz

The user experience

Are you wondering  why Nintendo is currently the worldwide sales leader? Well, it seems that users are looking for other things beyond high hardware specs or connectivity;  they are looking for rich interactive experiences and challenges that allow them to use more skills than what their fingers can do with a gamepad.  This also explains why Wii and DS -in spite of not leading the pack in graphics – are showing users how to blow, jump, twist, sing and complete other physical activities to complete video game challenges.  It’s not about  just taking the wires away, it’s about creating new ways to play now that there are no wires around.

Wii Ski and Wii Fit from klinehome.com on Vimeo.

Rockin’ from your living room

You probably remember Simon, a popular mind test game from the 80’s, where you had to remember and play a long sequence of lights and sounds to beat your opponents.  Now imagine the same concept using guitars, drums and the best songs of all time.  That’s the simple idea behind the Guitar Hero revolution.  Released for most of current consoles (including portable ones) these video game series wake up the “Rockstar within” of players and they can also create their own Rock Band and play with real instruments, getting an addictive and fun music experience without taking music lessons.  Just don’t try to smash the guitar to the floor (it has not been designed for those kind of rockstar activities :p).

Trailer Guitar Hero: Metallica from Antonio on Vimeo.

Old legends come back for more in 2009

For those guys who started playing PC classics like Diablo, Startcraft or Duke Nukem, 2009 promises to reward many years of patience and end the prolonged absence of these titles.

After years of development and trying to be one step ahead of current video games, these three titles have created all kind of fan videos, sites and discussions. Some fans (including me) have started their “training” with the old game versions while waiting for the new ones to be released.  Fortunately, these video games will be available for the most popular consoles (this didn’t happen before due to hardware requirements) and anyone can enjoy them.  So let’s prepare your fingers for what’s coming.

And the rest of this years releases will be the same types of games that are expected every year.  Movie based video games, updates of sports games and second versions of recent titles with improvements and fixed glitches.  Definitely, 2009 is a good year to explore all That technology can give you in videogames.