In general technology it is popular to look back at what people have and what people dismiss, and what could have happened had they not dismissed. For instance the technology for mobile phones existed for many decades before they became an expensive fad for executives, the idea that programmable mobile phones started with the iphone is laughed at but they did at least make it popular such that the common man might thank that, digital cameras probably could have come around years before, 3d printers in many cases were said to have been held back by patents which expired a few years back, and this could go on for a long time. Computer games themselves were once dismissed as a toy fad by many, a matter not helped by the little crash, and in some cases arguably still are. Now technology does move on and make things possible that were impossible before, computers and gaming thereupon being one of the best examples of this, however this is not what will happen if you have a the equivalent of supercomputer today under your TV that can sense your fingers so much as twitch (or indeed read your mind) but what you could have today but will likely only see in 20 years.

In this case I asked some time back for some games to justify wiimotes, and the validity of motion controls in general is often questioned, despite some great efforts from homebrew developers at the time. Maybe you are a fan of the Steam controller and find its demise heartbreaking. In games we often talk about firsts when digging up old history of things, and it is only natural to ask what if that took off at that point. The state of VR and 3D and whether they had once more failed to take hold was an earlier discussion in this thread series. One of the big points of discussion in E3 a few years back was "second screen", which does indeed speak to a fundamental part of gaming (as in quite literally a fundamental part of game theory as it allows different players to have different information) but as few people have any memories of anything there, other than technicalities with online/network games, it tells you what happened to that particular one.
Will any of those be looked back to in 20 years with people asking why could we not have had this back then? Do you have any particular overlooked pieces of hardware, technology, gameplay styles or similar? At the same time do you have anything you enjoy now you could have had said 20 years ago but were not given. Some allowances can be made for expense as well; the inaccuracy of the wiimote means it was never likely to take over, however not all that more investment could get it comparable with some other things.

This is part of a discussion series in which we discuss and ponder things about games, be it individual games, aspects of the game industry, gaming culture, mechanics or gaming concepts. Previously we discussed your best story from free form games .

Spoiler: earlier editions

when your mental cutoff for "old games" lands, games and media franchises you know mostly from offbeat and forgotten sources, game franchises that rose from the dead, and those that should have stayed dead,Back in my day we didn't have X but did have Y. Gaming edition., what would $20 get you in your preferred gaming genre, games you play by your own rules., the state of VR and 3D and whether they had once more failed to take hold, the last game skill you unlearned, The game you invested the most money in, times where people said gameplay styles would not work for a platform, the value of online play, emulation vs hardware, a favoured game style that might have become less common in recent times, skills one might have learned or honed because of a game, games on the PS4 and Xbone that will stand the test of time, games that got better after launch, cancelled games and shuttered devs, and story canon in games.

 

[Pokemon_Tea_Sea_Jee]

Prerendered backgrounds in games was unfairly forgotten. They used to create graphics beyond possibilities even on PS1 and was pretty cheap to make. Why abandon something that works and cheap at the same time?

It has very limited possible uses.

Having said that, an older concept of Resident Evil 4 with pre-rendered backgrounds is something that does look like something:

 

[John60]

Wii u game pad most def was a missed opportunity - bought 2 systems at release because of promised games or apps supporting 2 at once -never happened, still really think it was a missed option to take gaming into another level with a main stream center video output on t TV or monitor and local controlled screens for users, but the U is still fantastic (and I own 3 switches as well)

 

[Pokemon_Tea_Sea_Jee]

Wii u game pad most def was a missed opportunity - bought 2 systems at release because of promised games or apps supporting 2 at once -never happened, still really think it was a missed option to take gaming into another level with a main stream center video output on t TV or monitor and local controlled screens for users, but the U is still fantastic (and I own 3 switches as well)

I have never come across anyone who loves the Wii U as much as you do.

 

[John60]

Yeah, still a great console - could have been so much more - but we move on

 

[Kioku]

Couch coop/split screen. I mean the technology we have today is far more advanced and it's not like people don't want to play games with their irl friends. They just can't.

 

[Frankbel]

Dual screen is something I will not miss.

 

[TR_mahmutpek]

Loot boxes.

 

[Pokemon_Tea_Sea_Jee]

Loot boxes.

You like them?

 

[sarkwalvein]

As some people said before, gyro assisted aiming. It should be standard in almost any console today, it could have been standard for the last 6 years or so. Precise aiming with just analogs is a PITA, you all know how much better it's to do those final quick adjustments with gyro.

 

[Pokemon_Tea_Sea_Jee]

As some people said before, gyro assisted aiming. It should be standard in almost any console today, it could have been standard for the last 6 years or so. Precise aiming with just analogs is a PITA, you all know how much better it's to do those final quick adjustments with gyro.

I have played a lot of Call of Duty: World at War on Wii. It was fun, but I wouldn't want to play that way all the time.

 

[boomerang42]

Prerendered backgrounds in games was unfairly forgotten. They used to create graphics beyond possibilities even on PS1 and was pretty cheap to make. Why abandon something that works and cheap at the same time?

It worked even better on later consoles. Prendered is what made Resident Evil remake and Baten Kaitos some of the best looking games on Gamecube.

But the huge drawback to prerendered is fixed camera angles. Most types of games don't work well with that, or at all.

 

[campbell0505]

I just think it'll be interesting to see where handheld consoles go in the next decade or two. Considering the Switch is more powerful than the 360/PS3, I wonder how powerful the next handhelds will be, possibly as powerful as the Xbox One/PS4? I think that's too much to ask for, but I can hope for that in the future.

I reckon Nintendo already has the ability to make the switch slightly more powerful, but not on xbox one/ps4 levels.

 

[raxadian]

problem is most people were forced to use those in wii games, there was no option, and many games were so bad with it becuase they didnt register half of the gestures.

Thankfully a lot of them had alternatives.

Is amazing how many Wii games can use the Gamecube controller and they don't even tell you in the manual.

 

[sarkwalvein]

I have played a lot of Call of Duty: World at War on Wii. It was fun, but I wouldn't want to play that way all the time.

That's not gyro assisted aiming though.
Gyro assisted aiming is e.g. Zelda BOTW, Splatoon, etc.

 

[Xzi]

A lot of people are saying gyro/motion controls are being dismissed and underutilized, but we already have the next evolution of those in the VR space where they're a more natural fit. VR controllers will continue to evolve even further in the next 20 years, probably ending up back at something like the Power Glove (except wireless with flawless tracking accuracy and in-headset representation).

I can't think of much current gaming tech which gets underappreciated, but I do wish that Dreamcast's concept of a handheld gaming memory card had panned out a bit further. I suppose you could do something similar in the modern day by having a cell phone dock port on the back of a controller, storing save data on the phone and giving you access to tie-in minigames which in turn give you in-game rewards. Not to mention enabling notifications and text messages on your console/PC. Get on it, 8bitdo.

 

[AaronUzumaki]

A lot of people are saying gyro/motion controls are being dismissed and underutilized, but we already have the next evolution of those in the VR space where they're a more natural fit. VR controllers will continue to evolve even further in the next 20 years, probably ending up back at something like the Power Glove (except wireless with flawless tracking accuracy and in-headset representation).

I can't think of much current gaming tech which gets underappreciated, but I do wish that Dreamcast's concept of a handheld gaming memory card had panned out a bit further. I suppose you could do something similar in the modern day by having a cell phone dock port on the back of a controller, storing save data on the phone and giving you access to tie-in minigames which in turn give you in-game rewards. Not to mention enabling notifications and text messages on your console/PC. Get on it, 8bitdo.

Well, VR is still in its infancy and is an expensive, hobbyist activity. I think people are arguing that gyro controls should be made standard and mandatory for all games in the mass markets. And I agree, aiming with an analog is miserable and while a mouse works great, gyro is just slightly better, in my opinion. For aiming, I think the best options are Gyro>touchscreen>mouse>wiimote>analog>dpad/equivalent

EDIT: Also, as far as VR is concerned, I'm excited to see Oculus Quest doing so well. Hopefully its ease of use and mass marketing will propel VR into the mainstream, so we can watch the technology evolve exponentially more than we already have.

 

[MohammedQ8]

I wish VR headsets don’t pull my hair and cause more hair loss hehe.

every time I finish vr session I see hairs welcoming me to the real world hehe so I dont use them very often.

true story.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Agree with Xzi, motion controls aren't being dismissed or held back, they're evolving thanks to the ever growing (albeit slowly) VR market. 20 years in the future I find it more likely everyone will be using motion controls to some extent (whether it's through advanced hand tracking or if we're still using controllers for some reason) than any other control method.

As to the OP, I can't really think of anything at this time since tech like this generally goes two ways: It's either shit and nobody will miss it, or it's good and it's still around in some form or fashion.

I would probably agree with the dismissed concept of the Wii U gamepad and it's intended "second screen" behavior though, is was really disappointing that basically every dev, Nintendo included, abandoned the whole idea pretty much ASAP, and the few games that utilized it didn't really do a super great job in the first place.

 

[Xzi]

Well, VR is still in its infancy and is an expensive, hobbyist activity.

That's fair enough. I'd point to PSVR as an inexpensive counterexample, but the Move controllers are very primitive by VR standards and don't track well at all compared to Vive wands or Index controllers.

I think people are arguing that gyro controls should be made standard and mandatory for all games in the mass markets. And I agree, aiming with an analog is miserable and while a mouse works great, gyro is just slightly better, in my opinion. For aiming, I think the best options are Gyro>touchscreen>mouse>wiimote>analog>dpad/equivalent

IMO a good gaming mouse is far superior to everything else where first-person games are concerned. To each their own, though.

EDIT: Also, as far as VR is concerned, I'm excited to see Oculus Quest doing so well. Hopefully its ease of use and mass marketing will propel VR into the mainstream, so we can watch the technology evolve exponentially more than we already have.

I can't complain about more entry-level options being available, I just don't like Facebook (who own Oculus).

I would probably agree with the dismissed concept of the Wii U gamepad and it's intended "second screen" behavior though, is was really disappointing that basically every dev, Nintendo included, abandoned the whole idea pretty much ASAP, and the few games that utilized it didn't really do a super great job in the first place.

Yet another feature you could add to a controller with a phone dock, maybe like half the screen poking out from behind. Just make it the inventory or map screen for whatever game you're playing.

 

[JavaScribe]

Augmented reality seems like it has unrecognized potential.
It's not being held back by hardware. Heck, Hololens 2 is already a thing. It's just not a consumer technology yet.

...Wiimote with its IR bar with a cable that's longer than it has any right to be.

Fun fact, you can use a candle as a crappy replacement two candles as a decent replacement for the IR bar. The sensor isn't on the IR bar; it's on the wiimote.