If you're looking for complaints that game design was better Back in the Day, this is not your article.
I'm having as much fun designing games this year as I've ever had in my career.
But I was doing some research on the history of comics recently and it gave me some perspectives on future views of our industry.
The "Golden Age of Comics" runs from the late 1930's through World War II to the end of the 1940's. This is when the first Super Heroes were developed, iconic characters like Superman and Batman.
The "Silver Age" began with the rebirth of Super Hero comics in the 1950's, and was fueled in the 1960's by the work of iconic storytellers like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Comic creators live in a world where it's agreed that "The Golden Age is Over."
It's different in the games industry. Every new generation of hardware expands our ability to tell stories and evoke emotion. Each era feels like a new Golden Age.
After 40 years of designing games I have more ways to entertain an audience than ever, and larger audiences to entertain.
So why all this talk about Golden Ages being over?
Because the audience defines a Golden Age, not the writers and artists.
A quote I've seen attributed to Asimov is: "The best science fiction you ever read is the science fiction you read when you're 12 years old."
12 is a tough time. We're no longer little kids and we're far short of being adults. Grownups don't find us cute, we're awkward, and we think we're twice as klutzy as we really are. The early hormones of maturity are as confusing as they are exciting.
Great movies, books, music, comics and games all touch our hearts if they talk to us personally and with inspiration during the middle school and early high school years.
The writers who declared the Golden Age of Comics to be the 1940's grew up with the first generation of Super Hero comics in the 1940's. Voila, it's the Golden Age.
The next generation declared their childhood comics the Silver Age. And so on.
We'll have to wait to see what future historians ultimately decide about Games and Gold. Games trail the history of modern comics by about 45 years (1980 vs. 1935), and their Golden Age lasted about 15 years after the launch of the industry. The Silver Age ended after 35 years.
If we transplant the comics timeline, our Golden Age ended with the arrival of the PSX and the Silver Age has five years left to go.
And that's why, as the headline says, Future Historians Will Say the Golden Age of Video Games is Over.
Do you disagree? Use the comments box below to share your thoughts.
Copyright (c) 2010, Don Daglow. All Rights Reserved.
"Every new generation of hardware expands our ability to tell stories and evoke emotion. Each era feels like a new Golden Age" - says it all. I would add new platforms & new devices to the mix with the hardware mentioned above.
Posted by: Rajeev Nagpal | November 11, 2010 at 11:39 PM